geekosystem

Today, a study in the journal Neurology brings the surprising news that having herpes could be even worse than you think it is. The chronic, cold sore-causing virus may also wreak havoc on the brain, with a recent study conducted by Columbia University and the University of Miami suggesting that people suffering from high levels of infection with herpes and other common viruses may be more likely to suffer cognitive decline as they age than their uninfected peers.

In news that makes us glad our memories are, as a team, pretty terrible, a team of researchers led by the University of Sussex has found evidence suggesting that a gene variant associated with dementia late in life is also associated with improved memory, math skills, and verbal abilities earlier in life. It's a troubling reminder that, sometimes, the candle that burns twice as bright really may burn half as long.

The next time you make a mistake, just remember that you're not alone. Everybody makes huge mistakes that irrevocably change their lives from which they never truly recover. It just, happens, y'know? Maybe not for much longer, though. Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center are hard at work developing a neural implant that shows promise in repairing the decision making abilities of primates who have suffered brain damage. If the research pays off, it could develop into a similar implant in humans with the potential to not only repair damage to the brain's decision making center, but improve decision making in general.