The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel

"Mastering the World's Most Difficult Language in 7 Days" -Scientists Explore Potential of Human Brain

A Daily Galaxy post last year, The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built-in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts.

However, some of the most incredible minds on Earth lack this ability to filter irrelevant facts, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that to a savant, the irrelevant IS relevant, and incredibly so. Somehow their brains are able to store and access incredible loads of information, even perceiving and relating to this information in an entirely different way.

Homo Sapiens -"The Dark Network"

Brain researchers have recently discovered that when we perform mental activities such as adding numbers, comparing shapes, or identifying faces these areas of our brains light up, other areas go dark. This "dark network," according to Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert, comprises regions in the frontal, parietal and medial temporal lobes. Gilbert writes that "if you climbed into an MRI machine and lay there quietly, waiting for instructions from a technician, the dark network would be as active as a beehive. But the moment your instructions arrived and your task began, the bees would freeze and the network would fall silent. When we appear to be doing nothing, we are clearly doing something. But what?"

New Technology Maps 10 Billion Neurons of the Cerebral Cortex - Everything You Think of as "You"

The study of the human brain is one of the most fascinating, and incredibly meta, subjects in existence.  The almost Escherian experiments of one brain studying another brain (which is thinking about being studied by the first) have up to now been held back by one thing: the brain's owner is kind of using it so you can't poke too hard.  Now a new scanning technique has allowed scientists to probe deeper than ever into the secrets of the mind.

The study of the human brain is one of the most fascinating, and incredibly meta, subjects in existence.  The almost Escherian experiments of one brain studying another brain (which is thinking about being studied by the first) have up to now been held back by one thing: the brain's owner is kind of using it so you can't poke too hard.  Now a new scanning technique has allowed scientists to probe deeper than ever into the secrets of the mind.

The Human Brain's "DNA Wizard": Copy and Pasting Genes

Biologists have just found jumping genes, and no, those aren't the protein sequences that build kangaroos.  They're DNA segments that can hop around the genome copy-and-pasting themselves in wherever the feel like, and they're in your head.  Which may help explain how humanity hosts such an incredible spectrum from "Stephen Hawking" to "Someone who tabulates the statistical values of Pokemon."

These LINE-1 elements (Long INterspersed Element 1) are known to play a major part in simple organisms like yeast, whose large numbers and simple structures allow a lot of experimentation.  LINE-1 modifications to the genome are far larger than random mutations, and offer the chance of accelerated evolution through a lucky combination - or death from a bad one. 

Why Extreme Sports Give Us a High -A Galaxy Classic

 

Seeking new and unfamiliar experiences is a fundamental behavioral tendency in humans and animals. It makes sense to try new options as they may prove advantageous in the long run.'

Bianca Wittmann, University College London.

A primitive area of our brain makes us adventurous. New research suggests that new experience drives choice behavior in humans, even when the degree of familiarity with an option is completely unrelated to choice outcome. The research reveals fascinating insights into the brain mechanisms that underlie the tendency to explore, and even value, unfamiliar options.

Firing Up the Blue Brain -"We Are 10 Years Away From a Functional Artifical Human Brain"

"It's a new brain. The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions, complex cognitive functions. It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ. It is evolving at an enormous speed."

Henry Markram, Director, Project Blue Brain.

"It's a new brain. The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions, complex cognitive functions. It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ. It is evolving at an enormous speed."

Henry Markram, Director, Project Blue Brain.

Population Density Triggered Rapid Growth of Human Brain Over Past 2 Million Years

For the past 2 million years, the size of the human brain has tripled, growing much faster than other mammals. Examining the reasons for human brain expansion, University of Missouri researchers studied three common hypotheses for brain growth: climate change, ecological demands and social competition. The team found that social competition is the major cause of increased cranial capacity.

Does the Human Brain Possess Latent “Super Powers”? -A Galaxy Insight

An earlier Daily Galaxy post, The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts.

An earlier Daily Galaxy post, The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts.

Does Unconscious Thought Result in Creative Problem-Solving?

It's pretty common to experience a situation where, after long hours of trying to solve a migrane inducing problem, we give up, take a break, only to come back and solve the problem within moments. This appears to be a somewhat commonplace situation. However, the science behind it is much more complex.

"Conscious thought is better at making linear, analytic decisions, but unconscious thought is especially effective at solving complex problems," said Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School of Management. "Unconscious activation may provide inspirational sparks underlying the 'Aha!' moment that eventually leads to important discoveries."

Are You a "People Person"? New Research Shows Why

Humans are social animals. But researchers at Cambridge University wanted to know why some of us are more "people persons" than others.

They used MRI to scan the brains of 41 males who'd completed a questionnaire designed to measure their emotional warmth and sociability. Those who were most social had greater concentrations of grey matter (brain-cell containing tissue) in the orbitofrontal cortex (the outer strip of the brain just above the eyes) and in the ventral striatum (located in the center of the brain).

"Mastering the World's Most Difficult Language in 7 Days" -Scientists Explore Potential of Human Brain

A Daily Galaxy post last year, The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built-in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts.

However, some of the most incredible minds on Earth lack this ability to filter irrelevant facts, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that to a savant, the irrelevant IS relevant, and incredibly so. Somehow their brains are able to store and access incredible loads of information, even perceiving and relating to this information in an entirely different way.

Homo Sapiens -"The Dark Network"

Brain researchers have recently discovered that when we perform mental activities such as adding numbers, comparing shapes, or identifying faces these areas of our brains light up, other areas go dark. This "dark network," according to Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert, comprises regions in the frontal, parietal and medial temporal lobes. Gilbert writes that "if you climbed into an MRI machine and lay there quietly, waiting for instructions from a technician, the dark network would be as active as a beehive. But the moment your instructions arrived and your task began, the bees would freeze and the network would fall silent. When we appear to be doing nothing, we are clearly doing something. But what?"

New Technology Maps 10 Billion Neurons of the Cerebral Cortex - Everything You Think of as "You"

The study of the human brain is one of the most fascinating, and incredibly meta, subjects in existence.  The almost Escherian experiments of one brain studying another brain (which is thinking about being studied by the first) have up to now been held back by one thing: the brain's owner is kind of using it so you can't poke too hard.  Now a new scanning technique has allowed scientists to probe deeper than ever into the secrets of the mind.

The study of the human brain is one of the most fascinating, and incredibly meta, subjects in existence.  The almost Escherian experiments of one brain studying another brain (which is thinking about being studied by the first) have up to now been held back by one thing: the brain's owner is kind of using it so you can't poke too hard.  Now a new scanning technique has allowed scientists to probe deeper than ever into the secrets of the mind.

The Human Brain's "DNA Wizard": Copy and Pasting Genes

Biologists have just found jumping genes, and no, those aren't the protein sequences that build kangaroos.  They're DNA segments that can hop around the genome copy-and-pasting themselves in wherever the feel like, and they're in your head.  Which may help explain how humanity hosts such an incredible spectrum from "Stephen Hawking" to "Someone who tabulates the statistical values of Pokemon."

These LINE-1 elements (Long INterspersed Element 1) are known to play a major part in simple organisms like yeast, whose large numbers and simple structures allow a lot of experimentation.  LINE-1 modifications to the genome are far larger than random mutations, and offer the chance of accelerated evolution through a lucky combination - or death from a bad one. 

Why Extreme Sports Give Us a High -A Galaxy Classic

 

Seeking new and unfamiliar experiences is a fundamental behavioral tendency in humans and animals. It makes sense to try new options as they may prove advantageous in the long run.'

Bianca Wittmann, University College London.

A primitive area of our brain makes us adventurous. New research suggests that new experience drives choice behavior in humans, even when the degree of familiarity with an option is completely unrelated to choice outcome. The research reveals fascinating insights into the brain mechanisms that underlie the tendency to explore, and even value, unfamiliar options.

Firing Up the Blue Brain -"We Are 10 Years Away From a Functional Artifical Human Brain"

"It's a new brain. The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions, complex cognitive functions. It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ. It is evolving at an enormous speed."

Henry Markram, Director, Project Blue Brain.

"It's a new brain. The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions, complex cognitive functions. It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ. It is evolving at an enormous speed."

Henry Markram, Director, Project Blue Brain.

Population Density Triggered Rapid Growth of Human Brain Over Past 2 Million Years

For the past 2 million years, the size of the human brain has tripled, growing much faster than other mammals. Examining the reasons for human brain expansion, University of Missouri researchers studied three common hypotheses for brain growth: climate change, ecological demands and social competition. The team found that social competition is the major cause of increased cranial capacity.

Does the Human Brain Possess Latent “Super Powers”? -A Galaxy Insight

An earlier Daily Galaxy post, The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts.

An earlier Daily Galaxy post, The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts.

Does Unconscious Thought Result in Creative Problem-Solving?

It's pretty common to experience a situation where, after long hours of trying to solve a migrane inducing problem, we give up, take a break, only to come back and solve the problem within moments. This appears to be a somewhat commonplace situation. However, the science behind it is much more complex.

"Conscious thought is better at making linear, analytic decisions, but unconscious thought is especially effective at solving complex problems," said Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School of Management. "Unconscious activation may provide inspirational sparks underlying the 'Aha!' moment that eventually leads to important discoveries."

Are You a "People Person"? New Research Shows Why

Humans are social animals. But researchers at Cambridge University wanted to know why some of us are more "people persons" than others.

They used MRI to scan the brains of 41 males who'd completed a questionnaire designed to measure their emotional warmth and sociability. Those who were most social had greater concentrations of grey matter (brain-cell containing tissue) in the orbitofrontal cortex (the outer strip of the brain just above the eyes) and in the ventral striatum (located in the center of the brain).