A team of Swedish researchers has found no basis for the existence of Dunbar's number, a hypothesized average of the number of individuals who can practically fit within a functioning social circle, often cited as 150 people.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a sensor that can rapidly locate buried explosives with the help of genetically engineered, bioluminescent E. coli bacteria, allowing field workers to search for dangerous buried ordnance from afar.

Research in China and Denmark has revealed that, across cultures, certain types of music can cause people to spend more time fixating on healthy foods than on unhealthy alternatives, suggesting healthy eating habits could be promoted through the use of sound.

A new bioluminescent sensor can identify substances that provide the clinical benefits of hallucinogenic drugs for depression, substance use disorder and other conditions without hallucinogens' intense psychoactive side effects, allowing researchers to find potential psychiatric treatments more efficiently.

Members of the Turkana, a pastoralist ethnic group in northwest Kenya, have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following herding raids and other traumatic events, like those seen in U.S. service members after combat, suggesting PTSD may be a human universal.

Numerous studies have indicated that educational attainment may correlate with improved health and socioeconomic outcomes, but a group of European researchers found that university attendance does not appear to stave off cognitive decline.

Researchers have found that participants who watched a person recall a painful experience through a virtual reality headset showed greater facial synchrony and social presence than people who viewed the monologue on a traditional screen, furthering the case that VR may bolster compassion.

A meta-analysis of 68 studies that collectively included thousands of participants found that video-based psychotherapy through Zoom, Skype and other online platforms may be as efficacious as traditional, in-person forms of therapy.

Researchers have isolated sex differences in the brains of females with autism spectrum disorder and aligned those results with their genetics, providing valuable insights into a population that has long been understudied.

A study examining data from over 58,000 European participants calls into question the cognitive "obesity paradox," a controversial belief that higher weight in older age can protect against cognitive decline, which has taken hold among some clinicians in recent decades.

In what is apparently the first investigation to look at the neuronal effects of spanking alone rather than its effects when accompanied by other kinds of physical punishment, researchers found that children who had been spanked showed greater brain activity after being exposed to threatening stimuli than those who had never been spanked, closely mirroring a pattern seen in children who have experienced more severe forms of maltreatment.

University of Pittsburgh engineers teamed up with Department of Veterans Affairs social workers to develop a prototype of a key-locking device that may one day prevent veterans who are at risk of committing suicide from accessing a gun during a moment of crisis.