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Ever wonder how your brain can focus on a tricky task, like weaving challah bread, while still staying aware of your surroundings? Read on to see how video-gaming monkeys helped a group of Princeton scientists explore the balance between focused attention and broad awareness.
Read MoreAre you a little too full of holiday treacle? Never fear - this article will give a whole new meaning to the phrase “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”. Grab a flashlight, hunker down in a blanket, and read about how a team of scientists attempted to uncover one of the visual system’s greatest mysteries.
Read MoreThe choices we make have a massive impact on almost every aspect of our lives, and poor decision-making is a common feature across many neurologic and psychiatric diseases. So it makes sense that neuroscientists have been fascinated by decision-making for a long time, and have sought to undercover what influences our choices, which parts of the brain contribute to a decision, and how different aspects of a choice (for example, the evidence in favor of one option over another, or the value of each potential outcome) are reflected in neural activity.
Read MoreScientists might claim that a single region of the brain, like the medial prefrontal cortex (MPC), have a wide variety of jobs. Who is right? This paper attempts to use a meta-analysis to determine how to map human behavior onto MPC anatomy.
Read MoreWhat do bacteria have to do with the brain? One paper suggests that Bacillus subtilis can use electrical signaling to recruit distant cells to a biofilm - even bacteria of other species.
Read MoreScience fiction or science fact? This review of a 2015 paper by Dr. Haruo Kasai explains how a group of scientists hacked the brain with light - and explores an assumption most neuroscientists have made for decades.
Read MoreHow do we know that a constellation of firing neurons are actually representing the outside world? What does it mean for the brain to “represent” something? This article weaves together a classic paper in vision with philosophical theory to explore this fundamental question.
Read MoreReader Ella asks: “I read a theory that while dreaming, the brain cannot invent new people out of nowhere. Instead, the brain shows people we've seen while awake, or combines a mix of previously-seen physical features to create a "new" person. How would you prove/disprove this theory? Why does the brain do this?”
Read MoreHumans often work together to accomplish complex tasks, including language learning, or singing harmonies. How does the brain support that kind of complex, coordinated group behavior? A species of duetting birds offers some clues - and suggests your brain may have a bigger backstage role than you might think.
Read MoreIt was the day of my defense, and as I prepared to give the biggest talk of my life thus far, I looked out into the audience, and saw Ben Barres walk into the room. Normally, this would have been a totally unremarkable event. Ben was one of the members on my committee. Except these circumstances were not normal. Ben was diagnosed with terminal cancer just over a year earlier.
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