Category Archives: Cognition

Insights On the Effects of Exercise on Cognitive Performance

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Giorgio Bertini

A study reveals both aerobic exercise and sitting in an upright posture improves visual working memory. A new British Journal of Psychology study has looked at the details behind how cognitive performance may improve during aerobic exercise. Electroencephalography readings were taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Cognition, Cognitive neuroscience, Cognitive psychology, Exercise | Tagged cognition, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology, exercise | Comments Off

Pregnant Mothers and Offspring Should Limit Added Sugars in Diet to Protect Childhood Cognition

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Giorgio Bertini

Researchers warn pregnant women and their children to avoid drinking too many sodas, as excessive amounts of sugar in these drinks can negatively impact memory and learning. However, consuming fruits appears to be beneficial for cognitive development, the study reports. … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Cognition, Mother | Tagged Childhood, cognition, mother | Comments Off

A cognitive account of belief

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

Over the past decades, delusions have become the subject of growing and productive research spanning clinical and cognitive neurosciences. Despite this, the nature of belief, which underpins the construct of delusions, has received little formal investigation. No account of delusions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Belief, Cognition | Tagged Belief, cognition | Comments Off

Dynamic reorganization of brain functional networks during cognition

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

How cognition emerges from neural dynamics? The dominant hypothesis states that interactions among distributed brain regions through phase synchronization give a basis for cognitive processing. Such phase synchronized networks are transient and dynamic, established on the timescale of milliseconds in order to perform … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain networks, Cognition, Cognitive networks, Cognitive neuroscience | Tagged brain networks, cognition, cognitive networks, cognitive neuroscience | Comments Off

Neuroaesthetics – The Cognitive Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

The field of neuroaesthetics has gained in popularity in recent years but also attracted criticism from the perspectives both of the humanities and the sciences. In an effort to consolidate research in the field, we characterize neuroaesthetics as the cognitive neuroscience of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetic, Cognition, Neuroaesthetics, Neuroscience | Tagged Aesthetic, cognition, neuroaesthetics, neuroscience | Comments Off

An unpleasant emotional state reduces working memory capacity

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

Emotional states can guide the actions and decisions we make in our everyday life through their influence on cognitive processes such as working memory (WM). We investigated the long-lasting interference that an unpleasant emotional state had on goal-relevant WM representations … Continue reading →

Posted in Cognition, Cognitive empathy, Emotional memories, Emotions, Memory | Tagged cognition, Cognitive empathy, emotion, Emotional memories, memory | Comments Off

Predictive brains and embodied, enactive cognition

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

All the papers in this special issue sit at the intersection between work on predictive processing models in the neurosciences and embodied, enactive perspectives on mind. It is arguably one of the most cutting-edge and fast-moving intersections of research in … Continue reading →

Posted in Brains, Cognition, Embodied cognition, Embodied mind | Tagged brains, cognition, embodied cognition, Embodied mind | Comments Off

Theories of Memory and Aging: A Look at the Past and a Glimpse of the Future

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

The present article reviews theories of memory and aging over the past 50 years. Particularly notable is a progression from early single-mechanism perspectives to complex multifactorial models proposed to account for commonly observed age deficits in memory function. The seminal … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Cognition, Memory | Tagged aging memory, cognition | Comments Off

For Cognitive Flexibility, Forget the Past

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

Being flexible in our approach to the future often requires the ability to inhibit or forget the past. In 1942, Abraham Luchins published a seminal experiment called the “Water Jug Problem”. In this experiment he asked his participants to answer … Continue reading →

Posted in Cognition, Cognitive flexibility | Tagged cognition, Cognitive flexibility | Comments Off

Cognitive Abilities Seem to Reinforce Each Other in Adolescence

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

Study reports cognitive abilities mutually assist each other during development. This results in improved cognitive skills and general intelligence over time. One of the most striking findings in psychology is that almost all cognitive abilities are positively related – on … Continue reading →