Blog index by subject

factors that affect memory

aging

November 10, 2006: estrogen loss and ability to process emotion; June 05, 2006: value of calorie restriction; March 10, 2006: part of retaining (or improving) your memory as you get older is believing that you can; Nintendo games for brain training for worried adults; September 28, 2005: tendency of older people to misremember product warnings as recommendations; January 31 2005: proper diet and stimulation can delay the effects of aging; April 5 2004: the aging mind, exercise and the aging mind; August 26 2003: how normal aging affects our response to humor

development

June 12, 2007: disadvantaged children developmentally lagging; October 27, 2006: caffeine and fetal brain development; September 15, 2006: Empathy undeveloped in adolescent brains; March 01, 2006: whether TV is bad for kids or not; effects of social deprivation on development, including intellectual development.

environment

August 13, 2006: effect of environment on social interaction

weather

February 01 2005: weather, mood, and cognitive ability

noise

December 10 2004: background noise may scramble brain activity

diet

October 27, 2006: caffeine and fetal brain development; June 05, 2006: value of calorie restriction; March 06, 2006: lower blood levels of omega-3 associated with depression, negative outlook and impulsivity; July 19, 2005: fish oil and underachieving preschoolers; January 31 2005: proper diet and stimulation can delay the effects of aging; December 01 2004: brain response to food

exercise

October 16, 2007: exercise; September 18, 2005: Aerobics most important factor for keeping your brain young; June 30 2005: health benefits of cobblestone walking; April 5 2004: exercise and the aging mind; January 26 2004: effects of exercise on the brain

mental stimulation

October 02, 2006: thinking faster makes you feel happier and more energized; July 02, 2006: mental immaturity – the good and the bad; March 30, 2006: more on Brain Games; March 10, 2006: Nintendo games for brain training for worried adults; January 28, 2006: motherhood an enriching experience for the brain; August 12 2005: the new fashion for "cognitive fitness"; July 22, 2005: the younger generation and how they're doing better than we think; 2005: proper diet and stimulation can delay the effects of aging; December 01 2004: brain response to food;November 10 2003: going to the pub good for the brain - the latest of several studies indicating that various leisure activities are of value to cognition.

education

October 11, 2006: advantages of a Montessori education; August 05, 2006: why self-discipline is more important than smarts; August 02, 2006: the need for voice training for teachers; July 29, 2006: Gene expression -- Why environment is important for IQ; June 29, 2006: no particular advantage in a single-sex education; June 05, 2006: education systems responsible for stability of intellectual abilities? November 21, 2005: the education of very gifted children; October 03, 2005: Swedish government is proposing to introduce more flexibility into the age at which children start school; Harvard admissions policy – the selection effect; August 22, 2005: birth order and educational achievement; June 22 2005: the quality of school textbooks

sleep

October 16, 2007: sleep deprivation in kids; September 24, 2006: a gene for extreme 'larks'; July 10, 2006: ‘sleep efficiency'; January 11, 2006: Early morning foggy brain; November 12, 2005: sleep in other animals, and the possible evolutionary purposes of sleep; October 26, 2005: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and the "purpose" of dreams; October 17, 2005: genetic advantage produces good sleepers; July 20, 2005: baby dolphins and whales and their mothers sleep hardly at all in the first postpartum month; October 28 2004: sleep deprivation in middle school students; February 02 2004: sleep may stimulate creative thinking; November 02 2003: More research confirming the importance of sleep in consolidating learning

dreaming

October 26, 2005: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and the "purpose" of dreams; July 12 2005: sleep paralysis; October 6 2004: why we dream; September 11 2004: found: the brain structure that governs dreaming; March 31 2004: we're more likely to dream about things we've deliberately tried NOT to think about

circadian rhythm

September 24, 2006: a gene for extreme 'larks'; April 01, 2006: "social jet lag" – lifestyle and body clock; July 2 2004: how physical disorders are differentially affected by our body's clocks and the significance of this for drug treatments.

drugs

October 28 2004: cognitive enhancing drugs; a simple listening test that predicts who will do well on SSRI antidepressants; July 2 2004: how physical disorders are differentially affected by our body's clocks and the significance of this for drug treatments; November 04 2003: the effects of nicotine and alcohol on adolescents' brains.

acupuncture

May 17 2005

meditation

November 17, 2005: Behavioral and neurological effects of meditation; June 24 2005: brain activity during meditation

hypnosis

November 23, 2005: imaging study of hypnosis, showing the actual changes in the brain induced; July 20, 2005: hypnosis and cognitive conflict; July 06 2005: hypnosis can reduce cognitive conflict

strategies & attributes

memory strategies

October 02, 2006: thinking faster makes you feel happier and more energized; October 17, 2005: Dealing with the constant interruptions of office life; May 30 2005: overview of various strategies that might help you improve your cognitive function; August 4 2004: rote memorization not the demon modern education has made it out to be;December 05 2003: about visual language; software that enables you to practise names and faces that you want to remember; December 02 2003: the power of a very simple strategy for learning vocabulary; October 06 2003: frequent failure of modern (at least Western) education systems to leave its students with lasting, "ground-in" knowledge, is simply that they don't spend enough time on anything. October 02 2003: reading a novel set in Turkey, and I observed how difficult the complete unfamiliarity of the names made it for me. contextual nature of distinctiveness, and role of familiarity ; October 01 2003: page offers mnemonic suggestions for memorising a number of famous passages from Shakespeare; memorization software; August 18 2003: simple mnemonics for learning words in another language; August 14 2003: the value of gesture in helping memory; August 12 2003: another perspective on medieval memory training

memory champs

March 23 2005: the recent US Memory Championship; March 08 2004: US Memory Championship .

expertise

April 06, 2006: the "Aha!" experience; August 11, 2005: advantages of video game training for laparoscopic surgeons; July 09 2005: practice “re-wires” the brain; August 18 2004: another difference between chess masters and novices; October 23 2003: imaging studies looking at the brain activation patterns of musicians as they listen to music. what this tells about nature of expertise and intrinsic connection between music and movement - taking us back to the suggestion that music was important in human evolution, in helping social groups bond.

intelligence

July 29, 2006: Gene expression -- Why environment is important for IQ; June 08, 2006: prenatal exposure to pollutants; June 05, 2006: education systems responsible for stability of intellectual abilities? April 17, 2006: birth order doesn't affect intelligence; March 29, 2006: European differences in IQ; January 26, 2006: it's not how bright you are, it's whether you stick to the task; November 21, 2005: the education of very gifted children; November 01, 2005: Epigenetics — the intertwining of nature and nurture; September 22, 2005: implications of modern technology, and the internet in particular, for intelligence; July 19, 2005: no association between measured intelligence and happiness; May 16 2005: the Flynn effect; May 01 2005: TV is making us smarter; emails are making us dumber; February 04 2005: faster reaction time associated with longer life

non-human cognition

August 27, 2006: Humans, chimpanzees and bonobos; July 26, 2006: Where our language center comes from; July 02, 2006: empathy in mice; May 24, 2006: language and planning abilities in non-human animals; February 01, 2006: choral abilities of wrens; January 26, 2006: animal personality; November 12, 2005: sleep in other animals, and the possible evolutionary purposes of sleep; November 04, 2005: singing in mice; October 30, 2005: elephants distressed by own dead; August 12 2005: latest math achievement from Alex, the African gray parrot; July 20, 2005: baby dolphins and whales and their mothers sleep hardly at all in the first postpartum month; June 20 2005: fish study suggests how we make some of our instinctive decisions when we're part of a crowd; June 16 2005: Pigeon study provides evidence for "higher-order" processes in the avian correlate of the mammalian prefrontal cortex; June 09 2005: first computer simulation of the entire human brain! tool-using behavior in dolphins; monkeys taught to use money; monkeys match the number of voices they heard to the number of faces they expected to see; 2005: the language of chimpanzees; March 16 2005: plant cognition; October 7 2004: memory in fish; September 1 2004: study finds that showing isolated sheep photos of other sheep lowers their stress levels; February 10 2004: homing pigeons use landmarks on familiar routes, rather than their "traditional" senses; October 16 2003: capabilities of the black-capped chickadee - hippocampus expands by nearly a third every autumn; September 26 2003: Irene Pepperberg's work with Gray Parrots; August 26 2003: How far different is human memory from the memory of other animals?

creativity

April 06, 2006: the "Aha!" experience; September 18, 2005: creativity and the "schizotypal" personality; December 10 2004: controlling devices with the brain; background noise may scramble brain activity; principles for fostering creativity in the workplace; February 02 2004: sleep may stimulate creative thinking; August 21 2003: great scientific discoveries tend to be made by young scientists – but only in particular areas.

emotional intelligence

April 11 2005: experiment which aims to test the emotional intelligence and intuition of people; April 13 2005: Results of the intuition experiment – no gender difference

habits

November 11, 2005: More about the habit study; October 26, 2005: why habits are hard to break and easily re-kindled

emotion & personality

emotion

November 10, 2006: estrogen loss and ability to process emotion; October 30, 2006: anxiety disorders and physical disorders; Neurofeedback for emotional control; August 13, 2006: benefits of social connectedness; June 27, 2006: stuttering and emotional arousal and control; February 08, 2006: marital strife slows wound healing; December 19, 2005: Emotion and investment decisions; November 02, 2005: brain activity patterns and menstrual mood swings; June 20 2005: having a close group of friends impacts significantly on longevity; June 17 2005: people affected by subliminal facial expressions; June 01 2005: Imaging studies have found the brain regions involved in falling in love; February 16 2005: the value of regrets; positive & negative emotions processed differently; February 01 2005: weather, mood, and cognitive ability; January 31 2005: the gut - our second brain; the brain's anger response mechanism; November 18 2004: emotional response to body language; November 08 2004: why stress can make you lose your car keys (and your temper); May 19 2004: wellbeing; March 16 2004: new application under development creates music in response to the listener’s physiological state, thus setting up a sort of positive feedback cycle, with music and listener drawing each other deeper into the desired mood;September 13 2003: what is it about surprise that makes things memorable? September 03 2003: It's often been said that those with more positive outlook are healthier, have less chance of cancer, etc. Now, for the first time, we have a mechanism for why that might be true; August 13 2003: new book on memory and emotion

self-esteem

May 25, 2006: a tough childhood makes you more gullible; verbally abused children grow up self-critical and depressed; April 17, 2006: why failure breeds failure; April 14 2005: 3^rd person perspective helpful in calculating personal progress; September 11 2004: diary-keeping might be bad for your health;November 24 2003: brains of seniors with low self-worth were up to a fifth smaller than those who felt good about themselves. Learning to think positively is therefore likely to have cognitive benefits as well as emotional ones. September 03 2003: It's often been said that those with more positive outlook are healthier, have less chance of cancer, etc. Now, for the first time, we have a mechanism for why that might be true

trust

June 27, 2006: fatherhood alters the brain; May 25, 2006: a tough childhood makes you more gullible; November 23, 2005: early experience reducing levels of "attachment" hormones may permanently damage ability to form close relationships; October 19, 2005: oxytocin’s role in more casual social meetings; August 23, 2005: consumers' response to advertising; June 17 2005: people affected by subliminal facial expressions; June 05 2005: oxytocin induces trust;April 11 2005: imaging study finds the “trust center”; March 16 2005: why one person is comfortable asking for help while another isn't; September 17 2004: we prefer people who look like us

expectations

August 25, 2006: placebos aren’t just "imaginary"; August 30, 2005: how placebos work; May 17 2005: expectations - effects of alcohol on your sex drive; August 4 2004: the placebo effect and empathy; June 15 2004: the placebo effect; February 25 2004: neurological investigation of the infamous placebo effect

attractiveness

November 04, 2005: level of estrogen in a women related to her perceived attractiveness; singing in mice; September 06, 2005: Newborns know who’s attractive; July 29, 2005: People prefer people who are similar to them? July 15 2005: odor and attractiveness; September 17 2004: we prefer people who look like us; September 16 2004: a person's perceived attractiveness is affected by the sound of their name; September 1 2004: evidence that people with less symmetrical features may be more aggressive in response to stressful situations

love

November 10, 2006: importance of friendship; March 01, 2006: effects of social deprivation on development, including intellectual development; February 08, 2006: nerve growth factor increases when people fall in love

prejudice

March 21, 2006: our view of a person's character distorts our memory; prejudice and how to fight it; August 05, 2005: racial prejudice and overcoming it; July 04 2005: overcoming buried prejudice; a test of implicit prejudice

traumatic memories

June 27 2005: effects of mother’s trauma on unborn fetus; October 22 2004: the controversial new research that promises to be able to erase traumatic memories; October 1 2004: FAQ-type article on current knowledge regarding reported memories of childhood abuse

pain

October 23, 2006: losing money really is painful; August 25, 2006: controlling chronic pain; May 27, 2006: Music helps those with chronic pain; May 12, 2006: Individual differences in how we anticipate pain; February 27, 2006: technique for teaching people to control chronic pain; December 19, 2005: controlling chronic pain mentally; August 19, 2005: article on pain; May 17 2005: the complexity of our experience of pain; July 1 2004: virtual reality changes how the brain physically registers pain; June 15 2004: treatment of chronic pain;

depression

October 15, 2006: Genes, environment and depression; Internet therapy for depression; May 25, 2006: verbally abused children grow up self-critical and depressed; March 06, 2006: lower blood levels of omega-3 associated with depression, negative outlook and impulsivity; June 20 2005: new therapy for complicated grief; June 17 2005: genetic link to depression and anxiety;

aggression

April 13, 2006: gender differences in how we manage anger; December 15, 2005: violent video games and aggression; July 11 2005: genetic factor in aggression; October 6 2004: why aggressive behavior escalates so quickly, and is so hard to stop; September 1 2004: evidence that people with less symmetrical features may be more aggressive in response to stressful situations

personality tests

September 14 2004: the cult of personality tests in the U.S.

humor

January 25, 2006: benefits of laughter; November 17, 2005: gender and personality differences in brain activity in response to humor

happiness

October 02, 2006: thinking faster makes you feel happier and more energized; July 30, 2006: the World Map of Happiness, new book on happiness; July 13, 2006: happiness; June 16, 2006: How to be happy; July 19, 2005: no association between measured intelligence and happiness

individual differences:

gender differences

October 7, 2007: gender differences; August 13, 2006: male and female brains; August 09, 2006: male and female brains; April 13, 2006: gender differences in how we manage anger; April 06, 2006: why gender-related differences exist in certain psychiatric disorders; February 23, 2006: "sex i.d. profile" – brain quiz; December 07, 2005: differences between male and female brains; November 17, 2005: gender and personality differences in brain activity in response to humor ; September 22, 2005: differences between men and women exaggerated; August 30, 2005: More on the supposed IQ gender gap; August 26, 2005: Supposed IQ gender gap; August 24, 2005: gender differences; August 11, 2005: brain differences between the genders; May 02 2005: sex differences in the brain; April 13 2005: Results of the intuition experiment – no gender difference; March 16 2005: the math gender debate; January 31 2005: gender differences in the brain; September 14 2004: the persistent myths of gender differences

right brain/left brain

July 1 2004: radio program about the left brain / right brain issue

lefties

February 09 2005: left-handed people really do see the world differently

genetics: October 23, 2006: facial expressions inherited; September 24, 2006: a gene for extreme 'larks'; July 29, 2006: Gene expression -- Why environment is important for IQ; How identical twins can have different genes; May 16, 2006: More fuel for the addictive-personality debate; April 29, 2006: genes affect whether children like to read; February 27, 2006: genes of professional dancers; November 11, 2005: "dyslexia gene"; November 01, 2005: Epigenetics — the intertwining of nature and nurture; October 17, 2005: genetic advantage produces good sleepers; July 20, 2005: the genetics of behavior; July 09 2005: large twin study points to importance of gene expression

disorders

synaesthesia

November 13, 2007: Ramachandran on phantom pain, synaesthesia & Capgras delusion; April 14 2005: the neural basis of synaesthesia; March 16 2005: music-taste synaesthesia; September 17 2004: possible synaesthesia exists in all of us.

amnesia

May 20 2005: a man whose hippocampus was destroyed, leaving him living in an eternal present.

disorders

November 13, 2007: Ramachandran on phantom pain, synaesthesia & Capgras delusion; October 30, 2006: anxiety disorders and physical disorders; Neurofeedback for emotional control; October 08, 2006: compulsive shoppers; September 27, 2006: the reality of 'hysteria'; September 13, 2006: Sedative revives persistent vegetative state patients; July 11, 2006: Foreign Accent Syndrome; June 27, 2006: stuttering and emotional arousal and control; May 16, 2006: More fuel for the addictive-personality debate; April 25, 2006: the neural basis of 'choice deficit' disorders; April 06, 2006: why gender-related differences exist in certain psychiatric disorders; February 13, 2006: chronic deja vu; January 28, 2006: stroke therapy; light therapy for SAD; December 07, 2005: parietal cortex involved in generating body image; October 19, 2005: the failed promise of brain scanning in regards to mental disorders; October 11, 2005: OCD a dysfunctional variant of normal pair-bonding? October 10, 2005: structural differences in the brains of pathological liars; September 13, 2005: pathological gamblers’ and alcoholics’ personality traits; September 06, 2005: Personal Space Phobia; August 24, 2005: clinical condition where stroke victims deny they're paralyzed; July 13 2005: musical hallucinations; July 04 2005: anterior cingulate cortex critical when we make risky decisions; June 01 2005: Imaging studies have found the brain regions involved in gambling; February 06 2005: brain activity when processing words is different in stutterers;October 1 2004: imaging study has found differences in the brains of compulsive hoarders; September 30 2004: panic disorder; what happens in the brain after a head injury

savants

March 24, 2006: an exceptional memory; April 06 2005: the phenomenon of savants; March 4 2005: an autistic savant who can talk about his condition

autism, Aspergers, William's syndrome

September 09, 2006: autism more likely when father over 40; July 26, 2006: autistic males and the amygdala; April 01, 2006: "emotional social intelligence prosthetic" for the autistic; February 01, 2006: scientists more likely to produce children with autism? December 07, 2005: reduced activity of mirror neurons in autistic children; August 12 2005: latest math achievement from Alex, the African gray parrot -- training technique proving useful with autistic children; July 02 2005: The Autism Genome Project; 2005: an autistic savant who can talk about his condition; video game teaches social skills to those with Asperger's; January 21 2005: radio interview with Temple Grandin – autistic academic and writer; September 01 2003: Williams syndrome and a gene that affects sociability; implications for identity memory.

schizophrenia

November 02, 2005: schizophrenics and optical illusions; August 04, 2005: Why female voices are heard more clearly and why hallucinated voices tend to be male; July 04 2005: anterior cingulate cortex critical when we make risky decisions; 2005: a fault in the brain waves of schizophrenics at a particular frequency.

how memory works

general memory

September 2 2004: some quotes from Darwin on memory; September 02 2003: articles on memory; August 29 2003: the human brain.

myths

September 30 2004: the myth that we only use 10% of our brain; September 14 2004: the persistent myths of gender differences; August 31 2004: common self-help myths

personal memory

January 30 2004: the effect of social memory and identity memory; January 04 2004: autobiographical memory and nostalgia in particular

working memory

September 22 2003: new book - "The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind" by Elkhonon Goldberg. August 27 2003: The latest excuse for failing to get anything done! You may have executive function disability.

language

July 26, 2006: Where our language center comes from; April 29, 2006: genes affect whether children like to read; March 30, 2006: 10 months old enough to associate words to objects; February 04, 2006: language and perception; November 11, 2005: "dyslexia gene"; October 20, 2005: how human languages might have evolved; July 03 2005: the musical roots of language; June 22 2005: we process language and maths in different brain areas; June 01 2005: Imaging studies have found the brain regions involved in: understanding metaphors; understanding sarcasm; November 17 2004: more people with perfect pitch among Mandarin speakers; February 10 2004: research suggests that baby talk "tunes" the developing brain to notice particular features; September 19 2003: Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, ... September 12 2003: dyscalculia - the numerical equivalent of dyslexia

music

June 08, 2006: Mozart and visual perception; August 19, 2005: web survey to try and find out how much our appreciation of music is rooted in learning versus instinct; July 03 2005: the musical roots of language; November 17 2004: more people with perfect pitch among Mandarin speakers; May 19 2004: musical memory; March 16 2004: new application under development creates music in response to the listener’s physiological state, thus setting up a sort of positive feedback cycle, with music and listener drawing each other deeper into the desired mood;October 23 2003: imaging studies looking at the brain activation patterns of musicians as they listen to music. what this tells about nature of expertise and intrinsic connection between music and movement - taking us back to the suggestion that music was important in human evolution, in helping social groups bond. September 17 2003: evolution of our responsiveness to music. connection between music and language. August 22 2003: the "Mozart effect"

math

June 22 2005: we process language and maths in different brain areas

deception

June 29, 2006: Images of eyes keep people honest; February 06, 2006: More on lying; February 04, 2006: brains of pathological liars different from other brains; October 10, 2005: structural differences in the brains of pathological liars; October 03, 2005: using imaging to judge whether people are telling the truth; June 25 2005: brain activity while playing violent video games; December 01 2004: brain reveals who's lying; November 08 2004: Robert Trivers: the human capacity for self-deception; April 5 2004: imaging lie detector; March 16 2004: 'brain fingerprinting' - a new type of lie detector;

attention

August 29, 2006: We really are attracted to novelty; August 02, 2006: the need for voice training for teachers; December 15, 2005: improving young children's attention; October 17, 2005: Dealing with the constant interruptions of office life; July 19, 2005: fish oil and underachieving preschoolers; mistakes made when we lose concentration — such as putting coffee on your cornflakes, or more seriously, the sort of mistake that led to the Chernobyl disaster — are heralded by changes in a brainwave called P300. November 12 2003: suggestion that talking while walking puts contrasting demands on the spinal cord and requires neural coordination, and may exacerbate back problems

perception

October 17, 2006: early mammals nocturnal? October 13, 2006: why our eyes move constantly; August 15, 2006: 10 year olds not capable of adult-level change detection; August 07, 2006: Perception and nutrition; August 02, 2006: Living with blindness; June 12, 2006: Haptic communication; June 08, 2006: Mozart and visual perception; April 29, 2006: subliminal advertising; human perception is better than we realize; March 30, 2006: knowing what our body’s doing; March 16, 2006: visual perception; February 04, 2006: language and perception; February 01, 2006: an optical illusion; January 28, 2006: change blindness; November 02, 2005: schizophrenics and optical illusions; August 24, 2005: why the world doesn't go dark when you blink; August 04, 2005: Why female voices are heard more clearly and why hallucinated voices tend to be male; April 14 2005: size estimation; December 01 2004: optical illusions and visual phenomena; July 30 2004: see just how much we miss in the world around us; February 08 2004: our ability to recognize changes in a visual scene; why tinnitus occurs; March 17 2004: changing ideas about the nature of perception; February 05 2004: how what we see influences our tactile perception; January 26 2004: A new book on visual perception and what it means for the way we experience the world; December 06 2003: more on perception; November 12 2003: the brain can use information received after an event to decide how to perceive ; two quite distinct visual pathways in the brain enable you to see an object and reach out to pick it up; October 13 2003: Perception, like memory, is all about information coded in the brain. a site with software to turn sound into "vision", for those who can't see, and an article about it. demonstration of the blind spot.

blindness

February 01 2005: a painter who's been blind from birth; December 20 2004: the case of a blind man who can recognize emotion in peoples' faces; July 2 2004: talk with Nicholas Humphrey about what the self is and why he thinks we have it, with case studies of sight without a visual cortex

time perception

February 15, 2006: Time perception; June 18 2005: study of cross-cultural differences in time perception, looking for subjects; March 16 2004: time perception; November 04 2003: time perception

face recognition

November 13, 2007: Ramachandran on phantom pain, synaesthesia & Capgras delusion; October 23, 2006: facial expressions inherited; May 27, 2006: judging gender by gait; February 13, 2006: how our sense of identity works; June 29 2005: "babyfacedness" seen as sign of incompetence; November 18 2004: emotional response to body language; April 6 2004: face recognition: the role of the amygdala in interpreting facial expressions and a review of a new book

memory failure

false memory

March 21, 2006: our view of a person's character distorts our memory; September 28, 2005: tendency of older people to misremember product warnings as recommendations; December 06 2003: false memory research

forgetting

February 05 2004: recent research supporting the idea that we can actively forget; January 04 2004: forgetting and reconsolidation

neurology

neurological advances

August 22, 2005: making the first pure batch of brain stem cells from human stem cells; August 11, 2005: getting closer to a machine that can "read our minds"; July 25, 2005: knotty neuro-ethical issue; June 23 2005: new book on neuroethics; June 17 2005: Discussion of the social and political (and ethical) implications of recent findings in neuroscience; 2005: making brain cells from adult hair follicle stem cells; March 16 2005: the social implications of trendy neuroscientific research; March 4 2005: chip in the brain trial for paralyzed people; December 10 2004: controlling devices with the brain; November 10 2004: "cosmetic neurology"; November 08 2004: implications of neurological discoveries: might we one day be able to reinstate memory that's "lost"? Should we?; October 22 2004: the controversial new research that promises to be able to erase traumatic memories; September 7 2004: an article suggesting the findings of neuroscience have been over-hyped; September 2 2004: an interview with Paul Bloom on how he thinks we are born dualists and why the findings of imaging studies are an even greater revolution than Darwin's Origin of Species; July 5 2004: interview with Nobel Laureate neurobiologist Eric Kandel; November 18 2003: recent brain studies that could be used in unwarranted ways (eg, scanning people for racial bias).

neuroscience

July 01 2005: growing neuroscientific interest in belief; March 17 2004: interview with Patricia Churchland about her latest book "Brain-wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy"; interview with Stephen Johnson, author of "Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life", as well as "Emergence: The Connected Lives of Brains, Ants, Cities and Software"; February 01 2004: video of an interview with Gary Marcus, author of "From The Birth of the Mind: How a Tiny Number of Genes Creates the Complexities of Human Thought"; January 28 2004: Neuroscience and aesthetics; November 19 2003: Human Nature Review has just posted some interesting book reviews; August 25 2003: Neuroscience for architecture!

neural phenomena

March 07, 2006: adult neurogenesis; July 25, 2005: mirror neurons; February 09 2005: deja vu; February 04 2005: faster reaction time associated with longer life; February 02 2005: how memory works at the neuronal level; September 16 2004: the deja vu experience; August 4 2004: memory reconsolidation; November 04 2003: neural pruning ; September 23 2003: collaboration between the Dalai Lama and western scientists.

imaging technology

November 04 2003: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) ; October 16 2003: how magnetic resonance imaging works; September 09 2003: short radio program on imaging technology and what it's taught us about how memory works.

interactive experiments

February 23, 2006: "sex i.d. profile" – brain quiz; June 18 2005: study of cross-cultural differences in time perception, looking for subjects; June 05 2005: cognitive neuroscience experiment you can participate in; May 04 2005: try the famous Wason Selection Task and tell me how you did; December 21 2004: a test of implicit prejudice

cognition

decision-making

October 08, 2006: brain region linked to selfish behavior; August 25, 2006: how we make snap judgments about people; May 25, 2006: a tough childhood makes you more gullible; May 12, 2006: being loss-averse is an innate characteristic of humans; April 29, 2006: subliminal advertising; April 26, 2006: a pretty woman affects men’s decision-making abilities; April 13, 2006: why racially diverse juries make better decisions than all-white juries; February 24, 2006: decision-making -- complex decisions better made by instinct; December 19, 2005: Emotion and investment decisions; September 13, 2005: when people evaluate health risks fairly; August 31, 2005: Study concludes most people are risk averse; August 23, 2005: consumers' response to advertising; July 20, 2005: what goes on in the brain when we're making moral choices; July 04 2005: anterior cingulate cortex critical when we make risky decisions; June 29 2005: "babyfacedness" seen as sign of incompetence; June 22 2005: how American consumers have more choice than is good for their well-being; June 20 2005: fish study suggests how we make some of our instinctive decisions when we're part of a crowd; March 16 2005: the part of the brain that recognizes our mistakes and tries to prevent them; December 22 2004: our automatic response to subliminal cues that suggest danger; December 21 2004: a test of implicit prejudice; September 30 2004: gene manipulation turns monkeys into workaholics; September 1 2004: imaging study suggesting we punish others because it's satisfying; August 27 2004: imaging study suggests political preferences are influenced by brain structure! July 1 2004: what's going on in the brain when we make financial decisions; June 15 2004: why uncertainty of reward is rewarding; May 19 2004: how hard it is to make decisions when you have so many choices; November 24 2003: new imaging research suggests money is more rewarding when it is earned. Moreover, the sense of accomplishment in achieving your task appears more rewarding than the money itself; October 29 2003: imaging study which showed just why consumers prefer Coke to Pepsi!

problem-solving

April 25, 2006: 3 heads are better than one

theory of mind

October 13, 2006: More on mirror neurons; September 24, 2006: auditory mirror neurons and empathy; September 15, 2006: Empathy undeveloped in adolescent brains; January 11, 2006: yawning and empathy; June 15 2004: our ability to assess how other people are feeling; May 19 2004: how your brain tries to guess what others' brains are thinking; March 24 2004: why we always think the other fellow is slacking off; new 'mind-reading' system; February 25 2004: mindreading; September 17 2003: contagious yawning is a by-product of theory of mind; September 16 2003: What makes a human? One of the answers that appeals to me concerns the "theory of mind".

dualism

August 31, 2005: more on “your gut is a second brain" idea; January 31 2005: the mind-body problem; the gut - our second brain; September 2 2004: an interview with Paul Bloom on how he thinks we are born dualists and why the findings of imaging studies are an even greater revolution than Darwin's Origin of Species; January 15 2004: nature vs nurture

consciousness

April 26, 2006: watching the brain "lose itself" in an activity; March 16, 2006: new articles in Science & Consciousness Review; May 16 2005: why we evolved consciousness; August 18 2004: brain imaging studies and the question of whether we have free will; Gerald Edelman on consciousness;

self

February 13, 2006: how our sense of identity works; July 2 2004: talk with Nicholas Humphrey about what the self is and why he thinks we have it, with case studies of sight without a visual cortex; January 15 2004: A new book on the self

religion

September 01, 2006: no "God spot" in the brain; January 16, 2006: Religion an accidental byproduct of cognitive systems; October 20, 2005: how and why humans got religion