Why Smear Campaigns Work
People are more likely to believe misinformation about someone they see as different from themselves
Stories by Nicole Branan
The Me Effect
You have a powerful influence on other people's moods
Neandertal Symbolism: Evidence Suggests a Biological Basis for Symbolic Thought
Abstract thinking may date back further than previously thought
Chimps Talk with Their Hands
Right-handed gesturing in apes hints at the origins of human language
Accentuating the Negative
Our brain responds more strongly to negative emotional cues than to positive ones
Jumping Neural DNA Key to Brain Plasticity?
Extra mutations in neurons may help explain the brain's plasticity
Are Our Brains Wired for Categorization?
Our innate brain structure reflects how we classify the world around us
Head Lines: Handwriting Reveals Liars
Also: Stimulating Brain Cells May Be Trickier Than We Thought
Eye Movement May Be Key to Retrieve Unconscious Memories
Where we look reveals memories we cannot consciously access
Doctoring the Mind: Is Our Current Treatment of Mental Illness Really Any Good?
Reviews and recommendations from the January/February 2010 issue of Scientific American MIND
Ability to Guess Others' Thoughts Tied to Language Proficiency
Advanced language skills may be essential to predicting others' thoughts
Does Morning Sickness Mean Smart Kids?
Hormone levels link vomiting and intelligence
Bird Moves: Dancing with the Starlings
Birds' rhythmic abilities offer clues to the origins of dance
MIND Reviews: Neuro-Economic Boom
Recommendations from Scientific American MIND
Neuron Cannibalism: Hungry Male Cells Consume Their Own Proteins
Starvation brings out sex differences in brain cells
Close Call Counts: Neuroscience of Gambling Addictions
To our brain, a near miss is as good as a win
How Does the Brain Form Sentences?
Complex sentence construction may depend on a surprisingly simple system
MIND Reviews: Why We Make Mistakes
Reviews and recommendations from the April/May/June 2009 issue of Scientific American MIND