Neuroscience2848 articles archived since 1845

Hallucinogens Could Ease Existential Terror

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is being explored as a therapeutic tool to improve the lives of people with a life-threatening illness

Forgetting Is Harder for Older Brains

Adults hang on to useless information, which impedes learning

A Skeptic Considers the Hype over Brain Cells Linked to Complex Behavior [Excerpt]

Are "mirror neurons," touted to give us the ability to read the intentions of others, all they are cracked up to be?

Why Older Adults Are Too Trusting

Activity in a key brain area drops with age

How Head Injuries Damage the Brain

Searching for the True Sources of Crime

Where neuroscience meets criminology

NeuroSCIence in FIction: Kill Decision

Recommended: High Price

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

Studies Cast Doubt on Cancer Drug as Alzheimer's Treatment

Four labs can't replicate finding that showed large-scale clearance of disease-related plaques. Some hope remains for improving memory

Brain's Glial Cells Spark Seizures

The brain's electrical storms may originate in nonelectrical cells

Is Ketamine the Next Big Depression Drug?

Ketamine, an anesthetic and illicit party drug, is emerging as a fast-acting antidepressant

Why Stress Is Good for You

Stress. It makes us sweat, gives us headaches and is blamed for all sorts of medical maladies. But did you know that stress, in small measure, can actually help us succeed? Scientific American MIND editor Ingrid Wickelgren explains...

Without Glia, the Brain Would Starve

Blood vessels break down if certain glial cells are not present

June 2013 Briefing Memo

Shocks to the Brain Improve Mathematical Abilities

Electrical brain stimulation benefitted subjects for months, but critics point to the study's small size

Inside the Mind of a Psychopath

The brains of psychopaths react differently to images of someone being hurt than the brains of non-psychopaths. Christie Nicholson reports

Readers Respond to "Brain-Changing Games"

Letters to the editor from the January/February 2013 issue of Scientific American MIND

Could a Neural Implant Correct Errant Thoughts?

A Toxic Cascade: When the Brain Consumes Itself [Slide Show]

In the brain, bent-out-of-shape proteins can cause devastating neurological diseases

A Toxic Cascade: When the Brain Consumes Itself [Slide Show]

In the brain, bent-out-of-shape proteins can cause devastating neurological diseases