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Neuroscience

A couple embracing by a waterfront at sunset, with city lights and a colourful sky in the background.

The body and physical health

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How ‘stirrings of the heart’ shape your experience of time

New research is showing the embodied nature of time perception and how it can fluctuate in tune with the heart’s beats

by Shayla Love

Elderly couple in hats watching colourful kites flying in a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Brain injury and dementia

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Earlier memories are relatively spared in dementia. Why?

People with Alzheimer’s have richer memories of late childhood and early adulthood and this could help therapeutic care

by Dorthe Berntsen

Medical imaging scan showing the internal organs of a human torso, including intestines highlighted in blue and other organs in shades of red and orange.

Mind and brain

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To grasp how serotonin works on the brain, look to the gut

A new perspective uses an analogy between digestion and cognition to help explain the function of a key neurochemical

by James M Shine

A close-up of a delicate blue flower next to a cluster of small yellow flowers, with a blurred green and yellow background.

Mind and brain

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Slow down, it’s what your brain has been begging for

It’s no small task to live a life of sustained attention. So slow down, and give your brain a break to do its work

by Teodora Stoica

Silhouetted person walking a dog on a misty wooded path with sunlight filtering through trees.

Grief

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Seeing grieving as learning explains why the process takes time

Standard features of human memory and learning can help explain the disorientation that follows the death of a loved one

by Saren H Seeley & Mary-Frances O’Connor

People standing near a large crack on the concrete floor, resembling an art installation or structural damage.

Mind and brain

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Allow error into your life and experience the joy of surprise

Neuroscience theories see the human brain as an error-minimising machine. But that overlooks the joy of the unexpected

by Leyla Loued-Khenissi

A vibrant mural depicting a child sliding down water, a nest with blue eggs, a tree, cows, and a woman’s figure.

Neuroscience

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I saw my baby as a river flowing through me, and gave birth

Daoist wisdom and fMRI data show that mental images alter our bodies, from easing childbirth to enhancing sports performance

by Anna Hennessey

A fluffy chick facing a blue screen with scattered white dots.

Knowledge and reason

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Babies and chicks help solve one of psychology’s oldest puzzles

From the beginning of life, both humans and other species can grasp important characteristics of the world around them

by Giorgio Vallortigara