Reference Terms
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Thought
Thought or thinking is a mental process which allows beings to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires.
Thinking involves manipulation of information, as when we form concepts, engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions. Thinking is a higher cognitive function and the analysis of thinking processes is part of cognitive psychology.
The basic mechanics of the human brain reflect a process of pattern matching or rather recognition. In a "moment of reflection", new situations and new experiences are judged against recalled ones and judgments are made. In order to make these judgments, the intellect maintains present experience and sorts relevant past experience. It does this while keeping present and past experience distinct and separate. The intellect can mix, match, merge, sift, and sort concepts, perceptions, and experience. This process is called reasoning. Logic is the science of reasoning.
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Mind & Brain News
October 3, 2026
Oct. 3, 2026 Scientists have linked a gut bacterial compound called ImP to greater Alzheimer’s risk, harmful brain protein buildup, and faster cognitive decline. The finding raises the possibility that reducing ImP in the blood could one day help slow or ...
Oct. 1, 2026 People who followed the MIND diet more closely showed slower brain shrinkage and less grey matter loss over time, with the strongest differences equivalent to about 2.5 years of delayed brain aging. Berries and poultry were linked with healthier ...
Oct. 1, 2026 People with depression who dramatically cut ultra-processed foods experienced notable improvements in their symptoms in a small preliminary study. Researchers suspect healthier eating may benefit the brain partly by reducing gut damage and chronic ...
Oct. 1, 2026 The Alzheimer’s risk gene APOE4 may actively damage brain blood vessels and sabotage the cellular systems that remove harmful proteins. Researchers were able to reverse some of these effects in experiments, revealing promising new targets for ...
Sep. 30, 2026 A review of more than 265,000 people found that cannabis use was associated with higher rates of both committing violence and becoming a victim of it. The researchers say the link is significant but does not prove cannabis itself is the ...
Sep. 29, 2026 Creatine helped middle-aged adults gain muscle and strength even without a structured workout program in a new 12-week study. When combined with exercise and a calorie-reduced diet, it produced even greater strength gains while helping participants ...
Sep. 29, 2026 Depression may change which emotional faces children notice most, but the pattern appears to depend on family history. Children at higher familial risk became increasingly focused on sad faces, while lower-risk children with rising symptoms paid ...
Sep. 29, 2026 A massive MRI study found that Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, psychiatric disorders, and addiction are associated with distinct patterns of accelerated brain aging. The strongest effects appeared in Alzheimer’s and mild ...
Sep. 28, 2026 A new study suggests coffee may influence mood and brain function by changing the activity of microbes in the gut. Both caffeinated and decaf coffee were linked to lower stress, depression, and impulsivity, while also producing measurable changes in ...
Sep. 28, 2026 Strengthening the body’s natural daily rhythms helped mice recover after stroke by improving the brain’s waste-clearing system and reducing lingering inflammation. The approach worked even when treatment began three days after the stroke, ...
Sep. 27, 2026 Scientists found that immune cells contributing to Alzheimer’s-related brain damage may be activated in lymph nodes outside the brain before traveling into the nervous system. Blocking this pathway in mice dramatically reduced neurodegeneration ...
Sep. 27, 2026 A large health-record analysis found that glucosamine use was associated with a 25% higher likelihood of mild cognitive impairment progressing to dementia. Lab experiments suggest the popular joint ...
Latest Headlines
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Sep. 27, 2026 Pain and fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis can persist even after inflammation improves, with depression, poor sleep, obesity, smoking, and chronic ...
Sep. 26, 2026 Scientists discovered a surprising energy paradox in the brain during REM sleep, the stage most closely associated with dreaming. Blood supply to the ...
Sep. 25, 2026 A major analysis suggests Phelan-McDermid syndrome, a genetic disorder closely linked to autism, may affect about 1 in 7,300 people and more than ...
Sep. 24, 2026 The brain may have a built-in way to quickly settle disagreements between regions processing the same scene. Researchers found that matching signals ...
Sep. 23, 2026 A large study tracking more than 95,000 people suggests that how you sleep may be linked to your risk of developing dozens of diseases. People who spent more time in REM sleep had lower risks of 83 ...
Sep. 23, 2026 A major Swedish study of 3.7 million people has found that rare TORCH infections passed from a pregnant woman to the fetus are linked to much higher risks of autism and intellectual disability later ...
Sep. 22, 2026 Caffeine may make sleep less restorative even when you fall asleep normally and stay in bed for eight hours, with EEG recordings revealing fewer of the slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Researchers have found evidence that long COVID may damage dopamine releasing neurons in the brain, potentially explaining persistent fatigue, low motivation, slowed movement, and memory ...
Sep. 21, 2026 Stem cell transplants helped regenerate stroke-damaged brain tissue in mice, producing new neurons and restoring lost motor function. The treatment also improved blood vessels, inflammation, and the ...
Sep. 21, 2026 A new needle-thin brain implant can record neural activity, deliver drugs, and stimulate multiple brain regions using a single flexible fiber. ...