Humans introduce bias into all research (scientific, economic, political, geographical…). This Curious Minds digest aims to help you develop a critical eye when analysing data and research studies - when reading articles around your subject, it is important to hone your ability to critically appraise and challenge assumptions in research, especially if approaching university interviews. The digest will pose a range of interview-style questions and suggest tasks to get you thinking about bias in research, as well as recommend a number of further reading resources.

The infamous mind-brain (or mind-body) conundrum has stimulated debate amongst philosophers, scientists and psychologists since Aristotle in 350BC. A number of questions arise - Is the mind a product of the brain? What other animals have ‘minds?’ How might we define a mind? How can a mind be produced from a brain, but only from some brains and not others? Whether you are interested in pursuing Philosophy, Psychology/ Neuroscience, Biology, this article offers some of our top suggestions for exploration, particularly useful for those with approaching university/ Oxbridge interviews.

Keeping up with current research in one’s topics of interest, especially those outside the curriculum, is extremely useful preparation for those interested in future degrees and careers in STEM subjects. In this article, discover a new memory destruction approach that has the potential to revolutionise the way in which we treat certain mental health conditions and could have immensely positive impacts on people’s lives.

Once imagined only by the most speculative science-fiction writers, the idea of ‘mind control’ using technology has been around in popular culture at least since the beginnings of the Cold War, where paranoia surrounding control of people by governments was at an all-time high. The mainstream view was that controlling people’s actions and thoughts was much too far-fetched to become a reality in the near future. This perception, though, may be starting to change as scientists in recent years have made pioneering advances into fields such as optogenetics, a technique which allows precise control of how neurons fire by using flashes of light from a laser – all very space-age!

Can people act cruelly without actually being cruel❓Can someone perform evil acts, without evil intentions, because they are following orders❓From Nazi war criminals to the extreme abuse of guards of prison patients in Zimbardo’s infamous Stanford Prison Experiment (1971), explore the theory of the ‘banality of evil’ with psychologist, Chloe.

“I always thought I wanted to be a barrister. Then I realised that actually I was only interested in criminal law. Then I realised I wasn’t interested in law at all… I was interested in criminals. Rather than defending or prosecuting those who commit crime, I wanted to know why they committed the crime in the first place. This was a subtle distinction, but it is an important one that has shaped my career prospects. I wanted to learn about the psychology informing people’s actions, as opposed to the law restricting them.”

The ability to acquire new information and retain it over time is a crucial skill for daily function, and a range of processes of memory facilitate this. Understanding memory processes can be applied to training memory and developing skills, such as in the case of ‘memorists’ such as Rajan Mahadevan. How can it be possible to earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1981 for reciting the first 31,811 digits of pi?

Social neuroscience is the study of the role of biological systems in implementing social behaviour. Specific brain areas have been found to be specialised and particularly responsive during social interactions, and not activated in non-social conditions. Find out about the ‘social brain’ and how understanding, empathy and altruism can all be explained by neuroscience.