Sewing Audio to Video, and Rubber Hands Onto People
12.15.2011 When perceptions get mismatched in the mind, we can fall prey to maddening illusions, and reality is turned on its head.
by Carl Zimmer
Maybe You Do Need a Hole in Your Head—to Let the Medicine In
To heal the brain, scientists are trying to poke through the shield that isolates it from the rest of the body. 11.15.2011
The Language Fossils Buried in Every Cell of Your Body
A British family with a bizarre speech deficit has led linguists to FOXP2: a gene that begins to explain how our ancestors acquired language. 10.17.2011
The Brain: "I See," Said the Blind Man With an Artificial Retina
New ocular implants are already illuminating colors and shapes, and promise to become far better. 09.15.2011
The Brain: A Body Fit for a Freaky-Big Brain
Human biology reorganized itself to cope with the punishing burden of our oversize thinking parts. That shift completely reshaped who we are. 07.26.2011
The Brain: A Tiny Key to a Terrible Lock
Scientists have traced chronic pain to a defect in one enzyme in a single region of the brain. Could this be a decisive turn in the battle against pain? 06.16.2011
The Brain Is Made of Its Own Architects
Brains are wired with such stunning precision that every neuron knows its place. Miswiring leads to disorders of emotion and thought. 05.17.2011
The Brain: Memories Are Crucial for Looking Into the Future
Without remembering how the past unfolded, trying to plan ahead is "like being in a room with nothing there and having a guy tell you to go find a chair." 04.24.2011
The Brain: The Trouble With Teens
Fast driving, drugs, and unsafe sex: The risk-loving behavior of adolescents may result from a neurological gap in the developing brain. 03.24.2011
The Brain: Seeing the Person Behind the Face
Neuroscience sleuths are on the case of face blindness, a strange malady that makes some people unable to distinguish friend from foe. 01.19.2011
Is Music for Wooing, Mothering, Bonding—or Is It Just "Auditory Cheesecake"?
Older than civilization, music fosters communication, wellness, and bonding across all cultures—but where it comes from is disputed. 12.22.2010
The Brain: The "Router" in Your Head—a Bottleneck of Processing
Researchers have a new theory explaining why a simple math problem can bring our very powerful brains to a halt. 11.15.2010
The Brain: "Ringing in the Ears" Actually Goes Much Deeper Than That
Research on tinnitus has shown that it's rooted in the very way we process and understand sound. 10.27.2010
The Brain: The Places in the Brain Where Space Lives
Our sense of space is crucial to our understanding of the world around us. So what happens when injury takes that sense away? 09.21.2010
The Brain: What Happens to a Linebacker's Neurons?
A blow to the head can change the neural architecture of the brain from elastic to brittle, with devastating consequences. 08.18.2010
The Brain: The Switches That Can Turn Mental Illness On and Off
The difference between one personality and another is not determined by genes alone. Love’s got something to do with it too. 06.16.2010
The Brain: The First Yardstick for Measuring Smells
Smell is a powerful and evocative sense yet also a deeply enigmatic one. So scientists have invented a more concrete way to pin down what our noses are telling us. 05.17.2010
The Brain: Why Athletes Are Geniuses
Neuroscientists have found several ways in which the brains of top-notch athletes seem to function better than those of regular folks. 04.16.2010
The Brain: Look Deep Into the Mind's Eye
We take visual imagination for granted. But the blank inner world of a patient called MX demonstrates the rich neural processes needed to create the images in our heads. 03.23.2010
The Primitive, Complicated, Essential Emotion Called Fear
Are you a man or a mouse? No matter how you answer, you experience fear the same way in your brain. 02.16.2010
The Brain: What Is the Speed of Thought?
Faster than a bird and slower than sound. But that may be besides the point: Efficiency and timing seem to be more important anyway. 12.16.2009
The Brain: Humanity's Other Basic Instinct: Math
New research suggests that math has evolved its way right into our neurons—and monkeys', too. 11.17.2009
The Brain: Where Does Sex Live in the Brain? From Top to Bottom.
Neuroscientists explore the mind's sexual side and discover that desire is not quite what we thought it was. 09.10.2009
The Brain: The Dark Matter of the Human Brain
Meet the forgotten 90 percent of your brain: glial cells, which outnumber your neurons ten to one. And no one really knows what they do. 08.19.2009
The Brain: Stop Paying Attention: Zoning Out Is a Crucial Mental State
Researchers say a wandering mind may be important to setting goals, making discoveries, and living a balanced life. 06.15.2009
Can a Single Neuron Tell Halle Berry From Grandma Esther?
A new theory says the brain stores complex pieces of information in "sparse-coding networks." 05.15.2009
The Big Similarities & Quirky Differences Between Our Left and Right Brains
A broken symmetry from our evolutionary heritage is part of what makes us human. 04.15.2009
Could a Dose of Ether Contain the Secret to Consciousness?
Researchers may soon be able to measure consciousness as well as we can measure a person's temperature. 03.16.2009
Is Patriotism a Subconscious Way for Humans to Avoid Disease?
We're not very aware of the “behavioral immune system,” but it may push us toward life-saving behaviors. 02.18.2009
How Google Is Making Us Smarter
Humans are "natural-born cyborgs," and the Internet is our giant "extended mind." 01.15.2009
Mom and Dad Are Fighting in Your Genes—and in Your Brain
Our brains may contain a battle of the sexes that can cause schizophrenia and autism. 11.10.2008
Why Darwin Would Have Loved Botox
All those wrinkle-causing winces, smirks, and sneers may have been the product of evolution. 10.15.2008
Could an Inner Zombie Be Controlling Your Brain?
Scientists have found evidence that the self-aware part of our brains isn't always in charge. 09.08.2008
How Your Brain Can Control Time
The three methods your mind uses to reverse, speed, and even slow the minutes. 07.12.2008
