The New Brain

How your brain—and our understanding of it—are constantly changing.

by R. Douglas Fields

Religion and Reason

Study finds analytic thinking promotes religious disbelief. Read More

Cocaine Shrinks the Brain

You no doubt know that it eats holes in your nose and can cause heart attacks, but the latest research reports that cocaine abuse also shrinks the brain. Read More

Obesity Caused by Non-Neuronal Cells (Glia) in the Brain

Researchers have discovered how to keep mice slim, trim, and energetic while gorging on a fatty diet. Brain cells called glia are the answer. Read More

Diversity Promotes Selfishness—Forced Integration is the Answer

Ethnic and religious diversity in a society undermines cooperation. Can forced integration of schools help? Read More

The Top Four False Beliefs about Memory

You answer a knock on the door and find yourself confronted by two police detectives. The officers probe you for your whereabouts the day before. A girl was sexually assaulted, and you are the prime suspect. Eye-witnesses place you at the scene. Later, the victim picks you out in a line-up as the thug who Read More

Search for the Genius Gene

Intelligence is in part inherited. New study seeks to identify the smart gene. Read More

Eat Your Guts Out: Why Envy Hurts and Why It's Good for Your Brain

If envy is so bad, why does it persist in human behavior? Read More

Brain Wiring

Wiring up the male and female brain Read More

Why We Prefer Certain Colors

Why do we put these things in our food? Read More

The Deadliest Disorder

Mental illnesses can be life threatening, but which one has the highest mortality rate? Read More

Shocking Anniversary

Shock treatment--a story of discovery, radical thinking, and ethics Read More

Looking through Rose Colored Glasses—Does Nostalgia Make You Old?

Does Nostalgia make you old? Read More

Sticks and Stones--Hurtful Words Damage the Brain

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me... We all know how untrue that childhood incantation is. Words do hurt. Ridicule, distain, humiliation, taunting, all cause injury, and when it is delivered in childhood from a child's peers, verbal abuse causes more than emotional trauma. It inflicts lasting physical effects on brain structure. Read More

Acupuncture Works--Sort of

The belief that a treatment will work can have a powerful effect on the outcome--especially an outcome involving the mind. Read More

Who Have More Out-of-Body Near-Death Experiences—Atheists, Catholics, or Muslims?

New insight into near-death experiences Read More

Mirror Image People--Are Lefties Different?

Does it matter which side of your brain does what? Read More

Money Buys Unhappiness, Proven in a New Study

If money is so desirable, how could it possibly spoil happiness? Read More

Festering Brain Infection--Piercing the Illusion of Safety

What happened to this man two weeks before? Read More

The Fountain of Youth in a Cup of Coffee—Ladies Only

Coffee prevents loss of brain tissue in elderly women. Read More

Killers

Is captivity driving killer whales mad? Read More

Amy Bishop's Science--Scientific Studies by the Professor Accused in the Huntsville Faculty Murders

After hearing about the horrific murders during a faculty meeting in Huntsville, Alabama, on February 12, 2010, it is only natural to wonder about the person who is suspected of causing such a grim tragedy. The lives of Drs. Gopi Podila, Maria Ragland Davis, and Adriel Johnson were taken, and Stephanie Monticciolo, Joseph Lehy and Luis Cruz-Vera were seriously injured. Read More