Earworms (hopelessly catchy tunes) get stuck in certain brain shapes.
New Scientist reveals the anatomy of the earworm: The study is the first to look at the neural basis for “involuntary musical imagery” – or […]
psychology
Sleep away your bad attitudes.
Science Daily covers a Northwestern University study that shows how to remove biases from your brain while you’re sleeping: Other researchers have documented many unsavory […]
Humor boosts the bottom line. (Call it “funny business.”)
Scientific American examines what’s so wise about cracking up at meetings: …Lehmann-Willenbrock and Allen explored whether humor in the workplace might also help a corporation […]
Has your head ever exploded? (Or *sounded* like it?)
Science Daily peeks into the weird world of Exploding Head Syndrome, a surprisingly common condition in which young people are suddenly awoken by an ear-splitting […]
SONG: Sleeping
SONG: “Sleeping.” ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on “Naps Help Infants Form Memories“, Laboratory Equipment, 14 January 2015, as used in the post “Naps make memories […]
Naps make memories (in infants).
Probably us too, but Laboratory Equipment is only looking at the way babies need naps to remember new things: In a study, which is the […]
Why… zombies?
Scientific American‘s Michael Shermer gets at the root of why we’re so fascinated with the walking dead: Zombies, for one thing, fit into the horror […]
Screen light too bright, can’t get to sleep at night (now, eyes won’t focus right).
I don’t normally go to Business Insider for science news, but they’ve actually got a pretty good rundown of recent research into the problems with […]
Ketamine – “special K” – can break treatment-resistant depression.
Nature has more on how the veterinary tranquilizer-slash-rave drug can reverse “anhedonia” (the inability to feel happy) for 14 days – long enough to bust […]
Fish researchers: “Our mirrors have become USELESS!”
Nature breaks the news to behaviorists – and this is more important than it might seem – that fish don’t really think mirrors are uninvited […]
Schizophrenia: many diseases in one
Daily Beast looks over Washington University research that’s found that the singular diagnosis of schizophrenia is actually a compound disease, caused by eight different genetic […]
Gut bacteria choose what you eat.
Science Daily takes us humans out of the driver’s seat and puts the germs inside us in charge of the menu tonight: In an article […]
Anything but solitary contemplation, man. NOT THAT!!
It isn’t easy being alone with our thoughts. Nature makes monks seem manlier than ever with research that shows most people prefer physical pain to […]
SONG: “Colonies”
SONG: “Colonies.” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on “Bees build mental maps to get home”, Nature, 2 Jun 2014, […]
Animals are people too.
Or so says National Geographic-profiled biopsychologist Lori Marino, an expert in the brains of “lesser” animals: Formerly a full-fledged research scientist who found measuring the […]