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Is this the Great Ape to Human Gene? (from Nature Communications) Bernard Baars

A new article in Nature Communications claims to have found the gene that differentiates Great Apes from humans. Human being split from ape-like ancestors less than four million years ago. We have language, imagination, a very ...
 
 
MBSci
 
"Who am I?"
"Who am I?"
"Who am I?"

Mind, meet brain? Howwayya?

I live in a little room called my mind, a warm and homey place. Sure it gets a little messy now and then, and I feel like cleaning out the mess, but then it’s my mind, and don’t you criticize what you can’t u...
 
 
mbSci
 
"Your Own Thoughts"
"Your Own Thoughts"
"Your Own Thoughts"

Welcome! To all MBScientists, MBStudents, MBFans…

Everybody has a mind. Everybody has a brain.  Not everybody explores the mind-brain using science. There are many ways — the arts, personal relationships, looking at other conscious creatures in the world. We are living ...
 

 
MBSci
 
:Cortex Thalamus Modha Singh Mandala"
:Cortex Thalamus Modha Singh Mandala"
:Cortex Thalamus Modha Singh Mandala"

Interactive Wiring of Cortex and Thalamus

The part of the brain that supports conscious contents is the cortex and thalamus. Modha and Singh showed the long-distance link in this system as a mandala....
 
MBSci
 
"Your Cortex is Flat Maplike Image"
"Your Cortex is Flat Maplike Image"
"Your Cortex is Flat Maplike Image"

Your Cortex is Flat

The cortex is a flat sheet, shown beautifully here by Van Essen et al (see the Van Essen Lab at the University of St. Louis). This is the six-layered sheet of cells and fibers that makes up our cortex, the "neo-cortex" (because...
 
MBSci
 
"Laughter_by_David_Shankbone"
"Laughter_by_David_Shankbone"
"Laughter_by_David_Shankbone"

The Mind’s Laughter: fMRI from Japan.

Whether you know it or not, your brain acts out the words you hear. For example, a study led by Naoyuki Osaka of Kyoto University (Japan) shows that the motor cortex revs up in response to words like "belly laugh.”

 
Why Con
 
"Join MBSci Today Consciousness is the Bridge"
"Join MBSci Today Consciousness is the Bridge"
"Join MBSci Today Consciousness is the Bridge"

Why Consciousness Science?

The study of consciousness is emerging from a century of scientific taboo. We suggest it is the key to respect for sentient beings and our shared humanity.
 
MBSci
 
"Connectivity in Human Brain"
"Connectivity in Human Brain"
"Connectivity in Human Brain"

Breakthrough: A brain measure of consciousness?

Effective connectivity refers to a causal link between two or more brain areas, as if signal traffic can now flow over a highway system.