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Two people look at a scientifically based recreation of a Neanderthal man’s head, adorned with feathers and fur, enclosed in a glass case at a museum. The setting is under strong indoor lighting with a blue wall background.

Communication and language

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This is what a Neanderthal conversation would have sounded like

Neanderthals had language, but it differed from ours in an important way that could help explain our superior art and tech

by Steven Mithen

A young couple in handcuffs lean against a 1950s police car beneath a brooding prairie sky

Mind and brain

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What films and literature reveal about the voice in your head

Inner speech is mysterious and hard to study. But movie voiceovers and introspective novels offer fresh ways to understand it

by Shayla Love

A man in a white robe walks down a staircase with an ornate iron railing in a stone building. Sunlight streams through the large windows.

Spirituality and religion

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A monk showed me that spirituality needs more space in medicine

As a doctor, I’ve seen how brain diseases can become entwined with spiritual pain. Who is responsible for addressing it?

by Michael P H Stanley

People walking on a city street bathed in sunlight, with American flags hanging on buildings in the background. Shadows are cast on the pavement, and tall buildings line the street, creating a dramatic, contrasting light and shadow effect.

Death and dying

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Why so many of us see our loved ones after they have died

These experiences – which are more of an illusion than a hallucination – can be a healthy part of the grieving process

by Shayla Love

Many commuters walk towards the camera with varying degrees of blurred faces

Mind and brain

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What is it like to remember all the faces you’ve ever seen?

They’ve been studied by researchers and recruited by police forces, but what’s it actually like to be a super-recogniser?

by Shayla Love

A close up of a vibrant yellow-gold tulip flower

History of ideas

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I smell, therefore I am. On the philosophy of the olfactory

To truly grip us, philosophy must engage with the practical and animalistic. It’s time to stop turning its nose up at smell

by Simon Hajdini

An art installation with bright yellow-and-blue paintings by Vincent van Gogh projected onto walls and floors, with a person standing in the background.

The self

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Boost your self-understanding with a navigational approach

Physical and mental navigation involve overlapping brain processes, casting new light on the notion of an ‘inner journey’

by Nick Kabrél

The Disney cartoon boy Pinocchio depicted with his nose having grown long as he tells a lie

Communication and language

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These are the mental processes required to tell a convincing lie

The cognitive work involved in lying is relevant to lie detection and could help explain why some people are better liars

by Molly MacMillan

A grey car is parked next to a purple brick wall with some plants growing at the base. The sky is overcast and buildings are in the background.

Mind and brain

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This is how your brain distinguishes reality from imagination

In terms of brain activity, imagining something is very similar to seeing it, so why don’t you confuse the two more often?

by Shayla Love

A couple embracing by a waterfront at sunset, with city lights and a colourful sky in the background.

The body and physical health

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How ‘stirrings of the heart’ shape your experience of time

New research is showing the embodied nature of time perception and how it can fluctuate in tune with the heart’s beats

by Shayla Love

A display of multiple white masks with various facial expressions arranged in rows, with a brick wall visible through an oval gap in the centre.

Imagination

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In the architecture of the mind, where lies human imagination?

In the architecture of the mind, is imagination a built-in structural feature or a result of cognitive remodelling work?

by Michael Omoge

Medical imaging scan showing the internal organs of a human torso, including intestines highlighted in blue and other organs in shades of red and orange.

Mind and brain

idea

To grasp how serotonin works on the brain, look to the gut

A new perspective uses an analogy between digestion and cognition to help explain the function of a key neurochemical

by James M Shine