Neuroscience Research

What's more accurate than asking people to predict their behavior? According to a new study at UCLA, the answer is, "Scan their brains." This may not come as a surprise to those engaged in neuromarketing research, but the newly published…

In a fascinating study just published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have shown that we make buying decisions even when we aren't paying attention to the products, and that fMRI observation of brain activity can predict these…

Would you prefer a scented pencil? How about a tennis ball? Tires? You might not care, or even prefer to avoid the olfactory assault altogether, but research shows you'll remember the product better if it has a scent.

Few doubt that branding messages can be powerful, but new research shows that even when consumers don't recall the specific message, their preferences can be shaped to the point where they reject new information that conflicts with their…

I've written a few times about the effects of pictures of attractive women on decision-making by men. In Bikinis, Babes, and Buying, we learned that guys who looked at pictures of bikini-clad women made impulsive decisions. In A Pretty…

In American Idol, Neuromarketing Style I noted that the Fox show I'd really like to see brain activity for was the ultra-intense drama 24. The combination of suspense, rapid-fire action, and occasional brutality would make for some…

Brain scans using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) don't always get a lot of respect. They have been accused of being used to produce research that is colorful but not particularly insightful. One study used fMRI to find…

One of the key factors in the human brain's ability to change via neuroplasticity is that neurons form interconnections based on simultaneous firing over a period of time. According to Norman Doidge, author of The Brain That Changes…

Book Review: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge For centuries, the human brain was considered largely immutable after childhood. We were told that we had all the…

We'd all like to think better, but few of us have the time or desire to, say, spend years in a Tibetan monastery learning to meditate. Past studies have shown that such extended training can indeed improve cognitive functioning. Remarkable…