Guest Post by David Mehler, Cardiff University and University of Münste Imagine being able to see and then control your brain activity consciously in real-time. For example, when thinking about a positive life event like your birthday, you would see the activity in areas of your brain’s limbic system increase on a thermometer-like gauge on […]
The Bilingual Brain: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Guest Post by Angela Grant, Pennsylvania State University Over the last few years, you may have noticed a surfeit of articles covering current research on bilingualism. Some of them suggest that bilingualism “sharpens the mind,” while other titles are clearly intended to provoke more doubt than confidence: “Is Bilingualism Really an Advantage?”. The pendulum swing […]
We Stand in Support of Scientists Worldwide
The Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) is an international society that values diversity and global collaboration as cornerstones of the scientific process. CNS stands with the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and other professional and scientific societies in opposing the recent White House executive order on visas and immigration. This order […]
A Vision of the Future of Brain Health: Q&A with Adam Gazzaley
Even among the healthiest people, aging takes a toll on the brain – changing and often decreasing our cognitive capabilities. Science fiction writers have long imagined ways to maintain and enhance cognition in the face of aging, disease, or otherwise. Increasingly, scientists are investigating ways to make that happen. One of those scientists – Adam […]
Shared Neural Activity for Shared Memories
After taking my kids to see Moana recently, I was struck by how differently they relayed the story to their dad than I did – different parts stood out to them as being especially funny or scary, and they used very different words to describe the plot and characters. Thus, it is mind-blowing to consider […]
A Cortical Cartographer’s Journey: Q&A with David Van Essen
While an undergraduate chemistry major at Caltech, David Van Essen read The Machinery of the Brain by Dean Woolridge. Published in 1963, the book gives an engineer’s perspective of the biological foundation of brain function, likening it to a computer. “That immediately hooked me on neuroscience, and I never looked back in terms of career […]
11 Cognitive Neuroscience Stories Not to Miss from 2016
Implicit bias, plasticity, and language were front and center in the most popular CNS stories of 2016. From using neuroscience findings to help understand and reduce bias to exploring why some people learn a second language more easily than others to recent debates over neuroimaging techniques, cognitive neuroscientists continue to chart new territory in their […]
We’re Back: CNS 2017 Returns to San Francisco with Big Ideas and More
Go for a trolley ride, visit Alcatraz, and take in world-class cognitive science talks when you visit San Francisco for CNS 2017. From March 25-28, 2017, more than 1,500 cognitive neuroscientists will gather to discuss the latest research on memory, language, aging, learning, and more in 50 talks and more than 1,000 poster sessions. New this […]
Making Language Research Less Alien: The Science of Arrival
Outside of superintelligence thrillers like Lucy or Limitless, it’s rare to have a popular Hollywood blockbuster explore a sliver of cognitive neuroscience. Even rarer is for that sliver to involve language science, which is why I was thrilled to see linguistics front and center in Arrival. Aside from it being an intelligent, well-acted, and fun […]
We’re Hard Wired for Cranberry Sauce: Why Color Matters for Nutrition
Cranberry sauce is perhaps a non-obvious star of the Thanksgiving dinner table. With its rich red color – whether homemade or from the can – the holiday favorite is actually part of the hardwiring in our brain: A new study finds that people favor red-colored foods over green ones, and consistently undervalue the caloric content […]