Pure Science

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Older Hispanic adults who have lost all their natural teeth may face faster declines in cognitive function compared to those who still have their teeth, according to a new study published in Research on Aging. The findings also suggest...

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A new study has found that adolescents tend to trust their friends more than strangers, and this difference in trust is associated with variations in hormone levels, impulsivity, and social reasoning. The research highlights how biological...

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A new study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy suggests that people with high social anxiety are more accurate at recognizing subtle angry expressions compared to people with low social anxiety. The researchers found that...

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A survey of adults residing in Sakarya, Türkiye, found that loneliness was not associated with social media addiction (when controlling for other factors), but boredom in life was. Bored individuals were more likely to exhibit signs of...

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Women in the United States who have used birth control pills for a longer period may be less likely to experience symptoms of depression, according to a new study published in The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. The...

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A new study published in iScience provides evidence that the human brain emits extremely faint light signals that not only pass through the skull but also appear to change in response to mental states. Researchers found that these...

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Waking up from a nightmare can leave your heart pounding, but the effects may reach far beyond a restless night. Adults who suffer bad dreams every week were almost three times more likely to die before age 75 than people who rarely have...

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A new study published in Child Development provides the strongest longitudinal evidence to date that sensitive caregiving in early life predicts children’s attachment security in China, a country with cultural traditions and parenting...

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A new study suggests that people in consensually nonmonogamous relationships tend to experience higher-quality sexual communication compared to those in monogamous relationships. Despite this difference, both groups showed similar levels...

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An analysis of neuroimaging data from individuals with alcohol use disorder showed that these individuals tend to have higher concentrations of the antioxidant glutathione in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex region of their brains....

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In a new experiment comparing different types of collaboration, researchers found that pairs of humans working together produced more original ideas than individuals collaborating with artificial intelligence or using internet search...

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A new study suggests that when Americans learn about members of Congress profiting from stock trading, their trust in Congress falls—and so does their willingness to comply with the laws that Congress passes. Researchers found that people...

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New research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has found that a single dose of psilocybin leads to widespread changes in gene expression for several neuropeptides in the rat hypothalamus, while ketamine has a more limited...

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A painless, non-invasive brain stimulation technique can significantly improve how young adults learn maths, my colleagues and I found in a recent study. In a paper in PLOS Biology, we describe how this might be most helpful for those who...

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A large-scale study of U.S. children has found that exposure to green spaces in urban areas is associated with healthier brain development, fewer emotional and behavioral problems, and improved cognitive performance. The findings,...

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New research published in Psychopharmacology has found that damaging a specific brain region called the nucleus reuniens reduces depression-like behavior in both male and female rats. The study also showed that male and female brains...

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An analysis of U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2005 to 2023 found that individuals with higher adherence to the ketogenic diet were less likely to experience depression. Greater adherence to the diet was...

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A new study published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology examined whether exposure to attractive dating prospects could boost creative thinking. The researchers found that for women, viewing profiles of long-term-oriented mates led to...

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A new study from the University of Rochester finds that developmental exposure to a type of “forever chemical” known as PFHxA may lead to increased anxiety-related behaviors and memory impairments—but only in male mice. The chemical, once...

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New research published in Psychological Reports indicates that people who frequently experience spontaneous mind wandering also tend to be more preoccupied with the online world and use their smartphones more for social purposes. The...

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A new study using data from South Korea finds that women who attended all-female high schools are more likely to engage in political and civic life and take on leadership roles than those who went to coeducational schools. These effects...

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New research suggests that a higher dietary intake of spermidine is associated with significantly better performance on cognitive tests among older adults. The potential protective effect was more pronounced in males, individuals who were...

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New research published in Food Quality and Preference provides evidence that people are more visually drawn to high-calorie foods when they anticipate future scarcity, especially in contexts that feel unstable or resource-poor. Using...

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A new psychological study has found that people who report favorable views of Donald Trump also tend to score higher on measures of callousness, manipulation, and other malevolent traits—and lower on empathy and compassion. The findings,...

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Pain is easy to understand until it isn’t. A stubbed toe or sprained ankle hurts, but it makes sense because the cause is clear and the pain fades as you heal. But what if the pain didn’t go away? What if even a breeze felt like fire, or...

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While money may not buy happiness in singlehood, it could increase the desire—and likelihood—of entering a relationship. A new study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that single adults with higher incomes were more...

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A widely popular idea in psychology and evolutionary science suggests that the distinctive look of the human eye—particularly the white area surrounding the iris—evolved to help us communicate cooperatively. But a new scientific paper...

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New research has found that people who reported symptoms of social anxiety at the start of a five-year period were more likely to experience increased loneliness later on. In contrast, initial feelings of loneliness were not associated...

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As cannabis use continues to rise among older adults, researchers are trying to understand how it affects cognitive function during aging. A new study published in the journal Psychopharmacology provides evidence that cannabis and its...

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Before a single ballot was counted in the 2024 election, researchers had already forecast the winner—based not on polls, but on how optimistically each candidate explained negative events in their speeches. A new study published in The...

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People tend to say that they prioritize social warmth and vitality over physical beauty when evaluating others in both personal and professional contexts, according to a new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. But these...

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A new study published in Sleep Health provides evidence that major political events, such as the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, can negatively impact sleep for a significant portion of the population. Survey data from a nationally...

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A study of lip attractiveness conducted in Lebanon found that when upper lip height exceeds 30% of the hemi-lip width (half the total lip width), faces are generally perceived as unaesthetic and unattractive. The most preferred ratio for...

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As political tensions continue to divide Americans, new research sheds light on a factor that may ease the discomfort of engaging across partisan lines. A series of three studies published in Social Psychological and Personality Science...

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New research published in the journal Psychopharmacology shows that psilocybin—the psychedelic compound found in certain “magic” mushrooms—slows reaction time and impairs executive functioning during its acute effects. The study, a...

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A new study published in the European Journal of Neuroscience sheds light on how patterns of brain connectivity may relate to psychopathic traits and their association with externalizing behaviors such as aggression and rule-breaking. By...

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A new study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research has found that many individuals who were hospitalized with COVID-19 continue to show signs of impaired attention up to three months after discharge. Even patients who had...

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A study of emerging adults who experienced a breakup (dissolution of a romantic relationship) as a traumatic event found heightened reactivity in the hippocampus and amygdala when participants were shown images related to their breakup,...

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Humans reject foods for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because a food looks or smells unpleasant. Other times, it’s because the idea of eating it seems revolting. These two reactions—distaste and disgust—are often confused in everyday...

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A new study suggests that women who spend midlife in neighborhoods surrounded by high poverty may experience faster memory decline, especially in the ability to recall information. The research tracked over a thousand women across the...

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Many people will continue with a longer, less efficient path to a goal rather than backtrack and take a shortcut — even when the backtracking would save time and effort. A new series of studies published in Psychological Science reveals...

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A new study published in Diagnostics provides evidence that the striatum, rather than the cerebral cortex, receives the highest concentration of dopamine input in the brain. Advanced confocal imaging in mice revealed that dopamine signals...

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A new study published in Molecular Psychiatry sheds light on a question that is increasingly debated in courtrooms: Can brain injuries cause someone to commit a crime? Researchers found that damage to a specific white matter tract in the...

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An analysis of data from a 10-year longitudinal study of emerging adults found that individuals who experienced physical abuse during childhood were more likely to report both being threatened with a firearm and threatening another person...

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A new study published in Personal Relationships highlights how the quality and adaptability of friendships are strongly linked to the well-being of single adults in the United States. The findings suggest that feeling satisfied with...

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Children of parents who are highly sensitive to anxiety may show distinct patterns of brain activity when processing emotions, according to a new study published in the journal Development and Psychopathology. The researchers found that...

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A protein long blamed for the brain damage seen in Alzheimer’s disease has now been found in astonishingly high levels in healthy newborn babies, challenging decades of medical dogma. The discovery could transform our understanding of both...

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People tend to think of leaders as assertive, dominant, and unemotional—traits long associated with traditional male stereotypes. But what happens when people are asked to imagine the ideal leader, rather than the typical one? A new study...

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A study of adults with chronic inflammatory arthritis found that these individuals have heightened sensitivity to punishment (i.e., losses) compared to healthy controls. They also showed greater neural activity associated with punishment...

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People with anxiety or depression show distinct patterns in their gut bacteria, and commonly prescribed psychiatric medications may shift the gut microbiome even more than the disorders themselves. That’s according to a new study published...