Brain

  1. Health & Medicine

    What is IQ — and how much does it matter?

    Studies reveal that intelligence — and success in life — depend on more than what IQ tests measure.

    By Alison Pearce Stevens
  2. Brain

    Cool Jobs: Video game creators

    Meet an engineer who worked on StarCraft II, an expert building a new kind of reality and a neuroscientist who uses games as brain therapy.

    By Kathryn Hulick
  3. Animals

    Good dog! Canine brains separate tone of speech from its meaning

    Dogs brains divide up the tasks of interpreting words and interpreting emotion. It’s a skill that may have evolved even before people did.

    By Laurel Hamers
  4. Brain

    One day, computers may decode your dreams

    Scientists are learning how to translate brain activity into words and thoughts. This may one day allow people to control devices with their minds.

    By Kathryn Hulick
  5. Brain

    Explainer: How to read brain activity

    Electricity underlies the chattering of brain cells. Here’s how scientists eavesdrop on those conversations.

    By Kathryn Hulick
  6. Brain

    Mice brains hint at how bodies keep their cool

    Nerve cells in mice can keep the body cool and may prevent high fevers. The discovery could have implications for obesity and other health issues.

    By Laura Sanders
  7. Brain

    This supplement makes calorie-rich foods less tempting

    A supplement that contains the fatty acid propionate causes the brain to rate high-calorie foods less appealing.

    By Alison Pearce Stevens
  8. Brain

    Our eyes can see single specks of light

    The human eye can detect a single photon. This discovery answers questions about how sensitive our eyes are. It hints at the possibility of using our eyes to study issues of quantum-scale physics.

    By Emily Conover
  9. Brain

    Zika can damage the brains of even adults

    The Zika virus can damage a developing baby’s brain. The infection can also kill off an important type of cells in adult brains, a new mouse study finds.

    By Meghan Rosen
  10. Brain

    Hormone affects how teens’ brains control emotions

    Using scans of brain activity, scientists show that surging hormones drive where emotions get processed in a teen’s brain.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  11. Brain

    Gasp! At the movies, your breaths reveal your emotions

    Researchers took air samples as they screened movies. What people exhaled were linked to film scenes’ emotional tone, they found.

    By Cassie Martin
  12. Brain

    Teen drinking may damage ability to cope with stress

    Teens are often tempted to drink alcohol. Drinking too much — and repeatedly — can hurt their ability to manage stress, a study in rats indicates.

    By Padma Nagappan