Every night, when you go to sleep, you dream. You might not remember exactly what you dreamed — or you may remember every detail with complete clarity, even if it didn’t make any sense — but even if you are certain that you didn’t dream, you likely did. [ … ]
What is it about breaking bread with others that makes a meal more than just a meal? Research is showing communal eating promotes health benefits that extend beyond merely eating in the company of others. With the pace of modern life, people are eating fewer meals at the table [ … ]
Time dictates our lives — we don’t have enough of it, we lose track of it, we need to manage it—yet most of us seldom consider how our brains process it. In “Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception,” author and psychology lecturer Claudia Hammond delves into how our perception of time can influence [ … ]
We all know good sleep is important, but what is sleep? There are some who believe sleep is nothing more than a random waste of otherwise productive time. “Sleep … Oh! How I loathe those little slices of death,” is a quote attributed to Edgar Allan Poe. Increasingly, sleep is being recognized not [ … ]
Do you love doing crossword puzzles or playing sudoku because you think it keeps your mind sharp? Well, think again. “Most of those things don’t have a measurable impact — if it makes people happy to play them that’s good, but it doesn’t make them smarter,” says Steven Aldrich [ … ]
“It’s complicated” is probably more than just a Facebook relationship status — whether your status is “Single,” “In a relationship,” “Married,” or “Just ask” — we can all agree that “It’s complicated,” has been applicable at some point in our lives. There’s little doubt that maintaining a relationship [ … ]
Consider this: nearly a quarter of Americans suffer from depression or anxiety in any given year. Given this statistic, it is imperative that we find innovative solutions to alleviate mental suffering. One approach in particular that has shown promising results in recent decades is ACT. [ … ]
For sailors, the phrase roaring forties refers to the area below 40 degrees south latitude, where the ocean begins to become unrelentingly dangerous to small vessels because of huge waves and high winds. But for every man and woman, the term can also mean a time after age 40, when the brain faces [ … ]
When I was 12 years old, I developed superpowers. I went to bed a normal middle-schooler and awoke to find my senses heightened. My alarm clock sounded like a siren, the sun burned my eyes, and my cereal milk tasted like a cereal milkshake. I could smell the furnace in the basement. Like many [ … ]
The world was supposed to end in 2012 … prognostication is a rife, global passion and pundits provide inexhaustible commentary on the future — whether on the economy, climate change or anything in between. Journalist Dan Gardner peers through the lens of cognitive science to expose the predictions industry and show us [ … ]
Music isn’t essential for our survival. You won’t die if you go without listening for a week, and it’s not necessary for procreation. So why does your brain crave music? In an issue of Science, neuroscientists reported that music triggers activity in the nucleus accumbens, the same brain structure that releases dopamine [ … ]
When you think of altered states of consciousness (ASC), what are some of the first things that come to mind? If you’re like most of us — and not a neuroscientist or anthropologist — you’ll probably think of 1960s counterculture; of school buses decorated with psychedelic colors and images, crazed rock concerts and the popular use of LSD [ … ]
From an engineering standpoint, stress can be defined as the amount of resistance a material offers to being reshaped and reformed. When you place a load on a steel beam, the beam resists, keeping the building from collapsing. If the load is great enough, the beam gives way, and the structure suffers damage or collapses. [ … ]
“Just try to pay attention to 10 breaths in a row, and that’s it. You’ve succeeded right there. Or just walk slowly back and forth across your room and make each step coincide with one breath. That’s a powerful practice, with enough stimulation in it to keep your head in the game if you’re distractible,” says Rick Hanson. [ … ]
Emotional development begins very early in life — in infancy, when children first bond with their caregivers — and is not only significant to the formation of the architecture of the brain but has long-term consequences with the emergence of language and social skills. Early emotional intelligence lays the groundwork [ … ]
© 2009–2022 BRAIN WORLD MAGAZINE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.