The impact of nocturnal warming and prey availability during reproduction in a viviparous lizard – Functional Ecologists

In this week’s blog post, we’re checking our calendars and addressing how climate change is causing shifts in breeding dates for reptiles! Discussing the article “A multi-trait evaluation of patterns…

How Brain Cells Coordinate to Make Complex Decisions

Summary: Every decision begins subtly, as the brain weighs options long before action. Researchers have now shown that, despite individual differences in neuron activity, a shared underlying structure guides the…

Grip Strength Reveals Brain Clues Behind Early Psychosis

Summary: Psychosis may start not with hallucinations, but with subtle motor changes like reduced grip strength. A new study reveals that lower grip strength in people with early psychosis is…

Medicine vs. MAGA: Doctors and Insurers Scramble as RFK Jr. Dismantles U.S. Vaccine System

Professional medical societies, pharmacists, state health officials and vaccine manufacturers, as well as a new advocacy group, are mobilizing behind the scenes to preserve access for vaccines as Health Secretary…

Chimpanzees and Children Share a Curiosity for Social Drama

Summary: A new study shows that both chimpanzees and young children are drawn to watching social interactions, sometimes even at a cost. When given a choice between viewing videos of…

Choose Your Battles: Identity Shapes Displaced Aggression

Summary: Displaced aggression—redirecting frustration onto an uninvolved target—has now been studied in mice, revealing that identity and social history play key roles in shaping aggressive behavior. Male mice primed by…

Zoning Out or Zoning In? How Aimless Wandering Trains the Brain

Summary: New research reveals that the brain may be learning even during unstructured, aimless exploration. By recording activity in tens of thousands of neurons, scientists found that the visual cortex…

Killer whales may use kelp brushes to slough off rough skin

A brush with kelp may help some killer whales clean up nicely. A group of killer whales (Orcinus orca ater) residing in the Salish Sea off the coast of British…

How PTSD Disrupts Brain Cell Communication

Summary: A new study has examined brains affected by PTSD at the single-cell level, uncovering distinct genetic alterations that may drive the disorder. Researchers focused on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,…

Why Some People Struggle to Recognize Faces of Other Races

Summary: New research reveals that some individuals may experience selective difficulty recognizing faces from racial groups different from their own, a phenomenon known as category-selective face blindness. While general face…