Bring in the Laughs: Investigating Laughter as a Social Signal

For Qing Ceci Cai, a Chinese Ph.D. student at University College London, social laughter has a very personal connection. “As a Chinese student immersing in this very different British culture, I normally fail to understand British humor,” she explains. “So most of the time when I hang out with my friends, I capture the exact […]

Controlling the Urge to Relieve Pain

The internal battle between the need to act and the need to suppress an action is something I have been through multiple times this summer: trying to suppress the urge to scratch itchy mosquito bites. Such a state is common in everyday life and also important to several clinical disorders but has yet to be […]

Sharpening Understanding of How the Deaf Brain Sees

Q&A with Stephen Lomber We often see it in superhero movies: When people are deprived of one sense, they develop superhuman powers in another sense. While those depictions may be exaggerated, the underlying premise has a real scientific basis. When the brain is deprived of input from one sense, such as hearing, it often compensates […]

Exploring the “Dark Side” of Brain Imaging

Q&A with Robert Thibault Guest Post by David Mehler Neuroimaging. For many people, this term invokes the thought of a photographer taking a snapshot of brain activity and then looking at the still. Cognitive neuroscientists, however, know this couldn’t be further from the truth. Image parameters, data cleaning, and statistical analyses all affect the final […]

Why Sleep?: Watch Matthew Walker’s CNS 2019 Keynote

To kick off the 26th annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Matthew Walker (UC Berkeley) gave audience members a detailed look at the myriad physiological and cognitive ways sleep influences people — and the dire consequences associated with not getting enough sleep. His presentation touched on learning, memory, aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and education, as […]

The Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) is committed to the development of mind and brain research aimed at investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of cognition.

The term cognitive neuroscience has now been with us for almost three decades, and identifies an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the nature of thought.

CNS Account Login

Become a Member

SAVE the DATE! CNS 2020

Mark your calendars for CNS 2020 in Boston, March 14-17, 2020!

Learn More

Can you recall the last time you woke up without an alarm clock feeling refreshed, not needing caffeine? If the answer is “no,” you are not alone. Two-thirds of adults fail to obtain the recommended 8 hours of nightly sleep. You may be surprised by the consequences, which Matthew Walker (University of California, Berkeley) describes in his keynote for the 26th annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society annual meeting. His talk describes ... continue reading

Whether we study single cells, measure populations of neurons, characterize anatomical structure, or quantify BOLD, whether we collect reaction times or construct computational models, it is a presupposition of our field that we strive to bridge the neurosciences and the psychological/cognitive sciences. Our tools provide us with ever-greater spatial resolution and ideal temporal resolution. But do we have the right conceptual resolution? ... continue reading