Summary: Researchers have discovered that spontaneous eye-blink rate serves as a simple, noninvasive marker for tracking the development of executive function in early childhood. The study revealed that children aged…
Category: cognition
How Musical Improvisation Rewires Brain Activity
Summary: A study discussed by Karen Barrett of the Institute for Health & Aging at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) highlights how musical improvisation engages distinct brain networks…
How 21st-Century Screens Hijack Brain Circuitry
Summary: Dense urban infrastructure, globalized economic pressures, and hyper-curated digital networks actively hijack ancestral survival instincts. Rather than treating mental health crises as purely localized lifestyle flaws, the authors prove…
Cannabis & Tobacco Co-Use Lower Cognitive Scores in Teens
Summary: A new study filled a critical diagnostic gap regarding substance use during the early warning phases of mental illness. Investigating adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for…
Toggling Embodied Cognition via the Rubber Hand Illusion
Summary: A psychological replication study established an empirical link between a person’s abstract psychological identity and their physical, bodily awareness. The research utilizes the classic “rubber hand illusion” to demonstrate…
Brain Region Discovered for Abstract Thought
Summary: Researchers discovered the first definitive neural evidence of how the brain creates and reuses abstract symbols to think creatively. The research tracks the neural substrates of “compositional generalization”, the…
The Myth of the Average Brain
Summary: Averaging brain scan data across groups can fundamentally mislead scientists about how the human brain actually works. By analyzing functional MRI data from over 4,000 children individually, researchers discovered…
Daily “Mental Sharpness” Dictates Productivity
Summary: Have you ever wondered why some days you’re a powerhouse of productivity and others you’re “pushing through fog”? A new study has quantified this feeling. Researchers found that day-to-day…
Prenatal Lead Exposure Affects the Aging Brain
Summary: The consequences of lead exposure may take six decades to fully manifest. A remarkable study has linked lead exposure during the second trimester of pregnancy to lower cognitive performance…
