Does your dog have social skills?

A study suggests that viewing the owner’s face works as a positive social reinforcement for dogs. Learn more about this and other surprising results about “man’s best friend”.

The brain response to acquisition and reversal of threat predictions

Francesca Starita, principal investigator of the research project 47/20 - Fear in action: how Pavlovian fear learning shapes goal-directed motor responses, supported by the BIAL Foundation, has analysed the ability to flexibly readjust one's threat predictions to meet the current environmental contingencies and concluded that in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex the theta rhythm may play an inhibitory role of responses that are no longer appropriate. Additional results are described in the paper Theta and alpha power track the acquisition and reversal of threat predictions and correlate with skin conductance response published in Psychophysiology.

Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica 2022 distinguishes works on autism, brain tumors and hypertension

The award ceremony of the 20th edition of the Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica took place on February 8 at the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, being presided over by the President of the Republic, with the presence of the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, the Secretary of State for Higher Education, Pedro Teixeira, and the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira.

Hypnosis, Meditation and Prayer. Which is the most helpful?

The research team led by Alexandra Ferreira-Valente, in the scope of project 188/18 - COping with PAin through Hypnosis, mindfulness and Spirituality (COPAHS), supported by the BIAL Foundation, compared the immediate effects of hypnosis, mindfulness meditation and Christian prayer (CP) on pain intensity and pain tolerance. Findings suggest that single short-term hypnosis and mindfulness meditation, but not Christian prayer, may be useful for acute pain self-management, with hypnosis being the slightly superior option. The paper Immediate Effects of Hypnosis, Mindfulness Meditation, and Prayer on Cold Pressor Outcomes: A Four-Arm Parallel Experimental Study, reporting these results study, was published in the Journal of Pain Research.