Science & Research

Could A ‘Sniff Test’ Lead to Early Autism Diagnosis?

evanroboldphotographyblog.com, Photo: Evan Robold We can identify autism and its severity with meaningful accuracy within less than 10 minutes using a test that is completely nonverbal and entails no task to follow. This raises the hope that these findings could form the base for development of a diagnostic tool that can be applied [...]

Psychology Is Not in Crisis? Depends on What You Mean by “Crisis” 

flickr, Photo: aldo_mx In the New York Times yesterday, psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett argues that "Psychology is Not in Crisis." She is responding to the results of a large-scale initiative called the Reproducibility Project, published in Science magazine, which appeared to show that the findings from over 60 percent of a sample of [...]

Five Reasons Why You Should Read Aloud to Your Kids – and Pick Their Favourite Book

shutterstock As parents know all too well, children love to re-read their favourite books over and over again. While this may feel painfully repetitive to adults, there is something in the text that is bringing children back time after time. Children benefit greatly from re-reading as they learn the rhyming or predictable pattern [...]

Oral Piercings Can Cause Serious Dental Problems, Warns Dentist

Emaleigh Whitwick has her teeth examined by Liran Levin, head of periodontology at the School of Dentistry. If you've been considering getting a tongue piercing, you may want to hold off. Having the piercing may be cool, but research shows it can cause serious oral health problems. Lip or tongue piercings can lead [...]

Sleep Makes Our Memories More Accessible, Study Shows

galleryhip Sleeping not only protects memories from being forgotten, it also makes them easier to access, according to new research from the University of Exeter and the Basque Centre for Cognition, Brain and Language. The findings suggest that after sleep we are more likely to recall facts which we could not remember while [...]

Musical Frisson

wikipedia So what is a transcendent, psychophysiological moment of musical experience? Music has a unique power to elicit moments of intense emotional and psychophysiological response. These moments – termed “chills,” “thrills”, “frissons,” etc. – are subjects of introspection and philosophical debate, as well as scientific study in music perception and cognition. The present [...]

Cats Don’t Love You, Scientists Conclude

Your cat is just fine on its own. Photo: Getty Images Rudyard Kipling was right. Cats really do walk by themselves, and do not need their owners to feel secure and safe, a study has shown. Although absent owners might worry that their pet is pining, in fact, cats show no sign of separation [...]

What Neuroscience’s Newest ‘Genius’ Discovered

Shutterstock You have fewer synapses in your brain now than a 2-year-old. That may sound like an insult, but it’s a scientific fact. We’re all born with heads full of lonely, isolated neurons. But as our baby brains are inundated with sensory information over the first two years of life, those neurons rapidly [...]

Throat Cancers Linked to the “Common Cold of Sexually Transmitted Viruses”, HPV, Are on the Rise

Dr Matthew Magarey, a surgeon who uses robotic technology to remove cancer from people's throats. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer The sexual revolution is producing a new wave of throat and tongue cancers among middle-aged people, who are falling victim to a rare side effect of the "common cold of sexually transmitted infections". A growing [...]

Sleep Loss Makes Memories Less Accessible in Stressful Situations

galleryhip It is known that sleep facilitates the formation of long-term memory in humans. In a new study, researchers from Uppsala University now show that sleep does not only help form long-term memory but also ensures access to it during times of cognitive stress. It is well known that during sleep newly learned [...]

Go to Top