How Reading Fiction Rewires Empathy and Forgiveness
Summary: Stories that use internal focalization—letting readers hear a character’s private thoughts of regret—produce genuine empathy that leads readers to forgive fictional…
Psychology · Neurology · Brain & AI
Field notes on the restless, curious brain.
Latest research
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PCOS and PMOS Linked to Increased Alzheimer’s Risk
Summary: A systematic review finds that women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), historically known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), show increased…
How Alcohol Causes Brain Cells to Self-Destruct
Summary: New research shows that alcohol-induced brain dysfunction is driven not just by direct effects on neurons but by activation of resident…
Are Daytime Naps Raising Your Dementia Risk?
Summary: A 10-year study of nearly 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries found that older adults who nap most days or every day had a…
How Prenatal Stress Alters the Placenta and Fetal Brain
Summary: Chronic psychological stress during pregnancy remodels how the placenta communicates with the fetus, changing antiviral immune signaling, cellular energy metabolism, and…
Study Finds Brain Circuit Behind Teen Anxiety
Summary: Analysis of brain scans from nearly 3,500 adolescents shows that disruption within a specific subcortical-cerebellar circuit—linking the amygdala, thalamus, and cerebellum—is…
Study Finds Early Blindness Alters Pitch Perception
Summary: People who are blind from an early age show markedly better ability to discriminate small pitch differences than sighted peers. This…
Study: LSD Microdosing Boosts Women’s Sustained Attention
Summary: A randomized, double-blind pilot study from Maastricht University shows that repeated low doses of LSD can substantially improve sustained attention and…
How Cannabis Affects Sleep Quality
Summary: A 35-year longitudinal study that followed adults from young adulthood into middle age found that both cumulative lifetime and recent cannabis…
Genetic Risk for Anorexia May Originate Outside the Brain
Summary: A new genetic study finds that people with severe anorexia nervosa are almost four times more likely to carry rare, damaging…
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