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Yesterday — 12 March 2025Nature Human Behaviour

Sleep studies enter the real world

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 11 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02130-8

Memory for details fades over time, yet retaining the spatiotemporal associations inherent to our individual experiences may be adaptively relevant. Using an art tour as an experimental setting, Diamond, Simpson and colleagues shed light on the role of sleep in shaping the long-term retention of episodic memory for real-world events.

Semantic embeddings reveal and address taxonomic incommensurability in psychological measurement

11 March 2025 at 00:00

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 11 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02089-y

Taxonomic incommensurability highlights the difficulty of comparing scientific theories due to differing concepts and methods. This study uses language models to create semantic embeddings of psychometric items and scales, aiding in predicting empirical relations and clarifying psychological taxonomies.

Sleep selectively and durably enhances memory for the sequence of real-world experiences

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 11 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02117-5

How does sleep transform the way we remember our experiences? This study finds that sleep enhances memory for the order of events from an art tour, but not the details of the events. The sleep-related advantage for sequences persists for over a year.
Before yesterdayNature Human Behaviour

Why we organized ‘Stand Up For Science’

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 10 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02146-0

In the USA, the Trump administration has signed executive orders that impose censorship on key areas of scientific research, strip government scientists of their jobs and reduce federal funding for science. Five co-organizers of the nationwide Stand Up For Science movement explain the need for collective action at this time.

Brain waves in both actual and imagined navigation show structured oscillations

10 March 2025 at 00:00

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 10 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02120-w

Our study investigated brain waves in freely moving humans who learned to navigate, remember and then imagine walking specific routes. Brain waves in the medial temporal lobe during real-world and imagined navigation are similarly structured, which underpins the parallels between physical and mental wayfinding.

Human neural dynamics of real-world and imagined navigation

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 10 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02119-3

Seeber et al. studied brain recordings from implanted electrodes in freely moving humans. Neural dynamics encoded actual and imagined routes similarly, demonstrating parallels between navigational, imaginative and mnemonic abilities in the human brain.

A research agenda for encouraging prosocial behaviour on social media

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 10 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02102-y

Dörr et al. argue that research on social media has mainly focused on antisocial behaviours and call for more research on the ways in which social media platforms can empower prosocial behaviour.

Crediting non-author contributors in scientific publishing

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 07 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02123-7

Scientific publications often benefit from diverse contributions that go uncredited owing to a lack of guidelines for recognizing non-author contributors. We propose ‘extended research credits’ — a standardized, tiered system (modelled after the attribution style of the film industry) to highlight hidden labour in research.

Introducing synchronous robustness reports

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 07 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02129-1

Most empirical research articles feature a single primary analysis that is conducted by the authors. However, different analysis teams usually adopt different analytical approaches and frequently reach varied conclusions. We propose synchronous robustness reports — brief reports that summarize the results of alternative analyses by independent experts — to strengthen the credibility of science.

The global landscape of academic guidelines for generative AI and LLMs

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02124-6

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) in academia brings benefits for access and collaboration as well as challenges that include misinformation and threats to academic integrity. We examine 80 academic guidelines and recommend balanced approaches for the responsible integration of generative AI and LLMs in education.

A meta-analysis of the association of death anxiety with psychological distress and psychopathology

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02115-7

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the relationship between death anxiety and distress or symptoms of mental disorders. The findings suggest consistently positive associations between death anxiety and distress outcomes.

Inhibitory control of speech production in the human premotor frontal cortex

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02118-4

In natural conversations, people are able to stop speaking at any time. Using high-density electrocorticography, Zhao et al. found a distinct neural signal in the human premotor cortex that inhibits speech output to achieve abrupt stopping.

Academic mentees thrive in big groups, but survive in small groups

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02114-8

Using longitudinal genealogical data on mentor–mentee relations and their publications, the authors find that mentees trained in larger groups tend to exhibit superior academic performance compared with those from smaller groups, provided they remain in academia post graduation.

No evidence of positive causal effects of maternal and paternal age at first birth on children’s test scores at age 10 years

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 27 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02108-6

Grätz et al. use Mendelian randomization to identify the causal effects of parental age at first birth on children's test scores. They find no causal effects of both maternal and paternal age at first birth on children's test scores at age 10.

Universally memorable voices

26 February 2025 at 00:00

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 26 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02113-9

Some voices are instantly recognizable, whereas others are easily forgotten — regardless of how well known the person behind them is. In an experimental study, Revsine and colleagues report consistency in the vocal identities that are remembered or forgotten by listeners, which suggests universal principles that determine what makes a voice memorable.

The memorability of voices is predictable and consistent across listeners

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 26 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02112-w

In a large-scale online study, Revsine et al. observed that participants tend to remember (or forget) the same speakers’ voices, regardless of what they were saying. They show that how memorable a voice is can be predicted from a set of acoustic features.

Skill dependencies underlie career paths and have societal implications

24 February 2025 at 00:00

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 24 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02094-1

A framework to understand the labour market reveals a nested hierarchical architecture in human capital in which specific knowledge and skills are contingent upon foundational, general skills and knowledge. This nested skill structure provides a new perspective on wage premiums and persistent wage disparity observed across different demographic groups.

Shrinking the know–do gap in psychedelic-assisted therapy

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 24 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02103-x

In this Perspective the authors propose the use of implementation science methods concurrently with safety and effectiveness testing to accelerate the translation of psychedelic research into psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Errors of attention adaptively warp spatial cognition

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 24 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02109-5

Brissenden et al. demonstrate that spatial cognition adaptively shifts to counteract errors in the allocation of visual attention, indicating error-driven learning mechanisms previously ascribed solely to motor control contribute to visual cognition.

Cross-ancestry genome-wide association study and systems-level integrative analyses implicate new risk genes and therapeutic targets for depression

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 24 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02073-6

In this cross-ancestry genome-wide meta-analysis on depression, Luo et al. identify new risk loci and potential causal variants and genes, providing insights into the genetic architecture of depression and likely therapeutic targets.

Skill dependencies uncover nested human capital

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 24 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02093-2

Hosseinioun et al. use surveys and resumes from the USA to examine patterns of skill interdependence and identify a nested hierarchy in human capital. This structure provides insights into wage disparities and long-term wage penalties across groups.

What cities can learn from the brain

21 February 2025 at 00:00

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 21 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02128-2

Given its ability to manage a multitude of functions in support of survival, the dynamics and organization of the brain offer the city — another confluence of structures and processes — lessons for urban design. I propose the concept of ‘neuromimicry’ as a way of exploring the potential application of these lessons.

Spotting false news and doubting true news: a systematic review and meta-analysis of news judgements

21 February 2025 at 00:00

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 21 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02086-1

Pfänder and Altay conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of 67 experimental articles, showing that people discern true from false news with ease. When making mistakes, people err on the side of skepticism and rate true news as false, instead of being fooled by false news.

A framework for understanding adverse adolescent experiences

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 20 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02098-x

Adolescence (ages 10–24) is characterized by cognitive, behavioural and social development. This Review proposes the adverse adolescent experiences (AAEs) framework to categorize and examine potentially traumatizing experiences during this developmental period.

Using human mobility data to quantify experienced urban inequalities

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 17 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02079-0

Xu et al. review applications of urban mobility behaviour data and propose a temporal bipartite network that reveals mobility patterns between people and places. It helps to track urban inequalities in social mixing, facility access and adaptation.

Five ways to bridge the ‘know–do’ continuum in global health

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02106-8

The ‘know–do’ gap is the failure to act on evidence and knowledge from research to improve health outcomes. Considering the know–do gap as a simple linear dichotomous concept is a fallacy, because it instead represents a continuum. Five recommendations focused on this continuum can address global health challenges.

Cultivating allyship for a diverse, equitable and inclusive academia

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02104-w

We propose six actionable steps of allyship that researchers, faculty members and educators can engage in to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive academia: listening to marginalized voices, challenging one’s own biases, speaking up to include disadvantaged groups, speaking out to confront bias, advocating for inclusive policies and dismantling institutional biases.

A call for precision in the study of behaviour and decision

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 03 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02111-x

By definition, behavioural and decision scientists study behaviour and decision — but they rarely define these concepts, which results in divergent interpretations across studies. Researchers should give precise definitions of these concepts to enhance theoretical understanding and develop more effective and ethical interventions.

A systematic review and meta-analyses of the temporal stability and convergent validity of risk preference measures

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 27 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02085-2

Bagaïni et al. use an individual participant data meta-analytic approach to summarize the temporal stability of 358 risk preference measures, finding evidence of low agreement across measures.

Combating China’s retraction crisis

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02099-w

The emergence of China as a global leader in scientific output is being overshadowed by a growing crisis of confidence in its research integrity. In addition to existing efforts, we propose five actionable initiatives to bolster the fight against China’s retraction crisis.

Healthcare use in 12–18-year-old adolescents vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 versus unvaccinated in a national register-based Danish cohort

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 20 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02097-y

This real-life register-based cohort study examined healthcare use in Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2-vaccinated 12–18-years-olds and age-matched controls. Estimates were close to one and do not indicate that BNT162b2 leads to a practically meaningful increase in healthcare use among vaccinated adolescents.
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