New MRI facility supports imaging for research and education Brock Kirwan talks about the MRI scanner in the new MindCORE Neuroimaging Facility.nocred New MRI facility supports imaging for research and education Data collection has begun at the MindCORE Neuroimaging Facility, located at the Pennovation Works site.
Bringing cognitive science in action to young minds A Penn Upward Bound high school student observed brown-headed cowbird behavior at the Penn Smart Aviary.nocred Bringing cognitive science in action to young minds Penn Upward Bound high school students from West Philadelphia got a tour of the Penn Smart Aviary, GRASP Lab, and the Penn Vet Working Dog Center during a visit to Pennovation Works.
Does more money correlate with greater happiness? Image: iStock/uniquepixel Does more money correlate with greater happiness? Reconciling previously contradictory results, researchers from Penn and Princeton find a steady association between larger incomes and greater happiness for most people but a rise and plateau for an unhappy minority.
Perceptions shaped social behavior during the pandemic Perceptions shaped social behavior during the pandemic Research from Penn psychologists found that Americans who most feared losing their connections continued interacting with others, paradoxically acting in ways that risked prolonging disease-mitigating social restrictions.
Parental praise associated with longer toddler toothbrushing, a barometer of persistence Parental praise associated with longer toddler toothbrushing, a barometer of persistence Using a first-of-its-kind video-based study, Penn and Yale developmental psychologists found that how parents talk to their 3-year-old during toothbrushing matters to the child’s behavior.
A link between childhood stress and early molars Allyson Mackey is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences. She runs The Changing Brain Lab and is a researcher in MindCORE. A link between childhood stress and early molars Penn researchers discovered that children from lower-income backgrounds and those who go through greater adverse childhood experiences get their first permanent molars sooner.
Morality isn’t fixed but changes around close relationships The people around in a given moment—friends versus acquaintances, for instance—affect the importance morals take on for someone, according to new research published in Nature Communications. Morality isn’t fixed but changes around close relationships Research from MindCORE postdoc Daniel Yudkin found that the importance people place on certain moral values shifts depending on who is around in a given moment.
What happens in the brain when we imagine the future? What happens in the brain when we imagine the future? Research from neuroscientist Joseph Kable finds that two sub-networks are at work, one focused on creating the new event, another on evaluating whether that event is positive or negative.
A new theory for what’s happening in the brain when something looks familiar How can the brain distinguish between something new and something familiar? Research from the Visual Memory Lab led by Nicole Rust has a new theory, replacing one long-held by the field. (Image: Julia Kuhl) A new theory for what’s happening in the brain when something looks familiar This novel concept from the lab of neuroscientist Nicole Rust brings the field one step closer to understanding how memory functions. Long-term, it could have implications for treating memory-impairing diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Children persist less when parents take over Children persist less when parents take over According to research from Penn psychologists, kids ages 4 to 7 persevere longer when allowed to struggle through a challenging activity than if a grown-up steps in.