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AI

·June 6, 2025·5 min read

Brain’s Reward Center Tracks Not Just What, But When Rewards Arrive

The brain’s ventral tegmental area (VTA) encodes not only the value of anticipated rewards but also the precise timing of when those rewards are expected. Long known for its role in producing dopamine and guiding reward prediction, the VTA is now shown to process reward expectations on multiple time scales.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 5, 2025·4 min read

Can AI Be Funny? Yes, But Not Funnier Than a Human

A new study shows that AI can create internet memes rated as funny and shareable as those made by humans—but the best jokes still come from people. Researchers compared memes made by humans, AI, and human-AI teams, using classic templates like Doge and Futurama Fry.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·June 5, 2025·6 min read

AI Diagnoses Eye Movement Disorders from Home

Researchers have developed an AI-based diagnostic tool that uses smartphone video and cloud computing to detect nystagmus—a key symptom of balance and neurological disorders. Unlike traditional methods like videonystagmography, which are expensive and cumbersome, this deep learning system provides a low-cost, patient-friendly alternative for remote diagnosis.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 4, 2025·4 min read

AI Model Maps Brain Dynamics to Boost Mental Health Diagnosis

A new adaptive brain modeling framework offers fresh hope for objective diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders, which currently lack reliable neuroimaging biomarkers. Using an enhanced version of the Landau-Stuart oscillator model, researchers simulated brain activity to better capture individual-specific neural dynamics.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 3, 2025·5 min read

Can Chatbots Spot Mental Health Drug Side Effects?

As mental healthcare gaps persist, people increasingly turn to AI chatbots for help with psychiatric medication side effects. A new study evaluated how well large language models detect and respond to these complex, high-risk situations. While AI often mirrors a psychiatrist's tone, researchers found it struggles with accurately identifying adverse drug reactions and offering actionable advice.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 3, 2025·3 min read

AI Links Early Life Risks to Behavioral Challenges at Age Five

A new study reveals that emotional and behavioral difficulties in five-year-old children can be predicted using prenatal and early-life risk factors, including maternal smoking, low birth weight, and lack of breastfeeding. Researchers used AI to analyze data from nearly 6,000 UK children, uncovering gender-specific vulnerabilities—boys were more impacted by smoking during pregnancy, while girls were more affected by early fussiness.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·June 3, 2025·5 min read

Self-Powered Synapse Brings Human-Like Vision to AI Devices

Researchers have developed a self-powered artificial synapse capable of color recognition with near-human precision. Unlike traditional systems that demand external energy and massive data processing, this device mimics biological vision and generates its own electricity using solar cells.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 2, 2025·5 min read

How Humans Emotionally Bond With AI

As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, researchers are investigating whether emotional attachment to AI mirrors human interpersonal relationships. A new study from Japan introduces a scale to assess how people form attachment-like bonds with AI, finding that some users seek emotional reassurance while others prefer distance. T

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 28, 2025·4 min read

LLMs Mimic Human Cognitive Dissonance

A new study reveals that GPT-4o, a leading large language model, displays behavior resembling cognitive dissonance—a core human psychological trait. When asked to write essays either supporting or opposing Vladimir Putin, GPT-4o’s subsequent “opinions” shifted to align with its written stance, especially when it “believed” the choice was its own.

This shows a robot with a brain and heart.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 22, 2025·4 min read

AI Shows Higher Emotional IQ than Humans

A new study tested whether artificial intelligence can demonstrate emotional intelligence by evaluating six generative AIs, including ChatGPT, on standard emotional intelligence (EI) assessments. The AIs achieved an average score of 82%, significantly higher than the 56% scored by human participants.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·May 21, 2025·5 min read

AI-Guided Gene Vectors Precisely Target Brain and Spinal Cells

Scientists have engineered dozens of adeno-associated virus (AAV) systems that ferry genes to specific neuron and glial subtypes in the brain and spinal cord with unprecedented accuracy. Powered by AI-selected DNA “light switches,” the vectors can switch on therapeutic or research genes only in targeted cells—eliminating the need for transgenic animals and enabling fine-grained circuit mapping, activation, or silencing.