We forget our passwords. We pay too much to go to the gym. We think we’d be happier if we lived in California (we wouldn’t), and we think we should stick with our first answer on tests (we shouldn’t). Why do we make mistakes? And could we do a little better?

We human beings have design flaws....

The wealth of insights into the brain’s functioning gained by neuroscience in recent years led to the development of new possibilities for intervening in the brain such as neurotransplantation, neural prostheses and brain stimulation techniques. Moreover, new and safer classes of psychopharmaceutical drugs lend themselves to...

Clusterin is a multifunctional protein which was independently discovered by more than ten different research groups in the 1980s. New roles of clusterin in brain functions have come to llight which are summarized here by the researchers involved. Recent discoveries include a unique lipoprotein particle containing clusterin and apoE secreted...

Mirror neurons may hold the brain's key to social interaction - each coding not only a particular action or emotion but also the recognition of that action or emotion in others. The Mirror System Hypothesis adds an evolutionary arrow to the story - from the mirror system for hand actions, shared with monkeys and chimpanzees, to the...

The study of how a neurological disorder can change the artistic activity and behavior of creative people is a largely unexplored field. This publication looks closer at famous painters, writers, composers and philosophers of the 18th to the 20th centuries who...

The catecholamine dopamine (DA) plays a key role in the physiology of most vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. In addition to its role as a transmitter in the nervous system, it has a role in development. The relatively few DA neurons in the mammalian brain have important roles in many neural functions including fine motor integration,...

Reports on the latest advances in the field, for new and experienced scientists. Coverage includes the role of T-cells in multiple sclerosis (MS), T-cell autoimmunity and EAE in nonhuman primates, MBP-reactive T-cells in MS, and genetic engineering of brain-specific T-cells for treatment of diseases in the central nervous system. Also...

This book reveals a remarkable paradox: what your brain wants is frequently not what your brain needs. In fact, much of what makes our brains "happy" leads to errors, biases, and distortions, which make getting out of our own way extremely difficult.

Author David DiSalvo presents evidence from evolutionary and...

“Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our...