Current reporting, research and professional developments across Cognitive Psychology, curated for psychologists and behavioral-health professionals.
Scientists have discovered a feedback loop in the brain's odor center that seems to put smells and sounds into context. The feedback loop may help animals adjust their behaviors in response to new sensations.
New psychology research indicates that multilingual children may have enhanced executive function and perspective taking skills.
Can a computer learn a language the way a child does? A recent study sheds new light on this question. The researchers advocate for a fundamental revision of how artificial intelligence acquires and processes language.
A research team developed a new experimental game to explore whether people avoid witnessing selfish behavior to evade punishing others or simply to avoid confronting unfairness. The study found that avoidance is driven…
A first-of-its-kind study shows that while teams with differing skill sets and perspectives bring fresh, unique ideas to the table, they often struggle to create practical, workable solutions -- raising important…
A research team identified the brain's food-specific memory system and its direct role in overeating and diet-induced obesity. They found a specific population of neurons in the mouse brain that encode memories for sugar…
A computational model explains how place cells in the hippocampus can be recruited to form any kind of episodic memory, even when there's no spatial component.
The link between poor sleep and mental health problems could be related to deficits in brain regions that keep unwanted thoughts out of mind.
A new study has demonstrated for the first time how and why music can reduce distress and agitation for people with advanced dementia. The study involved interviews with staff and music therapists on inpatient mental…
The black box of the human brain is starting to open. Although animal models are instrumental in shaping our understanding of the mammalian brain, scarce human data is uncovering important specificities. Neurosurgeons…
Exactly why do people remember what they remember? A recently published review paper sheds light on this fundamental question and the relationship between factors that influence human memory.
Researchers have discovered a new pathway to forming long-term memories in the brain. Their work suggests that long-term memory can form independently of short-term memory, a finding that opens exciting possibilities for…
Simone Weil once told a student, “What I cannot stand is compromise.” This unyielding stance underpinned the French ...
Researchers advocate the use of imagination in tackling the climate crisis. They focus specifically on urbanizing river deltas, which are of great social and economic importance and highly vulnerable to climate change.
A research team found that Creativity Camp, a two-week arts intervention delivered as a day camp, had a positive impact on mental health and well-being in adolescents with depression.
Athletes—and the rest of humankind—can get tangled up in thoughts and emotions that can disrupt and undermine optimal ...
Stress is a double-edged sword when it comes to memory: stressful or otherwise emotional events are usually more memorable, but stress can also make it harder for us to retrieve memories. Now, neuroscientists report that…
This blog was co-authored by Gregg Henriques, Ph.D., and John Vervaeke, Ph.D. Since the dawn of human consciousness, people have ...
Researchers have found teaching artistic observation to neurology residents contributed to the development of well-rounded physicians with the capacity to be both skilled clinicians and compassionate healers.
Forming memories around shared experiences, whether something fun like grabbing a pizza or as emotionally straining as an employee strike, has a way of binding people together. But it could also motivate those performing…
Contrary to popular belief, children aren't better at learning new skills than adults. Indeed, young adults seem to learn faster than kids -- but also tend to forget more quickly. Here, better sleep seems to advantage…
A new study changes the way we understand memory. Until now, memories have been explained by the activity of brain cells called neurons that respond to learning events and control memory recall. Neurologists have now…
Researchers have discovered a neural mechanism for memory integration that stretches across both time and personal experience.
Neuroscientists have discovered brain cells that form multiple coordinate systems to tell us 'where we are' in a sequence of behaviors. These cells can play out different sequences of actions, just like a music box can…
Physicists have investigated to which extent a piece of music can evoke expectations about its progression. They were able to determine differences in how far compositions of different composers can be anticipated. In…
Researchers have discovered that the dorsal premotor cortex serves a 'meta-learning' function, overseeing and regulating physical movements. Once believed to be limited to movement planning, this region has now been…
Military musicians returning from the Napoleonic wars established Britain's first brass bands earlier than previously thought, new research reveals. The study undermines the idea that brass bands were a civilian and…
A collaborative team of researchers led by Dale Zhou, who did his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, and Dani Bassett in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science looked at how…
Researchers have revealed that the CA1 and CA2 regions in the brain respectively encode the locations and individuals linked with a threatening experience. The results show that, beyond simply recognizing individuals…
Researchers have shown that, just like declarative memories, short-term and long-term memories for motor skills form in different regions of the brain, with the cerebellum being critical for the formation of long-term…
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