Summary: When small groups with clear hierarchies undergo bonding activities, leaders and followers show greater alignment in brain activity and communicate more quickly and fluidly. Researchers used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure brain activity in 176 three-person groups while members interacted. The study found that groups who took part in a short bonding session … Read more

Summary: A recent study finds that childhood emotional trauma increases the likelihood of social avoidance and distress during adolescence, while psychological resilience can reduce these negative effects. Surveying 577 junior high students, researchers report that resilience served as a protective factor, helping many teens engage more confidently with peers following early emotional adversity. The study … Read more

Summary: Both children and adults are more likely to see villains as having some inner goodness than to see heroes as having hidden bad qualities. Source: University of Michigan We’ve always been fascinated by villains. From television dramas to blockbuster films, audiences often find themselves drawn to antagonists. Even when villains display selfishness, cruelty, or … Read more

Summary: Researchers have introduced DELTA, a powerful imaging approach that maps synaptic changes across the entire brain during learning. By labeling synaptic proteins before and after behavioral training, scientists can now visualize where and how neural connections are remodeled over time. Using DELTA, the team tracked changes in the synaptic protein GluA2 and identified brain … Read more

Summary: Cluttered memory traces and difficulty suppressing irrelevant information make older adults less confident in their recollections, which may increase their vulnerability to persuasion and fraud, a new study reports. Source: Georgia Institute of Technology New research from the Georgia Institute of Technology shows that older adults often struggle to recall specific details because their … Read more

Summary: UPDATE – Researchers report that people with a history of chickenpox have about a 21% lower risk of developing glioma, a form of brain cancer. The study’s authors suggest that the biology behind this association deserves further investigation and that, in the future, varicella (chickenpox) vaccination research could inform brain cancer studies. Having had … Read more

Summary: Researchers have found that rats strengthen memories of negative events that occur in familiar locations by selectively replaying those experiences during rest. These memories become associated with a mental map created by place cells in the hippocampus, and exposure to an aversive event causes some of those place cells to change their activity to … Read more

Summary: Mitochondria control when and how neural stem cells become neurons during brain development. This discovery helps explain aspects of human brain evolution and clarifies how mitochondrial defects can contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. Source: VIB Mitochondria, the cell’s energy-producing organelles, do more than supply fuel to brain cells. In a new study published in Science, … Read more

New research highlights the role of MHCI in astrocyte-driven motor neuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and identifies a potential therapeutic target Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that destroys motor neurons — the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles. As the disease advances, people with … Read more

Summary: A new study finds that people apply the idea of karma differently to themselves than to others. Individuals are more likely to interpret their own positive experiences as karmic rewards, while attributing others’ misfortunes to karmic punishment. Across multiple experiments and cultural samples, researchers identified a consistent pattern: people’s beliefs about karma are influenced … Read more