Building trust in vaccination programs

Credit: Karolina Kaboompics from Pexels A new paper in the Journal of Public Health finds that highlighting the harms of not getting vaccinated is a more effective message than emphasizing…

Hidden Dopamine Neurons Balance Brain Functions and Behavior

Summary: Researchers identified a small group of dopamine neurons in the striatum that play a crucial role in balancing essential brain functions such as reward, cognition, and movement. This discovery…

What Your Movie Preferences Reveal About Your Brain’s Emotions

Summary: A new study reveals that your favorite film genre may indicate how your brain processes emotions. Action and comedy lovers show strong brain reactions to negative stimuli, while those…

The next pandemic? How a familiar virus exploits new hosts

Influenza A boasts a wide range of natural hosts, with different strains established in different species. This wide network gives it an extra evolutionary advantage, turning it into a perennial…

Xianbei tombs discovered in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists from the Margulan Institute of Archaeology, a department of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, have discovered 13 pit tombs in the East…

Children’s Curiosity or Memory Gaps? Why Kids Over-Explore Tasks

Summary: Children often gather more information than needed to complete a task, even when they know the solution. A new study suggests this “over-exploration” might stem from either natural curiosity…

Imaging study shows what your favorite film genres reveal about your brain

Differences in amygdala activity between preference and no preference groups for crime/thriller and action. Credit: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1396811 Crime films, action films, comedies, or documentaries? A…

Maya palace dedicated to the Stinking One unearthed near Balamkú

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed a palace complex associated with the Maya city of Balamkú. The complex was discovered at the construction site…

Research shows that smartwatch and clinical testing measures differ

New West Virginia University research finds heart rate variability—the time between heartbeats—reported on smartwatches and rings is different from what’s recorded in clinical settings. Credit: WVU Illustration/Aira Burkhart At a…

Gut bacteria composition influences rotavirus vaccine efficacy

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Certain types of gut bacteria can hinder the efficacy of the rotavirus vaccine, according to researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.…