Irony seen through the eye of MRI

A French team has shown that the activation of the ToM neural network increases when an individual is reacting to ironic statements. Published in Neuroimage, these findings represent an important breakthrough in the study of Theory of Mind and linguistics, shedding light on the mechanisms involved in interpersonal communication.

In our communications with others, we are constantly thinking beyond the basic meaning of words. For example, if asked, “Do you have the time?” one would not simply reply, “Yes.” The gap between what is said and what it means is the focus of a branch of linguistics called pragmatics. In this science, “Theory of Mind” (ToM) gives listeners the capacity to fill this gap. In order to decipher the meaning and intentions hidden behind what is said, even in the most casual conversation, ToM relies on a variety of verbal and non-verbal elements: the words used, their context, intonation, “body language,” etc.

Musicians’ Brains Might Have an Edge on Aging

It’s been said that music soothes the savage beast, but if you’re the one playing the instrument it might benefit your brain.

A growing body of evidence suggests that learning to play an instrument and continuing to practice and play it may offer mental benefits throughout life. Hearing has also been shown to be positively affected by making music.

Intelligence: Brain size matters, but so do connections

Measuring human intelligence may be controversial and oh-so-very-tricky to do. The latest study underscores a growing appreciation among neuroscientists for the importance of the brain’s “white matter” — fat-covered clusters of axons that string neurons and the brain’s two hemispheres together— in brain function.

Cancer May Result From Wrong Number of Genes

When a young person develops cancer, doctors most often assume that genetics are the reason, because the patient hasn’t lived long enough to accumulate environmental damage. But it’s been hard to find the faulty DNA behind many tumors. Now, using new genomic technology, scientists have discovered a novel explanation for some testicular cancers, the most common cause of cancer in men under 35. Rather than being triggered by a single gene mutation, the tumors are caused by too many or too few copies of a gene in a person’s cells. These “copy number variations” have been linked to other conditions such as autism, but never before to cancer.

The psychological techniques we use to avoid each other on the bus

A sociologist who rode coach buses for three years has codified the unspoken rules of avoiding total strangers.

"We live in a world of strangers, where life in public spaces feels increasingly anonymous," said sociologist Esther Kim of Yale University in a press release. “However, avoiding other people actually requires quite a lot of effort and this is especially true in confined spaces like public transport.”

Fixing the way we fix the brain

Of all the health challenges humans face, few are as insidious as those that involve the death or dysfunction of cells in our brains. These illnesses, a category known as neurodegenerative disease, take from us the very things that make us who we are — our thoughts and our memories, our ability to recognize loved ones, control of our bodies, even our cognitive identity.

For most, diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s attack slowly, leading us down a slope of gradually deteriorating mental or physical function that current scientific methods are able to diagnose only after debilitating symptoms have set in. Even if discovered early, there is no way to prevent their onset, no way to reverse the damage, and no cures.

Driven by the desperate need for better understanding and treatments, a coalition of academic researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and state government is now coming together to confront this challenge in a novel way.

Is the singularity near, or is it already history?

The Singularity is Near is a hybrid of documentary and drama, co-directed by Kurzweil, that tries to explain the why and how of its title. Kurzweil’s alter ego, an animated character called Ramona, illustrates the evolutionary arc of thinking machines. She starts out as a primitive, choppy animation but gradually acquires consciousness.

As Ramona goes about her life, at one point seeing a clinical psychologist, her story is interwoven with documentary footage of Kurzweil explaining why the singularity is near. He tells us how machines are becoming atom-sized and how we are already implanting devices into the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease.