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Psychology

Ghostface, the primary antagonist of the Scream franchise, is one of the many horror icons featured in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' latest exhibition.

From Slasher Films to Vampire Flicks, Horror Movies Are More Popular Than Ever. Relive the Genre’s Scariest Moments—if You Dare—at a New Exhibition

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ latest show features nearly 350 props, costumes and artifacts from such films as “Psycho,” “The Shining” and “Sinners”

Participants in Germany liked the Eurasian blackbird's call the most out of a list of vocalizations made by more than 100 birds.

Some Birdsongs Are More Pleasing to Human Ears Than Others. Higher-Pitched, Complex Calls Tend to Sound More Beautiful to Us

In a new study, more than 80 participants rated the pleasantness of vocalizations made by 123 European bird species. Researchers then looked at the acoustic qualities of the most—and least—liked songs

A new review emphasizes associations between reading engagement and benefits such as better cognitive performance.

From Boosting Mental Health to Reducing Dementia Risk, Here’s Why Reading Is Extremely Good for You, According to Science

Mounting evidence suggests that regularly cozying up with a book can increase brain and mental health, improve literacy and math skills, and even slow cognitive decline. What’s more, fiction seems to have the added benefit of introducing readers to others’ perspectives

Schizophrenia is difficult for psychiatrists to diagnose. Can artificial intelligence help do it better?

Could Artificial Intelligence Help With Early Diagnosis of Schizophrenia?

The tool may pick up subtle differences in the speech of people with the mental health condition better than human psychiatrists

Between 5 and 10 percent of personality differences can be explained by the identified genetic variants, according to the study.

Part of Your Personality Is Encoded in Your Genes. Huge Analysis Links Characteristics to More Than 1,200 Common Genetic Variants

A new meta-analysis pooled data from more than one million people to look at the crossover between DNA and the “Big Five” personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism

The researchers trained pet dogs to sit still during an MRI scan.

Scientists Gave Dogs MRIs and Learned That They’re Surprisingly Good at Distinguishing Between Human Emotions, Even Some Negative Ones

A recent study found that man’s best friend processes positive and negative human emotions differently and can distinguish between fearful faces and those showing sadness or anger

Participating in a sleep study, or a polysomnography, can help doctors diagnose a patient with narcolepsy.

This Newly Approved Narcolepsy Drug Is the First to Target the Sleep Disorder’s Root Cause Rather Than Its Symptoms

The Food and Drug Administration just greenlit a medication called Orzeyful for the treatment of narcolepsy type 1 in adults. The condition is caused by the loss of brain cells that produce orexin, a chemical important for regulating the sleep-wake cycle

Social media delivers a mix of harms and benefits to youth that researchers are only just beginning to understand.

Australia’s Social Media Ban for Teens May Not Be the Best Solution, But It’s Certainly Getting People Talking

The Aussie experiment comes amid a lack of clear evidence that the apps harm most adolescents. It may take a dramatic research pivot to finally reveal what’s going on and how to fix it.

The belly is one of the most ticklish body parts across analyzed cultures.

From Armpits to Feet, Our Ticklish Hot Spots Are Surprisingly Universal. The Finding Offers Clues About the Sensation’s Evolutionary Origins

A new study probes the basics of gargalesis, a poorly understood type of tickling caused by firm, repetitive touches that typically elicits laughter and squirming

The new work contributes to a broader shift in bilingualism research, which is moving toward the view that grammar is supported by a shared, flexible brain mechanism that operates across all languages.

How Does a Bilingual Speaker’s Brain Process Two Languages? New Research Suggests That Both Rely on the Same Neural Wiring

Scientists have long wondered whether different neural mechanisms govern each language within a bilingual speaker’s brain. A recent study of people who speak both English and Spanish hints at a single “grammatical engine”

Handedness refers to both hand preference and hand dominance. 

People Aren’t Born as Righties or Lefties—They Develop Hand Dominance With Practice, a New Study Suggests

Humans do have a biological preference for using one side of their body, which might prime them for using limbs on that side for complex motor tasks like writing—and honing those skills over time

Around two million graduating high school students in the United States—more than half—take the SAT each year.

100 Years Ago, Students Across the U.S. Took the First SAT. Today, Relatively Few Colleges Require the Test. Where Is It Headed?

The standardized exam has evolved over the past century, all in the name of testing for college readiness. Now, it has become a symbol of the American higher education system

In many animal species, males display showier features than females. Among humans, however, women are popularly described as the "fairer sex."

People Across Cultures Find Women’s Faces to Be More Attractive Than Men’s, a New Study Suggests

In many species of wild animals, males have flashier features than females to help them attract mates. But scientists have long noticed that humans seem to be an exception, with women often being considered the “fairer sex”

A detail from Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948

What Did Jackson Pollock Hope to Accomplish With This Dizzying Drip Painting, Which Just Sold for a Record-Breaking $181 Million?

The Abstract Expressionist is best known for his action paintings, which emphasized the movements of the artist’s body during the creative process. “Number 7A, 1948” is now his most expensive work ever auctioned

Undetectable infrasound might explain why some people report paranormal experiences, a new study suggests.

Worried Your House Is Haunted? The Spooky Sensation Might Arise From a Surprisingly Simple Source

Infrasound—noise below the range of typical human hearing—from power, heating and mechanical systems within buildings can make people feel irritated and induce a stress response, according to a new study

The researchers studied neural activity in 16 participants with epilepsy who had electrodes in their brains.

We Use Many of the Same Brain Cells to See and to Imagine Objects, a Study Suggests. The Findings Provide a New Window Into Memory

While past research has hinted at an overlap in relevant brain regions, the new work drills down to the cellular level. The discovery could help improve treatments for memory disorders, such as dementia, and certain psychiatric conditions, like schizophrenia

The League for Spiritual Discovery, an LSD-based meditation center in New York City, in 1967

The First LSD Trip Was a Literal Bicycle Ride 83 Years Ago. Fans of the Psychedelic Celebrate the Occasion Every April 19

In 1943, a chemist in Switzerland synthesized a drug that alters consciousness. His discovery changed the study of medicine, psychiatry and biology—and became a central component of the counterculture movement

The hallucinogenic mushroom Psilocybe pelliculosa, which contains psilocybin

How Do Different Psychedelics Affect the Brain? Scientists Analyzed More Than 500 Neural Scans to Find Out

A new study suggests that four psychoactive compounds work in surprisingly similar ways, and that they break down the separation between how we think internally and how we perceive the outside world

Tobacco plants make a lot of the amino acid tryptophan, the basis of many psychoactive compounds.

Scientists Engineered Tobacco Plants to Produce Five Mind-Altering Psychedelic Compounds

The substances have been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, but they’ve recently become popular as possible therapeutics for mental health conditions

Finland snagged the top spot in this year's World Happiness Report, an annual survey of wellbeing in more than 140 countries.

New Research

Finland Is Named the Happiest Country in the World for the Ninth Year in a Row

The World Happiness Report is an annual ranking of wellbeing around the globe. This year’s report spotlighted the consequences of social media use

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