News by Subject Social & Behavior

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that sleep may help people to learn continuously through their lifetime by encoding new memories and protecting old ones.

Memory loss among older Australians is on the rise as the Baby Boomer generation enters retirement - but a new technique tested by Flinders University researchers that investigates cognitive skills through eye-tracking technology may be used to help incorporate all older people's preferences into aged care policy and practice.

In a reversal of trends, American baby boomers scored lower on a test of cognitive functioning than did members of previous generations, according to a new nationwide study.

Our brains have an upper limit on how much they can process at once due to a constant but limited energy supply, according to a new UCL study using a brain imaging method that measures cellular metabolism.

Modifying 12 risk factors over the lifecourse could delay or prevent 40% of dementia cases, according to an update to The Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care, which is being presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC 2020).

A research group at the University of Bologna developed a new non-invasive experimental protocol to alter the memory of learned fear experiences, thus paving the way for treatments to overcome traumatic events

New research shows that children only learn to do jigsaw puzzles once they have reached a certain stage of development. Three-year-olds use trial and error, but four-year-olds are able to use information in the picture to complete the puzzles. The research team say this understanding is the foundation of learning to draw and paint.

Millions of women have been taking oral contraceptives, but little is known about whether the synthetic hormones found in the oral contraceptives have behavioural and neurophysiological effects, especially during puberty and early adolescence, which are critical periods of brain development. A uOttawa team of researchers found that oral contraceptive use is related to significant structural changes in brain regions implicated in memory and emotional processing. It also alters stress reactivity.