The Neural Basis of Free Will: Criterial Causation by Peter Ulric Tse (MIT Press, 2013)
I love Tse’s book. It has literally set me free.
Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
Mind & Brain
Neuroscience in Fiction: Crux, by Ramez Naam
Crux (Angry Robot Books) is an outstanding speculative fiction adventure. It combines the very highest level of neuroscientific reality with plausible neuroscience fiction that is very well thought through...
Mind & Brain
Pain is an emotion
Our new column in Scientific American Mind is out today and it's about the illusory nature of pain, and how pain perception and severity varies with mood and circumstances.
Mind & Brain
Illusion of the week: The Primal Flashlight
This illusion will enhance not only the brightness and color, but also the details of the visual scene.
Mind & Brain
Fat Tuesday: Neurosurgery versus bariatric surgery in obesity
A study in the journal Neurosurgical Focus has calculated thate DBS will have to be 83% effective in order for it to be a better choice than gastric bypass for obese patients.
Mind & Brain
Neuroscience in Fiction: The Princess Bride
The novel is a wonderful read, but something that I hadn't expected is that the plot would revolve so much around the topic of pain, both psychological and physical.
Illusion of the Week: Here Comes the Sun
This week’s illusion, by vision scientist Alan Stubbs from the University of Maine, was a top ten finalist in the Best Illusion of the Year Contest.
Mind & Brain
Fat Tuesday: Surgery for everyone! How science validated the gastric bypass.
An important and exciting piece of research just came out in Science Magazine last week showing why gastric bypass surgery has such powerful curative effects on diabetes, beyond the previous belief that the dietary restriction helps diabetes...
Mind & Brain
The Neural Magic of Hypnotic Suggestion
A new review of the scientific literature studying hypnosis, in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience, by Oakley and Halligan, discusses the potential for hypnosis to provide insights into brain mechanisms involved in attention, motor control, pain perception, beliefs and volition and also to produce informative analogues of clinical conditions...
Mind & Brain
Neuroscience in Fiction: Dexter’s Final Season Premiere
Dexter's swan song will involve chasing down a serial killer that puts a melon baller to the unique use of scooping the anterior insula out of the brains of his victims.
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
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Anecdotes from the Archive
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Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
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Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
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Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
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Dark Star Diaries
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Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
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Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
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Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
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Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
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Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
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Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
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Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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