Unveiling the Complexity of Musical Taste: Subgenres and Preferences Explored

Summary: Researchers report personal musical preferences aren’t just about genre, but also about sub-genres within those categories. Surveying over 2,000 individuals, they discovered that fans within the same genre can…

Alexithymia & Childhood Trauma: Unraveling The Mysterious Connection

Summary: Researchers reveal an alarming correlation between alexithymia (difficulty in identifying and describing emotions) and various forms of child maltreatment. Analyzing a staggering 78 sources involving 36,141 participants, the research…

Dopamine Plays Double Duty in Learning and Motivation

Summary: A novel study suggests that dopamine, a neurotransmitter, plays dual roles in learning and motivation. In the study, male rats underwent Pavlovian or operant conditioning while their dopamine release…

Microglia’s Role in Controlling Anxiety and OCD

Summary: A new study reveals how microglia can regulate anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder (OCSD) behaviors. Traditionally overlooked in favor of neurons, specific microglia populations were found to both stimulate…

Depression and Urban Deprivation: Unseen Accelerators of Biological Aging

Summary: A new study reveals a possible link between depressive symptoms, living in deprived urban neighborhoods, and accelerated aging. The research utilized DNA methylation-based epigenetic clocks to estimate biological age…

Hitching a Ride: mRNA’s Transport System in Brain Cells Revealed

Summary: Researchers made significant advancements in understanding how mRNA is distributed in brain cells. They discovered that a protein complex called FERRY aids Early Endosomes (EEs) to carry mRNAs to…

Children with drug-resistant epilepsy live longer after cranial surgery, large study finds

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Survival rate beyond 10 years in children with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) was highest after cranial epilepsy surgery and lowest when treated only with antiseizure medications, according…

Youth Alcohol Dependency Could Signal Future Depression Risk

Summary: Adolescents with signs of alcohol dependency are more likely to suffer from depression in their mid-20s. The research, involving 3,902 participants from the ALSPAC study, examined the correlation between…

Untangling the Human Mind: The Interplay Between Cognition and Personality

Summary: Researchers make strides in mapping the complex interplay between human cognition and personality traits. This study synthesized data from over 1,300 studies globally, representing 2 million participants, to examine…

Empathy’s Influence on Drinking Patterns

Summary: A recent study reports a surprising correlation between daily affective empathy and alcohol consumption. The study found that on days when people experienced higher levels of affective empathy (empathy…