What Hollywood gets wrong (and right) about neuroscience December 23, 2022 Become a martial arts expert by uploading the ability to fight directly to your brain. Build a new body and insert the mind of a lost loved one into this newly created person. Read More
Is the human brain a biological computer? March 14, 2022 Electrically, the brain remains largely a black box. We send electrical signals in and we get electrical signals out, but what it all exactly means is open to a lot of interpretation and some intense controversy. Read More
Why are habits so sticky? December 23, 2021 Nearly all of us have habits that we would like to get rid of. It might be as innocuous as saying “um” too often when we speak, or as serious as a pack-a-day smoking habit. Either way, we know that changing our behavior is really difficult, even when the stakes are high. Read More
What Makes Us Smart: The Computational Logic of Human Cognition October 08, 2021 At the heart of human intelligence rests a fundamental puzzle: How are we incredibly smart and stupid at the same time? No existing machine can match the power and flexibility of human perception, language, and reasoning. Read More
The loneliest neuron June 04, 2021 There it lives, the loneliest neuron. The neuron that lies furthest from the outside world. Furthest from the inputs from your senses; furthest from the outputs to your muscles. Read More
Is artificial intelligence today where brain research was 100 years ago? June 02, 2021 Babies are not born with randomly connected brains and turned on to learn. And yet, 100 years ago, neurobiologists were not so sure. Read More
The dark neuron problem, or mind reading at 90% accuracy March 30, 2021 I’m going to read your mind. Right now. Ready? Don’t get freaked out. Deep breath. Here we go… Read More
On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done March 24, 2021 Why is it hard to text and drive at the same time? How do you resist eating that extra piece of cake? Why does staring at a tax form feel mentally exhausting? Why can your child expertly fix the computer and yet still forget to put on a coat? Read More
Listen in: The Spike March 19, 2021 Traversing neuroscience’s expansive terrain, The Spike follows a single electrical response to illuminate how our extraordinary brains work. Start listening to chapter 1. Read More
What’s it like to be a spike?: What we’re learning in the Golden Age of neuroscience March 14, 2021 It began as an idle thought. I stood on a chill dimly-lit platform one early winter morning, waiting on my regular, no-doubt delayed train to emerge from the tunnel and pull up with a screech of brakes, ready to convey me through the snow-topped hills from the grey, snowy city where I live to the dark, damp city where I worked. Read More
The neuroscientific excitement of ordinary moments February 25, 2021 We see the last cookie in the box and think, can I take that? We reach a hand out. In the 2.1 seconds that this impulse travels through our brain, billions of neurons communicate with one another, sending blips of voltage through our sensory and motor regions. Neuroscientists call these blips “spikes.” Read More
Celebrating women in STEM February 11, 2021 International Day of Women and Girls in Science marks an opportunity to celebrate the brilliant women whose ideas have graced our bookshelves and touched our minds. Read More
Multitasking and the pandemic parent August 24, 2020 From my third floor attic office, I can hear my wife’s muffled voice through the door to the room just off the stairs. I can’t hear what she is saying, but from its now familiar cadence, I can tell that she is in a meeting. We used to post signs when we were in meetings, but we don’t bother anymore. Read More
The smart move: we learn more by trusting than by not trusting February 05, 2020 We all know people who have suffered by trusting too much: scammed customers, jilted lovers, shunned friends. Indeed, most of us have been burned by misplaced trust. These personal and vicarious experiences lead us to believe that people are too trusting, often verging on gullibility. Read More
What do you really know about gullibility? January 08, 2020 Not Born Yesterday explains how we decide who we can trust and what we should believe—and argues that we’re pretty good at making these decisions. Read More
