How do you define maturity when the brain never stops changing?

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"Act your age" says one group, while "you are only as young as you feel" assures another. Those are two conflicting messages about aging and maturity. How can anyone know when maturity is "just right"?

Deep brain stimulation doesn't improve memory - it hurts it

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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of areas in the brain known to be involved in making memories does not improve memory performance, according to a new study. 

Deep brain stimulation is an invasive technique that involves the implantation of electrodes deep into the brain and then running current through them to electrically stimulate nearby neurons. 

Smoking during pregnancy may make your child abuse drugs and alcohol

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Smoking during pregnancy is a well-known risk factor for many health problems in children, including low birth weight, heart defects and asthma. In our latest study, we show that smoking in pregnancy also increases the risk for children’s later tobacco smoking, as well as alcohol and cannabis use. This effect may be partly explained by so-called epigenetic changes at birth, in genes important for brain function and development.

This is your brain on God

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Religious and spiritual experiences activate the brain reward circuits in much the same way as love, sex, gambling, drugs and music, according to a psychology paper based on interpretations of brain scans.

Osteopaths defend Kratom as opioid alternative

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Over a year ago, trade reps for the kratom supplement business began calling everyone in media hoping to get scientific and political coverage for protesting a DEA ban they suspected was coming. Sure enough, it did, but much of the work that went into progress at that time is now bearing fruit for the kratom sales industry.

Women are better at recognizing faces than men - except this toy

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In most psychology papers, either women are better than men at identifying faces or there is no gender difference.

Music training creates new brain connections in children

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Taking music lessons increases brain fiber connections in children, according to a recent small study. The researchers studied 23 healthy children between the ages of five and six years old. All of the children were right handed and had no history of sensory, perception or neurological disorders. None of the children had been trained in any artistic discipline in the past.

Do Pokémon Go and augmented reality games offer real health benefits?

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The combination of augmented reality technology, geocaching, and other novel techniques to create innovative active video games (AVGs) has potential personal and public health implications, as discussed in the Editorial "Pokémon Go, Go, Go, Gone?" published in Games for Health.

Older people are better at learning new non-verbal reasoning skills

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A new study finds that 'an old dog can't learn new tricks' only applies to dogs. In people, older adolescents and adults not only learn certain thinking skills including non-verbal reasoning more effectively than younger people, they learn them better.

And providing a new boost for the marketing departments of 'brain training games', non-verbal reasoning skills can be readily trained and do not represent an innate, fixed ability.

Female DJ equals poor dance music?

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According to a music researcher, discrimination of women is common in the club scene. Female DJs don’t get gigs because the music they play is “too feminine.”