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Psychology

This shows a doctor and herbal remedies.

·July 18, 2025·4 min read

Illusory Beliefs Fuel Risky Health Choices

Beliefs in pseudoscientific health ideas can undermine trust in conventional medicine and lead to riskier health decisions, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed over 1,500 participants and showed that stronger illusory beliefs were linked to higher use of unvalidated therapies and lower adherence to evidence-based practices.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 18, 2025·5 min read

How the Brain Decodes Social Emotions and Anxiety

The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) plays a key role in interpreting social hierarchies and facial emotions, offering insight into anxiety and mood disorders. A research project used advanced imaging techniques to overcome past challenges in studying the ATL, revealing its strong activation during social and emotional decisions.

This shows two people, a dog, and a question mark.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 17, 2025·4 min read

Can Dogs Really Judge Character?

Many dog lovers believe dogs can sense who to trust, but research suggests the reality may be more complex. A study of 40 pet dogs tested whether they form reputations of humans by observing how those humans treated another dog.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·July 17, 2025·6 min read

Judging Music: Do We Trust Our Eyes More Than Our Ears?

A new study reveals that the “sight-over-sound” effect—where visual cues outweigh audio in judging music—depends heavily on the listener’s musical background. In experiments with Japanese brass band performances, general musicians relied more on visuals, while brass band specialists judged more accurately by sound alone.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 17, 2025·8 min read

Overactive Anterior Insula May Fuel Anxiety and Depression

New research shows that elevated glutamate-glutamine (Glx) levels in the anterior insular cortex (AIC) make people more sensitive to mistakes and more prone to anxiety and depression. Using functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy and reinforcement learning tasks, scientists found that high AIC Glx predicted both a general internalizing symptom score and heightened error sensitivity, which mediated this relationship.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 17, 2025·3 min read

Toxoplasma Parasite Influences Personality and Aggression

New research highlights how parasitic infections can alter brain chemistry and behavior in humans. Toxoplasma gondii, among others, appears to manipulate dopamine and immune responses, increasing risk-taking, impulsivity, and aggression.

This shows an older man listening to music.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·July 17, 2025·5 min read

Music Shows Promise in Easing Distress in Dementia

A new study highlights how music therapy can help ease severe distress in dementia patients on hospital wards. The MELODIC approach embeds a music therapist to deliver sessions and create personalized musical care plans for patients.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 16, 2025·5 min read

When Tears Seem Honest: Context Shapes How We Judge Crying

New research reveals that our perception of others’ tears as sincere or manipulative depends heavily on context. Tears were judged more honest when shed in non-manipulative situations and by those less expected to cry, such as men or individuals perceived as less warm.

This shows a man making eye contact with a robot.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 16, 2025·4 min read

How Eye Contact Builds Connection

A new study reveals that the sequence of eye movements—not just eye contact itself—plays a key role in how we interpret social cues, even with robots. Researchers found that looking at an object, making eye contact, then looking back at the object was the most effective way to signal a request for help.

This shows supplement bottles on a shelf.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 16, 2025·7 min read

Do Supplements Work for Depression? Some Do, Study Says

A comprehensive review of over 23,000 studies identified 64 over-the-counter (OTC) supplements and herbal products evaluated in clinical trials for depression. St John’s Wort, saffron, probiotics, vitamin D, and omega-3s showed the strongest evidence, while others like lavender, zinc, and chamomile showed promise but need more research.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 16, 2025·5 min read

How Dopamine Shapes Risky Reward Behaviors

Not all animals respond to reward cues the same way — some fixate on the cue itself, while others head straight for the reward. New research reveals that “sign trackers,” animals drawn to the cue, rely on dopamine in a specific brain region to form these associations, unlike “goal trackers,” who use a dopamine-independent mechanism.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 16, 2025·5 min read

Your Brain Registers Others’ Feelings Even When You Don’t

A new fMRI study reveals that our brains encode both what others intend to express emotionally and how we consciously infer their feelings—two distinct processes. Researchers trained machine-learning models on brain activity to separately predict the speaker’s self-reported emotions and the observer’s inferences.