A group of Johns Hopkins neuroscientists have found that the psychoactive drug MDMA, or ecstasy, causes a neural response called a “critical period,” when the brain is sensitive to learning the reward value of social behaviors.

Even powerful computers, like those that guide self-driving cars, can be tricked into mistaking random scribbles for trains, fences, or school buses. It was commonly believed that people couldn’t see how those images trip up computers, but in a new study, Johns Hopkins University researchers show most people actually can.

Before the age of GPS, humans had to orient themselves without on-screen arrows pointing down an exact street, but rather, by memorizing landmarks and using learned relationships among time, speed, and distance. They had to know, for instance, that 10 minutes of brisk walking might equate to half a mile traveled.

Previous studies of key brain cells have found little variability in a common cell process that involves how genetic information is read and acted on. The process, called epigenetics, involves chemical or structural “tweaks” to gene activity that don’t affect the underlying genetic code itself, but do affect when and how a gene becomes available […]

By studying barn owls, scientists at Johns Hopkins University believe they’ve taken an important step toward solving the long-standing mystery of how the brain chooses what most deserves attention. The finding, authored by assistant professor Shreesh Mysore and published today in the journal Neuron, likely applies to all animals, including humans, and offers new insight […]

As part of orientation for incoming first-year students, Professor Justin Halberda discussed how positive psychology can help us become happier, healthier, and closer to our ideal selves. Read more on The Hub.

Please join us for the Crash Course in Psychology Courses for spring 2019! Where: Hodson Hall, Second Floor Lobby When: Thursday, November 1 from 5:30-7:00 pm Hosted by the Psychology Undergraduate Steering Committee Join us on Thursday, November 1 in Hodson Hall, second floor lobby from 5:30-7:00 pm for pizza & casual conversation as Psychology […]

The $150,000 prize will support Gallagher’s development of a therapeutic treatment for hyperactivity in the hippocampus. Michela Gallagher, whose lifetime of research in cognitive neuroscience has focused on age-related cognitive decline, has been awarded the 2018 Melvin R. Goodes Prize for Excellence in Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery. The prize, awarded by the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, […]

Congratulations to our 2018 Award Recipients: Brittney Boublil ~ Walter L. Clark Teaching Award Michelle DiBartolo ~ Walter L. Clark Service Award Kurt Fraser and Vyash Puliyadi ~ Robert S. Waldrop Jr. Investigators Award Jinjing Wang and Michaela Warnecke ~ G. Stanley Hall Scholar’s Award Shipra Kanjilia ~ Mary D. Ainsworth Award Corbin Cunningham ~ […]