Psychology news

• Potential New Drug Target for Protection against Certain Neurodegenerative Diseases

  20-03-2015 23:08
  Hypermethylation - the epigenetic ability to turn down or turn off a bad gene implicated in 10 to 30 percent of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) - serves as a protective barrier inhibiting the development of these diseases, researchers have found. Their work may suggest a neuroprotective target for drug discovery efforts.
  
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• Changes in a blood-based molecular pathway identified in Alzheimer's disease

  20-03-2015 20:56
  New research identifies a bridge between the mechanisms that spur the destruction of neurons in Alzheimer's disease - accumulation of the amyloid-? peptide (the main component of plaques found in Alzheimer's patient brains) and chronic inflammation.
  
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• Women who sleep more also have more sex

  20-03-2015 18:13 via time.com
  
  Researchers suggest that each additional hour of sleep increases the next day's possibility of sex by more than ten percent.
  
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• Glimpse into the regulation of water exchange in the brain

  20-03-2015 15:15
  The mechanism that regulates the flow of water in brain cells has been discovered by researchers. The human brain is 80 percent water, which makes the constant regulation of the amount of fluid in the brain very important. Disruptions in the regulation of the direction or speed of the water flow are associated with medical conditions, including hydrocephalus ("water in the brain"), for example.
  
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• Troops who don't pass the smell test likely have traumatic brain injury

  20-03-2015 15:15
  Decreased ability to identify specific odors can predict abnormal neuroimaging results in blast-injured troops, according to a new study. The olfactory system processes thousands of different odors, sending signals to the brain which interprets the smell by linking it to a past memory. If memory is impaired, as is the case with Alzheimer's disease, sleep deprivation, and acute traumatic brain injury, the task is not entirely possible.
  
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• Neuropsychology: Power naps produce a significant improvement in memory performance

  20-03-2015 14:13
  Psychologists have shown that a short nap lasting about an hour can significantly improve memory performance. The study involved examination of memory recall in 41 participants. The volunteers had to learn single words and word pairs. Once the learning phase was over, the participants were tested to determine how much information they could remember. About half of the participants were then allowed to sleep, while the others watched a DVD. After that, the participants were re-tested and those wh
  
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• Autistic and non-autistic brain differences isolated for first time

  20-03-2015 14:13
  
  The functional differences between autistic and non-autistic brains have been isolated for the first time, following the development of a new methodology for analysing MRI scans.
  
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• America's aging population will require more neurosurgeons to handle increased brain bleeds

  20-03-2015 14:11
  By 2030, chronic subdural hemorrhage (SDH) will be the most common adult brain condition requiring neurosurgical intervention in the U.S., according to a new study. And hospitals and neurosurgeons may be under-manned to handle the projected onslaught of patients.
  
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• As we begin to think of exoplanets as real worlds we could visit, we will want to go | Sarah Scoles

  20-03-2015 11:30
  
  Once we find habitable exoplanets in distant solar systems, some of us will want to – even feel we have to – explore themFor most people, Pluto is just another light in the sky, dimmer than our eyes can detect and blobby through even big telescopes. But when the New Horizons spacecraft enters its orbit this summer, Pluto will transform into a real place whose surface we can all finally see.
  Though astronomers will plow through New Horizons’ numerical data while sitting in the glow of the
  
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• Trust grows with age and is good for well-being, study shows

  20-03-2015 11:00
  New research finds trust grows as we age and there is a strong link between trust and well-being through life, suggesting it is not a liability for older people.
  
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• Physical symmetry linked to faster reactions, study shows

  20-03-2015 10:00
  Children with more symmetrical hands have speedier mental responses than others, according to a study.
  
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• No room to think: depressive thoughts may have a negative effect on working memory

  20-03-2015 10:00
  A new study in the journal Cognition and Emotion illustrates the link between reduced working memory capacity and dysphoria, a significant and prolonged depressed mood related to clinical...
  
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• What motivates men who kill police?

  20-03-2015 09:00
  Who intentionally seeks to kill a policeman and why? In 2014 the rate of policemen purposely killed in the line of duty in the U.S. was nearly 1.5 times greater than in 2013.
  
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• How men speak with their friends could be linked to sexual violence

  20-03-2015 08:00
  The manner in which men discuss sex and women with their friends may influence how likely a man is to commit acts of sexual aggression toward women, a study reports.
  
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