Tag: brain

Books, movies, reality are all equally disgusting–and that’s a good thing!

I write nonfiction (obviously), but I also write science fiction and fantasy. We who write such stuff are occasionally asked (and occasionally wonder) if our works can continue to compete in a media universe in which “science fiction” and “fantasy” conjure up for most people Hollywood special-effects extravaganzas first, and the written word second (if …

Continue reading

Good news for live musicians

Neuroscientists have found that a piano sonata played by a human being elicits stronger emotional responses than the same piece played by a computer: Senior research fellow in psychology [at the University of Susses] Dr Stefan Koelsch, who carried out the study with colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences …

Continue reading

Monday, Monday

From the Mamas and the Papas’ “Monday, Monday” to the Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” to the Boomtown Rats’ supremely creepy “I Don’t Like Mondays,” the first day of the work and school week has been vilified as a day of depression. But new research shows that people’s moods don’t really change that much over …

Continue reading

This is your brain on Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock, James Vermiere wrote in the Boston Herald on the occasion of the centenary of Hitchcock’s birth in 1999, “delighted in terrifying audiences by manipulating them…More than any other filmmaker, he was a master at messing with our minds.” “Wait a minute!” I hear you cry (if I happen to be sitting behind you …

Continue reading

Try to remember

Ever try to list a series of interesting things you’ve heard or own or read about for someone else, only to end up saying something like, “and…and…and I forget the other thing.” There’s a good reason why we often “forget the other thing”–because our conscious mind, or what is sometimes called our “working memory,” has …

Continue reading

Sleep in a bottle

I love a good night’s sleep. I just rarely get one that’s quite as long as I’d like. I’m not alone in that, either. Although exactly how much sleep any individual needs varies according to that individual’s age, sex, genetic makeup and other factors, studies indicate that the “normal” sleep need for most adults is …

Continue reading

Sleep in a bottle

I love a good night’s sleep. I just rarely get one that’s quite as long as I’d like. I’m not alone in that, either. Although exactly how much sleep any individual needs varies according to that individual’s age, sex, genetic makeup and other factors, studies indicate that the “normal” sleep need for most adults is …

Continue reading

The left brain vs. right brain test

Visit this page. Which way does the figure appear to be turning? I instantly saw her as turning clockwise, which supposedly makes me more right-brained. However, if I close my eyes for one second and tell myself she’s turning counter-clockwise, when I open my eyes I see her turning the other way. I’m not sure …

Continue reading

The political brain

Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast. ***** I do hear tell that there may be an election or two in the offing in the next little while. There are those for whom such affairs are akin to blood sports. They identify so strongly with a particular party, or a particular …

Continue reading

Source of fever identified

Humans have been dealing with fevers for millennia. Now scientists have, for the first time, identified the precise location in the brain that generates fever in the body: During periods of inflammation, such as when the body is fighting an infection or illness, the body produces hormones known as cytokines. The cytokines, in turn, act …

Continue reading

Firstborn children are the cleverest

I’m the youngest of three boys. I’ve sent this story to my oldest brother in the hope he might be able to explain it to me.

The angel and the devil on the shoulders of your teen

While I am still some seven years away from having a teenager of my own, I well remember being a teenager, and being occasionally asked by an exasperated parent, “What were you thinking?” To which, as often as not, I replied, “I don’t know.” This was seldom seen as an acceptable answer. Had I but …

Continue reading

Easy AdSense Pro by Unreal