Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 28, 2006

Don't Laugh: Just Think About It

If you're down in the dumps, you might just think about watching a funny movie. A new study suggests that the mere expectation of laughter makes us feel good. Researchers split people into two groups. One group was told they'd be watching a funny movie, the other was not. Blood...

Jan 31, 2006

Myth Busted: Late Night Snacks Don't Add Weight

Giving in to those late-night munchies won't make you gain weight after all, according to a new study. Eating at night is no more likely to promote weight gain than eating during the day, said study co-author Judy Cameron, a researcher at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon...

Jan 31, 2006

Kids are Depressing, Study of Parents Finds

Any parent will tell you kids can be depressing at times. A new study shows that raising them is a lifelong challenge to your mental health. Not only do parents have significantly higher levels of depression than adults who do not have children, the problem gets worse when the kids...

Jan 31, 2006

Girls Equal, Exceed Boys in Substance Abuse

Adolescent girls abuse drugs and alcohol just as much if not more than boys, a new study indicates. Contrary to popular belief, more girls are new substance abusers. In 2004, 1.5 million girls started using alcohol, 730,000 girls started smoking, and 675,000 started using marijuana, according to the 2004 National...

Jan 31, 2006

Mind Rewind: Brains Run in Reverse

When faced with a new learning task, our brains replay events in reverse, much like a video on rewind, a new study suggests. This type of reverse-replay is also used in artificial intelligence research to help computers make decisions. The finding could explain why we learn tasks more easily if...

Jan 31, 2006

Like Monkeys, Babies Know Math

After long suspecting we're born with some math sense, researchers have shown infants indeed have some ability to count long before they can demonstrate it to Mom and Dad. It turns out they're not unlike grown monkeys. In the study, seven-month-old babies were presented with the voices of two or...

Jan 31, 2006

Risk of Death Can Soar When Spouse is Sick

When a person over 65 is debilitated, the odds of dying within a year can increase dramatically for the spouse, a new study shows. If a man is diagnosed with dementia, for example, the risk of death skyrockets 28 percent for his wife over the next year. If it's the...

Jan 31, 2006

Monkey's Voice Good as Human's for Newborn Babies

ST. LOUIS—Straight out of the womb, infants may be just as aroused by a rhesus monkey call as by human speech. Infants are acute listeners. Previous studies have found newborns perk up more to folk music than white noise. And four-month-olds like listening to people talk more than they like...

Jan 31, 2006

Something Fishy: How Humans Got So Smart

ST. LOUIS—Human brains are bigger and better than any of our closest living or dead non-human relatives in relation to body weight. Scientists say we have fish and frogs to thank for this. When early humans started to fish, they also began feeding their hungry brains. The arrival of language...

Dec 31, 2005

Sound Science: Pete Townshend Blames Headphones for Hearing Loss

In a widely reported story this week, rock star Pete Townshend blamed his hearing loss on earphones rather than the years of participating in loud concerts with his band, The Who. But what is the science of his claim? Pretty solid. Townshend has spoken of his hearing loss before but...

Dec 31, 2005

The Journey of a New Brain Cell

Newborn adult brain cells travel along a neural highway from their place of birth to their final destination. Now scientists have shown that tiny, beating, hair-like structures called cilia play an important role in helping the new cells merge onto the highway's on-ramp. Scientists have long questioned how newborn brain...

Dec 31, 2005

Men Enjoy Physical Revenge, Brain Study Suggests

When Martha Stewart suited up for her prison time, many of her devoted followers felt sorry for her. Others, perhaps believing she was guilty or just not fans of her painted lampshades, were happy to see her incarcerated. Men probably fell in the latter category more often, if a new...

Dec 31, 2005

Is Your Earwax Wet or Dry?

Do you have dry, flaky earwax or the gooey, stinky type? The answer is partly in your heritage. A new study reveals that the gene responsible for the drier type originated in an ancient northeastern Asian population. Today, 80 to 95 percent of East Asians have dry earwax, whereas the...

Nov 30, 2007

Why Time Seems to Slow Down in Emergencies

In The Matrix, the hero Neo could dodge bullets because time moved in slow motion for him during battles. Indeed, in the real world, people in danger often feel as if time slowed down for them. This warping of time apparently does not result from the brain speeding up from...

Nov 30, 2007

Child Care in First Two Years Greatly Affects IQ

How well children are cared for in their first two years directly affects brain development and IQ later in life, a new study finds. Researchers studied abandoned young children in Romanian orphanages over time and found that those placed in foster care at younger ages had significantly higher IQ's than...