Cognitive Science

The latest breakthroughs, innovations, and cool happenings at the cutting edge of the world of cognitive science. Updated daily.

When expert predictions fail

We examine the opportunities and challenges of expert judgment in the social sciences, scrutinizing the way social scientists make predictions. While social scientists show above-chance accuracy in predicting laboratory-based phenomena, they often struggle to predict real-world societal changes. We argue that most causal models used in social sciences are oversimplified, confuse levels of analysis to […]

Published on November 9, 2023

Cognitive fossils: using cultural artifacts to reconstruct psychological changes throughout history

Psychology is crucial for understanding human history. When aggregated, changes in the psychology of individuals – in the intensity of social trust, parental care, or intellectual curiosity – can lead to important changes in institutions, social norms, and cultures. However, studying the role of psychology in shaping human history has been hindered by the difficulty […]

Published on November 7, 2023

Unraveling the transcriptomic signatures of Parkinson’s disease and major depression using single-cell and bulk data

BackgroundMotor symptoms are well-characterized in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, non-motor symptoms, such as depression, are commonly observed and can appear up to 10 years before motor features, resulting in one-third of individuals being misdiagnosed with a neuropsychiatric disorder. Thus, identifying diagnostic biomarkers is crucial for accurate PD diagnosis during its prodromal or early stages.MethodsWe employed […]

Published on November 7, 2023