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Functional MRI is one of the coolest scientific devices ever developed. With it the scientists are able to monitor which parts of the brain are activated, when individuals are involved in different activities. From dancing to taking decisions the functional MRI has revolutionized our understanding of many fundamental human activities. As Helen Fisher put it, the most passionate human activity, the romantic love is one of the latest to be investigated in functional MRI. According to their results, love activates the reward/punishment mechanisms, along with risk taking and strategic game playing parts of the brain. Unlike people who can leave in a split second, the activity in those areas continue even 15 months after separation. Also, people who claim to be in love after 25 years still have those regions active! Lastly, the same reward region is activated in a cocaine high! Here is a 15 minute video of Helen Fisher's talk, which is definitely worth watching! Helen Fisher: The Brain ...

One of the most striking passages I read in Hagakure , the Samurai's guide, was the following: "In the words of the ancients, one should take his decisions in the matter of seven breaths." It suited my way of thinking back then, when I read the book. The western tradition has a profound belief that the more you think, the more sound your decisions will be. Though I believe in the power of deep thinking when it comes to creating something, or coming up with new ideas, this does not mean the same applies to taking decision based on existing facts. Now the scientists in Norway, Holland, USA and Germany have made a very interesting discovery, which somehow verifies this Japanese wisdom. By scanning the decision making parts of the brain using a functional MRI, they have shown that the decision making parts of the brain are activated 10 seconds before the decisions are taken at the "conscious" level. In other words, we became aware of the decisions we take at the cel...