Summary: Tilting the head downward creates the illusion of a facial action that strongly alters social perception. New research shows that judgments about dominance and aggression are influenced not only by facial shape or muscle movement but also by the angle of the head. Source: APS Overview We regularly scan faces for cues about others’ … Read more

A University of Adelaide researcher is inviting participants to join a new national study exploring whether vitamin B supplements can influence dreaming. Denholm Aspy, a psychology doctoral student, is investigating multiple aspects of dreaming for his PhD project. He aims to identify whether specific B vitamins can improve dream vividness, emotional intensity and recall, and … Read more

Summary: When smokers handled individual cigarettes printed with health warnings, many found the products unappealing and depressing. Smokers surveyed suggested that printing messages directly on cigarettes would extend the reach of health warnings and might discourage smoking, particularly among young people and those considering starting. Source: University of Stirling Health warnings printed on individual cigarettes … Read more

On August 20, JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) will publish a new technique developed by the Capadona Lab at Case Western Reserve University that addresses two central challenges in brain-implant technology: preserving the material changes that occur during implantation and making reliable mechanical measurements at the microscale. These methods will help bioengineers design and evaluate … Read more

Summary: Researchers report that the brain can suppress the sensation of chronic pain when mice are hungry. Source: University of Pennsylvania Pain serves an important protective role. It prevents us from repeating actions that cause immediate harm, such as keeping our hand on a hot surface. But prolonged pain—like inflammatory pain that follows injury—can be … Read more

Summary: Researchers demonstrate how targeted electrical activity in face-selective brain regions can change visual perception. Source: CalTech How the brain’s electrical signals create the experience of faces and related objects The human brain is alive with electrical signals as neurons respond to the sights around us. In primates, six distinct regions known as face patches … Read more

Summary: New research shows that extra copies of genes on chromosome 21, beyond the well-known APP gene, increase Alzheimer’s-like brain changes and impair cognition in a Down syndrome mouse model. These results shed light on why people with Down syndrome often develop early-onset Alzheimer’s and point to additional genetic contributors and pathways that might be … Read more

Summary: New brain-mapping research shows that damage to a single area of the brain reshapes connections between neurons throughout the whole brain. Source: UC Irvine Researchers at the University of California, Irvine report that an injury to one brain region can alter neuronal connectivity across the entire brain. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal … Read more

Summary: Researchers explain how the anterior cingulate cortex and secondary motor cortex cooperate to update behavior when a familiar task requires an added step. Source: MIT Daily life often requires us to learn processes and then adapt them when expectations change. You might add two-factor authentication to a login that used to accept only a … Read more

Summary: A new genetic sequencing study from Arizona State University shows that SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—traces back to a single origin in Wuhan, China. Genomic data from early U.S. cases, however, indicate many infections were most likely introduced from Europe. The ASU team also discovered a previously unreported mutation: an 81-nucleotide deletion that removes … Read more