Psychology news

• Early exposure to antidepressants affects adult anxiety, serotonin transmission

  19-12-2014 22:06
  
  Early developmental exposure to two different antidepressants, Prozac and Lexapro, has been studied by researchers in a mouse model that mimics human third trimester medication exposure. They found that, although these serotonin-selective reuptake inhibiting antidepressants were thought to work the same way, they did not produce the same long-term changes in anxiety behavior in the adult mice. About 15 percent of women in the United States suffer from anxiety disorders and depression during thei
  
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• Gene critical for proper brain development discovered

  19-12-2014 16:41
  A genetic pathway has been found that accounts for the extraordinary size of the human brain. The research team has identified a gene, KATNB1, as an essential component in a genetic pathway responsible for central nervous system development in humans and other animals.
  
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• Neuroscientists identify brain mechanisms that predict generosity in children

  19-12-2014 16:39
  
  Developmental neuroscientists have found specific brain markers that predict generosity in children. Those neural markers appear to be linked to both social and moral evaluation processes. Although young children are natural helpers, their perspective on sharing resources tends to be selfish.
  
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• Oliver Burkeman: family mind games at Christmas

  19-12-2014 16:00
  
  ‘Family fights and failing marriages aren’t our own unique tribulations. They’re just variations on “games” we all unwittingly play. This week, why not try to catch yourself in the act?’As Christmas approaches, my thoughts turn to a legendary gentleman with a white beard, famous for his concern with children’s good or bad behaviour, and for his reindeer. I’m talking about Sigmund Freud. (I was lying about the reindeer.) The rest of the time, we can tell ourselves that Freud�
  
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• Misfiring in the brain's control system linked to OCD

  19-12-2014 16:00
  Compulsions as a result of OCD may be down to the brain's control system misfiring, says a new study, adding evidence that OCD stems from an overactive habit system in the brain.
  
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• OCD patients' brains light up to reveal how compulsive habits develop

  19-12-2014 14:51
  Misfiring of the brain's control system might underpin compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to researchers.
  
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• Unbroken: what makes some people more resilient than others? | David Cox

  19-12-2014 13:54
  
  The resilience of people like Louis Zamperini in the face of extraordinary trauma, as depicted in the film Unbroken, has lessons for psychiatrists treating post-traumatic stress disorder“We hit the water nose down. The plane exploded. I felt like someone hit me in the forehead with a sledgehammer. Everything almost stood still for a moment. I looked around and the plane was completely blown apart.”
  Louis Zamperini was talking to an interviewer on CBS in 1992. He died earlier this year at t
  
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• Brain's 'homing signal' points us in right direction

  19-12-2014 12:00
  Scientists discover that a homing signal in the brain's entorhinal region tells us not only which direction we face, but also which direction to turn so we reach our destination.
  
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• People with low numeracy feel negative about taking part in bowel cancer screening

  19-12-2014 09:00
  
  PEOPLE who have problems with numbers may be more likely to feel negative about bowel cancer screening, including fearing an abnormal result, while some think the test is disgusting or embarrassing...
  
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• How cartoons kill: Kids' main cartoon characters more than twice as likely to die as counterparts in films for adults

  19-12-2014 09:00
  
  Principal cartoon characters are more than twice as likely to be killed off as their counterparts in films for adults released in the same year, reveals research from the University of Ottawa and...
  
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• Aggression in young male prisoners can be reduced by treating ADHD

  19-12-2014 09:00
  
  An international research consortium, including a biologist from Leicester, has heard that aggression in young male prisoners can be reduced by treating ADHD.
  
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• A person's negative biases about others diminished by virtual bodyswapping

  19-12-2014 09:00
  What if you could, for a moment, have the body of someone of a different race, age, or sex? Would that change the way you feel about yourself or the way that you stereotype different social groups?
  
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• Did 2014 mark the beginning of the end for mental health stigma? | Dean Burnett

  19-12-2014 08:15
  
  A lot of dreadful things happened in 2014. But one potential positive trend is that it seemed increasingly difficult to get away with dismissing or condemning those with mental health problems. Is this an anomaly, or is the tide really turning against mental health stigma?
  • The Guardian and Observer Christmas appeal on mental health
  • Click here to donate to the Guardian and Observer Christmas charity appealIn August, I did a post about the very tragic passing of Robin Williams. It was a q
  
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• Did 2014 mark beginning of the end for mental health stigma? | Dean Burnett

  19-12-2014 08:15
  
  A lot of dreadful things happened in 2014. But one potential positive trend is that it seemed increasingly difficult to get away with dismissing or condemning those with mental health problems. Is this an anomaly, or is the tide really turning against mental health stigma? In August, I did a post about the very tragic passing of Robin Williams. It was a quickly written piece, but much to my surprise it rapidly became my most popular article to date, probably always will be given the numbers invo
  
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• The Jigsaw Classroom Goes Mobile with New Website

  19-12-2014 07:44 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: Social Psychology Network NewsSocial Psychology Network has released a new-and-improved website on the jigsaw classroom, a cooperative learning technique used by thousands of classrooms to reduce racial conflict and increase positive educational outcomes such as improved test performance, reduced absenteeism, and greater liking for school.
  
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• How Parents Can Help Shy Children

  19-12-2014 07:44 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - ScienceShy babies and toddlers are at greater risk of developing anxiety later in life, compared with outgoing kids. In fact, shyness and withdrawal from new situations is linked to later anxiety only in babies and toddlers without a secure attachment to their caregivers, according to new research published today (Dec. 18) in the journal Child Development. A secure attachment is a warm, nurturing relationship in which kids feel confident to explore...
  
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• Why boredom is bad... and good for you

  19-12-2014 04:50 via bbc.com
  
  Being bored could hinder our lives in ways we don’t realize, but it may also have helped shape one of our most productive characteristics.
  
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• Ability to balance on one leg may reflect brain health, stroke risk

  19-12-2014 03:00
  Struggling to stand on one leg for less than 20 seconds was linked to an increased risk for stroke, small blood vessel damage in the brain, and reduced cognitive function in otherwise healthy people, a study has shown. One-legged standing time may be a simple test used to measure early signs of abnormalities in the brain associated with cognitive decline, cerebral small vessel disease and stroke.
  
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• Parkinson's disease reverted at experimental stage

  19-12-2014 02:58
  
  Scientists demonstrated experimentally, with adult rats, that mobility can be restored in patients with Parkinson's disease, the major degenerative disease of the motor system worldwide. The experiments have not yet been transferred to humans, but are a scientific, measurable and repeatable basis to fight against this disease.
  
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