ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

A new study finds that work place interruptions are beneficial to a sense of belonging and can counterbalance negatives such as lost productivity.

Researchers report that infantile spasms, a rare but serious seizure disorder in babies, appear to be the result of a molecular pathway gone awry. In their study of a mouse model of the disorder, the researchers discovered that genetic mutations associated with the disease impair a pathway that is involved in building new synapses in the hippocampus, a brain region essential to learning and memory.

Smartwatches are handy devices for people to keep track of the number of steps they take per day or to track their mile time during a run. But they are also opportunities for scientists to understand people's physiological processes while they are going about their everyday lives.

When we speak, we use our auditory and somatosensory systems to monitor the results of the movements of our tongue or lips. Since we cannot typically see our own faces and tongues while we speak, however, the potential role of visual feedback has remained less clear. Researchers explore how readily speakers will integrate visual information about their tongue movements during a speech motor learning task.

A new study found a 68% increase in overdose events and a doubling of mental health crises among patients who were on stable opioid therapy but had their doses tapered.

A team of scientists has uncovered a system in the brain used in the processing of information and in the storing of memories -- akin to how railroad switches control a train's destination.

Imagining a song triggers similar brain activity as moments of silence in music, according to new research. The results reveal how the brain continues responding to music, even when none is playing, and provide new insights into how human sensory predictions work.

Research has shown that a music-related hobby boosts language skills and affects the processing of speech in the brain. According to a new study, the reverse also happens -- learning foreign languages can affect the processing of music in the brain.

A study provides new data on potential aetiological mechanisms that are linked with dementia caused by diseases, such as Alzheimer's and vascular dementia.

Researchers have developed a powerful miniature brain platform to study the mechanistic causes of Alzheimer's disease and to test dementia drugs in development.