Brain Storms

University College London researchers have identified firing patterns of "spatial grid" neurons that allow humans to navigate and locate objects.

Duke University researchers have identified about 50 neuroprotective chemical compounds using arrays of "humanized yeast!"

University of Cincinnati researchers, with scientists from the Canadian Department of Agriculture and the USDA have shown that blueberry juice can aid the memories of older humans.

MIT and University of Pittsburgh researchers have demnostrated that the size of specific brain regions can predict how well a person can succeed in playing video games. This somewhat reinforces previous researchers that show a strong correlation between a person's IQ and the size of specific brain centers.

Unmotivated learners can suddenly become motivated if the learning task is framed as "fun."

Older persons can make sense out of seemingly "irrelevant" information. This finding is a bit counterintuitive, since younger brains are supposed to be more open and flexible to new ideas and information. But if you consider an older person's superior experience and larger knowledge base, just a bit of flexibility can go a long way toward making irrelevant information relevant.

The human brain is the only example of high level general intelligence that humans know of. Cognitive scientists who wish to design machine brains have a lot to learn before they separate what is important and what is not important in the brain's creation of mind -- when applied to the larger and more general question of evolved or designed cognition.