Mind & BrainNovember 1, 2010
Dream States: A Peek into Consciousness
Although we rarely remember our nighttime reveries, they may hold the key to consciousness
Stories by Christof Koch
Christof Koch is a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute, chief scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, the former president of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and a former professor at the California Institute of Technology. His latest book is Then I Am Myself the World. Koch writes regularly for a range of media, including Scientific American. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Mind & BrainSeptember 1, 2010
What Comes Next: Experts Predict the Future
The flip side to every ending is a new beginning. We asked the visionary scientists on our advisory board what new trends will shape the decades to come
Mind & BrainSeptember 1, 2010
You Must Remember This: What Makes Something Memorable?
What stays with us, and what we forget, depends in part on how well our neurons keep time
Mind & BrainJuly 1, 2010
Looks Can Deceive: Why Perception and Reality Don't Always Match Up
When you are facing a tricky task, your view of the world may not be as accurate as you think
HealthMay 1, 2010
Regaining the Rainbow: A Gene Therapy Approach to Color Blindness
Genetic intervention cures color blindness in monkeys
Mind & BrainMarch 1, 2010
Playing the Body Electric
A combination of genetics and optics gives brain scientists an unprecedented ability to dissect the circuits of the mind
Mind & BrainJanuary 1, 2010
Reviving Consciousness in Injured Brains
Direct stimulation of the arousal centers in patients may restore awareness
Mind & BrainNovember 1, 2009
The Will to Power--Is "Free Will" All in Your Head?
Neurosurgeons evoke an intention to act during brain surgery
CognitionSeptember 1, 2009
When Does Consciousness Arise in Human Babies?
Does sentience appear in the womb, at birth or during early childhood?
Mind & BrainJuly 1, 2009
A "Complex" Theory of Consciousness
Is complexity the secret to sentience, to a panpsychic view of consciousness?
BehaviorApril 1, 2009
Defense Mechanisms: Neuroscience Meets Psychoanalysis
Suppression and dissociation, two psychoanalytic defense mechanisms, are now studied by modern neuroscience
Mind & BrainFebruary 1, 2009
Understanding Consciousness: Measure More, Argue Less
One sign of progress in unraveling the mind-body problem is the development of new and ingenious ways to measure consciousness
Mind & BrainDecember 1, 2008
Exploring Consciousness through the Study of Bees
Bees display a remarkable range of talents—abilities that in a mammal such as a dog we would associate with consciousness
Mind & BrainOctober 1, 2008
How Unconscious Mechanisms Affect Thought
Clever experiments root out nooks and crannies in the brain that are hidden from your conscious awareness
Mind & BrainJune 1, 2007
Betting on Consciousness
Gambling may offer a way to test conscious awareness without disturbing it
Mind & BrainOctober 1, 2005
The Movie in Your Head
Is consciousness a seamless experience or a string of fleeting images, like frames of a movie? The emerging answer will determine whether the way we perceive the world is illusory
Mind & BrainApril 1, 2002
The Problem of Consciousness
It is Now Being Explored Through the Visual System--Requiring a Close Collaboration Among Psychologists, Neuroscientists and Theorists
Mind & BrainSeptember 1, 1992
The Problem of Consciousness
It can now be approached by scientific investigation of the visual system. The solution will require a close collaboration among psychologists, neuroscientists and theorists
Mind & BrainMay 1, 1987
Synapses that Compute Motion
How do nerve cells process the information they receive from the environment? Studies of cells in the eye that interpret movement may define a mechanism involved in many other neural operations