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Your Brain Knows The Difference Between Metaphors and Similes, Even if You Don’t
Much to the chagrin of my high school English teacher, my classmates and I always got our metaphors and similes mixed up. But take heart, Mrs. Potter! It turns out that our brains did understand that there are differences between the two: Midori Shibata and colleagues at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan, asked 24 men [...]
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Your Cousin, the Blade of Grass: Brian Cox on the Wonders of Life
"All science is provisional." Brain Pickings takes 450+ hours a month to curate and edit across the different platforms, and remains banner-free. If it brings you any joy and inspiration, please consider a modest donation – it lets ... Read Post
Brain Sex Differences In Gene Expression Start Early
Cognitive differences in the brain start early. Y chromosome genes turn on and alter brain development in fetuses before birth. Prenatal sex-based biological differences extend to genetic expression in cerebral cortices. The differe... Read Post
Aging Brains May Benefit More From Mediterranean Than Low Fat Diet
Brain power in older people at risk for vascular dementia seems to improve more from a Mediterranean diet with added mixed nuts or extra virgin olive oil than from a low-fat diet that is typically followed to prevent heart attack an... Read Post