Researchers at Aalto University analysed how listeners immerse themselves in audiobooks by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and words that the story brings to mind. The study indicated that word lists resembling each other also predicted similarities in brain function. In the study, 16 people listened to an audiobook written by Professor Iiro Jääskeläinen…
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Preschoolers may not be as good at resisting large portions of everyday foods as was previously thought, according to Penn State researchers. In a study, the researchers examined whether children between the ages of three and five were susceptible to the portion size effect — the tendency of people to eat…
IMAGE: In a study of healthy volunteers, NIH researchers found that taking short breaks, early and often, may help our brains learn new skills. view more Credit: Courtesy of Cohen lab, NIH/NINDS. In a study of healthy volunteers, National Institutes of Health researchers found that our brains may solidify the memories of new skills we just…
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition that interferes with the flow of information in the central nervous system. It causes a variety of symptoms and can affect women differently than men. Researchers do not know what triggers multiple sclerosis (MS). Once it develops, the disease causes the immune system to destroy a type of tissue…
Purdue Pharma’s sales force swept through New York State, visiting doctors and pharmacies nearly half a million times between 2006 and 2017 to promote OxyContin and other opioid painkillers. That is roughly 160 sales stops in the state each weekday during the height of the nation’s addiction crisis. The company’s flood-the-zone sales strategy was among…
For 340 days, Scott Kelly circled the Earth aboard the International Space Station, gathering data about himself. He drew blood from his arms. He saved his urine. He played computer games to test his memory and reaction speed. He measured the shape of his eyes. Two hundred and forty miles below, Mr. Kelly’s twin brother,…
[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] Vaccine skeptics were planning a lawsuit against New York City. A Hasidic woman was heckled when she boarded a public bus. Family members were avoiding weddings for fear of encountering unvaccinated relatives. When Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on…
“Let’s be outrageous,” Brandon James Gwinn murmured into a microphone. “Let’s misbehave.” It was Monday night at the Playboy Club and everyone seemed to be behaving relatively well. People chatted, checked their phones, ate prawns served pink and prone on a bed of crushed ice, like sunbathers stranded atop some glacier. Besides, when a culture…
Living near a major highway may be associated with developmental delays in children. Researchers studied 5,825 children living in New York state outside of New York City. Parents periodically filled out a well-validated questionnaire that tracks developmental milestones in children from age 8 months to 3 years. Milestones encompassed physical, verbal and social domains. The…
LONDON — On a recent spring morning, the Royal Opera House’s revival workroom, which is part of the costume department, was a hive of activity. Amedine Ballo, one of the revival workroom technicians, was hand-sewing gold thread onto a burgundy and pink chorus costume for the opera “Faust,” opening this week, because part of it…