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Brain and Mind Institute

Cultivating mindfulness, compassion through meditation

Cultivating mindfulness, compassion through meditation

If you resolved to develop a regular meditation practice in 2022, you can get there – one breath at a time, for just five minutes a day. It’s an approach that led Tanaz Javan, BA’11, MSc’15, to become a devoted practitioner. She’s also a guide …

Junk food orders up trouble for young brains

Junk food orders up trouble for young brains

That teenager in your kitchen feasting on fast food, candy bars and pop might not be able to help themselves – all the more reason for adults to help them before they cause long-term damage to their developing brains.

Study gets up close with near-death experiences

Study gets up close with near-death experiences

Those who momentarily shuffled off this mortal coil returned with positive perceptions of what they discovered on the other side – a finding that encourages researchers to dig deeper into the ways people describe near-death experiences, according to a joint study between Western and the University of Liège (Belgium).

Read. Watch. Listen. with John Paul Minda

Read. Watch. Listen. with John Paul Minda

Fantasy. Conspiracy. Eric adventure. And that’s only to get things started when Psychology professor John Paul Minda takes a turn on Read. Watch. Listen.

New audio dome paints research soundscape

New audio dome paints research soundscape

“For too long, auditory research has involved people listening to single sounds in sound booths – and that’s just not how we listen in the real world. Enter the Brain and Mind Institute’s new virtual acoustic space that’s helping neuroscientists at Western understand how our brains process sounds.

Study targets ‘fingerprint’ of human consciousness

Study targets ‘fingerprint’ of human consciousness

Western researchers have moved a step closer to identifying a ‘brain fingerprint’ for consciousness – a discovery that will unlock further understanding into why some patients, presumed to be vegetative, are still aware of the world them.

Research ranking places Western tops in Canada

Research ranking places Western tops in Canada

Western stands atop Canada – and among only a handful of universities around the world – on a list of the fastest-rising institutions in producing scientific research papers, according to rankings released today by Nature Index.

Study eyes how human brain ‘sees’ world

Study eyes how human brain ‘sees’ world

A new Brain and Mind Institute study is offering insights into how the our brains process a world in which the images of people, places and things are constantly shrinking, expanding and changing on the retina at the back of our eyes. These findings may hold further keys to perfecting technology in everything from robots to self-driving cars.

Volunteers help unlock deeper understanding

Volunteers help unlock deeper understanding

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a participant in a research study? Take a painless journey through the mind of a volunteer in a Brain and Mind Institute study about sound.

Study unlocks brain’s role in moving about

Study unlocks brain’s role in moving about

Every office or family has one – the colleague who mistakenly walked into a wall or the sibling who mistook a closed glass door for an open entrance. Most of us, however, seem to have an innate sense of a room’s geometry. When we roll out of bed, our feet know exactly...

Postdoctoral scholars named Banting Fellows

Postdoctoral scholars named Banting Fellows

From studying specific brain mechanisms that support math skills to learning more about internalized weight stigma, Western welcomes two new Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients, thus named among only 70 nationwide.

Junk food orders up trouble for young brains

Junk food orders up trouble for young brains

That teenager in your kitchen feasting on fast food, candy bars and pop might not be able to help themselves – all the more reason for adults to help them before they cause long-term damage to their developing brains.

Study gets up close with near-death experiences

Study gets up close with near-death experiences

Those who momentarily shuffled off this mortal coil returned with positive perceptions of what they discovered on the other side – a finding that encourages researchers to dig deeper into the ways people describe near-death experiences, according to a joint study between Western and the University of Liège (Belgium).

Read. Watch. Listen. with John Paul Minda

Read. Watch. Listen. with John Paul Minda

Fantasy. Conspiracy. Eric adventure. And that’s only to get things started when Psychology professor John Paul Minda takes a turn on Read. Watch. Listen.

New audio dome paints research soundscape

New audio dome paints research soundscape

“For too long, auditory research has involved people listening to single sounds in sound booths – and that’s just not how we listen in the real world. Enter the Brain and Mind Institute’s new virtual acoustic space that’s helping neuroscientists at Western understand how our brains process sounds.

Study targets ‘fingerprint’ of human consciousness

Study targets ‘fingerprint’ of human consciousness

Western researchers have moved a step closer to identifying a ‘brain fingerprint’ for consciousness – a discovery that will unlock further understanding into why some patients, presumed to be vegetative, are still aware of the world them.

Research ranking places Western tops in Canada

Research ranking places Western tops in Canada

Western stands atop Canada – and among only a handful of universities around the world – on a list of the fastest-rising institutions in producing scientific research papers, according to rankings released today by Nature Index.

Study eyes how human brain ‘sees’ world

Study eyes how human brain ‘sees’ world

A new Brain and Mind Institute study is offering insights into how the our brains process a world in which the images of people, places and things are constantly shrinking, expanding and changing on the retina at the back of our eyes. These findings may hold further keys to perfecting technology in everything from robots to self-driving cars.

Volunteers help unlock deeper understanding

Volunteers help unlock deeper understanding

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a participant in a research study? Take a painless journey through the mind of a volunteer in a Brain and Mind Institute study about sound.

Study unlocks brain’s role in moving about

Study unlocks brain’s role in moving about

Every office or family has one – the colleague who mistakenly walked into a wall or the sibling who mistook a closed glass door for an open entrance. Most of us, however, seem to have an innate sense of a room’s geometry. When we roll out of bed, our feet know exactly...

Postdoctoral scholars named Banting Fellows

Postdoctoral scholars named Banting Fellows

From studying specific brain mechanisms that support math skills to learning more about internalized weight stigma, Western welcomes two new Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients, thus named among only 70 nationwide.