A new study suggests that age-associated improvements in the ability to consider the preferences of others are linked with maturation of a brain region involved in self control. The findings, published by Cell Press in the March 8 issue of the journal Neuron, may help to explain why young children often struggle to control selfish impulses, even when they know better, and could impact educational strategies designed to promote successful social behavior.
General
Researchers gain new insight into prefrontal cortex activity
The brain has a remarkable ability to learn new cognitive tasks while maintaining previously acquired knowledge about various functions necessary for everyday life. But exactly how new information is incorporated into brain systems that control cognitive functions has remained a mystery.
Neuroscientist group finds daydreaming uses same parts of the brain as social skills
(Medical Xpress) — A group of Australian neuroscientists have been reviewing the results of many studies done over the years regarding the parts of the brain that are thought to be used in different real world scenarios and have found that many of them appear to be involved when people go into what is called a default network – more commonly known as daydreaming, or running on auto-pilot. Their findings suggest, as they write in their paper published in Nature Reviews Neurology, that the default network is tied very closely with the same areas of the brain generally thought of as those used for social skills.
Finding unseen damage of traumatic brain injury
The soldier on the fringes of an explosion. The survivor of a car wreck. The football player who took yet another skull-rattling hit. Too often, only time can tell when a traumatic brain injury will leave lasting harm – there’s no good way to diagnose the damage.
Aspirin may counteract potential trans fat-related stroke risk in older women
Older women whose diets include a substantial amount of trans fats are more likely than their counterparts to suffer an ischemic stroke, a new study shows.