learning

Learning What to Learn: Lessons from Cognitive Neuroscience for Education

September 17, 2018

How do we learn what to learn? This fundamental question drives the work of Rachel Wu at the University of California, Riverside. Before we can learn anything, we need to know what to pay attention to. From infancy, people are bombarded with distractions that can make that challenging. While there […]

neurofeedback

Taking Control of Your Brain Activity: New Neurofeedback Results

August 28, 2018

Summer is coming to an end, but imagine if your fun summer vacation experiences could later help you in addressing neuropsychological conditions. That’s a concept that inspires and motivates David Mehler, an MD/PhD student and cognitive neuroscientist at Cardiff University. “Imagine seeing a thermometer gauge that shows how strongly a […]

storytelling

The Centrality of Character to Storytelling in the Brain

August 2, 2018

While binge watching a new show, I sometimes wonder what’s keeping me watching even when the plot, well, falls apart. Usually, it has to do with the characters; watching them show after show makes it hard to separate from them even when the plot is no longer engaging. A new […]

A Dynamic Approach to Understanding Age-Related Memory Decline

June 26, 2018

Matthew Costello has been studying how aging affects cognition and perception for close to 10 years. But answers to the questions of exactly how and why visual working memory declines in older adults have still eluded him and other researchers. Now, he is taking an information processing approach to this […]

Breaking Barriers in Brain Stimulation: Q&A with Nanthia Suthana

May 11, 2018

Nanthia Suthana is working to become fluent in the “language of the brain.” She does not study linguistics but rather that electrical patterns that the brain uses to communicate. She and her team at UCLA seek to alter these patterns by externally stimulating brain cells with electricity – testing its […]

Watch the Debate: Big Data Versus Big Theory

April 9, 2018

CNS 2018 In the neurosciences, there exists a veritable orgy of data – but is that what we need? Will the colossal datasets we now enjoy solve the questions we seek to answer, or do we need more ‘big theory’ to provide the necessary intellectual infrastructure? Four leading researchers, with […]

The Consciousness Instinct: Watch Michael Gazzaniga’s Keynote

April 4, 2018

CNS 2018 To kick off the 25th anniversary meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Michael Gazzaniga (University of California, Santa Barbara) took us back to the beginning of the field, and then on a whirlwind tour through the history of thought on consciousness. How do neurons turn into minds? How […]

From Overcoming Public Speaking Jitters to Finding Work-Life Balance: 4 Tips from the Professional Development Panel

April 2, 2018

CNS 2018 Guest Post by CNSTA Committee Coping with public speaking jitters, learning how to say no, and navigating the non-academic life – these were just some of the topics tackled in the 3rd annual CNSTA Professional Development Panel held last week at CNS 2018 in Boston. Practice talking about your work, […]

math

Girls v. Boys: No Gender Differences in Neural Processing of Math

March 30, 2018

CNS 2018 – Graduate Student Award Poster It’s a persistent societal stereotype that boys are naturally better at math than girls. Behavioral work has suggested no such gender difference in math abilities in children, and now, for the first time, researchers have used statistical analysis of fMRI scans of young […]

CNS 2018 Day 4 In Brief

March 28, 2018

It was a great 4 days of science in Boston at CNS 2018! The sun was out and it was warming up outside, while inside participants were treated to the last poster session of the meeting and a wonderful set of final symposia. Talks covered what makes musical rhythm special […]

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