Transcranial alternating current stimulation used to boost working memory

Researchers at Imperial College London found that applying transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) through the scalp helped to synchronize brain waves in different areas of the brain, enabling subjects to perform better on tasks involving short-term working memory.

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Distinct stages of thinking revealed by brain activity patterns

Using neuroimaging data, Carnegie Mellon University researchers have identified four distinct stages of math problem solving.

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On the Same Wavelength: Brain Imaging Headband Measures How Our Minds Align When We Communicate

Drexel University biomedical engineers, in collaboration with Princeton University psychologists, are using a wearable brain-imaging device to see just how brains sync up when humans interact.  study shows that the fNIRS device can successfully measure brain synchronization during conversation. The technology can now be used to study everything from doctor-patient communication, to how people consume cable news.

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New brain map provides unprecedented detail in 180 areas of the cerebral cortex

A detailed new map by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and associates* lays out the landscape of 180 areas of the cerebral cortex in painstaking detail; 97 of these areas have never been previously described. The new map is intended to help researchers studying brain disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, dementia and epilepsy. They will be able to use it to understand differences in the brains of patients with these diseases, compared with adults who are healthy. It also will accelerate progress in deciphering the workings of the healthy brain and elucidating what makes us unique as a species, the researchers say. The new map will also be vital for neurosurgeons.

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