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social behavior

·February 23, 2024·4 min read

Ketamine’s Key to Unlocking Social Bonding in Depression

Researchers made a significant breakthrough in understanding how ketamine treats depression-related social impairments, focusing on the drug's effects in the mouse model. Their study shows that (R)-ketamine, as opposed to (S)-ketamine, effectively restores neuronal activity in the anterior insular cortex, a region crucial for emotional regulation and social cognition.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·February 13, 2024·5 min read

Loneliness Linked to Negative Eating Behaviors

Researchers reveals significant associations between social isolation, loneliness, and detrimental food and eating behaviors, uncovering the intricate relationship between emotional well-being and dietary habits. The study, involving 29 research papers, found consistent evidence that loneliness correlates with poorer diet quality, including lower fruit and vegetable intake and higher consumption of energy-dense-nutrient-poor foods, both during and outside COVID-19 lockdowns.

This shows a man in a suit covered in red dust.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·February 5, 2024·5 min read

Violence Spreads Like Contagion in Certain Groups

A recent study highlights how violence among members of the Italian mafia spreads contagiously, with those committing violent acts in groups more likely to continue such behavior in the future. Analyzing the criminal careers of 9,819 individuals convicted of organized crime, researchers found that prior violent co-offending significantly increases the likelihood of future violent acts, more so than solo offenses.

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·January 29, 2024·5 min read

People Likely to Conceal Contagious Sickness for Social Commitments

A significant number of people, including healthcare workers, conceal infectious illnesses to maintain their work and social commitments. The study, involving over 4,100 participants, found that 75% had hidden or might hide their illness in the future, often due to social plans or institutional pressures.

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·January 26, 2024·4 min read

Income Gap Influences Friendships in Adolescents

A new study reveals that adolescents from low-income families are less socially integrated in school compared to their higher-income peers, regardless of the school's socioeconomic context. Analyzing data from 4,787 Swedish children in 235 school classes, researchers found that income status significantly impacts friendships, with students from poorer households having fewer friends.

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·January 20, 2024·5 min read

Fair Share or Fair Play: Unraveling Our Brain’s Fairness Mechanisms

Researchers evaluate the neuroscientific aspects of fairness in social settings, examining how we balance personal interests with social norms. Using electric brain stimulation on 60 volunteers, researchers identified key brain regions involved in fairness decisions. The study highlights our innate preference for equal distribution, regardless of whether it puts us at an advantage or disadvantage.

Autism Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 12, 2024·6 min read

Eye-Tracking Unveils Autism’s Distinctive Worldview and Social Focus Shift

Researchers have discovered that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) develop distinct attentional preferences compared to typically developing children, focusing more on non-social stimuli like objects and textures. Using eye-tracking technology on children viewing cartoons, the study found that unlike their peers, ASD children do not exhibit the same developmental trajectory in social attention.

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·January 11, 2024·3 min read

The Broccoli Experiment: How Facial Expressions Impact Food Love

Observing others' facial expressions while eating raw broccoli impacts women's liking but not their desire to eat it. A study examined the effects of positive, neutral, and negative facial expressions during broccoli consumption.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 5, 2024·4 min read

Revealing Secrets: People’s Fear of Judgment is Overestimated

New research dispels fears of judgment when sharing secrets. Study shows that when individuals confide their secrets, others perceive them as more charitable and trustworthy.

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·December 12, 2023·6 min read

Rejecting Invites: Less Impact on Relationships Than Feared

People often overestimate the negative consequences of declining social invitations. The study involved over 2,000 participants across five experiments. It showed that while individuals who declined invitations feared damaging their relationships, the inviters typically felt less upset than expected.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·November 30, 2023·5 min read

Asch Study Reimagined: Navigating the Labyrinth of Conformity in the Contemporary Mind

A recent study replicates and extends Solomon Asch's famous conformity experiments, revealing intriguing insights about human behavior. The research demonstrates that monetary incentives reduce conformity errors in line-judging tasks, though social influence remains a factor.

This shows a woman sitting alone in a dark room.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 24, 2023·3 min read

Hikikomori: New Tool Sheds Light on Social Isolation Phenomenon

Researchers developed the Hikikomori Diagnostic Evaluation (HiDE), a new assessment tool for identifying pathological social withdrawal or hikikomori. This condition, initially identified in Japan, is characterized by extended physical isolation lasting over six months and is increasingly observed worldwide, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.