When Music Makes You Buy More Your 7-Eleven could be playing classical music. There is a reason. During a midnight visit to a Tacoma Washington 7-Eleven, you could have heard some very loud Bach. Using the same approach, large chains like Walgreen’s and smaller retailers sometimes use blaring classical music to diminish late night loitering and crime. Commenting on the tactic, one Cleveland official said, “There’s something about Baroque music that macho wannabe-gangster types hate.” Somewhat differently, but remaining with music, researchers looked at our buying behavior. ….[READ ..read more

Chimp conversations can take on human-like chaos To get our points across, humans use numerous gestures and shift the speed and tone of our speech. We are not the only members of the animal kingdom to do this. According to new observations from a study published July 22 in the journal Current Biology, chimpanzees may share our pattern of rapidly taking turns to speak and, sometimes, even interrupting each other. While human languages are incredibly diverse, a hallmark we all share is that our conversations are structured with fast-paced turns of just 200 milliseconds on average,” study co-auth ..read more

Recognizing the Role of the Research Coordinator Research groups — whether at a university, company, or government agency — rely on people with a very crucial role: The research coordinator. Also called the study coordinator, research specialist, or trial manager, this person is responsible for making sure clinical trials are conducted according to quality and safety standards under the auspices of a principal investigator, or PI. The typical coordinator has a bachelor’s degree and manages anywhere from one to a multitude of studies or projects at once. Responsibilities vary but generally incl ..read more

Your brain on shrooms — how psilocybin resets neural networks Taking psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms, temporarily resets entire networks of neurons in the brain that are responsible for controlling a person’s sense of time and self, finds a study that repeatedly imaged the brains of seven volunteers before, during and after they took a massive dose of the drug. The findings, published in Nature on 17 July1, could offer insights into why the compound might have a therapeutic effect on some neurological conditions. ….[READ ..read more

What We Need To Know About Ice Cream During 1984, President Reagan proclaimed National Ice Cream Day. “The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 298, has designated July 1984 as “National Ice Cream Month,” and July 15, 1984, as “National Ice Cream Day,” and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of these events. Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 1984 as National Ice Cream Month and July 15, 1984, as National Ice Cream Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe these even ..read more

Making Us Blush: Study Explores Blushing Mechanisms Researchers investigated the neural basis of blushing using MRI scans and cheek temperature measurements. The study found that blushing activates the cerebellum and early visual areas, but not regions linked to understanding mental states. This suggests blushing may be an automatic emotional response rather than a cognitive one.The findings could help address social anxiety related to blushing. ….[READ ..read more

Cuttlefish Can Create False Memories, Just Like Humans Researchers have discovered that cuttlefish can form false memories, similar to humans. By exposing cuttlefish to overlapping features of different events, they induced the creatures to falsely remember seeing shrimp where there were none. This finding suggests that cuttlefish reconstruct memories from separate details, optimizing memory storage. Individual cuttlefish showed varying susceptibility to forming false memories, indicating differences in memory processing. ….[READ ..read more

What Your Grocery Cart Says About You We’ve all peeked into the cart next to ours in the checkout line and tried to piece together a person’s life from its contents. How you grocery shop says a lot about who you are. Grocery runs have changed a lot in recent years. Prices have soared and packages have shrunk. The pandemic normalized the presence of in-store shoppers for services like Instacart and Amazon Grocery. Consumers are spoiled — and perhaps paralyzed — by a staggering array of choices. To better understand our relationship to the food we buy, we asked readers to send us their grocery r ..read more

How to get the most out of caregiving Care is an inevitable part of life. We all begin our lives receiving care and many of us will end our lives that way too. The majority of us will also spend much of the time in the middle giving care. This includes the time spent caring for our children, sick friends or family, and/or elderly parents. You might like to think of people as primarily independent, but the bulk of our lives is spent in relationships defined by dependence. Caring – or being in an ongoing care relationship with someone who relies on you to survive – is hard. There is no way aroun ..read more

Unlocking creativity: Scientists discover origin of ‘eureka’ moments in the brain We’ve all experienced those magical “eureka” moments when a brilliant idea suddenly pops into our heads out of nowhere. So, have you ever wondered what’s actually happening in your brain during these flashes of creativity? Researchers in Utah may finally have the answer. A team from the University of Utah Health and Baylor College of Medicine peered into the inner workings of the brain to uncover the neural roots of creative thinking. Their findings, published in the journal BRAIN, reveal how different parts of o ..read more