How do we learn new things? Neurobiologists using cutting-edge visualization techniques have revealed how changes across our synapses and neurons unfold. The findings depict how information is ...

When you think about your favorite teacher, you probably don’t remember what grades they gave you—you remember how they made you feel. Maybe they got you excited about a book or a science experiment, ...

We like to think we are objective observers of reality—that we see things exactly as they are. But the truth is, we mostly see what we expect to see. The brain is not a passive recorder of experience, ...

Merely imagining a positive encounter with someone can not only make you like them better but can also change how information about that person is stored in your brain, according to new research ...

Neuronal activity traces reveal how brain circuits evolve as mice learn a motor task. Left: example field of view recorded during behavior; each color marks a different neuron. Right: activity traces ...

Dopamine is the brain's motivational spark, driving us to chase what feels good, say scrolling another reel on social media, and steer clear of what doesn't, like touching a hot stove. But scientists ...

When we look for something moving in the sky, our expectation would be very different if the object is a bird flying past or a baseball coming straight at us. UC Davis scientists in a new study looked ...

When OpenAI released “study mode” in July 2025, the company touted ChatGPT’s educational benefits. “When ChatGPT is prompted to teach or tutor, it can significantly improve academic performance,” the ...

What’s the big idea? Every moment is filled with how we’ve decided to spend our time, and that time defines us. We make value judgements (often automatically) of our options and follow similar ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Other studies have painted a grimmer picture, suggesting that AI may impair ...