The public find articles about education more convincing when they contain extraneous neuroscience Brain science is mysterious and sexy and people are more inclined to believe claims that contain superfluous neuroscience references or neuro-imagery – an effect referred to as … Continue reading Beside the point
How your mindset determines your health If your New Year’s exercise regime has already failed, try not to focus on all the workouts you should have done. New research has revealed a surprising connection between people’s beliefs and their health: … Continue reading Perception of exercise
Procrastination: The Illusion of Freedom Procrastination offers the illusion of freedom. It tricks us into believing we have countless hours, only to rob us of them (Edward Young). It seduces us with the promise of carefree play, but only offers … Continue reading Procrastinators are liars
In defence of the economists Do the “tenets of neoclassicism” shape our day-to-day work as economists, as Howard Reed puts it in his ill-informed diatribe for Prospect? No—they do not. These are some of the research papers in economics that … Continue reading Empirical techniques in economics
Letter of Recommendation: AliExpress Shopping online can make you feel like little more than a data set with a bank account. That’s partly because we do it in private, behind screens — immune to texture and smell, no friends to … Continue reading Shopping in Wonderland
The Dope on Dopamine For the past several decades scientists have been investigating possible connections between ADHD and one of the main chemical messengers in the brain, dopamine. Scientists noticed that medications that work for ADHD all lead to increases … Continue reading Dopamine signaling
Caffeine causes widespread brain entropy (and that’s a good thing) neighbours chatting over the garden fence. This is a vital part of brain function. Increasingly however neuroscientists are zooming out and studying the information processing that happens within and between … Continue reading The better tonic
