Natural brain opioids help us 'see the bigger picture' after rewards

During one of my visits to schools in Delhi, I asked the students: "When something doesn't go the way you expected, or when you fail at something, it feels bad, right? What do you say to yourself in those moments?"

The Trump administration announced on Sept. 20, 2025, that it plans to stop releasing food insecurity data. The federal government has tracked and analyzed this data for the past three decades, but it plans to stop after publishing statistics pertaining to 2024 data. The Conversation U.S. asked Tracy Roof, a political scientist who has researched the history of government nutrition programs, to explain the significance of the U.S. Household Food Security Survey and what might happen if the government discontinues it.

As a pediatrician, I thought my medical background and pediatric training meant I would be well prepared to breastfeed my newborn. I knew all about the research on how an infant's diet can affect both their short- and long-term health. Compared to formula, breastfeeding is linked to a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome, lower rates of infections and hospitalizations and a lower risk of developing diabetes later in life. Breastfeeding can also provide health benefits to the parent.

Digestive discomfort—whether it's bloating after a heavy meal or the occasional bout of indigestion—can make anyone miserable.

A University of Alberta-led research team has identified an association between asthma in pregnant women and adverse outcomes for their newborns, including preterm birth, low birth weight and cesarean section delivery.

Adolescence is a period of social reorientation: a shift from a world centered on parents and family to one shaped by peers, schools, and broader networks. This expansion is critical for healthy development, but it also heightens susceptibility to social stressors. When those stressors lead young people to withdraw—choosing solitude more often than connection—the brain itself may be altered.

Mobile health apps could help improve health among older adults with diabetes, according to a study by researchers at the University of Georgia and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Near-death experiences can have lasting, life-changing effects, and new University of Virginia School of Medicine research sheds light on the types of counseling and support that can best help people cope.

Imagine being able to compose an email or steer a wheelchair directly with your thoughts. For millions of people living with neurological disorders such as ALS, this possibility could be life-changing. Their ability to think and feel remains intact, but the connection to the outside world is often disrupted.

When University of Texas at Arlington researcher Paul J. Fadel and his colleagues launched a study on vascular health in people with chronic kidney disease, they expected to better understand a long-standing belief. For years, scientists have pointed to a blood marker called ADMA—asymmetric dimethylarginine—as a warning sign for vascular problems.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than 700 million people worldwide and is caused by genetic and environmental factors, as well as existing medical conditions. Known genetic risk factors for CKD include mutations in a gene called APOL1.

Thirteen measles cases have been identified over the past week in Minnesota, including a cluster of 10 cases in Dakota County and three separate cases among children exposed to the infectious disease during international travels.

If you adopt a healthier lifestyle after bowel screening, it can lower your risk of both bowel cancer and other chronic diseases, a new study shows.

Scientists at Université de Montreal and its Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer have begun a phase-1 clinical trial for a small-molecule therapy for solid tumors.

Attached to nearly every human cell is an antenna-like structure known as the primary cilium, which senses the cell's environment and controls how it responds to signals from its surroundings. New research from the U.S. and Sweden has mapped and identified hundreds of proteins that comprise these structures, contributing new insights for future research into ciliary biology, disease mechanisms and potential therapies.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized marketing of the Essilor Stellest eyeglass lenses to correct myopia, with or without astigmatism, and to slow the progression of the disease in children 6 to 12 years old.

More than half of survivors of the Sudan Ebola virus still suffer serious health problems two years post-infection and the virus can persist in semen and breast milk for months after recovery, according to the first study examining the virus's long-term effects.

As wildfires grow more frequent across the U.S. and Canada, their hidden toll may extend into the fertility clinic. A new study from UW Medicine suggests that wildfire smoke exposure may reduce key measures of sperm quality in patients undergoing fertility treatments.