Imagine someone offers to split €10 with you but keeps €8 for themselves and gives you only €2. Most people would see that as unfair. Now imagine two different people making this offer. One person is usually generous. The other person is known for being selfish. Even though they both offer the same split, it feels different, doesn’t it?
You see a car – wait… it’s not just a car. It’s red, it has a particular shape, and it’s moving fast. You hear the engine as it races past you. Maybe you even catch the smell of exhaust. Your amazing brain is able to combine all these different signals into a single red car, but how does it do that?
Why does one person feel completely exhausted after being in a busy place, while another barely notices it? Why is one person deeply moved by a sad movie or quick to notice small details, while another hardly reacts? According to researchers, this has to do with how our brain processes sensory input. It can be explained with the ideas of predictive processing.
Look in a mirror. The face you see feels completely like your own. You rarely question it. But what if your brain could be convinced that another face also belongs to you?
Can you picture an apple? If the answer is no, you might have aphantasia. New research is shedding new light on to the purpose of visual imagination, helping us understand empathy, memory, and maybe even consciousness itself.
Ramadan is a holy month in Islam, focused on introspection. A key part is fasting between sunrise and sunset. What effect does this have on the brain? Esther Aarts, scientist and research program leader in Nutrition & Cognition, explains.
Microplastics from everyday containers can harm not only the environment but also the human brain by triggering inflammation and disrupting cognitive and emotional functions. While complete avoidance is difficult, switching to reusable alternatives like glass or stainless steel can help reduce exposure and protect brain health.
Many young people between 16 and 25 years suffer from psychological symptoms such as anxiety or sadness. Research shows that mindfulness training can have positive effects in adults with mental disorders such as depression, but the effect in youth remains understudied. In this article, we discuss whether mindfulness could possibly help young people become more resilient to mental illness.
It is time to rethink our approach to mental health treatment. As depression rates rise
Brain Computer Interfaces are technologies that open up new realms of possibilities in medicine and beyond, but ethical guidelines and legislation have not yet caught up with the rapid developments in this field. What can this technology do? And what does the future hold for it?