Human Quirks: Mind & Brain

August 20, 2016

The Internet Is Taking Over Human Memory

Checking out Competition Enlarged Our Brain

Mice Brain 'Reprogrammed' With Light Beam

Orangutans Can Guess a Taste, Just Like Us

Latest Headlines

updated 11:41am EDT

For Sensation-Seekers, the Color Red Can Elicit Rebelliousness, Study Finds

Aug. 17, 2016 — The widespread use of the color red to signal danger can actually be counterproductive for certain people, says new research. Under certain conditions, say investigators, the color red can arouse ... read more

Study Casts Doubt on Claim That People Are Over-Optimistic

Aug. 16, 2016 — For many decades scientists have believed that people have an 'irrational optimism bias' -- a tendency to underestimate their chances of negative experiences, while overestimating their chances of ... read more

Backup Plans May Keep You from Achieving Your Goal, Research Shows

Aug. 11, 2016 — When it comes to setting organizational and personal goals, making a backup plan has been seen as a sensible way to deal with uncertainty -- to be prepared if things don't go as expected. However, ... read more

Your Brain on Google Glass

Aug. 11, 2016 — A group of biomedical engineers use functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure mental workload as subjects navigate a ... read more

Reducing the Harms of Alcohol Through Weaker Beer

Aug. 10, 2016 — Could a small drop in the alcohol content of beer or other drinks reduce the harmful effects of alcohol in society at large? A new review, which explores the evidence, suggests this approach may be ... read more

Believe It or Not: Exercise Does More Good If You Believe It Will

Aug. 11, 2016 — People benefit more from exercise when they believe it will have a positive effect, new research indicates. A psychologist and his team have conducted a study demonstrating that test subjects derive ... read more

Paraplegics Regain Some Feeling, Movement After Using Brain-Machine Interfaces

Aug. 11, 2016 — Eight people who have spent years paralyzed from spinal cord injuries have regained partial sensation and muscle control in ... read more

Psychologist's Magic Makes a Non-Existent Object Disappear

Aug. 9, 2016 — Experimental psychologists have developed their own magic trick to explore human perception. 32 percent of people were convinced by a magician that they'd just seen an object ... read more

Dreaming Also Occurs During Non Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Aug. 9, 2016 — Measurements demonstrated that the brain activity of people who dream during NREM sleep, compared to people who do not dream in NREM sleep, is closer to brain activity of ... read more

New Study Confirms Adage That With Age Comes Wisdom

Aug. 8, 2016 — Older adults are better at interpreting the correct slope of a hill than young adults, which researchers believe is because of greater life ... read more

Using Tinder Might Lower Your Self-Esteem

The Latest In Preventing Drunken Driving? This 'Temporary Tattoo'

An Orangutan Was Able To Learn, And Mimic, Human Speech

Can This Program Spot a Criminal Before He Commits a Crime?

We Understand That Social Media Does Not Equal Social Interaction

Aug. 11, 2016 — If you worry that people today are using social media as a crutch for a real social life, a study will set you at ease. A new study found that people are actually quite adept at discerning the ... read more

Viewing Video in Slow Motion Makes Action Appear More Intentional, New Study Finds

Aug. 4, 2016 — Watching a video of a harmful or violent act being committed can provide useful evidence of the circumstances surrounding the action. But new research shows that watching that same video in slow ... read more

Sharks Get Bad Rap When Viewed With Ominous Background Music

Aug. 4, 2016 — In a new study, researchers found that the background music in shark documentaries affects viewers' perceptions of sharks. The researchers suggest that ominous background music could hinder ... read more

Phase-Change Device Imitates the Functionality of Neurons

Aug. 4, 2016 — Scientists have created randomly spiking neurons using phase-change materials to store and process data. This demonstration marks a significant step forward in the development of energy-efficient, ... read more

Flexible Wearable Electronic Skin Patch Offers New Way to Monitor Alcohol Levels

Aug. 2, 2016 — Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a flexible wearable sensor that can accurately measure a person's blood alcohol level from sweat and transmit the data ... read more

People Not Technology Will Drive Success of Autonomous Vehicles

Aug. 2, 2016 — As the world moves closer to autonomous and self-driving vehicles, road safety experts are turning from technology to psychology to better understand the road to safer ... read more

Scientists Grow Mini Human Brains

July 30, 2016 — Mini midbrains provide next generation platforms to investigate human brain biology, diseases and therapeutics, report ... read more

Replication Project Investigates Self-Control as Limited Resource

July 29, 2016 — A new research replication project, involving 24 labs and over 2,100 participants, failed to reproduce findings from a previous study that suggested that self-control is a depletable ... read more

No Dream: Electric Brain Stimulation During Sleep Can Boost Memory

July 28, 2016 — For the first time, scientists report using transcranial alternating current stimulation, or tACS, to target a specific kind of brain activity during sleep and strengthen memory in healthy ... read more

Music Makes Beer Taste Better

July 28, 2016 — Music can influence how much you like the taste of beer, according to a new ... read more

Brain Areas Altered During Hypnotic Trances Identified

July 28, 2016 — By scanning the brains of subjects while they were hypnotized, researchers were able to see the neural changes associated with ... read more

Americans Worried About Using Gene Editing, Brain Chip Implants and Synthetic Blood

July 26, 2016 — Many in the general public think scientific and technological innovations bring helpful change to society, but they are more concerned than excited when it comes to the potential use of emerging ... read more

Driving, Thinking, Dreaming: Why Motoring Can Be Therapeutic

July 26, 2016 — Although driving is now more commonly associated with road-rage than relaxation – at least in congested urban areas – research into the ways in which the concentration required for driving can ... read more

Historical Love-Affair With Indulgent Foods

July 26, 2016 — Our desire for indulgent meals may be over 500 years old. A new analysis of European and American paintings across five centuries shows that salt, bread, sausage, and shellfish were among the most ... read more

Reading Harry Potter Lowers Americans' Opinions of Donald Trump, Study Finds

July 20, 2016 — Can Harry Potter defeat Donald Trump? A new study has found that Americans who read Harry Potter books hold a lower opinion of Donald Trump, even after controlling for many factors like party, ... read more

Social Robots: Programmable by Everyone

July 20, 2016 — Social robots can be used in the educational or health system, where they would support trainers and therapists in their work. The robots can be programmed to practice vocabulary with children or to ... read more

Cosmetic Therapy: The Link Between Makeup and a Down Economy

July 19, 2016 — During tough economic times, women engage in the “lipstick effect,” stocking up on cosmetics and beauty products. The phenomenon has occurred during every major recession in U.S. history and ... read more

Is Schizophrenia a Disorder of the Immune System?

July 19, 2016 — Using data from the largest ever genetic study of schizophrenia, researchers have shed light on the role of the immune ... read more

Scientists Predict Academic Achievement from DNA Alone

July 19, 2016 — Scientists have used a new genetic scoring technique to predict academic achievement from DNA alone. This is the strongest prediction from DNA of a behavioral measure to ... read more

Using Wireless Interface, Operators Control Multiple Drones by Thinking of Various Tasks

July 13, 2016 — A researcher has discovered how to control multiple robotic drones using the human brain. A controller wears a skull cap outfitted with 128 electrodes wired to a computer. The device records ... read more

Thursday, August 11, 2016