Summary: Reading stories that employ “internal focalization”, granting readers direct access to a character’s private remorse, sparks genuine empathy that leads to forgiveness of fictional misdeeds. Researchers found that this…
Category: Psychology
Alcohol Tricks Brain Cells Into Destroying Themselves
Summary: Researchers have discovered that alcohol-induced brain dysfunction is actively driven by resident immune cells rather than direct neuronal toxicity alone. Upon heavy alcohol exposure, microglia retract their surveillance branches…
Prenatal Stress Alters the Placenta to Shape Fetal Brain Development
Summary: Chronic stress during pregnancy fundamentally shifts how the placenta communicates with the fetus, altering vital antiviral immune signaling, cellular energy metabolism, and gene-regulatory programs. These placental changes, confirmed across…
Key Brain Circuit Linked to Teen Anxiety Identified
Summary: Brain imaging in nearly 3,500 adolescents reveals that disrupted connectivity across a key subcortical-cerebellar circuit—connecting the amygdala, thalamus, and cerebellum, is directly associated with heightened anxiety. The alterations, already…
LSD Microdosing Enhances Sustained Attention in Women
Summary: A pilot study reveals that low doses of LSD significantly improve sustained attention and reduce attention lapses in women, while producing no comparable cognitive enhancement in men. The preliminary…
Cannabis Destroys Sleep Quality – Neuroscience News
Summary: A 35-year study following adults from young adulthood into middle age reveals that both lifetime and recent cannabis use are tied to worse objectively measured sleep quality, characterized by…
How Dark Traits Reshape Speech
Summary: A narrative psychology study from the University of Mississippi challenges the popular stereotype that individuals with psychopathic traits speak with cold, emotionless detachment. Published in Personality and Individual Differences,…
Adults With ADHD Face Higher Long-Term Dementia Risk
Summary: A massive study of more than 187,000 older adults enrolled in the NIH’s All of Us Research Program reveals that adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face more than quadruple…
Daily Steps Tied to Lower Teen Depression
Summary: A longitudinal study tracking more than 5,500 American adolescents reveals that higher daily step counts directly correlate with fewer mental health issues one year later. Led by researchers at…
