Prenatal radial glia alter their behavior in response to local developmental cues, helping explain how the cerebral cortex is built.
UCLA researchers have discovered two powerful influences that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Radial glia, stem cells responsible for producing much of the cerebral cortex, change their behavior depending on how they process glucose and on physical contact with signals arriving from the thalamus. Those signals can alter which types of neurons are produced, including upper-layer neurons that are especially prominent in humans.
The study links ADHD-related broader attention to generating more remote ideas, suggesting creative activities may channel that tendency.
Some of the attention patterns that make ADHD challenging may also help spark creativity by allowing the brain to explore more ideas and unexpected connections. Researchers think creative activities could potentially channel this “defocused attention” while helping strengthen the brain systems involved in focus and self-control.
Offers seven ways to resist September over-scheduling, including letting children be bored and chatting to strangers.
The pressure to self-optimise at the start of the new school year can lead to disappointment and burnout. Instead, here are seven ways to slow things down and reap the benefits It is a hangover from our school days that September can feel like a time for getting back to the grind. As in January, there is a sense that we should return as better workers, partners, friends and parents. This sense is even stronger now a culture of optimisation – has taken over – evidenced by the fad for adding “max…
A Jeremy Nguyen cartoon skewering the adult pull of back-to-school sales and its inner-child nostalgia.
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Reports Russell Howard and Cerys Morgan’s announcement of their son Felix’s death and their memorial foundation.
Comedian and his wife, Cerys Morgan, set up charitable foundation in memory of Felix, who died shortly after birth Russell Howard has announced the death of his baby son, in what he described as the “most devastating time of our lives”. The 46-year-old comedian said his family had been “changed for ever” after their “beautiful baby boy”, Felix, died shortly after birth. Continue reading...
A substance found in edible sea squirts appeared to reverse several signs of aging in older mice. Plasmalogen supplements improved memory and learning, strengthened connections between brain cells, reduced inflammation, and even helped the mice grow thicker, darker hair. Researchers believe the compounds may encourage brain regeneration and protect aging synapses.