behavior

Study finds it actually is better (and healthier) to give than to receive
02/05/2013 - 08:39

A five-year study by researchers at three universities has established that providing tangible assistance to others protects our health and lengthens our lives.

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The neurobiological consequence of predating or grazing
01/17/2013 - 16:24

Researchers in the group of Ralf Sommer at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tuebingen, Germany, have for the first time been able to identify neuronal correlates of behaviour by comparing maps of synaptic connectivity, or “connectomes”, between two species with different behaviour. They compared the pharyngeal nervous systems of two nematodes, the bacterial feeding Caenorhabditis elegans and the predator/omnivore Pristionchus pacificus and found large differences in how the neurons are “wired” together.

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Researchers Connect Baboon Personalities to Social Success and Health Benefits
10/02/2012 - 09:26

Whether human or baboon, it helps to have friends. For both species, studies have shown that robust social networks lead to better health and longer lives. Now, a team of University of Pennsylvania researchers has helped show that baboon personality plays a role in these outcomes, and, like people, some baboons’ personalities are better suited to making and keeping friends than others.

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A Blueprint for ‘Affective’ Aggression
09/04/2012 - 13:45

A North Carolina State University researcher has created a roadmap to areas of the brain associated with affective aggression in mice. This roadmap may be the first step toward finding therapies for humans suffering from affective aggression disorders that lead to impulsive violent acts.

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Which ads are winners? Your brain knows better than you do
04/25/2012 - 13:14

Advertisers and public health officials may be able to access hidden wisdom in the brain to more effectively sell their products and promote health and safety, UCLA neuroscientists report in the first study to use brain data to predict how large populations will respond to advertisements.

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Childhood abuse increases risk of suicidal thoughts among adults
04/24/2012 - 12:32

The study, published online this month in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, found that approximately one-third of adults who were physically abused in childhood had seriously considered taking their own life.  These rates were five times higher than adults who were not physically abused in childhood. The findings suggest that children exposed to physical abuse may be at greater risk for suicidal behaviours in adulthood.

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