Russian Researchers Propose New Approach to Studying Facial Emotion Recognition
Researchers of the HSE University and the Southern Federal University (SFedU) have tested a new method for studying the perception of facial emotional expressions. They suggest that asking subjects to recognise emotional expressions from dynamic video clips rather than static photographs can improve the accuracy of findings, eg in psychiatric and neurological studies. The paper is published in Applied Sciences.
Even a Nonexistent Medical Label Significantly Affects the Assessment of Human Behavior
Researchers from the HSE Laboratory for the Neurobiological Foundations of Cognitive Development, Alexey Kotov, Ivan Aslanov and Yulia Sudorgina, have experimentally proved that categorical labels, including nonexistent medical terms, significantly affect people's judgments, activating semantic knowledge in memory. The study has been published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal.
Unconscious Perception of Sounds: We Hear Differences Even without Listening
Neurobiologists from HSE University and the RAS Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology proved that the human brain unconsciously distinguishes between even very similar sound signals during passive listening. The study was published in Neuropsychologia.
Brain in Space: What Happens to the Human Nervous System in Weightlessness
While Roscosmos is discussing future manned flights to Mars, NASA plans to open the International Space Station for commercial tourism, and SpaceX is testing its Starship Mars prototype, scientists are seriously concerned about the impact of prolonged stay in space on the human body. While the effects of weightlessness on bones, muscles and the vestibular system are well known, how the human brain copes with microgravity has yet to be fully examined. IQ.HSE has compiled the latest research on this topic.
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What Else Can Fingers Tell Us?
According to HSE researchers, men with a high 2D:4D ratio (i.e. those whose index finger is longer than their ring finger) tend to be better educated. These findings are presented in the paper «2D: 4D and lifetime educational outcomes: Evidence from the Russian RLMS survey» in Personality and Individual Differences.
Can Nicotine Help to Treat Schizophrenia?
Several studies have indicated that schizophrenic patients are likely to show high levels of nicotine dependence. Scientists from Higher School of Economics (HSE), Institut Pasteur, the CNRS, Inserm and the ENS employed a mouse model to elucidate how nicotine influences cells in the prefrontal cortex. They visualized how nicotine has a direct impact on the restoration of normal activity in nerve cells (neurons) involved in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. These findings were published in a paper that appeared in the journal Nature Medicine.
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Alcoholism May Be Caused by Dynamical Dopamine Imbalance
Researchers from the Higher School of Economics, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, Indiana University and the Russian Academy of Sciences Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Applied Physics have identified potential alcoholism mechanisms, associated with altered dopaminergic neuron response to complex dynamics of prefrontal cortex neurones affecting dopamine release.
Discover Neuroeconomics, Key Science of the Coming Decades
On 17th October the HSE School of Psychology is holding Welcome Lab Day as a continuation of the Nauka O+ festival. Head of School Vasily Klucharev talks to us about what will be on display, which areas of psychology are most popular today and whether it is possible to use brain stimulation to make people conform.
HSE Hosting Workshop on the Neurobiology of Social Influence
On August 30th and 31st, the Higher School of Economics is hosting the first international workshop on the neurobiology of social influence. The event is being organised by the HSE Centre for Cognition & Decision Making.
HSE Postgraduate Students in Psychology to Conduct World-Class Psychophysiological Research
This year the Postgraduate School of Psychology will admit 10 individuals for state-funded spots. Those selected will attend courses that correspond with their areas of academic interest and work in laboratories using the most modern equipment.