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The holidays are imminent, soon, we are filled with unconditional love for every single member of the family, the holiday season falls at night stress on the push of a button from us, and whether or not the Christmas dinner also tastes aunt Erna, doesn’t matter – the main thing is, all of them are together. There may be people […]
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In their day jobs, research psychologists don’t typically need safety goggles, much less pith helmets or Indiana Jones bullwhips. There’s no rappelling into caves to uncover buried scrolls, no prowling the ocean floor in spherical subs, no tuning of immense, underground magnets in the hunt for ghostly subatomic particles. Still, psychologists do occasionally excavate the habits of lost civilizations. In […]
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The secret of capturing exquisite brain images with a new generation of custom-built microscopes is revealed today in Nature Methods. The new microscopes, known as mesoSPIMs, can image the minute detail of brain tissue down to individual neurons that are five times thinner than a human hair, and can uncover the 3D anatomy of entire small organs, faster than ever […]
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The brain has a knack for safekeeping our most treasured memories, from a first kiss to a child’s birth. In a new study in mouse cells, Columbia neuroscientists have mapped some of the molecular machinery that helps the brain maintain these kinds of long-term memories. By observing the activity of nerve cells of the brain, called neurons, that were extracted […]
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Working with mouse and human tissue, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report new evidence that a protein pumped out of some — but not all — populations of “helper” cells in the brain, called astrocytes, plays a specific role in directing the formation of connections among neurons needed for learning and forming new memories. Using mice genetically engineered and bred with […]
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As we age, our eyes lose their ability to focus up close. It’s a condition called presbyopia, and it’s both extremely common and relatively easy to fix, with solutions like reading glasses, bifocals, or progressive lenses. Another common correction, called monovision, solves the problem with different lenses in each eye, one that focuses nearby, the other that focuses far away. […]
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Doctors have known for years that some patients who become unresponsive after a severe brain injury nonetheless retain a “covert consciousness,” a degree of cognitive function that is important to recovery but is not detectable by standard bedside exams. As a result, a profound uncertainty often haunts the wrenching decisions that families must make when an unresponsive loved one needs […]
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Honesty is one of the traits we value most in others. We often assume it is a rather rare quality, making it important for us to find out who we can actually trust in this selfish world. But according to new research, there’s no need to be so cynical—it turns out most people in the world are honourable enough to […]
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Speaking up in front of a supervisor can be stressful — but it doesn’t have to be, according to new research from a Rice University psychologist. How a leader responds to employee suggestions can impact whether or not the employee opens up in the future. Danielle King, an assistant professor of psychology at Rice, is the lead author of “Voice […]
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People with attractive faces are often seen as more trustworthy, socially competent, better adjusted, and more capable in school and work. The correlation of attractiveness and positive character traits leads to a “beautiful is good” stereotype. However, little has been understood about the behavioral and neural responses to those with facial abnormalities, such as scars, skin cancers, birthmarks, and other […]
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