Inside the Mind
What are dreams really made of? Are humans the smartest animal? What causes schizophrenia? Travel inside the mind and find out how the human brain works.
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With an ever-increasing number of studies finding a direct connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain, it's difficult to deny the cause-and-effect relationship.
By Julia Layton
Even if you're very ticklish, you probably are incapable of tickling yourself. Learn why.
Whether brain death is a result of cardiac arrest and lack of oxygen to the brain, or of a gunshot wound to the head, the diagnosis is the same. Learn what the term "brain dead" actually means.
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In this article, we'll look at laughter -- what it is, what happens in our brains when we laugh, what makes us laugh and how it can make us healthier and happier. You'll also learn that there's a tremendous amount that no one understands yet.
Every animal you can think of -- mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians -- all have brains. But the human brain is unique. It gives us the power to think, plan, speak and imagine.
The term IQ typically refers to a score on a test that measures someone's cognitive ability. What does this test constitute exactly? And does it accurately measure intelligence?
By Alia Hoyt
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.
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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
Everyone's familiar with the green-eyed monster called jealousy. But why do people have those feelings?
By Alia Hoyt & 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?
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?
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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.
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?
Can you be bored to death? Sometimes it feels that way but has someone ever really died of boredom? You might be surprised at the ways boredom can shorten your life.
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
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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.
Brain mapping attempts to provide a complete picture of the brain's structure, but few know how brain mapping works. Learn how brain mapping works.
By Susan L. Nasr & Sascha Bos
If bigger is better, then some of us have the advantage when it comes to brainpower. Human brains (and noggins) don't all look the same. Does size really matter? And if it does, who comes out on top?
Imagine feeling like you were born into the wrong body. People with gender identity disorder (GID) suffer persistent dissatisfaction with their gender identity. But is it fair to call GID a psychological disorder?
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Learn the physiological processes that trigger a coma, how an actual coma differs from television depictions and how often people awaken after months or even years of being in a coma.
While most psychologists believe that brainwashing is possible under the right conditions, some see it as improbable or at least as a less severe form of influence than the media portrays it to be. So how does someone get brainwashed?
By Julia Layton & Alia Hoyt
To achieve stability despite quick eye movements, the eyes take before and after shots of an image and compare them. Now, scientists may have finally discovered how.
By Julia Layton
Stress is just around every corner for most of us these days. Reducing it requires you to learn the various types of stress, their different causes and how to deal with them.
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People with face blindness" can see facial features just fine; if they were looking at a face they could describe to you what it looks like. But they cannot retain a memory of it. In severe cases people don't even recognize their own face when they look in the mirror. Learn what face blindness is all about.
By Julia Layton
Medical examiners are attributing an increasing number of deaths while in police custody to a syndrome called excited delirium. The problem is, there's no proof this syndrome exists.
By Julia Layton