Neuroscience

After five weeks of development, a human brain organoid (left) is roughly twice the size of those from a chimpanzee (top right) and a gorilla (bottom right).

Experiments Find Gene Key to the Human Brain's Large Size

The single gene identified by the study may be what makes human brains three times larger than our closest great ape relatives at birth

A heat map of the receptive fields of sensory neuron receptors on a human fingertip.

Study Shows Fingerprint Ridges Play Key Role in Sense of Touch

Experiments show that our fingertips’ finely tuned sensitivity maps onto the whorled ridges of our prints

What if literature was an invention for making us happier and healthier?

Eight of Literature's Most Powerful Inventions—and the Neuroscience Behind How They Work

These reoccuring story elements have proven effects on our imagination, our emotions and other parts of our psyche

This year's top ten titles explore the cosmos, fear and cleanliness alongside narratives about owls, fish and eels.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2020

New titles explore the mysterious lives of eels, the science of fear and our connections to the stars

Tomova used a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine to see how participants' brains responded to images of drool-worthy food and social gatherings.

Why Hunger and Loneliness Activate the Same Part of the Brain

The study suggests that social interaction isn't just comforting or fun—it's a human need

Winston, a 100-pound longhaired German shepherd, is a veteran participant in a series of research projects at Yale.

The New Science of Our Ancient Bond With Dogs

A growing number of researchers are hot on the trail of a surprisingly profound question: What makes dogs such good companions?

A young man watches incoming presidential election results in 2016 on the giant screens of Times Square.

Anxious About Election Results? Here's What's Happening in Your Brain as You Wait

Scientists are learning more about the neuroscience of awaiting uncertain outcomes

Researchers studying how dog respond to human and dog faces found no difference in brain activity when domestic dogs were shown the back of a dog or human head compared to a dog or person's face.

Dog Brains Don’t Appear to Pay Special Attention to Faces

Researchers find dog brains show similar levels of activity when shown the back of a dog or person’s head compared to a dog or human face

The results of a new study suggest crows are aware of their own sensory perceptions, a hallmark of what's called primary or sensory consciousness.

Do Crows Possess a Form of Consciousness?

New study suggests the corvids may join humans and some primates as one of the rare animals capable of having subjective experiences

A speech therapist forms an L during a stuttering therapy.

What Neuroscientists Are Discovering About Stuttering

After centuries of misunderstanding, researchers are tying the condition to genes and brain alterations.

This cheese is real, but by stimulating certain parts of a mouse's brain, researchers were able to trick the critter into smelling scents that were not present.

Experiment Tricks Mice Into Smelling Things That Aren’t There

Researchers stimulated certain of the mouse’s brain cells in a particular order to produce 'synthetic smells'

A gene unique to humans increased brain size in common marmosets.

Brain Gene Tops the List for Making Humans, Human

In a study involving marmosets, a primate genetically similar to humans, researchers have come closer to understanding brain evolution

The Covid-19 pandemic has skyrocketed the demand for new strains of mice to help scientists understand the progression of the disease, test existing drugs, find new therapeutic targets and develop vaccines.

Building a Mouse Squad Against COVID-19

A Maine laboratory is on the verge of supplying a much-needed animal for SARS-CoV-2 research

Researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science averaged the structures of 1,625 mouse brains to create a standard model.

Researchers Created a 3-D Map of 100 Million Cells in the Mouse Brain

Neuroscientists have been using the tool since 2017 to pinpoint where exactly their data are coming from

Video calls also remove several of the nonverbal cues that humans rely on for communication.

Why Video Calls Are Surprisingly Exhausting

Expressing yourself and trying to read others’ faces in a grid of video feeds is a taxing task

Peter Longstaff, a foot artist who participated in the neurological study.

Artists Who Paint With Their Feet Have Unique Brain Patterns

Neuroscientists determined that certain "sensory maps" in the brain become more refined when people use their feet like hands

The bicolored white-toothed shrew (Crocidura leucodon), a small mammal known to carry and transmit Borna disease virus to other animals.

A Shrew-Borne Virus Is Responsible for Deadly Brain Infections in Humans

First discovered in livestock hundreds of years ago, Borna disease virus has apparently been claiming human lives for decades

The Heslington brain, revealed intact within a 2,600-year-old skull unearthed near modern day York, England

Super Resilient Protein Structures Preserved a Chunk of Brain for 2,600 Years

After death, most brains decompose within months or years. This one lasted millennia

These are ten of the biggest strides made by scientists in the last ten years.

The Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Decade

Breakthroughs include measuring the true nature of the universe, finding new species of human ancestors, and unlocking new ways to fight disease

It's hard enough to talk about our feelings. Now, try doing it across languages.

The Meanings Behind Words for Emotions Aren't Universal, Study Finds

Certain emotions may be universal. But the way humans describe their feelings, it seems, is not

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