During the shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Oak Creek, Wis., some people confronted danger and saved lives, while most others scampered for the exits. What explains the difference?
Behavior
Can Telling the Truth Make You Healthier?
Turns out, honesty really is the best policy
Seat’s Taken! A Study of Antisocial Traveler Behavior
A researcher spent two years crisscrossing the country by bus cataloging all the ways we try to prevent strangers from sitting next to us
Testosterone, the Power Hormone
Biology meets history in a new book on revolution, riot and the sex hormone testosterone. Author Karin Kneissl explains
The Lasting Effects of Neglect: Altered Brain Structure in Children
Fortunately, good foster care can help neglected children catch up developmentally, in part
Military Suicide: Help for Families Worried About Their Service Member
In this week’s TIME cover story, “One a Day” (available to subscribers here), journalists Mark Thompson and Nancy Gibbs explore why suicides among the U.S. military have reached crisis levels. Every day, one active-duty …
Is This Teen Angst or an Uncontrollable Anger Disorder?
With all those raging hormones, every teenager is bound to “lose it” at one time or another. But a recent study suggests that adolescents’ attacks of anger may indicate something more serious than your standard puberty-related mood swings
Cute Overload: Can Watching a Puppycam Improve Your Motor Skills?
Given the undying popularity of kitten, puppy and baby videos on the Web, it might be worth asking, Does exposure to so much cuteness affect our behavior?
Baboon Study Shows Why High Social Status Boosts Health
Ranking high in the social hierarchy is a good predictor of robust health — in both monkeys and humans.
Why We Talk About Ourselves: The Brain Likes It
Science has now proved what kindergarten teachers, reality-show fans and Catholic priests discover anew every day: humans can’t help talking about themselves. It just feels too good.
Your Drive to Compete May Come Down to Dopamine
Are you the kind of person who is always “on,” constantly driven to achieve? Or are you more of a slacker type, less motivated by the promise of material reward?
‘Shock’ School Trial: Where Is the Evidence that Abuse Helps Treat Autism?
The video is brutal: a young man, pinned face down in four-point restraints, receiving 31 electric shocks over the course of several hours that convulse his body with pain. But this is not Guantánamo or Syria.
Shhh! Genius at Work
In this week’s issue of TIME, we explain why the brain does its most creative work while you’re asleep. Subscribers can read the full story here.
