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Artificial IntelligenceConsciousness

Problems with Assessing Consciousness in the 21st Century

by Caitlin Goodpaster Early this June, a viral story hit the internet—an engineer at Google had claimed an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot named LaMDA was conscious (Tiku, 2022). LaMDA, which… Read More
Big IdeasBrain DevelopmentNeurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Dialogues in Music Therapy and Social Neuroscience: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Clinical Progress

In his book “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain”, the neurologist Oliver Sacks stated that music can “calm us, animate us, comfort us, thrill us, or serve to organize… Read More
Neuroscience TechnologiesBig IdeasLearning and MemoryMovement

Optogenetics: An Illuminating Tool with A Bright Future

Nearly everything we do requires our brain in some way. Eating a bagel? That uses your brain. Reading this article? That’s using your brain, too. All those questionable decisions you… Read More
SleepBrain BasicsConsciousnessNeurological and Psychiatric DisordersSensation and Perception

Sleep Paralysis: What Is It and What Causes It?

Sleep paralysis is a type of REM parasomnia or abnormal behavior that takes place during the REM sleep cycle. Also known as sleep atonia, this condition refers to the feeling… Read More
Sensation and PerceptionAgingBig IdeasBrain Development

How Pain in Newborns Can Have Lifelong Consequences

You probably don’t remember anything from when you were an infant. However, chances are that you experienced some pain immediately after you were born. You might have needed an IV… Read More
PodcastBig IdeasConsciousnessInterviewsNeuro SciFiPhilosophy

[Podcast] Uploading the Human Brain

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a brand new episode of the Knowing Neurons podcast, we explore the concept of “mind uploading”. How would something like a mind upload really work?… Read More
SleepConsciousness

Our Dreams Have Many Purposes, Changing Across the Lifespan

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]lthough radically different in terms of their content and feel, the range of dream states are just as complex as waking states. If we look across an individual’s lifetime, we… Read More
Neuroscience TechnologiesBig IdeasNeuroscience ArtSensation and Perception

How Neuroimaging Changes Our View of Science & Humanity

Magritte’s comments on our fascination with the unknown rings true not just in artistic surrealism, but also in many of our scientific research endeavors. The human mind is continually fascinated… Read More
Neuroscience TechnologiesDid You Know?

Stimulating Neural Circuits with Magnetism

Brain stimulation might sound like some Frankensteinian demonstration from a Victorian science fair. But in reality, it is a contemporary technique making a huge impact in neuroscience by addressing a… Read More
Sensation and PerceptionNeuroscience TechnologiesVideos

Meet our newest team member Kayleen Schreiber

We have someone new joining our team!  She is a neuroscience PhD student at the University of Iowa, and she studies speech perception – but let’s let the animation she created… Read More
Did You Know?Neuro News

Neuron See, Neuron Do: The Mirror Neuron System and Clinical Implications

If you grew up with siblings, it is likely that you have heard the phrase, ”Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  However, it wasn’t until a groundbreaking finding in… Read More
Brain Basics

Brain Waves and Beta Buzz: The Wild Story of Neural Oscillations

What are brain waves?  It’s no wonder the term sounds like science fiction.  In the 1920s, a German psychiatrist embarked on a highly personal quest to discover the supposed medium… Read More
InterviewsBig IdeasBrain BasicsPhilosophy

Does Free Will Exist?

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon. Professor Freeman is enjoying the Southern California weather on Professor Domino’s patio. Domino: Will it be Coke or Pepsi, Dr. Freeman? Freeman: That’s an easy… Read More
Big IdeasBrain BasicsDid You Know?Neuroscience TechnologiesPhilosophyPopular Articles

How Do We Know? The Value of Scientific Models.

Last month, astronomers announced the prediction of a new giant planet in our solar system dubbed Planet IX, a genuine ninth planet with ten times the mass of Earth.  The… Read More
Big IdeasBrain BasicsDid You Know?Neurological and Psychiatric DisordersPopular Articles

The Fugue of Life: Why Complexity Matters in Physiology and Neuroscience

People like simplicity. Each decade, corporate logos grow progressively minimalistic, pop songs use ever simpler melodies, and visual art embraces simpler compositions, as Monet gives way to Picasso and Picasso… Read More
Did You Know?Neuro SciFiNeuroscience Technologies

The Neuroscience of Star Wars

For the first time in over a decade, a new Star Wars film is upon us, and if you’re like the staff of Knowing Neurons, your nucleus accumbens is firing… Read More
Big IdeasBrain BasicsConsciousnessDid You Know?Philosophy

Ghost in the Machine: The Neuroscience of Consciousness

Some questions cannot be addressed by science.  Like parallel universes, the consciousness of others is not something that can be directly observed, measured, or experienced.  Rene Descartes famously said, “I… Read More
Learning and MemoryNeuro NewsNeuroscience Technologies

Intracranial EEG and Mental Time Travel

A familiar progression of chords blares out of your speakers as the red lights of the surrounding traffic fade into the memory of a dark stage illuminated by pulsing neon lights.… Read More
Brain BasicsDid You Know?Neuroscience Technologies

Surfing Brainwaves with EEG: A Classic Tool for Recording Temporal Brain Dynamics

Pictures are powerful tools for illustrating quantitative data and capturing public interest.  Each year, NASA releases many beautiful images of Martian dunes and distant nebulae which help win public funding.… Read More