The study provides new insights into the functions of ancestral cortices but also raises fundamental questions about how and when key neural computations evolved in turtles.

One of the defining features of human evolution is the steady expansion of our brains. New findings suggest this growth may be partly linked to higher levels of estrogen before birth. Surprisingly, a ...

A new study from Northwestern University is reshaping how scientists think about brain evolution. The research suggests that the gut microbiome does more than aid digestion. It may also influence how ...

Brain freeze — the sharp, seconds-long headache we get from ingesting something cold — is rooted in the way our brain senses temperature and blood flow.

Human evolution has long been tied to growing brain size, and new research suggests prenatal hormones may have played a surprising role. By studying the relative lengths of index and ring fingers — a ...

The placenta and the hormones it produces may have played a crucial role in the evolution of the human brain, while also leading to the behavioral traits that have made human societies able to thrive ...

The human brain runs on a tight energy budget. Despite making up only 2% of our body weight, it devours around 20% of our energy. Every time we think, feel, move, or remember, billions of brain cells ...

In a new study, researchers discovered that the human brain has four pivotal periods when it goes through marked changes, sparking five "epochs" that last for years. The adolescent phase, for example, ...

The microorganisms in our gastrointestinal tract–the gut microbiome can exert a profound influence on the human body, and scientists are learning more about exactly how certain microbes can impact us.