A picture of "calm", Buddhist monks - who've spent tens of thousands of hours of their lives meditating - have been shown to have different patterns of brain activity from non-meditators, and subsequent research has proven these types of brain activity patterns are associated with more positive moods.

The Invisible Gorilla was a jaunt around the mind that made me laugh at myself, nod my head in agreement, and quote studies and statistics to friends until they made me change the subject. Illusions, confidence, and looking without seeing, these are the invisible gorillas of Christopher Chabris, and Daniel Simons enlightening book.

We have such a strong confidence in our own mental abilities, that we often don't question our memories and in doing so miss the obvious. For those who don't know, the invisible gorilla is a now famous experiment, illustrating how once we are focused on a task we become blind to other (obvious and even strange) occurrences right under our noses. "The gorilla study illustrates...the powerful and pervasive influence of the illusion of attention" - what is referred to as "looking without seeing".

A study published by Stanford University in the March 2010 edition of the Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, showed that acupuncture specific to depression helped relieve symptoms in woman who were 12 to 30 weeks pregnant. 150 woman participated in the study.

Researchers from McMaster University have been investigating the evolutionary roots of social learning in insects. As part of the on-going study, Reuven Dukas, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, and graduate student, Sachin Sarin, discovered that 'inexperienced' (virgin) female fruit files can learn from their more experienced neighbors.

Recent studies from UCLA and Rutgers University neuroscientists provides evidence that a new brain scanning technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used in certain circumstances to determine what a person is thinking.

The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", received its first medical reference in 1811, when it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient"1. More recently, placebo use has become most common in clinical studies to determine the effectiveness of the actual medication given to other patients in the study.

In a research study published in the July 2009 special issue of the journal Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice dealing with biosocial criminology, Kevin M. Beaver, of the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University, reveals that genetic factors may be the primary reason that some adolescents are more likely than others to be victimized by crime.

According to a recent report in Psychological Science, specific types of meditation could enhance the brain's ability to retain mental images of places and objects.

Smoking prevention and cessation expert Alexander Prokhorov, M.D., Ph.D., and professor in the department of Behavioral Science at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, will use a $3.7 million defense fund to develop a videogame designed to help prevent and treat tobacco use in the United States military.

A new study connects young adults’ use of video games to poorer relationships with friends and family – and the student co-author expresses disappointment at his own findings.