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social neuroscience

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·September 26, 2025·4 min read

Lifelong Social Bonds Can Slow Biological Aging at the Cellular Level

A new study shows that lifelong social advantages—from early parental warmth to adult friendships and community support—can slow biological aging. Researchers analyzed over 2,100 participants and found that those with stronger, more consistent social connections had younger biological ages according to epigenetic clocks GrimAge and DunedinPACE.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 25, 2025·4 min read

Dopamine Links Social Isolation to Brain Myelin Damage

A new five-year study explores how dopamine may drive changes in brain myelin during social isolation. Researchers will track how dopamine interacts with oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for producing myelin and supporting neuron function.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 22, 2025·1 min read

Brain Scans Reveal How Bullying Sparks Instant Alarm and Distress

A new study shows that bullying activates distress pathways in the brain within seconds. Tweens and adults who viewed first-person bullying videos displayed heightened activity in social and emotional brain networks, alongside strong autonomic threat responses.

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Featured Neuroscience

·September 21, 2025·9 min read

Boys Adjust Calorie Intake After Snacks While Girls Keep Eating

A new study found that young boys adjusted their food intake at mealtime when they had already eaten a fruit snack, but girls did not. The findings suggest that boys are more likely to listen to their body’s signals of hunger and fullness, while girls may rely on social or environmental cues.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·September 20, 2025·5 min read

Dementia Prevention Must Begin in Childhood, Not Just Midlife

A large international study shows that the accumulation of social hardships across life—known as the social exposome—has lasting effects on the brain. Adverse exposures, including low education, food insecurity, and limited healthcare, were linked to cognitive decline, mental health issues, and altered brain structure and function.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 17, 2025·10 min read

When Machines Become Our Moral Loophole

A large study across 13 experiments with over 8,000 participants shows that people are far more likely to act dishonestly when they can delegate tasks to AI rather than do them themselves. Dishonesty rose most when participants only had to set broad goals, rather than explicit instructions, allowing them to distance themselves from the unethical act.

This shows the outline of two people with their hands touching and oxytocin molecules floating around them.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 16, 2025·3 min read

Oxytocin Fuels Reciprocity and Empathy

Researchers developed a fully automated cooperation task showing that rats engage in true reciprocity, not just mutual benefit. Social interaction enhanced success, while dampened interaction reduced cooperative performance.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 15, 2025·2 min read

Brain Circuits Show Why Friends’ Lies Are Easier to Believe

Researchers explored how people process deception from friends versus strangers, using brain imaging to study decision-making in gain and loss contexts. Volunteers were more likely to believe lies in situations promising rewards, with brain activity highlighting circuits for risk, reward, and intention.

This shows the outline of a digital head and a brain, and people networking.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 9, 2025·5 min read

AI Matches Human Social Perception

Researchers found that ChatGPT could assess social interactions in videos and images almost as accurately as humans. The AI’s evaluations of social features like cooperation, hostility, and body movements were even more consistent than those of a single person.

This shows the outline of a head and brain. Behind are two people fighting.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 8, 2025·2 min read

Aggression Is Contagious: Observing Violence Primes the Brain for Aggression

A new study shows that observing violence can make individuals more likely to act aggressively later, but the effect depends on familiarity. Male mice who watched familiar peers attack others became more violent afterward, driven by amygdala neurons that “prime” aggression.

This shows a person listening to music with the outline of other people in the background.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 30, 2025·6 min read

Music Sparks Social Imagination and Eases Loneliness

A large-scale study with 600 participants shows that music can genuinely evoke feelings of companionship by sparking social imagination. When participants listened to folk music, they imagined vivid social scenes such as being with friends, even when lyrics were removed.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 27, 2025·4 min read

Brain Map Reveals How Stress and Social Control Interconnect

A new study has identified a key brain hub in the medial prefrontal cortex that regulates stress responses and social behavior, offering critical insights into psychiatric conditions. Using advanced imaging and AI mapping in mice, scientists charted how these regions integrate sensory and bodily signals to control emotional stability.