Neuroscience in the News: Dec. 25-31 

Among dolphins, tool-using handymen are women
Wall Street Journal – Dec. 25
In the deep, lucid channels of Australia's Shark Bay, wild bottlenose dolphins have discovered tools, raising provocative questions about the origins of intelligent behavior, the nature of learning and the birth of technology.

Reaching out aids her own recovery from brain injury
Boston Globe – Dec. 28
On March 11, 2002, a freak accident on an airport shuttle bus changed Peggi Robart's life in an instant. A piece of ceiling or sign - Robart doesn't know which, since she has no memory of what happened - came loose, hitting her in the head and knocking her unconscious.

Visiting family warps your brain, study says
Discovery News – Dec. 29
Visiting — or even just viewing photos of family members — prompts brain activity that affects how you feel about them, your friends, and even yourself, a new study suggests.

Rising blood sugar may harm the aging brain
HealthDay News – Dec. 30
Scientists have unmasked what appears to be a major mechanism contributing to normal, age-related cognitive decline.

Brain smarter than we are
Scientific American – Dec. 30
A study published in the journal Neuron finds that the subconscious brain is excellent at making decisions based on data. Whether we take advantage of that good decision, however, is another matter. Cynthia Graber reports.

The life of the mind
Scientific American – Dec. 30
To celebrate the end of the year at Mind Matters, we’re going to highlight a few of the posts that we featured over the past 12 months. Although our articles have covered a wide variety of subjects, from visual illusions to borderline personality disorder to the limitations of free will, many of our most popular posts dealt with the intersection of neuroscience and everyday life.

Risk takers seek thrills to compensate for less responsive brain
Telegraph – Dec. 30
Risk takers pursue a life of danger and thrills in order to stimulate their minds which are less responsive to excitement than normal, claim scientists.

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