Inside the Mind

ASMR has become a pop phenomenon and scientists are trying to figure out why some people love those tingling-inducing videos and others can't stand them.

By Nathan Chandler

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

A new study shows that mothers prefer daughters and fathers prefer sons, regardless of economic background, contradicting an earlier well-known hypothesis.

By Alia Hoyt

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

Dark, cloudy skies and the drumbeat of raindrops on our windows tend to make people feel sad and forlorn, or at least that's what we have come to assume.

By Patrick J. Kiger

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

What do Donald Trump, Bob Dole and LeBron James have in common? A tendency to talk about themselves in the third person. But is it just egotism or is there a hidden benefit to saying your name rather than "I"?

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

The Scandinavian countries tend to come out on top in the World Happiness Report. But the report doesn't actually ask participants if they're happy. When that question is included, the country rankings are quite different.

By Dave Roos

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

By Amanda Onion

Why do some people become more aggressive, even violent, after they've had a few drinks?

By Jesslyn Shields

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

It's already a scary world. Why do we seek to experience more fear?

By Jamie Allen

Rabid fans may seem crazy, but there can be good reasons why they go all out for their favorite celebrity, sport or TV show.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

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