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What might be a mechanism that leads to brain-to-brain coupling in teaching and learning?
This question is raised by one of the TCCI Neurochat 2021 speakers. We are continuously collecting questions from young scientists all over the world. We will explore insightful answers with leading experts. Please pay attention to our website and WeChat platform (nextquestion)!
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what is the internal reward mechanism an animal use to drive decision making during free exploration and social interaction?
This question is raised by one of the TCCI Neurochat 2021 speakers. We are continuously collecting questions from young scientists all over the world. We will explore insightful answers with leading experts. Please pay attention to our website and WeChat platform (nextquestion)!
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Is bounded rationality a consequence of natural selection?
This question is raised by one of the TCCI Neurochat 2021 speakers. We are continuously collecting questions from young scientists all over the world. We will explore insightful answers with leading experts. Please pay attention to our website and WeChat platform (nextquestion)!
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Astrocytes improve decision-making
Recent data from Dr. Perea’s group suggested that, apart from the role of astrocytes in the maintenance of synaptic transmission, these cells can sense and respond to synaptically released inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. Yet, astrocyte-neuron communication in brain circuits and its behavioral outcome remained unknown. This study aimed at investigating whether astrocytes actively participate in information […]
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How the brain decides to make an effort
Neuroscientists have provided clear visual evidence that a region of the human brain known as the ventral striatum kicks in during decision-making to weigh the costs versus the benefits of making a physical effort. Nature Human Behavior published the research by scientists at Emory University. It gives the first detailed view of ventral striatum activity […]
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Brain waves guide us in spotlighting surprises
By measuring thousands of neurons along the surface, or cortex, of the brain in animals as they reacted to predictable and surprising images, the researchers observed that low frequency alpha and beta brain waves, or rhythms, originating in the brain’s frontal cognitive regions tamped down neural activity associated with predictable stimuli. That paved the way […]
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The Agent Brain: A Review of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Studies on Sensing Agency
According to philosophy of mind and neuroscientific models, the sense of agency can be defined as the sense that I am the one that is generating an action and causing its effects. Such ability to sense ourselves as causal agents is critical for the definition of intentional behavior and is a primary root for human […]
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Folk intuitions and the conditional ability to do otherwise
In a series of preregistered studies, we explore (a) the difference between people’s intuitions about indeterministic scenarios and their intuitions about deterministic scenarios; (b) the difference between people’s intuitions about indeterministic scenarios and their intuitions about neuro-deterministic scenarios (i.e., scenarios where the determinism is described at the neurological level); (c) the difference between people’s intuitions […]
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Neural precursors of decisions that matter—an ERP study of deliberate and arbitrary choice
The seminal Libet experiments proposed that consciousness may not be part of the causal role leading to action, and thus that humans might generally make decisions unconsciously. However, the Libet experiments were carried out on arbitrary decisions (e.g., raising the left or right hand for no reason or purpose). This paper demonstrates that the Libet […]
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‘Happy ending effect’ can bias future decisions, say scientists
Humans are hard-wired to prefer experiences that end well, and the influence of previous experience declines the longer ago it happened. This means we can’t always trust that choices we make based on previous experience will serve our best interests in the future. New research, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, has revealed that […]