News by Subject Social & Behavior

College students who listened to classical music by Beethoven and Chopin during a computer-interactive lecture on microeconomics -- and heard the music played again that night -- did better on a test the next day than did peers who heard the same lecture, but instead slept that evening with white noise in the background.

Mount Sinai research highlights the need for more hearing checks among groups at high risk for falls.

Self-inflicted injury, aggression toward others and yelling are common problem behaviors associated with young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. These actions can result from the child being denied attention or access to items they enjoy, as well as from internal discomfort or environmental stressors such as noise or large crowds.

New study published in PNAS shed light on some of the earliest examples of human symbolic behavior: Ancient engravings were likely produced with aesthetic intent and marked group identity.

Researchers -- and parents -- have long known that babies learn to speak by mimicking the words they hear. But a new study shows that babies also might try to imitate the singing they hear in songs.

New research suggests melodic alarms could improve alertness, with harsh alarm tones linked to increased levels of morning grogginess.

Why is it that people find songs such as James Taylor's 'Country Roads,' UB40's 'Red, Red Wine,' or The Beatles' 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' so irresistibly enjoyable? In a study reported in the journal Current Biology on Nov. 7, researchers analyze 80,000 chords in 745 classic US Billboard pop songs -- including those three -- and find that musical pleasure comes from the right combination of uncertainty and surprise.

The high levels of environmental noise we are subjected to in large cities can increase both the severity and consequences of an ischaemic stroke. More precisely, researchers put the increased risk at 30% for people living in noisier areas. In contrast, living close to green areas brings down this risk by up to 25%. This is the first time that these factors have been analysed in relation to stroke severity.