How does the hippocampus integrate fragmented sights and sounds into a coherent experience? This study reveals auditory and multisensory coding in the human hippocampus, including a functional dissoci...

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For people who have near-death experiences (NDEs), these encounters can be so deeply moving and life-changing that language seems inadequate. Many describe them as vivid, multisensory experiences, filled with mental imagery of colors, places and people.

The space surrounding the body where physical interactions with external stimuli occur is referred to as peripersonal space (PPS). Traditionally conceived as a spatial construct, PPS is better understood as a neural representation that integrates bodily inputs with external cues to predict body–object interactions. After summarizing its multisensory, motor, and plastic properties, this review draws on computational models to examine how PPS captures statistical regularities of body–object interactions. This predictive function may position PPS as an interface between self and environment, contributing to minimal self-consciousness and its alterations across states of consciousness and neuropsychiatric conditions. Recent findings extend this framework to the inner body, suggesting that interoceptive signals shape PPS and that PPS-related processing may influence immune responses.

Scientific Reports - Heterogeneous relationships between the multisensory content of aphantasics’ dreams and their volitional waking imagined experiences

When Peat Speaks: A Boggy Gassy Bubbly Ensemble is a multisensory, multidisciplinary interspecies performance on a peat bog at sunset. The performance was staged at sunset on a degraded “Cinderella” ...

About 4.4 million Australians plan to celebrate Halloween this year, a decrease of 400,000 from last year, with 18-to-34-year-olds being the largest participating age group. Despite the drop in participants, those celebrating plan to spend more on average, approximately $117 per person, a 13.6% increase from last year. The article highlights several streets across Sydney known for their Halloween celebrations. Renwick Street in Drummoyne is a popular inner-west location, featuring a multisensory installation called the House of Gummy, created by artist James Dive in collaboration with Nerds candy. Trafalgar Street in Annadale and Horton Street in Marrickville also host festive decorations and events, with Horton Street closing for trick-or-treating. In northern Sydney, Benelong Road and Brightmore Street in Cremorne attract large crowds, as do Burlington Street and Ernest Street in Crows Nest. Southern Sydney locations include Thurlgona Road in Engadine and Sutherland Road in Jannali. The Rocks in the city centre hosts Ghost in The Rocks, featuring live music, immersive experiences, and Halloween market stalls. Western Sydney events include Blacktown's Muru Way and Warrick Lane, which will shut for a free Halloween event with face painting and a disco, and Campbelltown's Queen Street hosting the Fisher's Ghost Parade. Costume trends mentioned include KPop Demon Hunters, Dolly Parton, Nikki from Obsession, Elizabeth Holmes, Nathan Fielder, and classic options like police officers, Harry Potter characters, and prisoner jumpsuits. Organisers emphasise the community aspect of Halloween, with Renwick Street organiser Thornhill noting it's about building community spirit and bringing people together. The article concludes with a focus on how these events foster community connections and provide fun for children and families.

Step through the doors of a cultural centre in Jaffa, Israel, and you enter a world built for every kind of body. The Center is a unique nonprofit cultural and arts center that serves as a meeting pla...

Author summary Animals often encounter microbes while feeding, yet the mechanisms by which they detect and respond to harmful bacteria remain poorly understood. Here, we show that Drosophila melanogaster larvae rapidly abandon food contaminated with Erwinia carotovora carotovora 15 (Ecc15), a natural bacterial pathogen. Larvae initially approach contaminated food but retreat after contact. This escape behavior requires live, metabolically active bacteria and depends on both gustatory and olfactory inputs. Specifically, larvae use a gustatory receptor that detects aversive contact cues together with an olfactory receptor that senses bacterial odors. Blocking either pathway abolishes escape. Although larvae can relocate to uncontaminated food when alternative resources are available, they also transfer viable bacteria to new substrates. Our findings reveal a previously unknown multisensory avoidance response in insect larvae and highlight how host behavioral responses can simultaneously