Cartoon showing the neurons in the brain enjoying the frightening movie the person is watching.
| 6 min read
From thrill seeking to morbid curiosity, why some folks enjoy a good scare has many possible scientific explanations.

fear

Photo of Steve Ramirez

Steve Ramirez Reshapes Memories in the Brains of Mice

The balance of mind and body on a seesaw

Psychological Stress Distracts the Immune System from Fighting Infections

Photo of krill and plankton in the sea, macro detail

Fear Could Help Explain the Behavior of Animals in the Ocean

A puma walking through the woods at night

Pandemic Lockdown Eases Mountain Lions’ Fear of Urban Areas

Screams Communicate Human Emotions

neuroscience, mice, fear, pain, empathy, social transmission, emotion contagion, optogenetics, analgesia, Stanford University

Mice Share Each Other’s Pain and Fear

Book Excerpt from The Nature of Fear

The Sound and the Fear

Wielding Fear

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Kirsty Wright is searching for evidence in a missing persons investigation. She is wearing a blue shirt and glasses. Behind her is dense vegetation and police procedural tape.

How a Forensic Biologist Exposed a DNA Lab Scandal That Shook Australia

Photo of John Calhoun crouches within his rodent utopia-turned-dystopia

Universe 25 Experiment

Hands holding an older woman’s hands.

One Gene Influences 75 Percent of Alzheimer’s Disease Cases

A picture of Rohita Roy, a postdoc at Stanford University.

Postdoc Portrait: Rohita Roy

Multimedia

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From Data to Discovery: Omics in Therapeutic Innovation

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Exploring Organoids for Disease Modeling Research

Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

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Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

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Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

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Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

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Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies