Picking a needle out of a haystack might seem like the stuff of fairytales, but our brains can be electrically “tuned” to enable us to do a much better job of finding what we’re looking for, even in a crowded and distracting scene, new research indicates.

Forgetfulness, it turns out, is all in the head. Scientists have shown that fading memory and clouding judgment, the type that comes with advancing age, show up as lost and altered connections between neurons in the brain. But new experiments suggest an existing drug, known as riluzole and already on the market as a treatment for ALS, may help prevent these changes.

Study identifies new player in brain function and memory.

Findings strengthen link between specific brain region and normal memory decline.

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, University of Kentucky, and University of Maryland found that for people 60 and older who do not have dementia, light alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher episodic memory — the ability to recall memories of events.

University of Haifa researchers find a functional link between the brain region responsible for taste memory and the area responsible for encoding the time and place we experienced the taste.

Lack of sleep, already considered a public health epidemic, can also lead to errors in memory, finds a new study by researchers at Michigan State University and the University of California, Irvine.

Findings suggest that use of laptops may hinder performance.

Scientists at the Salk Institute have created a new model of memory that explains how neurons retain select memories a few hours after an event.

Neuroscientists identify a brain circuit that’s key to shifting our focus from one object to another.