What if we could reliably measure children’s brain circuits to predict reading ability just as we measure their height and weight to predict physical development? That is a question Brian Wandell has been exploring for the past 30 years – how to use neuroimaging techniques like MRI to quantify the properties and activity of living […]
We all wish at times that we had better memories of events in our lives – whether a childhood vacation, what we ate a few weeks ago, or maybe even where we were for the Oscars a few years ago. What if the answer were in a simple pulse of electricity at routine intervals, much […]
Last month at dinner with friends, I heard about a training program some employers are using to reduce implicit bias in hiring – involving, among other things, acknowledging before interviews any potential sources of bias the interviewer may have through past experiences with particular individuals or groups of people. The goal, to increase diversity in […]
When you think about which animals most closely resemble people, naturally thoughts turns to primates, our closest ancestors. But while nonhuman primates shared much neural wiring with people, when it comes to singing, it may surprise you to learn that we take our notes from songbirds. A new study suggests that people and songbirds draw […]
Guest Post by Teodora Stoica (University of Louisville) As dawn breaks, Rob Young quietly ties the laces of his favorite running shoes, dons his distinctive kilt and hits the road to complete a marathon. Specifically, his 370th marathon in 365 days. Besides the mind-boggling 10,178 miles raced, thousands of dollars earned for charities, and shattering […]
As I write this, I am in a crowded room surrounded by different voices, a blowing A/C, footsteps down the hall and the sound of typing from various laptops. How can I best focus on a single voice? Turns out the background noise matters: According to a new study, our brain uniquely processes different types […]
Guest Post by Brandon Levy, NIMH In February 2012, Florida neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin after calling 911 to report a “suspicious person” in his neighborhood. In November 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot by a Cleveland police officer while playing in a public park with a toy gun. Nearly […]
CNS 2016: Advances for Brain Science and Society Join us in the Big Apple to explore the underlying nature of how we think! Press registration is now open for the Cognitive Neuroscience Society annual conference, April 2-5, 2016, in New York City, at the New York Hilton Midtown. Get great story ideas and connect with […]
We searched our blog archives for some of our favorite stories of the year. Exercise, art, language, and the social and developing brain top our 15 stories from 2015: Nature and nurture 1. Why It Should Always Be the Season for Exercise Michelle Voss (University of Iowa) talks about progress in her lab and others […]
There are many moments in a day where we might have a brief emotional reaction to something – like smiling when we see a baby smile or grimacing when we see a baby crying. We experience continuum of emotions from the very brief in-the-moment reactions to the sustained emotions that impact our behavior at a […]
