In 2006, a grand jury convicted Evan Miller in a homicide case, sentencing him to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility for parole. At the time of his crime, Evan was 14-years-old. Years later, after a series of appeals, Evan’s case–Miller vs. Alabama–made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled that a sentence of life […]
Tag Archives: fMRI
June
22
Psychopathy, qu’est-ce que c’est
posted by Catie Profaci
Psychopathy, qu’est-ce que c’est A thought experiment Imagine that you are a respected scientist trying to better understand psychopathy. What might be different in the brain of a psychopath? As you look through brain scan after brain scan of psychopathic individuals—many of them convicted killers—you see a pattern. In brain regions important for impulse control, […]
October
27
Fear IT
posted by elena vicario
There’s nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight – Lon Chaney [En español] With Halloween just around the corner and the latest clown craze hitting American and United Kingdom cities, it seems like a great time to talk about clowns. More specifically, about fear of clowns, which I recently found out there’s a term for: […]
August
25
To diet or not to diet: what does your brain think?
posted by elena vicario
“It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” Margaret Mead [En español] In the US, about 50% of 10-year-olds have been on a diet [1]. Seriously. Tips for dieting and recipes for quickly losing weight saturate the media: from the most straightforward of dieting mantras, “eat less, exercise more,” to […]
May
26
Happiness comes from within
posted by Elena Blanco-Suarez, Ph.D.
[En español] ‘Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be’ – Abraham Lincoln. Happiness comes from within. More specifically, from the brain. Surely I am biased when I say the nervous system is incredibly interesting, but I am not the only one who thinks this. The public’s fascination with the brain most likely […]
October
22
Deep neural networks help us read your mind.
posted by Ben Cipollini
If you let us, we can read your mind. For the last fifteen years or so, scientists have been able to use measurements of brain activity* to predict what image you’re seeing, what part of your body you’re moving, or whether you’ll remember something you were studying (See Norman et al. 2006 for a review). […]
September
24
Altruism: A Story of Amygdalae and Kidneys
posted by Catie Profaci
So, how do you begin to study the neural underpinnings of something so difficult to define or identify? And since virtually all of us do kind things on occasion, how would one compare altruists and non-altruists to see whether there are any differences in brain structure or activity?
July
10
Got a computer? We have data. Let’s do neuroscience!
posted by Ben Cipollini
Now, everything you need to do mind reading–and your own neuroscience data analysis–is freely available online. This post points you to data, software, and examples to get you started–even if you don’t have a Ph.D.
May
21
Your Brain on Sex
posted by Catie Profaci
What happens in the brain during sex? Are gender stereotypes a cultural construct? Or are there true neurological differences in how men and women experience sex—desire, arousal, orgasm?
August
29
Ye Olde Neuroimaging
posted by Andy Peters
Technology has rocketed neuroscience forward since the middle of the 20th century. From probing single cells to recording from the entire brain at once, longstanding questions from the past can be answered with the turn of a few knobs and the push of a few buttons. None of the tools in neuroscience are more familiar, […]
