Stories by R. Douglas Fields

Does TV Rot Your Brain?

Scientists have linked TV viewing to antisocial behavior, lowered verbal IQ and altered brain structure—but a new study raises questions

Why Binge Drinking May Wire the Brain for Alcohol Dependence

After surviving a series of benders, neural circuits get locked into a firing pattern that compels alcohol seeking    

Burying Political Hatchets to Fight Alzheimer's Disease

Congress members from both sides of the aisle are calling for a national strategy to confront the dementia “tsunami” but let’s be real about what to expect

Why Nobody Intervened in the July 4 Metro Murder

Criticism of witnesses’ inaction reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the neuroscience of how the brain responds to sudden threats

Testing Males and Females in Every Medical Experiment Is a Bad Idea

Requiring medical researchers to test males and females in every experiment sounds reasonable, but it is a bad idea

How to Erase Bad Memories

I’ll never forget it. They strapped electrodes to my wrist, cranked up a black dial on a frightening electronic device encrusted with switches and knobs, and shocked me repeatedly with jolts of electricity...

Creativity, Madness and Drugs

San Diego—Would we have Poe’s Raven today if the tormented author had taken lithium to suppress his bipolar illness? Not likely, considering the high frequency of psychiatric illnesses among writers and artists, concluded psychiatrist Kay Jamison of Johns Hopkins Medical School speaking last week at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego...

Brain Stimulation Can Control Compliance with Social Norms

Human beings are utterly dependent on a complex social structure for their survival.  Since all behavior is controlled by the brain, human beings may have evolved specialized neural circuits that are responsible for compliance with society’s rules.  A new study has identified such a region in the human brain, and researchers can increase or decrease [...]..

School Work Prevents Senile Dementia

Cognitive decline is among the most dreaded consequences of old age and disease. Few things undermine a person's ability, opportunities, and independence more than loss of mental function...

Scientists Identify Neurons That Register Itch

Human Brain Cells Make Mice Smart

Stimulating the Brain with Microscopic Magnets

An attractive new method of deep-brain stimulation could solve that therapy's trickiest problems

Why Does a Southern Drawl Sound Uneducated to Some?

Studies have shown that whether you are from the North or South, a Southern twang pegs the speaker as comparatively dimwitted, but also likely to be a nicer person than folks who speak like a Yankee...

The Power of Music: Mind Control by Rhythmic Sound

New Orleans, October 16, 2012 - You walk into a bar and music is thumping. All heads are bobbing and feet tapping in synchrony. Somehow the rhythmic sound grabs control of the brains of everyone in the room forcing them to operate simultaneously and perform the same behaviors in synchrony...

Green Fireworks Environmentally Safe, That is

The Fourth of July fireworks display in my family always has a bit of a nerdy side to it. Cries of "Strontium Nitrate!" punctuate the brilliant red burst of a skyrocket.

Drilling for Oil in Eden: Initiative to Save Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador Is Uncertain

Quito, Ecuador— The most biologically diverse habitat in the western hemisphere, the Yasuní rainforest in Ecuador, is under threat. The diversity of species in the Yasuní Park is unmatched by any other park in the world...

Raising the Dead: New Species of Life Resurrected from Ancient Andean Tomb

Ecuadorian scientists have revived a new species of yeast from pre-Incan tomb, illuminating prehistoric life

Amping Up Brain Function: Transcranial Stimulation Shows Promise in Speeding Up Learning

Electrical stimulation of the brain is found to accelerate learning in military and civilian subjects, although researchers are wary of drawing larger conclusions about the mechanism

Surety Bond: Breast-Feeding May Increase Children's IQ

When it comes to brain development, the missing ingredient in bottle-feeding is a bond with the mother, not the chemicals in the milk

Preliminary Human Experiments to Test Safety of Nerve Cell Transplants for Spinal Cord Paralysis

The new approach, currently being studied by the FDA for phase I trials, avoids the problems of immunological rejection and the controversy around the use of embryonic stem cells