4 posts tagged ‘neuroscience’
Your sleeping brain pulses like a pump to flush out toxins
Boing Boing,
Scientists have discovered a crucial mechanism behind one of sleep's most vital functions — cleaning toxins from the brain. The process relies on a rhythmic cycle of vessel squeezing and relaxing, driven by pulses of norepinephrine during deep sleep. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen used advanced imaging techniques to watch brain blood vessels and fluid movements in real-time while mice slept naturally. — Read the rest The post Your sleeping brain pulses like a pump to flush out toxins appeared first on Boing Boing.
Scientists reveal why your life feels boring — and how to fix it
That dull feeling when your once-thrilling job feels routine or your dream home becomes just four walls isn't all in your head—it's your brain doing its job. Scientists call it "habituation," and there's a way to outsmart it. "Habituation is the brain's tendency to tune out what's constant or repeated," Tali Sharot, cognitive neuroscientist and author of Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There told NPR. — Read the rest The post Scientists reveal why your life feels boring — and how to fix it appeared first on Boing Boing.
Ayelet Waldman on Quilting to Stay Sane
The New Yorker,
The writer explains how she took up quilting to help her cope with terrible news, and the science behind why it works.
ADHD symptoms improve when life gets busier, according to study
Researchers who tracked 483 people with ADHD for 16 years discovered that ADHD symptoms actually improved when life got busier. "We expected the relationship between environmental demands and ADHD symptoms to be the opposite of what we found," said Margaret H. — Read the rest The post ADHD symptoms improve when life gets busier, according to study appeared first on Boing Boing.