ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of secondary school students during a task focused on musical observation. They found that students trained to play music from a young age exhibited certain kinds of brain activity more strongly than other students. The researchers also observed a specific link between musical processing and areas of the brain associated with language processing for the first time.

A variety of jobs expose people to formaldehyde, a strong-smelling gas used in manufacturing wood and chemical products, plastics and in other applications. A new study suggests that long-term exposure to formaldehyde during work may be associated with cognitive impairment later on.

Reducing frailty in older adults could be an effective strategy to prevent dementia, according to a largescale new study.

Scientists have discovered a neural mechanism that is believed to support advanced cognitive abilities such as planning and problem-solving.

Under anesthesia, patients are often given muscle-relaxing neuromuscular blockers to make intubations easier and reduce the skeletal muscle tone during surgery. Using a drug to remove the blocking agent after the operation improves patient recovery and reduces the risk of complications. A research team has now reported a novel broad-spectrum antidote. It consists of two 'chalices' that are linked together and cover the two ends of the blocker.

The cochlear implant (CI) is the most successful neural prosthesis worldwide. Thanks to direct stimulation of the auditory nerve, it enables more than half a million people worldwide to hear, even though those affected were born deaf or deafened. Researchers have developed a method to convert the stimulation electrodes of common CIs into electrochemical sensors. With the help of this novel sensor function, the functionality of cochlear implants could be monitored directly in the inner ear in the long term.

In a new study, mice bearing a gene deletion associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) showed evidence of slower cognition. Another finding: cells that make myelin, a sheath around nerves that conducts electrical impulses quickly and efficiently, were diminished in the mice. This points to a mechanism that can be explored to further understand developmental disorders such as ASD.