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Memories may be sorted by the thalamus before being stored long term

30 March 2023

The thalamus is the brain's relay station for sensory information, but a study in mice has found it may also play a role in memory processing


rhesus macaque with her two children and sister

Brain regions linked to empathy bigger in monkeys with more friends

13 April 2022

A study of free-ranging rhesus macaques found that those with more social partners had bigger brain areas involved in social decision-making and empathy


Brainless sponges have cells that might be the precursors of neurons

Brainless sponges have cells that might be the precursors of neurons

4 November 2021

Sponges are arguably the simplest animals and they lack a nervous system, but peculiar cells in their digestive chambers may be evolutionary precursors of neurons


gorilla

Meet the puzzle-solving gorillas shedding light on how speech evolved

19 July 2021

The evolutionary origins of speech may be glimpsed in the tool-using abilities of great apes, as Clare Wilson discovered on a visit to a wildlife reserve in the UK


sweat bee

Bees have higher brain cell density than birds – but ants don’t

24 March 2021

Birds are known to have a higher brain cell density than mammals – now we know that bees have an even higher density, but ants have fewer cells per milligram of brain tissue


Wood mouse

Brain switch lets us control a kind of suspended animation in mice

11 June 2020

Stimulating or inhibiting specific neurons in mice can put them in a hibernation-like state called torpor. The same trick works in rats that don't experience torpor naturally, suggesting it may also be possible in people


The best new books, films and games to enjoy in 2020

The best new books, films and games to enjoy in 2020

1 January 2020

Wondering what to read, watch and see this year? Here's our cracking cultural calendar of the most interesting non-fiction, films, games, events and sci-fi in 2020


skull artwork

Why the line between life and death is now more blurred than ever

20 November 2019

Brains resurrected after death, communications with people in comas and advances in cryogenics all suggest that life's end is less final than we thought


Your body's hidden language: How smell reveals more than you ever knew

Your body's hidden language: How smell reveals more than you ever knew

9 October 2019

We can sniff out fear, find solace in the smell of a loved one, breathe in the scent of happiness. How we're deciphering the subliminal signals of human scent


Don’t miss: A life in death, aquatic mysteries and the brain unveiled

Don’t miss: A life in death, aquatic mysteries and the brain unveiled

6 March 2019

Hear forensic anthropologist Sue Black talk about her book, explore the fast-warming world of water, and take a trip through the history of mind


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