Biology

New studies help to explain how microbes in the gut can shape a host’s fear responses.

Smallpox was eradicated relatively quickly, but other diseases have proved harder to eliminate. The reasons are a mix of biology and psychology.

New research makes a molecular connection between the brain and aging — and shows that overactive neurons can shorten life span.

Taste and smell receptors in unexpected organs monitor the state of the body’s natural microbial health and raise an alarm over invading parasites.

Activity in the visual cortex and other sensory areas is dominated by signals about body movements, down to little tics and twitches. Scientists are now rethinking how they study and conceive of perception.

Singing experiments with residents of the Bolivian rainforest demonstrate how biology and experience shape the way we hear music.

While we sleep, one kind of slow brain wave helps to reinforce memories, but a competing wave weakens them.

Researchers have discovered a surprising mathematical relationship in the brain’s representations of sensory information, with possible applications to AI research.

Studies suggest that epigenetics allows some learned adaptive responses to be passed down to new generations. The question is how.