Cognition
Constant Shifts between Mental States Mark a Signature of Consciousness
Both of two essential brain networks that switch roles—one is on when the other is off—shut down in unresponsive individuals
Cognition3949 articles archived since 1845
Cognition
The Brain Learns in Unexpected Ways
White matter, the insulation around our neural wiring, plays a critical role in acquiring knowledge
Cognition
Does Music Boost Your Cognitive Performance?
The answer depends on your personality
Neuroscience
Born Ready: Babies Are Prewired to Perceive the World
A study in infants adds to the debate about whether we come into the world prepped for higher cognitive abilities such as face recognition
Behavior
An Alcoholic Parent Can Affect How a Child’s Brain Switches Tasks
Such children’s neural circuits do not transition properly from an active state to a resting one
Cognition
How to Make the Study of Consciousness Scientifically Tractable
We need to reexamine the idea of “objectivity” in research
Cognition
All That We Might Possibly Know
What if consciousness is not something special that the brain does but is instead a quality inherent to all matter?
Cognition
Feral Dogs Respond to Human Hand Cues
Most feral dogs that did not run away from humans were able to respond to hand cues about the location of food—even without training.
Cognition
Why Don’t People Care That More Men Don’t Choose Caregiving Professions?
People attribute the lack of women in STEM fields to external factors but attribute the lack of men in helping professions to internal ones
Cognition
How Does a Mammalian Brain Forget?
A mouse study shows immune cells gobbling up the connections between memory-associated neurons
Cognition
Yes, Free Will Exists
Just ask Schopenhauer
Cognition
Living with No Sense of Direction
For those with developmental topographical disorientation, ordinary travel is extraordinarily difficult
Culture
Sign Languages Display Distinct Ancestries
Well more than 100 distinct sign languages exist worldwide, with each having features that made it possible for researchers to create an evolutionary tree of their lineages.
Evolution
Some Wolf Pups Show Innate Fetching Talent
Some wolf pups will play fetch with a stranger, suggesting that an ability to playfully interact with people could have come before, and played a role in, dog domestication.
Cognition
Do We Possess a Transpersonal Imagination?
Some products of our imaginations seem to spring from sources beyond our everyday selves...
Cognition
My Go-To Arguments for Free Will
Free will must exist if some of us have more of it than others...
Medicine
Johns Hopkins Scientists Give Psychedelics the Serious Treatment
The first research center of its kind in the country is bringing renewed rigor to the investigation of the drugs’ therapeutic uses
Cognition
Does Consciousness Pervade the Universe?
Philosopher Philip Goff answers questions about “panpsychism”
Cognition
Mysticism and the Mind-Body Problem: Other Views
Participants in a freewheeling exploration of nonmaterialist, mystical accounts of reality critique a journalist’s critique...
Cognition
Teaching Rats to Drive: A New Model for Learning
Rats learned to drive tiny cars as a model for acquiring new skills
