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Kea parrots (Nestor notabilisa) don’t differentiate between the real and virtual worlds. Image credit: Amalia Bastos.

Kea Parrots Treat Physical and Virtual Worlds as Continuous and Equivalent, Study Shows

Sep 29, 2021 by News Staff

Using touchscreen laptops, a team of researchers from the University of Auckland has tested whether kea (Nestor notabilisa) — a large species of...

Mindfulness-based programs primarily target improved mental health and wellbeing.

Mindfulness May Provide Small But Significant Benefits to Cognition

Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

While mindfulness is typically geared towards improving mental health and wellbeing, it may also provide additional benefits to brain health, according...

Tweets can provide rich information about people’s social, cognitive, and biological processes as well as personal concerns. Image credit: Pexels.

Study: Night Owls Send More Negative Tweets than Early Birds

May 27, 2021 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science is the first to focus on several relevant but overlooked comparisons in temporal patterns...

Kjærvik & Bushman found the best evidence to date that narcissism is an important risk factor for both aggression and violence.

Narcissism is Important Risk Factor for Aggression, New Review Suggests

May 25, 2021 by News Staff

A review of 437 previous studies, published recently in the journal Psychological Bulletin, found that individuals with high levels of narcissism are prone...

Theoretical structure of ghrelin. Image credit: Manuel Almagro Rivas / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Appetite-Regulating Hormone Affects Monetary Decision Making, New Study Suggests

Mar 23, 2021 by News Staff

Ghrelin, a stomach-derived hormone known to regulate appetite and other food-related functions, may play a broad role in reward-related behavior and decision-making,...

Konkoly et al. implemented procedures for two-way communication during polysomnographically verified REM sleep in 36 individuals. Image credit: Konkoly et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026.

Scientists Demonstrate Two-Way Communication with Dreaming Persons during Lucid Dream

Feb 24, 2021 by News Staff

New research from Northwestern University shows that individuals who are asleep and in the midst of a lucid dream — aware of the fact that they are...

Rewards are often uncertain and infrequent, but learning may nevertheless have the potential to boost happiness. Image credit: Pexels.

Learning Boosts Happiness, New Study Suggests

Jan 6, 2021 by News Staff

New research from University College London suggests that how we learn about the world around us can be more important for how we feel than rewards we...

Chen et al. suggest that travel and tourism can be an important life domain affecting how people evaluate their overall quality of life. Image credit: Joshua Woroniecki.

Frequent Travelers are More Satisfied with Their Life than Non-Travelers, Study Says

Jan 4, 2021 by News Staff

Frequent travelers are about 7% happier than people who don’t travel at all, according to a study carried out in Taiwan. Chen et al. suggest that travel...

Guarana et al. investigated the effects of blue-light filtration on broad attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, i.e. work engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior. Image credit: Alexandr Borecký.

Study: Blue-Light Filtering Glasses Improve Sleep Quantity and Quality, Workday Productivity

Oct 15, 2020 by News Staff

Wearing blue-light filtering glasses before sleeping creates a form of physiologic darkness, thus improving both sleep quantity and quality, and is related...

NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter photographed the Cydonia region in the northern latitudes of Mars on July 25, 1976 while searching for a landing site for the Viking 2 lander. The speckled appearance of the image is due to missing data, called bit errors, caused by problems in transmission of the photographic data from Mars to Earth. Bit errors comprise part of one of the ‘eyes’ and ‘nostrils’ on the eroded rock that resembles a human face near the center of the image. Shadows in the rock formation give the illusion of a nose and mouth. Planetary geologists attribute the origin of the formation to purely natural processes. The feature is 1.5 km across, with the Sun angle at approximately 20 degrees. The picture was taken from a range of 1,873 km. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

Study: Face Pareidolia Reflects Activation of Same Visual Mechanisms that Process Real Human Faces

Aug 17, 2020 by News Staff

Face pareidolia is the phenomenon of seeing face-like structures in everyday objects. It is a very human condition that relates to how our brains are wired....

Aspy investigated and compared the effectiveness of five different combinations of lucid dream induction techniques. Image credit: Stefan Keller.

New Study Tests Lucid Dream Induction Techniques

Jul 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A study done by Dr. Denholm Aspy from the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide provides the strongest evidence to date that Mnemonic Induction...

Humans can smell in stereo. Image credit: Petra Pezibear.

Humans Navigate with Stereo Sense of Smell

Jun 30, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Humans have a stereo sense of smell that subconsciously guides navigation, according to new research from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy...

Heller et al reveal a previously unknown connection between our daily physical environments and sense of well-being. Image credit: Frank MoreLight.

Study Reveals Link between Diversity in Daily Experiences and Sense of Well-Being

May 20, 2020 by News Staff

New and diverse daily experiences are linked to enhanced happiness, according to a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Heller et al reveal...

Edwards et al evaluated the influence of avocado consumption on cognitive function and lutein status among adults with overweight and obesity using a randomized-controlled trial with matching design for pertinent study outcomes. Image credit: Sandid.

Avocado Consumption Improves Ability to Focus Attention in Overweight, Obese Adults: Study

Mar 16, 2020 by News Staff

Daily avocado intake over 12 weeks improved the ability to focus attention and increased concentrations of lutein among adults with overweight and obesity,...

This study reveals important fundamental differences between hot and cold brew coffee that may have implications for possible health impacts on drinkers. Image credit: Fxxu.

Study: Caffeine Significantly Enhances Problem-Solving Abilities But Not Creativity

Mar 9, 2020 by News Staff

Caffeine increases the ability to focus and problem solve, but it doesn’t stimulate creativity, according to new research published in the journal Consciousness...

Hill et al find no evidence that gun ownership is associated with better sleep and happiness. Image credit: PDPics.

Gun Owners Don’t Sleep Better and Aren’t Happier, Two New Studies Show

Feb 11, 2020 by News Staff

Despite claims that owning a gun makes a person feel safer and sleep easier, gun owners don’t sleep any better than people who do not own guns, they...

Cowen et al mapped 13 key emotions triggered when we listen to music. Image credit: Cowen et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1910704117.

Music Triggers 13 Key Emotions, Says New Study

Jan 13, 2020 by News Staff

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers examined the feelings evoked by 2,168...

Verigin et al found that self-reported good liars (i) may be responsible for a disproportionate amount of lies in daily life, (ii) tend to tell inconsequential lies, mostly to colleagues and friends, and generally via face-to-face interactions, and (iii) highly rely on verbal strategies of deception, most commonly reporting to embed their lies into truthful information, and to keep the statement clear, simple and plausible. Image credit: Ryan McGuire.

New Study Identifies Key Characteristics of Expert Liars

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, good liars lean towards telling inconsequential lies, mostly to colleagues and friends, and...

Westlake et al revealed strong and systematic variation in altruistic tendencies across urban suburbs of different socio-economic characteristics; this variance appears to be conditioned by the education and occupation level of residents in the suburb, and was not consistently influenced by economic resources or crime rate. Image credit: Sasin Tipchai.

Study Provides New Insight into Human Altruistic Behavior

Dec 14, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Altruism blossoms in neighborhoods populated with highly educated people working in high-status jobs, according to new research. Westlake et al revealed...