Magazine

The Mind issue

September/October 2021

The brain is the most complex bit of technology on the planet. This issue looks at how neuroscience is learning how this mass of cells and connections somehow produces the mind—and all the mysterious and essential parts of being a human that go with it.

Read the issue

Letter from the editor

Understanding the mind

Mike Perry

Features

Categorized in Artificial intelligence
What an octopus’s mind can teach us about AI’s ultimate mystery
Machine consciousness has been debated—and dismissed—since Turing. Yet it still shapes our thinking about AIs like GPT-3.
Categorized in Biotechnology and health
The quest to learn if our brain’s mutations affect mental health
For years scientists have tried to find a gene for conditions like schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and autism. But the real source could lie in a much more complex genetic puzzle.
Categorized in Biotechnology and health
The miracle molecule that could treat brain injuries and boost your fading memory
Discovered more than a decade ago, a remarkable compound shows promise in treating everything from Alzheimer’s to brain injuries—and it just might improve your cognitive abilities.
Categorized in Biotechnology and health
The world’s largest collection of malformed brains
The 100 or so jars contain brains that once belonged to patients at the Austin State Hospital, a psychiatric facility.
Categorized in Biotechnology and health
The hunt for hidden signs of consciousness in unreachable patients
Experts may not agree on what consciousness is or isn’t. But that hasn’t stopped Marcello Massimini from peering into the minds of those with profound brain injuries to determine if anyone is still inside—and how to proceed with treatment.
Categorized in The pandemic endgame
How to mend your broken pandemic brain
Life under covid has messed with our brains. Luckily, they were designed to bounce back.
Categorized in Poetry
Five poems about the mind

Also in this issue
- This is how your brain makes your mind
  Your mind is in fact an ongoing construction of your brain, your body, and the surrounding world.
  
  Categorized in Biotechnology and health
- Is your brain a computer?
  We asked experts for their best arguments in the long-standing debate over whether brains and computers process information the same way.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- This is what happens when you see the face of someone you love
  The moment we recognize someone, a lot happens all at once. We aren’t aware of any of it.
  
  Categorized in Humans and technology
- Five things we got wrong about the brain
  We made a comic to explain the truth behind some common misconceptions.
  
  Categorized in Comic
- Eight ways scientists are unwrapping the mysteries of the human brain
  Optogenetics and advanced imaging have helped neuroscientists understand how memories form and made it possible to manipulate them.
  
  Categorized in Biotechnology and health
- I taught myself to lucid dream. You can too.
  We still don’t know much about the experience of being aware that you’re dreaming—but a few researchers think it could help us find out more about how the brain works.
  
  Categorized in Do it yourself
- How big science failed to unlock the mysteries of the human brain
  Large, expensive efforts to map the brain started a decade ago but have largely fallen short. It’s a good reminder of just how complex this organ is.
  
  Categorized in Biotechnology and health
- Our brains exist in a state of “controlled hallucination”
  Three new books lay bare the weirdness of how our brains process the world around us.
  
  Categorized in Humans and technology
- How technology can let us see and manipulate memories
  Optogenetics and advanced imaging have helped neuroscientists understand how memories form and made it possible to manipulate them.
  
  Categorized in Biotechnology and health
- Is everything in the world a little bit conscious?
  The idea that consciousness is widespread is attractive to many for intellectual and, perhaps, also emotional
  reasons. But can it be tested? Surprisingly, perhaps it can.
  
  Categorized in Philosophy
- “I understand what joy is now”: An MDMA trial participant tells his story
  One patient in a pioneering trial describes his “life-changing” experience with the psychoactive drug.
  
  Categorized in Humans and technology
- A piece of our mind
  Over the decades this publication has repeatedly explored the topic of what we know—or don’t yet know—about our own brains.
  
  Categorized in From the archives

Updated

Magazine

The Mind issue

Letter from the editor

Features

What an octopus’s mind can teach us about AI’s ultimate mystery

The quest to learn if our brain’s mutations affect mental health

The miracle molecule that could treat brain injuries and boost your fading memory

The world’s largest collection of malformed brains

The hunt for hidden signs of consciousness in unreachable patients

How to mend your broken pandemic brain

Five poems about the mind

This is how your brain makes your mind

Is your brain a computer?

This is what happens when you see the face of someone you love

Five things we got wrong about the brain

Eight ways scientists are unwrapping the mysteries of the human brain

I taught myself to lucid dream. You can too.

How big science failed to unlock the mysteries of the human brain

Our brains exist in a state of “controlled hallucination”

How technology can let us see and manipulate memories

Is everything in the world a little bit conscious?

“I understand what joy is now”: An MDMA trial participant tells his story

A piece of our mind

Past issues

The latest iteration of a legacy

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