Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins
University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools,
the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to
the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins
communications offices.
Rats that responded to cues for sugar with the speed and excitement of binge-eaters were less motivated for the treat when certain neurons were suppressed, researchers discovered.
May 31, 2016 Tags: addiction, binge drinking, binge eating, binging, brain, Jocelyn M. Richard, Patricia H. Janak, psychological and brain sciences, sugar
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology
People are intuitive physicists — knowing from birth how objects under the influence of gravity are likely to fall, topple or roll. In a new study, scientists have found the brain cells apparently responsible for this innate wisdom.
March 8, 2016 Tags: brain science, Charles E. Connor, gravity, Johns Hopkins University, neuroscience, object physics, Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology
Objects — everything from cars, birds and faces to letters of the alphabet — look significantly different to people familiar with them, scientists have found.
March 1, 2016 Tags: alphabet, Brenda Rapp, Cognitive Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, perception, vision
| Category: Psychology
People searching for something can find it faster if they know what to look for. But new research suggests knowing what not to look for can be just as helpful.
February 25, 2016 Tags: attention, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Howard Egeth, ignoring, Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology
You’re at a crowded party, noisy with multiple conversations, music and clinking glasses. But when someone behind you says your name, you hear it and quickly turn in that direction. The same sort of thing happens with bats and Johns Hopkins University researchers have discovered how a bat’s brain determines what’s worth paying attention to. The findings, which have implications across animal systems, were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
February 23, 2016 Tags: attention, bats, brain science, Cynthia F. Moss, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology
The human brain is wired to pay attention to previously pleasing things — a finding that could help explain why it’s hard to break bad habits or stick to New Year’s resolutions.
February 11, 2016 Tags: addiction, brain science, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, dieting, dopamine, Johns Hopkins University, Susan M. Courtney
| Category: Psychology
More than a century ago Pavlov figured out that dogs fed after hearing a bell eventually began to salivate when they heard the ring. A Johns Hopkins University-led research team has now figured out a key aspect of why.
October 26, 2015 Tags: Alfredo Kirkwood, brain science, eligibility traces, Johns Hopkins University, learning, Neuron, neuroscience, Pavlov, reward-based learning, Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology, Technology
Though people can distinguish between millions of colors, we have trouble remembering specific shades because our brains tend to store what we’ve seen as one of just a few basic hues, a Johns Hopkins University-led team discovered.
June 2, 2015 Tags: Color, Johns Hopkins University, Jonathan Flombaum, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, memory, visual memory
| Category: Homewood Campus News, Natural Sciences, Psychology
Although the human ability to write evolved from our ability to speak, in the brain, writing and talking are now such independent systems that someone who can’t write a grammatically correct sentence may be able say it aloud flawlessly, discovered a team led by Johns Hopkins University cognitive scientist Brenda Rapp.
May 5, 2015 Tags: brain sciences, Brenda Rapp, Johns Hopkins University, talking, Writing
| Category: Natural Sciences, Psychology
On Friday, May 1, the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT) hosts its ninth annual multidisciplinary symposium, featuring six faculty speakers and 100 multidisciplinary research posters. Neuro X is the title and theme for the symposium, which will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Owens Auditorium on the Johns Hopkins medical campus.
April 21, 2015 Tags: biomedical research, Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology, nanomedicine, nanotechnology, neurology, neuroscience, radiology
| Category: Engineering, Medicine and Nursing, Natural Sciences, Psychology, Technology
Infants have innate knowledge about the world and when their expectations are defied, they learn best, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found.
April 2, 2015 Tags: Aimee E. Stahl, babies, Johns Hopkins University, Lisa Feigenson, psychological and brain sciences, surprise, the journal Science
| Category: Psychology
Science news tips for reporters, including a story suggestion from Johns Hopkins Magazine on JHU and ET and another on mistletoe and cancer.
December 22, 2014 Tags: astrobiology, brain research, brain science, cancer, conditioning, exobiology, extraterrestrial life, mistletoe, Pavlov, Psychology, science news tips
| Category: Medicine and Nursing, Natural Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology
November 17, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tracey Reeves Office: 443-997-9903 Cell: 443-986-4053 treeves@jhu.edu Michela Gallagher, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, doesn’t just study the brain. She mentors young scientists on the importance and rewards of studying it too. Over the course of her career, Gallagher has spent almost as […]
November 17, 2014 | Category: Arts and Humanities, Homewood Campus News, Natural Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences, University-Related
While previous studies of the brain suggest that processing of objects and places occur in very different locations, a Johns Hopkins University research team has found they are closely related.
September 18, 2014 Tags: 3-D, brain processing, Charles E. Connor, Ed Connor, environment, object information, ventral pathway, visual processing
| Category: Psychology, Uncategorized
Imagine a quarterback on the gridiron getting ready to pass the ball to a receiver. Suddenly, in charges a growling linebacker aiming to take him down. At what point does the quarterback abandon the throw and trigger evasive maneuvers?
September 11, 2014 Tags: attention, brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, focus, optic tectum, owls, spatial attention
| Category: Psychology, Uncategorized
With the use of verbal stories, a researcher from Johns Hopkins University has found that the brains of people born blind respond to situations similarly to the way people with sight do.
August 1, 2014 Tags: blind, brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, intuitive theory, Marina Bedny, sight, vision
| Category: Psychology, Uncategorized
Millions of high school and college algebra students are united in a shared agony over solving for x and y, and for those to whom the answers don’t come easily, it gets worse: Most preschoolers and kindergarteners can do some algebra before even entering a math class.
March 6, 2014 Tags: algebra, ANS, Approximate Number System, children, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins Laboratory for Child Development, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Lisa Feigenson, math ability, Melissa Kibbe, preschoolers
| Category: Psychology
For some, it’s the tradition of steeping tealeaves to brew the perfect cup of tea. For others, it’s the morning shuffle to a coffee maker for a hot jolt of java. Then there are those who like their wake up with the kind of snap and a fizz usually found in a carbonated beverage. Regardless of the routine, the consumption of caffeine is the energy boost of choice for millions to wake up or stay up. Now, however, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University have found another use for the stimulant: memory enhancer.
January 12, 2014 Tags: brain, caffeine, coffee, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, hippocampus, memory
| Category: Psychology, Uncategorized
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have found that introducing testosterone in select areas of a male canary’s brain can affect its ability to successfully attract and mate with a female through birdsong. They also found that enhancing song activity based on testosterone in one brain area can change the size of a separate brain area that regulates song quality.
December 18, 2013 Tags: birds, birdsong, canary, mating, medial preoptic nucleus, POM, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, singing, testosterone
| Category: Environment, Natural Sciences, Psychology, Uncategorized
Three researchers including Carey Business School Assistant Professor Mario Macis say economic incentives can motivate members of the public to increase their donations of much-needed blood, the economists write in the May 24, 2013, issue of Science.
May 23, 2013 Tags: Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins, Mario Macis, Science Magazine, World Health Organization
| Category: Academic Disciplines, Business and Economics, Psychology, Public Health
For most of history, humans rose with the sun and slept when it set. Enter Thomas Edison, and with a flick of a switch, night became day, enabling us to work, play and post cat and kid photos on Facebook into the wee hours. However, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins biologist Samer Hattar, this typical 21st- century scenario comes at a serious cost: When people routinely burn the midnight oil, they risk suffering depression and learning issues, and not only because of lack of sleep. The culprit could also be exposure to bright light at night from lamps, computers and even iPads.
November 14, 2012 Tags: Advance Online Publication, AOP, cortisol, depression, exposure to light at night, ipRGCs, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, limbic system, Nature, Prozac, Samer Hattar, Seasonal Affective Disorder, The Johns Hopkins University
| Category: Academic Disciplines, Homewood Campus News, Psychology, Public Health, University-Related
Supported by a five-year $7.4 million National Science Foundation grant, experts at The Johns Hopkins University are partnering with teachers and administrators in Baltimore City Public Schools on a program to enhance teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and math in city elementary schools by making STEM a community affair. The program, called STEM Achievement in Baltimore Elementary Schools – SABES for short — not only will benefit more than 1,600 students in grades three through five in nine city elementary schools, but could also become a national model for science, technology, engineering and math education.
September 25, 2012 Tags: Baltimore City Public School System, City Schools, Engineering, Greater Homewood, Highlandtown/Greektown, Johns Hopkins-Baltimore City Public Schools partnership, Katya Denisova, Lower Park Heights, Maryland Science Center, mathematics, Michael Falk, National Aquarium in Baltimore, National Science Foundation, Ronald J. Daniels, SABES, Science, STEM education, Technology, The Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering
| Category: Academic Disciplines, Education/K-12, Engineering, Government and Politics, Homewood Campus News, Institutional News, Natural Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology, Social Sciences, Technology, University-Related
A new study by a Johns Hopkins University business professor finds that social rejection can inspire imaginative thinking, particularly in individuals with a strong sense of their own independence.
August 21, 2012 Tags: Cornell University, creativity, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Sharon Kim, social rejection
| Category: Business and Economics, Psychology, Uncategorized
A first-of-its kind study using the World Wide Web to collect data from more than 10,000 study subjects ages 11 to 85 found that humans’ inborn “number sense” improves during school years, declines during old age, and remains linked throughout the entire lifespan to academic mathematics achievement. The study, led by psychologist Justin Halberda of The Johns Hopkins University and published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of June 25, is groundbreaking for presenting a picture of how our basic cognitive abilities may change across our lifetime.
June 25, 2012 Tags: ANS, Approximate Number Sense, citizen science, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Internet, Johns Hopkins University, Justin Halberda, Krieger School of Arts and Science, mathematics achievement, National Science Foundation, number sense, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, psychological and brain sciences, World Wide Web
| Category: Academic Disciplines, Homewood Campus News, Psychology, Social Sciences
A study led by Michela Gallagher of The Johns Hopkins University and published in the May 10 issue of the journal Neuron suggests a potential new therapeutic approach for improving memory and interrupting disease progression in patients with a form of cognitive impairment that often leads to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.
May 10, 2012 Tags: aging, Alzheimer's disease, aMCI, Amy Shelton, Arnold Bakker, Carolyn Speck, cognitive impairment, Craig Stark, epilepsy, Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Greg Krauss, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Lauren Jones, Lennart Mucke, Marilyn Albert, memory loss, Michael Yassa, Michela Gallagher, Susan Bassett, The Johns Hopkins University, UCSF, University of California at Irvine
| Category: Academic Disciplines, Homewood Campus News, Psychology, Public Health, University-Related
