Mind, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 31, 2010

How do we see color?

Roses are red and violets are blue, but we only know that thanks to specialized cells in our eyes called cones. When light hits an object — say, a banana — the object absorbs some of the light and reflects the rest of it. Which wavelengths are reflected or absorbed...

Feb 28, 2010

Solid Find: Natalee Holloway's Body … Or a Rock

A vacationing Pennsylvania couple believe they may have accomplished something that thousands of police, volunteer searchers, and psychics have failed to do: Find the body of missing woman Natalee Holloway. Holloway disappeared May 30, 2005, while on vacation in Aruba. Searches were fruitless, and police finally closed the case on...

Jan 31, 2010

Different Colors Describe Happiness vs. Depression

Are you in a gray mood today? How about a blue funk? Maybe you're seeing red, because you're green with jealousy. The colors we use to describe emotions may be more useful than you think, according to new research. The study found that people with depression or anxiety were more...

Jan 31, 2010

Links to Spirituality Found in the Brain

Scientists have identified areas of the brain that, when damaged, lead to greater spirituality. The findings hint at the roots of spiritual and religious attitudes, the researchers say. The study, published in the Feb. 11 issue of the journal Neuron, involves a personality trait called self-transcendence, which is a somewhat...

Jan 31, 2010

Nouns and Verbs Learned in Different Brain Regions

Nouns and verbs may go hand and hand in a sentence, but they are learned in different regions of our brains, a new study suggests. The work could explain why children learn nouns before verbs, and adults also perform better and react faster to nouns during cognitive tests. The researchers...

Dec 31, 2009

Half of Depressed Americans Get No Treatment

About half of Americans with major depression do not receive treatment for the condition, and in many cases the therapies are not consistent with the standard of care, according to a new study. The study also showed that ethnicity and race were important factors in determining who received treatment, with...

Dec 31, 2009

Cell Phone Radiation Might Improve Memory

Amid ongoing claims that long-term cell phone radiation may lead to brain tumors comes a new study suggesting the radio waves may protect and even reverse Alzheimer's disease, at least in mice. And the radiation gave mice without Alzheimer's a boost in brain activity. It surprised us to find that...

Dec 31, 2009

Magnesium May Boost Brainpower

Mice given extra doses of a new magnesium compound had better working memory, long-term memory and greater learning ability. Before you go popping heavy doses of magnesium, however, know that much more testing is needed. Though rodent brains work similarly to ours, animal studies do not always predict what will...

Nov 30, 2011

7 Things That Will Make You Happy

Finding Happiness (Image credit: Netfalls, Shutterstock)If you're happy and you know it, what's your secret? Researchers have uncovered plenty of factors, from genes to personal characteristics to life choices, that seem to coincide with happiness and its longer-lasting cousin, well-being. Here are a few you might have some control over....

Nov 30, 2011

Prozac Works Better When Given with Talk Therapy

Tens of millions of people in the United States have taken fluoxetine, sold under the brand name Prozac, since the Food and Drug Administration approved it 24 years ago. But while the antidepressant has helped many, questions have arisen about why people taking the drug see varying results. Now a...

Nov 30, 2011

Top 10 Health & Happiness Lessons of 2011

A lengthy job search promotes worry, stress and anger, but a bad job is worse for happiness than no job at all. Those findings are on the Gallup polling agency's list of most compelling findings about health and happiness in 2011. The agency queries tens of thousands of Americans every...

Oct 31, 2011

Inside the Brains of Psychopaths

Differences in psychopaths' brains may help explain their anti-social behavior, according to new research. Psychopaths are identified as highly selfish, and lacking in emotion and conscience. Experts estimate that about 1 percent of the general population and as many as 25 percent of male offenders in federal correctional settings are...

Oct 31, 2011

Creative Thinkers More Likely to Cheat

When it comes to money, creative people are more likely to cheat to get it than the less-imaginative crowd, a new study suggests. The reason? Creative types may be more skilled at coming up with reasons for their less-than-ethical actions, according to the researchers. In the new study, scientists measured...

Sep 30, 2011

Facebook Friends Predicted by Size of Brain Structures

To friend or not to friend? It might depend on your brain. Researchers have discovered that the number of Facebook friends you have coincides with the size of certain brain regions. Those brain regions are associated with creating memories of names and faces as well as how we interpret social...

Sep 30, 2011

Narcissists' Overconfidence May Hide Low Self-Esteem

Narcissists may seem to love themselves, but a new study finds that narcissistic self-aggrandizement may hide deep feelings of inferiority. According to the new research, people who are narcissistic are likely to tell psychologists that they feel good about themselves. But when the psychologists trick these narcissists into thinking they're...