An adult’s brain contains as many as 100 billion neurons, and each neuron is connected to a large number of other neurons through thousands of synapses. Human memory has limits. The brain storage is approximately 2.5 petabytes, or a million gigabytes. However, it is difficult to calculate the exact storage capacity because we do not know how to measure the size of memory. Besides that, memories that involve more details take up more space while other memories are forgotten and thus free up space. Additionally, some information is just not worth remembering in the first place. (Reber, 2010)

Is intelligence determined by age? by Wong

No. Regarding to the Wechsler IQ tests, it had been shown that scores on IQ tests actually decrease with age. However, people’s intelligence remains stable throughout life. This mean that, old people can perform worse on an intelligence test without indicating any drop in their actual IQ. The reason given in a study shows that young people's physical advantages can help them to perform better on IQ tests. For example, manual dexterity and better eyesight can help younger adults score higher on tests. On the other hand, research find that changes in IQ tests over the year can also misleading research results. Brand hypothesis, which is the idea that a person's attitude and approach to test, is one of the reason that may influence their scores on IQ tests. Therefore, intelligence is remain the same in every stage of ages. Even though the score for IQ tests of people will be different, but this is not the reason that intelligence may decrease when people getting older.

What happens in our brain when we sin? by Lilian

Let's start with the most tempting sin - lust. Scientists have discovered that lust is associated with the amygdala and the hypothalamus, of which both are involved in emotional responses. Lust also stimulates the ventral striatum, which is the reward-processing area. One interesting thing observed by scientists is that our brain buzzes when we lust. This phenomenon is commonly seen in men. However, there has yet to be an explanation for this phenomenon.

As for pride, Hidehiko Takahashi from Japan said that “compared with guilt or embarrassment, pride might be processed more automatically”. He discovered that certain parts of the brain like the insular cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex are less activated when people feel prideful. In Montclair, Julian Paul Keenan used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to briefly shut off the medial prefrontal cortex in volunteers. By doing so, all arrogance vanished and people saw themselves as who they truly are.

With pride comes envy. Takahashi did an imaging study on the neural basis of envy. Envy stimulated the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), which is also enlisted when feeling pain. This observation suggests that envy is literally a social pain. In his study, Takahashi also found that schadenfreude caused the ventral striatum (the reward system) to be stimulated.

Psychologist Tom Denson antagonized volunteers to study what happens during anger. Within seconds, he realized that the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were stimulated greatly. People constantly relived the insult in their minds as their anger grew stronger. Denson discovered that the degree of hippocampal activation could foretell how much people will ruminate.

The most enjoyable sin will enlist the brain’s reward circuitry (the nucleus accumbens and the hypothalamus) while other social sins like pride and envy engages the medial prefrontal cortex, known to shape self-awareness. There are many other sins that have yet to be studied, however we can be undoubtedly sure that our brain does not have an ‘evil centre’.