Hot on the heels of learning that more expensive wine tastes better, we find that more expensive placebos are more effective at controlling pain:The investigators had 82 men and women rate the pain caused by electric shocks applied to their wrist, before and after taking a pill. Half the participants had read that the pill, described as a newly…

South Korean researchers have conducted an fMRI study that shows that perfume can arouse some men. Shocking news, eh? Eight healthy right-handed heterosexual…

With Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination, will one or the other turn to sensory branding,…

Can some scents reduce stress? Brain scientists are now confirming what herbalists and aroma researchers have long believed. Japanese researchers, using…

In Brain Rules by John Medina, one of the more amusing anecdotes is an informal experiment by Medina on the potency of scent to enhance the formation of…

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina (Pear Press, 320 pages) is a highly readable guide to using the…

Behavioral economics and neuroeconomics are closely related fields, rather in the same way that psychology and neuroscience are related. It seems that Democrat…

Since the early days of advertising, it's been axiomatic that pictures of babies grab the attention of readers more effectively than any other kind of image.…

Is Scratch 'n Sniff Starbucks in our future? No industry focuses as much on olfactory marketing as the coffee business. Starbucks recently dumped its…

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is saddled with an unfortunate middle name, “Hussein.” Not only is it the name of one of the most brutal and…