Neuroscientifically Challenged

Marily Oppezzo's TEDxStanford talk, "Want to be more creative? Go for a walk," has always felt close to home. I can't say whether I started walking to think before I heard it or after, but the habit is real. Recently, before moving to Germa...

You’re singing a nursery rhyme to a baby on your lap. She’s watching your face intently, and when your eyes meet, she lets out a little “aah,” as if she has something to add.

It feels like a moment of connection. Research from the University of Cambridge suggests it may be more than a feeling. When adults and babies lock eyes, their brain activity starts to move in syn...

A few months back, I caught up with a childhood friend. We were reminiscing on the days of our youth and he told the story of my first day at school. Here's the short version: I was not happy to be there and knocked over a table of student projects, or something to that effect. Then, my mother had to come to calm me down.

That would be a slightly embarrassing story exc...

Supporters of two rival theories of consciousness agreed in advance how an experiment could prove them wrong, had theory-neutral teams run it on 256 people, and found that neither theory's central prediction held in full. The result appeared in Nature on 30 April 2025 ...

It’s been a rough fortnight. An argument with your sister, tension at work, a few sleepless nights. Then a friend wraps you in a long, tight hug, and for a moment everything feels a bit lighter.

That hug may have done more than make you feel better. Research suggests it could also help your body fight off a cold, especially during stressful times.