How do thoughts, emotions, memory and perception emerge? In this section, we unpack the latest discoveries in brain and neuroscience, offering new perspectives on how the mind works and how we experience the world.
Can a simple word trigger an uncontrollable reaction? Some rare phenomena suggest that language can act far beyond its meaning. Some oddities slip into everyday life like flashes of absurdity. In Morocco, for reasons no one has yet explained, the mere mention of the word “honey” can trigger uncontrollable outbursts in certain individuals a phenomenon…
Alzheimer’s progression is not random. Mathematical models are now helping decode its hidden pathways. Alzheimer’s disease remains one of the most formidable challenges in neurology, both in terms of its growing prevalence and the complexity of its underlying mechanisms. While amyloid plaques and tau tangles are well-established pathological markers, a fundamental question persists: why do…
Remembering everything, forgetting nothing… what if that ability isn’t a gift, but a burden? The rare case of hyperthymesia raises questions about the role of forgetting. On June 8, 2000, a letter arrived on the desk of Professor James McGaugh, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine. It was from a woman named Jill…
What if well-being protects memory? A study suggests our psychological state may play a key role in cognitive aging. Preventing cognitive decline has become a major public health concern. As life expectancy increases, so do cases of dementia, pushing researchers to identify factors that could help protect the brain. Risk factors such as depression and…
What if some non-speaking autistic individuals can read but can’t show it? A study challenges how we assess language abilities. The absence of functional speech in some autistic individuals often leads to a general underestimation of their cognitive and linguistic abilities. This perception is rooted in a confusion between language and spoken output, as if…
When everything feels harder for no clear reason, it may not be a loss of ability but a shift in the brain’s priorities. Mental fatigue is one of the most universal experiences of modern life. After hours of focusing, learning, or handling repetitive tasks, a subtle heaviness sets in and motivation begins to wane. This…
What if some voices come from our own mental images? A hypothesis that challenges how we understand hallucinations. Every time he closes his eyes, the image of his father appears, a stern face etched into childhood memory. And with it, a harsh, violent voice. No one is speaking. He’s alone in the room. But he…
We see the world as a whole… while the brain processes it in two halves. An illusion of unity orchestrated by our hemispheres. Our perception of space feels fluid and seamless. We instantly detect what happens on our left and right, trace visual trajectories, and identify objects in complex environments. Beneath this apparent unity, however,…
The return of the 90s isn’t just a trend, it reflects a psychological need in response to an uncertain present. The screech of a dial-up modem. The clinking of marbles in a schoolyard. A cassette rewound with a pen. These gestures and sounds, once commonplace, have vanished from our daily lives, only to return today…
ChatGPT’s arrival in teenagers’ daily lives is reshaping how they learn and raising questions about their cognitive development. Since November 2022, teenagers and young adults have discovered a new conversation partner, an inexhaustible, responsive, educational, and sometimes even comforting digital presence: ChatGPT. Whether at home, in class, on public transport, in the library, or in…