How can octopuses and MDMA help scientists understand the human brain?

How psychedelics can potentially reinvent learning

Critical periods, discovered in the early 20th century, describe a period when someone is incredibly sensitive to their environment, and any information learned can stick with them for life. Some researchers argue these states can be "reopened" via psychedelics, which put the mind into a malleable state that can potentially be used to treat conditions ranging from lazy eyes to PTSD.

Psychedelics set off a flurry of brain activity that may permanently alter it

The brain seems to experience a sharp increase in communication between areas that generally don't interact. New research suggests a thin, sheet-like gray matter structure tucked deep within the brain, between the insular cortex and striatum, may be the key to this change. The area is centrally located and home to many of the receptors that psychedelics target, potentially rewiring the brain and rewriting thought patterns.

Psychedelics interact with neurotransmitter systems to alter one's perception

LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA can suppress the brain's default mode network and enhance connectivity. Research shows that, when paired with therapy, psychedelics may help treat mental health conditions, including depression, addiction, and PTSD.

How four types of psychedelics affect the brain

Brain imaging shows that ayahuasca, MDMA, DMT, and psilocybin profoundly affect neural activity, giving rise to higher states of introspection and consciousness. This article details exactly how each of these drugs physically affects the brain and what that means for mental health treatment. Some of these drugs quiet the brain or trigger the release of neurochemicals associated with mood regulation and learning.

Studies of psychedelic use may help shed light on the nature of consciousness

The nature of consciousness—what it is, where it comes from, and how it manifests as moment-to-moment experience—remains under debate by scientists. Recent studies show psychedelics were found to boost low-frequency brain signals known as delta waves, a behavior also seen during dream states.

Physiological changes to the brain on LSD can be captured via MRI

Psychedelics like LSD often take users on novel experiences that can result in lasting shifts in perspective and behavior. See how LSD affects brain activity in this video that details how scientists visually captured the psychedelic's effect for the first time.

The neurobiology of meaningfulness: the benefits of psychedelics

Psychedelics produce powerful emotions in its users, including a profound sense of meaningfulness. The philosopher William James called this sense "noetic" in the late 19th century, but for decades researchers avoided studying the effects of such drugs on the brain. However, the recent resurgence in psychedelic research has heightened interest in the relationship between this noetic sense resulting from the therapeutic use of drugs. Learn what researchers have found out here.

Can microdosing improve mental health?

Animal studies involving microdoses of psilocybin, the psychoactive component in magic mushrooms and ketamine, found it helped to alleviate anxiety and inflammation, an immune response that can cause damage when chronically active. Human studies are ongoing. In at least one double-blind study, where researchers and patients don't know who got a placebo versus the real thing, about half of the participants incorrectly guessed they had been given placebos.

This is the human brain on the world's strongest psychedelic

Within seconds of inhaling a high dose of vaporized synthetic 5-MeO-DMT—a lab-produced substance that otherwise is naturally derived from the glands of the Colorado River toad—it induced slow brain waves. Such waves are typically associated with unconsciousness due to a coma or anesthesia, perhaps explaining why users describe feeling like everything falls away. The compound is currently in clinical trials for treating depression.

Why the human brain loves opioids

When opioids enter the brain, they dock in receptors, blocking electrical pulses such as those that communicate pain. They also trigger the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter tied to motivation and associated with stress relief.

What a tiny marine worm can tell us about our brains

Meet the amphioxus, a small eel-like animal that has a lot to teach us about brain evolution. The genetic roots of our brains can be seen in these unusual creatures. This three-minute educational video focuses on the evolutionary history of the human brain through these odd little critters with a 500-million-year-old history.

Researchers use the brain's ability to edit memories to explore memory deletion

Scientists have successfully implanted false memories in mice after studying how the editing process works in the brain. Beyond potentially deleting memories in those with PTSD, upcoming research may allow clinicians to forecast the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

How a dose of MDMA transformed a white supremacist

A man leading a faction of the US white nationalist movement took part in a psychedelic trial on the pleasantness of social touch and came away from it with his beliefs reportedly upended. He left researchers a note on a form, stating, "this experience has helped me sort out a debilitating personal issue. Google my name. I now know what I need to do."

Schizophrenia is being studied with pea-sized 'mini-brains'

Brain organoid research is enabling researchers to study distinct electrical firing patterns associated with schizophrenia. These "mini-brains" that are constructed in the lab from patients' cells could lead to better diagnosis approaches and drug development.

How do brain scans work?

There’s only one thing in our solar system sophisticated enough to study itself: the human brain. But this self-investigation is challenging because a living brain is shielded by skull, swaddled in tissue, and made up of billions of tiny cells. How do we study living brains without harming their owners? Two experts explain how the various techniques like EEGs, fMRIs, and PETs work in this TedEd talk.

What’s with the teen brain, anyway

In this video NIDA explores the intriguing similarities between the processes of brain development and computer programming. This analogy helps us understand why toxic environmental factors like drugs, bullying, or lack of sleep strongly affect a teenager’s life The information provided by this video can empower your children or students with information they need make better decisions.

Why 'spacing out' or dissociating may help reduce trauma awareness

Dissociation may have developed as a defense mechanism in the brain to help navigate intense emotional or physical situations by providing out-of-body experiences that put distance between the mind and the environment. However, in about 1.1% and 1.5% percent of the general population, a severe form of this separation can produce alternate identities, or alters.

Watch this octopus win every single Escape Room challenge

Octopuses are famously intelligent, solitary creatures covered in hundreds of chemical-sensing suckers. They're also pretty fascinating pets, and even enjoy playing. The crew at OctoLab put one of its more playful mollusks into four different Escape Room-like cages to see how long it would take for it to escape. Watch this video to see the brilliant, if a bit unsettling, methods the animal uses.

Psychoactive drugs found in 1,000-year-old bag made of fox noses

Archaeologists in Bolivia have uncovered an ancient bag filled with "amazing goodies" that suggests the owner or owners were well-versed in the properties of psychoactive substances and sourced goods from well-established trade routes. This article details the findings, which shed light on how ancient peoples in the region consumed and obtained psychoactive substances.

Nine different studies exploring animals' relationship to music

Researchers have conducted multiple studies attempting to answer a certain question: do animals like human music? Across species, they observed different results and no clear pattern. Primates appear to prefer silence, and cockatoos appear to dance to funky beats.

The hormone that spreads love and helps fish share fear

Scientists consider emotions like fear and empathy to be among the oldest evolutionary behaviors observed in mammals. Yet to date, how these reactions are processed in the brain, regardless of species, is not well understood. A new study reveals how the chemical oxytocin—known as the "love hormone" in humans—helps let fish know when their friends are in danger.

How the environmental diversity of coral reefs provides potential medical treatments for humans

As immobile animals, corals and the organisms that live on them have evolved a suite of chemical compounds to prevent disease and ward off predators they cannot outrun. These include antibiotics, antivirals, and powerful toxins that target the nervous system and are studied for applications involving pain management and neurological treatments.

Can humans delay or reverse old age?

We're not sure yet. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco are studying why some conditions and behaviors, such as low-oxygen environments and exercise, benefit the aging process, hoping to reveal potential health applications. Some of this research focuses on klotho, a naturally occurring age-regulating hormone named after the Greek Fate Clotho. Animal studies on klotho brain injections found subjects had improved memory recall and age-related degeneration resistance.

How to build curiosity

Change and uncertainty induce stress, but reframing the unknown into an opportunity for discovery has tangible benefits. Approaching change with curiosity enhances activity in the hippocampus and promotes neuroplasticity, promoting learning and serving as a barrier against anxiety. A neuroscientist explains how embracing the unknown, trying small experiments, and other techniques build curiosity.

Studying the circadian clock of a tiny swimming polar creature may help forecast polar ecosystem health

A 2025 study found that Antarctic krill, a food chain staple in the Southern Ocean, have an internal biological clock that helps regulate its swimming patterns and helps the tiny shrimp-like animals adapt to daily and seasonal environmental changes. Better understanding of how the clock and light cues interact may help scientists understand how well the species will respond to pronounced climate change in the polar region.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.