[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
E-mail is often a rather casual form of communication. Language is more informal and grammar, well, it ain’t a priority. Now comes a study that finds that people tend to lie more in email than when writing with pen and paper. This research from DePaul, Lehigh and Rutgers Universities. [More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
E-mail is often a rather casual form of communication. Language is more informal and grammar, well, it ain’t a priority. Now comes a study that finds that people tend to lie more in email than when writing with pen and paper. This research from DePaul, Lehigh and Rutgers Universities. [More]
Many things stimulate our brains' reward centers, among them, coordinated movements. Consider the thrill some get from watching choreographed fight or car chase scenes in action movies. What about the enjoyment spectators get when watching sports or actually riding on a roller coaster or in a fast car? [More]
Many things stimulate our brains' reward centers, among them, coordinated movements. Consider the thrill some get from watching choreographed fight or car chase scenes in action movies. What about the enjoyment spectators get when watching sports or actually riding on a roller coaster or in a fast car? [More]
Editor's Note: This story will be published in the November 2008 issue of Scientific American.
Nothing ratchets up the perennial debate over media bias like a presidential election. But as Tim Groeling, a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, observes, public discussions about media bias are often just “food fights,” with pundits and partisans throwing around anecdotes.
[More]Editor's Note: This story will be published in the November 2008 issue of Scientific American.
Nothing ratchets up the perennial debate over media bias like a presidential election. But as Tim Groeling, a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, observes, public discussions about media bias are often just “food fights,” with pundits and partisans throwing around anecdotes.
[More][The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
If you’ve ever gotten sucked into a bidding war on eBay, you know the feeling. With one minute left in the auction, the bidding is fast and furious as everyone tries to come out on top. Higher and higher you up the ante, each click of the mouse a painful reminder that you’ve already bid more than you wanted to spend. But why do we do that: overbid at public auctions? Now a team of neuroscientists says that, rather than the joy of winning, it’s an aversion to losing that drives such economic misbehavior. [More]
[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
If you’ve ever gotten sucked into a bidding war on eBay, you know the feeling. With one minute left in the auction, the bidding is fast and furious as everyone tries to come out on top. Higher and higher you up the ante, each click of the mouse a painful reminder that you’ve already bid more than you wanted to spend. But why do we do that: overbid at public auctions? Now a team of neuroscientists says that, rather than the joy of winning, it’s an aversion to losing that drives such economic misbehavior. [More]
Scientists say they have pinpointed a gene in the brain that can calm nerve cells that become too jumpy, potentially paving the way for new therapies to treat autism and other neurological disorders. [More]
Scientists say they have pinpointed a gene in the brain that can calm nerve cells that become too jumpy, potentially paving the way for new therapies to treat autism and other neurological disorders. [More]
Chen-Bo Zhong is an assistant professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. In recent years, he’s explored a wide variety of topics, from the benefits of relying on the unconscious to generate creative insights to the reasons people often use temperature metaphors (“icy stares,” “cold shoulders,” and so on) when describing acts of social rejection. Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer chats with Zhong about his latest research.
LEHRER: You recently demonstrated that being socially excluded from a group can make people feel colder, so that they believe a room is colder and prefer warm drinks and snacks, such as hot coffee and soup. What made you interested in this line of research?
[More]Chen-Bo Zhong is an assistant professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. In recent years, he’s explored a wide variety of topics, from the benefits of relying on the unconscious to generate creative insights to the reasons people often use temperature metaphors (“icy stares,” “cold shoulders,” and so on) when describing acts of social rejection. Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer chats with Zhong about his latest research.
LEHRER: You recently demonstrated that being socially excluded from a group can make people feel colder, so that they believe a room is colder and prefer warm drinks and snacks, such as hot coffee and soup. What made you interested in this line of research?
[More]In 1937 the great neuroscientist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington of the University of Oxford laid out what would become a classic description of the brain at work. He imagined points of light signaling the activity of nerve cells and their connections. During deep sleep, he proposed, only a few remote parts of the brain would twinkle, giving the organ the appearance of a starry night sky. But at awakening, “it is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance,” Sherrington reflected. “Swiftly the head-mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns.”
Although Sherrington probably did not realize it at the time, his poetic metaphor contained an important scientific idea: that of the brain revealing its inner workings optically. Understanding how neurons work together to generate thoughts and behavior remains one of the most difficult open problems in all of biology, largely because scientists generally cannot see whole neural circuits in action. The standard approach of probing one or two neurons with electrodes reveals only tiny fragments of a much bigger puzzle, with too many pieces missing to guess the full picture. But if one could watch neurons communicate, one might be able to deduce how brain circuits are laid out and how they function. This alluring notion has inspired neuroscientists to attempt to realize Sherrington’s vision.
[More]In 1937 the great neuroscientist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington of the University of Oxford laid out what would become a classic description of the brain at work. He imagined points of light signaling the activity of nerve cells and their connections. During deep sleep, he proposed, only a few remote parts of the brain would twinkle, giving the organ the appearance of a starry night sky. But at awakening, “it is as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance,” Sherrington reflected. “Swiftly the head-mass becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns.”
Although Sherrington probably did not realize it at the time, his poetic metaphor contained an important scientific idea: that of the brain revealing its inner workings optically. Understanding how neurons work together to generate thoughts and behavior remains one of the most difficult open problems in all of biology, largely because scientists generally cannot see whole neural circuits in action. The standard approach of probing one or two neurons with electrodes reveals only tiny fragments of a much bigger puzzle, with too many pieces missing to guess the full picture. But if one could watch neurons communicate, one might be able to deduce how brain circuits are laid out and how they function. This alluring notion has inspired neuroscientists to attempt to realize Sherrington’s vision.
[More]It’s probably not surprising that mothers excel at recognizing and interpreting the moods and emotions of their infants. Although infants can’t speak, mothers seem to know what their babies are thinking: they smile when their baby smiles and they frown when their baby is upset. Research suggests that the mother’s ability to understand the needs of her infant is very important for establishing a secure mother-infant relationship. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie these behaviors are poorly understood. Such knowledge is crucial for understanding normal as well as abusive and neglectful mothering. [More]
It’s probably not surprising that mothers excel at recognizing and interpreting the moods and emotions of their infants. Although infants can’t speak, mothers seem to know what their babies are thinking: they smile when their baby smiles and they frown when their baby is upset. Research suggests that the mother’s ability to understand the needs of her infant is very important for establishing a secure mother-infant relationship. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie these behaviors are poorly understood. Such knowledge is crucial for understanding normal as well as abusive and neglectful mothering. [More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.] [More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.] [More]
[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
[More][The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
[More]When Brad Pitt tells Eric Bana in the 2004 film Troy that “there are no pacts between lions and men,” he is not reciting a clever line from the pen of a Hollywood screenwriter. He is speaking Achilles’ words in English as Homer wrote them in Greek more than 2,000 years ago in the Iliad. The tale of the Trojan War has captivated generations of audiences while evolving from its origins as an oral epic to written versions and, finally, to several film adaptations. The power of this story to transcend time, language and culture is clear even today, evidenced by Troy’s robust success around the world.
Popular tales do far more than entertain, however. Psychologists and neuroscientists have recently become fascinated by the human predilection for storytelling. Why does our brain seem to be wired to enjoy stories? And how do the emotional and cognitive effects of a narrative influence our beliefs and real-world decisions?
[More]When Brad Pitt tells Eric Bana in the 2004 film Troy that “there are no pacts between lions and men,” he is not reciting a clever line from the pen of a Hollywood screenwriter. He is speaking Achilles’ words in English as Homer wrote them in Greek more than 2,000 years ago in the Iliad. The tale of the Trojan War has captivated generations of audiences while evolving from its origins as an oral epic to written versions and, finally, to several film adaptations. The power of this story to transcend time, language and culture is clear even today, evidenced by Troy’s robust success around the world.
Popular tales do far more than entertain, however. Psychologists and neuroscientists have recently become fascinated by the human predilection for storytelling. Why does our brain seem to be wired to enjoy stories? And how do the emotional and cognitive effects of a narrative influence our beliefs and real-world decisions?
[More]It afflicts every creature on this planet, and everyone dreams of an antidote. But even after decades of research, aging largely remains a mystery. Now new research findings suggest there is a good reason for this impasse: scientists may have been thinking about the causes of aging all wrong. Instead of being the result of an accumulation of genetic and cellular damage, new evidence suggests that aging may occur when genetic programs for development go awry.
The idea that stress and reactive forms of oxygen--“free radicals” that are the normal by-products of metabolism--cause aging has dominated the field for 50 years. Studies on the worm Caenorhabditis elegans have shown that reducing exposure to reactive oxygen species increases life span, and worms that have been bred to live longer are also more resistant to stress. But few studies have definitively linked oxidative damage to altered cellular function.
[More]It afflicts every creature on this planet, and everyone dreams of an antidote. But even after decades of research, aging largely remains a mystery. Now new research findings suggest there is a good reason for this impasse: scientists may have been thinking about the causes of aging all wrong. Instead of being the result of an accumulation of genetic and cellular damage, new evidence suggests that aging may occur when genetic programs for development go awry.
The idea that stress and reactive forms of oxygen--“free radicals” that are the normal by-products of metabolism--cause aging has dominated the field for 50 years. Studies on the worm Caenorhabditis elegans have shown that reducing exposure to reactive oxygen species increases life span, and worms that have been bred to live longer are also more resistant to stress. But few studies have definitively linked oxidative damage to altered cellular function.
[More]The visual image is inherently ambiguous: an image of a person on the retina would be the same size for a dwarf seen from up close or a giant viewed from a distance. Perception is partly a matter of using certain assumptions about the world to resolve such ambiguities. We can use illusions to uncover what the brain’s hidden rules and assumptions are. In this column, we consider illusions of shading.
In illustration a, the disks are ambiguous; you can see either the top row as convex spheres or “eggs,” lit from the left, and the bottom row as cavities--or vice versa. This observation reveals that the visual centers in the brain have a built-in supposition that a single light source illuminates the entire image, which makes sense given that we evolved on a planet with one sun. By consciously shifting the light source from left to right, you can make the eggs and cavities switch places.
[More]The visual image is inherently ambiguous: an image of a person on the retina would be the same size for a dwarf seen from up close or a giant viewed from a distance. Perception is partly a matter of using certain assumptions about the world to resolve such ambiguities. We can use illusions to uncover what the brain’s hidden rules and assumptions are. In this column, we consider illusions of shading.
In illustration a, the disks are ambiguous; you can see either the top row as convex spheres or “eggs,” lit from the left, and the bottom row as cavities--or vice versa. This observation reveals that the visual centers in the brain have a built-in supposition that a single light source illuminates the entire image, which makes sense given that we evolved on a planet with one sun. By consciously shifting the light source from left to right, you can make the eggs and cavities switch places.
[More]Injecting stem cells into the brains of mice that recently suffered a stroke can reduce nerve cell (neuron) damage by up to 60 percent, according to new research. [More]
Injecting stem cells into the brains of mice that recently suffered a stroke can reduce nerve cell (neuron) damage by up to 60 percent, according to new research. [More]
Humans are social animals. In recent years, psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists have revealed the distinct parts of our brain that allow us to interact, collaborate and communicate with each other. One important way of studying the “social brain” is to look at what happens in the brain during neuro-developmental disorders associated with atypical social abilities. Two such disorders are autism and Williams syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder. The exciting new study by the psychologist Deborah Riby and Peter Hancock at Newcastle University uses cutting edge methods in eye tracking to investigate the unusual social preferences and behaviors in people with Williams syndrome and autism. [More]
Humans are social animals. In recent years, psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists have revealed the distinct parts of our brain that allow us to interact, collaborate and communicate with each other. One important way of studying the “social brain” is to look at what happens in the brain during neuro-developmental disorders associated with atypical social abilities. Two such disorders are autism and Williams syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder. The exciting new study by the psychologist Deborah Riby and Peter Hancock at Newcastle University uses cutting edge methods in eye tracking to investigate the unusual social preferences and behaviors in people with Williams syndrome and autism. [More]
Researchers have for the first time found that the neurotransmitter dopamine is central to the human brain network governing motivation and a sense of reward and pleasure--and that it changes with age. The finding could provide clues to healthy, happy aging and pave the way to new treatments for neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia as well as addictive behaviors from alcoholism and drug abuse to compulsive gambling. [More]
Researchers have for the first time found that the neurotransmitter dopamine is central to the human brain network governing motivation and a sense of reward and pleasure--and that it changes with age. The finding could provide clues to healthy, happy aging and pave the way to new treatments for neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia as well as addictive behaviors from alcoholism and drug abuse to compulsive gambling. [More]
HIS FINALIST YEAR: 1992
HIS FINALIST PROJECT: Studying the genetics of the Arizona cypress tree
[More]HIS FINALIST YEAR: 1992
HIS FINALIST PROJECT: Studying the genetics of the Arizona cypress tree
[More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
[More]
[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
[More]Remember synergy? It was one of the buzziest buzzwords energizing the dot-com era of the late 1990s. The Internet was making it easier than ever to pull people and organizations into cooperative networks, and legions of start-up companies exuberantly leapt in to take advantage of the new efficiencies and marketing opportunities. Expectations were rife that the whole would exceed the sum of the parts, although proponents were sometimes vague about how (and how to build a real business proposition around it).
One decade and a boom-and-bust cycle later, the synergistic promise of the Internet is in force. Thanks to the collaborative enterprises of Web 2.0, people routinely reveal their life histories on Facebook, share photographs via Flickr, contribute to wikis, and Twitter their passing thoughts to anyone who will read them. Synergy may take a backseat to “social networking” and “user-generated content” as boardroom jargon these days, but information technology has indeed made this a golden era for collaboration.
[More]Remember synergy? It was one of the buzziest buzzwords energizing the dot-com era of the late 1990s. The Internet was making it easier than ever to pull people and organizations into cooperative networks, and legions of start-up companies exuberantly leapt in to take advantage of the new efficiencies and marketing opportunities. Expectations were rife that the whole would exceed the sum of the parts, although proponents were sometimes vague about how (and how to build a real business proposition around it).
One decade and a boom-and-bust cycle later, the synergistic promise of the Internet is in force. Thanks to the collaborative enterprises of Web 2.0, people routinely reveal their life histories on Facebook, share photographs via Flickr, contribute to wikis, and Twitter their passing thoughts to anyone who will read them. Synergy may take a backseat to “social networking” and “user-generated content” as boardroom jargon these days, but information technology has indeed made this a golden era for collaboration.
[More]More than 15 million Americans drink too much, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. New research on rats may help them curb that addiction. [More]
More than 15 million Americans drink too much, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. New research on rats may help them curb that addiction. [More]