Month: November 2020

Structuring Knowledge with Cognitive Maps and Cognitive Graphs

Humans and animals use mental representations of the spatial structure of the world to navigate. The classical view is that these representations take the form of Euclidean cognitive maps, but alternative theories suggest that they are cognitive graphs consisting of locations connected by paths. We review evidence suggesting that both map-like and graph-like representations exist […]

Published on November 26, 2020

Basketball on the brain: Neuroscientists use sports to study surprise

Neuroscientists tracked the brains and pupils of self-described basketball fans as they watched March Madness games, to study how people process surprise — an unexpected change of circumstances that shifts an anticipated outcome. They found that that shifts in the pattern of activity in high-level brain areas only happened at moments that contradicted the watchers’ […]

Published on November 25, 2020

Breaking the skill limit, pianists attain more delicate touch

Scientists have discovered a training method to further improve the delicate touch of pianists by optimizing the method rather than increase the amount of training. They developed a system that freely controls the weight of piano keys using a haptic device, which enables to control the strength and direction of the force. The results of […]

Published on November 25, 2020