Playing brain training games regularly doesn’t boost brainpower

It’s an attractive idea: By playing online problem-solving, matching and other games for a few minutes a day, people can improve such mental abilities as reasoning, verbal skills and memory.…

A gene-based therapy partially restored a blind man’s vision

A new type of gene therapy that rewires nerve cells in the eye has given a blind man some limited vision. The 58-year-old man has a genetic disease called retinitis…

Brain implants turn imagined handwriting into text on a screen

Electrodes in a paralyzed man’s brain turned his imagined handwriting into words typed on a screen. The translation from brain to text may ultimately point to ways to help people…

Mild zaps to the brain can boost a pain-relieving placebo effect

Placebos can make us feel better. Mild electric zaps to the brain can make that effect even stronger, scientists report online May 3 in Proceedings of the National Academy of…