Mind & Brain / Memory, Emotions, & Decisions

Can a Brain Scan Tell You What Drugs to Take and Choices to Make?

The hunt for personality genes could lead to a screening test that reveals what treatments will work best for each individual's psychological makeup. 04.18.2012

Science's Long—and Successful—Search for Where Memory Lives

They called it a 
myth as fantastical 
as the unicorn, 
but scientists have 
now found the engram, 
the physical trace 
of memory in the brain.
 (Article preview; full text for subscribers only.) 04.13.2012

Of Mice and Men and Medicines

Drugs that alleviate symptoms of psychological illness in mice often wind up producing human treatments. There is just one small problem: Their mental breakdowns look nothing like ours. 02.24.2012

Big Idea: Seeing Crime Before It Happens

Can remote sensors give us Minority Report-like powers to detect people who will soon break the law? 01.23.2012

#98: Brain
 Signal For 
Awareness

Minimally conscious and vegetative patients show different patterns of neural activity. 01.05.2012

#78: Napping Neurons Explain Sleep-Deprived Blunders


Tiny clumps of neurons doze off, even while the brain as a whole is awake. 01.05.2012

#69: Cell Phones Alter Brain 
Metabolism


A 50-minute phone call boosts metabolism in the brain regions closest to the antenna, including areas involved in language, decision making, and emotional processing. 01.05.2012

#42: The Too-Sure Thing

Overconfidence can help explain wars, financial disasters, and collapsed 
civilizations. Social scientist James Fowler explores how such a destructive social 
trait manages to thrive. 12.29.2011

How Pot, Cocaine, and Hunger Intersect in the Brain

Researchers are studying the role that the endocannabinoid system plays in cravings, and using their findings to try to control our excesses. 12.01.2011

Discover Interview: The Radical Linguist Noam Chomsky

Over 50 years ago, he began a revolution that's still playing out today. 11.29.2011

Your Brain Knows a Lot More Than You Realize

Neuroscientist David Eagleman explores the processes and skills of the subconscious mind, which our conscious selves rarely consider. 10.27.2011

How I Became a Master of Memory

A DISCOVER 
writer stretches his mind and earns a place 
at the World Memory 
Championships 
 10.06.2011

What You Don't Know Can Kill You

Humans have a perplexing 
tendency to fear rare threats such as shark attacks while blithely 
ignoring far greater risks like 
unsafe sex and an unhealthy diet. Those illusions are not just 
silly—they make the world a more dangerous place.
 10.03.2011

The Vexing Mental Tug-of-War Called Morality

Would you kill a crying baby to save yourself and others from hostile soldiers outside? Neuroscience offers new ways to approach such moral questions, allowing logic to triumph over deep-rooted instinct. 09.16.2011

Brain Malfunction Prevents Rats From Remembering Deliciousness of Spicy Food

For this study, rats are the perfect lab rats: they can learn about foods through one quick sniff of another rat's breath. 08.27.2011

A New Suspect in the Obesity Epidemic: Our Brains

The urge to eat too much is wired into our heads, in several complicated and overlapping ways. Tackling obesity may require bypassing the stomach and short-circuiting our brains. 08.23.2011

Art & Science Peer Into the Mind

Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio and novelist Siri Hustvedt plumb the nature of consciousness in a wide-ranging dialogue. 07.07.2011

Music Makes a Brain Happy—and Hungry for More Music

If listening to your favorite song feels as satisfying as a good meal or a romp in the hay, that’s because it probably is. 06.28.2011

Monkeys 
& Morality

The institutions of science are slowly unwinding and assessing the problems that have been revealed in psychologist Marc Hauser's research. 06.20.2011

Head-Mounted Laser Microscope Peers Inside Rats' Brains

The ingenious rig shows animals making real-world decisions in real time. 06.20.2011

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

Who's Smarter, a Human or a Computer? Round 9: Jeopardy

As IBM's supercomputer prepares to face off against Jeopardy champions tonight, we count the ways that humans can still out-think our computational creations—for now. 02.14.2011

5 Questions for a Mind-Reader Who Ran Into the Brain's Limits

Jesse Rissman cannot read your mind—but he’s working on it. 02.04.2011

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

Discover Interview: The Love Neuroscientist

Believe it or not, says psychologist Stephanie Ortigue, lust makes heavy intellectual demands involving complex thought. (Care to come upstairs and see my diplomas?) 12.27.2010

The 100 Top Science Stories of 2010

Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010

Science Reveals How Not to Choke Under Pressure

Sian Beilock has a formula for performing in the clutch: Don’t pay too much attention to what you are doing. 12.06.2010

The Brain Is Ready for Its Close-Up

Neuroscientists know that the first step in understanding something is to get a good look at it. A new book showcases their finest attempts to image the brain, from Victorian drawings to state-of-the-art brainbows. 11.17.2010

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

Could "Hormonal Diversity" Help Prevent Another Financial Meltdown?

World financial markets are at the mercy of overheated hormones, which leads both to irrational exuberance and irrational pessimism, says trader-turned-neuroscientist John Coates. 06.28.2010

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 4 Stages of Fear, Attacked-by-a-Mountain-Lion Edition

Fight and flight are part of the brain's automatic system for dealing with life-threatening situations—but there's more to the story. 05.20.2010

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

#10: Economist George Loewenstein

He explains the psychology behind the current financial meltdown—and how we can overcome our dark side. 01.25.2010

#18: Rise of the Mind Readers

fMRI gives unprecedented views of the mind in action. 01.25.2010

#61: Child Abuse Leaves Its Mark on Victim’s DNA

The brains of people who were abused as children and then commit suicide show DNA modifications that made them particularly sensitive to stress. 12.28.2009

#75: Yes, You Really Can Smell Fear

Thanks to our sweat, anxiety—and maybe also other emotions—can be chemically transferred between people. 12.23.2009

Anatomy of A Brain Fart

When your brain gets bored, it unleashes the stupidest of all stupid mistakes. 12.22.2009

#81: Inserting Human Gene Into Mouse Brains Gives Them Lower Voices

Researchers don't know exactly what FOXP2 does in humans, but it's the gene most directly linked to speech that we know of. 12.21.2009

#99: Science Finds God (In the Brain, at Least)

fMRI scans showed thoughts of God brought activation of particular neural pathways, including those in the anterior prefrontal cortex. 12.16.2009

How Autistic Artists See the World

Artworks created by autistic people reveal their fascinating visions. 12.15.2009

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Connect

The most profound bonds between people begin in our bodies with imitation and synchronized movements. 11.19.2009

Brain-Like Chip May Solve Computers' Big Problem: Energy

The future of computing may depend on embracing the chaos that defines human thinking. 11.06.2009

I Didn't Sin—It Was My Brain

Brain researchers have found the sources of many of our darkest thoughts, from envy to wrath. 10.05.2009

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

How Much of Your Memory Is True?

New research shows that memories are constantly being re-written by our minds. 08.03.2009

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

How to See Inside a Brain in Motion

A new mobile EEG system now lets researchers probe the brain function while people move around naturally. 06.05.2009

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

Looking at Stress—and God—in the Human Brain

DISCOVER reporter David Ewing Duncan uses fMRI to try to track his thoughts on some big questions. 04.24.2009

Tapping the Brain’s Defenses to Fight Alzheimer’s

A natural brain protein and insulin, of all things, may lead to effective treatments. 04.17.2009

Are Smart Drugs the Answer to Bad Moods—and a Bad Economy?

Today’s mind-altering chemicals can improve your memory, alertness, and mood. Just wait until you see what tomorrow’s crop can do. 04.02.2009

Music, Melody, and the Strange Pull They Exert Over Our Minds

Cognitive scientist Matthew Schulkind knows "earworms" inside and out—especially those spawned by the Wiggles. 03.26.2009

Which Brain Games Will Help Your Brain the Most?

Hint: You can play some of the best games right here on DISCOVERmagazine.com. 03.24.2009

How Can You Tell If Your IM Buddy Is Really a Machine?

Hint: Ask it about Sarah Palin. 03.23.2009

The New Theory About Why Animals Sleep: to Maintain the Immune System

New study shows that mammals that sleep more have more immune cells and fewer parasites. 03.22.2009

The Pugnacious Paper That Aims to Turn Neuroscience on Its Head

fMRI has revolutionized our understanding of the brain. But some researchers say it's actually a big misunderstanding. 03.18.2009

Can a DVD Teach Kids with Autism to Understand Emotions?

Makers of an animated series say it can offer hope—and big functional improvements. 03.04.2009

We All Live in Darwin's World

“Survival of the fittest” is helping us understand not only the origin of species but also love, politics, and even the cosmos. 02.11.2009

How Google Is Making Us Smarter

Humans are "natural-born cyborgs," and the Internet is our giant "extended mind." 01.15.2009

#86: You, Too, Have a Photographic Memory

When put to the test, your brain remembers images with astonishing accuracy. 12.07.2008

#91: Humans Have 5 Universal Facial Muscles—and 10 Optional Ones

For the first time, psychologists mapped muscle variation in the face. 12.05.2008

He Found the Innate Humanity in the Human Brain

“Noam Chomsky’s position in the history of ideas is comparable to that of Darwin or Descartes.” 12.01.2008

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Elections

Humans have a record of screwing up democracy, but we aren't the only species getting in on the act. 11.03.2008

Why Darwin Would Have Loved Botox

All those wrinkle-causing winces, smirks, and sneers may have been the product of evolution. 10.15.2008

The "Monkey Whisperer" Learns the Secrets of Primate Economics

Laurie Santos penetrates the world of monkeys... and finds they're more like humans than we think. 10.13.2008

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

Oldsters' New Fountain of Youth: Video Games

Some specially tailored games seem to help preserve mental fitness. 08.27.2008

The Truth About Traffic

A look at the science behind gridlock, from Pompeii to L.A. 07.31.2008

How Your Brain Can Control Time

The three methods your mind uses to reverse, speed, and even slow the minutes. 07.12.2008

How Terrorism Paranoia Killed 1,600 Americans in 2002

Widespread fear after 9/11 pushed people from (safe) planes to (dangerous) cars. 06.30.2008

MTV for Geeks

A new show on Nova offers easily digestible chunks of science. 06.17.2008

The Cure for Procrastination: Discipline

Procrastination works fine—in a world where the future is perfectly predictable. 06.04.2008

Could an Acid Trip Cure Your OCD?

Researchers are again using mind-bending drugs as a means of treating mental disorders. 05.16.2008

Chimps Agree: A Bird in Hand Is Worth Two in the Bush

Chimpanzees are downright conservative when it comes to trading for better food. 05.14.2008

Why Bogart's Kiss Is Your Kiss, His Soda Your Soda

Mirror neurons help explain how we connect to each others' emotions. 05.05.2008

Conquering Your Fears, One Synapse at a Time

Proteins in the brain may be the key to un-learning fear—or retaining memory. 04.28.2008

A Dose of Human Kindness, Now in Chemical Form

Can the hormone oxytocin drive us to be more generous? 04.04.2008

The Cuckoo Surgeon Who Did Ice-Pick Lobotomies

At his peak, Walter Freeman hacked at dozens of brains each day. 02.19.2008

Your Brain on Music, Magnets, and Meth

No one has seen oddities of the mind quite like Oliver Sacks has. 01.01.2008

How Not To Be Racist

A rosy outlook on life makes some people immune to racial prejudice. 10.25.2007

Is It Possible to Erase a Single Memory?

Researchers take one step toward Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. 07.31.2007

Health Trends: Strain Bad for Brain

Another great reason to avoid chronic distress. 07.13.2007

What’s So Friggin' Funny?

Nothing—laughter is simply how we connect. 07.10.2007

New Pseudoscience Patina, Same Snake Oil

The Secret's self-help message is just common knowledge. 06.20.2007

This Is Your Brain on Ecstasy

MDMA really is like love in a pill. 06.18.2007

The Dark Side of Reality TV

Who are the real subjects of these twisted psych experiments? 05.23.2007

Video Games vs. the Aging Brain

How a mental gym can tone your mind and stave off memory loss. 05.21.2007

Eyes May Really Be the Window to the Soul

Squiggles of color could indicate a tender heart 05.17.2007

Is Morality Innate and Universal?

A hardwired moral code leaves a lot of room for interpretation. 05.10.2007

The Lucifer Effect

Think you’re above doing evil? Think again. 05.01.2007

Jaron's World: Sex, Drugs, and the Internet

Does anonymity breed nastiness in the online world? 03.14.2007

Jaron's World: The Meaning of Metaphor

A new theory may illuminate the nature of meaning. 02.26.2007

Save Your Shopping Relationship

Can overpriced items create bad blood between you and a store? 12.14.2006

Jaron's World: Digital Maoism Revisited

Is the connected generation too easily abandoning the individual for the wisdom of the crowd? 11.21.2006

The God Experiments

Five researchers take science where it's never gone before. 11.20.2006

Raw Data: Do Magic Mushrooms Make You Mystical?

Apparently, yes. Most volunteers say psilocybin experiences are spiritually significant. 10.13.2006

Why We Sleep

Does sleep allow us to cull out and delete the throngs of ordinary, unimportant memories from each day? 10.10.2006

Can New Neurons Teach an Old Mouse?

We've got much more to learn about learning. 06.26.2006

The Woman Who Never Forgets

Does AJ have the world's best memory? 06.25.2006

Drowsy Drosophila

Do arthropods dream of eclectic sweets? 06.08.2006

Blinded By Science: What Were We Thinking?

All along it has been the unconscious mind churning away brilliantly and undetectably that has raised us above the din 05.29.2006

The Violence Gene

Impulsive aggression can be inherited. 04.14.2006

Perfect Memory

Some people really do remember everything. 04.04.2006

How to Win the World Memory Championship

Some contestants can recall the order of a deck of cards after looking at it for 60 seconds. Learn their tricks. 04.02.2006

The Year in Science: Psychology

Why stupid people die young, and a diet based on memory alteration. 01.08.2006

Why Do People Behave Nicely?

No one may ever know unless social psychologists shake off their fascination with jerks 12.01.2005

Do Emotions Cloud Common Sense?

Do Emotions Cloud Common Sense? 11.22.2005

What's In Your Brain?

What's In Your Brain? 10.24.2005

Ask Discover

02.06.2005

Fearless Mothers

11.30.2004

The Psychology of . . . Hoarding

What lies beneath the pathological desire to stockpile tons of stuff? 10.01.2004

Are Recovered Memories Real?

A growing body of evidence indicates that memory is deeply unreliable and that life-shattering events cannot be buried for years and then winched out of the deep waters of the subconscious 08.02.2004

Dog-Faced Humans

07.25.2004

Whose Life Would You Save?

Scientists say morality may be hardwired into our brains by evolution 04.21.2004

NeuroQuest

Why your brain doesn't always make the right decision 02.05.2004

NeuroQuest

What are your hidden prejudices? 10.01.2003

Discover Dialogue: Anthropologist Scott Atran

It's not a new phenomenon, and natural selection may play a role in producing it 10.01.2003

NeuroQuest

How your brain weighs the odds of disaster 09.01.2003

Discover Dialogue: Pharmacologist Susan Greenfield

Happy people are not ambitious; they do not build civilizations' 09.01.2003

Physical Chemistry

Is it your smile? Your laugh? Or your armpits? The frustrating science of finding pheromones. 07.01.2003

Emerging Technology

How to assume a 3-D online identity that lets you put on a happy—or angry—face 07.01.2003

Emotions and the Brain

If evolution comes down to survival of the fittest, then why do we joke around so much? New brain research suggests that the urge to laugh is the lubricant that makes humans higher social beings 04.01.2003

Memory's Machine

04.01.2003

Emotions and the Brain: Fear

Recent research shows that when something bad happens to you, part of your brain begins thinking independently, storing its own memories so it can save you next time. That worked fine a million years ago 03.01.2003

The Biology of . . . Disgust

Warning: This article could make you sick to your stomach 12.01.2002

Wired for a Touch

12.01.2002

Infant Recall

08.01.2002

The Price of Envy

07.01.2002

Why We Want Their Bodies Back

As humans have evolved, they've learned there are good reasons not to bury an empty coffin 02.01.2002

The Mind Is Faster Than the Eye

The brain will make up memories for the sake of a good story. 10.01.2001

Our Empathic Brain

09.01.2001

Works in Progress

Can the Department of Defense build a better polygraph to catch a mole? 07.01.2001

Wild Dreams

Sigmund Freud may have been right after all— dreams are an open door to your unconscious mind. 04.01.2001

I Know I've Seen That Face

A protein in the brain helps us recognize faces. 11.01.2000

Smart Pills

How About a Little Viagra for Your Memory? 06.01.2000

Robot Watch

04.01.2000

Code of Denial

Doctors have a dispassionate language for talking to really sick patients. But it doesn't work with people they love. 10.01.1999

Liar, Liar, Face on Fire

The real truth is written all over your face. 07.01.1999

Stress and Your Brain

War, rape, sexual abuse, and other severe trauma--even a car accident--could make part of your brain disappear 03.01.1999

Real Men Don't Eat Deer

You are what you eat, the saying goes. But what you don't eat says a lot too. 06.01.1997

When Memories Lie

01.01.1997

Gunslinging in America

Does a gun make you safer or increase your likelihood of violent death? 05.01.1996

A Face of One's Own

As any newborn baby knows, no two faces are alike. Now, finally, a computer knows this, too. 12.01.1995

Flights of Memory

05.01.1994

Forgiveness Math

Evolution, in our dog-eat-dog world, should have made short work of unselfish behavior. 05.01.1993

Back Talk

07.01.1992

Lost Souls

04.01.1992