You, Illuminated

Commonsense explanations of neuroscience.

Joshua Gowin is currently a doctoral student, in behavioral neuroscience at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. See full bio

November 17, 2009

Why It’s Hard To Stop Believing In Santa Claus

When, as a child, I first encountered the idea that Santa Claus might not be real, I balked. I experienced cognitive dissonance, a theory developed over the last sixty years by social psychologists to explain the uneasy feeling we get when we hold conflicting ideas. Recent advances in neuroscience can explain this phenomenon, and others. Read More

November 4, 2009

Born to Perform

People like Paul McCartney seem to be naturals, born performers, but most of us would shiver in our boots at the prospect of playing sold-out shows to stadiums of fans. The ability to stay cool could be due to the structure of the brain. Read More

October 14, 2009

The Origin of Fighting

Wouldn't the world be a better place without people vengefully cutting each other off in traffic or callously cursing at cashiers in the supermarket? Some forms of aggression seem unnecessary for the continuation of our species, and therefore maladaptive and atavistic, an evolutionary leftover like male nipples.

September 29, 2009

How ‘Smart Drugs’ Enhance Us

Recently, ‘smart drugs' have been touted as a remedy to an array of problems, from bad moods to failing economies. What have we gained with the advent of modern cognitive enhancers? Read More

September 18, 2009

Flaming, Joe Wilson, and Hitler

Why did the conversation about Joe Wilson's photograph turn sour? Online communication facilitates hostile interactions. Read More

August 18, 2009

How to Tell a Lie

As a culture, we laud truth-tellers, but how honest are we? Lying, by embellishment or fabrication, is something we do as part of our everyday lives; it's part of being human. By acknowledging our deceit, we may learn something about our nature. Read More

July 24, 2009

Why Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

After more than a month of deliberation, I parted ways with an old flame this past week, and I felt compelled to account for the time spent deliberating when, by most rational expectations, I should have done the deed much more quickly. Once I set to the task, it didn't take long. I put up a classified advertisement on Craig's List Monday morning and within a few days I was no longer the owner of a cobalt blue 1994 BMW. Read More

Neuroscience Basics

The human brain has been called the most complex object in the known universe, and in many ways it's the final frontier of science. A hundred billion neurons, close to a quadrillion connections between them, and we don't even fully understand a single cell.

Go to the Neuroscience Basics page for more on Neuroscience including:

Current Issue

Everyday Creativity

How to start living creatively and reap the benefits.

Subscribe to You, Illuminated

Neuroscience Basics

Current Issue