In some cultures, a pause in conversation means reflection. In others, it’s a cue to jump in....
Oscar Forrester
Very Big Brain is written by Oscar Forrester, a researcher and writer with a long-standing fascination with how the brain works. Oscar spent several years working in hospital IT, including on infection control systems, and grew up in a household shaped by medicine — his father was a physician and his mother a registered nurse. He is not a clinician himself, and nothing on this site should be taken as medical advice. What he brings instead is a rigorous, source-first approach to research, honed over two decades of writing (he’s authored numerous published books, primarily on software development), and a genuine curiosity about the science of cognition. Mr. Forrester strives to present complex topics in a clear and engaging manner, making it easy for you to understand and apply the knowledge to your daily life.
Ever notice how your best ideas seem to come when you’re calm—not rushing, not forcing, just quietly...
Picture this: You’re trying to fit a weirdly shaped Tupperware lid onto the container. You rotate it,...
For visual artists, the brain is both canvas and brush—an ever-active engine translating perception, emotion, and spatial...
Anxiety isn’t always loud. Sometimes it creeps in as tension in the chest, a racing mind at...
You walk into your kitchen—the same kitchen you’ve used for years—but something’s off. It looks unfamiliar. The...
One is a fictional psychiatrist with a photographic memory and a taste for Chianti and human liver....
If you’ve ever hiked up a mountain or flown into a high-elevation city, you might have experienced...
The courtroom isn’t just a battleground of facts—it’s a crucible of mental endurance, rapid recall, and persuasive...
As we age, it’s common to notice changes in memory, focus, and mental energy. Names take a...