Jon Hamilton

In 1969, oil from an offshore well left beaches in Santa Barbara, Calif., coated with crude and littered with dead birds. The country's reaction helped create the modern environmental movement.

Black Americans are more likely than whites to develop Alzheimer's. Yet black people studied appeared to have lower levels of a toxic substance associated with the disease, researchers say.

Adorable babies and cute puppies can make us happy. But researchers say their cuteness can be so overwhelming that it unleashes some ugly thoughts.

A question about heading soccer balls inspired a series of experiments to understand how the brain changes shape when someone's head takes a hit.

Research suggests the winter blues are triggered by specialized light-sensing cells in the retina that communicate directly with brain areas involved in mood.

People with symptoms suggesting depression felt better immediately when tiny pulses of electricity reached a brain area called the lateral orbitofrontal cortex.

When people are feeling glum, it often means that brain areas involved in emotion and memory are communicating. Researchers now have observed the circuit in action in humans.

In mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer's symptoms, those given a synthetic version of a chemical in marijuana retained normal memory function.

Working memory is where the brain keeps bits of information in everyday life handy. But brain scientists don't agree on how working memory works.

A brain structure that helps us walk in a straight line also appears to play a central role in emotional control and decision-making. The findings about the cerebellum challenge years of dogma.

In 2003, Paul Allen created an institute to figure out how the human brain works. That institute has already made contributions that may turn out to be part of his greatest legacy.

Our ability to see colors develops in the womb. Now scientists have replicated that process, which could help accelerate efforts to cure colorblindness and lead to new treatments for diseases.

Alzheimer's prevention specialist Jessica Langbaum says that like most working people she gets plenty of mental exercise without playing crossword puzzles or brain games. She says work is the key.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a brain region in monkeys that influences their desire to take big risks. When this area is inactivated, the monkeys tend to hedge their bets.

The plastic additive BPA got a clean bill of health in a two-year government study involving thousands of rats. But scientists worried about BPA's risks say the study has flaws.

Research on the brains of barn owls suggests that attention problems like ADHD may involve a brain circuit that usually helps us ignore distractions.

A Stanford research team finds that ketamine's ability to quickly relieve depression may depend on activating the brain's opioid system. The finding raises new questions about the drug's safety.

The human brain isn't just bigger than a mouse brain. It contains at least one kind of brain cell that isn't found in rodents.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is trying to figure out how to deal with veterans who may have brain damage from firing powerful weapons.

The military is trying to figure out whether troops can sustain brain injuries from firing certain powerful weapons. Two Marines who used to shoot these weapons think they already know.