Articles tagged with brain

The new science of optogenetics is amending neuroscience’s focus on cutting and chemicals to shine a light directly on the brain.

Studies looking at the brains of people playing a fairness game found very different responses between Buddhist meditators and other participants.

“If everybody had an ocean …” perhaps Western militaries could start addressing cases of combat stress without medication, trading hang fire for hang 10.

The hippocampus, a structure inside the brain, shrinks after psychological trauma, which hints that a pharmaceutical cure may address post-traumatic stress disorder.

Why do so many American and so few British soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress?

New research finds membership in a minority religion seems to hasten a loss of volume of the hippocampal region of the brain.

Brain-scan research from Mexico suggests women’s neural systems respond more robustly to images that evoke compassion.

Studies show nature restores our spirits, improves our thinking, keeps us healthier and probably even saner.

Although it’s fun and science-y to know how the physical brain parses data, most of us really should be more interested in what the mind is doing.

Rather than accepting or rejecting controversial findings — like Daryl Bem’s upcoming paper on ESP — based on preconceived notions, how about approaching them with scientific scrutiny?

Dr. Pierre-Michel Bernier discusses the incredible calculations your brain performs to plan even the simplest movements.

New books “Self Comes to Mind” and “On Second Thought” examine the origins of consciousness, and the unconscious pulls that influence our behavior.

New research on responding to sound may have found a key to reversing, or even preventing, one of the effects of aging.

Newly published research on belief in ESP suggests a public disregard for — and perhaps even hostility toward — the scientific consensus.

New research indicates Transcendental Meditation may help reduce symptoms of depression, which could also lower the risk of heart disease.

Two new studies — one sociological, another using brain scans — document and help explain our lack of empathy for perceived outsiders.

Put down those program notes: New research suggests describing a piece of classical music may diminish the pleasure of listening.

A psychologist argues the enormous creativity of guitarist Jimi Hendrix can be traced to the high level of integration between his brain’s two hemispheres.

How brain-scanning technology is redefining criminal culpability.

New research finds upward physical movements inspire positive memories.

Two new studies of music and the brain give us insights into the mind of the improvising musician, and the conformist leanings of teenagers.

Studies are finding that the pain relief induced by placebos may come from releasing the body’s own chemical pain relievers.

Creativity is a product of the left and right brain hemispheres working together — an alliance that comes more easily to the ambidextrous.

Weighty new research suggests holding a heavy object engages the mind.

New research suggests our brains react almost instantaneously to statements that challenge our moral values.

Empathy is more than an item on a prospective Supreme Court nominee’s résumé; it’s a core human trait. But where inside the brain might it arise?

A new study finds listening to Mozart can indeed provide a boost for the brain — but only in non-musicians.

Understanding human thought processes puts a different spin on everything from global financial meltdowns to fighter pilot errors. It can also help make technology more brain-friendly.

This is not just a pipe dream: The brain apparently does make its own marijuana.

Scale aside, one of the biggest differences between the brains of mice and humans is the once-overlooked cell known as the astrocyte.

Two new studies of psychological stress provide another reason we all need to unwind, and suggest an effective way of doing so.

Brain-injury research from the University of Missouri provides evidence that feelings of spiritual transcendence are the product of specific brain activity.

A look at some current research that merits a raised eyebrow or a painful grin.

Research is confirming the medicinal effects that advocates have long claimed for meditation.

Researchers analyze oxytocin levels in naked mole rats to better understand their unique social behavior.

A documentary about a meditation program among convicted murderers sparks discussion about the benefits religion and spirituality offer inmates and officials.

Two Cornell psychologists found we have two separate systems for memories, which helps explain how we can “remember” things that never happened.

Two new MRI studies provide insights into how music is processed in the brain and clues to the underlying structure of the creative process.

A new look at brain-activity patterns of sober alcoholics could help scientists understand, and better treat, the underlying neurobiology of addiction.

Mr. Rogers was right: Neighborhoods play an important role in a child’s development.

Research using brain-scanning technology finds that images of violence stimulate specific responses in the human brain that do not occur in reaction to other types of imagery.