The neuroscience of motivation: what orexin neurons reveal about staying the course
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Researchers at Nagoya University identified orexin-producing neurons as the brain's apparent mechanism for deciding whether a reward is worth pursuing. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study suggests these cells are doing Read More...
How the act of learning to read rewires the brain and changes the way you hear
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Learning to read does something to the brain beyond teaching it to decode text. A new study in Cortex found that adults with formal reading education recruit a distinct region on the right side of the brain when processing unfamiliar spoken sounds. Adults who Read More...
Just one brain scan can now diagnose Alzheimer’s
Many advances have been made in diagnosing, understanding, preventing, and treating Alzheimer’s disease over the past 100 years. Some of these include a nasal spray that could help prevent the disease and the discovery that our gut diversity plays a role in the risk of the condition. Doctors Read More...
Octopus and human brains have incredible similarities
Octopuses’ are some of the intelligent animals inhabiting our diverse planet. Their extensive neurological system is made up of 500 million neurons, similar to that of a dog. But unlike a dog where most of these neurons are located in their brain, over two-thirds of octopuses' can be found in Read More...
Taking an afternoon nap may make your brain healthier
If you love to indulge in a feel-good siesta, then we have good news for you: those afternoon moments of slumber might be benefiting your brain health. At least, those are the findings of a study that add to an increasing body of data showing a correlation between afternoon naps and improved mental Read More...
Babies may be the key for the next generation of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is extremely valuable for basically all parts of society, allowing more efficient, accurate, and speedy decisions. For example, this AI algorithm that assesses and prioritizes patients to either the ICU or a general hospital bed, or this AI-powered robot that can sort Read More...
This smart jumpsuit tracks infant brain development
The human brain doubles in size in the first year of a person's life. This time is vital to building a foundation for future learning, health, and development and is where many underlying neurological conditions will reveal themselves. Recognizing and treating these conditions as early as possible Read More...
Gene therapy could effectively treat chronic pain from spinal injuries
Gene therapy is a growing field of medicine with enormous treatment potential for many currently incurable diseases. Scientists have so far created gene therapies to tackle a range of diseases, including the leading cause of blindness, sickle cell anemia, and a range of rare genetic Read More...
Eating just one daily cup of cranberries could prevent dementia
Currently, there is no cure for dementia, a neurological disease that is predicted to impact around 152 million people by 2050. Research teams around the world are constantly working on ways to ward off the disease and find ways to treat it. The Optimist Daily has reported on many of these efforts, Read More...
Study reveals how our minds hold information
Memory is a funny thing. We’ve all walked into a room, only to forget the reason we entered or lost an item we are sure we saw on the side cabinet. As we age, this typically gets worse, with our working memories declining and everyday tasks becoming more difficult to perform. The anterior Read More...