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social neuroscience

This shows a heart with prison bars and a brain behind it

·December 27, 2020·6 min read

Love and Hate in the Brain

Activity in the medial preoptic area tilts the mouse brain toward love and affection, while activity in the ventromedial hypothalamus is associated with more aggressive or hateful acts.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 21, 2020·3 min read

Targeted Brain Stimulation Dulls Social Pain

Combining brain stimulation directed at areas of the prefrontal cortex and emotional regulation strategies helps to improve emotional response in those with psychiatric disorders.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·December 15, 2020·4 min read

What Loneliness Looks Like in the Brain

Neuroimaging reveals several differences in the brains of lonely people, specifically in the default network. Researchers found greater gray matter density and stronger connectivity in the default networks of lonely people.

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·December 13, 2020·4 min read

Why Celebrating Christmas Is Good for Your Mental Health

Researchers explain why maintaining holiday rituals are important for mental health, especially in the time of COVID.

This shows social media icons and a finger hovering over a cell phone

Featured Psychology

·December 12, 2020·3 min read

Increased Social Media Use Linked to Developing Depression

Young adults who spend 300 or more minutes on social media a day are 2.8 times more likely to develop depression within six months than those who use social media for 120 minutes or less.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·December 8, 2020·4 min read

Mother’s Empathy Linked to ‘Epigenetic’ Changes to the Oxytocin Gene

Methylation of the oxytocin gene OXT was associated with maternal personal distress, resulting in harsher parenting. OXT methylation was also negatively correlated with gray matter in the right inferior temporal gyrus.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 6, 2020·4 min read

Spotting Liars Is Hard, but Our New Method Is Effective and Ethical

The AIM technique is almost 40% more accurate at lie detection than traditional methods.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 29, 2020·5 min read

Laughing Is Good for Your Mind and Your Body, Here’s What the Research Shows

Researchers investigate how laughter improves both mental and physical well-being.

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·November 25, 2020·3 min read

The Smell of Cooperation

The smell of a cooperative rat is enough to trigger altruistic responses in other rodents.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 17, 2020·5 min read

The Neural Mechanisms Behind Support for Political Violence

People with strong moral and political convictions who saw images of protestors congruent to their own views showed activation in the brain's reward system. The study suggests violent acts in political protests can arise as a desire to act morally, rather than from bad intentions.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·November 11, 2020·5 min read

Empathy and Perspective Taking: How Social Skills Are Built

Complex social problems require a mix of empathy and perspective-changing to resolve.

This diagram shows social acting monkeys

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·November 2, 2020·3 min read

How the Brain Allows Actions Based on Social Cues

Information flow between the ventromedial premotor cortex and medial prefrontal cortex makes it possible for monkeys to correctly identify social cues.