Inside the Mind

The trials of being a lefty are numerous. You jostle for elbow room at the table, use scissors that feel funny in the hand and are teased for writing oddly. But do beleaguered lefties get the last laugh in sports?

By Robert Lamb

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.

By Betty Burrows

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

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.

By Stephanie Watson

We've all heard of a "sixth sense" and extra-sensory perception. So how many ways can we actually sense the world around us?

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Every animal sleeps -- some more than others -- but why they do it is a mystery to scientists. Is sleep more than just beauty rest? Could skimping on it kill you? And how much do you really need?

By Marshall Brain

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

The more you know about your memory, the better you'll understand how you can improve it. Get details on how your memory works and how aging affects your ability to remember.

By Richard C. Mohs

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

Human beings have always found ways to ward off the effects of sleep deprivation. The newest wake-up pill has all of the benefits of caffeine and amphetamines with none of the down sides.

By Julia Layton

Scientific studies are showing that lefties are quicker and more adroit in some activities than their right-handed counterparts. How true is this idea?

By Julia Layton

Collective hysteria can spread when a fear exists of exposure to a disease, combined with a contained environment. Learn more about collective hysteria works.

By Jacob Silverman & Austin Henderson

It's commonly believed that that grandpa has more knowledge than his young whippersnapper of a grandkid. But do wrinkles on the face really relate to wrinkles on the brain?

By Molly Edmonds

Think about how you would describe yourself to a stranger. Would you emphasize your keen sense of humor or physical features you're fond of? Or would you spend more time on supposed "trouble spots"? Your answer largely depends on your mental picture.

By Cristen Conger

We all experience grief at one time or another after we lose someone important to us. But did you know there are many different types of grief?

By Alia Hoyt

You might classify yourself as right-brained or left-brained, depending on whether you tend toward logic or creativity. But what if a brain tumor changed it all, and one day you left your medical studies and devoted your days to art?

By Jacob Silverman

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

Your little brother might think it's funny to put a rubber snake in your pocket or jump out from a closet in a dark hallway, but your heart rate might disagree. Is it possible to be scared out of both your wits and your life?

By Molly Edmonds

When a kid scrapes his or her knee, a cute bandage is less about stanching the bleeding and more about psychological comfort. When a doctor gives an adult a placebo, is that any different?

By Shanna Freeman

So you're at a family dinner, and your uncle stands up and dramatically announces that he has a brain tumor. How does he know? Because he researched his frequent headaches on the Internet.

By Emilie Sennebogen

Sometimes you meet someone who smiles at you and exchanges pleasantries, but you still walk away feeling certain that you don't like him or her. You're not nuts -- you might be picking up on microexpressions.

By Tom Scheve

Happiness is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, it can also be elusive due to stress or depression. However, strategies abound that you can use to trick yourself into being happy. Ready for 10 of them?

By Josh Clark & Jessika Toothman

If you want happiness, you have to go out and get it yourself. This epiphany led writer Gretchen Rubin to create The Happiness Project and spawn a movement of people in search of their own bliss.

By Josh Clark