Some theorists view the brain as a predictive machine that uses experiences to determine what’s likely to happen next. It also uses this prior knowledge with new information to make decisions, which sometimes makes us biased. However, it seems that the brain of a person with autism weighs prior knowledge with new information differently, prioritising new information. This prioritisation causes increased sensitivity to stimuli, and perhaps a more rational, unbiased decision-making process. Read full article here
Oddities
The Curious Case of the Ancient Brain
In 2008, archaeologists examining the University of York discovered something strange: the decapitated head of an Iron Age man and his very shrivelled but very much intact brain. How a centuries-old brain was preserved is still unknown, but research suggests that it could have been because of brain diseases like dementia. The Yorkshire man’s brain’s proteins were bunched up together, much like how dementia causes brain proteins to bunch up into plaques. This bunching up, or aggregation, could continue even after death, turning regions of the brain into hard masses. Read full article here
Merv
September 30, 2022
