
Five studies showing the power of multi-modal data in behavioral research
The advantages of using multimodal data over a single modality are that it reveals deeper insights and also if one modality fails there can be enough redundancy in the data to still make sense of it.

Altruism in rats, suspiciously human
A recent study by Bartal et al drove our curiousity to write this blog about altruistic behavior in rats. This study shows how this type of behavior is neurally linkend to the social functioning of humans.

Investigating facial expressions in autism and borderline personality disorder
Within two specific populations researchers investigated the role of facial expressions on social interactions.

The relationship between social hierarchy and social stress
Today, Deepika Patel kindly shares her research on social structures with us. She investigated rat behavior in detail, using several test paradigms.

Depressed with a failing reward system: social stress disrupts brain waves
Chronic social stress has a huge impact on well-being. Gamma oscillations have been found to be an electrophysiological link between social stress and reward processing.

How do children interact with their older autistic siblings?
In celebration of World Autism Awareness Day, this blog post focuses on the social interactions between children and their older autistic siblings.

Why rats help other rats
As humans, we help each other because it is the right thing to do. We help our friends and our family. And of course we help strangers as well. Right?

Friends with benefits - sociosexuality under investigation
Penke and Asendorpf (2008) used a large online study and a detailed behavioral assessment to investigate sociosexual behavior.

Observing behavior - Jury deliberations, what happens behind closed doors
Researchers increasingly study what goes on behind closed doors. Thirty mock-jury deliberations were filmed and behaviors were then coded using The Observer software.