Summary: A new study challenges the belief that larger groups reduce cooperation, showing instead that flexible social connections enhance teamwork. Researchers found that in a prisoner’s dilemma game, participants in…
Tag: neurobiology
Empathy Peaks in Young Adults
Summary: A new study reveals that young adults show the strongest empathic responses to others in physical or social pain, compared to adolescents and older adults. Researchers measured brain activity…
Oral Microbiome May Influence Cognitive Decline and Brain Health
Summary: The microbial ecosystems in our mouths may impact cognitive function as we age, with pathogenic bacteria linked to cognitive decline. Researchers found that beneficial bacteria, such as Neisseria, are…
Cannabis Use Reduces Brain Activity in Key Memory Regions
Summary: A study of over 1,000 young adults reveals that both recent and heavy lifetime cannabis use reduce brain activity in regions critical for working memory, including the prefrontal cortex…
Opioid Dysregulation in the Brain Tied to Eating Disorders
Summary: Elevated opioid neurotransmission in the brain may underlie appetite loss and emotional symptoms in anorexia nervosa. Compared to healthy controls, patients with anorexia had increased opioidergic tone, which regulates…
Dopamine Clock May Drive Bipolar Mood Swings
Summary: New research suggests that mood swings in bipolar disorder are regulated by two clocks: the body’s 24-hour circadian rhythm and a dopamine-based clock that influences alertness. When these clocks…
AI Mimics Toddler-Like Learning to Unlock Human Cognition
Summary: A new AI model, based on the PV-RNN framework, learns to generalize language and actions in a manner similar to toddlers by integrating vision, proprioception, and language instructions. Unlike…
Long COVID Impairs Exercise Capacity and Cognition for Years
Summary: A study of nearly 1,000 people with post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) revealed that two-thirds still experienced significant symptoms, including reduced exercise capacity and cognitive performance, two years after infection. Persistent…
Targeting Reward Pathways to Treat Depression
Summary: New research highlights how the brain’s reward-learning system can guide personalized treatments for depression. By studying two brain signals, expected value and prediction error, researchers identified markers that predict…
