CategoryNeuroscience
Do all of us really have two minds inside our brains?
The truth is even more remarkable. When the brain is split in half, the mind remains a unity
Our Brains Store Memories Three Times, Just To Be Sure
During our development as embryos, at least three different systems are laid down, researchers say
Covert Consciousness: When “Brain Dead” Doesn’t Mean Unconscious
Now that brain scan studies have established that at least 25% of people classed as brain dead can respond, doctors ask what to do for them?
The Hard Problem of Consciousness Remains Inescapable
Neuroscientist Francisco Aboitiz starts by offering to tell us how consciousness evolved but then makes a critical concession
Michael Egnor: The Neuroscience Evidence for Free Will
You ask a hundred neuroscientists about Libet's work and 95% will say he disproved free will, when he did exactly the oppositeWhat Did Splitting Human Brains in Half Tell Us About the Mind?
How did split brain study subjects compare things when no part of their brains saw both things?
What Brain Surgery for Epilepsy Taught Us About the Human Mind
Michael Egnor continues his discussion with Pat Flynn, noting that neither seizures nor Penfield’s brain stimulation provoked abstract thought
Is Materialism Slowly Losing Its Death Grip on Science?
If it is, neuroscience discoveries will play a key role, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor tells podcaster Pat Flynn, in a recent interview
Study: 25% of Coma Patients Showed Consciousness When Tested
Making contact with patients via brain scanning technology is a first step toward treatment of those who may now be deemed hopeless cases
Trying To Refute Free Will Without Being Sure What It Is…
Stephen Barr offers some thoughts on neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky’s Determined, which argues against free will
When materialist assumptions about the mind begin to sound dated…
A 2017 profile of Roger Penrose and his consciousness theory was penned before slow changes and major tumults rocked the discipline — and it shows
How Believing You’ll Get Better May Affect Your Brain
A placebo effect experiment in mice pinpointed a change in an area of the brain not previously known to be involved in pain control
Do We Need the Right Half of the Human Brain?
Generally, we do. Yet what happened when one woman lost the right half of her brain as an adult was unexpectedA little-reported 2021 case study published in Neurology Clinical Practice shows how resilient the human brain can be. A 29-year-old woman, CB, with no neurological or psychiatric history had a stroke, possibly due to medication issues. The damage was serious enough that a decision was made, with her consent, to remove almost all of the right side of her brain (hemispherectomy). As the study authors put it, “only a small disconnected right occipital pole was retained.” What impact would that have on her mind? The right hemisphere of the brain is thought by neuroscientists to play a specific role in “nonverbal” cognitive abilities. From Simply Psychology, we learn, Left hemisphere function The left hemisphere controls the right-hand side of the Read More ›
Is Panpsychism Putting Francis Crick’s Pack of Neurons to Flight?
Science writer John Horgan remembers Crick in the ‘90s when reductionism was riding high in neuroscience. What’s happened since?
Sleeping Mice Show How the Brain Lays Down Memories
Studies of mice running mazes have shed light on the sharp waves of neurons that assist in forming memories
Neuroscientist: The Mind Is Just the Brain
He cites studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation, which caused subjects to see flashing lights
Research: Our Brains Float Between Two Phases, Dodging Disorder
Our minds just never quite get used to that
Why Does a Brainless Sponge Have a Toolkit for a Nervous System?
A neuroscientist wrestles with the question of where the kit arose? From the one-celled life forms that preceded the sponge?