Call it instinct, but something compels some animals to behave in certain ways, perhaps programs in their genes. Researchers have directly connected activities of genes with instinctive behavior in ...

How exactly does a newly-hatched spider weave a perfect web that is characteristic of his or her species—without ever even having seen such a web, let alone having been trained to spin one? How do ...

Researchers at the Sainsbury Wellcome Center (SWC) at UCL have unveiled the precise brain mechanisms that enable animals to overcome instinctive fears. Published in Science, the study in mice could ...

This is a passionate (and at times polemical) survey of what contemporary neuroscience has to say about the nature of instinct. Actually, as it turns out, it might be more accurate to say the "nurture ...

Some dogs are born with a powerful instinct to chase, stalk, and pursue. These traits once made them exceptional hunters, herders, or working companions. Known as prey drive, this natural behavior ...

Turtles, like most critters, instinctively avoid obstacles. Researchers have tapped into this instinct to steer a turtle without sticking probes into its brain or muscles, an achievement that could ...

Hiking a glacier with my family and dog, Lovie, I was thinking about the nature of instincts and how both humans and dogs share them—how they help us get along in the world, not having to ponder or ...

Living with a cat can feel confusing at times. Some of their habits seem random or inconvenient, but most of them come from natural instincts rather than mischief. Once you understand that, their ...