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LLMs

·November 11, 2025·6 min read

AI Models Form Theory-of-Mind Beliefs

Researchers showed that large language models use a small, specialized subset of parameters to perform Theory-of-Mind reasoning, despite activating their full network for every task. This sparse internal circuitry depends heavily on positional encoding, especially rotary positional encoding, which shapes how the model tracks beliefs and perspectives.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 9, 2025·5 min read

AI Excels at Spotting Brain Myths

Large language models like ChatGPT can identify brain-related myths more accurately than many educators—if the myths are presented directly. In an international study, AI correctly judged around 80% of statements about the brain and learning, outperforming experienced teachers.

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Featured Neuroscience

·July 22, 2025·7 min read

AI Chatbots Overestimate Themselves, and Don’t Realize It

AI chatbots often overestimate their own abilities and fail to adjust even after performing poorly, a new study finds. Researchers compared human and AI confidence in trivia, predictions, and image recognition tasks, showing humans can recalibrate while AI often grows more overconfident.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 9, 2025·5 min read

Can AI Truly Grasp Colorful Metaphors Without Seeing Color?

A new study tested how humans and ChatGPT understand color metaphors, revealing key differences between lived experience and language-based AI. Surprisingly, colorblind and color-seeing humans showed similar comprehension, suggesting vision isn’t essential for interpreting metaphors.

This shows a child, AI, and speech bubbles.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 24, 2025·4 min read

Why Children Learn Language Faster Than AI

Despite AI’s massive processing power, children still far outperform machines in learning language—and a new framework helps explain why. Unlike AI systems that passively absorb text, children learn through multisensory exploration, social interaction, and self-driven curiosity.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 20, 2025·3 min read

AI Generates Relatable Empathy Experiences

Researchers have developed an AI tool called EmoSync that boosts empathy by tailoring emotional analogies to each user’s personality and life experiences. Unlike traditional empathy tech that assumes uniform emotional responses, EmoSync uses a large language model (LLM) to map personal traits and generate custom scenarios that resonate more deeply. In a study of over 100 participants, those using EmoSync showed significantly better understanding of others’ emotions than with conventional methods. The technology represents a new frontier in emotion-aware AI, aiming to foster authentic interpersonal understanding in complex social environments.

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

·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.

This shows a person reading and a brain.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 19, 2025·5 min read

Reading Fiction Boosts Empathy and Fights Loneliness

While AI companions are marketed as a fix for loneliness, research shows that reading offers far more meaningful benefits. Reading fiction can foster social connection, reduce stress, enhance empathy, and even reshape brain activity linked to social cognition.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 17, 2025·5 min read

AI Chatbots Mirror a Human Brain Disorder

Researchers have found a surprising similarity between the way large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT process information and how the brains of people with Wernicke’s aphasia function. In both cases, fluent but often incoherent output is produced, suggesting rigid internal processing patterns that can distort meaning.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 15, 2025·5 min read

AI’s Spontaneously Develop Social Norms Like Humans

Large language model (LLM) AI agents, when interacting in groups, can form shared social conventions without centralized coordination. Researchers adapted a classic “naming game” framework to test whether populations of AI agents could develop consensus through repeated, limited interactions.