Neuroscience | Penn Today

Teenager in a car's driver seat, looking over their shoulder.

Slower growth in working memory linked to teen driving crashes

Adolescent drivers have the highest rate of vehicle crashes. Variability in working memory development might be a factor, and researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center tested the association between crashes and differential working memory development.

Is ‘neurolaw’ coming soon to a courtroom near you?

Stephen Morse of the Law School weighed in on the use of neuroscience in courtrooms. He believes that in a legal setting, neuroscience cannot adequately explain criminal activity: “if there is a disjunct between what the neuroscience shows and what the behavior shows, you’ve got to believe the behavior.”

Virginia M. Y. Lee in her lab wearing a lab coat.

Researcher Virginia M.Y. Lee receives $3 million Breakthrough Prize

The Breakthrough Prize award recognizes Lee’s work studying underlying mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other dementias.

Alzheimer’s pioneer Virginia Lee wins $3 million Breakthrough Prize for work at Penn

Virginia Man-Yee Lee of the Perelman School of Medicine won a Breakthrough Prize for her research on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Two people face each other, smiling widely and looking into each other's eyes.

No evidence that testosterone reduces cognitive empathy

In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that testosterone administration did not affect cognitive empathy, a measure of the ability to recognize another’s feelings and motivations. The finding calls into question the theory that the symptoms of autism are caused by a hyper-masculinized brain.

Researchers find no link between testosterone and a lack of cognitive empathy

New research by Gideon Nave of the Wharton School found that, contrary to past research, increased testosterone levels do not impair men’s ability to empathize. “We found that there is no evidence to support this effect of testosterone, but that doesn’t rule out any possible effects,” said Nave. “From what we know, though, it seems that if testosterone does have an influence, the effect is complex, not linear.”

Breeding has shaped dogs’ brains, MRI scans reveal

Wilfried Mai of the School of Veterinary Medicine weighed in on a study that analyzed cognitive differences between dog breeds. “The paper demonstrates very nicely differences in brain morphology with either reduction or hypertrophy [larger size] of certain brain areas that are known to be associated with specific behaviors,” he said.

Four people in brightly colored clothing standing in a white hallway.

Using a matching game to study the language of conversations

Penn undergrads Lilian Zhang and Kassidy Houston, and University of Chicago student Benjamin Stallworth, interned in the lab of cognitive psychologist Delphine Dahan doing work to better understand what subconsciously happens when people converse.

Two football players bent over a football with helmets in contact, potential for concussion.

Could NFL players’ performance after a concussion mask the dangers?

A new study shows NFL players return to the field quickly and with no dip in their stats, but this may come at a cost.

How ‘smart’ email could change the way we talk

Maria Geffen of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the potential implications of the ongoing use of predictive text technology. “By taking prediction away from our language system, more advanced predictive text fills it in with something that regresses to the mean, reducing variability,” she said.

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