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Open Access

Neuroscience research articles and press releases that cover research published in Open Access journals are listed below. We use Open Access (OA) to mean that the general public has free, open access to research journal articles published online.

This shows a woman, a cell phone and laptop.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·March 29, 2025·5 min read

Why Simply Putting Away Your Phone Won’t Help You Focus

A new study reveals that placing your smartphone out of reach doesn’t significantly reduce distraction or boost productivity. While participants used their phones less when they were farther away, they simply shifted their attention to other devices like laptops. The core issue isn’t the phone itself but the deeply ingrained habits and routines we’ve built around it. Smartphones remain the preferred tool for distraction due to their multifunctionality, portability, and tactile design.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·March 21, 2025·4 min read

Sleep-Deprived Fruit Flies Show Sharper Memory via PKA Signaling

Fruit flies with genetic mutations that severely reduce sleep show enhanced performance in olfactory memory tasks, challenging assumptions about sleep’s role in cognition. This paradox appears to be driven by increased protein kinase A (PKA) signaling in the mushroom body, a brain region responsible for memory and sleep regulation.

This shows two people awake at night on their phones.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 19, 2025·3 min read

Higher Depression Risks for Night Owls

A new study finds that staying up late, known as having an “evening chronotype,” is associated with a higher risk of depression. Researchers analyzed data from 546 university students and found that this link is influenced by sleep quality, alcohol consumption, and mindfulness levels.

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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·February 18, 2025·4 min read

Depression Speeds Up Physical Illness

Adults with a history of depression develop long-term physical conditions about 30% faster than those without, according to a large study. Researchers analyzed data from over 172,000 participants and found that those with depression accrued an average of 0.2 additional conditions per year, compared to 0.16 in those without.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·February 12, 2025·5 min read

AI vs. Human Therapists: Study Finds ChatGPT Responses Rated Higher

A new study suggests that ChatGPT’s responses in psychotherapy scenarios are often rated higher than those written by human therapists. Researchers found that participants struggled to distinguish between AI-generated and therapist-written responses in couple’s therapy vignettes.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·January 31, 2025·6 min read

Ancient Ear Muscles Reactivate When We Struggle to Listen

Humans have vestigial ear muscles that once helped our ancestors focus on sounds. New research shows these muscles still activate when we strain to hear in noisy environments. Scientists used electromyography to measure auricular muscle activity in people listening to an audiobook with distracting background noise.

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Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 23, 2025·7 min read

Long COVID Impairs Exercise Capacity and Cognition for Years

A study of nearly 1,000 people with post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) revealed that two-thirds still experienced significant symptoms, including reduced exercise capacity and cognitive performance, two years after infection. Persistent symptom clusters included fatigue, neurocognitive disturbances, and post-exertional malaise, with worse outcomes in individuals with obesity, lower education, or severe initial infections.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·January 17, 2025·6 min read

Do Accents Influence Guilt Perceptions?

Accents influence perceptions of guilt, with those judged as "lower status" being considered more likely to commit crimes. Researchers analyzed responses from 180 participants who rated voices from 10 UK accents on social traits and likelihood of certain behaviors, including crimes.

This shows an ape looking at a computer monitor.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Visual Neuroscience

·November 26, 2024·3 min read

Great Apes’ Gaze Reveals Human-Like Event Perception

Great apes track events involving agents and patients, like humans, suggesting shared cognitive mechanisms. When watching video clips, apes alternated their gaze between agents (e.g., a cat) and patients (e.g., a mouse), similar to adult humans, though apes paid more attention to background details.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 21, 2024·10 min read

3D Brain Models Unlock New Insights Into Memory and Connectivity

Researchers have developed the most detailed 3D computational models of key brain regions, including the hippocampus and sensory cortices, to better understand their roles in memory formation and connectivity. These models integrate anatomical and physiological data, capturing synaptic plasticity and long-range interactions. By simulating brain activity, the models enable predictions about cortical processing and provide tools for future experimental validation.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·November 19, 2024·4 min read

Birth Spurs a Surge in Brain Connectivity

Brain imaging of fetuses and infants reveals a rapid increase in functional brain connectivity at birth, aiding adaptation to the external world. Researchers observed distinct growth patterns, with subcortical, sensorimotor, and superior frontal regions undergoing major reorganizations.

This shows two heads and "paranormal" symbols.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 14, 2024·4 min read

Traditional Paranormal Beliefs Linked to Stress

Traditional paranormal beliefs, such as witchcraft and religious superstition, are linked to higher stress and reduced coping ability, while new age beliefs, like spiritualism and precognition, show no such link. Researchers used an improved scale to analyze responses from over 3,000 participants, revealing that traditional beliefs may reflect anxieties about external control. The findings highlight the psychological differences between belief types but cannot confirm cause-and-effect relationships.