The Human Brain

A man in Cornwall, England, went 11 consecutive days without a wink of sleep. Find out how he did it, why he did it and why you shouldn't give it a try.

By Jacob Silverman

Addictions to substances such as drugs and alcohol have ruined the lives of people all over the world. Read about current views and ideas on addiction.

By Josh Clark & Sascha Bos

Antidepressants are the first line of treatment for depression. Sales of antidepressants total $50 billion annually, making this class of drugs one of the leading prescription medications. But are they effective?

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

Alien hand syndrome sounds like something from a B-grade horror movie, but it's a real condition. You could be completely at the mercy of your own renegade hand -- it could keep your other hand from functioning, punch you or even choke you.

By Charles W. Bryant

E=mc2. The theory of relativity. An understanding of the speed of light. These ideas all came from the brain of one man: Albert Einstein. But what happened to his brain after he died?

By Molly Edmonds

It's safe to say that no one particularly wants an ice pick through the eye socket. And yet, for years, people who were mentally ill or merely "difficult" had parts of their brains removed this way. The natural question: Why?

By Shanna Freeman

Religion is one of the three things you're never supposed to talk about if you don't want your dinner party to turn into a food fight. But what about looking at religion through the lens of science instead of faith? Is there a connection between our gray matters and pray matters?

By Molly Edmonds

You've just touched a hot stove -- and probably felt an immediate sharp pain, then a dull ache. How do we sense pain, and why does it eventually go away?

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

That man dressed in animal skins and running around Jerusalem trying to baptize people isn't alone. Tourists in Jerusalem sometimes suffer from a strange conviction that they are Biblical figures. Are they mentally ill or is there more to it?

By Katie Lambert

Sleepwalking is an intriguing phenomenon. How can a person be unconscious but still coordinate his or her limbs? And how do we know when we're really awake?

By Katie Lambert

In the past, applying electricity to the brain was a painful measure of last resort. Now with lower power and electrodes surgically planted deep within the brain, it could be the answer to many debilitating diseases.

By Isaac Perry Clements

If you could control your dreams, what would you do? Grow wings and fly, travel to ancient Rome, dine with Marilyn Monroe, open opera season at the Met? It could be possible.

By Katie Lambert & Sascha Bos

One of the top-prescribed sleeping pills may cause you to shuffle out of bed and sleepwalk to the fridge. Could Ambien be making you sleepy and hungry?

By Cristen Conger

Memory is your only personal record of the past and of who you are as an individual. What if you woke up one morning and your memory was gone?

By Cristen Conger

Can your mirror lie? Though loved ones reassure you that your appearance is normal, all you see is your flawed, monstrous reflection. This is life with body dysmorphic disorder.

By Jessika Toothman

You may vaguely remember hurting your knee at the age of 3, but do you recall the moment your body burst into the world? Most likely not. Why are our first years devoid of memories?

By Cristen Conger

People with schizophrenia can experience delusions, hallucinations and paranoia. But they don't have to suffer social isolation. Find out what successful treatments can help people with the disorder.

By Jane McGrath

In the wild, are brains better than brawn? Find out when your fight-or-flight response is your friend and when it's your enemy.

By Cristen Conger

TV shows, movies and books depict characters that have suffered a bad injury to the head and have lost their memory. But could it really happen that fast? And will their memory ever return?

By Katherine Neer

If you've ever dashed into the grocery store to pick up a tube of toothpaste, you've likely been stopped in your tracks by the sheer number of options available. So why does having more options make it so much harder to make the right choice?

By Tom Scheve

Once scientists discovered that some members of the great ape family could recognize their reflections in mirrors, academics began to wonder whether these animals were actually conscious of themselves. That debate continues today.

By Jessika Toothman & Sascha Bos

We'd like to think we're pretty clever, but when you correct for body mass, dolphin brains aren't far off from our own. What cognitive skills do dolphins possess, and could they really be our intellectual equals?

By Jessika Toothman

Computers can handle far more calculations per second than the human brain, and can store and retrieve information very reliably. Should we be jealous of these hunks of silicon and metal on our desks?

By Jonathan Strickland

It doesn't exactly seem like something the human body would do, let a large portion of itself go to complete waste. Is it true that most of your brain is on permanent hiatus?

By Patrick J. Kiger & Austin Henderson

Three weeks of hard work. Is that all it takes to kick your smoking habit, taste for junk food or serial inability to stop hitting the snooze button? Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?

By Julia Layton