We’ve known for a while that testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior. But a fascinating new experiment reveals that these hormones are a two-way street: Simply acting aggressive can also raise levels of testosterone, in both women and men.
Ever wonder why the thought of giving a talk at work makes you sweat? Panicking before a performance may seem like a major nuisance in the modern world. But it’s all part of the fight-or-flight response, which has hardwired itself into our brains through millions of years of evolution.
Yesterday, the FDA voted to approve flibanserin, a new drug to treat women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or lack of desire for sex. The drug, marketed as Addyi, has been touted as “female Viagra,” in the sense that it helps bring sex back into these women’s lives. But flibanserin doesn’t actually work like…
As any dedicated dog owner will tell you, canines often appear to grasp the emotional content of what's being said to them. An unprecedented brain scanning study now shows this is likely true — and that this capability pre-dates domestication.
Regardless of your stance on Valentine's Day, there's no way to avoid being bombarded with romantic imagery. So you might as well take this as an opportunity to learn something new. With that in mind, here are ten things you probably didn't know about sex, love and lust.
Being a teenager is as infuriating as it is amazing. Caught between childhood and adulthood, adolescents often have fully developed bodies, but their brains are still under construction. Here's what neuroscience is learning about the remarkable teenage brain, and how it affects behavior.
The Society for Neuroscience just finished its annual meeting, so get ready to have lots of knowledge about brains dropped into your brain. Here you go, I'll facilitate: several fascinating new studies have just come out examining the links between social status and specific brain structures and activity. They show…
The New Scientist's Mindscapes column has a brief but fascinating profile of man identified only as "Graham" who suffers from a rare delusion known as Cotard's syndrome. Despite walking and talking and eating every day, Graham is convinced that he's dead.
This week, a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience found that the levels of a certain brain protein differs between the sexes and could explain why girls exceed boys in language development. These findings are being reported by mainstream media outlets like The Today Show and Marie Claire as "Women talk…
It's been sixty years since scientists first figured out which part of the brain processes stimulation to which part of the body — on a man. It took til this year for someone to thoroughly map the same for a woman's body.
I was absent-mindedly shoveling cereal into my mouth when the brainfart struck: my hand decided to reroute the incoming spoon's flight trajectory into my cheek. As I sat there with milk dripping down my chin, my immediate reaction was to blame my hand. But then I realized that my hand had just been following orders.…
When you hear nasty gossip about somebody, it changes the way your brain responds to that person's face. A new study reveals that, given a choice, people will stare longer at the faces of people they've heard bad things about.
High-school students take note: your brains are actually changed by reading As You Like It.
People with Klüver-Bucy Syndrome experience runaway sexual urges — sometimes including pedophilia — due to damage to their brains. Does the existence of this disorder mean none of us really has control over our sexual behavior?
Got a lot of friends? Thank your amygdala! A new study may shed light on how this brain structure, often associated with fear, may regulate our social lives as well.
Cordelia Fine's thorough (and funny!) Delusions of Gender punches a giant hole in the idea that women's brains are somehow "hardwired" for nurturing and domesticity. After the jump, five ladybrain myths Fine handily busts.
When we were eleven, my summer-camp crush and I nerd-flirted by attempting a Vulcan mind-meld. As it turns out, this may be (sort of) possible — and all you need is love.
Scientists claim they've discovered "bad mother/good mother" switches in the brain that control parenting behavior. But do these genetic switches really trump a woman's circumstances?
Anyone who spends a large percentage of every Friday afternoon staring out the window will be heartened by research showing that a wandering mind may indicate intelligence. But can daydreaming actually make us smarter?
