Monthly Archives: August 2013

Habits are notoriously difficult to break and, if broken, are usually replaced by new routines. To examine the neural basis of these characteristics, the authors recorded spike activity in cortical and striatal “habit sites” as rats learned maze tasks. They … Continue reading

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Research to understand variability at the highest end of the cognitive performance has been scarce. The aims of this study focused on defining a cognitive endophenotype based on exceptional episodic memory performance and to investigate familial aggregation of exceptional episodic … Continue reading

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Diabetes is a risk factor for dementia but it is unknown whether higher glucose levels increase the risk of dementia in people without diabetes. 2067 participants without dementia were studied to examine the relationship between glucose levels and the risk … Continue reading

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The authors of this study measured metabolic and neuronal activity in nonhuman primates after long-term motor training, and found that skill learning was correlated with a reduction in metabolic activity in the primary motor cortex without an effect on neuronal … Continue reading

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Cranial irradiation is used routinely for the treatment of nearly all brain tumors, but may lead to progressive and debilitating impairments of cognitive function. To determine whether changes in dendritic architecture might underlie the neurocognitive sequelae found after irradiation, the … Continue reading

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