It’s Not in the Brain: Why Independent Cultures Think Alike When It Comes to Categories
In contrast to prior hypotheses, this experiment shows that people are not born with category systems already in their brains. Imagine you gave the exact…
Learning
Unconscious Learning Underlies Belief in God – Stronger Beliefs in People Who Can Unconsciously Predict Complex Patterns
Individuals who can unconsciously predict complex patterns, an ability called implicit pattern learning, are likely to hold stronger beliefs that there is a god who…
Learning of Foreign Language Sounds Boosted by Non-invasive Nerve Stimulation
New research by neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh and University of California San Francisco (UCSF) revealed that a simple, earbud-like device developed at UCSF…
Learning What’s Dangerous Is Costly: Unlocking Fear Response of Social Animals
What would you do if the person standing next to you would suddenly scream and run away? Would you be able to carry on calmly…
Students Did Better on Test When They Listened to Beethoven During Lecture – And in Dreamland
But scores on the material nine months later dropped to ‘floor level,’ Baylor University study finds. College students who listened to classical music by Beethoven…
An Effortless Trick to Improve Learning During Sleep
Effortless learning during sleep is the dream of many people. The supportive effect of smells on learning success when presented both during learning and sleep…
Researchers Implant “Memories” Into Birds – Teach Them Songs They’ve Never Heard
Discovery boosts understanding of how human brain learns speech. A father holds up his newborn, their faces only inches apart, and slowly repeats the syllables…
Babies Begin Learning Language in Womb
Newborn babies only a few hours old are able to differentiate between sounds from their native language and a foreign one. A new study indicates…
Drunken Larvae Learn Just as Well as Sober Larvae
Many studies suggest that the behavioral effects of alcohol in humans can be modeled in fruit flies and other animals. Scientists that were trying to…
Growth in Brain’s White Matter Tracts Could Predict Literacy
Brain connectivity can predict reading skills, thanks to brain scans and the examination of the growth of long-range connections in the brain. These allow researchers…
Mother’s Nurturing Results in Larger Hippocampus in Children
New research by neuroscientists and child psychiatrists show that children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus. This is…
The Algorithmic Approach to the Mathematics of Cramming
Students tend to take far from optimal ways to assimilate information, especially when it comes to exams. Scientists Tim Novikoff, Jon Kleinbert, and Steve Strogatz…
Be Like Neo and Learn New Skills Matrix-Style
Plug-and-play took on a whole new meaning in the movie, The Matrix, where people could learn kung-fu or how to pilot a helicopter by just…
Shock the Brain for Faster Learning
Maybe those 19th century doctors were on to something when they used electroshock therapy as treatment for a myriad of medical problems. New findings that…