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How The Brain Shapes Pain And Links Ouch With Emotion
Chris Nickels for NPR

Shots - Health News

How The Brain Shapes Pain And Links Ouch With Emotion

Pain is more than an unpleasant sensation. When pain signals reach the brain, they interact with areas involved in thinking, memory and emotion.

How The Brain Shapes Pain And Links Ouch With Emotion

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Scientists Explain A Common Fight In Basketball

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (left) and then-Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James scramble for a loose ball during Game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Beck Diefenbach/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Beck Diefenbach/AFP/Getty Images

Science

Scientists Explain A Common Fight In Basketball

Are players just pretending to be so certain the ball is out on their opponent? Or could there be a difference in how they experience the event that has them pointing a finger at the other player?

Learn To Sniff Like A Dog And Experience The World In A New Way

Researcher Alexandra Horowitz plays with her dogs Finnegan and Upton. She studies how dog's sense of smell influences their view of the world. Vegar Abelsnes/ Courtesy of Alexandra Horowitz hide caption

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Vegar Abelsnes/ Courtesy of Alexandra Horowitz

Opinion

Shots - Health News

Learn To Sniff Like A Dog And Experience The World In A New Way

We humans think we don't have a very good sense of smell. But psychologist Alexandra Horowitz says dogs can show us how to train our noses so they give us a window into a secret world.

Mind Over Milkshake: How Your Thoughts Fool Your Stomach
Bianca Giaever for NPR

Shots - Health News

Mind Over Milkshake: How Your Thoughts Fool Your Stomach

What we think about food may change how our bodies respond to it. Sip what you think is a rich milkshake, and your body acts as if you've had a fatty treat, even if it's really a lower-calorie drink.

Mind Over Milkshake: How Your Thoughts Fool Your Stomach

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Can A Fruit Fly Help Explain Autism?

A newly discovered neural circuit in the brain of the common fruit fly seems to serve as a sort of "volume control," turning up and down the perception of sound and light. Nicholas Monu/iStockphoto hide caption

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Nicholas Monu/iStockphoto

Shots - Health News

Can A Fruit Fly Help Explain Autism?

Scientists hope to solve mysteries of the human brain by studying much simpler neural networks — like the brain circuits of fruit flies and mice. Already such research is turning up clues to why many people with autism are easily overwhelmed by bright lights and loud sound.

Can A Fruit Fly Help Explain Autism?

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Want To Read Others' Thoughts? Try Reading Literary Fiction

Would time spent with Anton Chekov, famed for his subtle, flawed characters, make you a better judge of human nature? Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Want To Read Others' Thoughts? Try Reading Literary Fiction

Reading literary fiction improves people's ability to recognize other people's mental states, while popular fiction and nonfiction do not, a study says. That may be because literary fiction tends to focus on the psychology and inner lives of the characters.

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