60-Second Health

Two Harvard psychologists use neuroimaging to provide what some call the best evidence yet that extrasensory perception (or ESP) does not exist.

James Flynn, who noticed that IQ scores have risen by three points every decade (a trend called the Flynn Effect), makes a case for why any racial differences in IQ are not immutable and caused by genetics. For more see his latest book, "What is Intelligence? Beyond the Flynn Effect."

As much as parents try to craft equal gifts for each child around the holidays, siblings still seem to fight over who got the better gift. New research reveals that parents may not always give fairly to each darling, in fact there's one sibling who takes the lion's share.

Recent research from the Baylor College of Medicine tackles the fascinating experience we have of time slowing down during a terrifying event, like a car accident. Does our brain track time differently during crisis? They say no, it's more about a trick of memory.

Research from the University of Bath reveals that the kind of messaging that persuades us to get to the gym is based on how we see ourselves in the future.

Two researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health published a review in the November 20th issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, of several hundred smoking studies. They conclude that success in quitting depends on a combo of meds and non-pharmacotherapy, but that a key component is the role of the physician. Just advising a patient to quit, actually doubles their quit rates. And long term follow-up, at least one year, is critical the researchers say.

Imagine a future where a digital you is influencing the real you; where a communicating clone can convince us to alter our decisions and behavior. Research underway at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab has shown that our digital self can persuade our real self to exercise more. (A good thing after gorging on mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!)

A poster presented at the Society of Neuroscience meeting reveals that empathy isn't always about matching anothers' emotion. Researchers found that sometimes instead of feeling anothers' pain, we might feel more...amused.

Duke University neuroscientists have found a distinction between memories for specifics versus memories for the overall gist of an event. The latter, the overall impression we have of something, tends to be the memory that is more often false.

Research published in Nature describes how spontaneous activity in a developing ear creates the mechanics of hearing in the absence of sound. Researchers say this might help explain the tortuous ringing of tinnitus.