2020-02-26 - Global health organizations recommend breast milk as the ideal source of nutrients for babies. However, breastfeeding may not be possible for all women due to specific medical situations, lifestyles, or comfort levels. For individuals that either cannot or choose not to breastfeed, infant formula serves as a convenient and healthy alternative. Nutritional technologies being incorporated into...

2020-02-25 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new study, researchers report they can manipulate how the brain encodes and retains emotional memories. The scientists found that focusing on the neutral details of a disturbing scene can weaken a person’s later memories – and negative impressions – of that scene. The findings, reported in the journal Neuropsychologia, could lead to the development of methods to increase...

2020-02-18 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study of 55 women found that two of the most popular forms of bariatric surgery – Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy – may dramatically change patients’ sensitivity to and absorption of alcohol. Some women’s sensitivity to alcohol increased so much after bariatric surgery that the amount they could consume before feeling the effects was reduced...

2020-02-14 - Scientific and public appreciation for microbes — and the key role their communal actions play in environmental health, food production, and human wellness — has grown in recent years. While initially considered to be static, uniform entities, microbial communities are highly complex and contain internal chemical swapfests that are in constant flux.

2020-02-12 - A black-and-white Boston terrier named Chevy, as sleek and dapper as a seal in a tuxedo, trots crisply into the soundproof testing room. His jaunty confidence will fade quickly as a team of researchers subjects him to a series of psychological experiments that will daunt, dismay, and ultimately baffle him. Poor Chevy is about to be gaslit for the sake of science. This spiffy little terrier is...

2020-02-06 - Since 1969, when the first two awards were conferred on founding members Chester Darrow and R.C. Davis, the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR) has recognized the outstanding and sustained contributions of some of its most prominent members with the society's highest honor, the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychophysiology. In the 60‐year history of SPR, only 36 individuals...

2020-02-05 - Two grants will fund interdisciplinary research at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, including a look at how neurons and muscle cells communicate with each other and also to develop a drug delivery system for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Kong's research goal is to develop advanced material systems related to human health.

2020-01-24 - It’s not just the chanciness of sample preparation; it’s also the lack of access that frustrates Claudio Grosman, a biophysicist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who studies a membrane protein in muscle cells and neurons that binds to nicotine and other drugs. He is waiting to see whether he will get time at the Simons Center, which has added four NIH-funded Krios machines to...

2019-12-13 - Stress in humans and animals is linked to shrinkage of the hippocampus. Regular practice of yoga can help enhance nerve connections in many of the same brain regions that benefit from aerobic exercise, according to a study reviewing 11 other previous research on Hatha yoga—which includes body movements, meditation, and breathing. Researchers said the brain health of participants were compared at...

2019-11-14 - Cowbirds outsource parenting to other species, but an innate password tells their children to copy cowbird songs. Now, a new paper describes how the cowbird chicks may learn to recognize and sing their own species’ songs. "We kind of opened the paper with this existential question," said Sarah London, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago. "How do you know who you are if no one's shown...

2019-11-14 - A new study, co-authored by Northeastern University professor Charles Hillman and Naiman Khan at the University of Illinois, found that drinking water and staying hydrated increased children’s ability to multitask and improved their reaction times. “Kids who were more hydrated performed better on tasks of mental flexibility — multitasking — and working memory,” Hillman tells The Post. “This is...

2019-10-07 - Rogers and Mudar said the primary research aims are to understand challenges adults with cognitive disability deal with every day, and to identify existing and emerging technology that can help. Three segments of the population are part of the study group: Adults 60 and older with mild cognitive impairment, cognitive impairments due to stroke and those who have sustained a traumatic brain injury.

2019-09-10 - A team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that honey bees can remember positive and negative experiences—such as taking care of their young or fending off an enemy. These memories are then stored in specific areas of their brains, according to how good or bad the experience was. Scientists have long known that vertebrates—animals with tail bones—like...

2019-08-23 - The Juvenile Detention Center Outreach program, conceived by neuroscience student Ian Traniello, has been running for five years. To date, roughly a dozen neuroscience students have participated, most of whom had never taught behind bars. Now, the JDC outreach team has been on several local panels discussing their outreach work, presented posters at the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting,...

2019-08-15 - According to bee expert and University of Illinois professor Gene E. Robinson, urban environments like Chicago are actually great for bees. There are often less pesticides and a wider variety of flowering plants and trees to feed on. Still, raising bees in the Midwest comes with its own challenges. Since bees go into hibernation in the winter, they're generally left outside. And this year in...