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Science News post list

1,100 news posts in Mind and body

Neuroscience

11 Jun 2024

How older people explore new spaces could suggest cognitive decline and dementia

Aging people commonly show a decline in navigation ability, and this has generally been attributed to worsening spatial memory. But now, researchers from the US have shown for the first time that this decline is partly driven by changes in typical exploration behavior by middle age. In a maze learning task, middle-aged people were less efficient explorers than young people. This discovery could have applications in the clinical diagnosis and therapy of cognitive decline and dementia.

USNM 23792, Mammuthus primigenius, or Woolly Mammoth (composite), Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Gary Mulcahey.

Life sciences

31 May 2024

Clues to mysterious disappearance of North America’s large mammals 50,000 years ago found within ancient bone collagen

Dr Mariya Antonosyan, Dr Torben Rick, and Prof Nicole Boivin are co-authors of a new Frontiers in Mammal Science article in which they used new methods to identify fossil bone fragments housed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The insights they gained could help scientists better understand the causes and consequences of large mammal extinction.

Newborns whose mother spoke in a mix of languages during pregnancy are more sensitive to a range of sound pitches

Life sciences

22 May 2024

Babies in the womb exposed to two languages hear speech differently when born

Researchers have shown for the first time that newborns of monolingual mothers respond differently to playback of a carefully selected sound stimulus than newborns of bilingual mothers. The findings suggest that bilingual newborns are sensitive to a wider range of acoustic variation of speech, at the cost of being less selectively tuned in to any single language. These results underscore the importance of prenatal exposure for learning about speech.

Male chicks play more than females. Image credit: Rebecca Oscarsson

Life sciences

02 May 2024

Why do male chicks play more than females? Study finds answers in distant ancestor

Researchers observed the frequency of play by aged chicks between six and 53 days old. Males engaged more frequently in social and object play than females, but there was no difference in the frequency of locomotor play. The researchers concluded that these patterns can be explained by the strong sexual dimorphism of adult junglefowl, the ancestors of domestic chickens. This means that male chicks benefit more from practicing skills related to physical ability and social tactics.

Health

25 Apr 2024

Puzzling link between depression and cardiovascular disease explained at last: they partly develop from the same gene module

It’s long been known that depression and cardiovascular disease are somehow related, though exactly how remained a puzzle. Now, researchers have identified a ‘gene module’ consisting of 256 functionally related, co-expressed genes, which is part of the developmental program of both diseases. These genes can now be used as biomarkers for both depression and cardiovascular disease, and could ultimately help to find new drugs to target both.