Brains!

Mind Reading

Slate’s special issue on the brain.

Welcome to “Brains!”, Slate’s special issue on mind science and the state of neuro-culture. Over the next few days, we’ll present a series of articles about how laboratory research on the brain makes its way into our daily lives.

Wednesday, William Saletan revisits the most compelling brain-related stories of the year, from mind-reading fMRI scans to the effects of brain damage on morality. Max Linsky heads to the local brain gym for a neurobic workout—and ends up in a battle of wits with a woman 50 years his senior. Meghan O’Rourke sits down and assesses the growing trend toward neurological self-improvement, and Brendan I. Koerner explains how Jerry Falwell and a Nobel Prize-winning chemist helped make ginkgo biloba the top-selling brain-enhancing supplement. Finally, we ask a panel of eminent scientists—like Steven Pinker and Oliver Sacks—to explain how learning about the brain has changed the way they behave from day to day.

Thursday, we’ll round out the issue with two explorations of “neurotheology”—the study of how the brain generates (and responds to) religious experience. George Johnson begins in the solemn contemplation of a dried fruit: “After days of talks by physicists and theologians seeking cosmological justification for their spiritual beliefs, the close encounter with the raisin brought us back to earth.” And John Horgan dons a transcranial magnetic stimulator, and strains to see an angel or a ghost. Update: We also have Michelle Tsai on what happens to your brain when you hit age 70, and Alison Gopnik on the myth of “mirror neurons”—the cells that are supposed to help us read minds.

How Smart Is Grandpa?: How much can you expect from a septuagenarian brain?” by Michelle Tsai. Posted Thursday, April 26, 2007.

Cells That Read Minds?: What the myth of mirror neurons gets wrong about the human brain,” by Alison Gopnik. Posted Thursday, April 26, 2007.

God Is in the Dendrites: Can ‘neurotheology’ bridge the gap between religion and science?” By George Johnson. Posted Thursday, April 26, 2007.

Spirit Tech: How to wire your brain for religious ecstasy,” by John Horgan. Posted Thursday, April 26, 2007.

Train Your Brain:  The new mania for neuroplasticity,” by Meghan O’Rourke. Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2007.

Ginkgo Biloba? Forget About It.: A history of the top-selling brain enhancer,” by Brendan I. Koerner. Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2007.

Brain Lessons: Steven Pinker, Oliver Sacks, and others on how learning about their brains changed the way they live.” Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2007.

Best of the Brain: The five biggest neuroscience developments of the year,” by William Saletan. Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2007.

Brain-Gym Showdown: Can a Slate reporter hold his own at the local neurobics club?” by Max Linsky. Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2007.