Stories by Lydia Denworth

A growing mortality gap between Republican and Democratic areas may largely stem from policy choices

Reframing erroneous beliefs alleviates the emotional upheavals that beset young people on the cusp of adulthood

Paid parental leave and high-quality child care improve children’s brain development and prospects for a better future

Some over-the-counter medications can help symptoms, and there are ways to ease isolation

The right combination of variables is needed to achieve a blazing success—one explanation for why there was never a “Kinksmania”

The research could mark a turning point in the fight against MS

Sourdough, seeds, shovels and other basic survival needs made a comeback

Neuroscientists have uncovered an intriguing subtlety in how we communicate—that is, when we’re not on Zoom

Poor neural connections among areas that control movement and speech may be responsible and could be driven by genes

Advances in neuroscience and psychology could lead to real-world benefits in education and mental health

Following Hurricane Maria, a Puerto Rican colony of rhesus macaques broadened their social networks. Could humans do the same post-COVID?

Scanners try to watch the red-blue divide play out underneath the skull

In responding to the pandemic, society may be hampered by cognitive and political beliefs that distort judgments and lead to irrational decisions

What can the pandemic teach us about how people respond to adversity?

Columbia University attorney Alexis J. Hoag discusses the history of how we got to this point and the ways that researchers can help reduce bias against black Americans throughout the legal system

Recent epidemics provide clues to ways the current crisis could stop

A 120-nanometer virus makes face coverings de rigueur in places where they were once shunned or against the law

Most autistic individuals want to and can make friends, though their relationships often have a distinctive quality

A study on isolation’s neural underpinnings implies many may feel literally “starved” for contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic

A long-disdained therapy that targets RNA is suddenly achieving spectacular success

New findings suggest angst over the technology is misplaced

Standard scientific methods are under fire. Will anything change?

An innovative study technique yields surprising results that counter the popular idea that knowing yourself is good for you

A new study provides an extraordinary close-up of the menagerie of neural cell types, yielding possible leads for neurological and psychiatric treatments