To make sense of complex environments, brain waves constantly adapt, compensating for drastically different sound and vision processing speeds, researchers report.
Every high-school physics student learns that sound and light travel at very different speeds. If the brain did not account for this difference, it would be much harder for us to tell where sounds came from, and how they are related to what we see.
Instead, the brain allows us to make better sense of our world by playing tricks, so that a visual and a sound created at the same time are perceived as synchronous, even though they reach the brain and are processed by neural circuits at different speeds.
Loneliness can strengthen parts of brain tied to imagination and reminiscing, study finds
By Kelly Hayes article
A file image shows a man walking on a dock by the water on Nov. 28, 2020. (Photo by Christoph Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
MONTREAL - As many continue to social distance due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will undoubtedly be many people alone for the holidays. Researchers behind a large study have found that loneliness might actually help build and strengthen parts of the brain tied to the imagination aiding those facing isolation.
Areas of the brain responsible for inner thoughts, such as reminiscing, future planning, imagining and thinking about others, had become strengthened and gray matter volume was greater in those who reported feeling lonely, according to the study published Dec. 15 in the journal Nature Communications.
Loneliness can strengthen parts of brain tied to imagination and reminiscing, study finds
By Kelly Hayes article
A file image shows a man walking on a dock by the water on Nov. 28, 2020. (Photo by Christoph Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
MONTREAL - As many continue to social distance due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will undoubtedly be many people alone for the holidays. Researchers behind a large study have found that loneliness might actually help build and strengthen parts of the brain tied to the imagination aiding those facing isolation.
Areas of the brain responsible for inner thoughts, such as reminiscing, future planning, imagining and thinking about others, had become strengthened and gray matter volume was greater in those who reported feeling lonely, according to the study published Dec. 15 in the journal Nature Communications.
Does loneliness affect our overall health? Find out here
Loneliness is increasingly being recognised as a major health problem. Researchers found default networks of lonely people were more strongly wired. Image for representation only , File Photo
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Updated: Dec 16, 2020, 01:41 PM IST
In a new study held by Mc Gill University, scientists show the effects of loneliness in the brain highlighting how neural signature may reflect our response to feelings of social isolation.
The researchers show the importance to understand how isolation affects our health through the study. They discovered a sort of signature in the brains of lonely people that make them distinct in various ways, based on variations in the volume of different brain regions as well as based on how those regions communicate with one another across brain networks.
Study finds how loneliness affects our health ANI | Updated: Dec 16, 2020 11:40 IST
Montreal [Canada], December 16 (ANI): In a new study held by Mc Gill University, scientists show the effects of loneliness in the brain highlighting how neural signature may reflect our response to feelings of social isolation.
The researchers show the importance to understand how isolation affects our health through the study. They discovered a sort of signature in the brains of lonely people that make them distinct in various ways, based on variations in the volume of different brain regions as well as based on how those regions communicate with one another across brain networks.