Learning Archives - Knowing Neurons

Anne-Laure Le Cunff June 8, 2022March 23, 2023 Cognitive Impairment, Cognitive performance, Education, Learning, Memory, Working memory

Neuro Primer: Working Memory Capacity

The brain has three broad types of memory: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory. Sensory memory briefly holds unprocessed information retained in the sensory system; working memory temporarily stores… Read More

Big Ideas Brain Development Did You Know?Evolution of Cognition Language

Aurore Bargat April 27, 2021December 10, 2021 language, language acquisition, Learning, Learning and Memory, native language, vocal behaviors

Vocabulary Retention In Adult Language Learners

What can we learn and implement from neuroscience to support long-term vocabulary retention in adult language learners? Brain and Language Neuroscience focuses on how different regions of the brain work… Read More

Big Ideas Aging Brain Development Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

Alexandria Weaver February 28, 2019February 27, 2019 auditory, Cognition, cognitive development, Emotion, Emotional Awareness, Learning, Listening, Memory, mood, Music, Musical Therapy, Performance, Therapy, Visuospatial abilities

Music for the Mind: How Music Nurtures Cognitive Development

Imagine listening to your favorite song, how it makes you feel, and the flood of memories the sounds bring with them. Music is well known for its ability to evoke… Read More

Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Learning and Memory Popular Articles

Caitlin Aamodt December 12, 2018December 12, 2018 Brain, bullying, Cell signaling, Charles McDowell, G-protein signaling, Genetics, intellectual disability, kinase, Learning, Long-term potentiation, LTP, Meme, Memory, neurodevelopmental disorer, Neuroscience, noonan syndrome, Novartis, phosphatase, Prison, PTPN11, Ras, Rasopathy

Understanding Noonan Syndrome

This past November the mug shot of Charles McDowell went viral after viewers noticed that the man in the photo had an unusual phenotype- specifically a larger than average neck.… Read More

Aging Culture Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Marco Travaglio November 28, 2018November 27, 2018 Aging, Alzeihmer's disease, Brain, dementia, dietary fat, Fat, Food, income, Learning, MeDi, Mediterranean Diet, Memory, Oxidative stress, socioeconomic status

Food for Your Brain: Mediterranean Diet May Help Your Neurons Live Longer

Historians consider it one of the ‘cradles of civilization,’ but for many scientists today the real value of the Mediterranean basin does not lie in its contribution to history. Home… Read More

Illustration of deep neural networks by Michal Roessler.

Artificial Intelligence Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

Ioannis Kalfas November 7, 2018November 7, 2018 AI, convolutional neural network, deep learning, Deep neural network, Electrophysiology, inferotemporal cortex, Learning, Machine Learning, neural network, Perception, regression, visual system

How our Visual Neurons relate to Deep Neural Networks

Our brain has been evolving for millions of years, ever-changing and adjusting to handle novel stimuli and conditions, looking like a bag of slimy, gooey matter folded in various ways… Read More

Neuro Primer Brain Basics

Gabrielle Torre July 13, 2018May 31, 2021 Apoptosis, Axons, Biology, Brain, Brain development, Brain growth, Cell death, Cells, Cortex, Dendrites, Development, Infancy, Knowing Neurons, Learning, neurobiology, Neurodevelopment, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroplasticity, Neuroscience, Plasticity, Science, Synapse, Synapses

Neuro Primer: Neurodevelopment

Spanish Translation also available here: Neuro Cartilla: Neurodesarrollo ~~~ How does your brain become a brain? Neurodevelopment is the crucial process through which every brain is formed.… Read More

Neuroscience Technologies Learning and Memory

Tessa Abagis June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 ADHD, Attention, brain stimulation, Cognitive Enhancement, Learning, Memory, tDCS, Working memory

How Brain Stimulation Can Boost Memory If Paired with Learning

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 47 CE, Scribonius Largus, court physician to the Roman emperor Claudius, described in his Compositiones a method for treating chronic migraines: place torpedo fish on the scalps of patients… Read More

Brain Stimulation: Learning Method of the 21st Century

Learning and Memory Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception

Amin Kamaleddin April 4, 2018April 2, 2018 Brain, brain stimulation, Consciousness, Decision-making, Free Will, Learning, neuroprosthetics, premotor cortex, stroke

Brain Stimulation: A Learning Method for the 21st Century

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat is happening in the brain when you decide to reach your hand and grasp a cup of coffee early in the morning? First, the posterior parietal cortex of your… Read More

Consciousness Learning and Memory Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Yaïr Pinto January 10, 2018January 10, 2018 Consciousness, Gazzaniga, Learning, Memory, Neuroscience, Perception, Prefrontal Cortex, Research, Sperry, Split brain

When You Split the Brain, Do You Split the Person?

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he brain is perhaps the most complex machine in the Universe. It consists of two cerebral hemispheres, each with many different modules. Fortunately, all these separate parts are not autonomous… Read More

Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Did You Know?

Amin Kamaleddin October 4, 2017October 3, 2017 Autoimmune disease, Bacteria, Cell communication, gut microbiome, Immune cells, Learning, Memory, MS, multiple sclerosis, myelin, Pathogens, pathology

Your gut is closer to your brain than it appears!

[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]ou are more than who you think you are! Yes, that is correct. If you are still thinking of yourself as a single intelligent organism, then think again! I am… Read More

Brain Development Learning and Memory

Jacob Umans August 30, 2017August 29, 2017 Christiane Schreiweis, declaritive learning, Dopamine, dorsolateral striatum, dorsomedial striatum, FoxP2, language, Learning, long-term depression (LTD), Mice, procedural learning, Protein Kinase C, Speech, Striatum, transcription factor, Urlich Bornschein, vocalization

How Humans Speak and Mice Learn: The Widespread Effects of FOXP2

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]rom bird songs to frog ribbits, animals engage in countless forms of vocalization. However, no other species in the animal kingdom matches humans in complexity of language. The versatility of… Read More

Brain Basics Learning and Memory

Brainfacts.org August 25, 2017August 24, 2017 Basal ganglia, birdsong, brain facts, BrainFacts.org, language, Learning, motor skills, singing, vocal behaviors, Vocal Learning, Zebra Finch

Learning about Language from Birdsong

Songbirds are one of the few known species who learn to speak (or sing) like we do. That makes them the perfect case study to learn about the origins of… Read More

Learning and Memory Did You Know?Neuro News

Kayleen Schreiber August 21, 2017August 21, 2017 Brain, Fact, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Memory, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Research, Science

Bite-size science: The brain remembers without staying the same

A new paper published this month in the journal Cell describes an unexpected finding about memory. Researchers used to think that memory required specific activity from the same brain cells… Read More

Brain Development Brain Basics Did You Know?Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

Gabrielle Torre July 26, 2017June 23, 2022 Brain, Cortex, Development, EEG, Fact, fMRI, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Prefrontal Cortex, Reading, Research

Reading: The Brain’s Best Hijacker

What are you doing right now? I’m no psychic, but I can say for certain one thing that you’re doing: reading. You’re reading this sentence, word by word, and extracting… Read More

Weird Animal Brain Did You Know?Sensation and Perception

Kayleen Schreiber July 24, 2017July 23, 2017 Brain, Color, Fact, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Nature, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Perception, Research, Science, Vision

Weird Animal Brain: Brittle Star

Brittle stars are covered in protective outer plates, but they also have another structure of internal plates. A particular species of brittle star seems to be able to use these… Read More

Neuroscience Art Did You Know?Interviews Sensation and Perception

Kayleen Schreiber July 19, 2017July 16, 2017 Art, Brain, Color, Consciousness, Cortex, Genetics, Interview, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Perception, Prefrontal Cortex, Science

Self Reflected: The Best of Neuroscience and Art

The phrase, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” seems especially true for scientists. What we study becomes not only intellectually beautiful, but also literally beautiful: the form is… Read More

Aging Did You Know?Learning and Memory Movement Neuro News

Kayleen Schreiber June 19, 2017June 30, 2017 Alzheimer’s disease, Brain, Cortex, DNA, Epigenetics, gene, Genetics, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Memory, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Prefrontal Cortex, Receptor, Research, Science

Bite-size Science: Epigenetics help protect the aging brain

Epigenetics change which genes are active and which are inactive. Research over the past few years has shown that these changes are important for protecting the brain from neurodegeneration and… Read More

Neuroscience Technologies Brain Basics Brain Development Did You Know?Learning and Memory Neuro News Sensation and Perception

Kayleen Schreiber March 15, 2017June 30, 2017 2017, Alzheimer’s disease, Brain, Conference, Development, Fact, Florida, Infographic, Institute, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Max Planck, Memory, Neuron, Neuroscience, Perception, Receptor, Research, Science, Sunposium, Synapse

How does fundamental research help you?

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why scientists do what they do. Why spend a career studying cells, fungus, or flies? Other than being nerdy and wanting to learn about our… Read More

52 Brain Facts

knowingneurons May 30, 2016June 30, 2017 52 Brain Facts, Blueberries, Brain, Communication, Health, Learning, Memory, Motor control, stress, Weak

Myth or Fact? Eating blueberries is good for your brain.

52 Brain Facts Learning and Memory

knowingneurons May 23, 2016June 30, 2017 Closet, Cortex, Forget, Hippocampus, Learning, Memory, Remember, Space

Myth or Fact? Forgetting is a ‘technical snag’ in the brain.

Brain Basics Did You Know?Popular Articles Sensation and Perception Videos

Kate Fehlhaber February 10, 2016March 5, 2017 Amygdala, Anatomy, Auditory cortex, Brain, Cerebellum, Distracting, Dopamine, Emotion, Genius, Health, Hippocampus, Learning, Mozart, Music, Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience, Neurotranmistt, Nucleus accumbens, Prefrontal Cortex

This is Your Brain on Music

Forever Young: The Story of Patient H.M.

Did You Know?Learning and Memory

Kate Fehlhaber October 14, 2015March 5, 2017 Amygdala, Entorhinal cortex, Episodic memory, H.M., Hippocampus, HM, Learning, Medial temporal lobe, Memory, Motor learning, Patient H.M., Procedural memory

Forever Young: The Story of Patient H.M.

“Do you know what you did yesterday?” asks the doctor. “No, I don’t,” responds the patient.… Read More

Learning and Memory Movement Neuro News

knowingneurons October 7, 2015March 5, 2017 2015, Basal ganglia, Brainstem, Cerebellum, Episodic memory, Kawai, Learning, Memory, Motor cortex, Neuron, Olveczky, Procedural memory, Rat Lesion, Semantic memory, Skill learning, Thalamus

The Departure of Skill Memories from Motor Cortex: Deeper Directions for Neuroscience

You probably have certain skills that I don’t. Each of us, having spent enough time practicing something new, can become an expert. A simple, ubiquitous example is driving a car… Read More

Did You Know?Interviews SfN 2014

Jillian L. Shaw October 22, 2014March 5, 2017 and Synapses, Conversation, DNA, Eric Kandel, gene, Interview, Kelsey C. Martin, Kelsey Martin, Learning, M.D./Ph.D., Memory, Neurons, Peace Corps., Plasticity, SfN14, Synapse, Synapses, The Living Record of Memory: Genes, UCLA

From Stevens to Synapses: A Conversation with Kelsey Martin

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/173263228″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /] Take your wildest guess. How many neurons make up the human brain? You’re not guessing wild enough if you said anything less than… Read More

Learning and Memory Neuro News Popular Articles Sensation and Perception

Jillian L. Shaw February 27, 2014March 5, 2017 2014, Autism, Cross-modal plasticity, Learning, Nature Neuroscience, Oxytocin, Oxytocin mediates early experience–dependent cross-modal plasticity in the sensory cortices, Sensory cortex, Sensory deprivation, Visual cortex, Yu, Zheng

Heightened Senses: Cross-Modal Neuroplasticity

Envision this scenario. It’s the end of a grueling hike and you’re racing back to civilization along a trail in the mountains as darkness falls. You’ve become separated from your… Read More

Did You Know?Learning and Memory

knowingneurons February 25, 2014March 5, 2017 Cheetah, Direct, Directed greatness, Emotion, Internal traits, Learning, Memory, Network, Plasticity, Practice, Rationality, Self-aware, Self-awareness

Is Self-Awareness Humanity’s Greatest Trait?

The adult human brain is comprised of approximately 86 billion neurons on average, with at least as many nonneuronal cells, networked together to create the substance and memories of a… Read More

Resolving New Memories: Adult Neurogenesis by Knowing Neurons

Brain Basics Did You Know?Learning and Memory

Ryan Jones February 5, 2014March 5, 2017 1998, 2012, Adult neurogenesis, behavioral pattern separation, Cell, contextual fear conditioning, Dentate gyrus, Eriksson, Fred Gage, Hippocampus, Learning, Memory, Memory pattern separation, Nakashiba, Nature, Nature Medicine, Neural progenitor cell, Pattern separation, Susumo Tonegawa, van Praag

Resolving New Memories: Adult Neurogenesis

When I was young, my family lived in an old farmhouse. It was cozy and had a lot of character but, at over 150 years old, it showed its age.… Read More

Learning and Memory Neuro News

knowingneurons February 3, 2014March 5, 2017 Adult neurogenesis, Byron Campbell, Circuit, Dentate gyrus, Hippocampus, Infantile amnesia, Learning, Memory, Morris Water Maze, Network, Sigmond Freud, University of Toronto

Don’t Remember Your Baby Days? Blame New Neurons!

Think back to when you were two years old. Think HARD. Anything? If you’re like most people, you’re probably drawing a blank. Across cultures, adults can’t seem to recall any… Read More

Songbird, Zebra Finch, Bird, Learning, Sing, Knowing Neurons, Michael Condro,

Learning and Memory Neuro News

knowingneurons July 3, 2013March 5, 2017 2013, Behavioral and Neural Signatures of Readiness to Initiate a Learned Motor Sequence, Bout, Current Biology, Doupe, HVC, Learning, Michael Condro, Motif, Practice, Rajan, Sing, Songbird, Vocal, Zebra Finch

Vocal Practice is for the Birds

Everyone is familiar with the concept of “warming up” before doing some kind of practiced task. For example, a guitar player may play a few scales before a concert, or… Read More

Brain Basics Did You Know?Learning and Memory

Ryan Jones May 30, 2013March 5, 2017 Alzheimer, Alzheimer’s disease, Brain, Coincidence, Donald Hebb, Health, Hebbian, Learning, Long-term potentiation, LTP, Magnesium, Memory, Mg2+, Neuron, Neuroscience, NMDA, NMDA receptor

What a Coincidence!

Coincidence is a peculiar thing. We typically think of a coincidence as the occurrence of two events that happen to occur at the same time, but that have no underlying… Read More

Aging Learning and Memory Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Ryan Jones May 27, 2013March 5, 2017 AD, AD-mice, Age, Aging, Alzheimer's, Alzheimer’s disease, and Synaptic Plasticity in the Infralimbic Prefrontal Cortex and Lateral Amygdala, dementia, Effects of Elevation of Brain Magnesium on Fear Conditioning, Elderly, Elevation of Brain Magnesium Prevents and Reverses Cognitive Deficits and Synaptic Loss in Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model, Emotion, Enhancement of Learning and Memory by Elevating Brain Magnesium, Enhancement of Synaptic Plasticity through Chronically Reduced Ca2+ Flux during Uncorrelated Activity, Fear Extinction, Journal of Neuroscience, Learning, Liu, Magnesium, Memory, Mg2+, MIT, Neuron, NMDA, NMDA receptors, Old, Slutsky, Supplement, Synapse, Synaptic function, Synaptic loss

Magnesium Supplement to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

The human brain contains roughly eighty-six billion (~10^10) neurons, each of which forms approximately ten thousand (10^4) synaptic connections with other neurons. Therefore, on average, there are one hundred trillion… Read More

Brain Basics Did You Know?Learning and Memory Popular Articles

Jooyeun Lee January 30, 2013March 5, 2017 AMPA, Ca2+, Calcium, Cascade, Learning, Long-term potentiation, LTP, Memory, NMDA, Plasticity, Second messenger, Synapse, synaptic plasticity

LTP: When Neurons Make a Long-term Commitment

A few months ago, I got a new smart phone that had a bigger screen and a different operating system. For a while, I was annoyed that I made so… Read More

Aging Brain Development Learning and Memory Neuro News

JuanVelasquez January 28, 2013March 5, 2017 2013, Hippocampus, Increased NR2A:NR2B ratio compresses long-term depression range and constrains long-term memory, Learning, LTD, LTP, Memory, NMDA, NR2A, NR2B

Brain Changes for Sculpted, Efficient Memory

While I was growing up, I remember my parents and teachers saying, “Your brain is like a sponge.” Of course, I didn’t understand what they meant, but as cliché as… Read More

Brain Development Did You Know?Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

JuanVelasquez January 9, 2013March 5, 2017 2013, Animal research, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Bengal finch, Development, language, language acquisition, Learning, model organisms, Song learning, Songbird, The songbird as a model for the generation and learning of complex sequential behaviors., Vocalizaton

What Songbirds Tell Us About Human Nature

Every once in a while, we hear of amazing scientific feats about how some new drug successfully reduces weight without dieting or exercise in monkeys, or how scientists slowed aging… Read More

Learning and Memory Neuro News Sensation and Perception

Kate Fehlhaber January 7, 2013March 5, 2017 2012, Correct, Error, Karaoke, Learning, Model, PNAS, Sober, Songbird, Vocal, Vocal learning is constrained by the statistics of sensorimotor experience

“Free Bird:” How to Stay on Key

If you’ve ever done Karaoke, then you know how horribly some people sing, especially when the background music is too loud for them to hear themselves. The ability to adjust… Read More

Learning and Memory Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sleep

JuanVelasquez December 10, 2012March 5, 2017 Aberrant light directly impairs mood and learning through melanopsin-expressing neurons, Brain, circadian rhythm, depression, Fluoxetine, Hattar, ipRGC, Learning, melanopsin, Memory, Nature Neuroscience, Retinal ganglion cells, RGCs, Sleep

Let There Be Light!

When I was an undergraduate student, I was an expert at pulling “all-nighter” study sessions prior to exams and project deadlines. Once everything was said and done the next day, many of my classmates… Read More

Did You Know?Learning and Memory

Anita December 5, 2012March 5, 2017 Alcohol, Binge, Current Biology, Ethanol, Fruit Flies, Hangover, Learning, Memory, negative association task, Neural Adaptation Leads to Cognitive Ethanol Dependence

Quick buzz. Slow learning.

Beer and wine are quite possibly the oldest known man-made beverages. Anthropologists have discovered beer jugs that date back to the Neolithic period (10,000 B.C.), and Egyptian pictographs clearly show… Read More

Learning and Memory Movement

knowingneurons November 30, 2012March 5, 2017 Learning, Memory, Mirror Neurons, Motor, Overlearning, Practice, Skills

Bend it like Beckham: The Neuroscience Way

Life is a continuum of learning motor skills to achieve goals. At a young age, children learn how sit up, walk, jump, and then cut with scissors. Later, they may… Read More

Did You Know?Learning and Memory

Jooyeun Lee November 14, 2012March 5, 2017 Arzi, Brain, Classical Conditioning, Learning, Memory, Neuroscience, Pavlov

Ding! Fries are done!

Have you been at a restaurant and heard a bell ring in the kitchen to notify servers that a plate of food was ready to be served? Most likely, hearing… Read More

can you learn while you sleep, knowing neurons,

Neuro News Sleep

Kate Fehlhaber November 12, 2012March 5, 2017 Arzi, Brain, Humans can learn new information during sleep, Learn, Learning, Nature Neuroscience, Neuroscience, Sleep, Stickgold, To sleep: perchance to learn

Can you learn while you sleep?

As a student, I have admittedly entertained the idea of learning by osmosis. Who wouldn’t want to catch some shut-eye with a textbook as your pillow and absorb all its… Read More