A brain science expert shares tips for regulating anxiety and emotions during tumultuous times

Difficult emotions can be more controllable with practice. svetikd/Getty Images Moran Cerf is a professor of neuroscience and business. Every week, he receives questions about psychology, business, and behavior via email from people who attend his talks; below are his answers to two recent questions. He suggests articulating what you're feeling and connecting with a like-minded friend who may be experiencing the same thing. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The last coupl...
Tags: Health, Column, Hollywood, Opinion, Advice, Trends, Strategy, Neuroscience, Mental Health, New Orleans, Nordic, Savanna, Daniel Lieberman, Moran Cerf, Contributor 2019, Original Contributor

This game-changing graphene tattoo can continuously monitor your brainwaves

Brainwave data is almost always captured sporadically or intermittently. But with this innovation, it could be captured continuously
Tags: Wearables, Trends, Neuroscience, Features, Epilepsy, Brains, Eeg

What is “representation” in the human brain and AI systems?

You know the way Google search will sometimes finish your sentences for you? Or, when you’re typing an email, there’s some ghostly predictive text that floats just in front of your cursor? Well, there’s a new kid on the block that makes these gadgets look like toy tricks out of a Christmas cracker. Give it a sentence of Jane Austen and it will finish the paragraph in the same style. Give it a philosophical conjecture and it will fill the page with near-coherent academic ruminations. GPT-3 is ess...
Tags: Google, Books, Technology, Featured, Neuroscience, Jane Austen, Philosophy, Ai, Richards, GPT, Science & Medicine, Arts & Humanities, Psychology & Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Artificial Neural Networks, Ruth Millikan David Papineau

This is your brain on political arguments

New research at Yale identifies the brain regions that are affected when you're in disagreeable conversations. Talking with someone you agree with harmonizes brain regions and is less energetically taxing. The research involves face-to-face dialogues, not conversations on social media. You probably know the feeling: a rush of heat that assaults your entire body; your fingertips and forehead suffering fiery consequences of conflict; restrictions around your chest and throat; quickened breath, a...
Tags: Facebook, Politics, Democracy, Neuroscience, Mental Health, Brain, Yale, Innovation, Derek, Yale University, Jonathan Haidt, Global Issues, Joy Hirsch

Meet the man on a controversial mission to preserve and digitize your brain

Robert McIntyre is on a mission to preserve human brains so they can be uploaded in the future. Outlandish? Sure. But aren't most groundbreaking ideas?
Tags: Startups, Trends, Neuroscience, Features, Brains, Emerging Tech, Robert McIntyre

A brain science expert shares his 30-second exercise to jumpstart your creative thinking at work

You may seem creative if you suggest doing something that breaks the mold, writes Moran Cerf. Eva-Katalin/Getty Images Moran Cerf, 42, is a professor of neuroscience and business at Kellogg School of Management and Northwestern University and the Alfred P. Sloan professor at the American Film Institute. Every week, he receives questions about the brain, psychology, business, and behavior via email from people who attend his talks; below are his answers to two recent questions. In today's c...
Tags: Psychology, Science, Trends, Strategy, Neuroscience, Creativity, REM, Q&a, Nordic, Northwestern University, Rapid Eye Movement REM, Kellogg School of Management, Alfred P Sloan, Deirdre Barrett, Moran Cerf, Contributor 2019

Nerves that sense touch may play role in autism

Autism refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. According to the CDC, autism impacts an estimated 1 in 54 children in the United States.An October 2020 study suggests that the peripheral nervous system may play a role in autism.The parameters of the study may not show the entire picture —more research is needed in this area. Autism (commonly referred to as ASD, autism spectrum disorder) refers...
Tags: Learning, Biology, Cdc, Environment, Neuroscience, Mindfulness, Mental Health, Brain, Genetics, United States, Innovation, Men, Illness, Taipei, Senses, National Taiwan University Hospital

Colorful brain mapping tool lights up neural connections

A new tool called NeuroPal allows scientists to map the brain in more detail than ever before.By using the same color highlight for similar neurons, it allows researchers to more fully understand what areas of the brain do what. It has already been made available to other researchers who are publishing new brain studies. The human brain is one of the most complicated things in the known universe. A fatty mass containing 86 billion neurons connected by 100 trillion synapses, it automatically reg...
Tags: Technology, Neuroscience, Brain, Innovation, Visualizations, Columbia, Eviatar Yemini, Columbia News

How Tibetan Monks Use Meditation to Raise Their Peripheral Body Temperature 16-17 Degrees

Tibetan monks in remote regions of the Himalayas have long claimed near miraculous powers through yogic practices that resemble nothing you’ll find offered at your local gym, though they may derive from some similar Indian sources. One such meditative practice, a breathing exercise known as tummo, tum-mo, or g-tummo, supposedly generates body heat and can raise one’s peripheral body temperature 16-17 degrees—a distinctly advantageous ability when sitting outside in the snow-capped mountains...
Tags: Health, Google, College, Boston, Religion, Neuroscience, Harvard, Himalayas, Dalai Lama, Benson, National University Of Singapore, Facebook Twitter, Harvard Medical School, Josh Jones, Robert Wright, Durham NC Follow

Control group outperforms mediums in psychic test

A control group outperformed professional mediums in a psychic test. This contradicted previous research the team performed in which mediums scored above chance levels. For this study, every volunteer had to guess the cause of death after being given three choices. Magician and renowned skeptic James Randi passed away in October. In 1996, he famously offered $1,000 to anyone that could prove they had paranormal abilities. Over time, the prize money grew to $1,000,000. Even with that kind of mo...
Tags: Psychology, Facebook, Neuroscience, Brain, Innovation, Consciousness, Senses, Derek, William James, La Jolla, Randi, James Randi, Human body, Petumula, JB Rhine, Arnaud Delorme

Michio Kaku: 3 mind-blowing predictions about the future

Carl Sagan believed humanity needed to become a multi-planet species as an insurance policy against the next huge catastrophe on Earth. Now, Elon Musk is working to see that mission through, starting with a colony of a million humans on Mars. Where will our species go next?Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku looks decades into the future and makes three bold predictions about human space travel, the potential of 'brain net', and our coming victory over cancer."[I]n the future, the word 'tumor' wil...
Tags: Space, Science, Technology, Biology, Cancer, Future, Neuroscience, Brain, Physics, Innovation, Universe, Disease, Planets, Illness, Mars, Mind

How to set realistic New Year's resolutions and actually stick to them in 2021, according to a neuroscientist

Getty Images Moran Cerf, 42, is a professor of neuroscience and business at Kellogg School of Management and Northwestern University and the Alfred P. Sloan professor at the American Film Institute. Every week, he receives questions about the brain, psychology, business, and behavior via email from people who attend his talks; below are his answers to two recent questions. In today's column, he covers how to use neuroscience to make effective New Year's resolutions and manage relationship...
Tags: Psychology, Hollywood, Relationships, Los Angeles, Trends, Strategy, Neuroscience, Nasa, Mars, Resolutions, Nordic, New Years Resolution, Northwestern University, Cardinals, Cubs, Kellogg School of Management

To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language

In some ways, learning to program a computer is similar to learning a new language. It requires learning new symbols and terms, which must be organized correctly to instruct the computer what to do. The computer code must also be clear enough that other programmers can read and understand it.In spite of those similarities, MIT neuroscientists have found that reading computer code does not activate the regions of the brain that are involved in language processing. Instead, it activates a distribu...
Tags: Learning, Neuroscience, Mit, Computers, Code, Brain, Language, Innovation, Tufts University, Broca, Johns Hopkins University, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Ivanova, Anna Ivanova, Evelina Fedorenko, Carole J Middleton

Hues of our own: How we perceive color

Each of us lives in our own multi-colored universe. And there's scientific proof of it.I'm basking inside the sun. It's hot and stuffy – and that's putting it lightly. Everything around me is bathed in a storm of UV- and X-rays, masses of plasma roll all around, white-hot from nuclear fusion. The temperature is two million degrees Celsius, but the gas is almost a proper gas by now, its density has dropped to bearable fractions of a kilo per millilitre – not like deeper inside, on the edge of the...
Tags: Art, Neuroscience, Earth, Brain, Innovation, Senses, Sight, Human body, Jacek Malczewski, Low Beskids, Żydowskie, Magura National Park, Zosia Krasodomska JonesReprinted

Olive-stuffing and in-theatre piano: the brain surgeon breaking new ground

Italian Roberto Trignani is known for ‘awake surgery’ and other unorthodox methodsPlaying the violin, watching cartoons and doing crosswords: these are just some of the activities patients have performed while having brain surgery under Roberto Trignani. Trignani, the head of neurosurgery at Riuniti hospital in Ancona, Italy, was already known for his “awake surgery” techniques, which he has used roughly 70 times in the last few years. But he broke new ground in June this year when a 60-year-old...
Tags: Health, Europe, Science, Neuroscience, World news, Italy, Ancona Italy, Roberto Trignani, Roberto Trignani Trignani, Riuniti

Mice with brain-machine interfaces help scientists understand "intentional control"

Brain-machine interfaces allow humans—and mice—to interact with onscreen objects.Such interfaces may gain wide applications as they become more capable.Scientists want to better understand how they work, and are exploring how mice operate them. Brain-machine interfaces, or BMIs, are fascinating. "Brain machine interfaces are devices that allow a person or animal to control a computer with their mind. In humans, that could be controlling a robotic arm to pick up a cup of water, or moving a curso...
Tags: Animals, Neuroscience, Brain, Testing, Innovation, Mice, Bmi, Clancy, Brain Machine Interface, Kelly Clancy, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits, Tom Mrsic Flogel

Brains of lonely people change from using imagination and memory

A study of 40,000 participants shows specific signatures in the brain scans of lonely people.Loneliness is linked to variations in grey matter volume and connections in the brain default network. This area of the brain is connected to the use of imagination, memory, future planning and daydreaming. Covid-19 has exacerbated the worldwide spread of loneliness that has been alarming researchers prior to the pandemic. Now a new study pinpoints a distinct signature that can be observed in the brains...
Tags: UK, Memory, Neuroscience, Intelligence, Brain, Canada, Innovation, Mind, Loneliness, Nathan Spreng, Spreng, Surprising science

Loneliness is wired into the human brain. Here's what it looks like.

A study of 40,000 participants shows specific signatures in the brain scans of lonely people.Loneliness is linked to variations in grey matter volume and connections in the brain default network. This area of the brain is connected to the use of imagination, memory, future planning, and daydreaming. COVID-19 has exacerbated the worldwide spread of loneliness that had been alarming researchers prior to the pandemic. A new study pinpoints a distinct signature that can be observed in the brains of...
Tags: UK, Memory, Neuroscience, Intelligence, Brain, Canada, Innovation, Mind, Loneliness, Nathan Spreng, Spreng, Surprising science

Wired's "Tech Support" video series

I really like a number of the YouTube series that Wired produces. One that I just discovered is called "Tech Support." But the support these techs render is not about computers. It's support for subjects as diverse as D&D to screenwriting to brain science. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Education, Youtube, Aaron Sorkin, Neuroscience, Wired, Dungeons & Dragons, Q&a

Want to stop cognitive decline? Wine and cheese could help.

Iowa State University researchers found that red wine, cheese, and a weekly serving of lamb could help reduce cognitive decline.The observational study is based on a decade of research conducted at the UK Biobank. The team also found that excessive salt could help promote diseases of dementia. The world is not in want of diet advice. Paleo living, vegan lifestyles, eating for your blood type, seasonal and regional eating, low sugar, Mediterannean ingredients, low fat, high fat—numerous bestsel...
Tags: Health, Facebook, UK, Greece, Diet, Neuroscience, Brain, Medical Research, Alzheimer's Disease, Innovation, Mediterranean, Derek, Iowa State University, Willette, Biobank, Mediterannean

Mind uploading: Can we become immortal?

Technology has evolved to a point where humans have overridden natural selection. So what will our species become? Immortal interstellar travelers, perhaps.Scientists are currently mapping the human brain in an effort to understand the connections that produce consciousness. If we can re-create consciousness, your mind can live on forever. You could even laser-port your consciousness to different planets at the speed of light, download your mind into a local avatar and explore those worlds.But i...
Tags: Space, Science, Life, Future, Neuroscience, Brain, Robots, Innovation, Consciousness, Mind, Self, Physiology, David Eagleman, Steven Kotler, Jason Silva, Michio Kaku

Has a year of living with Covid-19 rewired our brains?

The pandemic is expected to precipitate a mental health crisis, but perhaps also a chance to approach life with new clarityShow your support for rigorous, independent Guardian journalismCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhen the bubonic plague spread through England in the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton fled Cambridge where he was studying for the safety of his family home in Lincolnshire. The Newtons did not live in a cramped apartment; they enjoyed a large garden with...
Tags: Psychology, Health, England, Science, Neuroscience, Society, World news, Mental Health, Medical Research, Infectious Diseases, Cambridge, Isaac Newton, Lincolnshire, Coronavirus

How robotic exoskeletons can help paraplegic patients heal from injuries

When neuroscientists fitted paraplegic patients with exoskeletons to help them walk, they found that the exoskeleton helped their healing.
Tags: News, Medicine, Trends, Neuroscience, Robotics, Exoskeleton, Rehabilitation, Breaking Twitter

Scientists urge UN to add 'neuro-rights' to Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Columbia University neuroscience professor Rafael Yuste is advocating for the UN to adopt "neuro-rights." Neurotechnology is a growing field that includes a range of technologies that influence higher brain activities. Ethicists fear that these technologies will be misused and abuses of privacy and even consciousness could follow. Out-of-body experiences recur throughout spiritual literature. Thought to signify a spiritual "essence" co-existing alongside biology, OBEs began to be viewed in a d...
Tags: Facebook, Privacy, Neuroscience, Brain, Innovation, United Nations, Consciousness, Un, Columbia University, Fda, Johns Hopkins, Self, University College London, Derek, John Krakauer, Big Problems

Don’t Think Twice: A Poignant Film Documents How Bob Dylan & The Beatles Bring Joy to a Dementia Patient

It’s often said the sense of smell is most closely connected to long-term memory. The news offers little comfort to us forgetful people with a diminished sense of smell. But increasingly, neuroscientists are discovering how sound can also tap directly into our deepest memories. Patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia seem to come alive, becoming their old selves when they hear music they recognize, especially if they were musicians or dancers in a former life. “Sound is evolutionarily ancien...
Tags: Psychology, Health, Google, Music, College, Washington, Neuroscience, Bob Dylan, Npr, John, Dover, Northwestern University, Ac, Facebook Twitter, Jon, Tchaikovsky

Serotonin plays a key role in patience and impulse control, research says

Prior research has suggested a possible link between a lack of serotonin receptors in the brain and impulsive behaviors.A recent study from the Neural Computation Unit at the OIST explored this further, resulting in evidence that there is in fact a neurological factor to the brain's ability to control impulses and manage patience.This research could reveal more data on how serotonin impacts regions of the brain, which could eventually lead to the development of new drug treatments for conditions...
Tags: Psychology, Decision Making, Health, Learning, Biology, Dna, Neuroscience, Choice, Brain, Depression, Genetics, Medical Research, Innovation, Emotions, Miyazaki, OIST

Monkeys See Things That Aren't There With Artificial Vision Brain Implant

Using brain implants, scientists have triggered the perception of shapes in the visual field of monkeys. Sounds spooky, but the technology could enable artificial eyesight in people with severe visual impairments.Read more...
Tags: Science, Neuroscience, Vision, Blindness, Brain Implants, Artificial Vision

Is free will an illusion?

The debate over whether or not humans have free will is centuries old and ongoing. While studies have confirmed that our brains perform many tasks without conscious effort, there remains the question of how much we control and when it matters.According to Dr. Uri Maoz, it comes down to what your definition of free will is and to learning more about how we make decisions versus when it is ok for our brain to subconsciously control our actions and movements."If we understand the interplay between ...
Tags: Decision Making, Science, Neuroscience, Brain, Innovation, Philosophy, Mind, Self, Free Will, Maoz, Uri Maoz

Digitizing your brain: Sci-fi pipe dream, or scientific possibility?

Hooking your brain up to a computer and digitizing your consciousness has long been a staple of science fiction -- but is such a thing possible in real life?
Tags: Trends, Neuroscience, Features, Ai, Brains, Emerging Tech, Immortality

Camilla Pang: 'You have to acknowledge the hilarity of what it is to be human'

Prize-winning author Camilla Pang talks about her autism and ADHD diagnoses and her desire to challenge myths about neurodiversityThis month Camilla Pang won the Royal Society book prize for her debut, Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships. She has a PhD in bioinformatics from UCL and works as a postdoctoral researcher. Dr Pang was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of eight and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at 26.Why did you d...
Tags: Health, Books, Science, Neuroscience, Society, Autism, Culture, Ucl, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Pang, Science and nature books, Mind And Body Books, Camilla Pang