Summary: Presence hallucinations—reports of an unseen person nearby—are linked to an increased tendency to overestimate the number of people in a scene. Researchers at EPFL show this overcounting is specific to social stimuli (people) and does not occur for inanimate objects such as boxes. Using a combined virtual reality and robotics platform, the team developed … Read more

Summary: A new comparative study reveals that the site where an axon emerges from a neuron differs between primates and non-primates, indicating a fundamental architectural distinction in their cortical neurons. Source: RUB Researchers in the Developmental Neurobiology group at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, led by Professor Petra Wahle and collaborating with teams from Mannheim, Jülich, Linz, and … Read more

Summary: In a small college-student sample, researchers found that people carrying a specific variant of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) tended to follow more accounts on Instagram. The study did not find evidence that interactions between these genetic variants and relationship-related environmental factors affected online sociability. Source: Cell Press A brief exploratory study of university … Read more

Researchers have activated the brain’s own stem cells to regenerate a neuron type lost in Huntington’s disease, producing new neurons that integrate into neural circuits and substantially prolong survival in affected mice, a study in Cell Stem Cell reports. Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) triggered the production of medium spiny neurons— … Read more

Summary: Excitatory neurons in the visual cortex encode images, while two distinct types of inhibitory interneurons work together in a circuit that improves the stability and reliability of those visual representations. Source: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory Visual processing in the brain is inherently noisy. As signals travel from the eye through multiple brain … Read more

Summary: Listening to favorite music may enhance the effects of medication and reduce side effects. In a pilot study, cancer patients who listened to music while taking anti-nausea medication reported lower nausea severity and less distress during chemotherapy-related nausea episodes. Source: Michigan State University Music is more than a mood booster; it may act as … Read more

Summary: A new, world-first study examines how romantic love interacts with the brain’s Behavioral Activation System (BAS), revealing how love shifts attention and motivation toward a romantic partner. Researchers surveyed 1,556 young adults who described themselves as “in love,” asking about their emotional reactions to their partners, the behaviors they display around them, and the … Read more

Summary: Sending and checking email outside of working hours increases stress, and personality differences influence how people use email and what they find stressful. Source: BPS. Email Use, Personality, and Work-Related Stress A recent study presented at a professional psychology conference finds that email, while essential for many jobs, can be a significant source of … Read more

REM Sleep Disorders May Be an Early Warning Sign of Neurodegenerative Disease Summary: Researchers report that disturbances in dreaming and specific sleep disorders can precede clear neurological symptoms by many years, offering a potential early indicator of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia. REM sleep disturbances could indicate increased risk for neurodegenerative disease … Read more

Findings clarify how the brain prioritizes important information and how neural circuits may malfunction in attention disorders. Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center report new evidence that a thin, shell-like structure deep in the mammalian brain—the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN)—helps the brain focus and multitask by selectively gating sensory information. The team’s experiments in mice … Read more