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Introduction: The Human Brain
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, and perhaps the most remarkable. Start finding out how it works with our beginner's guide
LATEST ARTICLES
Fluid societies powered human evolution
19:00 10 March 2011
Human hunter-gatherer societies swap members more flexibly than groups of other animals do – could that have driven the rise in brainpower?
Boy brain, girl brain: How the sexes act differently
11:57 08 March 2011 | 24 comments
We've found real differences in the ways men and women think and behave – but which ones matter? New Scientist puts things in perspective
Lack of sleep makes for a more reckless bet
22:00 07 March 2011
Losing a single night's sleep alters a gambler's strategy, even if they are still feeling sharp
The brain engineer: Shining a light on consciousness
17:44 04 March 2011 | 14 comments
Neuroengineer Ed Boyden has a vision: to understand the brain, treat neural conditions and figure out the basis of human existence
Lab-grown neurons might repair Alzheimer's brains
13:04 04 March 2011 | 5 comments
Alzheimer's disease kills brain cells vital for memory – now we can make new ones from human embryonic stem cells, raising hopes of transplants
TALENT
The outer limits of the human brain
How do the most gifted and talented brains stand out from the crowd? New Scientist discovers what grey matter is like at the outer limits of human achievement
MORE HUMAN BRAIN
Ideas conjure up colour for swimming synaesthete
12:01 01 March 2011 | 2 comments
Even the mere thought of swimming evokes different colours for two people with synaesthesia
When the mind's eye processes language
20:00 28 February 2011
In people blind from birth, the visual cortex adopts complex language processing duties
Does the comfort of conformity ease thoughts of death?
16:31 25 February 2011 | 19 comments
Functional MRI suggests that as death approaches, the need to belong to a group and be near loved ones may be on your mind
Most 'locked-in' people are happy, survey finds
23:30 23 February 2011 | 2 comments
Largest-ever survey of quality of life challenges assumptions that locked-in people are all miserable and want to die
Mobile phones boost brain activity
12:23 23 February 2011
Brain activity near a phone's antenna increases during a call, but whether this is harmful is not known
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
How the human brain works
Find out how our brains make us feel fear, remember our lives and make decisions, with our animated graphic
SPECIAL FEATURE
Mind tricks: Six ways to explore your brain
New Scientist's guide to the simple techniques that will uncover the inner workings of your grey matter