Cognitive Science bridges the gap between the brain and the mind - tracing how networks of neurons shape perception, attention, memory, and imagination. This section explores the science of thinking and awareness, from the role of the default mode network in creativity to the mechanisms of focus, flow, and altered states. By bringing together neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, we highlight the discoveries that reveal not only how the mind works, but how it can be expanded.
A new neuroimaging study put people in the hot seat: watch real news clips of family members pleading for missing loved ones - some truthful, some secretly guilty - and decide who's lying. Behaviorally, nobody was great at it. But the brains of older adults who were better lit up differently, recruiting regions for reading minds and exerting control. In a world of scams and manipulation, that pattern matters.
Can a single number reflect how conscious the brain is? In a new fMRI study, researchers applied Integrated Information Theory (IIT 4.0) to real human data and computed integrated information - known as Phi - across multiple brain-network configurations. Phi dropped during propofol sedation and deep non-REM sleep and rose again in recovery and REM sleep, but via different network routes: anesthesia showed global and frontal "workspace-like" changes, whereas sleep shifts were strongest in posterior systems.
Scientists have unveiled a powerful new brain-mapping method that sheds light on how men and women use their left and right hemispheres differently. The approach, inspired by advances in artificial intelligence, goes beyond traditional brain scans to detect subtle patterns of lateralization. The findings challenge decades of assumptions in neuroscience and point toward more personalized treatments for mental health and neurological conditions.
Loneliness does more than affect mood - it changes how the mind anticipates emotions. New research with over 1,700 participants shows that lonely individuals expect others to be more volatile, misjudge how emotions shift, and assume their own positive feelings will fade quickly. These distorted predictions make it harder to connect, reinforcing isolation. By uncovering the cognitive patterns behind loneliness, this study highlights new possibilities for interventions that could strengthen emotional forecasting and repair social bonds.
Can a mild electrical current change how the brain organizes itself across wakefulness and unconsciousness? A new study in macaques reveals that prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) profoundly alters dynamic brain connectivity. Cathodal stimulation simplified and stabilized patterns in the awake state, while high-intensity anodal stimulation reshaped unconscious brain dynamics under anesthesia. These polarity-dependent effects suggest that tDCS is not only a tool for modulating vigilance but also a window into the neural architecture of consciousness - with far-reaching clinical implications for awakening patients from disorders of consciousness and refining anesthetic recovery.
What if doing too much could kill your brain cells? A new study shows that chronic overactivation of dopamine neurons in the midbrain is enough to make them degenerate - offering fresh insight into why certain neurons die in Parkinson's disease.
