brain development of children

Three experiments to test how dopamine affects cognitive performance during acute exercise. Credit: *The Journal of Physiology* (2024)

A study exploring the mechanisms behind why cognitive performance improves in response to exercise, has found that dopamine plays a key role.

Researchers have discovered that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) develop distinct attentional preferences compared to typically developing children, focusing more on non-social stimuli like objects and textures.

Brain structure predicts treatment response to antidepressant and placebo medications, according to a new study.

Recent research contrasts the learning mechanisms of the human brain with those of deep learning in AI. Despite having fewer layers and slower, noisier dynamics, the brain can perform complex classification tasks as effectively as AI with hundreds of layers.

A new study uncovers a unique aspect of human memory: our ability to recall events is sharper after experiencing negative emotions.

A major clinical trial has shown that by using MRI and tracking to guide the delivery of magnetic stimulation to the brains of people with severe depression, patients will see their symptoms ease for at least six months, which could vastly improve their quality of life.

New research reveals that coming off antidepressants like Prozac can cause not only physical symptoms but also emotional, cognitive, and social difficulties.

Through transcriptomic profiling of more than 300,000 cells in human substantia nigra, a part of the brain that helps control the body’s movements, a research team has identified a previously unreported neuron type with vulnerability in Parkinson’s disease. This novel finding could help explain the complexity of the disease symptoms and direct new therapeutics development.

Researchers have found evidence suggesting that children exposed to elevated levels of early life adversity exhibit an accelerated pattern of brain development during the preschool years.

New research for the first time reveals the function of a little-understood junction between cells in the brain that could have important treatment implications for conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis to Alzheimer’s disease, to a type of brain cancer known as glioma.

Finally this week, a third major study finds that multivitamin supplements improve memory and slow cognitive aging in older adults.

Can meditation change brain signature?

This week..how the brain corrects perceptual errors, how meditation and hypnosis change the brain’s signature, a new method for delivering complex drugs directly to the brain, the brain development of children, and how regular exercise helps overweight children do better at school.

New research provides the first evidence that sensory recalibration – the brain’s automatic correcting of errors in our sensory or perceptual systems – can occur instantly.

In Meditation, Hypnosis Change the Brain signature the Vancouver Sun reports that mindfulness training is ‘a valuable, drug-free tool in the struggle to foster attention skills, with positive spinoffs for controlling our emotions.’

Oxford University scientists have developed a new method for delivering complex drugs directly to the brain, a necessary step for treating diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Motor Neuron Disease and Muscular Dystrophy.

A new study has found that a mother’s iron deficiency early in pregnancy may have a profound and long-lasting effect on the brain development of the child, even if the lack of iron is not enough to cause severe anemia.

Children with Tourette syndrome could benefit from behavioural therapy to reduce their symptoms, according to a new brain imaging study.

Regular exercise improves the ability of overweight, previously inactive children to think, plan and even do mathematics, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.

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