Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [neurology]

Generally regarded as the center of the nervous system in most living beings.

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Disproving the 10% brain myth with empirical evidence

I am having a discussion with a friend trying to convince him that we do not use only %10 of our brains. I am aware of the answer here as well as the Snopes and Wikipedia pages (which actually have the exact same answer), as well as various other…
Sonny Ordell
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Does social media cause permanent damage to concentration capability?

In this TEDxtalk (transcript is here), the speaker claims that there is a growing amount of research that shows that spending large amounts of time on social media permanently damages the capability of the brain to concentrate: We have a growing…
qurio
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Do AVS/Psychowalkman/Mind Machine devices work?

There are plenty of so called Audio-Visual-Stimulation (AVS) tools you can buy on the market (used to be called Psychowalkman). They usually claim that it can stimulate brain with sound/visualization to increase mental abilities such as ability to…
user35854
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Why is the smell of flowers sensed in some situations?

Some people report sensing a flowery smell in some places or situations in which there are no flowers present. Those sensations are sometimes related to religious experiences. There are also claims that the sensation has no scientific…
ipavlic
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How well is the ideomotor effect understood and defined?

I'm curious what the extent of the ideomotor effect is, and how it is precisely defined. I often hear it used to explain things as widely diverse as Ouija boards, assisted communication frauds, and even accidental animal training! (Clever Hans) …
John Rhoades
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Can your thoughts be read through monitoring brain waves?

The scientists then sat their subjects in front of a computer screen and showed them images of banks, people, and PIN numbers. They then tracked the readings coming off of the brain, specifically the P300 signal. The P300 signal is typically…
Renan
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Do Nervana earphones stimulate the vagus nerve to enhance mood?

The company Nervana claim that their new earphones and generator devices can stimulate the vagus nerve in the ear. The proprietary left earbud [...] not only receives the left channel of the music signal at its speaker, it also receives the…
Thomas Johnson
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Can the human brain store around 4TB of data?

I found this first on a funny post online and discredited it as just a fun fact, but I have been reading it on comments online and people tweeting about it. Can the human brain store 4TB of data? How is that measured? Are there any studies to…
Bruno Pereira
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Do people over the age of 34 lose about 7,000 brain cells per day, irreplaceably?

I got this random science fact from my mobile carrier. Once a human reaches the age of 34, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. The cells will never be replaced. Is the above claim true?
Vinoth Kumar C M
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Is brain piercing real?

In this 2008 article, "brain piercing" is described, with a photo: They drill small holes in your scull, then pass a metal (gold or silver) ring through them. The trick is that the ring presses the brain tissue and invokes euphoria. The whole…
4erkas
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Does our brain make ourselves look five times more beautiful than we really are?

This "random fact" has been going on for a few days and no one seems to know it's source or if it's supported by any reliable research. If the research does exist I'd be much interested in checking what's the criteria to measure beauty. "Did you…
Renan
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Does brain consist of 20% Omega-3 fatty acid?

I read an article on a website about preparing for exams, and it stated that because the brain consists of 1/5 Omega-3 fatty acids, it is important to eat fish, so your brain will get better at communicating. Being very skeptic about the statement I…
Simon
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Does listening to classical music "Improve Cognitive Function"?

https://www.dumblittleman.com/kickstart-your-brain-with-the-mozart/ The article says: Several studies have shown cognitive improvements in those who listened to classical music prior to performing certain tasks or taking tests. Functions that…
ColonD
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Are our minds quantum entangled with people we are (emotionally) close to?

I came to know about the extended mind from the following presentation by Rupert Sheldrake who presented his research at Google TechTalk. The link to the video Sheldrake claims that the horizon of power of our brain is not limited to the physical…
Surjya Narayana Padhi
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Does moderate exercise improve learning ability?

Heavy exercise temporarily depletes glycogen, a short term energy store, from the brain (after doing so from the muscles and liver). However, light exercise has a positive effect on learning ability. For example, in this article about a school in…
user3291
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