Cartoon showing the neurons in the brain enjoying the frightening movie the person is watching.
| 5 min read
From thrill seeking to morbid curiosity, why some folks enjoy a good scare has many possible scientific explanations.

fear

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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

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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

Contributors

Opinion: What Animals Can Teach Us About Fear

fear, anxiety, fMRI, study, neural circuits, brain study, neuroscience, amygdala, BNST

Brain Circuitry for Fear and Anxiety Is the Same on fMRI

Study Probes Brain Activity in Survivors of Paris Terror Attacks

How Manipulating Rodent Memories Can Elucidate Neurological Function

How Mice Forget to Be Afraid

Infographic: Messing with a Mouse’s Memory

Book Excerpt from Pleased to Meet Me

Defeating Fear Depends on Amygdala Suppression

Distinct Regions Drive Responses to Anxiety, Fear

Infographic: Anticipation Versus Confrontation

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Adélie penguin family

Penguins Are Among the World’s Slowest-Evolving Birds: Study

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

Universe 25 Experiment

A group of newborn mice with their mother.

Maternal Iron Deficiency Can Trigger Sex Reversal in Mouse Embryos

Image of futuristic technology such as artificial intelligence with a graphic of a robotic bird against a blue background.

An AI-Powered Scientist Proposes a Treatment for Blindness

Multimedia

Conceptual 3D illustration of mycoplasma colonies

Taking Control of Cellular Contamination with PCR Testing

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Conceptual image of gene sequencing showing multicolored bands in a spiral arrangement on a black background.

Rare Disease Research Gets a Boost from Automated NGS Solutions

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Image of small blue creatures called Nergals. Some have hearts above their heads, which signify friendship. There is one Nergal who is sneezing and losing health, which is denoted by minus one signs floating around it.
June 2025, Issue 1

Nergal Networks: Where Friendship Meets Infection

A citizen science game explores how social choices and networks can influence how an illness moves through a population.

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Unraveling Complex Biology with Advanced Multiomics Technology

Unraveling Complex Biology with Five-Dimensional Multiomics

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Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

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Seeing and Sorting with Confidence

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Streamlining Microbial Quality Control Testing

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Products

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Agilent Unveils the Next Generation in LC-Mass Detection: The InfinityLab Pro iQ Series

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Pioneering Cancer Plasticity Atlas will help Predict Response to Cancer Therapies

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How Alderley Analytical are Delivering eXtreme Robustness in Bioanalysis