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Happy, angry or neutral expressions? Eyes react just as fast

Scientists have investigated how our eyes and brain react when we see emotionally charged or neutral faces. She combined eye-tracking and electroencephalography (EEG). The result: reflex-like eye movements are independent of the expression a face shows…

Potential therapy to treat detrimental effects of marijuana

A new study using a preclinical animal model suggests that prenatal exposure to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, makes the brain’s dopamine neurons (an integral component of the reward system) hyperactive and increases sensitivity to the be…

Sensory and motor brain plasticity is not limited by location

The new function of unused cortical regions is not necessarily determined by the function of nearby cortical regions, according to new research in adults born without one hand.

Reading the past like an open book: Researchers use text to measure 200 years of happiness

Using innovative new methods researchers have built a new index that uses data from books and newspaper to track levels of national happiness from 1820. Their research could help governments to make better decisions about policy priorities.

Relaxation makes worriers more anxious

Relaxation techniques can, paradoxically, provoke anxiety in some people, and a new study suggests that this is because relaxation interrupts worrying.

Can simply naming vegetables differently increase healthful eating?

New research examines how using more appetizing words to describe healthful foods affects eating choices and finds that the wording can go a long way.

What are neurotransmitters?

Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the nervous system. They influence mood, muscle movement, heart rate, and many other functions. Learn more here.

Brain protein promotes maintenance of chronic pain

Study results illuminate the potential of novel approach for the treatment of chronic pain.

Slower walkers have older brains and bodies at 45

The walking speed of 45-year-olds can be used as a marker of their aging brains and bodies. The evidence was there in neurocognitive testing these individuals took at age 3 to indicate who would become the slower walkers. At 45, slower walkers have ‘ac…

Habitual tea drinking modulates brain efficiency: Evidence from brain connectivity evaluation

The researchers recruited healthy older participants to two groups according to their history of tea drinking frequency and investigated both functional and structural networks to reveal the role of tea drinking on brain organization.