The Brain Channel

Can Neurofeedback Help Children With Autism?

Erin Matlock — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:18:30 +0000

Watch as four families share their stories of using EEG Neurofeedback to help ease the challenges faced by children with Autism. Neurofeedback pioneers, Susan and Siegfried Othmer, recount their own journey with their son, Brian, who was the catalyst for their lifelong commitment of service.

Neural Stem Cells Reverse Alzheimer’s-Like Symptoms

Erin Matlock — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 07:31:40 +0000

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have reversed Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in mouse models of the disease with injections of neural stem cells. The first author, Mathew Blurton-Jones, has a Training grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The lead author, Frank LaFerla, has a SEED grant and an Early Translational grant from CIRM.

Why We Think It’s OK To Cheat

Erin Matlock — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:30:52 +0000

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studies the bugs in our moral code: the hidden reasons we think it’s OK to cheat or steal (sometimes). Clever studies help make his point that we’re predictably irrational — and can be influenced in ways we can’t grasp.

How We Read Each Other’s Minds

Erin Matlock — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 09:05:05 +0000

Sensing the motives and feelings of others is a natural talent for humans. But how do we do it? Here, Rebecca Saxe shares fascinating lab work that uncovers how the brain thinks about other peoples’ thoughts — and judges their actions.

Going Home – Award Winning Film On Alzheimer’s

Erin Matlock — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:26:56 +0000

This prize-winning video was produced by Vinn Bay and Tee Boon Leng for a video competition as part of the ADI (Alzheimer’s Disease International) conference in March 2009. It depicts a grandmother struggling with the devastating symptoms and her family who is slow to realize and accept her condition.

Your Brain In Love

Erin Matlock — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:09:07 +0000

Why do we crave love so much, even to the point that we would die for it? To learn more about our very real, very physical need for romantic love, Helen Fisher and her research team took MRIs of people in love — and people who had just been dumped.

Autism Every Day

Erin Matlock — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:40:56 +0000

Autism Every Day is a film produced by Lauren Thierry and Jim Watkins of October Group and Eric Solomon of Milestone Video. A 13-minute version of the film was screened at A New Decade for Autism, a fundraising event held May 9, 2006 in New York City.

Christmas Brain Teasers and Puzzles

Erin Matlock — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:35:28 +0000

In this video you’ll find seven “word-picture” brain teasers. Can you solve all of them? Visit http://www.BrainPagesChristmas.com to check your work.

Can Certain Sounds Heal Your Pain?

Erin Matlock — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:47:57 +0000

Based on over a decade of new research, Don Campbell, bestselling author of The Mozart Effect®, and Alex Doman, an expert in the practical application of sound and listening, show how we can use music and silence to become more efficient, and productive, relaxed, and healthy. Click here to learn more about sound healing.

Here’s A Cool Optical Illusion Video

Erin Matlock — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:49:54 +0000

This optical illusion relies on a principle called “Chromatic Adaptation”.

An object may be viewed under various conditions. For example, it may be illuminated by the sunlight, the light of a fire, or a harsh electric light. In all of these situations, the visual system indicates that the object has the same color: an apple always appears red, whether viewed at night or during the day. This feature of the visual system is called chromatic adaptation.

Have you ever entered a movie theater on a sunny afternoon? The room probably appeared completely dark but as your visual system adjusted to the reduced level of light you were able to see better after a few moments.

This “adaptation mechanism” allows our eyes to recover from an oversensitivity to a particular stimuli. “Chromatic adaptation” occurs when our eyes adjust to certain color stimuli. Chromatic adaptation is one of the more easily fooled aspects of vision, and is prone to some of the most spectacular optical illusions.

Courtesy of Spaceye and YouTube