Cognitive Science

Chronic consumption of fat-rich foods may trigger a chemical disconnect between the gut and the brain. A new analysis reveals this dietary habit elevates intestinal serotonin while depleting the neurotransmitter in areas controlling mood.

A new study reveals oxytocin can boost creativity, but only for those naturally inclined to seek rewards. For risk-averse individuals, the “love hormone” had no effect on creative thinking or brain connectivity.

Intelligence scores fluctuate significantly during childhood, driven more by genetic predisposition than situational factors. A new study suggests that reliable patterns of high cognitive ability typically do not emerge until approximately age 12.

Why does foreign speech sound like an unbroken stream of noise? New research shows that the brain actively imposes boundaries on sound to create words, a mechanism that relies heavily on learned language experience.

The myth that turkey makes you sleepy is mostly busted. But as it fades, a more complex question is emerging: could the amino acid tryptophan actually be a key to regulating our mood?

Lifting weights may help you think faster. Researchers found that acute resistance exercise boosts executive function, potentially because the temporary spike in systolic blood pressure increases brain arousal.

A new study reveals that humans spontaneously synchronize their eye blinks with musical beats. This involuntary behavior highlights a previously unknown connection between the brain’s auditory processing and the motor system.

A new study suggests that learning an instrument does more than teach melody. Researchers found that musicians have a superior ability to maintain their physical orientation and balance, even without visual cues.

The structure of number words in a language has real cognitive costs. Research shows that irregularities, like those in French or English, can slow children’s numerical learning and lead to more calculation errors for adults in daily life.

A new study challenges the "reward deficiency" hypothesis of obesity. Researchers found that higher adiposity is linked not to fewer dopamine receptors, but to elevated baseline levels of dopamine in the brain's reward system.

New research suggests general intelligence relies on the brain’s ability to maintain stable and efficient connectivity patterns. The study found that higher cognitive scores are linked to sustaining “typical” neural states rather than unique ones.

A new study finds that winning makes people bet more, but this reaction is shaped by their personality. The effect is stronger in extraverts and weaker in conscientious and high-IQ individuals.

A study published in Consciousness and Cognition indicates that the sense of knowing what will happen next during déjà vu is an illusion caused by spatial familiarity, not actual predictive ability.

A new study shows that people who frequently engage with short video platforms through actions like commenting and liking tend to show lower alerting efficiency. Brain scans point to a possible link with communication between attention and self-related processing networks.

A new study in Advanced Science reveals the brain uses two parallel networks to recognize familiar sounds. One network processes the sound itself, while a second, deeper network compares it to memory and flags any unexpected changes.