Cognitive science

“We are largely products of our social networks,” says a Yale researcher involved in controlled tests of our decision making. Studies show our decisions aren’t truly our own to control. We are subconsciously changed by those around us, even if we don’t know them.

The words you hear as an infant can alter your brain in ways that stick with you as an adult, even if you can’t consciously recall the language you heard. Canadian researchers found traces of Chinese in the brain activity of kids who were adopted as infants from China.

When you go to the doctor you may get an eye test or a hearing test — but you never get a smell test. A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago may change that.

New research suggests that, despite this summer’s headlines, the world is actually more peaceful today than in recent history.

As summer ends, people are cramming in that much-needed vacation in increasing numbers. But not everyone is taking them, indeed a quarter of American workers get no paid time off. And that’s a problem for our brains.