Aphasia is a devastating diagnosis that affects your ability to speak or understand language. It’s a little-known condition that effects 300 000 Europeans every year and recently made headlines when actor Bruce Willis announced he was diagnosed with it. Aphasia is a language disorder that is caused by a brain damage to the part of … Read more
Children and adolescents tend to have more mild disease compared to adults if they catch the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, but they are still struggling to cope with the pandemic. Curfews, closures, and lockdowns are taking their toll on their emotional wellbeing. Against a decade-long pattern of deteriorating mental health among European youths, experts warn … Read more
While the jury is still out as to why the Neanderthal, an ancient ancestor of modern humans, became extinct about 40,000 years ago, it has long been assumed that it was because they possessed a low level of intelligence. Pioneering research is challenging this idea, uncovering evidence to suggest that our ancient cousins were in … Read more
In a lab in Amsterdam, arachnophobes have volunteered to encounter their eight-legged nemeses to help researchers hoping to conjure and obliterate fear memories. These studies, as well as new understanding of overlooked brain regions, are revealing how fears linked to PTSD or phobias work, and how they may be treated. In upcoming clinical trials, Professor … Read more
Bilingual people can effortlessly switch between languages during everyday interactions. But beyond its usefulness in communication, being bilingual could affect how the brain works and enhance certain abilities. Studies into this could inform techniques for learning languages and other skills. More than half of people in Europe speak more than one language while the same is … Read more
From corals bunkering down in deeper waters to wait out climate change stress, to how vaccines can boost our immune system beyond a specific disease – here are the 20 most surprising scientific facts that we discovered this year. Read: Five things you need to know about bats, disease and coronavirus Read: We are starting … Read more