Physiology News

Study: Presence of Different Odors Influences How We Perceive Colors

Ward et al. suggest that the presence of an odor can bias an observer’s decision of what their perceived version of a neutral gray is. Image credit: Kerstin Herrmann.
Oct 11, 2023 by News Staff

Human brain constantly combines multisensory information from our surrounding environment. Odors for instance are often perceived with visual cues; these sensations interact to form our own subjective experience. This integration process can have a profound impact on the resulting experience and can alter our subjective reality. Vision is dominant in our multisensory perception and can influence how we perceive information in our other senses, including...

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University of Bath Ph.D. student Alexz Farrall with a PAWS ‘breathing’ ball. Image credit: University of Bath.

Shape-Changing Biofeedback-Based Ball May Help Improve Mental Health

Aug 31, 2023 by News Staff

University of Bath Ph.D. student Alexz Farrall has invented a soft ball that ‘personifies’ breath, expanding and contracting as a person breathes in...

Various exercise training modes improve resting blood pressure, particularly isometric exercise. Image credit: Viktor Ristic.

Planks and Wall Sits are Best for Lowering Blood Pressure, New Review Says

Jul 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to a large-scale systematic review and meta-analysis of 270 previous studies, aerobic exercise training, dynamic resistance training, combined...

Habitual coffee consumers justify their life choices by arguing that they become more alert and increase motor and cognitive performance and efficiency; however, these subjective impressions still do not have a neurobiological correlation. Using functional connectivity approaches to study resting-state fMRI data in a group of habitual coffee drinkers, Picó-Pérez et al. show that coffee consumption decreased connectivity of the posterior default mode network (DMN) and between the somatosensory/motor networks and the prefrontal cortex, while the connectivity in nodes of the higher visual and the right executive control network (RECN) is increased after drinking coffee; the data also show that caffeine intake only replicated the impact of coffee on the posterior DMN, thus disentangling the neurochemical effects of caffeine from the experience of having a coffee. Image credit: Sci.News.

Study: Boost from Morning Coffee Can’t Be Replicated with Plain Caffeine

Jun 29, 2023 by News Staff

Plain caffeine only partially reproduces the effects of drinking a cup of coffee, activating areas of the brain that make you feel more alert but not the...

Talking on a mobile for 30 minutes or more per week is linked with a 12% increased risk of high blood pressure compared with less than 30 minutes. Image credit: Pexels.

Regular Mobile Phone Use for Calls May Increase Risk of New-Onset Hypertension: Study

May 8, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a large study of 212,046 participants, mobile phone use for making or receiving calls was significantly associated with a higher risk of new-onset hypertension,...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Study: Our Momentary Perception of Time May Stretch or Shrink with Each Heartbeat

Mar 8, 2023 by News Staff

The role of the heart in the experience of time has been long theorized but empirical evidence is scarce. In new research, scientists from Cornell University...

In a controlled laboratory protocol, Isherwood et al. investigated if the human circadian system anticipates large meals. Image credit: Rita E.

Human Body Can Predict Timing of Regular Meals: Study

Feb 23, 2023 by News Staff

In new research, scientists at the University of Surrey tested the hypothesis that the human circadian system anticipates large meals. In a controlled...

Drinking a beetroot juice before exercise makes the aging brain perform more efficiently. Image credit: Ken Bennett, Wake Forest University.

Study: Dietary Nitrate Supplementation Increases Muscle Force during Exercise

Jan 25, 2023 by News Staff

Supplementation of dietary nitrate — commonly found in beetroot juice — increases nitric oxide bioavailability and can enhance exercise performance....

Dillard et al. aimed to determine the prevalence of unsafe listening practices from exposure to personal listening devices and loud entertainment venues in individuals aged 12-34 years, and to estimate the number of young people who could be at risk of hearing loss from unsafe listening worldwide. Image credit: Gigxels.

Study: Unsafe Listening Practices Place Over One Billion Young People at Risk of Hearing Loss

Nov 17, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Unsafe listening practices from use of personal listening devices and attendance at loud entertainment venues are common — prevalence estimates 23.81%...

Allen et al. developed a new predictive coding model of respiratory brain coupling, in which breathing rhythmically modulates both local and global neural gain. Image credit: Gerd Altmann / Clker Vector Images / Sci.News.

Breathing Impacts Our Emotions, Attention and Cognition, Scientists Say

Nov 9, 2022 by News Staff

A new review of more than a dozen previous studies with rodent, monkey, and human brain imaging demonstrates that the act of breathing exerts a substantive,...

Each dog performing their alert behavior to indicate their choice on the three alternative forced choice apparatus. Top left: Soot (stand-stare), top right: Fingal (stand-stare), bottom left: Winnie (nose-on sit), bottom right: Treo (nose-on sit). Image credit: Wilson et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274143.

Study: Dogs Can Detect when Humans are Experiencing Stress

Sep 29, 2022 by News Staff

Dog can smell the changes in our breath and sweat that occur when we’re stressed, according to new research by scientists from Newcastle University and...

Ohmura et al. provide a proof of concept that infant transport robustly reduces cry and potentially promotes sleep, and propose a behavioral protocol, ‘5-min carrying, 5- to 8-min sitting before bed’ for crying infants. For secure holding, caregivers should attach the infant body snugly to their own body and support the infant’s head. Five-minute walking should be on a flat and clear passage and at a steady pace, preferably without abrupt stops or turns. With these precautions, this protocol can be safely performed within the range of regular parental care. It should be noted that, unlike most behavioral interventions for infant sleep difficulties, this protocol does not address any long-term improvement of sleep regulation. This protocol instead provides an immediate calming of infant cry and may be useful especially on special occasions when the regular sleep routines, breastfeeding, or pacifiers are not effective or available. Image credit: Ohmura et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.041.

Study: Five-Minute Walk Promotes Sleep for Crying Infants

Sep 13, 2022 by News Staff

Approximately 20-30% of infants cry excessively and exhibit sleep difficulties for no apparent reason, causing parental stress and even triggering impulsive...

Yang et al. provide new insights into the mechanisms by which blue light interferes with vital metabolic pathways that are conserved between fly and human cells. Image credit: Pexels.

Excessive Blue Light Leads to Accelerated Aging in Fruit Flies, Research Finds

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

Blue light is becoming increasingly prevalent in artificial illumination, raising concerns about its potential health hazard to humans. In a new study,...

Inadequate sleep represents a significant influential force determining whether humans choose to help one another, observable across micro- and macroscopic levels of civilized interaction. Image credit: Sasin Tipchai.

Inadequate Sleep Makes Us Less Generous, New Study Shows

Aug 25, 2022 by News Staff

New research by University of California, Berkeley scientists shows that a lack of sleep impairs our basic social conscience, making us withdraw our desire...

Song et al. show that damaging effects of blue light at the organismal level are strongly age dependent and are associated with reduced activity of specific components of energy-producing pathways in mitochondria. Image credit: Pexels.

Damaging Effects of Blue Light Exposure Worsen with Age, New Research Suggests

Jul 28, 2022 by News Staff

Blue light is a predominant component of light emitting devices, which are increasingly present in our environment. There is already accumulating evidence...

Biswas et al. examined the effects of actual caffeine intake on spending. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Caffeine Consumption Leads to Impulsivity during Shopping, New Study Shows

Jun 17, 2022 by Natali Anderson

New research conducted at multiple retail stores across different countries and in the lab indicates that consuming a caffeinated (vs. non-caffeinated)...

Healthy brain temperature varies by time of day. Image credit: Rzechorzek et al., doi: 10.1093/brain/awab466.

Study: Human Brain Temperature is Higher and Varies More Than Previously Assumed

Jun 14, 2022 by News Staff

Scientists have established a 4D map of human brain temperature and shown how this parameter varies with time of day, brain region, age, and sex in adults....

Ukrainian borsch. Image credit: Liz West / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Polyphenol- and Nitrate-Rich Foods May Boost Performance in Athletes

Jun 9, 2022 by News Staff

Consumption of polyphenol- and nitrate-rich foods, such as the beetroot, the bright-red veggie more often found in the Ukrainian borsch than a breakfast...

Deperrois et al. suggest that generating new, virtual sensory inputs via adversarial dreaming during REM sleep is essential for extracting semantic concepts, while replaying episodic memories via perturbed dreaming during NREM sleep improves the robustness of latent representations. Image credit: Stefan Keller.

Adversarial Dreaming Helps Brain Learn Better, Study Suggests

May 13, 2022 by News Staff

Humans and other animals learn to extract general concepts from sensory experience without extensive teaching. This ability is thought to be facilitated...

Boolani et al. suggest that energy and fatigue are unique traits that could be defined by distinct bacterial communities not driven by diet. Image credit: Darryl Leja, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health.

Distinct Gut Bacterial Communities are Associated with Personality Traits: Study

Mar 31, 2022 by News Staff

New research provides evidence that the four traits (i.e., mental energy and fatigue, physical energy and fatigue) may have unique yet overlapping gut...

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