Brain Blast | Why Teens Take Risks
The latest news on the brain and beyond.
A potential treatment for dyslexia, a better brain-computer interface, and a probable cause of teenage risk-taking. Get schooled on all these subjects and more in this edition of the Brain Blast.
Smartphone activity is used to predict brain connectivity
Researchers looked at subjects’ smartphone activity, including screen time and social actions. In 80% of cases, the researchers were able to use this smartphone data alone to predict how well the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala portions of the subjects’ brains were connected. A stronger connection between these two areas is associated with more positive emotions and lower risk of anxiety and depression.
Story via Dartmouth College
Children’s brains process language differently
Using fMRI, neuroscientists found that children under 10 use both brain hemispheres to process language. Adults, on the other hand, almost exclusively process language in the left hemisphere of their brains. This phenomenon may explain why adults who suffer left hemisphere brain damage are likely to face language challenges, while young children who do are unlikely to experience such difficulties.
Story via GU Medical Center
Scientists improve brain-computer interfaces
Previous brain-computer interface (BCI) options required daily resetting and retraining. However, UCSF researchers have developed a “plug and play” BCI. A subject in a UCSF study successfully used their brain activity to control a computer cursor via an algorithm. The algorithm was left on, allowing it to become better attuned to the subject’s brain activity and enabling the subject to more easily control the cursor.
Story via UC San Francisco
Brain stimulation can reduce symptoms of dyslexia
It has been posited that dyslexia is caused by difficulties in processing language sounds due to altered patterns of neural activity in the auditory cortex. To prove this theory, scientists regulated these neural patterns in subjects with dyslexia using non-invasive electrical stimulation to the auditory cortex. After the application, the subjects showed improved reading accuracy and processing of language sounds.
Story via PLOS
Psychologists link sleep problems and negative emotions
Trying to stay positive? Start by getting a good night’s sleep. University of British Columbia psychologists discovered that individuals who get less sleep than normal have more negative reactions to both joyful and stressful events. Negative emotions may increase a person’s risk of inflammation and other health problems. Therefore, regular sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
Story via University of British Columbia
Teenage risk-taking is influenced by brain growth
In the adolescent brain, the socioemotional system encourages risk-tasking behaviors, while the cognitive control center manages risk-taking impulses. A University of Delaware research team took MRIs of teenagers’ brains. The team found that risky behavior is more common in adolescents when the risk-taking areas of their brains are more mature than the impulse-controlling regions of their brains.
Story via University of Delaware