Public Release: 6-Jun-2017   Scripps Research Institute   LA JOLLA, CA – June 6, 2017 – A vaccine developed at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) to block the “high” of heroin has proven effective in non-human primates. This is the… Read More ›

Public Release: 14-Mar-2017   Society for Personality and Social Psychology   The title is direct, “Would you deliver an electric shock in 2015?” and the answer, according to the results of this replication study, is yes. Social psychologists from SWPS… Read More ›

Public Release: 25-Oct-2016   Cell Press   IMAGE: This is a systems level overview of psychobiotic action. Credit: Sarkar et al./Trends in Neurosciences 2016 Now that we know that gut bacteria can speak to the brain — in ways that… Read More ›

Public Release: 20-Jul-2016   A new study finds that Harry Potter books, with their message of tolerance and respect for difference, make Americans less favorable to Donald Trump — and the more books read, the greater the effect. University of… Read More ›

“When we artificially induced the rapid GABA neuron activation between the basal forebrain and lateral habenula, we watched in real time as the aggressive mice became docile and no longer showed bullying behavior,” Public Release: 29-Jun-2016 Motivation to bully is… Read More ›

Public Release: 27-Apr-2016   Facial expression recognition to improve learning, gaming Inderscience Publishers A computer algorithm that can tell whether you are happy or sad, angry or expressing almost any other emotion would be a boon to the games industry…. Read More ›

Public Release: 20-Apr-2016 Transfer of gut bacteria affects brain function and nerve fiber insulation Researchers transferred fecal bacteria from the gut of depressed mice to genetically distinct mice exhibiting non-depressed behavior. The study showed that the transfer of microbiota was… Read More ›

Public Release: 25-Mar-2016   Society for Consumer Psychology Not getting enough charitable donations? Try having people to touch sandpaper before you ask for money. A new study shows that touching rough surfaces triggers the emotion of empathy, which motivates people… Read More ›

Public Release: 7-Mar-2016   University of Virginia University of Virginia scientists have demonstrated that neurons in the brain that have been supplemented with a synthetic gene can be remotely manipulated by a magnetic field. The finding has implications for possible… Read More ›

Public Release: 18-Feb-2016   Cell Press In the 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram famously conducted experiments in a Yale University basement showing that people will apparently inflict pain on another person simply because someone in a position of authority told them… Read More ›

Public Release: 20-Jan-2016 University of British Columbia Credit: University of British Columbia Adding flashing lights and music to gambling encourages risky decision-making — even if you’re a rat. In research published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists at UBC… Read More ›

Public Release: 14-Oct-2015 “people in whom the targeted brain region was temporarily shut down reported 32.8% less belief in God, angels, or heaven. They were also 28.5% more positive in their feelings toward an immigrant who criticised their country.” Research… Read More ›

Editors Note: Report generalizes that the benefits will may always outweigh the risk. I am posting this research, as an excellent example of groupthink. Those striving for safer or cleaner vaccines are defaulted to being misguided and or misinformed. Public… Read More ›

Public Release: 20-Jul-2015 Music training initiated during high school might hone brain development Northwestern University Music enhances the teenage brain’s response to sound; sharpens language skills Band class had larger effect on brain than fitness-based ROTC training Results highlight music’s… Read More ›

Public Release: 15-Jul-2015 Your phone knows if you’re depressed Northwestern University CHICAGO — You can fake a smile, but your phone knows the truth. Depression can be detected from your smartphone sensor data by tracking the number of minutes you… Read More ›

“One early hypothesis was that lower levels of cholesterol may reduce brain serotonin. (The connection between low brain serotonin activity and violence has been viewed as one of the most consistent findings in biological psychiatry.) “   Public Release: 1-Jul-2015… Read More ›

Public Release: 21-May-2015 – TV food commercials activated overweight adolescents’ brain region that controls their mouths Dartmouth College IMAGE: The most surprising finding of a new Dartmouth College study was that TV food commercials activated overweight adolescents’ brain region that… Read More ›

Public Release: 20-Apr-2015 RIKEN IMAGE: Attack value was associated with the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), defense value with the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and the difference in value with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Credit: RIKEN We often make… Read More ›

Public Release: 24-Mar-2015 Leaders of a group synchronize their brain activity with that of their followers during communication Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Great leaders are often good communicators. In the process of communication, the relationship between leaders and their followers develops spontaneously according… Read More ›

Public Release: 18-Mar-2015 Lund University Our opinions are affected by what our eyes are focusing on in the same instant we make moral decisions. Researchers at Lund University and other institutions have managed to influence people’s responses to questions such… Read More ›