credit: Lisa M.P. Munoz

Rethinking Time for Independence in Children’s Daily Lives

July 3, 2014

If your July 4th plans are anything like my family’s, it’s fully loaded with lots of planned activities: parade at 10am, pool at 2pm, BBQ at 4pm, fireworks at 9pm, etc. Little time is left unstructured for the kids to, well, be independent. New research gives me pause to think, […]

Oarabile Mudongo; http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airlington_Memory_Park.jpg

What Triggers Spontaneous Memories of Emotional Events?

June 28, 2014

Whether we like it or not, sometimes distant memories of past events pop into our heads for no apparent reason. Study after study has found that memories associated with high emotions are more likely to spontaneously come to the surface than non-emotional ones. But these memories may lack specific details […]

Stephan Brunker; Luestling; de.wikipedia

Linguistics Sleuths Probe the Mental Health of Agatha Christie

June 20, 2014

Agatha Christie was a master storyteller who weaved together seemingly disparate clues to tell a compelling mystery. Now, scientists are trying to sleuth the details of her mental health using linguistics analyses. A new study, which looks at the works of six renowned authors over their decades’ long writing careers, […]

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P3030027ParkingLot_wb.jpg

Where’s My Car? Senior Moments are Not Intractable

June 16, 2014

We call it a “senior moment” – when we forget where we parked the car or left the keys. These moments of forgetfulness are so called because they tend to become more frequent with age. But all is not lost: New research suggests that senior moments have a lot to […]

credit: Wolfgang H. Wögerer, Wien; http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vienna_City_Marathon_20090419_Evans-Kamromboi_Korimuk_KEN.jpg

Let’s Get Fired Up: Is Seeing Brain Activity the Ultimate Motivator?

June 9, 2014

From coaches to self-help books, everyone has advice for how to get motivated to accomplish a task. But what if you could simply see how your brain reacts to different motivation strategies and then pick the best one? New research is finding that showing people their brain activity levels could […]

Separating Fact from Fiction on Twitter: We’re More Skeptical Than You May Think

June 2, 2014

Twitter is an increasingly powerful tool for information. In April, a hoax tweet from someone who hacked the Associated Press Twitter account caused the stock market to momentarily crash. Traders were swayed by a single false tweet about a terrorist attack on the White House. The incident begs the question […]

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=39745&picture=happy-little-boy-eats-strawberries&large=1

Sweet! Taste Metaphors Elicit More Emotion Than Literal Phrases

May 27, 2014

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” – Emily Dickinson Poets have long known that metaphors can elevate words to higher level. Now scientists know part of the reason why: A new study suggests that reading metaphors, specifically those with words associated with taste, recruits […]

Nothing Really Matters: Disbelief in Free Will Makes Us Care Less About Mistakes

May 20, 2014

In one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s character eventually gets so frustrated with the inevitability of living the same day again and again that he stops caring. With his fate seemingly sealed, he no longer worries about his actions. It makes sense that, faced with no control […]

Copy That: When We’re More Likely to Imitate People Than Robots

May 14, 2014

When we are around different people, our behavior changes. Some of it is intentional – like talking about things you have in common – but much of it happens spontaneously without us even realizing it, such as folding your arms or scratching your nose when others do the same. But […]

Unraveling the Motor Movements That Connect All Primates

May 9, 2014

Q&A with Jon Kaas Grasping, reaching, climbing – these are just some of the basic instinctive behaviors that we see even in babies. While these movements are not uniquely human, how they unfold neurologically is unique to primates. All primates have these motor behaviors, or “motor primitives,” and they all […]

Blog Archives

CNS2025-Logo_FNL_HZ-150_REV

March 29–April 1  |  2025