Researchers who spoke with Spectrum say that while brain imaging tools have their limitations, they still hold promise in helping to unlock the brain’s secrets. 

Comparing the brain scans of high-impact rugby players with those of athletes in noncontact sports, such as rowing and swimming, revealed tiny, yet significant, differences in the brain’s white matter.

Researchers tease out the effects of the two cravings by having participants gamble for the chance to satisfy them.

A study in people fails to detect differences in the brain’s response to fear or anxiety, long thought to be controlled by different neural circuits.

When 70 independent teams were tasked with analyzing identical brain images, no two teams chose the same approach and their conclusions were highly variable.

Those who had developed PTSD appear to be less able to suppress unwanted memories—traumatic or not—suggesting a role for the general ability to control memory recall in the disorder.

Imaging reveals how cyclical patterns of brain activity differ between conscious and unresponsive individuals.

A small study finds that patients who had half their brains removed to treat epilepsy have stronger neural networks than controls, perhaps explaining how they can retain language and cognition skills.

During deep sleep, rhythmic pulses of cerebrospinal fluid are coupled with slow waves of electrical activity and fluctuating blood levels in the human brain.

The auditory cortices of humans and rhesus monkeys respond very differently to harmonic tones.

The original experiment found brain activity as measured by fMRI was tied to particular genetic variants.

Imaging of the human brain reveals constellations of activity associated with conscious and unconscious states.

The EEG-based method could help clinicians identify patients with severe brain injuries who are actually capable of some cognitive function, despite appearing unresponsive.

FMRI data uncover wide variation in network organization between individuals in this oft-neglected brain region.

A longitudinal study tracking the progress of an epilepsy patient after surgery shows the brain’s ability to reorganize itself to function nearly normally.

Imaging, behavioral, and genetic data yield clues to what’s behind effective thinking.

Research into the biological basis of gender identity is in its infancy, but clues are beginning to emerge.