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May 22, 2013 | NPR ·
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brain
May 2, 2013 — Linguists used to think the human brain had a specific region devoted to understanding language. But brain scans now indicate that regions controlling vision, movement, taste, smell and touch are all called into action when we think of a word, too.
Apr 4, 2013 — Philosophers, poets and psychologists have long shared a fascination with dreams. Now Japanese scientists have scanned the brains of dreaming volunteers to create a lexicon of imagery that can be used to detect and decode dreams while a person sleeps.
Apr 3, 2013 — What can we say about how the brain creates our sense of self? A lot and yet surprisingly little, as it turns out. Commentator Marcelo Gleiser ponders the many challenges scientists face to make sense of our mind.
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Mar 7, 2013 — For more than a century, neurons have been the superstars of the brain. Now researchers say that when they placed human versions of another type of brain cell into mice brains, the mice grew up to be faster learners. This supports the hypothesis that these glial cells — and not just better-known neurons — play an important role in learning.
Feb 4, 2013 — Some people with damage to a specific region of the brain called the amygdala do not feel fear. If you make them handle a snake or show them a scene from a scary movie such as The Shining, they won't be affected. But breathing in air with high levels of carbon dioxide can send them into a panic.
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Feb 4, 2013 — Autism researchers are studying post-mortem brain tissue from people with the disorder to understand how it changes the brain. The greatest demand is for tissue from children. But it's especially hard to get.
Jan 11, 2013 — Does music have a history? Why? Listening to Bowie, and reading Gary Marcus's Guitar Zero provoke commentator Alva Noë to wonder.
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Jan 10, 2013 — In his new book, Jared Diamond describes how readily people in small-scale societies learn to speak many distinct languages. After reading Diamond's book, commentator Barbara J. King takes time to consider what we in the U.S. may lose in a sea of monolingualism.
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Dec 7, 2012 — We are fascinated by pictures of the brain produced by new imaging technologies. Alva Noë reminds us that these pictures are not images of the brain in action; they are not pictures of the mind at work. They are bits of theory.
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Nov 21, 2012 — Ultrasound often catches fetuses opening their mouths, but whether they're really yawning or not has been up for debate. Now, with some fancy ultrasound techniques, scientists have show that babies do indeed yawn in the womb.
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