I know what you're thinking: What does it feel like for a human to have his or her medial forebrain reward circuitry stimulated with an electrode? Does it produce a crazy pleasure that's better than food or sex or sleep or even "Seinfeld" reruns?
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Recent research has uncovered the reason that staying motivated can be so difficult, as well as a simple and effective strategy you can use to keep motivation high.
A paper in the June, 2011 issue of Psychological Science by Krishna Savani, Nicole Stephens and Hazel Markus suggests that Americans' affinity for choice comes with a social cost.
We know we require sleep for our survival, but we've yet to discover the why of sleep. A ground-breaking new study might help us answer this and many more questions.
As U.S. Catholics mark anniversaries of the Civil War or of September 11, they would do well to also remember Vatican II, including what it had to say about peace and renunciation of war.
Why do only some people succeed at learning from their bad experiences, while others fail? It turns out that some of us may have a more adaptive style of self-reflection than others.
The power of self-compassion is not just an idea; it's very real and actually manifests in our bodies. When we soothe our own pain, we are tapping into the mammalian care-giving system.
When your thinking is interrupted by your brain, you've got real ADD. When it's interrupted by the world, you just have trouble saying "no."
What is really irrational about arguing that people should be more rational about risks is the argument itself, that we should be reason-based thinkers who only use the facts to figure out what we should be afraid of.
The idea behind the new cigarette warnings is that if people really knew what cigarettes can do to them, they would not smoke. Unfortunately, there is good reason to believe that these warnings will not have the desired effect.
It was an honor to interact with scientists who are going in directions where no one has gone before in neuroscientific research. It's good to know we have people on the planet excited about the questions no one has yet to answer.
Although bad choices negatively alter one's brain structure, this is very different from diagnosing him with an underlying brain disorder that is beyond his control.
If you don't give yourself the time you feel you need to make a judgment or choice, you will undermine your satisfaction and your subsequent experience.
If you are wondering how your brain is aging, just look in the mirror. New research has drawn a link between aging of skin and aging of the brain.
Depending on how they are feeling -- physically, mentally and emotionally -- even elite golfers may perceive the day's round of golf quite differently, right down to the dimensions of the ball and hole.
Where is the line between age related memory loss and early Alzheimer's disease? We have a name for this transitional phase, it is called, Mild Cognitive Impairment or MCI.
Here's a test: are you more of a rational or experiential/intuitive thinker? If you cringed as you read the question and thought, "I love constantly shifting between both modes of thought," then you're on the path to thinking like a polymath.
People oriented toward inaction are also more likely to be affected by information aimed to change their opinion.
Some people are quick to forgive, whereas others see only burnt bridges. Is there a fundamental psychological difference between those who accept reparations readily and those who do not? And can the unforgiving be brought around?
People overwhelmingly prefer reversible decisions to irreversible ones. They believe it's better to "keep your options open," whenever possible. But people, as it turns out, are wrong.
Michael Jackson was the epitome of creativity. But I wonder, how far did his genius spread? With his innovative powers, could he have created Twitter? This isn't an easy question to answer.
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