Julian Treasure is a sound and listening expert who thinks that the world is “losing its listening”- with the unfortunate consequence of losing out on human interaction and communication. While Treasure acknowledges that as someone who “lives to listen” he is probably in the minority, he believes that “every person needs to listen consciously to [...]

1. Brain Plasticity Cuts Both Ways: How Does Technology Affect The Brains of Children?
2. Making a More Memorable Vacation

Lately I have been really interested in brain tricks, brain teasers, and optical illusions. I had the chance to work on the expanded brain teasers section of our newly re-launched Posit Science website, which introduced me to a whole host of terrific illusions and tricks. My work on that led me to this funny and [...]

1. New Tricks for Your Brain: Illusion of the Year
2. Video: Keith Barry on Brain Magic
3. Video: Dan Buettner on How to Live to Be 100+

This is a really fun video about “brain magic.” Keith Barry is an illusionist and magician whose act depends on tricking the brain to fool the body. I’m not sure how it all works but it sure is a kick to watch! P.S. I was surprised to see that the last volunteer used is Steve [...]

1. Video: Dan Buettner on How to Live to Be 100+
2. Video: “Your Brain Is Badly Wired – Enjoy It!”
3. Kids, TV, Video Games, and Attention

Researcher Dan Buettner talks about some of the world’s identified “blue zones”–areas of the world in which people live to be over 100 and remain mentally and physically healthier than the rest of us even into very old age.

1. Centenarians Show Us What It Takes To Live Long (and Prosper)
2. Video: Keith Barry on Brain Magic
3. Video: “Your Brain Is Badly Wired – Enjoy It!”

Ask a group of people what the difference between animals and humans are, and they will probably come up with as many answers as there are individuals in the group. But my guess is that many of them will come up with some variation of this: that it’s our amazing brains–our ability to learn, to [...]

1. Stress Is Very Bad For Your Health- Whether You’re a Human or a Baboon
2. Learning From Your Mistakes Means You Learn More, Faster
3. Big Brain Differences Between “Morning People” and “Night Owls”

People have been talking about Temple Grandin quite a bit lately, partly because HBO recently released an original movie about her life and achievements starring Claire Danes. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it. (If you don’t have HBO, you can make a note to check it out when it’s released [...]

1. Personal Hero: Autistic Savant Daniel Tammet Speaks About “Different Ways of Knowing”
2. Brain Performance, Kindness and Autism
3. Learning, Thinking, Feeling: People vs. Animals

All week I’ve been posting a favorite brain-related TED video each day. This is the last TED talk I’ll post for now- I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed them and learned from watching them. We’ll be sure to check the videos for TED 2010, which just concluded, and post any interesting neuroscience-related ones we find. Since [...]

1. Your Brain in Love: Part 2 – Love and Marriage
2. Your Brain in Love: Part 1 – When Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
3. Daily TED Talk – Gregory Petsko on the Coming Neurological Epidemic

This week I’m posting a favorite brain-related TED video each day. In this talk from TED 2008, Christopher DeCharms discusses an innovative way to use MRI technology to look at brain activity in real time, which can help people learn to control chronic pain without drugs or surgery. Enjoy! Daily TED Talk – Christopher DeCharms [...]

1. Daily TED Talk – Vilayanur Ramachandran on Your Mind
2. Daily TED Talk – Michael Merzenich on Re-wiring the Brain
3. Daily TED Talk – Helen Fisher on the Brain and Love

This week I’m posting a favorite brain-related TED video each day. In this talk from TED 2008, brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor tells an incredible story about studying her own stroke and long recovery process from the inside out. Enjoy! Daily TED Talk – Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight is a post from: The [...]

1. Daily TED Talk – Vilayanur Ramachandran on Your Mind
2. Daily TED Talk – Helen Fisher on the Brain and Love
3. Daily TED Talk – Christopher DeCharms Looks Inside the Brain

This week I’m posting a favorite brain-related TED video each day. In this talk from TED 2007, Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran tells us what brain damage can reveal about the connection between your gray matter and your mind, using three fascinating delusions as examples. Enjoy! Daily TED Talk – Vilayanur Ramachandran on Your Mind is a [...]

1. Daily TED Talk – Christopher DeCharms Looks Inside the Brain
2. Daily TED Talk – Michael Merzenich on Re-wiring the Brain
3. Daily TED Talk – Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight