Professor Jennifer Steeves in Centre for Vision Research finds face blindness sufferers better at recognizing voices

People who can no longer recognize faces compensate with heightened voice recognition abilities, says a York University study, which also finds that our brains may identify people and things on separate neurological planes. The study, recently published in the journal Neuropsychologia looked at a rare disorder called prosopagnosia, in which the ability to visually identify […]

Audio: York Prof on bilingualism, Alzheimer's disease and maintaining an active mind

Ellen Bialystok, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology in York's Faculty of Health, spoke to Radio Canada International's "The Link" March 26 about her research on bilingualism and Alzheimer's disease. Her interview starts 12 minutes into the episode and runs for six and a half minutes to the 18:30 mark. Bialystok also spoke to the Guelph […]

Video: York study from Centre for Vision Research finds Olympic athletes may seem faster in red

Wearing red at the Olympics may give an athlete an easy advantage, according to a York University study that shows perceptions of motion are subconsciously affected by colour. “All things being equal between two figure skaters – including their actual speed on the ice – the judges will perceive a skater in red is moving […]

Cutting calories may accelerate ALS, York researchers suggest

Cutting calories may speed the progression of the fatal neuromuscular disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) because of changes that occur at the molecular level, a study from York University has found. The research, which looked at the effects of caloric restriction in a mouse model of ALS, found that restricting caloric intake to 60 per […]

Regular exercise can turn back the clock for aging muscle

It may not be the fountain of youth, but researchers at York University have discovered that regular exercise can effectively turn back the clock for aging skeletal muscle. The study, “Molecular basis for an attenuated mitochondrial adaptive plasticity in aged skeletal muscle,” was recently published in the journal Aging. The results indicate that the elderly are […]

York's newest molecular biologist chases the mysteries of La

Although he doesn’t have many hobbies, biologist Mark Bayfield might consider taking up origami, based on the particular talents of his favourite research subject: the protein antigen known as La, one of the cell’s key regulators. The La antigen is noted for its abundance and ubiquity in human cells, where it has several roles in […]