Welcome to the forty-fourth edition of Brain Blogging. In this round, we discuss the innate ability to empathize, the connection between moral disgust and foul smells, whether antidepressants (and antipsychotics) really work by making you hungry, and many more topics.

Remember, we review the latest blogs related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective. You can check our archive for past editions. Read more →

Most humans do not have the power to predict the future, but we can see it. At least we can see one-tenth of a second of it. The May-June issue of the journal Cognitive Science published a review by Mark Changizi of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, claiming that the human visual system has evolved to allow us to see fractions of a second into the future.

When light hits our retina, it takes approximately 100 milliseconds, or one-tenth of one second, for our brain to perceive an image. While it seems insignificant, the delay is consequential when dealing with moving objects. Read more →

It has been known for years that babies in utero (womb) suffer ill effects from their mothers’ exposure to tobacco, drugs and alcohol. A new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and performed by Michael Rivkin of Children’s Hospital Boston showed that children exposed to these toxins may suffer effects well into early adolescence.

Using MRI technology, the study looked into the long term effects of prenatal exposure to drugs, alcohol, tobacco or a combination of the three on the brain structure of preteens. The study found that these kids have thinner cortical grey matter than subjects who did not suffer exposure to toxins in utero. This study also showed a reduction in brain volume directly tied to this exposure. Read more →

A recent study reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that marketing can have a significant effect on the neural mechanisms governing decision-making. The study measured the “experienced pleasantness” of three different wines, both by subjective reporting of the test subjects’ perceptions of the wines, and by measuring activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, a known “pleasure center” in the brain. Test results indicated that even when wines were identical, subjects’ levels of experienced pleasantness differed according to the reported price of the wine; the same wine tasted better when the subject believed that it was a sample from a $45 bottle of wine than when she was told it was from a $5 bottle. Read more →

You know the scenario. You are standing at a family get together lost in thought about a stressful situation in your life when a family member approaches and with a worried tone asks, “What’s wrong?” Did you know that subconsciously they are reading the facial signals you are displaying? Why don’t they have the same reaction when your mood is happy? Well, there is an evolutionary reason. A study looking at this phenomenon showed that we recognize fear on others’ faces faster than we notice happiness. Read more →