MichaelMerzenich

Your Brain On Deception: Why April Fools’ Day Pranks Work

Mar 29, 2019

I enjoy hearing about or even falling for a good harmless prank — and I certainly enjoy pulling a child or two’s string, in a cheerful, happy way, just to keep them on their toes — so, April Fools’ is one of my favorite days of the year. The holiday underscores how important surprises are for our brains. Of course, one hopes those surprises will be delightful ones!

Michael Merzenich

Dr. Michael M. Merzenich is Professor Emeritus at UC San Francisco, where he ran a government-funded research lab, and is also Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of Posit Science Corporation, which develops and distributes plasticity-based brai…

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