5 tips to improve your critical thinking – Samantha Agoos

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/5-tips-to-improve-your-critical-thinking-samantha-agoos Every day, a sea of decisions stretches before us, and it’s impossible to make a perfect choice every time. But there are many ways to improve our chances — and one particularly effective technique is critical thinking. Samantha Agoos describes a 5-step process that may help you with any number of…

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The science of attraction – Dawn Maslar

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-science-of-attraction-dawn-maslar Romantic chemistry is all about warm, gooey feelings that gush from the deepest depths of the heart…right? Not quite. Actually, the real boss behind attraction is your brain, which runs through a very quick, very complex series of calculations when assessing a potential partner. Dawn Maslar explores how our five senses…

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How sugar affects the brain – Nicole Avena

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-nicole-avena When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine — an overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels…

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How does your brain respond to pain? – Karen D. Davis

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-does-your-brain-respond-to-pain-karen-d-davis Ouch! Everyone experiences pain — but why do some people react to the same painful stimulus in different ways? And what exactly is pain, anyway? Karen D. Davis walks you through your brain on pain, illuminating why the “pain experience” differs from person to person. Lesson by Karen D. Davis, animation…

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The power of the placebo effect – Emma Bryce

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect-emma-bryce The placebo effect is an unexplained phenomenon wherein drugs, treatments, and therapies that aren’t supposed to have an effect — and are often fake — miraculously make people feel better. What’s going on? Emma Bryce dives into the mystery of placebos’ bizarre benefits. Lesson by Emma Bryce, animation by Globizco.

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The mystery of chronic pain – Elliot Krane

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-mystery-of-chronic-pain-elliot-krane We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot Krane talks about the complex mystery of chronic pain and…

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