Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

Image caption, As beautiful as it is complex - a male fly's brain Scientists have managed to compare the fine detail of the brains of male and female flies for the first time, identifying differences they say explain male aggression, courtship and their singing of love songs. The scientists in Cambridge mapped all 124m connections of nerve cells in a male fly's brain, having done the same for a female fly two years ago. The team are clear that the research won't explain differences between men and women because our behaviour is far more complex. But the research could help scientists better understand human behaviour and conditions in which genetic differences affect brain wiring, such as autism and schizophrenia. Prof Gregory Jefferis, of the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology and University of Cambridge, who co-led the research, told BBC News that the breakthrough was a really important new avenue in neuroscience, likening it to the invention of a powerful new telescope in increasing our understanding of the Universe.

People become more suspicious of a humanoid robot that makes errors, especially when the robot is an expressive conversation partner. In our new study published in the journal Science Robotics, we had 50 people hold conversations and make joint decisions with the commercial humanoid robot Pepper, which is designed to be expressive and recognize emotions. Sometimes we had the robot give sound advice. Sometimes we had it make conversational mistakes, interrupting people or pushing illogical suggestions. For some participants, the robot was animated, using gestures, eye contact and nods.

This actor was told he had Alzheimer's, now he's performing a one-man show Image caption, Peter Marinker, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease two years ago, began dress rehearsals for the Beckett play Krapp's Last Tape in June For four days running, Peter Marinker had arrived at rehearsals that were not even taking place. Dementia had muddled the dates in his mind. Yet he is now preparing to do something most actors would find daunting even with perfect recall: performing a much-loved Samuel Beckett play alone on a London stage. Marinker, 85, is best known for his voice work: from radio plays and video games to big-budget films like Labyrinth and Paddington in Peru. On camera he was the adviser to the US president in Love Actually and one of the airline passengers in the drama United 93.

Psychedelics are often associated with disconnecting from reality, but a recent neuroimaging study found that psilocybin can actually make our brain activity more attuned to the world around us. That's what scientists have generally thought, with several studies showing that when we take these substances, the signals pinging between our neurons become more diverse and unpredictable. This increased entropy in our gray matter may underlie the strange, random, and often memorable experiences of psychedelic trips. But in one of the largest neuroimaging studies on the effects of psilocybin to date, researchers uncovered a hidden order in the apparent chaos. The study, published in Nature, indicates that while psilocybin blurs some of the boundaries within the brain, our neurological reactions to what we're experiencing in that moment become even more distinct.

A new study on donated brain tissue from former football players found troubling signs of CTE, a degenerative brain disease.

World's first patient to undergo live AI-assisted brain surgery has tumour removed Image caption, Rhys Hibbert's tumour could have led to blindness The world's first patient to have brain surgery with live artificial intelligence assistance has successfully had his tumour removed. Rhys Hibbert, a father-of-two from Bedfordshire, could have lost his sight without the operation, said surgeons at University College London Hospital. The AI tool analysed a video feed of the operation as it happened and advised surgeons on how to avoid crucial but hidden vessels and nerves in the brain. It allowed them to safely remove as much of the tumour as possible. From a patient safety perspective, I can see absolutely the benefit. There are no road signs inside our head, said Hibbert.

Rhys Hibbert, right (with neurosurgeon Hani Marcus, left) was the first patient to have a brain tumour successfully removed in an AI-assisted operation. He was operated on at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Rhys Hibbert, right (with neurosurgeon Hani Marcus, left) was the first patient to have a brain tumour successfully removed in an AI-assisted operation. He was operated on at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Neurosurgeons in London have performed the world's first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man, health officials have said.

When doctors can't figure out what's ailing us, they can search our bodies for snippets of genetic material from viruses, bacteria, and fungi. In 2019, Nichol Cano, an otherwise healthy mother of three in Fresno, California, began experiencing worsening headaches. She had no history of headaches; they had seemed to start after a liposuction surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. She saw her primary-care doctor and then a neurologist, who diagnosed her as having migraines. She was given a standard migraine treatment--an injection and a pill--but her pain only intensified.

Or'ride the lightning,' as Metallica says. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Over 85,000 concertgoers attend Germany's annual heavy metal music festival, Wacken Open Air. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .