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From: Scientific American <newsletters@scientificamerican.com>
Date: March 5, 2025 at 3:00:54 PM GMT-3
To: mhallak@fcq.unc.edu.ar
Subject: Mind & Brain: Relax, we have free will
Reply-To: newsletters@sciam.com
Mind & Brain Mar. 5 2025 | Mind & Brain | Scientific American
March 5—This week, the neuroscience of "ear worms"—songs that get stuck in your head. Plus, how making a pledge can increase honesty (if worded correctly), and a new bar for proving that free will doesn't exist. All that and more below.
—Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor
Neuroscience research claiming to question the existence of free will may have been misinterpreted
Many people are concerned about microplastics reaching our brain—but few realize how this connects with petroleum production and the climate crisis
Popular culture paints going “no contact” as the best way to deal with hard family relationships. But it’s not always the right choice
Mouse and human studies suggest a connection between a gut microbe and the appetite-regulating hormone GLP-1
Utterances like um, wow and mm-hmm aren’t garbage—they keep conversations flowing
Some songs get stuck in our head more than others, and scientists have uncovered what makes them so irresistible.
Can taking a simple oath make you more trustworthy? That depends a lot on its exact wording
This tiny instrument lets users taste things—without actually eating them—by releasing a combination of chemicals that reconstruct different tastes. But replicating associated smells and textures will take some time
New research findings, combined with philosophy, suggest free will is real but may not operate in the ways people expect
