When we open our eyes, it is very easy for us to see the different objects, people and animals around us. Traditionally, the dominant view in research has been that a central goal of our perception is to recognize objects and assign them to different categories - for example, is this object we see a dog and do dogs belong to the category of…
It is widely known in neuroscience that males have larger brains than females on average. However, how the brain differs functionally between the sexes is less well understood. Based on the premise that brain structure supports function, Bianca Serio and Sofie Valk from MPI CBS in Leipzig and Forschungszentrum Jülich investigated whether sex…
Mental illness often occurs for the first time during puberty and in young adulthood. This is because during adolescent brain development, a pronounced remodeling of cognitive networks takes place. On the one hand, this remodeling promotes the maturation of more complex cognitive functions and the ability to fit into the social environment. On the…
Although the brain is divided into two halves, it is not exactly a mirror image. Some functions are processed more on the left side, others more on the right. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) and Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ), together with an international team of neuroscientists, have now…
Sometimes we just can't resist, the temptation is too great. Before we know it, the family-size pack of gummy bears is empty or our shopping cart is full to bursting. Young children find it even more difficult than adults to resist this impulse. Between the ages of three and four this ability for self-control makes a decisive developmental leap…
A natural disaster, a dented car, an injured person - memories of traumatic experiences can be controlled by deliberately suppressing the images that arise. Until now, however, it was unclear what happens to the memory in the process and how the process is reflected in the brain. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) have now shown: The memories of the experiences fade and their traces in the brain are less strongly reactivated when we try to remember them.
Martin Hebart from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences has been awarded one of the coveted 1.5 million euro grants from the European Research Council. Over the next five years the cognitive neuroscientist wants to determine which visual features our brains use to recognize objects.
Mental training that promotes skills such as mindfulness, gratitude or compassion reduces the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in hair. This is what scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and the Social Neuroscience Research Group of the Max Planck Society in Berlin have found out. The…
As we get older, we find it increasingly difficult to have the right words ready at the right moment - even though our vocabulary actually grows continuously over the course of our lives. Until now, it was unclear why this is. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the University of Leipzig have now found…
In order to find our way in the world, we classify it into concepts, such as "telephone" or "cat". Until now, however, it was unclear how the brain retrieves these when we only encounter the word, that is when we do not see, hear, or feel the objects directly. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now…
Language, empathy, attention - as different as these abilities may be, one brain region is involved in all these processes: The inferior parietal lobe (IPL). Yet until now it was unclear exactly what role it plays in these profoundly human abilities. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now shown that…
Being able to feel empathy and to take in the other person's perspective – these are two abilities through which we understand what is going on in the other person's mind. Although both terms are in constant circulation, it is still unclear what exactly they describe and constitute. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and…