Mind, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 14, 2022

Are These Four Personality Types for Real?

Scientists have discovered four main personality types, but put the brakes on your visions of a Harry Potter-style Sorting Hat. Chances are, you're just average. Psychologists had already discovered that people tend to differ from one another according to five main personality traits, known as the Big Five: extraversion, conscientiousness,...

Oct 14, 2022

'Universal' Personality Traits Are Not, Study Finds

Psychologists can get a pretty clear picture of someone's personality by evaluating to what degree they express traits known as the Big Five — openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. These factors are thought to be rooted in biology and to transcend cultural differences, but a new study of an...

Feb 4, 2021

These star-shaped brain cells may help us understand depression's biological roots

People with depression have a distinguishing feature in their brains: They have fewer astrocytes, a type of star-shaped brain cell, compared with the brains of people without mental health disorders, according to a new study. Astrocytes are hugely affected in depression in terms of their cell numbers, study co-author Liam...

Feb 18, 2021

LSD alters consciousness by breaking down barriers in the brain

LSD may alter consciousness by freeing the brain from its natural barriers, allowing neurons that wouldn't normally interact, to have unusual conversations, brain scans show. Investigating how mind-altering substances such as LSD can change the brain can be a powerful method for interrogating and understanding how the mind meets the...

Mar 25, 2021

Lab-grown mini ‘brains’ of humans and apes reveal why one got so much bigger

Using lab-grown mini-brains, scientists have figured out why humans have bigger brains than those of apes. About 5 million to 8 million years ago, humans and apes diverged from a common ancestor. Some time after that, humans started evolving to have larger brains; now human brains are about three times...

Apr 22, 2021

Woman mistakes nail glue for eye drops, glues eye shut

Dangerous mishap when woman glues an eye shut with what she thought were eye dropshttps://t.co/mjfWd5mKnlApril 20, 2021 See more A woman in Michigan accidentally glued her eye shut when she mixed up her bottles of eye drops and nail glue, according to news reports. The woman, Yacedrah Williams, said she...

May 10, 2021

Why does 'emotional pain' hurt?

When rock band R.E.M. belted out Everybody hurts sometimes, they weren't singing about backaches or sprained ankles. They were, of course, referring to the intense pain our emotions can cause — like the pang of losing a cherished friend or the heaviness in your chest after a breakup. So why...

May 11, 2021

See how the brain wobbles with each heartbeat in incredible new videos

New, incredibly detailed videos capture how the brain jiggles inside the skull as blood and other fluids flow through the squidgy organ. In two new studies, published May 5 in the journals Brain Multiphysics and Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, scientists employed a brain-scanning technique often used to capture static, 2D...

Jun 2, 2021

11 children diagnosed with new form of ALS

Six years ago, a teenager from Italy traveled to the U.S. in hopes of finding a diagnosis for her mysterious medical condition, which had caused her to lose the ability to walk and required her to have a breathing tube. Now, researchers have diagnosed the teenager, Claudia Digregorio, and 10...

Jun 14, 2021

Why do we have eyebrows and eyelashes?

From slitted eyebrows to fake eyelashes, alterations to hair around the eyes have become important ways to express personal style. But brows and lashes are more than just decorations. So why do humans have eyebrows and eyelashes? The main purpose of both is to protect the eyes, said Dr. Stephanie...

Jun 30, 2021

Gut bacteria may 'talk' to the brain, mouse study suggests

Mice carry a teeming community of bacteria in their guts, and these gut bugs influence how the rodents' brains work, according to a new study. Specifically, researchers wanted to find out how gut bacteria influence the activity of brain networks involved in mouse social behavior. Normally, when a mouse encounters...

Jul 12, 2021

Scientists just discovered long-sought-after 'grandmother neurons'

What happens in your brain when you recognize your grandmother? In the 1960s, some neuroscientists thought a single brain cell called the grandmother neuron would light up only at the sight of your grandmother's face. Almost immediately, neuroscientists began to dismiss the theory — a single neuron could not correspond...

Aug 6, 2021

Cerebral palsy: Causes, symptoms & treatment

Cerebral palsy is not just one condition — it's a constellation of disorders in which changes in the brain cause problems with muscle control and weakness. These muscle problems lead to issues with balance, movement and posture. The brain changes associated with cerebral palsy can also impact hearing, seeing, thinking...

Aug 20, 2021

What is the hippocampus?

The hippocampus is a seahorse shaped organ that sits on the underside of each temporal lobe — the part of the brain near our ears. The hippocampus is a small but important part of the brain that's responsible for storing memories, learning and navigation. Related: Live Science podcast Life's Little...

Aug 31, 2021

Man can change his pupil size on command, once thought an impossible feat

A 23-year-old student in Germany can shrink and enlarge his pupils on demand, according to a new case report — a feat that was previously thought to be impossible. Two tiny opposing muscles in the eye act as puppeteers of each pupil (the dark center of the eye), dilating or...