Science News: Our Weekly Picks from Around the Web

How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain
“For more than a decade, neuroscientists and physiologists have been gathering evidence of the beneficial relationship between exercise and brainpower. But the newest findings make it clear that this isn’t just a relationship; it is the relationship.”
www.nytimes.com (04/18/2012)

No ‘God Spot’ In Brain, Spirituality Linked To Right Parietal Lobe
“Scientists have speculated that the human brain features a “God spot,” one distinct area of the brain responsible for spirituality. Now, University of Missouri researchers have completed research that indicates spirituality is a complex phenomenon, and multiple areas of the brain are responsible for the many aspects of spiritual experiences.”
www.huffingtonpost.com (04/20/2012)

Brain Implant Helps Paralyzed Hand Move
“Scientists at Northwestern University built a device that can send signals from the brain directly to paralyzed muscles, causing them to move by thought.”
news.discovery.com (04/21/2012)

Porn-Brain Study: Erotic Movies Make Brain Regions ‘Shut Down’
“Watching pornography would seem to be a vision-intensive task. But new research finds that looking at erotic movies can actually quiet the part of the brain that processes visual stimuli.”
www.huffingtonpost.com (04/18/2012)

Neuroscientists discover key protein responsible for controlling nerve cell protection
“A key protein, which may be activated to protect nerve cells from damage during heart failure or epileptic seizure, has been found to regulate the transfer of information between nerve cells in the brain.”
www.healthcanal.com (04/22/2012)

Brain Tumor Vaccine Shows Promise in Early Trial
“A vaccine made from brain cancer patients’ own tumor cells led to a nearly 50 percent improvement in survival times for those stricken with glioblastoma multiforme, the same malignancy that claimed the life of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a new study suggests.”
health.usnews.com (04/17/2012)

{Photo Credit: Mike Baird from Morro Bay, USA Mike Baird bairdphotos.com [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons}