Neuroscience

So What Would Count As Mindreading?

If you are reading this then the recent research by Brian Pasley and colleagues in which speech sounds are reconstructed from measured brain activity has probably already come onto your neuro-radar. It's certainly drawn a lot of media coverage, with ...

Article - Chris Martin - Feb 6 2012 - 7:18pm

Citizen Scientists Mapping the Connectome

I've just begun reading the recently released review book, " Connectome," from  Sebastian Seung  of  MIT. The basic notion of the book is that you  are  the emergent result from the interconnections of some 100 billion neurons in your brain ...

Blog Post - Matthew T. Dearing - Feb 14 2012 - 11:55am

A Definitive FMRI Test For Narcissism

Put a hand on your widow's peak. About an inch below your fingertips in your medial prefrontal cortex is the home of your sense of self. Julian Keenan, director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab at Montclair State University, did a nifty trick: He use ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Mar 11 2012 - 8:19am

Complex Machinery in the Neuron, Vesicle Budding and Fusion, Transcription, and More

The neuron performs an incredible job in maintaining the mechanics of the cell while still being responsible for the transmission of mental function.  Its responsibilities include: building structures to maintain its long axon, building and rebuilding the ...

Blog Post - Jon Lieff MD - Mar 12 2012 - 5:21pm

Human Brain and Mind 2: More Neuroplasticity

For many years, it was thought that new brain cells could not develop in adulthood and that the connections between nerves were fairly static after childhood. ...

Blog Post - Jon Lieff MD - Mar 19 2012 - 10:27am

The Plant “Brain”: The Dodder Attacks

Most of the time, we do not think of plants as having the ability to plan, move, and attack. Certain behaviors of plants have been known for many years, such as the ability to turn to face sunlight, to open and close leaves each day and night, and to catch ...

Article - Jon Lieff MD - Mar 21 2012 - 2:43pm

The Plant “Brain” 2: Communication among Plants and with Other Species

Plants, while not generally thought of as being intelligent, do exhibit problem solving, planning, communication, and defensive behavior.  Plants actively search for nutrients and for sunlight. They move their leaves and stems in response to light and can ...

Blog Post - Jon Lieff MD - Mar 23 2012 - 9:50am

Human Brain and Mind 3: the Limits of the Senses, Top Down Control of Perception

In a now-famous experiment, people are told to carefully look for and count certain details of a performance.  During the performance, a man in a gorilla suit walks across the stage, bows, and walks off.  Almost no one sees it.  Why?  Because it wasn’t one ...

Blog Post - Jon Lieff MD - Mar 26 2012 - 9:41am

The Plant "Brain" 3: Defense, Avoiding Predators, Attracting Insects, Timed Gene Synthesis

Previous posts, examined possible plant cognitive functions with the Dodder’s parasitism and the complex ability plants have to communicate with other plants and fungi.   More impressive are the elaborate abilities of plants to defend themselves. Traps and ...

Blog Post - Jon Lieff MD - Mar 28 2012 - 3:53pm

Solved: The Mystery Of Human Consciousness (Almost)

Researchers have gotten some clues to primitive consciousness- thanks to anesthesia. People are often groggy when waking from anesthesia, and sometimes struggle. A group of  scientists believe they now know why this may occur: primitive consciousness emerg ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 4 2012 - 8:45pm