What Happens if the Prefrontal Cortex Is Damaged?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

As one of our most important organs, the brain oversees vital functions, ranging from our thoughts and emotions to our movements and how we respond to stimuli, among many other tasks. Not surprisingly, when a person suffers an injury to the brain, how their physiology responds to it depends on the part of the brain affected. Since the brain comprises of billions of neurons that take part in different functions of high-level regions and subregions, what happens if the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is d ...read more

Mesopotamians Wrote About Kissing 4,500 Years Ago

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

People in the ancient Middle East kissed freely, smooching their romantic partners, friends, and family members, according to a new study. Researchers claim to have found evidence of humanity’s earliest recorded kiss. Until recently, the earliest evidence had come from a Bronze Age manuscript from South Asia from 3,500 years ago, although the new study moves the date of the first documented kiss back to at least 4,500 years ago.The study relied upon cuneiform script written on clay tablets fro ...read more

Genetic Origins of Ancient Pict Warriors in Britain

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Genetic analysis has uncovered the mysterious origin of the Picts, a people group that lived in many parts of northern Britain roughly 1,500 years ago.Research reveals that the ethnic group, which many thought might have come from Eastern Europe, had a local origin similar to other British Celtic groups.“They matched closer to the Iron Age British genome,” says Adeline Morez, a paleogeneticist at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.The Picts have long been an enigmati ...read more

Analyzing Brain Waves for Near-Death Experiences

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Did medical equipment capture a near-death experience (NDE) in the brains of two very different coma patients after they were removed from life support? That’s the question at the center of a new study, which may have evidence of two women encountering a bright light or having a similar experience.The first of the patients, aged 24, suffered a heart attack at home and underwent three defibrillations at the hospital – Michigan Medicine, the hospital of the University of Michigan – plus a pa ...read more

River Dolphins Are Truly Unique and Disappearing

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

The fact that freshwater whales actually exist on our planet deserves far more fanfare — especially considering how their populations are declining.Many species of river dolphins, specifically, live in waterways spanning multiple continents and countries around the globe. Their unique habitats correlate with strange attributes and extraordinary behaviors not found in marine dolphins and other cetaceans.But, as the world's major rivers change under human development, river dolphins seem to be p ...read more

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