New research published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, suggests that no matter how a narrative is expressed–through words, gestures or drawings–our brains relate best to the characters, focusing on the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist of each story. “We tell stories in conversation each and every day,” explains Steven Brown, lead author of …
“We know that mental activities of the higher brain — cognition, memory, fear, anxiety — can cause you to feel more or less pain,” says Woolf. “Now we’ve confirmed a physiological pathway that may be responsible for the extent of the pain. We have identified a volume control in the brain for pain — now …
A new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences cuts to the heart of messy social interactions with a set of computational models to quantify and predict unequal treatment. Hsu and post-doctoral researcher Adrianna C. Jenkins–now an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania–drew on social psychology and behavioral …
A program of tai ji quan balance training classes, developed on the classic concept of tai chi, was more effective at reducing falls among older adults at high risk for them than stretching exercises or a training program that incorporated aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility exercises after six months. This randomized clinical trial included 670 adults …
How and why human-unique characteristics such as highly social behavior, languages and complex culture have evolved is a long-standing question. A research team led by Tohoku University in Japan has revealed the evolution of a gene related to such human-unique psychiatric traits. PhD candidate Daiki Sato and Professor Masakado Kawata have discovered SLC18A1 (VMAT1), which …
The researchers recorded the brain activity of 22 patients, who had electrodes implanted either in the prefrontal cortex or in a deeper structure, the hippocampus. They presented the participants with a number of words, asking them either to remember or to forget them. A test showed that the participants did indeed remember the words that …
Attitudes towards marijuana use are changing in the U.S., with a growing number of states legalizing medical and recreational marijuana. Although marijuana users are more likely to be young adults, the baby boomer generation is unique, having more experience with recreational use of drugs than previous generations. “The baby boomer generation grew up during a …
New findings suggest that feedback, rather than hard evidence, boosts people’s sense of certainty when learning new things or trying to tell right from wrong. “If you use a crazy theory to make a correct prediction a couple of times, you can get stuck in that belief and may not be as interested in gathering …
A new study finds that 21-month-old infants can distinguish between respect-based power asserted by a leader and fear-based power wielded by a bully. The study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed infants’ eye-gazing behavior, a standard approach for measuring expectations in children too young to explain their thinking to adults. …
Studies of older adults with dementia and their caregivers have shown that very often, the older adult’s desire to be self-sufficient often clashes with the caregiver’s concerns about the individual’s safety. However, researchers have also identified areas of friction among older adults who do not have dementia and their caregivers. For example, according to one …