Psychology

Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly. By comparing healthy people and those with damage to different parts of the brain, they found the front of the brain was key to understanding sarcasm. Damage to any of three different areas could render individuals unable to understand sarcastic comments. View news story

If winning is everything, British anthropologists have some advice: Wear red. Their survey of four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens shows competitors were more likely to win their contests if they wore red uniforms or red body armor. View news story

The brain reacts differently to the faces of people from different races, research shows. When volunteers looked at pictures of African-Americans, the brain area that processes emotions became active, a study in Nature Neuroscience found. When they looked at photos of Caucasian faces, the activity was much less. View news story

Growing research shows that babies as young as four months show a preference for certain colours. Dr Anna Franklin, from the Surrey Baby Lab, has studied more than 250 babies to look at which colours they prefer. View news story

Fake acupuncture works just as well as the real thing in relieving migraines, scientists have found. In a study of more than 300 patients, both genuine and sham acupuncture reduced the intensity of headache compared with no treatment at all. View news story

Scientists believe they have identified the gene which determines how much sleep humans can get by on. A US team found that fruit flies with a mutated version of the gene were able to get by on much less sleep than others. Fruit flies have a similar genetic make-up and sleep patterns to humans. University of Wisconsin Medical School researchers said the findings might help develop new techniques to treat people with sleeping problems. View news story