Neuropsych

The road to happiness is indirect and full of frustration.

OCD and addiction may result in part from improper “reward” pathways in the brain. Ultrasound can disrupt those pathways.

Your brain is remarkably good at mapping out physical spaces — even if it’s an imaginary space like Hogwarts. But how does the brain do it?

The first personality tests revolved around assessing people’s reactions to ambiguous and often unsettling images. Today, the gold standard is a barrage of questions.

Regret isn’t just unpleasant, it’s unhealthy.

Temporal lobe epilepsy seems to rewire a part of the brain that’s key to storing memories.

From boosting empathy to improving therapy, virtual reality is poised to change our ideas of the self.

Certain types of dogs seem to be more discerning than others, however.

New research suggests they may be in the connections between your brain cells.

We seem to have a “progression bias” that nudges us toward pro-relationship decisions and away from breaking up.

The use of AI within mental health services could be a game-changer.

Humans seemingly have opposing desires to fit in and to be unique. The interplay between these might drive the evolution of fads.

A professor of educational psychology explains what and what not to do.

This article was originally published on our sister site, Freethink. Fifteen volunteers in France just spent more than a month living in a cave — without any way to tell time — […]

Treatments for depression have significantly improved since the 1980s. So why isn’t the rate of depression decreasing?

For some people, there is only one thing to live for. They commit their entire being to that thing. They are dangerous.

Historical geniuses used the “creative nap” to give their minds a boost. Apparently, the “hypnagogic state” can help with problem solving.

Mental health, healing and pulling together were key themes of 2021, according to the world’s most popular search engine. Google processes billions of requests every day and its Year in Search […]

Stress – and how you manage it – is catching.

When we satisfy our curiosity, the brain has a particular way of rewarding us.

Are some of us simple destined for unhappiness?

Research reminds us that mild cognitive impairment isn’t necessarily a prelude to dementia.

Family relationships are on many people’s minds during the holiday season as sounds and images of happy family celebrations dominate the media. Anyone whose experiences don’t live up to the holiday […]

For relatives who live far apart, holiday rituals may be the glue that holds the family together.

Or you might just be a Leo.

A placebo-controlled study found that oxytocin seems to significantly reduce romantic jealousy among people in intimate relationships.

The number of people with whom we interact is highest around 40, but then things change substantially after that.

Personality is not set in stone. If you don’t like some aspect of it, you can work to change it — “fake it till you make it.”

Memory errors may actually indicate a way in which the human cognitive system is “optimal” or “rational.”

In spreading politics, videos may not be much more persuasive than their text-based counterparts.