Summary: A new analysis of over 90,000 participants shows that personality traits influence how people engage in volunteering and charitable giving. Researchers found that extraverts are more likely to volunteer,…
Category: Life
Dopamine Signals Teach the Brain to Unlearn Fear
Summary: A new study reveals that dopamine release along a specific brain circuit helps extinguish fear by activating reward-related neurons in the amygdala. Researchers showed that dopamine from the ventral…
Bird flu in cows shows no signs of adapting to humans — yet
WASHINGTON — When traces of H5N1 bird flu showed up in cow’s milk last year, it raised fears that the virus could become more infectious to humans. So far, that…
Animals have developed a mind-boggling variety of ways to become male or female.
[S]o far, researchers have uncovered a dizzying array of exceptions to the XX/XY “rule:” birds and butterflies that use the ZW system, in which males have a matching pair of sex chromosomes (ZZ)…
Oxytocin Powers Altruistic Responses via Parallel Brain Circuits
Summary: A new study reveals that mice instinctively display rescue-like behaviors toward anesthetized peers, offering powerful evidence that prosociality may be hardwired in mammals. Researchers identified oxytocin as a key…
