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Neuroscience

New Research

Rats Can Feel Regret

Rats’ brain patterns and behaviors support the hypothesis that they can reflect on certain wrong choices

A scanning electron microscope image of a fruit fly.

New Research

I Think, Therefore I Am a Fruit Fly

Researchers found that even fruit flies seem deliberate over decisions

New Research

When Gay Men Become Parents, Their Brains Act Like Both Straight Mothers’ And Fathers’ Brains

In the absence of a mother, gay men’s brains become blind to gender and step up to the full task of parenthood

A neurosurgeon’s view during a brain operation: The head is held in place and covered with an adhesive drape containing iodine, which prevents infections and explains the orange tint.

Inside the Science of an Amazing New Surgery Called Deep Brain Stimulation

The most futuristic medical treatment ever imagined is now a reality

New Research

We Might Hit Our Cognitive Peak Before 24

As we age beyond about 24, we become mentally slower and slower

New Research

Playing Video Games Could Actually Change Your Brain—But Not in a Bad Way

Despite video games’ bad rep, they might improve a person’s strategizing and multi-tasking abilities

Could it be true vole love, or just a casual encounter? Depends on whether booze is involved.

New Research

Drunken Prairie Voles Help Explain Alcohol’s Demons

Why do some people become more prone to attachment and sentimentality when drunk, while others tend to stray?

New Research

Here’s How Neuroscientists in the 1800s Studied Blood Flow in the Brain

New translations of early neuroscience reveal how in 1882 one Italian physiologist was able to measure blood flow changes in the brain

Some of the expressions the researchers identified, from top left to bottom right: happy, sad, fearful, angry, surprised, disgusted, happily surprised, happily disgusted, sadly fearful, sadly angry.

New Research

“Happy Disgust” Is a Newly Recognized Human Facial Expression

Basic emotions like happy, sad or angry blend in interesting ways on the landscape of the human face

New Research

New Rule: Just Drink When You’re Thirsty

Don’t worry about hitting some arbitrary X-cups-of-water-a-day target

New Research

What Season You’re Born in Might Influence How Your Brain Develops

Men born in December tend to have the most grey matter in a certain region of the brain, while men born in June have the least

A resident of "Dementia Village" goes grocery shopping with a caregiver.

For People with Dementia, Does It Take a Village?

A community in the Netherlands has become a model for how to help people feel at home even after they’ve lost their memory

New Research

Western Schizophrenia Tests Overdiagnose Immigrants

New research suggests that it’s not that immigrants have higher rates of schizophrenia, but rather that our tests for schizophrenia are biased

New Research

Your Dog Can Tell From Your Voice If You’re Happy or Sad

New fMRI research shows that dogs’ brains are specially equipped to process human voices, and respond differently based on our emotions

In comparison to this cell, those used for solitary confinement often lack even a barred doorway, further limiting exposure to others.

The Science of Solitary Confinement

Research tells us that isolation is an ineffective rehabilitation strategy and leaves lasting psychological damage

New Research

Why Some People Always Remember Their Dreams, But Others Never Can

Why people dream is still a mystery, however

New Research

Extreme Loneliness Can Be Deadly for Older People

People who suffer from loneliness were almost twice as likely to die over a six year study period than others

New Research

Elegant Mathematical Formulas Activate the Same Brain Region As Music And Art

Beauty comes in many different guises, including numbers and symbols

Your brain only sees some of these as faces.

New Research

Your Brain Now Processes a Smiley Face as a Real Smile

Perhaps eventually we’ll respond to emoji as we would to real dogs, cats and night skies

New Research

A Scientific Explanation of How Marijuana Causes the Munchies

THC appears to increase our sensitivity to scents and flavors by using naturally occurring neural networks to convince the brain that it’s starving

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