Perception News

August 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Why Listening May Be the Most Powerful Medicine

Aug. 20, 2025 — In a health system where speed often replaces empathy, researchers highlight the life-changing power of listening. Beyond simple questions, values-driven listening—marked by presence, curiosity, and compassion—can transform both patients and ...

Scientists Just Found the Brain’s Secret GPS System

Aug. 20, 2025 — Researchers discovered two brain regions that work as a “neural compass,” keeping people oriented in virtual city navigation. These areas tracked direction consistently, hinting at new ways to detect and monitor neurological disorders that cause ...

Scientists Discover the Pancake Secret That Makes Vegan Eggs Irresistible

Aug. 12, 2025 — A study finds that people are more open to plant-based eggs when they’re part of familiar foods, like pancakes, rather than served plain. While taste and appearance still favor regular eggs, vegan eggs score higher on environmental and ethical ...

Cutting Sugar Won’t Curb Your Sweet Tooth, Scientists Say

Aug. 12, 2025 — A six-month randomized trial challenges the idea that eating more sweet foods increases a person’s preference for sweetness. Participants on diets with high, low, or mixed sweetness levels showed no changes in their sweet taste preferences, energy ...

Scientists Discover Brain Layers That Get Stronger with Age

Aug. 12, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that parts of the human brain age more slowly than previously thought—particularly in the region that processes touch. By using ultra-high-resolution brain scans, they found that while some layers of the cerebral cortex ...

Scientists Reversed Memory Loss by Powering the Brain’s Tiny Engines

Aug. 12, 2025 — Scientists have discovered a direct cause-and-effect link between faulty mitochondria and the memory loss seen in neurodegenerative diseases. By creating a novel tool to boost mitochondrial activity in mouse models, researchers restored memory ...

Trapped in Guilt and Shame? Science Explains Why You Can’t Let Go

Aug. 11, 2025 — Flinders University researchers found that forgiving yourself isn’t just about letting go. People stuck in guilt and shame often feel trapped in the past, and true healing comes from addressing deeper moral injuries and restoring a sense of ...

Johns Hopkins Scientists Grow a Mini Human Brain That Lights Up and Connects Like the Real Thing

Aug. 4, 2025 — Scientists at Johns Hopkins have grown a first-of-its-kind organoid mimicking an entire human brain, complete with rudimentary blood vessels and neural activity. This new "multi-region brain ...

Alzheimer’s Risk May Start at the Brain’s Border, Not Inside It

Aug. 4, 2025 — Your brain has its own elite defense team — and new research shows these "guardian" cells might be the real battleground for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and stroke. Scientists discovered that most genetic risks linked to these ...

This New Drug Could Help PTSD Patients Finally Let Go of Trauma

Aug. 3, 2025 — Researchers discovered that PTSD may be driven by excess GABA from astrocytes, not neurons. This chemical imbalance disrupts the brain’s ability to forget fear. A new drug, KDS2010, reverses this effect in mice and is already in human trials. It ...

Why Cold Feels Good: Scientists Uncover the Chill Pathway

July 30, 2025 — A newly mapped neural circuit shows how our skin senses cool temperatures and sends that info to the brain, revealing an unexpected amplifier in the spinal cord and offering insight into cold-related ...

Four Hidden Types of Autism Revealed — And Each Tells a Different Genetic Story

July 24, 2025 — Scientists at Princeton and the Simons Foundation have identified four biologically distinct subtypes of autism, using data from over 5,000 children and a powerful new computational method. These ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:19pm EDT

The Surprising Brain Chemistry Behind Instant Friendships

Aug. 13, 2025 — UC Berkeley scientists found oxytocin is key for quickly forming strong friendships, but less critical for mate bonds. In prairie voles, a lack of oxytocin receptors delayed bonding and reduced ...

This Brain Circuit May Explain Fluctuating Sensations—and Autism

July 30, 2025 — Sometimes a gentle touch feels sharp and distinct, other times it fades into the background. This inconsistency isn’t just mood—it’s biology. Scientists found that the thalamus doesn’t just ...

People With Eating Disorders Say Cannabis and Psychedelics Help More Than Antidepressants

July 24, 2025 — A massive global survey has revealed that people with eating disorders often turn to cannabis and psychedelics like magic mushrooms and LSD to ease ...

Your Brain Sees Faces in Everything—and Science Just Explained Why

July 24, 2025 — You may be seeing faces in clouds, toast, or cars—and it turns out your brain is wired to notice them. A fascinating new study shows how our attention is hijacked not just by real faces, but by ...

Optimists Think Alike—and Brain Scans Just Proved It

July 23, 2025 — When imagining the future, optimists' brains tend to look remarkably alike, while pessimists show more varied neural activity. This neurological alignment could explain why optimists are often more ...

Doctors Used Music Instead of Medication—what They Saw in Dementia Patients Was Remarkable

July 19, 2025 — A groundbreaking pilot in NHS dementia wards is using live music therapy—called MELODIC—to ease patient distress without relying on drugs. ...

The Silent Threat: How Hearing Loss and Loneliness Are Fueling Memory Decline

July 18, 2025 — A massive European study has uncovered a powerful connection between hearing loss, loneliness, and memory decline. Researchers at the University of ...

It’s Not That You Look—it’s When: The Hidden Power of Eye Contact

July 17, 2025 — A groundbreaking study from Flinders University reveals that it's not just making eye contact that matters, but precisely when and how you do it. By studying interactions between humans and virtual ...

Researchers Grow 400+ Brain Cell Types—a Leap for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Research

July 12, 2025 — Scientists at ETH Zurich have broken new ground by generating over 400 types of nerve cells from stem cells in the lab, far surpassing previous ...

This Tiny Brain Molecule Could Hold the Key to Learning, Memory—and Alzheimer’s Treatment

July 12, 2025 — A team of researchers has discovered that a protein called cypin plays a powerful role in helping brain cells connect and communicate, which is ...

How a Hidden Brain Circuit Fuels Fibromyalgia, Migraines, and PTSD

July 10, 2025 — What if your brain is the reason some pain feels unbearable? Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ...

Your Brain’s Hidden Defenses Against Alzheimer’s

July 10, 2025 — Scientists at UCSF combined advanced brain-network modeling, genetics, and imaging to reveal how tau protein travels through neural highways and how certain genes either accelerate its toxic journey ...

No Training Needed: How Humans Instinctively Read Nature’s Signals

July 10, 2025 — People can intuitively sense how biodiverse a forest is just by looking at photos or listening to sounds, and their gut feelings surprisingly line up with what scientists ...

Frozen Light Switches: How Arctic Microbes Could Revolutionize Neuroscience

July 5, 2025 — In the frozen reaches of the planet—glaciers, mountaintops, and icy groundwater—scientists have uncovered strange light-sensitive molecules in tiny microbes. These “cryorhodopsins” can ...

Multisensory VR Forest Reboots Your Brain and Lifts Mood—study Confirms

July 6, 2025 — Immersing stressed volunteers in a 360° virtual Douglas-fir forest complete with sights, sounds and scents boosted their mood, sharpened short-term memory and deepened their feeling of ...

The Surprising Link Between Hearing Loss, Loneliness, and Lifespan

July 5, 2025 — People who treat hearing loss with hearing aids or cochlear implants regain rich conversations, escape isolation, and may even protect their brains and lifespans—proof that better hearing ...

Parkinson’s Reversal? One Drug Brings Dying Brain Cells Back to Life

July 3, 2025 — Stanford researchers discovered that dialing down an overactive enzyme, LRRK2, can regrow lost cellular “antennae” in key brain cells, restoring vital dopamine communication and neuroprotective ...

A Midlife MRI That Spots Rapid Aging and Signals Disease Long Before Symptoms

July 2, 2025 — A new brain scan tool shows how quickly your body and mind are aging. It can spot early signs of diseases like dementia, long before symptoms begin. The scan looks at hidden clues in your brain to ...

Ultrafast 12-Minute MRI Maps Brain Chemistry to Spot Disease Before Symptoms

July 2, 2025 — Illinois engineers fused ultrafast imaging with smart algorithms to peek at living brain chemistry, turning routine MRIs into metabolic microscopes. The system distinguishes healthy regions, grades ...

Is Cheese Secretly Fueling Your Nightmares? Science Weighs in

July 1, 2025 — Over a thousand students revealed a striking link between lactose intolerance and nightmare-filled nights, hinting that midnight stomach turmoil from dairy can invade dreams. Researchers suggest ...

Scientists Discovered How a Scent Can Change Your Mind

July 4, 2025 — Mice taught to link smells with tastes, and later fear, revealed how the amygdala teams up with cortical regions to let the brain draw powerful indirect connections. Disabling this circuit erased the ...

Feeling Mental Exhaustion? These Two Areas of the Brain May Control Whether People Give Up or Persevere

July 7, 2025 — When you're mentally exhausted, your brain might be doing more behind the scenes than you think. In a new study using functional MRI, researchers uncovered two key brain regions that activate ...

The Gene That Hijacks Fear: How PTEN Rewires the Brain’s Anxiety Circuit

June 29, 2025 — Deleting a gene called PTEN in certain brain cells disrupts the brain’s fear circuitry and triggers anxiety-like behavior in mice — key traits seen in autism. Researchers mapped how this genetic ...

Brain Scan Breakthrough Reveals Why Parkinson’s Drugs Don’t Always Work

June 29, 2025 — Researchers are using an advanced brain imaging method called MEG to understand why Parkinson’s drug levodopa doesn’t work equally well for everyone. By mapping patients’ brain signals before ...

The Brain’s Sweet Spot: How Criticality Could Unlock Learning, Memory—and Prevent Alzheimer’s

June 25, 2025 — Our brains may work best when teetering on the edge of chaos. A new theory suggests that criticality a sweet spot between order and randomness is the secret to learning, memory, and adaptability. ...

USC's New AI Implant Promises Drug-Free Relief for Chronic Pain

June 24, 2025 — A groundbreaking wireless implant promises real-time, personalized pain relief using AI and ultrasound power no batteries, no wires, and no opioids. Designed by USC and UCLA engineers, it reads brain ...

Iron Overload: The Hidden Culprit Behind Early Alzheimer’s in Down Syndrome

June 20, 2025 — USC researchers have uncovered a hidden driver behind the early and severe onset of Alzheimer's in people with Down syndrome: iron overload in the brain. Their study revealed that individuals ...

AI Sniffs Earwax and Detects Parkinson’s With 94% Accuracy

June 18, 2025 — Imagine diagnosing Parkinson s disease not with pricey scans or subjective checklists, but with a simple ear swab. Scientists in China have developed a promising early screening method that detects ...

Affordances in the Brain: The Human Superpower AI Hasn’t Mastered

June 22, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Amsterdam discovered that our brains automatically understand how we can move through different environments—whether it's swimming in a lake or walking a ...

Your Brain Has a Hidden Beat — and Smarter Minds Sync to It

June 16, 2025 — When we focus, switch tasks, or face tough mental challenges, the brain starts to sync its internal rhythms, especially in the midfrontal region. A new study has found that smarter individuals show ...