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mental health

·April 28, 2025·8 min read

Dopamine Signals Teach the Brain to Unlearn Fear

A new study reveals that dopamine release along a specific brain circuit helps extinguish fear by activating reward-related neurons in the amygdala. Researchers showed that dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) drives the brain’s positive learning process during fear extinction, rather than simply suppressing fear.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 28, 2025·9 min read

Tiny Brain Structure Reveals New Paths to Treat Addiction, Depression

New research spotlights the habenula, a tiny but powerful brain region, as a key player in addiction, motivation, and emotional regulation. Studies show that the habenula’s circuitry influences how the brain processes rewards, disappointment, and drug cravings, offering potential drug targets like the GPR151 receptor.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 28, 2025·6 min read

Cannabis Use Disorder Linked to Psychosis Brain Changes

New research shows that individuals with cannabis use disorder have elevated dopamine levels in brain regions associated with psychosis. Using neuromelanin-sensitive MRI scans, scientists found increased dopamine activity, visible as darker brain spots, in cannabis users regardless of schizophrenia diagnosis.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 27, 2025·4 min read

Why Music Offers an Emotional Lifeline During Crises

A new study reveals that people worldwide turn to song lyrics as emotional anchors during crises, such as the COVID-19 lockdowns. Researchers found that lyrical themes—like loss, belonging, and reflection—played a far greater role in emotional coping than the music’s tempo or harmony.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·April 26, 2025·4 min read

Prenatal Stress Leaves Lasting Molecular Imprints on Babies

A new study reveals that stress during pregnancy can molecularly reprogram newborns' stress response systems, with significant differences between boys and girls. Researchers found that maternal stress altered entire families of tRNA fragments in umbilical cord blood, particularly those regulating acetylcholine, a key neurotransmitter.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 26, 2025·6 min read

Brain Networks Reveal How Psychosis Symptoms Change Over Time

A new study explores how brain networks differ between patients in early and chronic stages of psychosis, shedding light on symptom evolution. Researchers mapped connectivity patterns and found that disruptions in the frontoparietal network are key to both early and chronic psychosis symptoms.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 25, 2025·5 min read

Neural Rewiring May Hold the Key to Psychosis Recovery

A new study has uncovered the brain connectivity patterns that differentiate patients who recover from psychosis from those who do not. Using whole-brain computational models, researchers found that patients in remission show increased neural connectivity, while those with persistent symptoms show reduced connectivity.

This shows people drinking and lounging around.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 25, 2025·6 min read

These 3 Bad Habits in Your 30s Impact Later Mental Health

A decades-long study in Finland reveals that smoking, heavy drinking, and physical inactivity in early adulthood are strongly linked to declining physical and mental health by age 36. Participants with all three habits showed elevated depression symptoms, higher metabolic risk, and lower self-rated health and wellbeing scores.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 23, 2025·6 min read

Can Brain Scans Tell Which Antidepressant Will Work for You?

A new study shows that brain connectivity patterns, especially in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, can help predict how patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) will respond to antidepressants. By combining brain imaging with clinical data, researchers developed machine learning models that accurately predicted treatment outcomes across two large trials.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 23, 2025·5 min read

Psychedelics May Reset Brain-Immune Link Driving Fear and Anxiety

A new study reveals that chronic stress activates immune cells that travel to the brain, amplify inflammation, and heighten fear responses. Researchers found that psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin disrupt this immune-brain crosstalk, reducing stress-related fear in mice and showing similar effects in human tissue samples.

This shows a person sitting alone on a bench.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 23, 2025·6 min read

Middle-Aged Americans Are the Loneliest, Global Study Finds

A large international study has found that middle-aged Americans report higher levels of loneliness than older adults, a pattern seen in only one other country—the Netherlands. While loneliness generally increases with age globally, the U.S. stands out as an exception, with factors like unemployment, caregiving burdens, and lack of social support systems driving middle-aged isolation.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 22, 2025·4 min read

More People Turning to Psilocybin for Self-Treatment

Psilocybin use in the U.S. has risen sharply across all age groups since 2019, coinciding with increasing legalization and interest in its therapeutic potential. A new study reveals a 44% rise in past-year use among young adults and a 188% increase among those over 30.

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mental health

Dopamine Signals Teach the Brain to Unlearn Fear

Tiny Brain Structure Reveals New Paths to Treat Addiction, Depression

Cannabis Use Disorder Linked to Psychosis Brain Changes

Why Music Offers an Emotional Lifeline During Crises

Prenatal Stress Leaves Lasting Molecular Imprints on Babies

Brain Networks Reveal How Psychosis Symptoms Change Over Time

Neural Rewiring May Hold the Key to Psychosis Recovery

These 3 Bad Habits in Your 30s Impact Later Mental Health

Can Brain Scans Tell Which Antidepressant Will Work for You?

Psychedelics May Reset Brain-Immune Link Driving Fear and Anxiety

Middle-Aged Americans Are the Loneliest, Global Study Finds

More People Turning to Psilocybin for Self-Treatment

PET Tracer Maps Synapse Loss After Spinal Cord Injury

Stress Relief Brain Circuit May Drive Alcohol Relapse

Your Words May Reveal More Than You Think: AI Shows How

How the Brain Uses Objects to Find Direction

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