Cognition

You don’t understand mirrors as well as you think

Sexuality can be baffling for people with autism—a situation science has mostly ignored

Like grit, executive functioning, and mindfulness, resilience is a buzzword these days. But what does it really mean to be resilient?

How do people learn to echolocate?

Medication and therapy remain the most effective treatments, but some are looking to alternatives

The opioid crisis is forcing doctors to change how they treat chronic pain, putting a new emphasis on nondrug remedies and psychological interventions 

Mounting evidence from species as diverse as cats, dogs, giraffes and dolphins indicates that humans are not unique in grieving over the loss of loved ones

Nongenuine chuckles cause a specific cortical region to “light up” more

An infant’s laughter can reveal not only how babies think but also the serious reasons for this expression of joy 

Most of us don’t really understand how mirrors work, which makes for some fun reflective deception 

Conventional wisdom holds that the ability to recognize faces requires a complex mammalian brain. But some insects are quite adept at this task

Chickens are smart, and they understand their world, which raises troubling questions about how they are treated on factory farms