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The Royal Society's fantastic Summer Science week kicks off in London tomorrow. One of its flagship research pieces is 'The Art of Resilience for Successful Ageing'. Led by Professor Dorina Cadar, the project presents the most in-depth study yet of cognitive resilience – and why some brains stay healthy and resilient as we age, while others suffer cognitive decline.

The results suggest a new way of thinking about age, but also life in general.

I interviewed Professor Cadar on what the results can tell us about cognitive resilience and the ageing brain, as well as tips on what we can do for the best chance of a healthy mind in later life... and how a society that prioritises grind could be storing up problems for the future. Read it here: https://www.natwest.com/premier-banking/insights/money-matters/the-secrets-to-a-happier-retirement.html #royalsociety #summerscience #brainScience #brain #neuroscience #science #aging #cognitive #universityofsussex

The Royal Society's fantastic Summer Science week kicks off in London tomorrow. One of its flagship research pieces is 'The Art of Resilience for Successful Ageing'. Led by Professor Dorina Cadar, the project presents the most in-depth study yet of cognitive resilience – and why some brains stay healthy and resilient as we age, while others suffer cognitive decline.

The results suggest a new way of thinking about age, but also life in general.

I interviewed Professor Cadar on what the results can tell us about cognitive resilience and the ageing brain, as well as tips on what we can do for the best chance of a healthy mind in later life... and how a society that prioritises grind could be storing up problems for the future. Read it here: https://www.natwest.com/premier-banking/insights/money-matters/the-secrets-to-a-happier-retirement.html #royalsociety #summerscience #brainScience #brain #neuroscience #science #aging #cognitive #universityofsussex

DATE: June 23, 2026 at 08:06AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEED

TITLE: New brain study reveals speech learning works differently than we thought

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

A new study suggests that learning and remembering speech relies more on how the brain processes sounds and sensations than on the areas that control mouth and face movements. The discovery could reshape speech therapy and help improve future brain-based communication technologies.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

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DATE: June 23, 2026 at 08:06AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEED

TITLE: New brain study reveals speech learning works differently than we thought

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

A new study suggests that learning and remembering speech relies more on how the brain processes sounds and sensations than on the areas that control mouth and face movements. The discovery could reshape speech therapy and help improve future brain-based communication technologies.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

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DATE: June 23, 2026 at 08:06AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEED

TITLE: New brain study reveals speech learning works differently than we thought

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

A new study suggests that learning and remembering speech relies more on how the brain processes sounds and sensations than on the areas that control mouth and face movements. The discovery could reshape speech therapy and help improve future brain-based communication technologies.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

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DATE: June 23, 2026 at 08:06AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEED

TITLE: New brain study reveals speech learning works differently than we thought

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

A new study suggests that learning and remembering speech relies more on how the brain processes sounds and sensations than on the areas that control mouth and face movements. The discovery could reshape speech therapy and help improve future brain-based communication technologies.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260619020514.htm

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DATE: June 21, 2026 at 02:30AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEED

TITLE: Scientists discover neurons must break their DNA to build the brain

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

As newborn neurons make their way through the developing brain, they must squeeze through incredibly tight spaces to reach their final destinations. Researchers discovered that this physical journey routinely causes some of the most severe forms of DNA damage—double-strand breaks—yet the young brain has evolved an impressive ability to repair the damage almost immediately.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

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DATE: June 21, 2026 at 02:30AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEED

TITLE: Scientists discover neurons must break their DNA to build the brain

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

As newborn neurons make their way through the developing brain, they must squeeze through incredibly tight spaces to reach their final destinations. Researchers discovered that this physical journey routinely causes some of the most severe forms of DNA damage—double-strand breaks—yet the young brain has evolved an impressive ability to repair the damage almost immediately.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

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DATE: June 21, 2026 at 02:30AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEED

TITLE: Scientists discover neurons must break their DNA to build the brain

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

As newborn neurons make their way through the developing brain, they must squeeze through incredibly tight spaces to reach their final destinations. Researchers discovered that this physical journey routinely causes some of the most severe forms of DNA damage—double-strand breaks—yet the young brain has evolved an impressive ability to repair the damage almost immediately.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

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DATE: June 21, 2026 at 02:30AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEED

TITLE: Scientists discover neurons must break their DNA to build the brain

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

As newborn neurons make their way through the developing brain, they must squeeze through incredibly tight spaces to reach their final destinations. Researchers discovered that this physical journey routinely causes some of the most severe forms of DNA damage—double-strand breaks—yet the young brain has evolved an impressive ability to repair the damage almost immediately.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260620100422.htm

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Word and phrase valence as keys to understanding human psychology

Since virtually everything we do, think, and feel has some linguistic component it follows that our perceived valences of words and phrases will be reliable indicators of our psychological makeup.

This is especially true if our perceptions of these valences is “captured” in fraught contexts in real-world, real-time situations.

To be even clearer and more precise, it is fair to say that it is only possible to capture actual real valences in real-world, real-time situations.

When we do not work with real-world, real-time situations, we are capable only of working with the idea of them, a theory of them, a memory of them. And none of that can possibly capture the actual valence as it actually functions in real-life.

The theory, memory, or idea of a psychological valence associated with words and phrases occurs at a different level of abstraction or cognition from the valence itself.

Theories, memories, and ideas of psychological valences can be very interesting and are worth pursuing, but they are not the thing itself and as such have only a weak capacity to grasp the psychology exposed by actual valences in action in the real-world.

In a previous post—Words and word groups mapped in the brain—I discussed the following video, which is well-worth viewing again if you missed it the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k61nJkx5aDQ

I said:

From these maps we can see that word groups have idiosyncratic arrangements, associations, and emphases.

And from this we can understand how analysis of interpersonal communication details can lead to beneficial changes in word group arrangements and thus also human psychology.

The video is very helpful for visualizing how words and word groups are organized in the brain. And this illustrates how and why FIML works as well as it does.

By “capturing” actual verbal psychological valences in real-time, real-world situations, partners gain immense insight into how their psychologies actually function in the real-world, how they actually deal with real life.

Focusing on very brief real-life valences has another very large benefit: though the valences are as real as they come, they are also very small, comprising nothing more than part of the working memory load at the time.

This is a bigger deal than it might seem. Virtually all of us have been trained by years of theorizing about our psychologies to see even very small incidents of real psychological valence as aspects of some theory or story about them.

No, no, no. Don’t do that. Just see each one for what it is—a brief valences that appeared briefly in working memory; and that has been “frozen” by the FIML technique as a small snapshot to be identified and understood as it is.

First get the evidence, get the data. Those valence snapshots are the data. Get plenty of them and you may find that you do not even need any theory about what they are or what caused them.

They just are. Indeed, theorizing about them makes them different, bigger or worse, while simultaneously hiding their real nature.

Most of us do not know how to think about real-world, real-time valences because we tend to always fit them into into an a priori format, a format we already believe in. That could be a theory of psychology or a take on what our personality is or what the other person’s personality is.

In the maps shown in the video, that would constitute a whole brain response to a small valence that appeared only briefly.

By using the FIML technique, you will find it is much easier and much more beneficial to reorganize small parts of the verbal map one piece at a time than to reorganize the entire map all at once based on some idea.

In practice, FIML deals with more than just words and phrases, but the whole practice can be largely understood by seeing how it works with language. FIML treats gestures, tone of voice, expressions, and so on in the same way as language—by isolating brief incidents and analyzing them for what they really are.

Word and phrase valence as keys to understanding human psychology

Since virtually everything we do, think, and feel has some linguistic component it follows that our perceived valences of words and phrases will be reliable indicators of our psychological makeup.

This is especially true if our perceptions of these valences is “captured” in fraught contexts in real-world, real-time situations.

To be even clearer and more precise, it is fair to say that it is only possible to capture actual real valences in real-world, real-time situations.

When we do not work with real-world, real-time situations, we are capable only of working with the idea of them, a theory of them, a memory of them. And none of that can possibly capture the actual valence as it actually functions in real-life.

The theory, memory, or idea of a psychological valence associated with words and phrases occurs at a different level of abstraction or cognition from the valence itself.

Theories, memories, and ideas of psychological valences can be very interesting and are worth pursuing, but they are not the thing itself and as such have only a weak capacity to grasp the psychology exposed by actual valences in action in the real-world.

In a previous post—Words and word groups mapped in the brain—I discussed the following video, which is well-worth viewing again if you missed it the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k61nJkx5aDQ

I said:

From these maps we can see that word groups have idiosyncratic arrangements, associations, and emphases.

And from this we can understand how analysis of interpersonal communication details can lead to beneficial changes in word group arrangements and thus also human psychology.

The video is very helpful for visualizing how words and word groups are organized in the brain. And this illustrates how and why FIML works as well as it does.

By “capturing” actual verbal psychological valences in real-time, real-world situations, partners gain immense insight into how their psychologies actually function in the real-world, how they actually deal with real life.

Focusing on very brief real-life valences has another very large benefit: though the valences are as real as they come, they are also very small, comprising nothing more than part of the working memory load at the time.

This is a bigger deal than it might seem. Virtually all of us have been trained by years of theorizing about our psychologies to see even very small incidents of real psychological valence as aspects of some theory or story about them.

No, no, no. Don’t do that. Just see each one for what it is—a brief valences that appeared briefly in working memory; and that has been “frozen” by the FIML technique as a small snapshot to be identified and understood as it is.

First get the evidence, get the data. Those valence snapshots are the data. Get plenty of them and you may find that you do not even need any theory about what they are or what caused them.

They just are. Indeed, theorizing about them makes them different, bigger or worse, while simultaneously hiding their real nature.

Most of us do not know how to think about real-world, real-time valences because we tend to always fit them into into an a priori format, a format we already believe in. That could be a theory of psychology or a take on what our personality is or what the other person’s personality is.

In the maps shown in the video, that would constitute a whole brain response to a small valence that appeared only briefly.

By using the FIML technique, you will find it is much easier and much more beneficial to reorganize small parts of the verbal map one piece at a time than to reorganize the entire map all at once based on some idea.

In practice, FIML deals with more than just words and phrases, but the whole practice can be largely understood by seeing how it works with language. FIML treats gestures, tone of voice, expressions, and so on in the same way as language—by isolating brief incidents and analyzing them for what they really are.

A study published in Neuroscience by researchers at Spain's University of Zaragoza scanned the brains of 100 young adults and found structural differences in those who hold authoritarian beliefs — on both the left and the right. Right-wing authoritarians had lower grey matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a region involved in understanding other people's thoughts and perspectives. Left-wing authoritarians had less cortical thickness in the right anterior insula, associated with emotional empathy and behavioral inhibition. Both groups were more impulsive in emotionally negative situations than their less-authoritarian peers.

https://boingboing.net/2026/06/19/brain-scans-of-authoritarians-show-reduced-grey-matter-in-regions-for-empathy-and-social-reasoning.html

#authoritarianism
#BrainScience
#BrainScans
#neurology

A study published in Neuroscience by researchers at Spain's University of Zaragoza scanned the brains of 100 young adults and found structural differences in those who hold authoritarian beliefs — on both the left and the right. Right-wing authoritarians had lower grey matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a region involved in understanding other people's thoughts and perspectives. Left-wing authoritarians had less cortical thickness in the right anterior insula, associated with emotional empathy and behavioral inhibition. Both groups were more impulsive in emotionally negative situations than their less-authoritarian peers.

https://boingboing.net/2026/06/19/brain-scans-of-authoritarians-show-reduced-grey-matter-in-regions-for-empathy-and-social-reasoning.html

#authoritarianism
#BrainScience
#BrainScans
#neurology

DATE: June 13, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Neuroscientists discover previously unknown cognitive benefits of reading physical books

URL: https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-discover-previously-unknown-cognitive-benefits-of-reading-physical-books/

A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE provides evidence that reading comic books on physical paper helps the brain absorb and connect story details more easily than reading on a digital tablet. The findings suggest that physical books provide stable spatial and tactile cues that lower the brain’s workload when a reader tries to recall complex plot points later. This research offers fresh insights into how digital reading formats might subtly alter human reading comprehension and memory.

Reading a book involves a complex series of mental tasks. A reader must decode words, interpret pictures, and connect new information to what they already know. To do this efficiently, the human brain builds what scientists call a story schema. A story schema is an internal mental framework that helps a person organize characters, timelines, and spatial relationships as a narrative unfolds.

The physical format of a book might play a hidden role in constructing this mental framework. Scientists suspect that physical paper provides reliable sensory anchors, such as the thickness of the pages on either side of the binding and the fixed location of text on a page. These physical anchors might help the brain map out the narrative in a physical space. When reading on a digital screen, these sensory anchors are largely absent because the screen remains physically identical while the text simply changes.

The authors of the current study wanted to know if the cognitive effects of paper extend to reading visual narratives. They chose Japanese manga, which are comic books with rich visual and narrative structures, to see how different reading mediums affect brain activity.

Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, a professor in the Department of Basic Science at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, explains that the study originated from an industry question. “This research project began with an inquiry from COAMIX INC., one of the major publishers of Japanese manga, whether we could investigate any values of paper books scientifically,” Sakai said. “As a neuroscientist working on the human brain, especially on its language function, I decided to compare brain activation between paper and digital reading.”

To conduct the experiment, the researchers had to overcome a technical hurdle related to measuring brain activity. Magnetic resonance imaging scanners use powerful magnets to track blood flow in the brain, which provides a real-time map of neural activity.

“When comparing a paper book and an electronic tablet, we cannot bring the latter device into the scanning room, because the scanner is a huge magnet,” Sakai said. “Then, I had an idea of scanning the brain after one’s reading a book on paper or tablet. This was a long shot, and the right results we obtained surprised us.”

The researchers recruited 25 right-handed university students who were native Japanese speakers. The scientists used a popular manga series where each story is split into two halves. These halves depict the exact same events but from the different perspectives of a couple experiencing conflicting feelings. This unique format allowed the scientists to test how well readers integrate information across different viewpoints.

Participants were randomly assigned to read the first half of a manga story on either a physical paper book or an electronic tablet. This reading took place in a normal room outside of the scanning machinery. The scientists ensured that both the paper book and the tablet were similar in physical size. They also used light meters to match the brightness of the room’s light reflecting off the paper with the backlight shining from the tablet.

After finishing the first half, the participants entered the scanner. While lying inside the machine, participants wore special digital goggles to read the second half of the story. During this reading phase, the participants periodically rated their empathy toward the characters on a four-point scale to ensure they were actively engaged with the plot.

Finally, while still inside the scanner, the participants answered multiple-choice questions about the story they had just finished. The scientists divided these questions into two distinct categories. Set one included questions that could be answered just by remembering the first half of the story. Set two contained more demanding questions that required the reader to combine details from both halves of the narrative.

The behavioral measurements showed that participants answered the questions with similar accuracy regardless of the medium they initially used. However, their response times differed based on their original reading format. When answering the complex questions from set two, participants who read the first half on a tablet took longer to respond than those who read on paper. The scientists noted that tablet readers required more time to mentally piece together the two halves of the story.

The brain scans provided evidence that matched these behavioral differences. When participants read the second half of the story, those who had started the story on paper showed reduced activity in the left lateral premotor cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. These specific left-sided brain regions are deeply involved in language processing and narrative integration. Lower activity in these areas suggests that the brain did not have to work as hard to understand the new information.

Because the paper readers had already built a strong mental foundation during the first half of the story, integrating the second half required less mental effort. In contrast, tablet readers showed much higher activation in these exact same left frontal brain regions. When answering the complex set two questions, tablet readers also showed increased activity in the right frontal regions of the brain. The scientists explain that these right-sided areas act as a supportive neural system when the brain faces difficult mental tasks.

“We found that both left and right hemispheres, which work during reading mostly for proper linguistic functions and supportive roles, respectively, are less engaged when manga contents are well understood through reading on paper, compared with digital reading,” Sakai told PsyPost. “This neuroscientific result is the first to show such an immediate effect of reading on paper, which would eventually change your brain.”

The amount of activity in these right frontal regions directly correlated with how accurately the tablet readers answered the questions. This indicates that tablet readers had to rely on excessive mental integration processes to achieve the same level of accuracy as the paper readers. The scientists also noticed heightened activity in a brain region called the right angular gyrus among the tablet users. This region is associated with processing spatial relationships, suggesting the tablet readers had to work harder to reconstruct the visual layout of the comic book panels in their minds.

As with all research, there are some limitations. The study specifically used visual narratives, and a reader might wonder if plain text novels would produce the exact same brain patterns.

“The same results would be obtained for reading a novel or other conventional texts, because story lines and contextual flow are basically the same among them,” Sakai said. “One important advantage of using manga stories is that manga has visual narratives, which provide rich pictorial information that facilitates the comprehension of scenes.”

Another factor is the physical difference between the devices themselves. The paper books reflected light from the room, while the tablets used a glowing backlight. Flipping a physical page also takes a fraction of a second longer than tapping a digital screen, which might subtly alter the reading rhythm and give the brain an extra moment to process information.

A reader might misinterpret these findings to mean that digital reading prevents learning, but the accuracy rates show that tablet readers still understood the material. They simply required more cognitive effort and time to reach that understanding. The paper format tends to make the reading experience smoother by providing a consistent physical anchor for the memory.

Future research will likely explore these variables in greater detail and expand to other forms of media interaction. “Using a similar method, we are now examining any effects of writing with a pen or a keyboard,” Sakai said. “This would be a natural next step for comparing paper and electronic devices.”

The study, “Manga reading on paper vs. digital devices: Prospective effects on core and supportive integration processes in the brain,” was authored by Keita Umejima, Yuki Sunada, and Kuniyoshi L. Sakai.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-discover-previously-unknown-cognitive-benefits-of-reading-physical-books/

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ReadingOnPaper #Neuroscience #MangaReading #CognitiveBenefits #PaperVsDigital #BrainScience #ReadingComprehension #LeftFrontalLobe #MemoryAndNarrative #PLOSOne

DATE: June 13, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Neuroscientists discover previously unknown cognitive benefits of reading physical books

URL: https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-discover-previously-unknown-cognitive-benefits-of-reading-physical-books/

A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE provides evidence that reading comic books on physical paper helps the brain absorb and connect story details more easily than reading on a digital tablet. The findings suggest that physical books provide stable spatial and tactile cues that lower the brain’s workload when a reader tries to recall complex plot points later. This research offers fresh insights into how digital reading formats might subtly alter human reading comprehension and memory.

Reading a book involves a complex series of mental tasks. A reader must decode words, interpret pictures, and connect new information to what they already know. To do this efficiently, the human brain builds what scientists call a story schema. A story schema is an internal mental framework that helps a person organize characters, timelines, and spatial relationships as a narrative unfolds.

The physical format of a book might play a hidden role in constructing this mental framework. Scientists suspect that physical paper provides reliable sensory anchors, such as the thickness of the pages on either side of the binding and the fixed location of text on a page. These physical anchors might help the brain map out the narrative in a physical space. When reading on a digital screen, these sensory anchors are largely absent because the screen remains physically identical while the text simply changes.

The authors of the current study wanted to know if the cognitive effects of paper extend to reading visual narratives. They chose Japanese manga, which are comic books with rich visual and narrative structures, to see how different reading mediums affect brain activity.

Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, a professor in the Department of Basic Science at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, explains that the study originated from an industry question. “This research project began with an inquiry from COAMIX INC., one of the major publishers of Japanese manga, whether we could investigate any values of paper books scientifically,” Sakai said. “As a neuroscientist working on the human brain, especially on its language function, I decided to compare brain activation between paper and digital reading.”

To conduct the experiment, the researchers had to overcome a technical hurdle related to measuring brain activity. Magnetic resonance imaging scanners use powerful magnets to track blood flow in the brain, which provides a real-time map of neural activity.

“When comparing a paper book and an electronic tablet, we cannot bring the latter device into the scanning room, because the scanner is a huge magnet,” Sakai said. “Then, I had an idea of scanning the brain after one’s reading a book on paper or tablet. This was a long shot, and the right results we obtained surprised us.”

The researchers recruited 25 right-handed university students who were native Japanese speakers. The scientists used a popular manga series where each story is split into two halves. These halves depict the exact same events but from the different perspectives of a couple experiencing conflicting feelings. This unique format allowed the scientists to test how well readers integrate information across different viewpoints.

Participants were randomly assigned to read the first half of a manga story on either a physical paper book or an electronic tablet. This reading took place in a normal room outside of the scanning machinery. The scientists ensured that both the paper book and the tablet were similar in physical size. They also used light meters to match the brightness of the room’s light reflecting off the paper with the backlight shining from the tablet.

After finishing the first half, the participants entered the scanner. While lying inside the machine, participants wore special digital goggles to read the second half of the story. During this reading phase, the participants periodically rated their empathy toward the characters on a four-point scale to ensure they were actively engaged with the plot.

Finally, while still inside the scanner, the participants answered multiple-choice questions about the story they had just finished. The scientists divided these questions into two distinct categories. Set one included questions that could be answered just by remembering the first half of the story. Set two contained more demanding questions that required the reader to combine details from both halves of the narrative.

The behavioral measurements showed that participants answered the questions with similar accuracy regardless of the medium they initially used. However, their response times differed based on their original reading format. When answering the complex questions from set two, participants who read the first half on a tablet took longer to respond than those who read on paper. The scientists noted that tablet readers required more time to mentally piece together the two halves of the story.

The brain scans provided evidence that matched these behavioral differences. When participants read the second half of the story, those who had started the story on paper showed reduced activity in the left lateral premotor cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. These specific left-sided brain regions are deeply involved in language processing and narrative integration. Lower activity in these areas suggests that the brain did not have to work as hard to understand the new information.

Because the paper readers had already built a strong mental foundation during the first half of the story, integrating the second half required less mental effort. In contrast, tablet readers showed much higher activation in these exact same left frontal brain regions. When answering the complex set two questions, tablet readers also showed increased activity in the right frontal regions of the brain. The scientists explain that these right-sided areas act as a supportive neural system when the brain faces difficult mental tasks.

“We found that both left and right hemispheres, which work during reading mostly for proper linguistic functions and supportive roles, respectively, are less engaged when manga contents are well understood through reading on paper, compared with digital reading,” Sakai told PsyPost. “This neuroscientific result is the first to show such an immediate effect of reading on paper, which would eventually change your brain.”

The amount of activity in these right frontal regions directly correlated with how accurately the tablet readers answered the questions. This indicates that tablet readers had to rely on excessive mental integration processes to achieve the same level of accuracy as the paper readers. The scientists also noticed heightened activity in a brain region called the right angular gyrus among the tablet users. This region is associated with processing spatial relationships, suggesting the tablet readers had to work harder to reconstruct the visual layout of the comic book panels in their minds.

As with all research, there are some limitations. The study specifically used visual narratives, and a reader might wonder if plain text novels would produce the exact same brain patterns.

“The same results would be obtained for reading a novel or other conventional texts, because story lines and contextual flow are basically the same among them,” Sakai said. “One important advantage of using manga stories is that manga has visual narratives, which provide rich pictorial information that facilitates the comprehension of scenes.”

Another factor is the physical difference between the devices themselves. The paper books reflected light from the room, while the tablets used a glowing backlight. Flipping a physical page also takes a fraction of a second longer than tapping a digital screen, which might subtly alter the reading rhythm and give the brain an extra moment to process information.

A reader might misinterpret these findings to mean that digital reading prevents learning, but the accuracy rates show that tablet readers still understood the material. They simply required more cognitive effort and time to reach that understanding. The paper format tends to make the reading experience smoother by providing a consistent physical anchor for the memory.

Future research will likely explore these variables in greater detail and expand to other forms of media interaction. “Using a similar method, we are now examining any effects of writing with a pen or a keyboard,” Sakai said. “This would be a natural next step for comparing paper and electronic devices.”

The study, “Manga reading on paper vs. digital devices: Prospective effects on core and supportive integration processes in the brain,” was authored by Keita Umejima, Yuki Sunada, and Kuniyoshi L. Sakai.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-discover-previously-unknown-cognitive-benefits-of-reading-physical-books/

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DATE: June 10, 2026 at 06:10AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEED

TITLE: Scientists mapped every neural connection in a fruit fly and found a surprise

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260610003047.htm

A groundbreaking new connectome maps every neural connection in an adult fruit fly’s central nervous system, creating an unprecedented view of how the brain and body work together. The findings suggest that complex behaviors emerge from distributed local circuits rather than a single central controller, offering new clues about intelligence, movement, and brain function.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260610003047.htm

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DATE: June 10, 2026 at 06:10AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEED

TITLE: Scientists mapped every neural connection in a fruit fly and found a surprise

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260610003047.htm

A groundbreaking new connectome maps every neural connection in an adult fruit fly’s central nervous system, creating an unprecedented view of how the brain and body work together. The findings suggest that complex behaviors emerge from distributed local circuits rather than a single central controller, offering new clues about intelligence, movement, and brain function.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260610003047.htm

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Memory is not reliable but changes to fit present circumstances

“Our memory is not like a video camera,” Bridge said. “Your memory reframes and edits events to create a story to fit your current world. It’s built to be current.” (source)

The unreliability of human memory is not a new topic, but this study fairly convincingly shows how our memories conform to what we are doing and/or how we have been using them.

One can plausibly extrapolate from this that humans change how they remember and understand themselves and others based on the data of now. A moment of extraneous frustration, for example, may cause us to see someone nearby us in a different light, through no fault of theirs.

If our frustration is with how we are being (mis)understood or with our difficulty in expressing our thoughts, the implications for how we understand the person we are speaking with may be even more serious.

Experienced FIML partners will surely have realized that even minor misunderstandings can lead to large acts of “reframing” events in an emotional way that can be seriously distorted.

Beyond innocent misunderstandings (which, unfortunately, can have tragic consequences), this area of shifting memories is where a good deal of interpersonal abuse occurs. In the worst cases, one (or both) partners abuse normal human malleability to lie. In less bad cases, one (or both) partners is easily excited by their own distortions and quickly comes to believe them, effectively lying to themselves as well as their partner.

In other cases, individuals or entire groups of people may decide to tell a significant lie (slanted history, for example) and then hurl their lie passionately at others. This frequently causes the person being lied to to react with shame or concern based on the liars’ emotional display and not on the facts of the matter. A person being subjected to such verbal abuse will often conclude that if the other person is so passionate, they must have a serious point that should be considered; and this can cause large distortions of well-known facts in the victim’s mind.

All of this is a major reason the Human Realm is characterized by delusion and a large part of Buddhist practice is geared toward removing delusion.

Memory is not reliable but changes to fit present circumstances

“Our memory is not like a video camera,” Bridge said. “Your memory reframes and edits events to create a story to fit your current world. It’s built to be current.” (source)

The unreliability of human memory is not a new topic, but this study fairly convincingly shows how our memories conform to what we are doing and/or how we have been using them.

One can plausibly extrapolate from this that humans change how they remember and understand themselves and others based on the data of now. A moment of extraneous frustration, for example, may cause us to see someone nearby us in a different light, through no fault of theirs.

If our frustration is with how we are being (mis)understood or with our difficulty in expressing our thoughts, the implications for how we understand the person we are speaking with may be even more serious.

Experienced FIML partners will surely have realized that even minor misunderstandings can lead to large acts of “reframing” events in an emotional way that can be seriously distorted.

Beyond innocent misunderstandings (which, unfortunately, can have tragic consequences), this area of shifting memories is where a good deal of interpersonal abuse occurs. In the worst cases, one (or both) partners abuse normal human malleability to lie. In less bad cases, one (or both) partners is easily excited by their own distortions and quickly comes to believe them, effectively lying to themselves as well as their partner.

In other cases, individuals or entire groups of people may decide to tell a significant lie (slanted history, for example) and then hurl their lie passionately at others. This frequently causes the person being lied to to react with shame or concern based on the liars’ emotional display and not on the facts of the matter. A person being subjected to such verbal abuse will often conclude that if the other person is so passionate, they must have a serious point that should be considered; and this can cause large distortions of well-known facts in the victim’s mind.

All of this is a major reason the Human Realm is characterized by delusion and a large part of Buddhist practice is geared toward removing delusion.

#MemoryFormation #EmotionalTrauma #LongTermMemory #BrainScience #Psychology #MindBodyConnection #PastExperiences #MemoryScience #NeuroScience #MentalHealth #MemoryFormation #EmotionalTrauma #LongTermMemory #BrainScience #Psychology #MindBodyConnection #PastExperiences #MemoryScience #NeuroScience #MentalHealth https://mastodon.social/@biohackingpathway/116710656998641198

#MemoryFormation #EmotionalTrauma #LongTermMemory #BrainScience #Psychology #MindBodyConnection #PastExperiences #MemoryScience #NeuroScience #MentalHealth #MemoryFormation #EmotionalTrauma #LongTermMemory #BrainScience #Psychology #MindBodyConnection #PastExperiences #MemoryScience #NeuroScience #MentalHealth https://mastodon.social/@biohackingpathway/116710656998641198

Disruption of neurotic response in FIML practice

By analyzing minute emotional reactions in real-time during normal conversation, FIML practice disrupts the consolidation, or more often the reconsolidation, of “neurotic” responses.

In FIML, a neurotic response is defined as “an emotional response based on a misinterpretation.” The misinterpretation in question can be incipient (just starting) to long-standing (been a habit for years).

The response is disrupted by FIML practice and, thus, tends not to consolidate or reconsolidate, especially after several instances of learning that it is not valid.

A neurotic response is a response based on memory. The following study on fear memories supports the above explanation of FIML practice.

Memories become labile when recalled. In humans and rodents alike, reactivated fear memories can be attenuated by disrupting reconsolidation with extinction training. Using functional brain imaging, we found that, after a conditioned fear memory was formed, reactivation and reconsolidation left a memory trace in the basolateral amygdala that predicted subsequent fear expression and was tightly coupled to activity in the fear circuit of the brain. In contrast, reactivation followed by disrupted reconsolidation suppressed fear, abolished the memory trace, and attenuated fear-circuit connectivity. Thus, as previously demonstrated in rodents, fear memory suppression resulting from behavioral disruption of reconsolidation is amygdala-dependent also in humans, which supports an evolutionarily conserved memory-update mechanism.

~Disruption of Reconsolidation Erases a Fear Memory Trace in the Human Amygdala

FIML practice works by partners consciously and cooperatively disrupting reconsolidation (and initial consolidation) of neurotic memory (and associated behaviors). FIML both extirpates habitual neurotic responses and also prevents the formation of new neurotic responses through conscious disruption of memory consolidation.

FIML probably works as well as it does because humans have “an evolutionarily conserved memory-update mechanism” that favors more truth. Obvious examples of this update mechanism can be seen in many simple mistakes. For instance, if you think the capital of New York State is New York City and someone shows that it is Albany, you will likely correct your mistake immediately with little or no fuss.

Since FIML focuses on small mistakes made between partners, corrections are rarely more difficult than the above example though they may be accompanied by a greater sense of relief. For example, if you thought that maybe your partner was mad at you but then find (through a FIML query) that they are not, your sense of relief may be considerable.

Disruption of neurotic response in FIML practice

By analyzing minute emotional reactions in real-time during normal conversation, FIML practice disrupts the consolidation, or more often the reconsolidation, of “neurotic” responses.

In FIML, a neurotic response is defined as “an emotional response based on a misinterpretation.” The misinterpretation in question can be incipient (just starting) to long-standing (been a habit for years).

The response is disrupted by FIML practice and, thus, tends not to consolidate or reconsolidate, especially after several instances of learning that it is not valid.

A neurotic response is a response based on memory. The following study on fear memories supports the above explanation of FIML practice.

Memories become labile when recalled. In humans and rodents alike, reactivated fear memories can be attenuated by disrupting reconsolidation with extinction training. Using functional brain imaging, we found that, after a conditioned fear memory was formed, reactivation and reconsolidation left a memory trace in the basolateral amygdala that predicted subsequent fear expression and was tightly coupled to activity in the fear circuit of the brain. In contrast, reactivation followed by disrupted reconsolidation suppressed fear, abolished the memory trace, and attenuated fear-circuit connectivity. Thus, as previously demonstrated in rodents, fear memory suppression resulting from behavioral disruption of reconsolidation is amygdala-dependent also in humans, which supports an evolutionarily conserved memory-update mechanism.

~Disruption of Reconsolidation Erases a Fear Memory Trace in the Human Amygdala

FIML practice works by partners consciously and cooperatively disrupting reconsolidation (and initial consolidation) of neurotic memory (and associated behaviors). FIML both extirpates habitual neurotic responses and also prevents the formation of new neurotic responses through conscious disruption of memory consolidation.

FIML probably works as well as it does because humans have “an evolutionarily conserved memory-update mechanism” that favors more truth. Obvious examples of this update mechanism can be seen in many simple mistakes. For instance, if you think the capital of New York State is New York City and someone shows that it is Albany, you will likely correct your mistake immediately with little or no fuss.

Since FIML focuses on small mistakes made between partners, corrections are rarely more difficult than the above example though they may be accompanied by a greater sense of relief. For example, if you thought that maybe your partner was mad at you but then find (through a FIML query) that they are not, your sense of relief may be considerable.

The Default Mode Network activates during self-referential thought. Repeated cycles of noticing attention has drifted from a present anchor - and returning without judgment - measurably reduce its activity over time, along with amygdala reactivity. Mindfulness is not a state. It is a trainable attentional cycle.

🔗 https://neuroviaxacademy.com/mindfulness-guide/

#BrainScience #Mindfulness

The Default Mode Network activates during self-referential thought. Repeated cycles of noticing attention has drifted from a present anchor - and returning without judgment - measurably reduce its activity over time, along with amygdala reactivity. Mindfulness is not a state. It is a trainable attentional cycle.

🔗 https://neuroviaxacademy.com/mindfulness-guide/

#BrainScience #Mindfulness

REALITY'S FRAGILITY: THE BRAIN AS THE LENS OF EXISTENCE

Learn how the brain interprets signals to create your reality, not just see the world directly. Understand the science behind perception.

#BrainScience, #Perception, #Neuroscience, #MindBody, #Reality

https://newsletter.tf/brain-interprets-signals-creates-reality-not-direct/

REALITY'S FRAGILITY: THE BRAIN AS THE LENS OF EXISTENCE

Learn how the brain interprets signals to create your reality, not just see the world directly. Understand the science behind perception.

#BrainScience, #Perception, #Neuroscience, #MindBody, #Reality

https://newsletter.tf/brain-interprets-signals-creates-reality-not-direct/

Your brain turns signals into reality. This is different from seeing the world as it truly is.

#BrainScience, #Perception, #Neuroscience, #MindBody, #Reality
https://newsletter.tf/brain-interprets-signals-creates-reality-not-direct/

Your brain turns signals into reality. This is different from seeing the world as it truly is.

#BrainScience, #Perception, #Neuroscience, #MindBody, #Reality
https://newsletter.tf/brain-interprets-signals-creates-reality-not-direct/

Psychopaths don’t EXIST – and Ted Bundy was simply misunderstood, scientist claims

…according to Dr Rasmus Larensis, a forensic scientist from the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada, psychopathy might not exist at all.

The big issue, as Dr Larensis points out, is that every single claim which has ever been made about the nature of psychopaths has been systematically disproved.

Ideas, such as the notion that psychopaths don’t feel fear, have either been flat–out disproved or faltered as rigorous evidence in their support failed to emerge.

Dr Larensis even argues that famous ‘psychopaths’ such as the serial killer Ted Bundy are really just misunderstood.

Dr Larensis told the Daily Mail: ‘After decades of research, we still lack compelling evidence for the specific type of person described by the traditional psychopathy model.’

link

Psychopaths don’t EXIST – and Ted Bundy was simply misunderstood, scientist claims

…according to Dr Rasmus Larensis, a forensic scientist from the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada, psychopathy might not exist at all.

The big issue, as Dr Larensis points out, is that every single claim which has ever been made about the nature of psychopaths has been systematically disproved.

Ideas, such as the notion that psychopaths don’t feel fear, have either been flat–out disproved or faltered as rigorous evidence in their support failed to emerge.

Dr Larensis even argues that famous ‘psychopaths’ such as the serial killer Ted Bundy are really just misunderstood.

Dr Larensis told the Daily Mail: ‘After decades of research, we still lack compelling evidence for the specific type of person described by the traditional psychopathy model.’

link

Networks of words, semiotics, and psychological morphemes

Words and semiotics are held together in networks. “Psychological morphemes” are also held together in networks.

A “psychological morpheme” is the smallest meaningful unit of a psychological response. It is the smallest unit of communication that can give rise to an emotional, psychological, or cognitive reaction.

Of course word networks, semiotic networks, and emotional, psychological, and cognitive networks all intertwine with each other.

FIML practice is designed to help partners untangle unwanted emotions from these intertwined networks. FIML practice focuses on psychological morphemes because they are small and thus rather easily understood and rather easily extirpated from real-time contexts (when partners are interacting in real life in real-time).

The hard part about FIML practice is it is done in real life in real-time. But the easy or very effective part about FIML is that once partners learn to do it, results come quickly because the practice is happening in real life in real-time. It is not just a theory when you do it in that way. It is an experience that changes how you communicate and how you understand yourself and others.

In FIML practice partners are mindful of their emotional reactions and learn that when one occurs, it is important to query their partner about it. They are mindful of psychological morphemes and as soon as one appears, but before the morpheme calls up a large network leading to a strong reaction, they query their partner about it.

This practice leads to a fairly smooth and effortless extirpation of unwanted psychological responses. This happens because the data provided by the partner that “caused” the reaction shows the partner who made the FIML query that the psychological morpheme in question arose due to a misinterpretation. Seeing this repeatedly for the same sort of neurotic reaction causes that reaction and the psychological network that comprises it to become extinguished.

A fascinating study from the University of Kansas by Michael Vitevitch shows that removing a key word from a linguistic network will cause that network to fracture and even be destroyed. An article about the study and a link to the study (pay wall) can be found here: Keywords hold vocabulary together in memory.

Vitevitch’s study involves only words and his analysis was done only with computers because, as he says, ““Fracturing the network [in real people] could actually disrupt language processing. Even though we could remove keywords from research participants’ memories through psycholinguistic tasks, we dared not because of concern that there would be long-term or even widespread effects.”

FIML is not about removing key words from linguistic networks. But it is about dismantling or removing psychological or semiotic networks that cause suffering.

Psychological or semiotic networks are networks rich in emotional meaning. When those networks harbor unwanted, inappropriate, or mistaken interpretations (and thus mistaken or unwanted emotions), they can cause serious neurotic reactions, or serious mistaken interpretations.

These mistaken interpretations, and the emotions associated with them, can be efficiently extirpated by revealing to their holder the “key” psychological morphemes that set them off.

The psychology of a semiotic network hinges on repeated reactions to key psychological morphemes and that this process is analogous to the key words described in Vitevitch’s study.

Vitevitch did not remove key words from actual people because it would be unethical to do so. But it is not unethical for consenting adults to help each other find and remove key psychological morphemes that are harmfully associated with the linguistic, semiotic, cognitive, and psychological networks that make up the individual.

Networks of words, semiotics, and psychological morphemes

Words and semiotics are held together in networks. “Psychological morphemes” are also held together in networks.

A “psychological morpheme” is the smallest meaningful unit of a psychological response. It is the smallest unit of communication that can give rise to an emotional, psychological, or cognitive reaction.

Of course word networks, semiotic networks, and emotional, psychological, and cognitive networks all intertwine with each other.

FIML practice is designed to help partners untangle unwanted emotions from these intertwined networks. FIML practice focuses on psychological morphemes because they are small and thus rather easily understood and rather easily extirpated from real-time contexts (when partners are interacting in real life in real-time).

The hard part about FIML practice is it is done in real life in real-time. But the easy or very effective part about FIML is that once partners learn to do it, results come quickly because the practice is happening in real life in real-time. It is not just a theory when you do it in that way. It is an experience that changes how you communicate and how you understand yourself and others.

In FIML practice partners are mindful of their emotional reactions and learn that when one occurs, it is important to query their partner about it. They are mindful of psychological morphemes and as soon as one appears, but before the morpheme calls up a large network leading to a strong reaction, they query their partner about it.

This practice leads to a fairly smooth and effortless extirpation of unwanted psychological responses. This happens because the data provided by the partner that “caused” the reaction shows the partner who made the FIML query that the psychological morpheme in question arose due to a misinterpretation. Seeing this repeatedly for the same sort of neurotic reaction causes that reaction and the psychological network that comprises it to become extinguished.

A fascinating study from the University of Kansas by Michael Vitevitch shows that removing a key word from a linguistic network will cause that network to fracture and even be destroyed. An article about the study and a link to the study (pay wall) can be found here: Keywords hold vocabulary together in memory.

Vitevitch’s study involves only words and his analysis was done only with computers because, as he says, ““Fracturing the network [in real people] could actually disrupt language processing. Even though we could remove keywords from research participants’ memories through psycholinguistic tasks, we dared not because of concern that there would be long-term or even widespread effects.”

FIML is not about removing key words from linguistic networks. But it is about dismantling or removing psychological or semiotic networks that cause suffering.

Psychological or semiotic networks are networks rich in emotional meaning. When those networks harbor unwanted, inappropriate, or mistaken interpretations (and thus mistaken or unwanted emotions), they can cause serious neurotic reactions, or serious mistaken interpretations.

These mistaken interpretations, and the emotions associated with them, can be efficiently extirpated by revealing to their holder the “key” psychological morphemes that set them off.

The psychology of a semiotic network hinges on repeated reactions to key psychological morphemes and that this process is analogous to the key words described in Vitevitch’s study.

Vitevitch did not remove key words from actual people because it would be unethical to do so. But it is not unethical for consenting adults to help each other find and remove key psychological morphemes that are harmfully associated with the linguistic, semiotic, cognitive, and psychological networks that make up the individual.

Let's settle the debate with actual data: Women's voices register as louder and sharper than men's voices.

If you look closely at the science, it is a perfect cross section of physics, anatomy, and neurology.

1. The Anatomy and Vocal Cord Physics: On average, a woman’s vocal cords are shorter and thinner, measuring around 12 to 17 mm, while a man’s measure 17 to 25 mm. Because they have less mass, they vibrate much faster, roughly 200 times per second compared to a man's 120 times. This creates a significantly higher fundamental frequency and pitch.
2. The Acoustic Physics and Intensity: Higher frequencies possess shorter wavelengths. In a closed room or crowd, these shorter wavelengths do not bend or dissipate around objects easily. Instead, they pierce straight through background noise with crisp intensity.
3. The Neurological Proof and Ear Sensitivity: This is the ultimate kicker. The human ear canal is shaped like a natural acoustic amplifier tuned specifically to boost sounds between 2000 and 5000 Hz. Evolutionary biology designed our brains to be hypersensitive to this exact range so humans could hear a baby's cry or an alert from afar. A woman's vocal upper harmonics land right in this biological sweet spot.

So, it is not just a guess. Human biology and physics are literally hardwired to amplify a woman's voice over a man's.

#Science #Acoustics #HumanBiology #PhysicsOfSound #BrainScience #Fediverse #DeepDive #Facts

Let's settle the debate with actual data: Women's voices register as louder and sharper than men's voices.

If you look closely at the science, it is a perfect cross section of physics, anatomy, and neurology.

1. The Anatomy and Vocal Cord Physics: On average, a woman’s vocal cords are shorter and thinner, measuring around 12 to 17 mm, while a man’s measure 17 to 25 mm. Because they have less mass, they vibrate much faster, roughly 200 times per second compared to a man's 120 times. This creates a significantly higher fundamental frequency and pitch.
2. The Acoustic Physics and Intensity: Higher frequencies possess shorter wavelengths. In a closed room or crowd, these shorter wavelengths do not bend or dissipate around objects easily. Instead, they pierce straight through background noise with crisp intensity.
3. The Neurological Proof and Ear Sensitivity: This is the ultimate kicker. The human ear canal is shaped like a natural acoustic amplifier tuned specifically to boost sounds between 2000 and 5000 Hz. Evolutionary biology designed our brains to be hypersensitive to this exact range so humans could hear a baby's cry or an alert from afar. A woman's vocal upper harmonics land right in this biological sweet spot.

So, it is not just a guess. Human biology and physics are literally hardwired to amplify a woman's voice over a man's.

#Science #Acoustics #HumanBiology #PhysicsOfSound #BrainScience #Fediverse #DeepDive #Facts

Swearing helps people perform better when peak performance is needed, study finds

https://www.psypost.org/swearing-helps-people-perform-better-when-peak-performance-is-needed-study-finds/

#psychology #neuroscience #cognitivescience #brainscience #swearing #cussing #cursing #cusstowin

Swearing helps people perform better when peak performance is needed, study finds

https://www.psypost.org/swearing-helps-people-perform-better-when-peak-performance-is-needed-study-finds/

#psychology #neuroscience #cognitivescience #brainscience #swearing #cussing #cursing #cusstowin

NASA scientist who ‘died three times’ saw the same thing every time… and it wasn’t the pearly gates of Heaven

A NASA scientist has claimed she did not just die once, but three times, and saw the exact same thing each time.

Ingrid Honkala, 55, an oceanographer who has worked with NASA, said she had near-death experiences at the ages of two, 25 and 52.

While each incident unfolded differently, she said the outcome was identical: she entered a strange state of complete calm, with no fear, no sense of time, and a feeling of separating from her physical body.

Instead, Honkala described becoming ‘pure awareness,’ immersed in what she calls a vast, interconnected consciousness filled with light, clarity and peace.

She claimed this was not a fleeting hallucination, but a consistent experience she returned to every time she came close to death.

The scientist now believes these moments offered a glimpse into what lies beyond human life, challenging the idea that consciousness ends when the body shuts down.

link

__________

The highlighted paragraphs above describe a samadhi state, which the Buddha said is available to virtually all human beings. Samadhi, or the training for it, is the Eighth Path of the Noble Eightfold Path. To use Honkala’s words, the fourth and highest samadhi state in Buddhism is an experience which transforms human consciousness by ‘immersing‘ us in ‘a vast, interconnected consciousness filled with light, clarity and peace.’ ABN

NASA scientist who ‘died three times’ saw the same thing every time… and it wasn’t the pearly gates of Heaven

A NASA scientist has claimed she did not just die once, but three times, and saw the exact same thing each time.

Ingrid Honkala, 55, an oceanographer who has worked with NASA, said she had near-death experiences at the ages of two, 25 and 52.

While each incident unfolded differently, she said the outcome was identical: she entered a strange state of complete calm, with no fear, no sense of time, and a feeling of separating from her physical body.

Instead, Honkala described becoming ‘pure awareness,’ immersed in what she calls a vast, interconnected consciousness filled with light, clarity and peace.

She claimed this was not a fleeting hallucination, but a consistent experience she returned to every time she came close to death.

The scientist now believes these moments offered a glimpse into what lies beyond human life, challenging the idea that consciousness ends when the body shuts down.

link

__________

The highlighted paragraphs above describe a samadhi state, which the Buddha said is available to virtually all human beings. Samadhi, or the training for it, is the Eighth Path of the Noble Eightfold Path. To use Honkala’s words, the fourth and highest samadhi state in Buddhism is an experience which transforms human consciousness by ‘immersing‘ us in ‘a vast, interconnected consciousness filled with light, clarity and peace.’ ABN

People who are blind from birth never develop schizophrenia – what this tells us about the psychiatric condition
#Health #Schizophrenia #Neuroscience #MentalHealth #BrainScience #CognitiveScience #MedicalScience #BrainDevelopment #Psychiatry #Blindness
https://the-14.com/people-who-are-blind-from-birth-never-develop-schizophrenia-what-this-tells-us-about-the-psychiatric-condition/

People who are blind from birth never develop schizophrenia – what this tells us about the psychiatric condition
#Health #Schizophrenia #Neuroscience #MentalHealth #BrainScience #CognitiveScience #MedicalScience #BrainDevelopment #Psychiatry #Blindness
https://the-14.com/people-who-are-blind-from-birth-never-develop-schizophrenia-what-this-tells-us-about-the-psychiatric-condition/

A challenge to the cognitive model of the mind: Paul Cisek questions the dominant scientific paradigm and the current theory of artificial intelligence

…human language is a tool for communicating our thoughts, but is separate and distinct from thought itself. Evelina Fedorenko, a neuroscientist at MIT and lead author of the paper laying out the empirical evidence for this claim, was kind enough to let me interview her. Her basic argument is that we know language must be separate from thought because (a) people who lose language ability can still think and reason, and (b) different parts of the brain activate when we engage in different types of thought, and often the “language part” remains idle when we’re thinking. In my view, this evidence deals a serious blow to the hopes of achieving “artificial general intelligence” through the scaling of large-language models since, after all, they are language tools (it’s in the name).

Enter now stage left Dr. Paul Cisek, a neuroscientist at the University of Montreal, to throw some gasoline on that fire. Cisek first came across my radar last year when a pithy observation he made about LLMs started making the rounds on social media. You can read his full comment here, but to summarize:

• We know that humans in general can falsely impute intelligence and agency to complex events that take place in the world, as we’ve seen humans do this in the past when interacting with a chatbot such as ELIZA, or claiming the gods make volcanoes explode.
• But although modern-day LLMs are complex, researchers know quite a bit about how they function, through pattern-matching and use of mathematical theories (among other things).
• Thus, although the public may be inclined to attribute sentience and agency to LLMs, scientists should know better. Cisek: “We are like a bunch of professional magicians, who know where all of the little strings and compartments are, and who know how we just redirected the audience’s attention to slip the card in our pocket…but then we are standing around backstage wondering, ‘Maybe there really is magic?’”

There isn’t any magic. But a big challenge we face is that the companies that produce LLMs are willfully trying to convince us otherwise, and are working to take advantage of the human impulse to ascribe agency to these tools.

Cisek’s main claims as I understand them:

1. The simple model of the mind as an information processor that takes input and produces output is mistaken.
2. We should instead see minds as control systems that guide behavior as part of a continuous process, like a circuit.
3. Over hundreds of millions of years, biological evolution has expanded the range and depth of behaviors that our minds can control.

…

…

link

__________

I have taken several excerpts from the essay above to provide a sense of the overall discussion. It’s an interesting read, not very long, not hard to follow. Well-worth reading. ABN

A challenge to the cognitive model of the mind: Paul Cisek questions the dominant scientific paradigm and the current theory of artificial intelligence

…human language is a tool for communicating our thoughts, but is separate and distinct from thought itself. Evelina Fedorenko, a neuroscientist at MIT and lead author of the paper laying out the empirical evidence for this claim, was kind enough to let me interview her. Her basic argument is that we know language must be separate from thought because (a) people who lose language ability can still think and reason, and (b) different parts of the brain activate when we engage in different types of thought, and often the “language part” remains idle when we’re thinking. In my view, this evidence deals a serious blow to the hopes of achieving “artificial general intelligence” through the scaling of large-language models since, after all, they are language tools (it’s in the name).

Enter now stage left Dr. Paul Cisek, a neuroscientist at the University of Montreal, to throw some gasoline on that fire. Cisek first came across my radar last year when a pithy observation he made about LLMs started making the rounds on social media. You can read his full comment here, but to summarize:

• We know that humans in general can falsely impute intelligence and agency to complex events that take place in the world, as we’ve seen humans do this in the past when interacting with a chatbot such as ELIZA, or claiming the gods make volcanoes explode.
• But although modern-day LLMs are complex, researchers know quite a bit about how they function, through pattern-matching and use of mathematical theories (among other things).
• Thus, although the public may be inclined to attribute sentience and agency to LLMs, scientists should know better. Cisek: “We are like a bunch of professional magicians, who know where all of the little strings and compartments are, and who know how we just redirected the audience’s attention to slip the card in our pocket…but then we are standing around backstage wondering, ‘Maybe there really is magic?’”

There isn’t any magic. But a big challenge we face is that the companies that produce LLMs are willfully trying to convince us otherwise, and are working to take advantage of the human impulse to ascribe agency to these tools.

Cisek’s main claims as I understand them:

1. The simple model of the mind as an information processor that takes input and produces output is mistaken.
2. We should instead see minds as control systems that guide behavior as part of a continuous process, like a circuit.
3. Over hundreds of millions of years, biological evolution has expanded the range and depth of behaviors that our minds can control.

…

…

link

__________

I have taken several excerpts from the essay above to provide a sense of the overall discussion. It’s an interesting read, not very long, not hard to follow. Well-worth reading. ABN

Student Finds the Psychedelic Fungus the Inventor of LSD Spent His Life Searching For

The discovery could reshape how we study psychedelic compounds in nature and medicine

At West Virginia University (WVU), Corinne Hazel, an undergraduate major in environmental microbiology, examined morning glory plants for signs of protective chemicals. She wasn’t looking for new drugs or anything psychedelic. But nestled in the folds of a tiny seed coat was a hint of white fuzz.

That fuzz turned out to be a fungus that scientists had been seeking since the 1930s. And this included Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who first synthesized LSD.

Hofmann offered the world LSD in the late 1930s by modifying a compound called lysergic acid, which he extracted from the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea. That fungus grows on rye and other grains and is well-known for producing ergot alkaloids, a group of chemicals that can be toxic or medicinal depending on the dose.

Hofmann and others searched the plants for a fungus related to Claviceps purpurea, the rye-dwelling microbe that produces ergot alkaloids, a group of potent compounds with powerful biological effects. But for decades, that fungus remained a phantom.

Hazel found it almost by accident.

“We had a ton of plants lying around and they had these tiny little seed coats,” she said. “We noticed a little bit of fuzz in the seed coat. That was our fungus.”

With Panaccione’s guidance, Hazel extracted DNA from the fuzz and sent it for sequencing. The results confirmed what generations of chemists and botanists had only suspected: the morning glory harbored a previously unknown species of ergot-producing fungus.

“Sequencing a genome is a significant thing,” Panaccione said. “It’s amazing for a student.”

link

Student Finds the Psychedelic Fungus the Inventor of LSD Spent His Life Searching For

The discovery could reshape how we study psychedelic compounds in nature and medicine

At West Virginia University (WVU), Corinne Hazel, an undergraduate major in environmental microbiology, examined morning glory plants for signs of protective chemicals. She wasn’t looking for new drugs or anything psychedelic. But nestled in the folds of a tiny seed coat was a hint of white fuzz.

That fuzz turned out to be a fungus that scientists had been seeking since the 1930s. And this included Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who first synthesized LSD.

Hofmann offered the world LSD in the late 1930s by modifying a compound called lysergic acid, which he extracted from the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea. That fungus grows on rye and other grains and is well-known for producing ergot alkaloids, a group of chemicals that can be toxic or medicinal depending on the dose.

Hofmann and others searched the plants for a fungus related to Claviceps purpurea, the rye-dwelling microbe that produces ergot alkaloids, a group of potent compounds with powerful biological effects. But for decades, that fungus remained a phantom.

Hazel found it almost by accident.

“We had a ton of plants lying around and they had these tiny little seed coats,” she said. “We noticed a little bit of fuzz in the seed coat. That was our fungus.”

With Panaccione’s guidance, Hazel extracted DNA from the fuzz and sent it for sequencing. The results confirmed what generations of chemists and botanists had only suspected: the morning glory harbored a previously unknown species of ergot-producing fungus.

“Sequencing a genome is a significant thing,” Panaccione said. “It’s amazing for a student.”

link

Smartphone apps are changing how we study everyday brain activity
#Health #AI #Tech #Neuroscience #Innovation #Brain #Apps #Smartphones #MentalHealth #WearableTech #BrainScience #FutureTech #DigitalHealth #Science #BrainActivity #Study #SmartphonesApps
https://the-14.com/smartphone-apps-are-changing-how-we-study-everyday-brain-activity/

Smartphone apps are changing how we study everyday brain activity
#Health #AI #Tech #Neuroscience #Innovation #Brain #Apps #Smartphones #MentalHealth #WearableTech #BrainScience #FutureTech #DigitalHealth #Science #BrainActivity #Study #SmartphonesApps
https://the-14.com/smartphone-apps-are-changing-how-we-study-everyday-brain-activity/

FIML and cerebral efficiency

This article argues that the human brain saves energy by predicting or imagining “reality” more than actually perceiving it: Do Thrifty Brains Make Better Minds? The article argues that this way of using our brains allows us to work more efficiently with complex data or in complex situations.

I think this general premise is pretty well known and agreed on, but the linked article puts it in a new way. The following sentence caught my eye: This… underlines the surprising extent to which the structure of our expectations (both conscious and non-conscious) may quite literally be determining much of what we see, hear and feel.

The article uses visual perception as an example, but the idea applies just as well, and maybe more so, to what we hear in the speech of others. FIML practice works by inserting a new mental skill between the first arising of a (stored) interpretation and its full-blown acceptance as “reality”.

FIML and cerebral efficiency

This article argues that the human brain saves energy by predicting or imagining “reality” more than actually perceiving it: Do Thrifty Brains Make Better Minds? The article argues that this way of using our brains allows us to work more efficiently with complex data or in complex situations.

I think this general premise is pretty well known and agreed on, but the linked article puts it in a new way. The following sentence caught my eye: This… underlines the surprising extent to which the structure of our expectations (both conscious and non-conscious) may quite literally be determining much of what we see, hear and feel.

The article uses visual perception as an example, but the idea applies just as well, and maybe more so, to what we hear in the speech of others. FIML practice works by inserting a new mental skill between the first arising of a (stored) interpretation and its full-blown acceptance as “reality”.

Research has long shown that meditation influences brain function, but exactly when changes begin after starting — and how they evolve with continued meditation — has been less clear. A recent study suggests even a few minutes of the practice can positively affect your brain.
#psychology #mindfulness #brainscience #behavior #health #wellness #biology
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/04/23/two-minutes-meditation-brain/

Research has long shown that meditation influences brain function, but exactly when changes begin after starting — and how they evolve with continued meditation — has been less clear. A recent study suggests even a few minutes of the practice can positively affect your brain.
#psychology #mindfulness #brainscience #behavior #health #wellness #biology
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/04/23/two-minutes-meditation-brain/

The Caputo Effect: Why Your Brain Creates Monsters in the Mirror Under Low Light #CaputoEffect #MirrorIllusion #StrangeFaceIllusion #DarkPsychology #PsychologyFacts #BrainScience #MindMysteries #UnbelievableButTrue #WeirdScience #CognitiveIllusions #DidYouKnow #TrueFacts https://www.gsnsp.com/strange-face-illusion-mirror-distortion/

The Caputo Effect: Why Your Brain Creates Monsters in the Mirror Under Low Light #CaputoEffect #MirrorIllusion #StrangeFaceIllusion #DarkPsychology #PsychologyFacts #BrainScience #MindMysteries #UnbelievableButTrue #WeirdScience #CognitiveIllusions #DidYouKnow #TrueFacts https://www.gsnsp.com/strange-face-illusion-mirror-distortion/

Interoception, proprioception, and perception of dynamic mental states

Interoception means our “perception or sense of internal body states,” including the states of our cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, and thermoregulatory systems among others.

Proprioception means “one’s own” or “ones’ individual” (Latin proprius) “perception.” We normally use this word to refer to our physical position in the world—whether we are standing or sitting, how we are moving, and how much energy we are using.

Both interoception and proprioception generally refer to physical states of the body though, of course, how we interpret those states may involve much more than immediate physical considerations.

Erroneous interoception or the misinterpretation of internal states is is generally thought to be an important contributing factor to many psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, panic disorder, and more.

Consider some other levels of interoception—our states of mind; our mental impressions of other people and of ourselves; our senses of our own psychologies.

These levels of psychological reality are normally accessed through introspection, meditation, mindfulness, and psychotherapy. All of these methods are good, but each of them lacks ongoing, real-time input from another human being, thus missing the dynamic functioning of the human mind in real-life situations.

FIML corrects this problem by providing objective, dynamic access to real-time psychological functioning. FIML is a method or tool for optimizing human psychology by honing our perceptions of our mental states as they actually function in real-world situations.