V.S. Ramachandran believes mirror neurons may be the key to consciousness.

A recent study indicates that Buddhist monks are capable of “alter[ing] the structure and function” of their brains through sheer force of will or--err . . . active non-resistance.

A growing number of psychiatrists are bent on reintroducing psychedelics in the therapeutic arena. And if they have their way, pharmacists will soon be dispensing as much Ecstasy as they are Prozac.

Scientists believe that a brain protein called CREB may be the key to reversing memory loss, treating alcoholism, and alleviating chronic anxiety.

All of those self-satisfied extroverts out there might be interested to learn that recent scientific findings suggest that introversion has some distinct advantages.

Neurologists believe that when you're in the throes of writer's block, your facility with language decreases and your ability to assign meaning is amplified. Consequently, you end up producing less material, but your “inner critic” is more powerful than ever.

New York Time’s writer Rachel Donadio recently discovered what makes author Malcolm Gladwell so darn special. He is, according to Donadio, “brilliantly attuned to every level of today's conversation.” Considering the cacophony of voices participating in “today’s conversation,” this is no small feat.

V.S. Ramachandran’s professional interest in laughter began about ten years ago in Vellore, India, when he was asked to evaluate a patient with a bad case of pain asymbolia.

V.S Ramachandran says that understanding the byzantine circuitry of the human brain will eventually enable us to answer the existential questions that have plagued philosophers for centuries.

You’re shown a picture of a man with a wild-eyed stare. You have to determine if he's: jealous, panicked, arrogant, or hateful. Sound easy? Well, it’s not.

What would you say if I told you that parasites are infesting the brains of half the human population? Or creepier still, that these little buggers have the power to control people’s behavior, making some irascible, others docile, and still others certifiably insane? You’d probably say I’d watched one too many X-Files reruns—and you’d be right. But that doesn’t change the fact that it could be true.

Sharon's Neurotransmitters Reach Cease-Fire Agreement

I’m always drawn to psychologist Steven Pinker's work, because he’s willing to confront the scientific fallacies born from political-correctness. That said, I don’t always agree with him. And I’m particularly skeptical of his take on the nature vs. nurture debate.

Animal Personality, a burgeoning psychological school, subscribes to the theory that animals, like humans, are born with innate character traits, which are either magnified or diminished by their formative experiences.

Pet owners across the country, no doubt, greeted this news with a resounding “Duh.”

When scientists discovered the MNs formed what writer Sharon Begley calls the “neural basis of empathy," (How Mirror Neurons Help Us) theorists made a conceptual leap. Could hypersensitive people, like artists and depressives, have a surfeit of mirror neurons, they wondered? Quite possibly, as it turns out. What, then, would someone with a deficit look like? Well, they’d probably look a lot like autistics, according to psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, of Cambridge University.