Human Body

Savant syndrome is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain unexplained extraordinary abilities, such as playing music or remembering prodigious amounts of information.

By Jesslyn Shields

A cloaca is a single bodily opening in many animals for excretion and reproduction. In rare human cases, failure to separate during development leads to complications.

By Alia Hoyt

We've probably all been breathing wrong our entire lives. Why is that? Experts suggest we should focus on breathing through our noses and most of us don't.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

There are eight major blood types and some are more common than others. But what's the rarest of them all?

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

Proprioception refers to our ability to perceive our body's position and how we move through space. It's often considered our sixth sense because we do it without thinking about it.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

Blue light glasses are super popular these days. But do they work the way marketers promise?

By John Perritano

You probably remember the jingle from kindergarten ... the shin bone's connected to the, wait, what bone is it?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

The Golgi apparatus is the mail room of the cell, packaging up proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum and sending them to their final destinations.

By Jesslyn Shields

Although the inability to picture things in your head would seem to be a hinderance, some experts say it's definitely not a creativity killer and actually can have some advantages.

By Alia Hoyt

A low oxygen level in your blood is a good indicator of a COVID-19 infection, but what exactly does that mean and how do doctors test for it?

By Patty Rasmussen

Maybe you've never even thought about it when you've smelled - or emitted - a particularly odoriferous fart. But can that fart spread disease?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

You almost never notice the way your own place smells. Why is that?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

'Emma' is the hard-to-ignore embodiment of what years behind a desk could do to your body. She's hunched over, has bad skin and even varicose veins. Don't become Emma.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

The cerebellum is the part of our brain that controls voluntary movements like posture, balance, coordination and speech.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

The hypothalamus is a tiny area of your brain that keeps everything - hunger, thirst, sleep, energy, mood - in balance.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Sometimes referred to as the "cuddle hormone," oxytocin is released during sex and breastfeeding. But does it make you fall in love with someone or just bond you more with someone you already love?

By Dave Roos

Located in the temporal lobe, this tiny horseshoe-shaped organ plays a massive role in both the storage of long-term memories and the creation of new ones.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Homeostasis comes from the Greek words for "similar" and "steady" but this state of steadiness is anything but boring. In fact, it's what you want your body to be.

By Alia Hoyt

The amygdala is a small part of the human brain that most humans have probably never heard of.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

A new study found that giving your feet a boost in the bathroom lessened constipation (and straining) significantly.

By Alia Hoyt

It seems pretty safe to blow the old honker, doesn't it? Well, think again.

By Jesslyn Shields

A group of scientists are trying to end the misleading claim that excessive sitting is just as bad for you as smoking.

By Alia Hoyt

Travelers commonly experience unusual bowel symptoms while traveling. Why is this, and what can we do about it?

By Jesslyn Shields

The eye twitching that's driving you crazy - it's likely caused by nothing more than stress or fatigue. But you may need to see a doctor if you have other symptoms, too.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Listed as an organ donor on your driver's license? That designation does not include your brain.

By Chris Opfer