Psychology news

• Salience network linked to brain disorders

  05-12-2014 17:40
  A brain structure called the insula is essential for selecting things out of the environment that are 'salient' for an individual, and dysfunction of this system is linked to brain disorders such as autism, psychosis and dementia.
  
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• Blood brain barrier on a chip could stand in for children in pediatric brain research

  05-12-2014 17:35
  Bioengineering researchers have come up with an experimental workaround -- a synthetic pediatric blood-brain barrier on a small chip -- and have tested it successfully using rat brain endothelial cells (RBECs) from rat pups and human endothelial cells.
  
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• Images of brain after mild stroke predict future risk

  05-12-2014 15:40
  A CT scan of the brain within 24 hours of a mild, non-disabling stroke can predict when patients will be at the highest risk of another stroke or when symptoms may worsen, according to new research. Like stroke, a transient ischemic attack (TIA) is caused by restricted blood supply to the brain. Symptoms may last only a few minutes.
  
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• Dopamine helps with math rules as well as mood

  05-12-2014 15:38
  
  Rule-applying neurons work better under the influence of the happy hormone, researchers have found. The chemical messenger dopamine – otherwise known as the happiness hormone – is important not only for motivation and motor skills. It seems it can also help neurons with difficult cognitive tasks, they report.
  
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• Cerebral oxygenation in elite kenyan athletes

  05-12-2014 15:38
  A pioneering study in the world of the physiology of exercise describes for the first time that elite Kenyan athletes have greater brain oxygenation during periods of maximum physical effort, which contributes to their success in long-distance races.
  
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• Obese lose up to eight years of life

  05-12-2014 14:30 via bbc.com
  
  Study shows being severely obese can knock up to eight years off your life and cause decades of ill health.
  
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• Sit back, relax and ignore your email inbox. Nobody expects you to read it all | Oliver Burkeman

  05-12-2014 12:45
  
  In the future, maybe you’ll be able to respond to everything. For now, tame the information overload by turning off those notificationsIt’s always nice to encounter scientific backing for advice you’ve been dispensing to your friends for years, whether or not they ever actually asked for it – so I was pleased to learn of a new study lending support to the notion that if you check email less frequently, you’ll be less stressed. As Jesse Singal explains at Science of Us, researchers at t
  
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• York research spotlights male healthcare attitudes

  05-12-2014 11:00
  
  A researcher at the University of York, studying male attitudes towards self-managing long-term healthcare issues, has discovered that self-management support is better received by men if it does...
  
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• New understanding of animal emotions could improve their welfare

  05-12-2014 10:00
  New research from researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) looking at how goats express subtle positive emotions could lead to greater understanding of animal welfare.
  
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• The protective power of belonging to social groups

  05-12-2014 09:00
  
  Having a strong identification with a social group, such as a choir or a sports club, can help protect you against mental illness.
  
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• Men and women put off by macho stereotypes

  05-12-2014 09:00
  
  Some men are being driven away from macho occupations like surgery and the Royal Marines because they don't feel that they are 'man enough', according to new research.
  
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• Link discovered between fathers' criminal history and sons' intelligence

  05-12-2014 09:00
  
  Sons whose fathers have criminal records tend to have lower cognitive abilities than sons whose fathers have no criminal history, data from over 1 million Swedish men show.
  
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• Autism and gender nonconformity combined present unique challenges

  05-12-2014 09:00
  
  The challenges in providing psychotherapy to individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who also are struggling with their gender identity are explored in two case studies of high-functioning...
  
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• The UK pornography law: a scientific perspective | Dean Burnett

  05-12-2014 08:15
  
  This week Britain introduced a controversial law restricting types of online pornography. Criticisms of these rules are many, but one complaint is that they make no logical sense. So do these new laws and their supposed rationale stand up to scientific scrutiny? It looks doubtful As far as I’m aware, I have no bizarre sexual leanings. I don’t talk about my own sex life – it would probably be as entertaining as listening to someone read aloud from the Dulux colour chart, specifically the pa
  
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• Wikipedia's Gender Problem Gets a Closer Look

  05-12-2014 04:30 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - ScienceWikipedia has a gender problem. A 2011 editor survey by the Wikimedia Foundation pegged the number of active female editors at only 9 percent. Now, researchers are delving into how that gender schism affects the content of Wikipedia, even as the Wikimedia Foundation and independent groups search for ways to get more women involved. "This is something that people have lots of opinions about, but about which there is very little serious research,"...
  
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• Why Does Physical Activity During Childhood Matter?

  05-12-2014 04:30 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyMost scientific research on the topic of physical inactivity has focused on the consequences of physical inactivity for physical health, with significant attention to obesity and medical conditions such as diabetes. A new article provides compelling new data on the consequences of physical inactivity for neural function, cognitive task performance, and academic achievement.
  
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• In U.S., Middle-Age Women Have Highest Rate of Depression

  05-12-2014 04:30 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - ScienceOne in eight middle-age women in the United States has depression, a new report finds. This means that women ages 40 to 59 have the highest rate of depression (12.3 percent) of any group based on age and gender in the U.S., according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among Americans ages 12 and older, 9.5 percent of females and 5.6 percent of males had moderate or severe depression during the previous two-week...
  
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• Gambians Live in Fear of "Aggravated Homosexuality" Law

  05-12-2014 04:30 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The GuardianFew havens available in west Africa for people forced to flee homophobia and harsh new legislation The tipoff late one night wasn’t unexpected. Since the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” had come into force in the Gambia in October, Theresa had been living in fear. Then a friend who worked for the country’s notorious police force warned her she would be targeted in a raid in a few hours’ time. Theresa’s crime was being a lesbian....
  
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• Envisioning Healthy Weight Through Virtual Reality

  05-12-2014 04:30 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: APA MonitorResearchers are exploring the possible benefits of using
  
  virtual reality to treat eating disorders and obesity.
  
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• Coaxing Better Behavior One Nudge at a Time

  05-12-2014 04:30 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: APA MonitorBehavioral science is playing a pivotal role in
  
  research and policymaking that seeks to gently
  
  steer us toward better decisions.
  
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