Robb G. BestJan 16, 20202 minThe Bright Side: Healing Brain Trauma with LightBlue light, or light that exists at wavelengths between 380 and 500 nanometers, has a complicated reputation. The sun gives off blue ligh...
Robb G. BestMar 7, 20192 minThe Anti-Alzheimer's Diet"It's the healthiest thing I can think of to drink," says Dr. Christopher Ochner, nutrition research scientist at Icahn School of Medicin...
Robb G. BestFeb 28, 20192 minNew Robotics Solve an Old RiddleIt turns out your teachers were being a little hasty when they said there are only five senses. For instance, there’s proprioception, whi...
Robb G. BestFeb 18, 20192 minIn a HeartbeatSome amount of fear is healthy. As a 2015 episode of NPR’s Invisibilia illustrates, that rare person born with no fear suffers some uniqu...
Robb G. BestAug 16, 20182 minSeen and Heard: Growing Language Skills in KidsFor parents of young children hoping to boost their offspring’s language skills, the solution might be simpler than you think: talk to th...
Robb G. BestDec 7, 20172 minThe Science of "Mini-brains"StartFragment What makes the human brain so, well, human? It’s not purely a matter of size—from studying the cranial cavities of Neandert...
Robb G. BestNov 16, 20173 minThe Left-Handed BrainWhat do Babe Ruth, Marie Curie, David Bowie, Barack Obama, and Oprah have in common, other than fame? No, that’s not the start of a riddl...
Robb G. BestNov 9, 20173 minPhantoms, Magic Tricks and Video GamesIn a fair and just world, losing a limb would be the end of feeling any discomfort in that particular region. For one thing, surely at th...
Robb G. BestNov 2, 20173 minThe Latest Neuroscience Breakthrough? It's Inside a Mouse's SkullHow much of our social behavior is hard-wired and how much is learned? It’s a huge question. The nature vs nurture debate has raged for c...
Robb G. BestJul 1, 20162 minThe Four Phases of FocusWhat happens to the brain during meditation? When researcher Wendy Hasenkamp was at Emory University, she and her team ran experiments on...
Robb G. BestDec 4, 20154 minConsciousness: Signals in the NoiseStartFragment In February’s blog post, "How your Brain is Like an Ant Colony", we discussed how neural networks follow the concept of eme...
Robb G. BestOct 27, 20152 minTransposons: The Improvisers Inside Your BrainEven if you from time to time think about your neurons, those little chemical-electrical switches that dictate your mental and physical a...
Robb G. BestSep 29, 20153 minThe Anatomy of EmotionWhat is fear made of? In his book Self Comes to Mind, Antonio Demasio describes emotions as complex, largely automated neural programs of...
Robb G. BestAug 28, 20153 minSuicide: a Stark TruthStartFragment Suicide: the word itself is sobering. In the U.S., there are 38,000 suicides a year. This makes it one of the top ten cause...
Robb G. BestAug 5, 20152 minOld science and new horizonsThe human brain is one of the true wonders of the world; after all, it contained the source material for building each of the seven famou...
Robb G. BestJun 24, 20152 minCaffeine, Friend or Foe?One thing's for sure: Americans love their coffee. According to the National Coffee Association, we drink an average of 3.1 cups a day an...
Robb G. BestMay 24, 20153 minYour Brain on IdleIdleness is the Devil's workshop, or so the saying goes. Blame it on our Puritan origins if you like, but Americans take fewer vacation d...
Robb G. BestMay 13, 20152 minThe Brain as a SupercomputerHave you ever wondered how your brain and your smartphone's operating systems compare? After all, people commonly draw analogies between ...
Robb G. BestApr 24, 20153 minTalking to the Brain: How One Scientist Skipped the Middle Man—and Found Deep Philosophical TruthsImagine waking up in a hospital room, unable to move. You can hear the doctor telling someone that they're not sure what level of brain f...
Robb G. BestApr 19, 20152 minFacing Victory: Inside the Brain of a Chess ChampionSusan Polgar is considered a chess genius; at 21, she was the first woman in the world to become a Grandmaster. Her chess skills are so e...