Psychology and neuroscience
Mind & Matter covers psychology and neuroscience: what the evidence says about how brains work and why people do what they do, with limited patience for overclaimed studies.
Princeton participants formed stable face-based impressions within 100 milliseconds. The study measured agreement between observers, not the accuracy of their character judgments.
Aug 16, 2026
What neuroscience reveals about our most beloved quote on human agency—and whether the freedom it promises is real.
Aug 16, 2026
Diary studies and conflict-reasoning experiments suggest that older adults often argue less, react less strongly to avoidable tensions and use more perspective and compromise.
Aug 16, 2026
Six SuperAgers had about twice the immature-neuron abundance of healthy older adults. The postmortem signal was not statistically significant for that comparison and does not establish cause.
Aug 16, 2026
Across four laboratories, six lucid dreamers correctly answered 29 questions while polysomnography still showed REM sleep, revealing a narrow channel across the sleep boundary.
Aug 16, 2026
In six anonymous public-goods rounds, cooperative choices affected later contributions through chains of randomly reassigned strangers, reaching three experimental links.
Aug 15, 2026
People use emails, texts and other digital records to supplement or check autobiographical memory. Research does not establish one motive for everyone who rereads old messages.
Aug 14, 2026
A rare post-mortem study found almost no relationship between IQ and total neocortical neuron count, shifting attention from quantity toward cellular and network organization.
Aug 14, 2026
MRI scans of 23 experienced meditators found focused attention altered CSF backflow and slow fluid oscillations, but the study did not measure protein clearance.
Aug 14, 2026
Four small experiments found that acknowledgment of identity-related intentions could create a premature sense of progress, but newer work shows that supportive goal sharing can also help.
Aug 13, 2026
A 21-day diary study found that more time alone carried both costs and benefits, while felt choice softened its links to loneliness and lower day satisfaction.
Aug 13, 2026
A preregistered meta-analysis found no average lift in mood or life satisfaction from temporary social-media abstinence, but the null result has important limits.
Aug 13, 2026
Darwin’s daily Sandwalk anticipated a modern finding: walking can widen idea generation, while interacting brain networks support association and evaluation.
Aug 13, 2026
Loneliness and social isolation are different, and an easygoing public role does not reveal whether a person's relationships feel mutual or supportive.
Aug 12, 2026
