cognitive science

Fritz Breithaupt's book was shortlisted by a jury of scientists, publishers, journalists and librarians, but ultimately its victory was determined by a public vote.

The human brain is exquisitely tuned to identify faces and facial expressions, which are so important to human social interaction. Researchers have found that certain areas of the human cerebral cortex are specialized for processing visual information about faces.

Do we learn gestures by watching others make them? Or do our patterns of gesture originate from language itself?

A eureka moment is an experience where a solution or idea suddenly appears in your mind and immediately feels true. One reason eureka experiences are peculiar is that they tend to accompany accurate solutions to problems, but they can also lead to errors.

Philosopher and Cognitive Scientist Elizabeth Schechter, author of "Self-Consciousness and 'Split' Brains," speaks with host Aaron Cain about issues of identity, self-knowledge, and what it means to be conscious.

How do people recognize faces? Is it a special ability that relies on custom circuitry in the human brain? Or, do we learn it with the same brain circuitry that we use to recognize other objects?

People who listen to music a lot can perceive the similarity between two of the same notes in different octaves. This may not seem like such a unique ability, since most people in Western countries are able to do this. Still, scientists have long wondered whether it's innate knowledge or learned through exposure.

Researchers think that looking at how quickly a person's pupil dilates when taking cognitive tests could predict if a person is at an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, even before any obvious symptoms show up.