Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily

1. Body size may influence women's lifespan more than it does men's
   Body size-height and weight- may influence women's lifespan far more than it does men's.

   
2. Neurons in the human visual cortex that respond to faces
   A new study identifies the neurons in the human visual cortex that selectively respond to faces. The researchers showed that the neurons in the visual cortex (in the vicinity of the Fusiform Face Area) responded much more strongly to faces than to city landscapes or objects. In an additional experiment, the neurons exhibited face-selectivity to human and animal faces that appeared within a movie. The results provide unique insights into human brain functioning at the cellular level during face processing.

   
3. Youthful cognitive ability strongly predicts mental capacity later in life
   Early adult general cognitive ability is a stronger predictor of cognitive function and reserve later in life than other factors, such as higher education, occupational complexity or engaging in late-life intellectual activities.

   
4. How our brains distinguish between self-touch and touch by others
   Our brains seem to reduce sensory perception from an area of our skin when we touch it ourselves, according to a new study. The finding increases our understanding of how the brain distinguishes between being touched by another person and self-touch.

   
5. Fossilized slime of 100-million-year-old hagfish shakes up vertebrate family tree
   Paleontologists have discovered the first detailed fossil of a hagfish, the slimy, eel-like carrion feeders of the ocean. The 100-million-year-old fossil helps answer questions about when these ancient, jawless fish branched off the evolutionary tree from the lineage that gave rise to modern-day jawed vertebrates, including bony fish and humans.