Price labels influence our liking of wine: The same wine tastes better to participants when it is labeled with a higher price tag. Scientists from the INSEAD Business School and the University of Bonn have discovered that the decision-making and motivation center in the brain plays a pivotal role in such price biases. The medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum are particularly involved in this. The results have now been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

When people leave the military, they leave a support group. Without a tribe, it's too easy to feel lost. Even though Frank Grun needed only five more years in the U.S. Air Force to qualify for a full pension, he quit because of the toll he felt the job was taking on him. He saw other men who were divorcing, drinking too much and getting depressed.

Pressure to feel upbeat can make you feel downbeat, while embracing your darker moods can actually make you feel better in the long run, according to new UC Berkeley research. “We found that people who habitually accept their negative emotions experience fewer negative emotions, which adds up to better psychological health,” said study senior author Iris Mauss, an associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley.

In a recent study, researchers looked into how people react to robots that mess up. Surprisingly, participants liked the faulty robots much more than those who performed without a hitch.

You might be surprised at what the research says about how art changes consciousness and the functioning of the brain.

The epidemic of gay loneliness. The surprising new science of the closet.

The belief in conspiracy theories could be motivated in part by the desire to stand out. Two separate teams of researchers in Europe have independently found evidence that the desire to feel unique is linked to the belief in conspiracies.

For almost the entire history of our species, we’ve lived as clan-living hunter-foragers. 150,000 years ago, homo sapiens arrived on the Savannah Plain. Dangerous predators. Scarcity of food. Unreliable clothing and shelter. Life was short and perilous. Our brains became hardwired to survive and thrive in this world of constant danger.

A growing number of mental-health experts are taking a proactive approach to suicide prevention—and they have a bold goal. 

New research shows that loneliness, social isolation, and living alone pose a greater heath threat to Americans than being overweight.

For the first time, a generation of children is going through adolescence with smartphones ever-present. Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, has a name for these young people born between 1995 and 2012: "iGen."

More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.

The Asch experiment (1953) - The Good Samaritan Experiment (1973) - Bystander Apathy Experiment (1968) - The Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) - The Milgram Experiment (1961)

Turning off phone notifications for 24 hours amped anxiety, but raised productivity. Two years on, the experience is still helping people call the shots.

The story of how one metric has changed the way you see the world

Seeing things that are hidden; failing to see things in plain sight. How magic exploits the everyday weirdness of perception. By Vebjørn Ekroll.

Religious people "cling" to certain beliefs in the face of evidence because those views are closely tied to their moral compasses, new studies have suggested. Dogmatic individuals hold confidently to their faith even when contradicted by experts because those beliefs have "emotional resonance," researchers said. In contrast, militant atheists struggle to see anything positive about religion because their brains are dominated by analytical thinking, scientists found.

If you want to understand why Americans work too much, you should. Studies regularly find that Americans are among the most overworked peoples in the industrialized world. A survey by Staples in 2015 discovered that more than half of all Americans (53 percent) are burned out and overworked, while another study found that the average European works 19 percent less than the average American. Despite these trends, however,Americans continue to retire later and reduce their vacation time.

New research sheds light on how psilocybin could help people overcome depressive symptoms. The psychedelic drug appears to promote a change from disconnection to connection and a change from avoidance to acceptance. Psilocybin is the primary mind-altering substance in psychedelic “magic” mushrooms. The drug can profoundly alter the way a person experiences the world by producing changes in mood, sensory perception, time perception, and sense of self.

Atheists are more easily suspected of evil deeds than Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists – even by fellow atheists, according to the authors of a new study. The finding suggests that in an increasingly secular world, many – including some atheists – still hold the view that people will do bad things unless they fear punishment from all-seeing gods.

You get all kinds of happiness advice on the internet from people who don’t know what they’re talking about. Don’t trust them. Trust neuroscience.

New research suggests that nearly everyone will develop a psychological disorder at some point in their lives—but for most, it’s temporary

A new study complicates the trope of the stupid bigot.

It’s called sidonglobophobia, and it’s a lot more emotionally fraught than it sounds.

Modern humans have designed the perfect environment for drug and food addiction.

Research shows that teens reporting more than six hours of internet use outside of school on weekdays are more likely to report signs of mental illness

People are irrationally motivated to complete arbitrary sets of tasks, donations, or purchases—and organizations can take advantage of that.

DNA evidence exonerated six convicted killers. So why do some of them recall the crime so clearly?

Division I football players who learned mindfulness meditation or relaxation techniques showed improvements in mood and attention.

People are happier and more productive when their leaders show strong morals, a clear vision and commitment to stakeholders, a new study has found. The growing importance of what is being described as ‘purposeful leadership’ for the modern workplace is outlined today in a new report for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.

People with anxiety can often find a supportive community through tweeting, but the nature of the social media site can exacerbate symptoms.

A new book argues that thought and knowledge are community efforts. By Gareth Cook. (June 20, 2017)

Upon seeing a young man hoisting a Hitler salute in 2017, most people likely do not think, “there goes a Rhodes Scholar.” Racists stereotype other people, for the most part, but there are also stereotypes about racists. And the stereotype about racists is that, well, they’re kind of dumb. But a new study complicates the narrative that only unintelligent people are prejudiced. The paper, published recently in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, suggests smart people are actually more at risk of stereotyping others.

A new study suggests that people who speak two languages fluently think about time differently depending on the language context in which they are estimating the duration of events.