July/August 2009
Scientific American Mind

Cover; July/August 2009; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

From the Editor; July/August 2009; by Mariette DiChristina; 1 Page(s)

Pump Your Brain

Table of Contents; July/August 2009; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

Letters; July/August 2009; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

Letters to the editor about the February/March 2009 issue of Scientific American MIND

Head Lines; July/August 2009; by Nicole Branan; Andrea Anderson; Charles Q. Choi; Robert Goodier; Siri Carpenter; Marina Krakovsky; Emily Anthes; Joel Shurkin; Susan Cosier; Aimee Cunningham; Ingrid Wickelgren; 8 Page(s)

Close Calls Count; Genetic Overlap; Monkey Education; Don't Talk it Out; Brain Training's Unproven Hype; Practice Removes Prejudice; Neuron Cannibalism; Deadly Sin or Social Lubricant; The Load of Lying; Alternative Ideas about Alzheimer's; Popularity Genes; Coffee Breakdown; Waning Willpower; Forget the Fructose; Shaking Hands

Perspectives: You Are What You Say; July/August 2009; by Jan Dönges; 2 Page(s)

A language analysis program reveals personality, mental health and intent by counting and categorizing words

Consciousness Redux: A Theory of Consciousness; July/August 2009; by Christof Koch; 4 Page(s)

Is complexity the secret to sentience, to a panpsychic view of consciousness?

Illusions: Seeing in Stereo; July/August 2009; by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran; Diane Rogers-Ramachandran; 3 Page(s)

Binocular vision gives us depth perception—and enables us to play some tricks

Calendar; July/August 2009; by Rachel Dvoskin; Robert Goodier; 1 Page(s)

Exhibitions, conferences, movies and more

Fit Body, Fit Mind?; July/August 2009; by Christopher Hertzog; Arthur F. Kramer; Robert S. Wilson; Ulman Lindenberger; 8 Page(s)

How can you stay sharp into old age? It is not just a matter of winning the genetic lottery. What you do can make a difference

Why Music Moves Us; July/August 2009; by Karen Schrock; 6 Page(s)

New research explains music's power over human emotions and its benefits to our mental and physical well-being

Do ADHD Drugs Take a Toll on the Brain?; July/August 2009; by Edmund S. Higgins; 6 Page(s)

Research hints that hidden risks might accompany long-term use of the medicines that treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Can You Be Too Perfect?; July/August 2009; by Emily Laber-Warren; 8 Page(s)

Striving to be faultless can foster failure—or drive success—depending on the type of perfectionist you are

A Patchwork Mind; July/August 2009; by Melinda Wenner; 8 Page(s)

We each have two parents, but their genetic contributions to what makes us us are uneven. New research shows we are an amalgam of influences from Mom and Dad

Do Parents Matter?; July/August 2009; by Interview by Jonah Lehrer; 4 Page(s)

A researcher argues that peers are much more important than parents, that psychologists underestimate the power of genetics and that we have a lot to learn from Asian classrooms

Facts & Fictions in Mental Health: What Do We Know about Tourette's?; July/August 2009; by Scott O. Lilienfeld; Hal Arkowitz; 2 Page(s)

If you have the idea that every patient curses unpredictably, think again

We're Only Human: Try a Little Powerlessness; July/August 2009; by Wray Herbert; 2 Page(s)

We admire self-discipline, but could too much control be a bad thing?

Reviews and Recommendations; July/August 2009; by Nicole Branan; Jascha Hoffman; Corey Binns; Erica Westly; 2 Page(s)

The Vision Resolution; Finding Our Tongues; Healthy Minds

Ask the Brains; July/August 2009; by Gordon H. Bower; Rosanna E. Guadagno; 2 Page(s)

Why is it that once you learn something incorrectly (say, 7 x 9 = 65), it seems you never can correct your recall?; In the art of persuasion, does a person's sex or body type make a difference?

Head Games; July/August 2009; by The Editors; 1 Page(s)

Match wits with the Mensa puzzlers

MIND in Pictures; July/August 2009; by Dwayne Godwin; Jorge Cham; 1 Page(s)