Psychology news

• Patient awakes from post-traumatic minimally conscious state after administration of depressant drug

  12-12-2014 18:24
  A patient who had suffered a traumatic brain injury unexpectedly recovered full consciousness after the administration of midazolam, a mild depressant drug of the GABA A agonists family. This resulted in the first recorded case of an "awakening" from a minimally-conscious state (MCS) using this therapy. Although similar awakenings have been reported using other drugs, this dramatic result was unanticipated.
  
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• Are you genetically predisposed to antisocial behaviour?

  12-12-2014 18:24
  Both positive and negative experiences influence how genetic variants affect the brain and thereby behavior, according to a new study. “Evidence is accumulating to show that the effects of variants of many genes that are common in the population depend on environmental factors. Further, these genetic variants affect each other,” explained one researcher.
  
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• 'Men are idiots and idiots do stupid things,' study finds

  12-12-2014 17:00
  Scientists use the Darwin Awards - an annual commemoration of individuals who have died 'in exceptionally stupid ways' - to prove the hypothesis of 'male idiot theory.'
  
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• India tackles worryingly high level of suicides among young people

  12-12-2014 15:59 via cnn.com
  
  India has the highest suicide rate worldwide for ages 15 to 29.
  
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• Woman seeking man with GSOH for better sex | Andrew Brown

  12-12-2014 15:25
  
  According to a new study, women have better orgasms if their lover is rich, handsome and has a good sense of humourOnce upon a time, when we all lived in small hunter-gatherer groups on the African veldt, hominids who could come up with the most ingenious stories about how miserable they were on the veldt apparently got laid more often than their more prosaic rivals.So they had more descendants, who are us, and we tell ourselves stories about how all our present miseries can be explained because
  
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• Obese children's brains more responsive to sugar

  12-12-2014 15:17
  The brains of obese children literally light up differently when tasting sugar, a new study has found. This elevated sense of "food reward" -- which involves being motivated by food and deriving a good feeling from it -- could mean some children have brain circuitries that predispose them to crave more sugar throughout life, researchers say.
  
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• Worried about buying the perfect holiday gift? Overthinking it won't help | Oliver Burkeman

  12-12-2014 12:45
  
  Being extremely thoughtful about your gift-giving may lead you to choose presents that that your loved ones might not loveThere’s a certain kind of person – maybe you know one, maybe you are one – who takes great pride in being an incredibly thoughtful giver of holiday gifts. To unwrap a present from such a person is to be forcibly confronted with the sheer quantity of effort and time he or she has invested in finding something perfectly right for you. Which can be lovely, of course, but a
  
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• All about kissing – why it’s so much fun

  12-12-2014 11:02
  
  Kisses establish the ‘chemistry’ of romance, set off a whirlwind of neurotransmitters and provide clues to a partner’s DNAScientists in the Netherlands have reported that we share about 80m bacteria during a passionate 10-second kiss: a finding that makes puckering up seem cringe-worthy – and downright unsanitary.But take heart: we’re more likely to get sick by shaking hands throughout the day than through kissing. And the science behind this behaviour reveals that along with all of th
  
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• Learning is not hindered by consistent distraction

  12-12-2014 10:00
  
  A new study challenges the idea that distraction is necessarily a problem for learning.
  
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• Discovery of novel drug target may lead to better treatment for schizophrenia

  12-12-2014 10:00
  
  Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a novel drug target that could lead to the development of better antipsychotic medications.Dr.
  
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• Study finds self-worth key to diagnoses of psychopathologies

  12-12-2014 09:00
  
  Donald Trump's ego may be the size of his financial empire, but that doesn't mean he's the picture of mental health.
  
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• Don't punish your child for lying - it just doesn't work

  12-12-2014 09:00
  
  If you want your child to tell the truth, it's best not to threaten to punish them if they lie.
  
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• Adverse childhood experiences impact child health and school outcomes

  12-12-2014 09:00
  
  Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to at least one social or family experience that can lead to traumatic stress and impact their healthy development - be it having their...
  
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• Parkinson's disease: Study focuses on regulation of dopamine levels

  12-12-2014 00:05
  A mechanism regulating dopamine levels in the brain has been revealed by a study on a mouse model of late onset Parkinson's disease. Using gene expression profiling, a method to measure the activity of thousands of genes, researchers investigated dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain, which are nerve cells that use dopamine to send signals to other nerve cells. These neurons are known to degenerate in Parkinson's disease.
  
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