Word: frontal
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...produce decisions. The key part of white matter is called myelin, a fatty substance that coats the individual neural strands, or axons, that make up white matter. Myelination of axons begins during childhood and is completed at the end of adolescence, around the mid-20s. Myelination in the frontal lobe - the brain region responsible for decision-making - happens last, and it was in this region that the brains of risk-seeking teens in the study showed greater development compared with the frontal lobes of their more restrained peers. (See pictures of the college dorm's evolution...
...volunteers saw names such as Britney Spears, George Clooney, Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, those who were at the highest risk of developing Alzheimer's - those with both the genetic makeup and a family history - showed high levels of activity in the hippocampus, posterior cingulate and regions of the frontal cortex, all areas involved in memory. The control group showed the opposite pattern. Their brains became more excited when they saw unfamiliar names, which included Irma Jacoby, Joyce O'Neil and Virginia Warfield...
...work in the gallery with Calder’s portraits is striking. Six busts in wire hang from the ceiling in front of a white wall. Spotlights shine on these three-dimensional contour caricatures, casting shadows on the wall behind. The shadows morph from profile to three-quarter to frontal views, as the wire busts rotate in space...
...York University. In humans too, the urge to swear likely stems from primitive parts, but it is usually overridden by commands from the brain's more complex cortex - the abundant gray matter on which humans rely for language and reason, among other sophisticated abilities. "We have intact frontal lobes, which inhibit these responses," Sidtis explains. But in certain circumstances - either because we don't bother to inhibit them or because the shock of pain or discomfort momentarily surpasses the safeguards - our impulse for obscenity takes over. "In that way, it's like the dog when you step on his tail...
Outmatched in frontal combat, the militants have taken a cue from Iraqi counterparts in making IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, their weapon of choice. While their use has declined in Iraq, IEDs are now taking a deadlier toll on coalition forces in Afghanistan. The latest NATO figures show that the use of roadside bombs is up 80% so far this year, making them the primary killer of U.S. and international troops. In 2008, 172 troops died from a record 3,276 IEDs, a 45% jump from the year before, according to the Joint IED Defeat Organization, a Pentagon agency. This...