Collective intelligence can help reduce medical misdiagnoses

A fully automated solution significantly increases diagnostic accuracy

30-Oct-2023 - Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology developed a collective intelligence approach to increase the accuracy of medical diagnoses. Their work was recently ...

How does nature nurture the brain?

Study shows that a one-hour walk in nature reduces stress-related brain activity

07-Sep-2022 - After a 60-minute walk in nature, activity in brain regions involved in stress processing decreases. This is the finding of a recent study by the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, published in Molecular Psychiatry. Living in a ...

How the brain’s blue spot helps us focus our attention

The neurotransmitter noradrenaline regulates our brain’s sensitivity to relevant information

11-Jan-2022 - How can we shift from a state of inattentiveness to one of highest attention? The locus coeruleus, literally the “blue spot,” is a tiny cluster of cells at the base of the brain. As the main source of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, it helps us control our attentional focus. Synthesizing ...

Taking the brain out for a walk

A recent study shows that spending time outdoors has a positive effect on our brains

21-Jul-2021 - If you’re regularly out in the fresh air, you’re doing something good for both your well-being and your brain. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. During the Corona pandemic, walks became a ...

We Wouldn’t Be Able to Control Superintelligent Machines

Would the AI cure cancer, bring about world peace, and prevent a climate disaster? Or would it destroy humanity and take over the Earth?

12-Jan-2021 - We are fascinated by machines that can control cars, compose symphonies, or defeat people at chess, Go, or Jeopardy! While more progress is being made all the time in Artificial Intelligence (AI), some scientists and philosophers warn of the dangers of an uncontrollable superintelligent AI. Using ...

How extreme environmental conditions affect the human brain

09-Dec-2019 - Members of a polar research expedition have provided researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development with an opportunity to study the effects of social isolation and extreme environmental conditions on the human brain. The researchers found ...

A small nucleus in the brain has large effects on learning and memory in old age

11-Sep-2019 - The locus coeruleus, literally the “blue spot,” is a tiny region in the brainstem. As the main source of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, it has a great influence on whether our memory continues to work well in old age. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and novel analysis methods, ...

Brain Loses the Beat: Aging Changes the Fine-Tuning of Neuronal Rhythms During Sleep

Study unveils the link between altered coupling of neuronal rhythms and forgetting

28-Feb-2019 - Our brain is at work non-stop, day and night. While we are sleeping it ensures that our experiences during the day are retained permanently in our memory. This process is called consolidation. Consolidation requires that slow rhythmic patterns of neuronal activity are as precisely coupled with ...

Is Marriage Good or Bad for the Figure?

01-Jul-2015 - It is generally assumed that marriage has a positive influence on health and life expectancy. But does this “marriage bonus” also apply to the health indicator of body weight? Researchers at the University of Basel and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have investigated this question ...

Experience leads to the growth of new brain cells

A new study examines how individuality develops

13-May-2013 - How do organisms evolve into individuals that are distinguished from others by their own personal brain structure and behaviour? Scientists in Dresden, Berlin, Münster, and Saarbrücken have now taken a decisive step towards clarifying this question. Using mice as an animal model, they were able ...