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consciousness

·October 12, 2023·6 min read

Facial Cues Reveal How We Respond to Verbal Stimuli During Sleep

Researchers unearthed startling insights into the permeable boundary between wakefulness and sleep, demonstrating that individuals can respond to verbal stimuli by manipulating facial expressions during various sleep stages. This interaction occurs like fleeting windows of connection to the external world, even during periods of sleep traditionally considered devoid of external awareness.

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·September 19, 2023·4 min read

DishBrain: Bio-Computing’s Rise and Ethics in the Age of Living Machines

The revolutionary field of bio-computing is making waves as DishBrain, a neural system combining 800,000 living brain cells, learns to play Pong. Recognizing the pressing need for ethical guidelines in this emerging domain, the pioneers behind DishBrain have joined forces with bioethicists in a study.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 18, 2023·5 min read

How Babies Unravel the Origin of Conscious Awareness and Purpose

Researchers delved into the age-old question of agency, using human infants as their study subjects. By tethering an infant's foot to a crib-mounted mobile, they observed the moment a baby realizes they can influence the environment.

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·September 9, 2023·6 min read

The Dream Dance: Decoding REM’s Mystical Nightly Show in Our Brains

REM sleep, marked by rapid eye movement, is one of the most mysterious stages of our nightly rest, known for vivid dreams. This phase, repeating every 90 to 120 minutes, possibly prevents sleeping too deeply, making us less vulnerable.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 8, 2023·6 min read

Psychedelics Sync Neurons: A Glimpse into Consciousness & Psychosis

Researchers have pioneered a method to simultaneously measure electrical signals from 128 brain regions in conscious rats. Using this technique, they observed the effects of psychedelic drugs, LSD and ketamine, on the brain's neural oscillations.

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·August 1, 2023·5 min read

The Brain’s Interplay of Consciousness and Perception

Researchers have been studying hemispatial neglect, a condition where stroke patients fail to acknowledge what happens in the left side of their visual field, despite possessing intact visual abilities. In a quest to uncover the intricate relationship between attention and conscious perception, neurologists identified five clusters of brain activity linked to the processing of attention.

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·July 19, 2023·8 min read

Unraveling the Puzzle of Consciousness: Key Brain Region Discovered

Researchers have potentially identified a brain region where images are retained during our conscious perception, a significant step towards understanding consciousness. This breakthrough study focuses on the phenomenon of unilateral neglect, where stroke victims lose conscious awareness of half of their perceived surroundings, despite being able to react emotionally to the full scene.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·June 25, 2023·3 min read

This Week’s Top Neuroscience News Discoveries: June 25, 2023

Explore this week's remarkable neuroscience advancements, including potential new effective treatments for tinnitus and the identification of a brain region associated with self awareness.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 22, 2023·7 min read

Sense of Self: The Brain Structure That Holds Key to “I”

Researchers identified a small structure in the brain, the anterior precuneus or aPCu, as a crucial component in establishing our physical self or "I".

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·June 16, 2023·5 min read

Mapping Consciousness: New Insights into Disorders of Consciousness

Researchers leveraged model-based methodologies to identify two crucial brain circuits implicated in consciousness. The scientists analyzed signal propagation in models of patients' brains with disorders of consciousness (DoC).

Featured Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos

·May 20, 2023·4 min read

Unlocking the Mind: The Neuroscience Behind Our Conscious Reality

The neuroscience of consciousness explores the fundamental aspect of wakefulness and the higher-level cognitive perceptions, such as thinking and understanding. Various theories, like the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory and the Integrated Information Theory, attempt to provide an explanatory framework for the conscious experience. The advent of technologies like fMRI and EEG has further enabled us to identify neural correlates of consciousness, enhancing our understanding of this complex phenomenon.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 2, 2023·5 min read

A Lucid Death: Sparks of Consciousness Detected in Dying Brains

A groundbreaking new study provides early evidence of consciousness in the dying brain, shedding light on the mysteries of near-death experiences. Researchers identified a surge of gamma wave activity, associated with consciousness, in the dying brains of comatose patients. The activity was detected in a neural hotspot associated with dreaming and altered states of consciousness, providing exciting new insights into the human mind. Though caution is advised due to the small sample size, this research could change the way we understand death.