Human Quirks: Mind & Brain

December 18, 2024

Top Headlines

Brain Cells Remain Healthy After a Month on the International Space Station, but Mature Faster Than Brain Cells on Earth

Dec. 17, 2024 — Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cogni tion, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, ...

Travelers Weigh in on Weight-Based Airfares for Eco-Friendly Skies

Dec. 17, 2024 — The holidays are in full swing and people are shopping, wrapping and packing to visit loved ones. Along with the extra fees for checked baggage and seat upgrades, some airlines are also considering weight-based pricing. A recent study looked at how ...

Sculpting the Brain (Without Chisel or Scalpel)

Dec. 10, 2024 — Researchers report that they have successfully tested a novel approach for teaching the human brain to learn through external manipulation and neural feedback -- what they call the 'sculpting' of brain activity ...

Researchers 'See' Vulnerability to Gaming Addiction in the Adolescent Brain

Dec. 9, 2024 — Researchers found that adolescents with more symptoms of gaming addiction showed lower brain activity in the region involved in decision-making and reward processing; this blunted response to reward anticipation is associated with higher symptoms of ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:30pm EST

Scientists Create AI That 'Watches' Videos by Mimicking the Brain

Dec. 9, 2024 — Imagine an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can watch and understand moving images with the subtlety of a human brain. Now, scientists have made this a reality by creating MovieNet: an ...

Scientists Identify Brain Cell Type as Master Controller of Urination

Dec. 3, 2024 — Researchers have identified a subset of brain cells in mice that act as the master regulators of ...

Temporary Tattoo Printed Directly on the Scalp Offers Easy, Hair-Friendly Solution for Measuring Brainwaves

Dec. 2, 2024 — Scientists have invented a liquid ink that doctors can print onto a patient's scalp to measure brain activity. The technology offers a promising ...

Smarter City Planning: Researchers Use Brain Activity to Predict Visits to Urban Areas

Nov. 21, 2024 — Researchers have measured the brain activity of people who had never been to a specific city and then use this brain activity to predict other ...

Northerners, Scots and Irish Excel at Detecting Fake Accents to Guard Against Outsiders, Study Suggests

Nov. 20, 2024 — People from Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin and the north-east of England are better at detecting someone imitating their accent than people from London and ...

Synchronized Movement Between Robots and Humans Builds Trust, Study Finds

Nov. 20, 2024 — Trust between humans and robots is improved when the movement between both is harmonized, researchers have ...

The Chilling Sound of the Aztec Death Whistle

Nov. 19, 2024 — The Aztec skull whistle produces a shrill, screaming sound. A study shows that these whistles have a disturbing effect on the human brain. The Aztecs may have deliberately used this effect in ...

How Cells Habituate

Nov. 19, 2024 — Up until recently, habituation -- a simple form of learning -- was deemed the exclusive domain of complex organisms with brains and nervous systems, such as worms, insects, birds, and mammals. But a ...

Gaming for the Good!

Nov. 18, 2024 — It turns out gaming is good for you! New research indicates massive multiplayer online gamers learn by gaming and their skills in the workplace are enriched by those seemingly endless hours ...

Egyptians Drank Hallucinogenic Cocktails in Ancient Rituals, Study Confirms

Nov. 15, 2024 — Scholars for the first time identified chemical signatures of the components of a liquid concoction contained in a Bes mug. A new technique helped identify a sample flavored with honey, sesame seeds, ...

Giving a Gift? Better Late Than Never, Study Finds

Dec. 9, 2024 — If you feel terrible about giving a late gift to a friend for Christmas or their birthday, this study has good news for you. Researchers found that recipients aren't nearly as upset about ...

Political Opinions Influence Our Choice of Chocolate

Nov. 25, 2024 — We distance ourselves from completely neutral products if they are liked by people who have political views that we find disagreeable. Even chocolate can be political, according to new research from ...

Texting Abbreviations Makes Senders Seem Insincere, Study Finds

Nov. 14, 2024 — If you want to seem sincere and receive more responses to your texts, spell out words instead of abbreviating them, according to new ...

NeuroMechFly V2: Simulating How Fruit Flies See, Smell, and Navigate

Nov. 14, 2024 — Scientists have advanced their NeuroMechFly model, simulating fruit fly movement in the real world. With integrated vision and smell, NeuroMechFly v2 helps us understand brain-body coordination, ...

Memories Are Not Only in the Brain, New Research Finds

Nov. 7, 2024 — It's common knowledge that our brains -- and, specifically, our brain cells -- store memories. But a team of scientists has discovered that cells from other parts of the body also perform a ...

New Haptic Patch Transmits Complexity of Touch to the Skin

Nov. 6, 2024 — Thin, flexible device could help people with visual impairments 'feel' surroundings. Device comprises a hexagonal array of 19 actuators encapsulated in soft silicone. Device only uses ...

AI-Generated News Is Harder to Understand, Study Finds

Oct. 24, 2024 — Readers find automated news articles poorer than manually-written texts in relation to word choice and use of ...

Study of Chick Peeps Could Improve Understanding of Animal Emotions

Oct. 24, 2024 — Understanding animal emotions has been a long-running question at the forefront of welfare studies, but a new study may hold the key to decoding the chatter. The answer involves two baby chickens and ...

Nixing Narcolepsy Nightmares

Oct. 23, 2024 — A new study has demonstrated a new way to treat narcolepsy-related nightmares. The scientists combined cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and lucid dreaming to help patients in a small clinical ...

Butterfly Brains Reveal the Tweaks Required for Cognitive Innovation

Oct. 18, 2024 — A species of tropical butterfly with unusually expanded brain structures display a fascinating mosaic pattern of neural expansion linked to a cognitive ...

People Sympathize With Bullied AI Bots

Oct. 17, 2024 — In a new study, humans displayed sympathy towards and protected AI bots who were excluded from ...

Toddlers Show Increased Physical Activity With a Robot Playmate Moving Around the Room

Oct. 9, 2024 — Parents seeking help in encouraging toddlers to be physically active may soon need to look no further than an inexpensive robotic buddy for their kids, a new study ...

Stressed Bees Lack the Buzz in Life

Oct. 8, 2024 — Stressed bees are much more likely to make pessimistic choices and lack a buzz in ...

Asymmetric Placebo Effect in Response to Spicy Food

Oct. 8, 2024 — The expectations humans have of a pleasurable sensation asymmetrically shape neuronal responses and subjective experiences to hot sauce, according to a new ...

Are Auditory Magic Tricks Possible for a Blind Audience?

Oct. 4, 2024 — Magic tricks make the impossible seem possible. Magicians have long captivated audiences with visual tricks, such as pulling a bunny from a hat or sawing someone in half, but tricks that rely on ...

Hoarding Disorder: 'Sensory CBT' Treatment Strategy Shows Promise

Oct. 3, 2024 — Rehearsing alternative outcomes of discarding through imagery rescripting shows promise as a treatment strategy for people who hoard, a study by psychology researchers has ...

Turning Brain Cells on Using the Power of Light

Oct. 3, 2024 — Researchers have developed a noninvasive way of using bioluminescent optogenetics to activate parts of the ...

Small Brains Can Accomplish Big Things, According to New Theoretical Research

Oct. 3, 2024 — New research explains how the fly brain creates an accurate internal compass to keep track of where it is in the world using only a few neurons, expanding scientists' knowledge of what small ...

Scientists Create Flies That Stop When Exposed to Red Light

Oct. 2, 2024 — Ever wish you could stop that fruit fly on your kitchen counter in its tracks? Scientists have created flies that halt under red light. In doing so, they discovered the precise neural mechanisms ...

AI Simulation Gives People a Glimpse of Their Potential Future Self

Oct. 2, 2024 — 'Future You' is a generative AI tool that enables users to have a simulated conversation with a potential version of their future selves. The chatbot is meant to reduce users' anxiety, ...