Nautilus

New study of old brains: podcast and news@nature.com

While on the subject of neuroscience, this week’s (26 April) free podcast from Nature, “A new study of old brains”, features an analysis of two damaged brains, preserved in a museum since the nineteenth century, which could force neuroscientists to rethink the area where language resides in the brain. Two brains in which Paul Broca, the French anatomist and surgeon, originally identified ’Broca’s area’ — the brain’s speech-processing centre — have been scanned using magnetic resonance imaging. Oddly, the new scans show that Broca’s original patients didn’t have damage in Broca’s area after all. Read the full story at news@nature.com.

Also discussed in this week’s podcast are new studies reported in Nature on lowering inhibitions in addiction; wing shape in swifts; iron and carbon sequestration; the perfect pint; and how invasive species gain ground.

An archive of Nature podcasts and their transcripts, all freely available, is on this web page.

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