Summary: New research shows that people often feel worse when telling others about their good deeds than when keeping them private or discussing personal achievements. Across five studies, participants predicted…
Category: social neuroscience
AI Models Form Theory-of-Mind Beliefs
Summary: Researchers showed that large language models use a small, specialized subset of parameters to perform Theory-of-Mind reasoning, despite activating their full network for every task. This sparse internal circuitry…
Social Brain: Neurons That Decide Who Wins and Who Yields
Summary: Researchers have pinpointed specific brain cells that control how animals react to social defeat, offering new insight into the biology of dominance and submission. In male mice, neurons in…
Income Inequality Reshapes Children’s Brains and Mental Health
Summary: A large-scale neuroimaging study of over 10,000 U.S. children reveals that income inequality in society is tied to structural and functional brain changes that predict poorer mental health outcomes.…
When Machines Become Our Moral Loophole
Summary: A large study across 13 experiments with over 8,000 participants shows that people are far more likely to act dishonestly when they can delegate tasks to AI rather than…
Brain Circuits Show Why Friends’ Lies Are Easier to Believe
Summary: Researchers explored how people process deception from friends versus strangers, using brain imaging to study decision-making in gain and loss contexts. Volunteers were more likely to believe lies in…
Aggression Is Contagious: Observing Violence Primes the Brain for Aggression
Summary: A new study shows that observing violence can make individuals more likely to act aggressively later, but the effect depends on familiarity. Male mice who watched familiar peers attack…
Music Sparks Social Imagination and Eases Loneliness
Summary: A large-scale study with 600 participants shows that music can genuinely evoke feelings of companionship by sparking social imagination. When participants listened to folk music, they imagined vivid social…
Moral Outrage Goes Viral, But Doesn’t Drive Action Online
Summary: A new study analyzing over a million posts linked to online petitions found that while moral outrage boosts a post’s virality, it doesn’t significantly increase petition signatures. Emotional and…
Music Mindfulness Eases Anxiety and Depression
Summary: Mindfulness exercises paired with music were found to engage both neural and cardiac systems, potentially reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. A recent study showed that live and virtual…
