Science News

Allan Jones joined the Allen Institute in 2003 to help start up the organization as one of its first employees. Bringing extensive expertise in project leade...

The Sentis Brain Animation Series takes you on a tour of the brain through a series of short and sharp animations. The second in the series describes the three regions of the brain and how they interact as we experience the world.

Is music humanity's drug of choice? What is the mysterious power behind it's ability to captivate, stimulate and keep us coming back for more? Find out the scientific explanation of how a simple mixture of sound frequencies can affect your brain and body, and why it's not all that different than a drug like cocaine

Brain, bodily awareness, and the emergence of a conscious self: these entities and their relations are explored by Germanphilosopher and cognitive scientist Metzinger. Extensively working with neuroscientists he has come to the conclusion that, in fact, there is no such thing as a "self" -- that a "self" is simply the content of a model created by our brain - part of a virtual reality we create for ourselves.

Scientists from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine are probing neurons in the brain's reward center to learn why cocaine can be so addictive. A recent study reveals that the drug activates two different types of nerve cells. An imbalance in these cells may fuel cocaine addiction.

Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of how life experiences can change both the physical structure and the function of the brain. Since a discovery in the mid-1990's that the hippocampus—a brain region important for memory—is reduced in size in many combat veterans, research has exploded over how traumatic events can affect different regions of the brain. This story highlights recent work by Victor Carrion's team at the Stanford University Early Life Stress Research Program that shows how adverse events in childhood can make an early mark on brain function.

Science writer Rita Carter tells the story of how modern neuroscience has revealed that reading, something most of us take for granted, unlocks remarkable powers. Carter explains how the classic novel Wuthering Heights allows us to step inside other minds and understand the world from different points of view, and she wonders whether the new digital revolution could threaten the values of classic reading.

A quadriplegic man has regained partial control of his hands after doctors rewired the nerves in his arm.

Using Hollywood movie trailers, UC Berkeley researchers have succeeded in decoding and reconstructing people's dynamic visual experiences.

BRAIN POWER: From Neurons to Networks is a 10-minute film and accompanying TED Book (ted.com/tedbooks) from award-winning Director Tiffany Shlain and her team at The Moxie Institute. Based on new research on how to best nurture children's brains from Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child and University of Washington's I-LABS, the film explores the parallels between a child's brain development and the development of the global brain of Internet, offering insights into the best ways to shape both. Made through a new crowd-sourcing creativity process the Moxie team calls "Cloud Filmmaking," Brain Power was created by putting into action the very ideas that the film is exploring: the connections between neurons, networks, and people around the world.

Have you ever wanted to take control of your dreams? Now you can, with the science of how to lucid dream! With these simple steps, and a little practice, you'll soon experience sleep like never before.

At any moment, there is an electrical storm coursing through your body. Discover how chemical reactions create an electric current that drives our responses to everything from hot pans to a mother's caress.

Lesson by Elliot Krane, animation by TED-Ed.

Some people take aspirin or ibuprofen to treat everyday aches and pains, but how exactly do the different classes of pain relievers work? Learn about the basic physiology of how humans experience pain, and the mechanics of the medicines we've invented to block or circumvent that discomfort.

A brain imaging study from MIT and Yale researchers reveals the neural regions underlying social cognition—the ability to recognize other people's thoughts and feelings—in children aged 6 to 11.

Virginia Woolf, John Keats, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe—teetering on the thin line between madness and genius, they contributed to the world some of the greatest works of literature at the cost of their own mental vitality. Even they suspected a link between the moments of crystal clear lucidity amongst their disordered emotions. Is science finally gaining ground on this dark connection?