The Human Brain

Ever walked from your kitchen to the living room to find your phone and then forgotten what you were looking for once you got there? Researchers think your brain is hard-wired to undergo precisely that process of forgetting.

By Nathan Chandler

Have you ever met someone with a unique first name, and then all of a sudden you hear the name everywhere you turn? That's the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at work. How did it get that handle?

By Kate Kershner & Austin Henderson

Are you a person who likes to be social but also values some alone time? You are? How did we guess without knowing you? Welcome to the Barnum effect.

By Kate Kershner

Why does the experience of sleep paralysis often summon explanations of demonic visitations? Visit the place where dreams and reality overlap, and where science and myth attempt to interpret our hallucinations.

By Robert Lamb

Nostalgia, contrary to centuries of common knowledge, appears to be a good thing. A really good thing.

By Julia Layton

You've probably experienced that moment where you're driving, get lost, turn down the radio, and then think, "Why did I just do that?"

By Maria Trimarchi

Pain is subjective - what is excruciating to you might be tolerable to me. Which is why it's so difficult to measure and control.

By Jennifer Sellers

People who hallucinate typically see, hear, feel, smell or otherwise experience things that simply aren't real. Often, these sensory fake-outs indicate a serious medical condition.

By Alia Hoyt

We all know what it feels like to be burned out. But does that really mean that our brain is tired? And is it the same as when other muscles tire out?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

People often make vision boards at the start of the year. Some swear by vision boards for making their dreams come true. But is there any science to back that up?

By Alia Hoyt

Ever tried to get your child, spouse or friend to do something by telling them to do the opposite? That's reverse psychology. But how often does it work?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

One in three people consistently struggle through the autumn and winter months with a type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Here are some tips for dealing with it.

By Harriet Bowyer

Ever find yourself momentarily disoriented in a familiar place or encounter a friend who looks like a stranger? You could be experiencing jamais vu.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

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

Delve into Freud's Oedipus complex, a theory suggesting children experience unconscious desires for their opposite-sex parent and rivalry with their same-sex parent.

By John Donovan

If you engage in constant self-talk, it may surprise you that some people think in pictures instead or do nothing at all. And the number of people truly having an inner monologue may not be as great as you think.

By Nathan Chandler & Desiree Bowie

Your dreams have meaning, but dream interpretation is tough. So what does it mean when you dream about someone all the time? We talked to dream analysts who help explain.

By Dominique Michelle Astorino