The Human Brain

Researchers from Penn State University College of Medicine suggest that a shared circuit in the brain could be one reason why heavy drinking and high-fat 'junk food' cravings go hand in hand.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

A new year is always a good time to set new goals. We've come up with five healthy changes that have been scientifically shown to improve your well-being.

By Dave Roos

You could call dopamine the most misunderstood neurochemical in the brain. It's allegedly the cause of people getting addicted to drugs, chocolate or video games. But what does really dopamine do?

By Patrick J. Kiger

The noises that others make — be it walking, chewing or breathing heavily — are very noticeable to us. Yet we seldom hear it in ourselves. Why is that?

By Alia Hoyt

Roller coaster junkies rejoice: Riding these coasters could be a safe way to deal with your addiction to endorphins.

By Alia Hoyt

Is your first memory of lying in a crib? You may want to revisit that. A new large study found that nearly 40 percent of participants had a first memory that was improbably early.

By Alia Hoyt

Ever walked from your kitchen to the living room to find your phone and then forgotten what you were looking for once you got there? Researchers think your brain is hard-wired to undergo precisely that process of forgetting.

By Nathan Chandler

A new study shows that IQ levels have been falling since 1975, reversing a 20th-century trend.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Researchers at the University of California finally have a scientific answer to this ages-old battle.

By Cherise Threewitt

Could manipulating the human brain's desire for sweet foods lead to new weight control methods and better treatments for eating disorders?

By John Perritano

Some kids have a lot of talent in music, art or math. Then there are those who are gifted beyond belief.

By Dave Roos

A woman who gave birth posthumously also had a hole in her skull from a procedure to treat a pregnancy-related complication.

By Jesslyn Shields

And that might make it kind of tricky to pretend you're paying attention.

By Amanda Onion

In the absence of sound waves in the air, your brain will try to fill in the silence.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Stuff To Blow Your Mind's Joe McCormick joins Stuff They Don't Want You To Know to talk the controversial theory of the bicameral mind.

By Diana Brown

Our instincts may tell us to do certain things — and to avoid others — but we often don't listen. Is this wise? How do we know when to obey our instincts?

By Alia Hoyt

A new study shows that belief in perceiving patterns correlated strongly with belief in conspiracy theories and the supernatural.

By Alia Hoyt

We often think that if a drug has been studied by scientists and given a favorable outcome, then it must be safe and proven. But many kinds of biases can creep into a study, rendering it less than effective.

By Patrick J. Kiger

A series of studies showed that including the word 'sorry' in a rejection actually made the rejected person feel worse.

By Alia Hoyt

Although left-handed people were thought to be "sinister" or "unnatural" in previous eras, we now know that left-handedness is natural for 10 percent of the population. And it can have some advantages over right-handedness too.

By Alia Hoyt

An extensive study looks at personal space in 42 countries, and how weather affects preferences.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Do we have a tendency to walk clockwise around the block? Why do sports favor counterclockwise rotation? Does it have anything to do with handedness or driving habits?

By Laurie L. Dove

Forgetfulness may seem like an undesirable trait, but new research shows that memory loss is an essential brain function that can make us smarter.

By Shelley Danzy

A new study reveals that anything more than a moderate amount of charisma in a leader actually may interfere with his or her effectiveness.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Researchers have shown that THC in marijuana alters the structure of the brains in older mice to be more like brains of younger mice. Could the same be true for humans?

By John Perritano