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·January 20, 2024·5 min read

Fair Share or Fair Play: Unraveling Our Brain’s Fairness Mechanisms

Researchers evaluate the neuroscientific aspects of fairness in social settings, examining how we balance personal interests with social norms. Using electric brain stimulation on 60 volunteers, researchers identified key brain regions involved in fairness decisions. The study highlights our innate preference for equal distribution, regardless of whether it puts us at an advantage or disadvantage.

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·December 28, 2023·6 min read

Eating with Your Eyes and Gut? How Your Brain Decides When to Eat

The science of eating behavior goes beyond hunger cues; it involves sensory stimuli, internal signals, and the gut-brain connection. External cues like food packaging and advertisements influence our eating decisions, but internal signals, such as hunger and fullness, play a profound role.

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·December 27, 2023·7 min read

Embracing Intellectual Humility

Intellectual humility, characterized by an awareness of one's cognitive limitations and openness to revising beliefs, plays a pivotal role in various aspects of human life. This quality encompasses being open-minded, curious, realistic, and teachable, facilitating progress and personal growth. It fosters tolerance for diverse viewpoints and bolsters relationships by promoting respectful dialogue.

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·September 23, 2023·5 min read

Jamais Vu: When the Familiar Turns Eerily New

Repetition in the brain gives rise to two peculiar phenomena: déjà vu and its lesser-known counterpart, jamais vu. The latter makes familiar experiences feel eerily new and unsettling.

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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.

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·September 4, 2023·5 min read

Why Household Mess Triggers Stress and Anxiety

The presence of clutter can often lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. The brain tends to favor order, reducing the competition for attention and mental load.

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·September 3, 2023·5 min read

The Paradox of Progress: Why More Freedom Isn’t Making Women Happier

Despite gains in freedom and employment opportunities, research indicates women are experiencing higher levels of anxiety, depression, and sleep issues than before. A survey suggests that dissatisfaction with societal treatment may be a key factor.

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·August 27, 2023·6 min read

Bilingual Brain Boost: How Knowing Two Languages Enhances Memory and Prediction

Could being bilingual make you better at predicting words and enhancing memory? A new study reveals that bilingual individuals have a unique advantage when it comes to memory retention and word prediction, due to the "competing words" effect.

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·April 30, 2023·5 min read

Watching Others Indulge in Junk Food Can Curb Your Appetite and Aid in Weight Loss

Studies show that advertisements showing people eating junk food can actually prompt those on a diet to eat less. The research found that the mere sight of someone eating junk food is enough to put dieters off it. This is because mental imagery, including that of food consumption, can activate similar neural networks to those linked with actual performance or experience. The findings suggest that healthy eating campaigns should include and portray the consumption of unhealthy food, as dieters consciously associate it with a failure to reach their weight loss goals.

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·April 30, 2023·4 min read

Brain Drain: Measuring the Energy Consumption of Our Thinking Minds

Our brain consumes a significant amount of energy, accounting for about 20% of the body's total energy consumption. Most of this energy is used for information processing. While research shows that increased mental activity does lead to slightly higher energy consumption, this increase is minimal, region-specific, and often offset by energy decreases in other areas. Feeling exhausted after mental activity is likely due to mental stress rather than actual energy depletion. Pacing yourself can help avoid mental overload, stress, and fatigue.

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·April 22, 2023·5 min read

500 Days of Solitude: One Woman’s Experience of Extreme Social Isolation Sheds Light on Time Perception

A woman who recently emerged from a cave after 500 days of isolation reported she rapidly lost her perception of time. Researchers explore how social isolation impacts time perception and the neurobiological mechanisms that may explain this phenomenon.

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·April 22, 2023·5 min read

Mental Block: The Brain Often Stops Us From Learning From Mistakes

Researchers investigate why our brains often allow us to repeat mistakes and how we can apply cognitive control to self-correct when It comes to error-making.