Your Psychology Psychology articles and news

New studies show what happens when an enzyme called monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is genetically inactivated in experimental mice. Typically, MAGL breaks down a neuroprotective molecule called 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), diminishing the latter’s be…

Drugs to increase insulin signaling may be effective for treating autism, say researchers who have discovered how a genetic change impacts on insulin signaling and glucose metabolism in the brain.

When you start learning how to do something new, like playing a musical instrument, the simplest tasks can feel difficult. But as you gain experience, you play with ease and without conscious thought. Researchers are mapping the signals that correlate …

Neuropeptides play fundamental roles in modulating cellular and circuit functions within the brain. One such signaling molecule — orexin — regulates arousal and wakefulness, and its failure can lead to constant daytime sleepiness (narcolepsy). Resear…

FMRP, a protein whose loss causes intellectual disability, may regulate a neuron’s synaptic response by establishing a feedback loop between the cell’s nucleus and its faraway dendrites.

New research reveals that sex differences in learning and memory mechanisms are triggered by biological events occurring during puberty. Findings show prepubescent female rodents have much better hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and spatial lea…

Although recreational and medicinal marijuana (cannabis) is increasingly available across the U.S., public and professional awareness that cannabis use may adversely affect brain health is critical, according to the American Heart Association’s first s…

Toxic goiter affects the brain more than was previously known, a new study shows, and involves volume changes occurring in central parts of the brain. These findings are described as a key advance for a vulnerable group of patients.

In efforts to understand the neural basis for loneliness, researchers have found a molecular indicator and regulator of social isolation in female mice. The new study reports that social contact-seeking behavior in mice is driven by the peptide amylin …

Scientists have used atlases of the human brain informed by genetics to identify hundreds of genomic loci. The findings illuminate how genes impact the brain and diseases.