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Neuroscience’s New Toolbox

July 2014

With the invention of optogenetics and other technologies, researchers can investigate the source of emotions, memory, and consciousness for the first time.

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Letter from the editor

Peering Inside the Workings of the Brain

Features

Categorized in 17035
Neuroscience’s New Toolbox
With the invention of optogenetics and other technologies, researchers can investigate the source of emotions, memory, and consciousness for the first time.
Categorized in 17035
Shining Light on Madness
Drugs for psychiatric illnesses aren’t very effective. But new research is offering renewed hope for better medicines.
Categorized in Biotechnology
Cracking the Brain’s Codes
How does the brain speak to itself?
Categorized in 17035
The Thought Experiment
In a remarkable study, a paralyzed woman used her mind to control a robotic arm. If only there were a realistic way to get this technology out of the lab and into real life.
Categorized in 17035
Searching for the “Free Will” Neuron
Gabriel Kreiman’s single-neuron measurements of unconscious decision-making may not topple Descartes, but they could someday point to ways we can learn to control ourselves.
Categorized in 17035
What Am I Thinking About You?
Knowing how the brain deals with other people could lead to smarter computers.
Categorized in Humans and technology
The Importance of Feelings
The neuroscientist Antonio Damasio explains how minds emerge from emotions and feelings.
Categorized in 17035
The Promise and Perils of Manipulating Memory
Fundamental discoveries about the nature of memory could lead to new treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and anxiety.

Also in this issue
- Malware on the Move
  As mobile devices are used to perform more financial transactions, cybercriminals are taking greater interest.
  Categorized in 17032
- My Life, Logged
  If a device could capture every moment in life for your easy recall later, would you want it to? There are plenty of things I’d rather forget.
  Categorized in 17032
- A Plan B for Climate Agreements
  U.N. negotiations are going nowhere, and greenhouse-gas emissions are soaring. It’s time to move on.
  Categorized in 17037
- Imposing Security
  Computer programmers won’t stop making dangerous errors on their own. It’s time they adopted an idea that makes the physical world safer.
  Categorized in 17032
- Reading the Mind
  A 1961 essay speculated on where research into the physical basis of thinking and communication might eventually lead.
  Categorized in 17035

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