DISCOVERIESPeopleshownhorror filmsWHATDID THEY DO?
Researchers at the University of
Turku in Finland put together a list
of the 100 best horror films of the
last 100 years, including classics
such asThe ExorcistandThe Devil’s
Backbone. They showed them to a
group of volunteers and measured
their neural activity as they
watched.WHY DID THEY DO THAT?
They wanted to find out why
humans are drawn to films that are
purposefully designed to be as
scary as possible, and how the
brain deals with fear.WHAT DID THEY FIND?
During periods in the films when
the tension is slowly building,
regions of the brain involved in
visual and auditory perception
become more active, as the need to
look for cues of threat in the
environment become more
important. After a sudden shock or
jump scare, brain regions involved
in emotion processing, threat
evaluation, and decision-making
become more active, enabling a
rapid response. However, both
regions are in continuous
communication with the sensory
regions continuously preparing the
response networks as a scary event
becomes increasingly likely. Horror
movies exploit this effect to
enhance our excitement of them.They did what?
Cause of migraines couldbe in sightMigrainesufferers
experience increased
or extreme sensitivity
to light and sound,
and a new study from
the University of
Birmingham and
the University of
Lancaster could finally
ex pla i n why.
Migraines are a
neurological condition
characterised by
intense, debilitating
headaches. An
estimated six million
people suffer from
migraines in the UK –
approximately 11 per
cent of the population.
The study found that people who
suffer from migraine headaches appear
to have a hyper-excitable visual cortex,
which is the part of the brain that
receives, integrates and processes visual
information from the retinas.
“Most migraineurs also report
experiencing abnormal visual sensations
in their everyday life, for example,
elementary hallucinations, visual
discomforts and extra light sensitivity,”
said lead author Dr Terence Chun
Yuen Fong.
In the research, 60 volunteers – half of
whom regularly suffered from migraines- had to rate a striped pattern according
to whether it was uncomfortable to look
at, and had to record any associated
visual phenomena they experienced.
A further EEG test was carried out,
allowing researchers to track and record
specific brain response patterns. Results
from both tests agreed. A larger response
to the striped pattern was found in
the visual cortex among the group of
migraine sufferers when compared to
the non-migraine sufferers. However, the
study also found hyper-excitability in
the visual cortex in a subgroup of non-
migraineurs; those who had reported
additional visual disturbances but did
not experience migraines.
“Our study provides evidence there
are likely specific anomalies present in
the way the visual cortex of migraine
sufferers processes information from the
outside world,” said senior author Dr
Ali Mazaheri. “However, we suspect it’s
only part of the picture since the same
patterns of activity can also be seen in
non-migraineurs who are sensitive to
certain visual stimuli.”BRAINTheWildlife Institute of India has designed a computer program
that can identify Asiatic lions using their whisker patterns and
body marks. Monitoring the species has helped it recover from a
population of 50 to approximately 500, but existing counting
methods leave a margin for error as some lions are counted more
than once. To date, the new program has identified 67 individuals
from 368 sightings. The team says their method could be used to
monitor lions in India and Africa to improve conservation efforts.NEW ID METHOD IS THE CAT’S WHISKERS