Your Psychology Psychology articles and news

A new study has shed light on the mechanisms underlying the progression of prion diseases and identified a potential target for treatment.

Hugs, kisses, and other forms of affective touch have an important impact on our physical and psychological health. Read this Spotlight to find out more.

A new study reviews the effects of cannabis on the experience of pain. The results highlight the affective component in cannabis’s pain-relieving effects.

By studying the genome of a kind of octopus not known for its friendliness toward its peers, then testing its behavioral reaction to a popular mood-altering drug called MDMA or ‘ecstasy,’ scientists say they have found preliminary evidence of an evolut…

Monkeys who learned how to gamble have helped researchers pinpoint an area of the brain key to one’s willingness to make risky decisions.

Searching for a more direct connection between the gut and the brain, researchers were shocked to see that distance spanned by a single synapse, relaying the signal in less than 100 milliseconds, less than the blink of an eye. The finding has profound …

A new study explores the mystery of what drives eating past the point of fullness, at the most basic level in the brain. It shows that two tiny clusters of cells battle for control of feeding behavior — and the one that drives eating overpowers the on…

Using a new technique known as laser-capture RNA seq, that involves cutting out dopamine neurons from a human brain section with a laser, investigators have cataloged more than 70,000 novel elements active in these brain cells.

Although depression is one of the leading psychiatric disorders, its cause remains unclear. A recent study found that those affected by depressive disorder have a larger hypothalamus compared to their healthy counterparts. This could explain why many s…

A novel gut-to-brain neural circuit establishes the vagus nerve as an essential component of the brain system that regulates reward and motivation, according to researchers.