We have no entirely satisfactory explanation for why a relentless stream of experiences normally fills your mind. On close examination, consciousness can seem truly miraculous and hopelessly ineffable…
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Neuroscience
Displaying 561 - 580 of 691 articles
The world’s leading humanoid robot, ASIMO, has recently learnt sign language. The news of this breakthrough came just as I completed Level 1 of British Sign Language (I dare say it took me longer to master…
It’s a common conversation starter to assert that we only use 10% of our brains. In Lucy, the soon-to-be-released thriller about a woman forced to work as a drug mule for the Taiwanese mob, Professor Norman…
In the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers aliens invade earth by replicating individuals. While the idea that we could be duped by shape-shifting aliens is a great idea for a film, the story echoes a…
Some shares have new owners every second. Today much of the buying and selling is done by computers, but some still rely on human intuition – the gut feeling of the experienced trader. “Nobody can predict…
As another teachers’ strike looms on July 10 it is worth setting out the reasons that teachers are unhappy with their profession. It’s not just because of conditions of service, pay, and pensions. Teaching…
Electronic engineers are emerging as important contributors to understanding of the workings of the human brain. There is a rapidly growing intersection between electronic engineering and neuroscience…
Psychedelic drugs alter consciousness in a profound and novel way that increases the breadth and fluency of cognition. However, until recently, we were unable to offer an explanation for how the brain…
Synaesthesia is a relatively rare condition that gives people extraordinary perceptual experiences from everyday normal sensory input. For example, someone with synaesthesia might be able to taste or hear…
It’s often argued that technological innovation in medicine is key to improving healthcare, and there is no doubt that brain-scan technology such as fMRI is at the forefront of our understanding of the…
As smartphones have become ubiquitous, parents and teachers have voiced concerns that a technology-rich lifestyle is doing youngsters harm. Research on this question is still in its infancy, but other…
In the second instalment of Biology and Blame, Neil Levy considers how neuroscience can affect legal judgements. Can human beings still be held responsible in the age of neuroscience? Some people say no…
The Conversation organised a public question-and-answer session on Reddit in which Barbara Sahakian, professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at Cambridge University, discussed subjects from depression to…
Just prior to him leaving office, I was asked by John Beddington, the UK’s chief scientific adviser, to scope the future of neuroscience over the next ten years. It seemed to me that the best way to consider…
Memories from early childhood are notoriously elusive but why can’t we recall our most formative experiences? New research suggests it could be a case of the old making way for the new – neurons, that…
Imagine yourself, a picture of sartorial elegance and sipping champagne from a crystal flute, in Le Grande Casino at Monte Carlo. It is a Monday night – in fact, the date is August 18, 1913 – and you are…
Given the media coverage brain imaging studies get, you might think that they are constantly revealing important secrets about this mysterious organ. Catherine Loveday thinks otherwise. She makes the point…
Visual illusions, such as the rabbit-duck (shown above) and café wall (shown below) are fascinating because they remind us of the discrepancy between perception and reality. But our knowledge of such illusions…
Never before have we been such compulsive multitaskers, blogging and tweeting using multiple devices and smartphones anywhere and everywhere, from trains to cafes. It seems a little backwards, then, that…
Imagine you’ve suddenly been given a job as a car mechanic but there’s a slight hitch: you know nothing whatsoever about cars, there are no books to help you, no internet and no-one who is willing to tell…
Top contributors
-
Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Cambridge
-
Penn State
-
Senior Lecturer (Adjunct), Nutritional neuroscientist, University of Adelaide
-
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
-
Postdoctoral Researcher in Cognitive Neurosciences, The University of Queensland
-
Head of Developmental Psychobiology Lab, Deakin University
-
Senior Research Fellow, Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
-
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bangor University
-
Professor Emeritus of Cognitive NeuroImaging, Aston University
-
Associate Professor of Family & Community Medicine and Pediatrics, retired, University of California, San Francisco
-
Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Trinity College Dublin
-
Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Neuroscience in Melbourne, Australia, The University of Melbourne
-
Technical Officer, Deakin University
-
Associate Professor and Head of Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, The University of Melbourne
-
Associate Professor in Psychological Science, Western Sydney University
