Psychology news

• Exercise may help keep seniors moving longer despite old age brain decline

  11-03-2015 23:57
  Older people who are physically active may be protecting themselves from the effects of small areas of brain damage that can affect their movement abilities, according to a new study. The results remained the same after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect the relationship, such as body mass index (BMI), depression and vascular disease.
  
  Read more

• Rat brains point to lead's role in schizophrenia

  11-03-2015 21:05
  
  A study of the brains of rats exposed to lead has uncovered striking similarities with what is known about the brains of human schizophrenia patients, adding compelling evidence that lead is a factor in the onset of schizophrenia.
  
  Read more

• Steroids rapidly restore blood-brain barrier function after blast

  11-03-2015 21:02
  
  The first study has been undertaken to determine underlying biological mechanisms that promote functional recovery of the blood-brain barrier after blast injury, demonstrating that treatment with the glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, after primary blast injury promotes rapid recovery of an in vitro model of the BBB. These findings may also help improve outcomes in brain-injured soldiers and civilians, reducing the length of their mandatory rest periods before returning to duty.
  
  Read more

• Feasibility of blood-based test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease

  11-03-2015 19:09
  
  The first evidence that a simple blood test could be developed to confirm the presence of beta amyloid proteins in the brain, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, has been presented by researchers.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Promising 'natural' Alzheimer's treatment moves toward clinical trials

  11-03-2015 17:46
  
  A promising new natural treatment for Alzheimer's disease is moving toward clinical trials. This will be a major step forward as there is nothing on the market that slows the progression of Alzheimer's; natural products chemist has patented a botanical compound, withanamides.
  
  Read more

• Brain processes ongoing pain more emotionally

  11-03-2015 17:45
  
  A momentary lapse of concentration is all it takes for a finger to become trapped or sprain an ankle -- and it hurts. Pain is the body's protective mechanism and a complex neurological phenomenon. Moreover, ongoing pain in the sense of chronic pain can be a disease, clinicians say. Scientists have now demonstrated that already during a few minutes of ongoing pain, the underlying brain activity changes by shifting from sensory to emotional processes.
  
  Read more

• Repairing the cerebral cortex: It can be done

  11-03-2015 17:45
  
  An important step in the area of cell therapy has been taken by scientists: repairing the cerebral cortex of the adult mouse using a graft of cortical neurons derived from embryonic stem cells. These results also suggest that damaged circuits can be restored only by using neurons of the same type as the damaged area.
  
  Read more

• Brain waves predict our risk for insomnia

  11-03-2015 17:44
  
  There may not yet be a cure for insomnia, but researchers are a step closer to predicting who is most likely to suffer from it -- just in time for World Sleep Day on March 13. Researchers note that we should all keep abiding by the habits already acknowledged to promote a good night's sleep: "Avoid sources of stress when going to bed, preserve the bedroom environment for sleep and not for work, and avoid stimulation. Find ways to relax before going to sleep."
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Avoid 'overvaluing' your child to prevent narcissism

  11-03-2015 15:00
  'Emotional warmth' in parenting is the key to making sure your children grow up full of self-esteem, rather than narcissism, according to a new study.
  
  Read more

• Gene linked with early epilepsy discovered

  11-03-2015 13:17
  Certain types of early-onset epilepsy are caused by previously unknown mutations of a potassium channel gene, KCNA2. The mutations disrupt the electrical balance in the brain in two ways. In some patients, the flow of potassium is greatly reduced; while in others, it is raised enormously. Both states can lead to hard-to-treat epileptic seizures. New information may lead to a treatment to help prevent poor brain development in some cases, researchers say.
  
  Read more

• Dark neural patches explored

  11-03-2015 13:15
  
  Researchers have found a surprise upon mapping the precise connectivity inside a brain structure called the neostriatum. The cell groups here do not seem to be talking to each other, and are less interdependent in their functioning than previously suspected.
  
  Read more

• Everyone's opinions are fatiguing after a while – even your own | Jess Zimmerman

  11-03-2015 13:15
  
  It’s tiring to lug around your armor of spurious competence and exhausting to weather a swarm of weigh-ins from everyone elseIf you’ve ever wanted to throw your computer away rather than express or read another take on the same subject, congratulations: you have opinion fatigue.
  This phenomenon is not new, but it’s increasingly universal. In the mid-2000s, when, like everyone, I had a blog, I would sometimes feel sickening dread when news happened and I was expected to weigh in. It felt
  
  Read more

• Computer model explains how brain learns to categorize

  11-03-2015 13:12
  A computer model has been devised to explain how a neural circuit learns to classify sensory stimuli into discrete categories, such as "car vs. motorcycle." Their findings shed new light on the brain processes underpinning judgments we make on a daily basis.
  
  Read more

• Capitalism was supposed to reduce red tape. Why is bureaucracy worse than ever? | Oliver Burkeman

  11-03-2015 12:45
  
  Rules, queues and paperwork help make daily interactions predictable, anonymous and superficially egalitarian in ways from which most of us benefitLast month, I became a customer of Time Warner Cable, New York’s favorite quasi-monopolistic provider of patchy broadband that’s worse than the internet in Bucharest. Given the firm’s reputation, I was genuinely surprised at how smoothly it all went, up to the point at which I’d entered my debit card details. (I know, I know; in hindsight it s
  
  Read more

• Bureaucracy is tedious and frustrating. It's also capitalism's fault | Oliver Burkeman

  11-03-2015 12:45
  
  Rules, queues and paperwork help make daily interactions predictable, anonymous and superficially egalitarian in ways from which most of us benefitLast month, I became a customer of Time Warner Cable, New York’s favorite quasi-monopolistic provider of patchy broadband that’s worse than the internet in Bucharest. Given the firm’s reputation, I was genuinely surprised at how smoothly it all went, up to the point at which I’d entered my debit card details. (I know, I know; in hindsight it s
  
  Read more

• Testosterone nasal gel works best at three doses a day, study finds

  11-03-2015 09:00
  A new testosterone nasal gel raises men's low testosterone levels to normal, with few side effects, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial presented at the Endocrine Society's 97th...
  
  Read more

• San Diego clinic finds high need for treatment of transgender youth

  11-03-2015 09:00
  A new study has confirmed that transgender youth often have mental health problems and that their depression and anxiety improve greatly with recognition and treatment of gender dysphoria.
  
  Read more

• People with anorexia and body dysmorphic disorder have similar brain anomalies

  11-03-2015 09:00
  People with anorexia nervosa and with body dysmorphic disorder have similar abnormalities in their brains that affect their ability to process visual information, a new UCLA study reveals.
  
  Read more

• Risk of breast cancer in transgender persons -- a study of veterans

  11-03-2015 08:00
  A study of breast cancer in transgender veterans has identified ten new cases, increasing the total number of published cases in both female-to-male and male-to-female transgender persons.
  
  Read more

• Have a sense of purpose in life? It may protect your heart

  11-03-2015 08:00
  New study by Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt shows having a high sense of purpose may lower your risk of death, heart disease, or strokeHaving a high sense of purpose in life may...
  
  Read more

Follow @PsychologyUKnws on Twitter!