Young people’s brains cope with stress in a completely different way to adults, in complete contrast to the conventional wisdom that the brains of humans of all ages act similarly. This is the conclusion of a study conducted on rats at the University of Haifa. The study found that young rats not only extinguished fear much more rapidly, but that while in adult rats the plasticity of the prefrontal cortex declined, among young rats a different mechanism actually enhances plasticity.

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The University will award six Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa degrees to:Prof. Robert (Uri) Alter, Prof. Carol Padden, Mr. Felix Posen, Ms. Orna Porat, Mr. Noah Klieger and Mrs. Shira and Mr. Jay Ruderman,…

Men and women attracted to men are more empathetic than men and women attracted to women, according to a new study from the Department of Psychology. “People attracted to a particular gender, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual, have common social tools, and thus exhibit the same level of empathy,” said Professor Simone Shamay-Tsoory of the Department of Psychology who conducted the study.

The University and the East China New University (ECNU) of Shanghai inaugurated a joint Shanghai-Haifa research center in a festive ceremony. This is the first center of its kind in Shanghai for Israeli and Chinese academia, and it will enable researchers from both countries to submit research proposals to Chinese research funds. The Chinese government, who finances these funds, invests an estimated 40 billion dollars in grants each year.