An interesting paper came across my radar week – “Placebo effects in cognitive training” published in PNAS (with a paywall, unfortunately). In this paper, the authors investigate the effect that people’s expectations might have on the results of brain-training experiments. Every research study needs to recruit people to participate, and a common way is to…
Posit Science’s very own Dr. Michael Merzenich has been awarded the 2016 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience for his work in discovering adult brain plasticity and applying its principles to improve the human condition! The Kavli Prize––a partnership between The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, The Kavli Foundation, and The Norwegian Ministry of Education and…
Sometimes when we want to change our mood, we overlook the small stuff and focus on the big stuff. Instead of looking at what’s simple and right in front of us, we tend to look beyond into the aspirational abyss. Let’s say you’re not feeling so great and you’re looking for a little stimuli to…
As intellectually mature adults, we know that when we see a magic trick successfully pulled off, it’s not really magic that gets us, but some sort of trick that makes us think we’re seeing something that didn’t––and couldn’t––really happen. Knowing this, though, doesn’t make a magic trick any less entertaining or amazing. So why can’t…
There are quite a few brain-training programs around, and it can take an expert to figure out which ones actually work. Unfortunately, too many programs have little or no science backing up their claims to improve brain function. BrainHQ is different: people with deep knowledge of the brain designed our exercises, and a wealth of…
We have reported before about how important sleep is for good brain function and long-term cognitive health, as well as some proven ways to improve your sleep. But what happens when your brain doesn’t sleep? Here is a fun, in-depth infographic from .Mic to break it down for you. (To enlarge the image and read…
