Brain | Science News for Students

Brain

football players crashing into each other

Over a season of college football, head hits that were too small to cause concussions were still linked to adverse changes in the brain stems of players.

skynesher/E+/Getty Images Plus

Brain
 
Sep 13, 2019
Routine hits in a single football season may harm players’ brains
mouse investigating lab equipment

A mouse checks out a tool that focuses lasers on specific nerve cells in the brain. Activating nerve cells with lasers makes mice “see” things that aren’t really there.

Sean Quirin, James Marshel, Cephra Raja and K. Deisseroth/Stanford Univ.

Brain
 
Aug 7, 2019
Lasers make mice hallucinate
three different humanoid bots from vaguely human (left) to very human (right)

Very realistic humanlike robots, like the one on the right, are often perceived as eerie. Activity in a region of the brain that makes social judgments may be responsible for these uneasy feelings.

A.M. Rosenthal-vonder Pütten et al/J. Neuroscience 2019

Brain
 
Jul 31, 2019
This brain region may make lifelike robots creep you out
062619_ls_obese-mouse_feat.jpg

Even before mice on a high-fat diet gained weight (and they did), certain cells in a part of their brains’ appetite-control center stopped working correctly. This points to how a fatty diet can foster overeating.

Georgejason/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Brain
 
Jul 19, 2019
High fat diet removes brain’s natural brake on overeating
a photo of the hand of a 17-year old boy showing six fingers

An extra finger on the right hand of a 17-year-old boy is controlled by its own muscles and tendons.

C. Mehring et al/Nature Communications 2019

Body functions
 
Jul 15, 2019
A sixth finger can prove extra handy
a photo of hands cuffed behind the back of a teen

Teens caught in the U.S. justice system may face conditions that can mess with healthy brain development.

SAKDAWUT14/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Brain
 
Jun 26, 2019
The U.S. prison system can harm young brains, scientist warns
a domestic pig on a farm

In a feat that has shaken up neuroscience, scientists used an artificial fluid to keep cells alive in the brains of pigs that had been slaughtered for pork.

ChristiLaLiberte/ E+/Getty Images

Cells
 
May 24, 2019
In a first, scientists keep cells alive in the brains of dead pigs
a computer simulated image showing Earth and the lines of its magnetic field

New data suggest that humans may join birds, bacteria and certain other organisms in being able to sense Earth’s magnetic field (illustrated).

vjanez/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Brain
 
Apr 19, 2019
People may indeed have a sixth sense — for magnetism
teenage girl painting in art class

Using painting to illustrate science concepts may help cement the new knowledge, a new study suggests.

monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Getty Images Plus       

Psychology
 
Apr 15, 2019
Art can make science easier to remember
An illustration of a street sign against a sunny sky. One sign says "RIGHT", and the cross-road sign says "WRONG"

Your conscience is what helps you decide whether your actions or impulses are good or bad, right or wrong. 

JamesBrey/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Psychology
 
Mar 21, 2019
What part of us knows right from wrong?