Alice in Videoland: Looking Through a Rectangular TV Window into an Alternative Universe

Sometimes, and not often enough, insights, understandings and new ideas just pop into your mind, unbidden. How? I have no idea but as the brain apparently operates somewhere on the quantum level, figuring out how it happens I suspect is and always will be impossible. Somehow, watching television interferes with this process, specifically the bit (or is it bits?) of the brain that can distinguish between fantasy and reality.'

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Illusion Gives People 'Out of Body Experiences'

A “body-swap” effect that convinces people they inhabit a different body from their own has been induced by scientists for the first time.

The experiment, in which volunteers were tricked into perceiving the bodies of other people or mannequins as their own, offers powerful new insights into how the brain constructs the sense of self. It also promises practical implications for treating body image disorders such as anorexia, for designing robotic technology and remote surgery tools, and even for developing better virtual reality games.

The illusion was created with a combination of special goggles and tactile stimulation, which fooled participants into sensing that they had moved into another body. The effect was so powerful that when a tailor’s dummy perceived as a volunteer’s body was threatened with a knife, he or she would exhibit physiological signs of stress, such as increased sweating. Even when the other body was a real person of a different sex or race, subjects said they felt a strong sense of ownership over it. “This shows how easy it is to change the brain’s perception of the physical self,” said Henrik Ehrsson, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who led the research.

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Neuroimaging Of Brain Shows Who Spoke To A Person And What Was Said

Scientists from Maastricht University have developed a method to look into the brain of a person and read out who has spoken to him or her and what was said. With the help of neuroimaging and data mining techniques the researchers mapped the brain activity associated with the recognition of speech sounds and voices.

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Here come the thought police!!!

Brain Stimulator Treats Depression By Beaming Magnetic Pulses Through The Skull

The U.S. government has approved the first non-invasive brain stimulator to treat depression - a device that beams magnetic pulses through the skull. The pulses trigger small electrical charges that spark brain cells to fire.

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Aspartame Destroys Brain learning Areas

If you wonder why so many children have ADD, it's because aspartame destroys the brain - especially in the area of learning. This is a study from Norway in 2001.

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The 'Thinking Cap' That Could Unlock Your Inner Genius And Boost Creativity

There is a theory that the spark of genius lurks hidden within all of us.
Now scientists are developing a 'thinking cap' that could turn that theory into practice and unlock the amazing potential of the human brain.
The device uses tiny magnetic pulses to change the way the brain works and has produced remarkable results in tests.

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I don't know about you but no-one is zapping my brain with anything !

Aspartame Consumption Again Linked to Degeneration of Brain Neurons

High intake of the artificial sweetener aspartame may lead to the degeneration of brain cells and various mental disorders, according to a research review conducted by South African scientists from the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo and published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition."We propose that excessive aspartame ingestion might be involved in the pathogenesis of certain mental disorders, and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning," the researchers concluded.The review of prior research found that aspartame, marketed as NutraSweet, Equal, Canderal and Tropicana Slim, leads to both direct and indirect changes in the brain when consumed in high quantities. Among these effects, the chemical can disrupt amino acid metabolism and structure, degrade nucleic acids, and interfere with the function of nerve cells and hormonal systems. It also appears to change the concentration of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.

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