People are fascinated by the topic of déjà vu, or the feeling that one is reliving some prior experience. The déjà vu phenomenon has been investigated by psychologists throughout the history of the discipline, and a number of theories — neurological, supernatural, pathological, and otherwise — have been proposed to explain its presumed occurrence.

A team of Dutch researchers, led by Herman Sno, have investigated the topic at length in recent years. Sno and his colleagues argue that the déjà vu experience can be examined using the hologram as a model. In holographic photography, each piece of an image contains the full information necessary to reproduce the image, a property that gives holographic images their three-dimensional qualities. T ...

The stress response exists for the purpose of survival. When we experience stress, our sympathetic nervous system activates, blood pressure and heart rate increase, and often we begin to sweat. These physiological reactions prepare us for "fight or flight." Our bodies are at optimal physical performance and alertness levels, and we are therefore optimized for survival in a physically challenging situation. Sometimes we use this physiological activation to our advantage: Consider a champion weightlifter who, prior to lifting an extremely heavy weight, "pumps himself up." By doing this, the weightlifter is attempting behaviorally to elicit a stress response from his brain and body in order to achieve the highest level of physical performance ...

The fear of heights experienced by acrophobics is no small matter; tall buildings, airplane rides, bridges, even stepladders may present a paralyzing challenge. A new therapeutic approach, however, can help to lessen the anxiety experienced by acrophobics.

Ralph Lamsen, of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, uses virtual reality to desensitize acrophobes to their fear. The virtual world experienced through the helmet, glove, and handgrip presents a series of challenges relevant to the phobic situation. For example, clients are presented with a plank they must cross, an experience that usually produces elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Clients are encouraged to progress at a comfortable pace, staying at the edge of the plank until read ...

What's the difference between a child with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and one who is simply more active than other children?

Many children are rambunctious, to an extent that their parents or teachers find somewhat worrisome. Figuring out how to distinguish between normal high-energy levels and pathological overactivity can be quite difficult. Furthermore, the distinction can be complicated by parental tendencies to be permissive and to fail to set up clear rules, reprimands, or restrictions for when a child steps outside the limits.

Figuring out how to make this distinction is not a trivial issue. Children diagnosed with ADHD are usually prescribed methylphenidate (Ritalin) or other medications that lessen their activity ...

Have you ever felt awkward staring into a person's eyes while holding up a conversation? It turns out that there is a good scientific reason why some of us struggle with this. Research tells us that staring while trying to come up with the right words actually uses the same mental resources as sustaining eye contact.

Scientists from Kyoto University in Japan put this to the test in 2016 by having 26 volunteers play word association games while staring at computer-generated faces. When making eye contact, the participants found it harder to come up with links between words, suggesting that there is interference between these processes.

The volunteers were tested while looking at both animations of faces making eye contact and animations of fac ...

A supertaster is a individual who lives in a more intense taste world because they have up to twice as many taste buds than the average person. Among individuals of European descent, it is estimated that about 25% of the population are supertasters.

The evolutionary advantage to supertasting is unclear. In some environments, heightened taste response, particularly to bitter plant alkaloids, would represent an important advantage. However, other environments, increased response to bitter may have limited the range palatable goods. In our modern energy rich environment, supertasting may be cardioprotective, due to decreased liking and intake of fat, but may increase cancer risk via deceased vegetable intake. It may be a cause of picky eating ...

While a baby's experiences and memories are vital to his/her development, most of us can't remember what we did before our third birthday. Why is that?

It may be that as babies we just don't have the necessary mental equipment to store and organize memories properly, a hypothesis strengthened by the famous case of Henry Molaison. Molaison was unable to remember any new events that happened to him after a faulty brain operation. Though he still had temporary short-term memory and could learn new skills, he couldn't retain information for long.

We know that neurons continue to be added to our brains in our early years, and it's possible that when this building process has finished, memories can start to form.

Another hypothesis is that our sense ...

Could the most widely used personality questionnaire simply be a farce?

In case you don't know, the Myers-Briggs test is an assessment test believed by many to measure psychological preferences in how they perceive things and help them in making decisions. According to the Myers-Briggs test, there exist sixteen different types of personalities. This Myers Briggs Test has a series of questions that require your answers, which in turn determine the type of personality you have and provides you with general assumptions concerning how your personality type best suits you.

Back in year-3 of my undergrad., I had to spend $20 to take the test for an assignment I had to write. While it was interesting to note how my personality could be read throug ...

Would someone feel more calm after seeing the colour blue? Or perhaps they would feel more aggressive after having seen the colour red?

Swiss psychiatrist, Max Lüscher, had completed a study in the 20th century that linked colour preference to your personality and your mental state. His belief was further hardwired after an experiment concluded that 151 out of 153 people were weaker after looking at the pink card, when compared to how strong they were when they had looked at the blue card.

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Perhaps one of my favourite TEDtalks. Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions - and even our own body chemistry - simply by changing body positions. Her take-home message is simple, instead of faking it till you make it and living a life as an impostor, you must fake it till you become it.

Which of these faces looks more trustworthy to you?

Science says that some people just get away with more stuff, because they have more trustworthy looking faces.

A trustworthy face, as psychologists have determined over years of research in this area, has two major characteristics: The eyebrows are slightly lifted, so that together, they form a kind of upside-down V shape; likewise, the corners of the mouth are also lifted slightly. An untrustworthy face, on the other hand, is the opposite: The eyebrows point slightly downward, forming a V shape, and the corners of the mouth are turned down a bit, too.

Source: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/01/some-faces-just-get-away-with-stuff.html ...

Learning about how to become an elephant is almost synonymous with learning how to rediscover what it means to be human. Understanding elephants and saving elephants is a lesson in humanity. So many traits that are innate in elephants are those that we humans strive to be and possess. The "Elephant Lessons" take what we learn about elephant minds, culture and lives and applies it to our own everyday living to cultivate elephant qualities that are within each of us. Today's Lesson focuses on the Importance of Family.
 
Dame Daphne Sheldrick (photo shown above), the founder and director of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, has lived in Kenya and has been hand-rearing baby and orphaned elephants for over thirty years. She notes that they share ...

No one wants to be sad. So why do we love listening to sad songs so much? New research suggests that we're drawn to sad songs because they evoke mostly positive emotions, which is great for our mental health.

According to the study published by the journal PLOS One, researchers found that "a wide range of complex and partially positive emotions, such as nostalgia, peacefulness, tenderness, transcendence, and wonder," were brought out in the participants that took part in the study by sad music. These are emotions are all healthy, feel-good emotions. The researchers concluded that "Music-evoked sadness plays a role in well-being, by providing consolation as well as regulating negative moods and emotions."

Source: http://www.plosone.org/article ...

To simulate life on Mars, a six-person crew will live in a dome in the middle of the desert—with almost no connection to the outside world—for eight straight months.

Don't ask questions, just get on. Genets are small, mongoose-like felines found in Africa - and this one has been caught on camera hitching rides from at least two different species over the past month. This is the first time this behaviour has ever been seen in the mammal...

Are you superstitious of the number 13? Some people are so extreme, it's an actual phobia called triskaidekaphobia. Weird.

Pareidolia is a phenomenon that allows us to "see" faces and other objects in completely unrelated objects and settings. Carl Sagan theorized that this provided an evolutionary advantage, as it allows humans to better recognize each other, even under poor visual circumstances. The important thing to remember is that even though these images may seem significant and life-changing, they aren't. It's all just a really fun figment of your imagination.