Biology

Feelings of loneliness prompt changes in the brain that further isolate people from social contact.

Several real-life pathogens can change a host’s behavior against their will. Here’s what we know about these zombie-like infections.

“Virovores” — organisms that survive and multiply by eating viruses — might influence the flow of energy through ecosystems.

The neocortex of our brain is the seat of our intellect. New data suggests that mammals created it with new types of cells that they developed only after their evolutionary split from reptiles.

Regenerative medicine researcher Kristy Red Horse’s discoveries may someday help damaged hearts heal better. Her stewardship of her Native American heritage may advance science in other ways too.

As The Joy of Why podcast returns for a second season, producer Polly Stryker and host Steven Strogatz invite listeners to join them and their brilliant new guests on another voyage of discovery.

The critical brain hypothesis suggests that neural networks do their best work when connections are not too weak or too strong.

Depression has often been blamed on low levels of serotonin in the brain. That answer is insufficient, but alternatives are coming into view and changing our understanding of the disease.

Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant's bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life.