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perception

·August 21, 2025·5 min read

Brain Retains Lost Limb’s Control Map, Defying Plasticity Theories

A groundbreaking study challenges decades of neuroscience by showing that the brain retains its map of a lost limb long after amputation. Using functional MRI scans taken before and after surgery, researchers found little change in cortical activity, even when participants attempted to move phantom fingers.

This shows a brain with a man undergoing a medical procedure below it.

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·July 28, 2025·3 min read

What You Expect Shapes How Much Pain You Feel

A new brain imaging study reveals that how people expect pain relief—through visual cues or treatment explanations—can significantly influence how much pain they actually feel. External cues, like symbols signaling less pain, consistently reduced pain perception and altered brain regions tied to pain processing. In contrast, expectations based on treatment information were less consistent and instead activated brain areas involved in evaluation and meaning.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 17, 2025·7 min read

How the Brain Selects Between Perception and Memory

The brain constantly toggles between focusing on external sensory information and internal mental representations like memories, plans, and thoughts. This seamless switching is crucial for adaptive behavior, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 9, 2025·5 min read

Perception or Reality? Rethinking How Polarized We Really Are

A new study challenges the notion that society is as polarized as many believe, revealing that perceptions of division often stem from the consensus within one’s own social circles. Researchers developed a novel method to distinguish actual opinion divergence from how polarized people feel society is.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 6, 2025·5 min read

Obeying Orders Lowers Moral Responsibility Perception in the Brain

A new brain imaging study reveals that the sense of agency—our feeling of being responsible for our actions—decreases when we follow orders, regardless of whether we are civilians or military officers. Participants were asked to make moral decisions involving inflicting harm either freely or under coercion, and fMRI results showed reduced neural markers of agency during coerced actions.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 6, 2025·4 min read

Sleep-Wake Perception Intact in Many With Insomnia

A new study finds that patients with insomnia often retain accurate sleep-wake perception and intact regulatory systems, despite feeling as though they sleep poorly. Using serial awakenings during sleep lab monitoring, researchers found no significant difference in sleep perception between healthy individuals and those with insomnia.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 5, 2025·5 min read

How the Brain Tells Imagination from Reality, And When It Fails

A new study identifies the brain mechanisms that help us distinguish real experiences from imagined ones. Researchers found that the fusiform gyrus—a region involved in visual processing—plays a key role in telling reality from imagination, especially when we mentally picture something vividly.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·May 29, 2025·4 min read

How Personality and Family Shape Athletic Self-Perception

A new study of Japanese undergraduates finds that students' perceptions of their own athletic ability are shaped by a mix of personality traits, childhood environment, and social feedback. Those who rated themselves as more athletic also tended to display grit, resilience, and a growth mindset. Factors like early walking age, athletic parents, frequent sports participation, and being called athletic by others were also linked to higher self-ratings.

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·May 12, 2025·5 min read

How Your Brain Splits Space to Double Its Perception Power

Despite popular myths about left- and right-brain thinking, research shows the hemispheres truly do divide up certain tasks—especially visual spatial perception. A new review reveals how each hemisphere processes the opposite side of your field of vision, not only early on but even in higher-level cognition like attention and memory.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 2, 2025·5 min read

Study Challenges Leading Theories On Consciousness Origins

A landmark study tested two leading theories of consciousness — Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) — but found neither definitively explained conscious experience. While IIT emphasizes deep integration of brain regions and GNWT highlights widespread broadcasting of information, data from 256 human subjects did not fully support either.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 10, 2025·5 min read

Lip Size Shapes Beauty Perception, Preferences Differ by Gender

New research reveals that lip size significantly influences how people perceive facial attractiveness, and these perceptions vary based on gender and exposure. Female participants preferred plumper lips on female faces, while males preferred natural lip size, suggesting gendered beauty standards.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 7, 2025·4 min read

Babies Can Sense Their Own Heartbeat as Early as 3 Months Old

A new study reveals that infants as young as three months can perceive their own heartbeat, and their awareness of breathing develops during the second year of life. This early body awareness is closely linked to emotional development, identity, and interactions with caregivers.