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Spotlight on the Brain image


The brain is an enigma. Scientists are working to understand how these meager three pounds of matter inside your skull give rise to consciousness, thought, memory, and emotion. Doctors want to know how to keep your brain healthy and fix it when things go wrong, as in depression and autism. Here you will hear Science Update shows on the latest and most fascinating brain research.


listen spacer Brainwaves & Schizophrenia
March 6, 2008
Mental illness alters brainwaves during neural processing.
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listen spacer Brain Geometry
March 3, 2008
When we hallucinate, what we see may actually be the architecture of our own brains.
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listen spacer Cocaine-resistant Mice
January 2, 2008
Mice lacking a single receptor in the brain don’t become dependent on cocaine.
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listen spacer Lead Levels
December 20, 2007
Even at exposures well below federal safety standards, lead can lower IQ.
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listen spacer Baby Robots
November 26, 2007
Researchers have developed a new way for children once left behind by their peers to explore the world around them.
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listen spacer Apes vs. Toddlers
October 3, 2007
Although equivalent in many intellectual tasks, human toddlers are much better than apes in social thinking.
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listen spacer Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll
September 27, 2007
Listening to our favorite music activates the same region of the brain that is involved in drug addiction.
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listen spacer Placebo Effect
August 15, 2007
Scientists look to the brain to find out why some people respond better to the placebo effect than others.
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listen spacer Art and Brain Damage
July 17, 2007
Brain damage sometimes has a suprisingly positive effect on artists' work.
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listen spacer Beyond IQ
May 23, 2007
There's much more to excelling in school than just having a high IQ.
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listen spacer Brain Sniff Test
May 8, 2007
A simple sniff test may help doctors pick up the scent of debilitating brain diseases.
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listen spacer Déjà Vu
April 26, 2007
A listener asks: What's déjà vu?
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listen spacer Future Amnesia
January 31, 2007
Some patients with amnesia not only can't remember the past, but they can't imagine the future.
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listen spacer Whale Brains
January 4, 2007
Whales share a specialized type of brain cell with us.
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listen spacer Money Mentality
December 6, 2006
Thinking about money can encourage both self-reliance and self-centeredness.
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listen spacer Caffeine Withdrawal
October 3, 2006
A listener asks: Why do I get a headache if I go without coffee?
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listen spacer Forgetting Dreams
September 5, 2006
A listener asks: Why don't we remember our dreams?
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Autism and IQ
March 14, 2006
There's a lot of talk about an autism epidemic these days. But what if autism isn't a disease at all?
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listen spacer Chronic Déjà Vu
March 1, 2006
Almost everyone's had déjà vu—the feeling that you've experienced something before, even though you haven't. But what if the feeling never let up?
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listen spacer Body Image
January 4, 2006
People with anorexia and other eating disorders can become dangerously thin but still feel overweight. New research may point to a cause.
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listen spacer Liars' Brains
November 3, 2005
A difference in the brains of pathological liars may be the cause of their strange behavior.
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listen spacer Cocaine and Cigarettes
October 27, 2005
One listener asks: What do two very different drugs have in common?
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