Brains

Salon Big Pharma says your mysterious pain is real

A brain scan told them so. And now they can sell you a drug. But what is unreal pain?
  • A judge without empathy is inhuman

    The anti-Obama rallying cry that a Supreme Court justice must rule by reason alone is ignorant of how our minds and bodies work.
  • Big Think: Ray Kurzweil on simulating the human brain

    The futurist says we will soon have technology capable of re-creating the subtlety and suppleness of the brain. Should we be worried?
  • PBS's latest infomercial

    By airing another self-help show disguised as medical science -- the dubious "UltraMind Solution" -- the public network continues to undermine its credibility.
  • The dark lesson of Bernie Madoff

    The financier ripped off his lifelong friends and clients with callous precision. He should be a case study of human cruelty.
  • Should Johnny play linebacker?

    Concussions sustained in high school sports may put young athletes at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.
  • My candidate, myself

    Even when faced with new facts and insights, most voters don't change their minds about their favorite candidates. A neurologist explains how they might.
  • My husband, the invalid

    I gave up everything to take care of my spouse after he suffered a brain injury. But would I also lose myself?
  • Born that gay

    Do recent neurological studies prove once and for all that homosexuality is biological?
  • I can't get to work on time no matter what

    I've tried to toe the line on my arrival time to no avail -- and I think it's gonna get me fired.
  • Why "placebo" is not a dirty word

    Yes, alternative medicine works mostly by the power of suggestion. But so do a lot of conventional treatments.
  • Brain scam

    Why is PBS airing Dr. Daniel Amen's self-produced infomercial for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease?
  • Buff up your brain

    Exercise improves your health. That's a no-brainer. But do the new brain-fitness programs improve your mental health?
  • The certainty epidemic

    We all seem convinced we're right about politics, religion or science these days. What makes us so sure of ourselves?
  • How looks can kill

    People obsessed with their appearance suffer from a biological disorder, researchers now say. But not so fast: It's still our culture that warps our brains.
  • The letter E is purple

    My synesthesia made me feel like a freak. But if my son has inherited this neurological quirk, I hope he realizes what a gift it is.
  • A penny for your deepest thoughts

    Is it possible to be too aware of our own consciousness? A psychologist and a philosopher teamed up to document inner experience.
  • The man who lost his past

    The documentary film "Unknown White Male," about a New York stockbroker who loses his memory, is medically implausible. But it offers an important lesson about an overlooked illness.
  • We're prejudiced, now what?

    Scientists now tell us bias toward others may be innate. But that doesn't mean we have to behave like Bill O'Reilly.
  • The light's on, but is anybody home?

    An extraordinary brain study concludes that a woman in a vegetative state is aware of herself. It's a dangerous claim that could throw families and physicians into turmoil.
  • Rove's round table

    Karl Rove sits down to an interview aboard Air Force One after announcing his resignation.
  • My roommate bounces my cats the wrong way

    OK, so I have a little OCD, but I don't think my wishes should be ignored.
  • Joseph LeDoux's heavy mental

    The neuroscientist explains how music, emotion and memory shape our identities -- and why he has donned a Stratocaster to keep the brain rollin' all night long.
  • Mind over matter

    It wasn't the promise of saving lives that kept me attending an EMT class, but my will to witness the mystery of life in a bifurcated head.
  • Divining the brain

    Andrew Newberg discusses what happens in our brains during prayer, meditation and mystical visions. Yet understanding the brain, argues the neuroscientist, does not close the book on the nature of religious experience.
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