Most Popular
1500 questions
15
votes
3 answers
What causes people to feel depressed without there being a problem?
I have noticed that some people have lives that appear perfectly fine, yet they feel depressed. In my specific case the feeling typically lasts for a few days and then magically disappears, only to reappear a couple of weeks later.
In the absence…
Simon Verbeke
- 253
- 1
- 5
14
votes
2 answers
Does high IQ correlate with good social skills?
Are people with a high IQ more likely to have good social abilities? Are they more likely to be popular?
Wikipedia lists that IQ helps with school performance, job performance and income. It's possible to be good at those things without interacting…
Christian
- 896
- 1
- 6
- 18
14
votes
5 answers
Why do humans need emotions?
If the emotions' only purpose is to stimulate certain behavior, why can't this task just as effectively, or even more effectively be done by the reasoning part of the brain?
Are emotions really necessary for survival?
Slava
- 243
- 2
- 7
14
votes
2 answers
What factors improve mood and increase cognitive functioning when people wake up?
I'm a software engineer doing some research in order to figure out if developing some applications are worth the effort. This work is applied to computational devices including mobile devices and even smart houses.
I would like to know when people…
bmartins
- 243
- 1
- 5
14
votes
2 answers
Has there been any serious research on subliminal messaging?
I certainly don't question the existence of subliminal perception which has been demonstrated many times in priming studies like those of Daniel Schacter and many others, nor do I reject the notion of the cognitive unconscious introduced by…
Lazaros Mitskopoulos
- 855
- 1
- 7
- 26
14
votes
2 answers
Game-theory strategies to overcome holdout problem?
The hold-out problem often occurs in debt-restructuring or in urban development.
The hold-out problem is defined where an agent, for example a land developer, must negotiate with many lot owners and each lot owner must provide their consent in order…
Quant Guy
14
votes
1 answer
How to get rid of subvocalization?
When I read a text written in latin alphabet and I want to understand what it means I usually
transform each word into spoken word (internal speech) and
then I transform it into meaning.
I can't get rid of the first phase and reduce the reading…
xralf
- 373
- 7
- 16
14
votes
3 answers
How distantly related are research in computational neuroscience and neural networks/machine learning?
If one is more interested in understanding how algorithms in the biological brain solve problems (theoretically, particularly the mathematical aspect), and possibly in building brain-inspired computation (applied theory, particularly neurorobotics),…
Xingdong Zuo
- 439
- 2
- 8
14
votes
1 answer
What are biological primary mathematical skills?
In doing a bit of background reading for this question I came across a section in the book Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind on page 602 stating:
There are no sex-related differences in biological primary mathematical skills, even in…
Matt Ellen
- 864
- 6
- 17
14
votes
1 answer
How does neural spiking begin in the fetus?
I'm interested in modeling human brain spiking activity. How does the very first spiking activity begin in the fetus?
I imagine all spiking activity is initiated by the senses and internal oscillators. Am I right? Or are there other initiators of…
John Pick
- 2,193
- 1
- 19
- 23
14
votes
3 answers
In what ways can neurons fire randomly?
When developing a model of a biologically-plausible neural network, it is important to know all the circumstances under which neurons can fire. But, I am limiting this question to random firing. In what ways, if any, can neurons fire randomly, i.e.,…
John Pick
- 2,193
- 1
- 19
- 23
14
votes
5 answers
Why are most people not persuaded by rational arguments?
The sentence could look as a provocation for many people, but the thoughts are not always rational and linear. But why this happens? Is it possible to give a short answer?
"Counter to what you might think consciously, few people are really persuaded…
Revious
- 1,429
- 14
- 33
14
votes
1 answer
Are there recent theories on physiognomy?
What are recent theories on the relation between personality and facial or body shape, and are there studies to support them?
See Wikipedia on physiognomy and somatotypes & constitutional psychology for background.
I would be most happy if you could…
user3116
14
votes
2 answers
What transient factors affect performance on IQ tests?
While performance on intelligence tests aim to measure an underlying relatively stable trait, there are presumably a range of transient factors that could temporarily lower or possibly even raise scores on such tests.
Possible factors might be:…
InquilineKea
- 2,317
- 17
- 33
14
votes
1 answer
What do anatomical substrates of conditioned taste aversion tell us about treatment?
Conditioned taste aversions (CTAs) or Garcia effect are a byproduct of feeling ill after we've consumed a certain food. These aversions is present even if the illness is not related to ingestion and are difficult to extinguish in humans. This makes…
Chuck Sherrington
- 7,112
- 4
- 43
- 83