Consciousness is the awareness that we have of our own existence. It is the awareness of our sensations, thoughts, feelings, and the environment that surrounds us. Since at least the time of Aristotle, people have debated the meaning and origins of consciousness. We can now study consciousness at the neural level. A popular belief is that some brain […]
Brain Injuries
There are many ways to become famous. Phineas Gage, an American railway construction foreman in the mid-19th century, experienced one of the most improbable (and least recommended) paths to eternal fame. Few first-year psychology students around the world will have escaped the story of Phineas, and his mishap with an iron rod used to tamp […]
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public-health problem around the world. In the United States, around 1 in a 1,000 people suffer TBI—around 1.7 million people every year—although the number can be much higher in other countries, as shown in the figure below. The impact of TBI on survivors and loved ones can be devastating. One […]