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consciousness

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·February 6, 2020·7 min read

Breathing may change your mind about free will

Voluntary actions are linked to the body's inner state, specifically breathing and expiration, but not heartbeat.

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·January 18, 2020·5 min read

How does your body respond to feelings of moral outrage? Depends on your politics

Study reveals liberals and conservatives feel certain violations of moral concerns, such as loyalty and purity, in different areas of their bodies.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 11, 2020·4 min read

The meaning of life – a psychologist’s view

Study investigates suffering-induced transformational experiences to help reveal what the meaning of life could actually be.

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·December 26, 2019·5 min read

How to tell if a brain is awake

Study finds EEG features may not always be accurate in being able to capture the level of consciousness in patients under anesthesia.

This shows an EEG readout from the study

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·November 19, 2019·4 min read

Ayahuasca DMT compound changes brainwaves to vivid ‘waking-dream’ state

DMT alters electrical activity in the brain. The compound significantly decreases alpha wave activity, the dominant rhythm associated with wakefulness, and increases theta waves, associated with dreaming. Overall brain activity becomes more chaotic and less predictable. The findings advance the understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of immersive states of consciousness.

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·October 29, 2019·4 min read

Faith, truth and forgiveness: How your brain processes abstract thoughts

The human brain acts like an indexing system to help compose the meaning of abstract concepts.

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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·October 27, 2019·5 min read

A new theory of brain organization takes aim at the mystery of consciousness

Entropy during consciousness is higher than during unconscious states.

This shows the L5p neurons in the thalamocortical circuit

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·September 30, 2019·4 min read

Finding the root of consciousness: Is this brain cell your ‘mind’s eye’?

Researchers believe they have identified specific neurons that are responsible for conscious awareness. Previous studies have implicated both thalamocortical circuits and cortico-cortico circuits in consciousness. The new study reports these networks intersect via L5p neurons. Directly activating L5p neurons made mice react to weaker sensory stimuli. The researchers say if consciousness requires L5p neurons, all brain activity without them must be unconscious.

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Featured Neuroscience

·August 15, 2019·6 min read

Firework Memories: Neural Mechanism Central to Human Free Recall Identified

Hippocampal short-wave ripples trigger spontaneous recollections and reinstate cortical representation during free recall of episodic memories.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 31, 2019·3 min read

Neurocognitive basis for free will set out for the first time

A new theory bridges the gap between philosophical arguments for free will and neurocognitive reality.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology Visual Neuroscience

·July 27, 2019·3 min read

The case against reality

A new theory argues consciousness creates neural activity, and humans have evolved to see what is needed for survival. Perception, it is argued, is a user interface which may not necessarily be real.