BrainFutures News

November Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.   Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month: How does the brain keep us awake? Wakefulness is maintained by the brain’s arousal systems, each regulating different aspects of the awake state. Many arousal syste...

Using Magnetic and Electrical Stimulation to Heal the Brain

For centuries, scientists have attempted to use electricity to heal the human body and brain. According to The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), some of the earliest attempts are shown in carvings from the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, which depicts an electric fish being used to treat pain. At the BrainFutures conference, Dr. Alvaro ...

Regaining Control Over Our Distracted Minds

Dr. Adam Gazzaley is a professor of neurology, physiology and psychiatry at the University of California – San Francisco and founding executive director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center at UCSF. At the BrainFutures conference, he discussed how technology impacts our cognitive controls. Cognitive controls such as attention, working memo...

October Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.   Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month:   1. Your tongue’s receptors, called taste buds,transform information about tastes and send them to the brain to be processed into your favorite flavors. Additionally, we ...

BrainFutures attends the ApplySci Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech conference at MIT

BrainFutures recently attended the ApplySci Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech conference at MIT, which showcased innovative methods of early detection of disease as well as the latest in computer-brain interfaces. Highlights included: Dr. Marom Bikson, professor of Biomedical Engineering at the City College of New York, focused on applications for...

‘Nutrition does not stop at the neck’

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 8 million people die every year from mental illness. Some cases are attributable to unnatural causes such as suicide and unintentional injuries, while other deaths are due to acute and chronic comorbid conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Researchers like Captain Joseph R. Hibbeln, M...

How Stress Can Rewire Your Brain

If you’ve noticed changes in your memory, stress could be a factor. Long-term stress may eventually change your brain in ways that affect your memory. To understand why stress affects thinking and memory, it's important to understand a little about how the brain works. Neuroplasticity (also known as brain plasticity) allows the brain to reconstruct and r...

August Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn. Here are our top fascinating brain facts of the month: The human brain is nearly 60 percent fat. We've learned in recent years that fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules that determine your brain's integrity and abil...

July Brain Facts

Brain experts agree that although our knowledge of the brain has changed drastically in recent years, there is more to learn.  Here are our top three fascinating brain facts of the month: Your brain generates enough electricity to power a 25-watt light bulb. There are no pain receptors in the brain. While your brain detects and processes pain in t...

Exercise and Aging: You're Never Too Old to Benefit

Do you think you’re too old to exercise? According to Dr. John Ratey, Harvard psychiatrist and author of Go Wild and Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, it's never too late to get in shape. At the 2017 BrainFutures conference, Dr. Ratey confirmed that you can stave off the aging process and prevent chronic diseases by exercising regu...