To Our Readers
BrainWork's 18-year adventure in reporting neuroscience has been folded in to our Web-exclusive coverage of news about the brain. The field of neuroscience research—and its impact on neuroethics and neuroeducation—calls for greater flexibility and depth of coverage. Therefore, we have merged BrainWork's team of writers and material with the growing flow of news and features on our Web site.
To receive word when we post a new article, sign up for one of our RSS feeds. We look forward to continuing the same high-quality reporting, and more of it, in our online articles and blog posts. Whether you were among the 35,500 subscribers to the print edition or are discovering us for the first time, we thank you.
The final print edition of BrainWork appeared in the summer of 2009. The final group of articles designated as BrainWork stories are the current, Fall 2009 articles below.
Fall 2009
by Jim Schnabel
A higher rate of compulsive gambling among people taking medication for Parkinson's disease raises questions regarding the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine, in both diseased and normal brains.
Fall 2009
by Elizabeth Norton Lasley
New educational approaches and advances in brain-based research are making it possible to detect dyslexia even in children too young to read. Though it is not a cure, stepping in early with targeted intervention could prevent reading problems from derailing a child’s education.
See also
Fall 2009
by Brenda Patoine
Research in animals hints at the neurobiology of depression, why antidepressant treatment does not take effect immediately and why some people are more resilient amid stress. It also highlights the importance of using a combination of animal models to study depression.
Fall 2009
by Tom Valeo
Thinking about something we want to avoid saying makes us more likely to say it. Blame the brain's prefrontal cortex, home to processes involved in developing plans and carrying them out.
Summer 2009
by Jim Schnabel
Does consciousness—our awareness that we are perceiving something—arise from a special region in the brain, or from the coherent workings of multiple regions? Analyzing data from electrodes implanted in the brains of epilepsy patients, French researchers suggest the latter.
Summer 2009
by Carl Sherman
Signs of Alzheimer’s may be detectable years before symptoms emerge. New brain imaging techniques and other approaches are giving scientists new insight into disease risk and may one day help them start treatment earlier and develop better methods.
See also
Summer 2009
by Elizabeth Norton Lasley
A chemical in the amygdala that stimulates the same receptors as marijuana, but more safely, is involved in shoring up highly emotional memories, evidence shows.
See also
Summer 2009
by Aalok Mehta
As scientists learn more about how the brain grows and learns, universities are developing programs to translate those insights into practical classroom strategies.
See also
Summer 2009
by Tom Valeo
A form of visual therapy that employs computer exercises may help restore some vision to patients who lost sight as a result of stroke. Some researchers are skeptical that the patients were truly blind, however.
Spring 2009
by Sandra A. Swanson
Experts remain divided on the merits of hormone treatment for menopausal women. New evidence lends support to the idea that timing, genetics and the existence of different estrogen receptors in the brain contribute to the effects of estrogen on memory, mood and cognition.
Spring 2009
by Brenda Patoine
Past studies of psychostimulant drugs taken for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have shown a slowing of cortical growth, but new imaging research reveals that the drugs may normalize development. Researchers still urge caution, however.
Spring 2009
by Tom Valeo
Elevated blood glucose levels negatively affect a subregion of the hippocampus responsible for forming memories, according to new research. The finding may help explain memory impairment as we age and in people with diabetes. Other studies are looking at whether medications help absorb glucose and improve memory.
Spring 2009
by Scott P. Edwards
Testosterone levels before birth affect financial traders’ success, perhaps by enhancing risk taking, a recent study suggests. The clue lies in the length of traders’ ring fingers relative to their index fingers—longer ring fingers indicate greater testosterone exposure in the womb, and traders with this characteristic made more money than others, on average.
January/February 2009
by Jim Schnabel
Addiction doesn’t just affect people’s pleasure centers; it may also short-circuit brain areas responsible for self-awareness and for restraining impulsive behavior, suggests new research looking into why the disease is so difficult to treat.
January/February 2009
by Tom Valeo
New studies suggest that the brain engages in “probabilistic reasoning” similar to the method the Allies used to crack Nazi Germany’s codes—but that sleep deprivation compromises our ability to assess the future.
January/February 2009
by Ben Mauk
Recent advances in “brain-computer interfaces” include a technique that can distinguish individual finger movements.
January/February 2009
by Aalok Mehta
Neuroscience-based methods of lie detection already may have passed the test of public acceptance, but whether they work is still an open question in the scientific community. The growing disparity between public and scientific understanding of “forensic neuroscience” was one of several pressing issues that brought nearly 200 people to Washington, D.C., for the annual meeting of the Neuroethics Society.
January/February 2009
by Kathlyn Stone
Scientists have found that long-term love appears to leave a distinct signature in the brain and that a specific gene affects courtship behavior—at least in mice.
January/February 2009
by Ben Mauk
The challenges of movement reward the minds of dancers both professional and amateur—and, in eight programs across the nation, of people with Parkinson’s disease.
January/February 2009
by Aalok Mehta
An extraordinarily itchy tropical plant has provided new insights into what causes various types of itch, how the sensation is transmitted to the brain and how to better treat this common and vexing medical problem.
November/December 2008
by Tom Valeo
Studies that help scientists identify the parts of the brain that grow stronger as dyslexic children learn to read open a window into how the brain rewires itself.
November/December 2008
by Kayt Sukel
Humans need only a few milliseconds to judge a facial expression and decide whether to trust another person or not. Recent studies shed light on how we make that judgment, as well how context can influence our response.
November/December 2008
by Sandra A. Swanson
The ideas behind a new 'exercise pill' might benefit not only those hoping to shed pounds, but also those suffering from Alzheimer's and other cognitive problems.
November/December 2008
by Scott P. Edwards
While some people seem to be endowed with a special ability to remember numbers, researchers suggest that we all have an innate “numbers sense”—and that memorization skills may boil down to repetition.
Classic and current articles in
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