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POPSTHE SYNCHRONIZATION OF BRAINS JAMSHED BHARUCHA Professor of Psychology, Provost, Senior Vice President, Tufts University "An understanding of how brains synchronize " or fail to do so " will be a game-changing scientific development." Highly recommended, go read it all
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POPSOf Body and Mind, and Deep Meditation " Physiological tests also revealed significant changes. Compared with the relaxation group, IBMT subjects had lower heart rates and skin conductance responses, increased belly breathing amplitude and decreased chest respiration rates, all of which, researchers wrote, "reflected less effort exerted by participants and more relaxation of body and calm state of mind." Finally, researchers noted, IBMT subjects had more high-frequency heart-rate variability than their relaxation counterparts, indicating "successful inhibition of sympathetic tone and activation of parasympathetic tone ." Sympathetic tone becomes more active when stressed."
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POPSBrain mechanisms for behavioral flexibility "We hypothesize that single neurons probably cannot switch outputs in a short period of time, so the brain realizes behavioral flexibility by preparing separate pathways for each task through learning, and then chooses the appropriate pathways, rather than switching outputs, in a given trial." That statement would indicate the possibility that our brains increase in plasticity and flexbility via learning
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POPSUnconditional love in the brain? Of course we must agree first on what " unconditional" means, but it seems that neuroscientists lately have decided somehow to conquer the territory traditionally reserved for philosophers. As I see it, it is high time for serious philosophers to reclaim their place. Unconditionality is not a neurological term and thus to my eyes is meaningless in this particular context. I definitely agree with the writers of brainethics, this is the kind of science one should be skeptical of.
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POPSThe way the brain buys Scientists used to assume that emotion and rationality were opposed to each other, but Antonio Damasio, now professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, has found that people who lose the ability to perceive or experience emotions as the result of a brain injury find it hard or impossible to make any decisions at all. They can’t shop. ergo we shop with our hearts..;-)
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POPSPoverty and the Brain "The point is that poverty isn't just an idea, or a state of mind: it actually warps the mind. Some brains never even have a chance." deserves a second thought
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POPSInternet use could improve brain function and speed up decision-making Previous studies have warned that too much computer use could be responsible for increasing levels of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Dr Gary Small, director of the memory and ageing research centre at the University of California, Los Angeles, said: "Young people are growing up immersed in this technology and their brains are more malleable, more plastic and changing than with older brains," he said.
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POPSThe Internet Is a Brain There is a lot we can learn from the brain and it can tell us where the Internet is headed next. There’s nothing magical in the brain (at least that we’ve found thus far), and yet it delivers all our mental capabilities, and emotional ones as well – that’s a very intriguing thought. After all, just as there is no particular reason for this lump inside our heads to appreciate fine wines and music, cry, laugh, reason, love, daydream, and aspire to greater things, there is no reason why silicon or some other fundamental substance (maybe even carbon some day), could not be coaxed into creating something similar.
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POPSBrain and Creativity Institute The mission of the Brain and Creativity Institute is to gather new knowledge about the human emotions, decision-making, memory, and communication, from a neurological perspective, and to apply this knowledge to the solution of problems in the biomedical and sociocultural arenas.
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POPSNew Memory Technologies Considering the recent advances in Brain-Machine interface, and the development of new neural implants, it is quite clear that Memory management is only the tip of the iceberg, I definitely agree with D.Peletier that the main effect of these new technologies will be to vastly improve our wellbeing
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