Stories by William Skaggs

How does the brain form new memories without ever filling up? Scientists turn to the youngest neurons for answers

Mild electrical stimulation might help brain-damaged patients communicate

Molecular clues may reveal how to instantly reset the brain's clock

The brains of cetaceans--dolphins and whales--differ from those of other mammals in a number of ways, but one of the most striking differences is the size of the hippocampus.  As a general rule, the larger the size of a mammal’s brain, the smaller the fraction of it that the hippocampus occupies, so dolphins and whales [...]

Trypophobia is a real aversion and may relate to unconscious associations

A few days ago I posted a discussion here of the problem of determining whether an animal such as an octopus has genuine pain. I claimed that the most common way of thinking about pain—the idea that we attribute pain to other species to the extent that they resemble ourselves—does not really account for the [...]

At the level of personal experience, there is nothing that seems easier to understand than pain. When I jam my finger in a doorway, I have no difficulty at all recognizing the sensation that results.

Lewis Carroll had a gift for framing the thorniest issues in the simplest terms. For example in this passage from Alice in Wonderland: When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether [...]

I’d like to examine the concept of freedom in a somewhat unusual way — from the viewpoint of motivational psychology. The starting point is to realize that there are basically four ways of influencing behavior: reward, punishment, restraint, and compulsion.

Larry Jones is driving the minivan across the Utah desert on Highway 163, with Sally in the passenger seat and the two kids dozing in the back.