Explore the biology of pain and why the experience of pain may differ widely from one person to another.

Learn about the point of the physical and emotional experience of pain, which has three broad categories that help determine treatment approaches.

Theories vary on why we love to eat spicy food—even when it hurts.

When humans perceive touch, the information is sent to the thalamus and then to the primary somatosensory cortex, the part of the brain that receives sensory input.

The science of fear

The Hidden Brain podcast team explores the science of fear by traveling to a haunted house curated by a scientist to investigate what scares us, and why some people enjoy this sensation more than others.

We hear because soundwaves are converted into electrochemical signals in our ears

This science teacher video systematically walks through the biology of the outer, middle, and inner ear. The explanation starts with the auricle, an external part that funnels sound through the auditory canal, and the tympanic membrane (the ear drum), which vibrates when sounds hit it. Beyond that, as the video details, is the eustachian tube, which is connected to the back of our throats and allows air to pass in and out to equalize ear pressure.

Researchers have investigated the benefits of extreme pain rituals, exploring how and why we engage in these events when humans generally naturally avoid pain and perceive it as a negative experience.

The subjectivity of pain means that one person's kidney stones may be another's childbirth, but most sources of pain do have objective, underlying causes.

The brains of people who experience frisson have unique neural pathways

A small 2016 study aimed to investigate the behavioral and neural differences between 10 individuals who experience goose bumps when listening to music and 10 who typically don’t. Scientists reported that individuals experiencing musical chills had greater white matter connectivity in specific auditory, emotional, and social processing areas of the brain.

How brain cells carry information

At any moment, there is an electrical storm coursing through your body. Discover how chemical reactions create an electric current that drives our responses to everything from hot pans to a mother’s caress.

The neuroscience of heartbreak

An analysis of functional MRIs revealed a difficult fact: the active brain areas of people experiencing heartbreak were very similar to those actively in love. This is a major reason why people in the middle of rejection can't accept the reality of their loss. This article breaks down the various changes in neurotransmitters and neural pathways for those enduring that universal experience, heartbreak.

This is what happens inside your body when you're sick

This video details the biology of what happens inside the human body during illness.

Your favorite music can minimize physical pain, according to a 2025 study on how music can bring solace and address pain.

Take a deep dive into the neuron

Neurons are the basic unit of the brain and nervous system—electrically excitable cells that sends signals throughout the body. They can communicate with each other, fire in sequence, and conspire to do everything from drive body movement to help form memories. Check out this intro-level overview to learn more about their structure and how they work.

Why the human brain loves opioids

When opioids enter the brain, they dock in receptors, blocking electrical pulses such as those that communicate pain. They also trigger the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter tied to motivation and associated with stress relief.

Explore how excitatory cells, such as neurons and muscle cells, transmit information in the body via electrochemical signals, which can travel up to 120 meters (390 feet) per second.

Explore an interactive 3D model of the brain

The brain contains about 86 billion neurons—nervous system cells—and controls vital bodily functions via electrochemical signals. Neurons form circuits through axons, and different brain regions use these circuits to perform specific tasks.

Skull bone marrow may be playing a key role in chronic pain.

The main criticism of a recent neurophysiological explanation for near-death experiences is that these events are too complex to be explained as a neurochemical response to an oxygen-deprived brain.

Goose bumps require a surprisingly complex series of steps

Watch an anatomical breakdown of how goose bumps work—featuring real skin from a human cadaver, a segmented brain, and a detailed anatomical model of the skin—to learn about all the jargon behind goose bump science. (Warning: Includes graphic footage of cadaver skin.)

What's with the teen brain, anyway

In this video NIDA explores the intriguing similarities between the processes of brain development and computer programming. This analogy helps us understand why toxic environmental factors like drugs, bullying, or lack of sleep strongly affect a teenager's life The information provided by this video can empower your children or students with information they need make better decisions.

A leading expert on near-death experiences, psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Greyson, says that during his decades of research on this topic, this area of research has become far more mainstream and accepted as a rigorous area of inquiry.

Scientists have unraveled new details about which nerve cells control goose bumps

Research in 2016 revealed that at least eight different types of neurons are associated with the sympathetic nervous system. One finding revealed that goose bumps and nipple erection are caused by neurons specialized to regulate these specific functions by controlling the erectile muscles in those tissues.

Itching is caused by stimulated nerve cells in the skin

Scratching produces low-level pain signals to the brain, distracting from the itch. Scratching also releases serotonin, a neurotransmitter that creates a happy sensation, which resets the itch signal. This can cause a cyclical itch-scratch cycle.

What is a migraine attack like?

Are you one of the lucky people who've never experienced a migraine? Take the neurological condition for a whirl in this virtual experience sponsored by Excedrin, a pain relief medication brand. This 360º video is less than two minutes long and shows a snippet of an oncoming migraine suffered by a pastry chef.

Scientists are studying dying patients' brain activity in the final moments of life

In the final moments of life there are distinctive bursts of coordinated neural activity. Researchers are interested in parsing that data to better understand the dying process and also exploring how this data relates to our understanding of consciousness.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

When common sounds become disturbing

Misophonia causes certain sounds to feel violating, triggering a "very visceral kind of experience" filled with extremely unpleasant emotions, including annoyance, anger, and disgust. A 2017 study found that people with misophonia have elevated activity in the brain's anterior insula—a region associated with interoception, emotional processing, and behavioral responses—when exposed to trigger sounds. Ongoing research suggests trigger sound context affects the severity and manifestation of the condition.

Phantom limb pain may often match the pain or contortion of the injury that led to the limb loss.

Accounts of near-death experiences share similarities with hallucinogens, with reports of mystical-like states of consciousness across both contexts.

The research that led to sour

Scientists are trying to figure out if there are unique receptors that respond to the molecules that make up flavors we associate with calcium, blood, batteries, and other items that often escape dinner menus. Taste researcher Dr. Danielle Reed says the minimum evidence for a taste category typically involves identifying dedicated receptors and then removing them to show the taste vanishes.

Explore the basics of arthritis in this 1440 Original video with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nick Golinvaux.

Listen to how the gut microbiome influences your emotions

The gut-microbiome connection may involve the enteric nervous system, a collection of hundreds of millions of neurons throughout the gut that transmit signals up the vagus nerve to the brain.

There's a new (contested) physiological explanation for near-death experiences based on analysis of the brains of resuscitated coma and cardiac arrest patients.

What happens in a dying brain?

Near-death experiences usually happen during death or on the border of life and death when a person isn't understood to be conscious. This article details the science of what's going on with the brain during NDEs.

Learn about the various types of patience and how to cultivate them

Baylor University professor of psychology and neuroscience, Sarah Schnitker, PhD, discusses why patience is not uniform and can vary across contexts and circumstances for the same individual. She also discusses where in human development patience first arises, the health impacts of impatience, and how strategies for regulating emotions can mitigate impatience.

Neural replays in mice help explain food aversions

Princeton University scientists published research in 2025 analyzing how mice learn to associate certain foods or flavors with feeling ill—even when there’s a time gap between eating something and feeling sick. The work, performed with grape Kool-Aid and injections of a substance that made mice sick, traced the literal “gut reaction” of how gut distress signals are linked to neural replays of what the mouse ate.

A web of sensory neurons in the skin help filter out background sensations

The somatosensory system helps us organize and navigate our surroundings, enabling us to understand our bodies in relation to our environment and also filter out minor sensations that are basically background noise so they aren't overwhelming to our bodies. Meanwhile, viscerosensation—or internal sensation—refers to the internal sensory neuron system that conveys information from internal organs to the brain.

Each part of the human body experiences aging differently

With global average life expectancy cresting at 73 years, understanding how the body ages is imperative to effective medical treatment and maintaining a desired quality of life. This 13-minute video dives into how the body and its organs age "from head to toe."

Why the nature of consciousness is such a difficult problem

David Chalmers is one of the leading philosophers of consciousness. In this video, he outlines some of the major questions in this field, including the "hard problem of consciousness," which seeks to find neural correlate for every conscious experience.

Listen to an amputee describe what it was like in the aftermath of his partial foot amputation and how his chronic, extreme pain fueled his depression and his decision to attempt to alleviate the pain with the radical surgery.

See how the gut and the brain communicate through a bundle of nerves running from the brain to the digestive tract, serving as both a physical and chemical link.

Humans experience the world subjectively. What does that mean for scientific research?

When you close your eyes, do you see static or colorful patterns or an "intrinsic grey" known as Eigengrau in German? This variation of our internal experiences is just the tip of the iceberg, one that scientists are increasingly studying and...

What happens to the brain during migraine?

Migraine is a neurological condition that can cause debilitating symptoms across various bodily functions. So, what exactly is happening in the brain during these attacks? This five-minute video briefly overviews the internal machinations behind the painful episodes. An incapacitating headache is a common symptom of migraine, though migraine can occur without any headache.

The inner life of a cell

White blood cells are responsible for protecting the human body from infection. This video uses biophysical data from Harvard researchers to accurately demonstrate what goes on inside one white blood cell as it works within the immune system.

Brain activity sometimes goes into overdrive around the point of death according to researchers' recent analysis of patients' brains before and after they were taken off their ventilators.

Fearology, or the study of fear, explores the difference between stress and fear

Our brains involuntarily respond to our environment and signal alarm when that isn't always needed, triggering responses that include goose bumps. But understanding fear and how to talk our brains into calming down can improve daily life.

Hear examples of what tinnitus can sound like to those suffering from it.

Overuse of opioids can lead to hypersensitivity to pain.

The science of optical illusions

The human brain has developed cognitive shortcuts to help us navigate in a world where our visual senses are constantly bombarded of information. But these shortcuts can also be exploited, tricking the brain into telling us something is happening when it really isn't. This short video unpacks the neuroscience behind some of the most common (but perplexing) optical illusions.

Depression changes the brain, causing distinct structural alterations visible on brain scans, but effective treatment can eventually make a depressed brain resemble a healthy one.