cognition – Quanta Magazine https://www.quantamagazine.org Illuminating science Mon, 16 Sep 2024 14:10:47 -0400 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 What Happens in a Mind That Can’t ‘See’ Mental Images https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-happens-in-a-mind-that-cant-see-mental-images-20240801/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-happens-in-a-mind-that-cant-see-mental-images-20240801/#respond Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:30:51 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=139440 The post What Happens in a Mind That Can’t ‘See’ Mental Images first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Two years ago, Sarah Shomstein realized she didn’t have a mind’s eye. The vision scientist was sitting in a seminar room, listening to a scientific talk, when the presenter asked the audience to imagine an apple. Shomstein closed her eyes and did so. Then, the presenter asked the crowd to open their eyes and rate how vividly they saw the apple in their mind. Saw the apple? Shomstein was confused.

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-happens-in-a-mind-that-cant-see-mental-images-20240801/feed/ 0 Can Psychedelics Improve Mental Health? https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-psychedelics-improve-mental-health-20240606/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-psychedelics-improve-mental-health-20240606/#respond Thu, 06 Jun 2024 13:00:01 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=138356 The post Can Psychedelics Improve Mental Health? first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> During traumatic periods and their aftermath, our brains can fall into habitual ways of thinking that may be helpful in the short run but become maladaptive years later. For the brain to readjust to new situations later in life, it needs to be restored to the malleable state it was in when the habits first formed. That is exactly what Gül Dölen, a neuroscientist and psychiatric researcher at the...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-psychedelics-improve-mental-health-20240606/feed/ 0 The Social Benefits of Getting Our Brains in Sync https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-social-benefits-of-getting-our-brains-in-sync-20240328/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-social-benefits-of-getting-our-brains-in-sync-20240328/#respond Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:56:52 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=136671 The post The Social Benefits of Getting Our Brains in Sync first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> The renowned Polish piano duo Marek and Wacek didn’t use sheet music when playing live concerts. And yet onstage the pair appeared perfectly in sync. On adjacent pianos, they playfully picked up various musical themes, blended classical music with jazz and improvised in real time. “We went with the flow,” said Marek Tomaszewski, who performed with Wacek Kisielewski until Wacek’s death in 1986.

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-social-benefits-of-getting-our-brains-in-sync-20240328/feed/ 0 What Your Brain Is Doing When You’re Not Doing Anything https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-your-brain-is-doing-when-youre-not-doing-anything-20240205/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-your-brain-is-doing-when-youre-not-doing-anything-20240205/#respond Mon, 05 Feb 2024 15:01:41 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=134926 The post What Your Brain Is Doing When You’re Not Doing Anything first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Whenever you’re actively performing a task — say, lifting weights at the gym or taking a hard exam — the parts of your brain required to carry it out become “active” when neurons step up their electrical activity. But is your brain active even when you’re zoning out on the couch? The answer, researchers have found, is yes. Over the past two decades they’ve defined what’s known as the default mode...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-your-brain-is-doing-when-youre-not-doing-anything-20240205/feed/ 0 Why the Human Brain Perceives Small Numbers Better https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-human-brain-perceives-small-numbers-better-20231109/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-human-brain-perceives-small-numbers-better-20231109/#respond Thu, 09 Nov 2023 15:06:58 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=132137 The post Why the Human Brain Perceives Small Numbers Better first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> More than 150 years ago, the economist and philosopher William Stanley Jevons discovered something curious about the number 4. While musing about how the mind conceives of numbers, he tossed a handful of black beans into a cardboard box. Then, after a fleeting glance, he guessed how many there were, before counting them to record the true value. After more than 1,000 trials, he saw a clear pattern.

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