Topic: Cognitive Science

Why Old Habits Die Hard: What Every Manager Should Know

Managers have been known to tear their hair out in frustration of why employees can't change behaviors, and discard old habits. Recent brain research gives us more accurate reasons as to why and what managers need to do about it. The bottom line is that you can't force anyone to change. Any kind of pressure will produce more resistance and could end up being counterproductive.READ»

Of A Whole New Mind

Yesterday afternoon, I took the train down to Philadelphia to join the local Company of Friends group at the Charter High School for Architecture and Design. Why go so far just to turn around to head home in several hours? Dan Pink. ...READ»

What Makes a Product Cool

The Fast Interview: Steve Quartz on neuromarketing – and why iPods are like heroin.READ»

Management Rewired: What CAn Brain Science Tell Us About Leadership?

Research on how the human brain can affect behaviors--called neuroscience, or the popular term, brain science--has yet to be fully appreciated by leaders of organizations. That knowledge could have a significant impact on how leaders are trained and what they doREAD»

Management Wired: What Can Brain Science Tell Us About Leadership?

Research on how the human brain can affect behaviors--called neuroscience, or the popular term, brain science--has yet to be fully appreciated by leaders of organizations. That knowledge could have a significant impact on how leaders are trained and what they do. In the past few decades, Scientists have gained new and more accurate scientific views of human behavior, studying the human brain. Organizational change that takes into account the physiological nature of the brain and ways that predisposes people to resist or cooperate with leaders can be extremely useful for leaders.READ»

Why we need to use both sides of our brain

Previous brain research has shown that the brain is divided into the left and right hemispheres, each with different functions and perspectives on reality. Yet recent brain research has shown the functional division is not as we thought, and that language, imaging, and reasoning is served by both hemispheres. Yet, our society has favored left brain thinking and perspectives, at the expense of the right brain, with some negative consequences.READ»

The Prophetic Brain

Over the past decade, neuroscience has revealed that rather than acting as a filter that simply maps sensation onto action, the brain behaves like an "inference machine" that tries to discover patterns within data by refining a model ...READ»

Born To Be Good - Mirror Neurons Help Us Empathize

 Several months ago, I was browsing through a bookstore in Seattle looking for something to read on my flight back across the country.  After having spent eight hours on stage working to keep a mental step ahead of 250 ...READ»

Brain scientists make the case for "survival of the kindest."

Researchers are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are hard-wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, these scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate, empathetic and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive.READ»

This Is Your Brain on Architecture

Neuroscientists are uncovering how the design of your home or office can make you smarter, faster, happier. Is brain science the next big design trend?READ»

How Can Putting Feelings Into Words Help You Perform Better?

Why does putting our feelings into words--such as talking with a therapist, counselor or coach, or even writing in a journal--help you feel better? A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists, as reported in Psychological Science, may give us the answer. This research combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings, which focus on what is known as "mindfulness" or the ability to live in the present moment without distractionREAD»

My brain made me do it: Neuroscience and the workplace

As scientists continue to explore how the brain works, it seems likely that new findings will radically alter the traditional understanding of human nature and that will have enormous implications for the legal system and the workplace. One aspect of human nature being questioned by brain science is the concept of free will. The essential question is: Is our feeling of self-control merely an illusion created by our brains? If the answer is yes, what happens to our understanding of free will and moral responsibility?READ»

How do we really make decisions?

Most people, particularly those in scientific and professional fields, as well as a majority of the population, would like to believe that we make good decisions in our personal and professional lives based on deliberative, logical thinking. It appears that nothing can be further from the truth.READ»

Insight on Insight

A team of cognitive neuroscientists, including two from Northwestern University, have connected an increase in neural activity in the brain's right temporal lobe with problems solved using insight. Mark Jung-Beeman comments that ...READ»

How do we really make decisions?

Most people, particularly those in scientific and professional fields, as well as a majority of the population, would like to believe that we make good decisions in our personal and professional lives based on deliberative, logical thinking. It appears that nothing can be further from the truth.READ»

This is Your Brain on Creativity

I was reading the great blog Noise Between Stations this morning and came across a link to what looks like an interesting article in Scientific American Mind. After reading Alan Deutschman's May cover story, "Change or Die," I'm ...READ»

This is Jeff Hawkins on Brains

The man -- and inspiration -- behind the PalmPilot.READ»

Barack Obama Is Tapping Into Your Brain

The best communicators are the ones who can create and share a strong narrative story. The best novels are the ones with the most interesting plot and the best speeches are the ones that arouse an emotional response from a ...READ»

How to motivate employees: What do we know?

How many management articles, books, speeches and workshops have pleaded plaintively, "How do I get employees to do what I want Motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an enduring challenge for executives and managers. Even understanding what constitutes human motivation has been a centuries old puzzle, addressed as far back as Aristotle.READ»

Metaphor Marketing

Harvard Business School professor Jerry Zaltman makes pictures that reveal our deepest feelings about your favorite brands. Can he scan your brain and unlock the images that lie within?READ»

Neuroscience Sheds New Light on Creativity

What neuroscience reveals about how to come up with new ideas.READ»

• 10 Rules of Effective Brainstorming
• Ponzo Scheme
• Iconoclasts

Social Networking and the Brain: Continuous Partial Empathy?

Human beings are social animals; we devote a significant portion of our brain just to dealing with interactions with other humans. It should come as no surprise, then, that social Web technologies have a complex relationship with ...READ»

Careers: How Do I Work This?

In the coming Conceptual Age, contends author Dan Pink, creative "right-brain" thinkers gain leverage with corporations while linear "left-brain" thinkers, dominant in the Information Age, become more of a commodity. In A Whole New ...READ»

In Today's Papers

From the clip file: A Big Star May Not a Profitable Movie Make "'Superstar economics' may not add up" The Brains Behind Creativity "How does the human brain create an evocative haiku, a beautiful painting, a sculpture or even a ...READ»

How to motivate employees: What do we know?

Motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an enduring challenge for executives and managers. Even understanding what constitutes human motivation has been a centuries old puzzle, addressed as far back as Aristotle. Now brain science is giving us some new insights into motivation.READ»