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    We turn on and listen to music almost automatically. One kind to wake ourselves up in the morning, another to calm down after a difficult conversation, and a third simply as background while we work. A familiar melody accompanies us on the road, during household chores, or while exercising. Sometimes it even seems harder to concentrate on work or studying without it.

    But does music work the same way in all these situations? Is it possible to choose a track that is guaranteed to improve our mood and make us more effective? And why does a favorite song sometimes help us focus, while at other times it becomes a major distraction?

    A new study suggests that the music itself is only part of the story. Just as important are the purpose for which we turn it on, the difficulty of the task at hand, and our ability to notice our own emotional state.

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    We can be very afraid of an upcoming conversation — and still begin it. We can feel anxious before a trip but not cancel it. Yet sometimes even moderate fear makes us postpone a meeting, change our route, or make efforts to avoid ever encountering what frightens us.

    It may seem that the intensity of fear directly determines our behavior: the more frightened we are, the farther away we stay. But the relationship between experience and action is not that simple. Two people may rate their fear equally, yet one may quickly approach its source while the other freezes, takes a few steps, backs away, or stops at the very end.

    A study by Sergio Frumento and colleagues, published on September 11, 2026, in Communications Psychology, showed that avoidance consists of different elements. To understand it, it is not enough simply to ask how afraid we are or to measure the distance at which we stop. We need to see the whole path — from the first hesitation to the final step.

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    We walk into a room and forget why we came. We spend several minutes looking for the phone that has been lying next to us the whole time. We reread a paragraph and cannot remember a single word. Anxiety sets in: it feels as though this did not happen before. Is our memory really getting worse?

    Such lapses also happen to young, healthy people. However, a new study shows that the feeling of having an unreliable memory does not always indicate a decline in cognitive abilities themselves. Sometimes it is more closely related to how well we sleep and to our emotional state.

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    Modern artificial intelligence can respond so sympathetically that it sometimes creates the impression of genuine understanding. It chooses careful words, acknowledges our feelings, and keeps the conversation going. But can it do more than talk about emotions — can it actually recognize them from our voice and movements? On September 3, 2026, Scientific Reports published the results of a study by David Piterman and colleagues on the ability of generative AI to recognize nonverbal expressions of emotion. The researchers tested three multimodal models from the Gemini family and compared their accuracy with that of people performing similar tasks.

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    Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly visible part of our lives, and with it comes talk of a new wave of anxiety. We worry about losing our jobs, about the security of our personal data, about not being able to keep up with new technologies, and about how far the development of AI may ultimately go.

    All of these concerns are often grouped under a single expression — “AI anxiety.” However, a new study suggests that this label hides different kinds of worries that may arise independently of one another.

    Researchers from the Universities of Pisa and Bergen developed a special scale called AISAS, designed to measure stress and anxiety related to AI. The work consisted of two preregistered studies conducted among adults in the United Kingdom. The samples were constructed to reflect the country’s population in terms of age, sex, and ethnicity.

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    It is commonly assumed that information bubbles are created mainly by social media algorithms. They show us content similar to what we have already been interested in and gradually surround us with familiar opinions. But a new study reminds us that we also help create these bubbles ourselves when we decide whom to stay connected with and whom it may be better to unfollow.

    Researchers from the University of Michigan and Duke University created an experimental social network in which participants could learn about one another’s views on various social issues. The study involved 373 people. Altogether, they made 7,328 decisions about whether to maintain a connection with another user or break it.

    The result was quite expected: participants were significantly more likely to cut contact with people whose beliefs differed from their own. The greater the disagreement, the higher the probability that the connection would be broken.

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    When we feel bad, we often expect our energy, interest, and desire to do anything to return first — and only then do we think we will be able to start going out again, socializing, working, or returning to our usual activities. However, research on behavioral activation suggests that this sequence can also work in reverse: sometimes a small action comes first, and only then does our state gradually begin to change.

    In August 2026, the journal Clinical Psychology Review published the largest review to date of research on behavioral activation for depression. The authors combined the results of 105 randomized studies involving almost 14,000 patients.

    Behavioral activation is a form of psychotherapy based on gradually bringing back into our lives activities that may be important, useful, or capable of giving us at least a small sense of satisfaction. With depression, these activities usually become fewer and fewer. We meet loved ones less often, abandon familiar routines, move less, and become increasingly distant from what once gave our lives meaning.

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