Psychology
- Humans
Girls have head start on snake and spider fears
At 11 months of age, girls quickly learn to associate fearful faces with images of snakes and spiders, a new study suggests.
By Bruce Bower - Psychology
How to walk in circles without really trying
People walk in circles when landmarks and other directional cues are not available.
By Bruce Bower - Psychology
Neighborhood unity offers behavioral protection for poor kids
A five-year study of British families finds that young children living in low-income communities show fewer signs of serious behavior problems if they have close-knit, concerned neighbors.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
300 milliseconds from hand to head
New work shows that the “rubber hand illusion” only works when a hand feels a sensation no more than 300 milliseconds before the eyes see it
- Health & Medicine
You Are Who You Are by Default
A neural network active when the brain is at rest may prove critical to zoning out, a sense of self and envisioning the future.
- Psychology
2-year-olds possess grammatical insights
Toddlers discern basic rules for using nouns and verbs at least one year before speaking in complete sentences, French brain researchers report.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Autism care takes biological toll on mothers
Caring for teens and young adults with autism not only creates intense psychological pressure on mothers but may promote sharply decreased production of a crucial stress hormone, a long-term study suggests.
By Bruce Bower - Psychology
School-age lead exposures most harmful to IQ
New studies find lead exposure has greater potency in school-age children than in infants and toddlers, including effects on brain volume.
By Janet Raloff - Psychology
Males, females swap sex-role stereotypes
Analysis finds that mating strategies are not universal
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Rapid emotional swings could precede violence
A tool from physics helps link the patterns of psychiatric patients’ symptoms and the likelihood they will commit violent acts.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Autism immerses 2-year-olds in a synchronized world
By age 2, kids with autism focus on synchronized physical events, such as a person’s moving lips accompanied by sounds, rather than on eye movements and other social cues, a new study suggests.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Gestures speak volumes in the brain
A new brain-imaging study suggests that an understanding of spoken language relies on changing sets of brain networks that exploit acoustic and visual cues.
By Bruce Bower