Scientists identify possible source of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ in the brain

Scientists have identified mechanisms in the human brain that could help explain the phenomenon of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ – the unsettling feeling we get from robots and virtual agents that are too human-like. They have also shown that some people respond more adversely to human-like agents than others.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
July 1, 2019 ~7 min

Virtual reality can spot navigation problems in early Alzheimer’s disease

Virtual reality (VR) can identify early Alzheimer’s disease more accurately than ‘gold standard’ cognitive tests currently in use, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
May 24, 2019 ~6 min


Study identifies our ‘inner pickpocket’

Researchers have identified how the human brain is able to determine the properties of a particular object using purely statistical information: a result which suggests there is an ‘inner pickpocket’ in all of us.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
May 21, 2019 ~4 min

New approach to drug discovery could lead to personalised treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders

Researchers have developed a method that could drastically accelerate the search for new drugs to treat mental health disorders such as schizophrenia.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
May 8, 2019 ~4 min

Blood pressure drug shows promise for treating Parkinson’s and dementia in animal studies

A prescription drug to treat high blood pressure has shown promise against conditions such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and forms of dementia in studies carried out in mice and zebrafish at the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
April 18, 2019 ~5 min

Levels of autism in China similar to the West, joint Chinese-UK study shows

The first large-scale study of autism in China has revealed that around one in a hundred people in China has an autism spectrum condition – the same figure as found in the West.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 21, 2019 ~5 min

Inflammation links heart disease and depression, study finds

People with heart disease are more likely to suffer from depression, and the opposite is also true. Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge believe they have identified a link between these two conditions: inflammation – the body’s response to negative environmental factors, such as stress. 

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 19, 2019 ~6 min

Report examines origins and nature of ‘maths anxiety’

A report out today examines the factors that influence ‘maths anxiety’ among primary and secondary school students, showing that teachers and parents may inadvertently play a role in a child’s development of the condition, and that girls tend to be more affected than boys.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 14, 2019 ~7 min


Deep brain stimulation may significantly improve OCD symptoms, study suggests

The debilitating behaviours and all-consuming thoughts, which affect people with severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), could be significantly improved with targeted deep brain stimulation, according to new research published today.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 7, 2019 ~5 min

Young people at risk of addiction show differences in key brain region

Young adults at risk of developing problems with addiction show key differences in an important region of the brain, according to an international team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 4, 2019 ~5 min

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