Natalie Portman is best known for her acting, in films such as Star Wars and Cold Mountain. However, she isn’t just a pretty face and talented actress but also a keen student of Psychology, having studied for a degree in the subject at the prestigious Harvard University. While there she was the co-author of a journal article […]
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The Right Brain vs Left Brain test … do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise? If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you […]
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Several times it has been suggested that playing video/computer games trains the brain to become cognitively more skilled. This doesn’t refer to hand-eye coordination, but to memory, thinking, reasoning, decision-making skills. However this hypothesis has been challenged by researchers at the University of Illinois who had non-gamers as participants. These individuals played one of three […]
Read moreAnecdotal evidence suggests that many women feel that pregnancy produces memory problems and it has been suggested that this effect may affect 50%-80% of pregnant women. Earlier research showed a reduction of about 4% in brain size during pregnancy, but this returned to normal after giving birth. Further research showed a reduction in the volume […]
Read moreMany psychology students learn that the capacity of short-term memory is 7 ± 2. However in the cat book we review evidence that in fact it would be more accurate to say 4 ± 2 (see page 6, review by Cowan, 2001). In fact recent research has found that there is a link between this […]
Read moreJohn Bowlby proposed, in his theory of attachment, that humans are ‘hardwired’ to respond to social releasers from infants – they can’t help but respond to an infant’s smiles or cries of distress and this responsiveness is in our genes. New research has provided evidence of the brain circuitry involved in this response. Dr. Madoka […]
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