Psychiatry

Elderly people with loss of executive function--lessening of inhibitions--are more likely to offer useful, but tactless, advice. Christopher Intagliata reports

Robotic companions that are capable of expressing some emotion might be better as pals for autistic children as well as mentors and health advisors for young diabetic patients

The tools used by the commercial industry to detect our thoughts and brain states are very different, and somewhat limited, compared with those used in the research lab. Christie Nicholson reports

A recent review of studies on intoxication has determined that we are very bad at determining just how drunk someone is. Christie Nicholson reports

The sense of touch helps children to ground abstract ideas in concrete experiences

Why cholesterol drugs might affect memory

Reviews and recommendations from the September/October 2010 issue of Scientific American MIND

What stays with us, and what we forget, depends in part on how well our neurons keep time

A meticulously constructed atlas of the human brain reveals the molecular roots of mental illness—and of everyday behavior