Human intelligence is like a mental juggling act in which the smartest performers use specific brain regions to resist distraction and keep attention focused on critical pieces of information, according to a new brain imaging study from Washington University in St. Louis.

“Some people seem to perform better than others in novel, mentally-demanding situations, but why?” asks Jeremy R. Gray, Ph.D., co-author of the study to be posted Feb. 18 in an advance online issue of the journal Nature N

UH Researchers Focus On Diagnosing Eye Disease Using Adaptive Optics

A new optics technology is providing scientists with real-time microscopic images of the living retina, and may allow doctors to focus in on earlier diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as diabetes and glaucoma.

University of Houston researchers are using a technology called adaptive optics to peer inside the eyes of human subjects and for the first time get clear, sharp images of features such as bloo

Pioneer in false memory research presents latest findings at AAAS Symposium

During a recent study of memory recall and the use of suggestive interviewing, UC Irvine cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus successfully planted false memories in volunteers of several study groups — memories that included such unlikely events as kissing frogs, shaking hands with Bugs Bunny at Disneyland, and witnessing a demonic possession.

Her success at planting these memories challenge the

Results reported in Nature Medicine

Opening up the possibility of a new approach to the treatment of diabetes, researchers have shown in animal studies that a drug long available in Europe can simultaneously block three of the major biochemical pathways responsible for the blood-vessel damage that causes serious diabetic complications.

Dr. Michael Brownlee of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine was the senior researcher for the international consortium that carried out t

UI researchers discover new mechanism controlling movement of cell structures

Organelles are compartments and structures inside cells that perform varied and vital functions, including energy production, storage and transportation of important substances and removal of waste products. Normal cellular function requires that organelles be positioned in specific locations in a cell. Thus, movement of the organelles to their appropriate destinations is critical.

A team of Univer

Warming land and ocean surfaces, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and other recent evidence strongly suggest that Earth’s climate is already changing rapidly because of the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to Warren Washington, senior scientist and head of the Climate Change Research Group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Computer models of Earth’s climate support these observations, he says, and indicate more severe changes yet to come.