TL;DR: A 2026 iScience study found that both humans and rats could report their own timing errors in a 2-second task, but rats made more accurate error-based choices than humans. Key Findings Matched timing task: Researchers compared 34 adults with 16 male Sprague-Dawley rats in a similar 2-second time-production task. Both species monitored errors: Humans …
TL;DR: A 2026 Nature study found that training language models to sound warmer made them less accurate across factual, medical, and misinformation tasks, with error rates rising by about 5 to 9 percentage points by task and sycophancy increasing when users expressed incorrect beliefs. Key Findings Five models tested: the study fine-tuned Llama-8b, Mistral-Small, Qwen-32b, …
TL;DR: A 2025 study in Thinking & Reasoning found that twelfth graders outperformed seventh graders on fast probability reasoning, but adult-like logical intuition was still not fully developed by the end of high school. Key Findings More than 300 French students were tested: The study compared seventh graders around age 12 with twelfth graders around …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Personality and Individual Differences found that people higher in neuroticism reported more problem- and uncertainty-focused thoughts during blank-screen rest periods, which tracked with more unpleasant feelings. Key Findings Neuroticism was tested during idle thought: researchers used a blank-screen paradigm to sample what participants thought about when they had no task …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint neurosurgery neuroplasticity study in medRxiv found that language-targeted prehabilitation selectively changed language-network topography, while language and cognitive performance were preserved after the intervention. Key Findings Study type: a prehabilitation study using neuromodulation, language training, task-based functional MRI (fMRI), and neuropsychological testing. People studied: 26 patients with operable brain tumors affecting language …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Nature Nanotechnology reported that printed MoS2 memristive nanosheet networks, electronic devices that can produce neuron-like spikes, triggered responses in living mouse brain slices. Key Findings Artificial spiking neurons: Researchers built printed MoS2 memristive nanosheet networks that generated electrical activity resembling neural spikes. Living-tissue response: In mouse brain-slice experiments, the artificial …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Cognition & Emotion found that moral anger did not improve falsehood detection; it lowered the evidence threshold for sharing, making the choice faster and less dependent on source credibility. Key Findings Severe moral violations made false headlines more shareable: In a 223-person online experiment, people were more willing to share …
TL;DR: A 2026 Journal of Intelligence study of 170 adults found that math ability and music ability were only weakly related, and the link was reduced to almost zero after researchers accounted for general intelligence. Key Findings Adult ability groups were tested: The 170-person sample included math specialists, music specialists, and controls who did not …
TL;DR: A 2026 Imaging Neuroscience functional MRI (fMRI) study found that emotional pictures were recalled better than neutral pictures, but amygdala and insula activity appeared tied mainly to arousal rather than whether memories were negative or positive. Key Findings Large fMRI sample: The main imaging analysis used 1,006 healthy young adults from a single center. …
TL;DR: A 2026 double-blind trial in Psychopharmacology found that methylphenidate reduced cheating in healthy adults compared with placebo, contrary to survey respondents’ expectations about smart drugs. Key Findings Methylphenidate reduced dishonesty vs placebo: A double-blind placebo-controlled experiment in healthy adults showed methylphenidate (Ritalin) reduced cheating behavior compared to placebo — the opposite direction from what …
