I'm about to embark on a PhD in cognitive neuroscience (imaging genetics, to be specific). It's going to be a long 4 years, is keeping a lab notebook going to ease the discomfort? [more inside]
posted on Apr 28, 2008 - 18 answers

Name-my-major, Hivemind. So I go to an unusual school in that we don't have clear-cut majors, and we basically pick an area of "focus". I'm actually currently (unofficially) studying my own brain, because it's strangely hampered in certain capacities (like the process of reading music, despite being very musical and understanding cognitively exactly what's going on), or performing basic math (despite endless repetition). It's also weirdly bolstered in other regards: I have an unbelievable propensity for forming the visual "distortions" one might associate with hallucinogens. [more inside]
posted on Mar 13, 2008 - 14 answers

I'd like some advice about preventing "regression" in the ability to speak a foreign language. If I am away from communicating in a foreign language for a few days, it feels like I might have lost it. That's because when I start speaking, I don't feel like I can get into it. [more inside]
posted on Oct 11, 2007 - 10 answers

How do I get terrible images and memories out of my head? [more inside]
posted on Mar 28, 2007 - 30 answers

How do I improve my ability to form mental images? [more inside]
posted on Dec 25, 2006 - 16 answers

From the age of 17 until about 30, I was doing alot of 'partying', enough binge drinking and bong tokes to have surely killed a lot of brain cells. Currently I may go out hard like once every two months. I always partied like a rockstar, and have probably 'forgotten' more wild nights than my tamer aquaintances have probably ever experienced. I am not exactly proud of this. And now, after all these years of neurological irresponsibility, I seem to be walking around in a constant cognitive haze. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, I feel like I just woke up, feeling groggy, all day long. A kind of perma-fog. All of my cognitive functions seem to be a little numbed. My question for all the neurologists out there is what is causing this post-hangover fog on my brain, will it ever go away, and what can I do to lift it away. Do I need to get a B12 injection, eat lots of fish, lay off the sauce, or am I simply going to be in this purple haze forever.....
posted on Oct 3, 2006 - 30 answers

Toddler capabilities. What are 14- to 18-months old capable of doing with regard to physical safety? [more inside]
posted on Jul 16, 2006 - 17 answers

What experiments have been carried out where animals perform better than us at particular cognitive tasks? [more inside]
posted on May 9, 2006 - 13 answers

What if there was a video game you could play only by moving your eyes across the screen? What sort of game would this be? [more inside]
posted on Feb 17, 2006 - 28 answers

How does a deaf person, without reading or writing skills, process information? Years ago, I worked with a wonderful man, who was developmentally disabled, knew only a few rudimentary ASL signs, but was able to perform activities of daily living very well. What are your ideas about his thought processes? [more inside]
posted on Nov 23, 2005 - 18 answers

Does a person's native language affect their cognitive skills and thinking patterns? [more inside]
posted on Nov 22, 2005 - 48 answers

Are mental blanks normal? [more inside]
posted on Jul 21, 2005 - 31 answers

Books v Audio Books: What is the unique value of the work of reading? [more inside]
posted on May 25, 2005 - 23 answers

I want to cultivate some good mental exercising habits. For that, I need some good, diverse sources for puzzles and activities. Specifically, I'm looking for, preferably free, sites with a decent database of verbal, logical, spatial, lateral thinking games. The format can be flexible, so crosswords are included. Also, games that test and hone reflexes and reactions are also welcome. Additionally, ADHDers are also advised to stimulate the cerebellum. Any help on that? Basically, I'd like a list of resources for complete brain workout, that can be performed atleast once every day. Obviously, I'm not looking for one site to include all of the above.
posted on Apr 20, 2005 - 25 answers

What makes something Interesting? [more inside]
posted on Apr 12, 2005 - 8 answers

One of my bright fourth-grade students asked me something she said has been bugging her for a while: "Why don't people have lines? Like in the cartoons?" Not as in lines of dialogue; lines in the drawing, to mark our feature. [more inside]
posted on Mar 24, 2005 - 45 answers

In good light, when I look at a blank white sheet of paper the edge of the right looks like RGB colors seperating. Red, then yellow, then the white sheet itself. If I look at the left edge, it appears slightly blue. What is wrong with me?
posted on Dec 5, 2004 - 12 answers

What on earth is going on in children's heads?

I have no memory of being a child, and certainly none of what sort of things I thought about when I was a kid. As an adult, I see kids do inexplicable things and wonder just how the heck they thought to say/do such strange things; and I see kids witness/experience things that they have no framework whatsoever for understanding.

What goes on in a kid's brain? Is it noise, is it long ponderings, is it blank, is it confused, etc. Any idea what "it sounds like" inside there?
posted on Dec 1, 2004 - 62 answers

When I perform some everyday tasks, or walk past certain locations, I think the exact same things every time. It isn't just me, is it? Is there a term for these unbidden little standard thoughts, and can I train myself to stop thinking them? [examples inside]
posted on Dec 15, 2003 - 14 answers