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If your mom had to run through the name of everyone in the family, including the dog, before hitting yours, it’s probably because you’re all in a mental folder labeled “loved ones.” The findings of the scientific study were published in the journal Memory & Cognition.

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Our first germs didn’t do much damage, until we gave up our hunter-gatherer ways and started farming. Watch Episode 1 of a three-part animated miniseries on the battle between humans and germs.

Watch the video NPR.org

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Scientists are finally beginning to understand proprioception, a sense that tells us where our body is in space. Much of what they’ve learned comes from a study of two girls with a rare genetic disorder. That study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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A functional MRI study of 17 people who have been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems. The study was published in the journal PNAS.

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Synapses in human neurons. Heather de Rivera, McCarroll lab

Genetic analysis, involving nearly 65,000 people, finds a surprising risk factor for schizophrenia — a variation in an immune molecule best known for its role in containing infection. The findings, published in the journal Nature, also support the emerging idea that schizophrenia is a disease of synaptic pruning, and could lead to new approaches to treating this devastating illness.

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A new map based on brain scan data collected by the Human Connectome Project. The data revealed 97 new regions, bringing the total to 180. Matthew F. Glasser, David C. Van Essen.

In what many experts are calling a milestone in neuroscience, researchers published a spectacular new map of the brain in the journal Nature, detailing nearly 100 previously unknown regions — an unprecedented glimpse into the machinery of the human mind.

Read more at NYTimes.com

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Users of an app developed by the University of Michigan to help with jet lag entered information on their time zone and sleep patterns that helped academics with their work. But is the approach valid? The analysis of the data was published in the journal Science Advances, but critics worry that using data generated via smartphones might not be a representative sample.

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While still experimental, deep brain stimulation with implanted electrodes is being tested as a way to ease dementia in patients with Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions. Could it work? Recent studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Neurosurgery, and Molecular Psychiatry suggest it just might.

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Guillain-Barre syndrome can render healthy people temporarily paralyzed. It’s something you’re likely to hear more about as Zika continues to spread, because exposure to pathogens like Zika can set that stage for the syndrome. And for those who get it, it is one wild ride.

Hear the stories of two men who struggled to recover from it at NPR.org and read more about the syndrome at ninds.gov.

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Hundreds of thousands of people suffer brain injuries each year. Sometimes the damage is caused by something that seems innocuous, like a stumble or a bump on the head. When should you see a doctor?

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A recent study published in the journal Neurology found eighteen months after a concussion or other traumatic brain injury, two-thirds of the patients were still sleepy during the day. And most were unaware of their symptoms.

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No wonder we don’t feel rested after a first night in a new place: Half of our brain has stayed alert while the other half enjoyed deeper sleep, a study published in Current Biology finds. We really have been half-asleep.

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New research published in the journal Obesity found that many Biggest Loser contestants regain much of the weight they lost during the show — sometimes 100 pounds or more — because their biology works against them.

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If you have an Internet connection, you’ve probably read at least one story in the past couple of days claiming that science has shown that dogs hate being hugged. Those at The Washington Post’s Speaking of Science squeeze the life out of this misleading science coverage.

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The Food and Drug Administration has issued sweeping new rules that tighten its control over e-cigarettes, banning their sale to minors. The agency is also expanding its regulation of tobacco.

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Teenage brains are more susceptible to drug abuse, but it’s often hard to find treatment. It’s even harder to find evidence-based treatment designed for youth. But that’s starting to change.

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A study finds that nearly all Americans — regardless of age, race or gender — consume more sodium than recommended. The CDC says food companies need to work harder to cut it in their products.

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Scientists analyzed the tummy of a 5,300-year-old ice mummy and found bacteria that many modern humans still carry. The results, published in the journal Science, suggest that the community of microbes living on and in humans has existed for millennia.

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Roughly 2.5 million Americans are addicted to heroin and opioids like Oxycontin. Researchers say addiction takes over the brain’s limbic reward system, impairing decision making, judgment and recovery.

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Young adults who watch at least three hours of TV a day might end up with less cognitive function by middle age, a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry finds. That’s especially true if they’re sedentary couch potatoes.

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Some people who don’t have celiac disease say they feel better on a gluten-free diet. Researchers have long been puzzled as to why. A study suggests it could be because of a protein called zonulin.

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Lots of research suggests munching while watching TV promotes mindless eating. Overall viewing time is a key factor. But the genre of what you are watching may also influence how much you consume.

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In the U.S., pastas and breads come with a dose of folic acid, a B vitamin that prevents severe neural tube birth defects. But it’s not allowed in corn masa, a staple for many Hispanic women.

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U.S. News & World Report’s annual diet rankings give top marks to a meal-replacement plan to shed pounds fast. There’s also a low-carb diet to stave off cravings; its virtues are sung in a new book.

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A mouse’s brain clears out toxins during periods of deep sleep — including toxins that form sticky plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Could the same hold true for people?

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By assessing the strength of certain connections in the brain with an MRI test, researchers report in the journal Nature Neuroscience that they were often able to tell whether children and adolescents had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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Dr. Bennet Omalu’s discovery of a new degenerative brain disease among football players inspired a movie-and the wrath of the NFL.

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To make foods irresistible, the food industry has added sweetness in unexpected places — like bread and pasta sauce. That’s helped shape our cravings but may also be coming back to bite the industry.

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Recent research published in the journal PNAS hints at how the human brain is uniquely able to recognize and enjoy music. Timing in your brain is nearly everything.

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Everyone has a set of genes that keeps the body on a 24-hour rhythm. As we get older, though, the main clock can malfunction, a study published in the journal PNAS finds. Researchers say a backup clock may try to compensate.

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Successful people get more sleep than you might expect. Are their sleep patterns giving them a leg-up on the average American?

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What if you could never get a good night’s rest? Researchers are investigating whether sleep deprivation can keep people trapped in poverty.

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Young adults who watch at least three hours of TV a day might end up with less cognitive function by middle age, a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry finds. That’s especially true if they’re sedentary couch potatoes.

Read more at NPR.org.

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Brain cells that track our location also can track time and distance, a new study published in the journal Neuron finds. This could explain how the brain uses place and time to organize memories throughout our lives.

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Fear campaigns can motivate people to quit smoking or eat less. But fearmongering can go too far. When is scaring for health’s sake acceptable, and when is it distasteful?

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By collecting data on guests who visit a haunted house in Pittsburgh, scientists are trying to learn a little bit about what scares us, and why some people enjoy this sensation enough to seek it out.

Listen to the story at NPR.org.

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Infection and autoimmune activity result in inflammation. And psychiatric researchers now suspect that inflammation may play a role in some cases of depression and other mental illnesses.

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Having police, school nurses, drug users and family equipped with kits to reverse an overdose saves lives, doctors say. But reversing addiction requires follow-up care that many users aren’t getting.

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Satoshi Omura, Youyou Tu and William C. Campbell share in the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine
Nobel Prize Committee

The medicines they helped develop are credited with improving the lives of millions. Among the three winners: William C. Campbell of Drew University, for his work on the roundworm parasite.

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A large study confirms that a test doctors have been using for a decade works well for low-risk patients. More work is needed to draw conclusions about chemotherapy for women with riskier tumors.

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The Duponts in Louisiana loved their mutt Melvin so much they jumped at the chance to replicate him. Melvin is gone now, but he’s left behind two clones, Ken and Henry.

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With deaths from heroin and painkillers on the rise, more nurses at high schools and middle schools are prepared to intervene in the event of an overdose on school grounds.

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Late-night coffee, tea or cola does more than keep you up, scientists say. The amount of caffeine in a double espresso can delay the internal clock in cells throughout your body by about 40 minutes, according to a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Math anxiety is much like other fears, say scientists who scanned the brains of third-graders. Fortunately, new research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, indicates that one-on-one tutoring soothed the fear circuit in anxious kids’ brains and improved performance, too.

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A lack of sleep can increase the risk of traffic accidents, heart attacks, diabetes and maybe even Alzheimer’s disease, research suggests. Yet most people with sleep disorders don’t get treatment.

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The synthetic opioid fentanyl is used for surgery and to treat severe pain. Abuse has always been a problem. Now that it’s being used to cut heroin, the risk of overdose or death has soared.

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Social scientists and consumer researchers say the battle over GMOs isn’t really about genetically modified organisms. They say the GMOs have become a stand-in for what consumers really want: less processed, natural food.

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It’s been known for awhile that reading to a young child is associated with good outcomes, including language development and school success. But what remains unknown is the mechanism for these outcomes. A new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, examines the unexpectedly complex interactions that happen in the brain when you put a small child on your lap and open a picture book.

Read more at NYTimes.com.

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Popular advice suggests a low-carb diet is necessary to trigger the body to shed fat. But a small, rigorous study published in the journal Cell Metabolism finds low-fat diets also spark body-fat loss. The key: Choose a diet you’ll stick to.

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Ben Allen/WITF. Cris and Valerie Fiore hold one of their favorite pictures of their sons Anthony (with the dark hair) and Nick. Anthony died from a heroin overdose in May 2014 at the age of 24.

Federal law requires insurance firms to cover treatment for addiction as they do treatment for other diseases. But because addiction treatment is so different from treatment for other medical issues, it’s hard to figure out exactly what equal treatment looks like, and some families say that drug users aren’t getting the care they need.

Read more at NPR.org.