SciAmMind on mental workouts and bitter pills

It’s that time again when a new edition of Scientific American Mind has hit the shelves with the customary freely available feature articles available online.

One of the online articles examines the recent trend for mental workout computer games deliberately designed to keep the grey cells ticking over and the mind sharp.

It particularly examines the science behind the Nintendo game Brain Age and whether there is actually hard evidence that these sort of games help maintain mental function into old age.

The other freely available article reminds me of a discussion sparked by a previous Mind Hacks post about whether there are taste or smell illusions, analogous to visual illusions.

Some of the comments on this post were fascinating and one contributor mentioned the properties of miraculin, a glycoprotein from the Miracle Fruit that fools the tongue into tasting sour things as sweet.

The SciAmMind article looks at ongoing research on how food company scientists are developing chemicals to change the taste perception of bitter compounds. It seems it needs an understanding of both the genetic effects of taste perception and the chemical interactions of our sense organs.

The full issue also contains articles on the psychology of burnout, the latest on neuronal communication, savant abilities, controlling epilepsy, getting new generations of drugs into the brain and one reporter’s experience of dating Hiroshi Ishiguro’s life-like female android.

Link to contents of new Scientific American Mind.
Link to article ‘Circuit Training’.
Link to article ‘Bitter Could Taste Better’.