Quick Hits
Want to keep yourself informed of what is happening in the world of science, neuroscience, and behavioural science?
My Quick Hits aim to do this: daily updates on recent research (and sometimes older research) giving you short, easy to read updates on what is coming out of the world of behavioural science.
Quick Hits are free to access – sign up to receive an email each time a Quick Hit is posted.
New Brain Signature of Empathy Discovered
Different areas of the brain are associated with empathy – this new research shows how brain regions synchronise to induce empathic responses.
How Your Silent Synapses Boost Brain Power
A new form of “dark matter” has been proven to exist in the brains of adults – that’s good news!
Scientists Say They Know the Secret to Waking Up Alert
Who doesn’t want to wake up alert and sprightly – researchers may have the answer…
How Your Brain Slows You Down When You’re Sick
We all know that feeling of wanting to curl up and sleep when sickness hits – but how that is controlled was unknown. Until now that is…
How Immune Cells Can Rejuvenate Your Brain
There are many ways to rejuvenate your brain – but this is a new mechanism discovered…
What is the Impact of Gaming on Teenage Mental Health?
Many parents might be worried that gaming will have negative impacts on their children’s mental health – not true. Or only for a small subset…
Why Children Learn More Quickly Than Adults
It might be obvious that kids learn quicker than adults – but this shows for the first time why.
Right, so artificial networks also need sleep!
We need sleep but we are biological entities – that artificial networks improve performance with sleep is pretty fascinating, and insightful.
Making Voting More Effective for Better Decisions
Most of the most important decisions made in business and society are the result of votes – but not all voting methods are equally effective…
We’re Bad at Remembering How Happy We Were
The past ain’t always better – according to this latest research at least…
100 Years of Research Reveal the Most Effective Methods for Learning
New technologies, new research? No, the old methods are the best, and it’s surprisingly simple.
Why Too Much Talent May Harm Performance
This may sound like a strange thing to say – but talent and team coordination are different things…
How Nutrition Can Increase Motivation – In the Brain
Fascinating study on how antioxidants (and therefore also nutrition) in the brain can increase motivation…
Mindfulness Intervention as Effective as Drugs in Anxiety Disorders
An important study showing how mindfulness is as effective as medication – without the side effects…
New Insights into How the Teenage Brain Develops
Teenagers’ brains go through substantial changes – and now we know more of some of these…
Screen Time Boosts Wellbeing in Teenagers!
Screen time is considered a modern technological evil – maybe not so for teenagers…
Taking Photographs of Slides Improves Memory of Presentations
Taking pictures has been shown to reduce memory – but this study shows the opposite…
How Your Brain Eats Itself – To Improve Memory
Your brain eats itself – gruesome eh! Actually this appears to be a good thing most of the time…
A Regular Routine Makes You Happier and Smarter
Recent research just published shows that a regular routine with plenty of activity protects against depression and preserves cognitive function!
Like Smart Humans, Smart Jays Exhibit Self Control
Jays are smart, that is known. Now we know they can exhibit self-control – but only if they are smart themselves.
Your Dog Can Smell When You’re Stressed – And Reduce Stress
The benefits of pets – but it depends on how healthy your relationship is with them.
Neurons in a Dish Learn to Play Pong
A group of neurons in a petri dish can learn to play a computer game – amazing!
Chirp Up! Birdsong Improves Mental Wellbeing
We know birdsong has positive benefits – and this research is showing by just how much…
Yes, Fake Smiling Does Improve Your Mood
Can just smiling, even if fake, improve your mood? This has been proven, debunked, re-proven and now re-re-proven…
How Your Brain Decides to Help Others in Danger
In times of crises and danger we may hide and flee as our natural instincts would guide us, or do something else: put ourselves at danger and help others.
Two Types of Willpower
There are two types of will power – and one is much more effective…
Our Brains Seem to Use Quantum Computations
It has been proposed that our brain uses quantum processes but this is hard to prove – until now that is…
Insults Trigger the Equivalent of a Slap to the Face in the Brain
What do insults do to our brain wave patterns, do they degrade over time and how do they compare to compliments?
Even a Short Bout of Exercise Can Boost Brain Growth
Exercise is good for you – we all know that. But can just a single bout of exercise do you and your brain any good?
Disagreements Improve Team Perception
We might assume that agreement would be high in high-performing teams – this study shows the opposite…
Brain Cells Adapt to Help You Stay Awake
Falling asleep is a funny thing – you don’t need to think about it when it happens but can cause many people who can’t incredibly frustration…
Dad Brain is Real
We know that mothers go through multiple physical and psychological changes after birth (and before) including change in brain structures but what about fresh fathers?
Mask-Wearing Makes You Better Behaved
This is a fascinating study that shows that wearing masks changes behaviour in subtle but important ways…
Coffee Can Help You Live Longer
Yes, that is good news for you (us) coffee drinkers. This supports plenty of more recent studies which have shown the health benefits of coffee…
Big Kids Die Earlier!
Before you panic – the conclusion in the title is based on research into mice not human beings – but there could potentially be some important insights for us human beings as well.
Petting (Real) Dogs Activates the Social Brain
There have been lots of studies into the positive impacts of having pets around us – but this study just published looked at brain activation patterns while being with a dog, petting a dog, and…
Metabolism Predicts Brain Health
Understanding the link between dementia, brain health, and various metabolic disorders such as obesity is important and gives us important clues in…
Super Agers Have Super Neurons
SuperAgers are those who live long, over 80, but retain their cognitive functions including a healthy functioning memory and seem to avoid neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s…
How Nature Lowers Stress in Your Brain
Nature is overwhelmingly good for wellbeing but there are many chicken-or-egg problems with the research. This study…
Correcting Others Improves Group Learning
Some interesting and counter-intuitive insights into effective group learning…
Air Pollution In Childhood Changes Brain Structure
Recent research has shown some worrying impacts of pollution on the brain…
Think Like a Kid to Learn Better?
Think like a kid may sound like a good piece of advice – but with some interesting twists…
Those Who Distrust Humans, Trust AI
We probably all know someone who is extremely distrustful of fellow human beings…
Watching TV With Your Child Can Help Cognitive Development
This is another study to show that there is no quick and easy answer to the question of screen time and children…
How Fear Gets Stuck in (Some) Brains
Fear is an important human emotion and essential to survival so not to be underestimated…
Your Brain Switches Between Remembering and Learning
Learning and memory are key functions of the brain and ones that attract a lot of attention and research…
How Daily Rhythms Help Your Brain Grow After Injury
Always nice to know that you brain can grow – and it is still met with surprise when I explain how this can happen…
The Seven Habits to Reduce Dementia
We would all like to age well remaining cognitively active into older and old age. I have reported multiple times…
Mind Over Matter – Regaining Movement
This is the type of study and insight I like. Kind of amazingly simple but effective
Do We Lose Brain or Muscles First?
As we age things start to decline, we all know that – happens to the best of us…
Cravings for Fatty Food and the Gut-Brain Connection
Research hot off the presses is showing something interesting happening with our desire for fatty food….
How to Form Optimal Groups for Learning
There has been a long-standing debate and discussion in learning contexts for what is the best way to form groups for optimal learning when there are different abilities in those groups…
Extreme Temperatures Increase Hate Speech Online
I am sure we all know that feeling of getting more irritable when temperatures rise – well we now have evidence that…
News Addiction is Bad for Your Mental (and Physical) Health
Many years ago I first heard the advice of “Don’t watch the news if you want to be happy”…
Fresh Teams are More Effective and More Innovative
We all know that just about anything in the world is produced by teams. This has never been more true than in scientific disciplines…
Too Much of a Good Thing – Why Leaders Can be Too Extraverted
Extraversion is considered a positive trait particularly in leadership – but can there be too much of a good thing?
Gene Mutation Leads to Being “Clueless”
Researchers at the UT Southwestern Medical Centre have discovered a genetic mutation that impacts memory and learning.
Humble Leaders Make Teams More Effective
This study showed that those in groups with leaders who showed the highest humility reported multiple positive results all of which can be directly correlated to higher performance.
Micro Breaks Improve Performance and Wellbeing
We all know that taking breaks is good for our brain and wellbeing – in fact we absolutely need to take breaks. It is just the way our brain and body is designed.
Why We Share Posts on Social Media
Is it just pictures of cats that we share on social media? That is a cliché – most of social media does not have post of cats on them and all manner of things are shared.