Sheep can be trained to recognise human faces from photographic portraits – and can even identify the picture of their handler without prior training – according to new research from scientists at the University of Cambridge.
A brain network previously associated with daydreaming has been found to play an important role in allowing us to perform tasks on autopilot. Scientists at the University of Cambridge showed that far from being just ‘background activity’, the so-called ‘default mode network’ may be essential to helping us perform routine tasks.
Daphne Martschenko (Faculty of Education) discusses whether DNA can predict our educational achievement.
Tomas Folke (Department of Psychology) and Julia Ouzia (Anglia Ruskin University) discuss the cognitive disadvantages that may be associated with learning more than one language.
When you’re prey, being able to spot and assess the threat posed by potential predators is of life-or-death importance. In a paper published today in Animal Behaviour, researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology show that wild jackdaws recognise individual human faces, and may be able to tell whether or not predators are looking directly at them.
Research suggests that Eurasian Jays might be able to determine aspects of the ‘internal life’ of their mate.
What’s the point of a brain? This fundamental question has led Professor Daniel Wolpert to some remarkable conclusions about how and why the brain controls and predicts movement. In a recent talk for TED, Wolpert explores the research that resulted in him receiving the Golden Brain Award.
Professor Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, has been researching cognitive enhancers for over a decade. Here she discusses the emergence of ‘smart drugs’ and the ethical and practical issues they raise.
Efforts to understand the effects of ageing on the brain have been given a major boost with the announcement of a new £5m grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to Cambridge researchers.
Seven Cambridge researchers are among the 44 new Fellows announced by the Royal Society this week.
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