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The researchers looked at the prefrontal cortex, the brain region that controls various cognitive processes and plays a role in higher learning. They knew that brain cells in the prefrontal cortex of young animals are really flexible, or plastic. Life experiences, particularly those that involve learning, can profoundly alter the circuitry in this brain region. [10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain] … [Read more...] about Why Aging Makes It Hard to Learn New Tricks

The researchers collected neurons from mice and experimented with them in lab dishes. They tagged the cells' neurotransmitters with a fluorescent protein that glows in the synapse and turns off in the cell. On average, it takes about five seconds for the cells to collect up the neurotransmitters and this timeframe didn't vary much between a cell's different synapses. However, different neurons did vary a lot in their speediness, up to about fourfold, the researchers said. … [Read more...] about Speed of Brain-Cell Chatter Clocked for First Time

Researchers studied groups of people from the University of Wisconsin-Madison community, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The first group was asked to perform simple tasks, like pressing a button every time they took a breath or clicking in response to a letter popping up on a computer screen; these tasks were so easy that their minds were likely to wander, the researchers figured. [6 Fun Ways to Sharpen Your Memory] … [Read more...] about Daydreaming Is Good for the Mind