Psychology news

• Neurological diseases share common blood-brain barrier defects

  30-03-2015 23:38
  Although stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and traumatic brain injury each affect the central nervous system differently, a new study finds that they share common defects in the blood-brain barrier that can be traced to a single set of genes. The findings could yield new approaches for treating brain diseases.
  
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• Parents rarely spot child obesity

  30-03-2015 23:34 via bbc.com
  
  Doctors warn that parental lack of recognition to spot a child's obesity has damaging consequences.
  
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• Profiling the distracted driver: Young, female and solo

  30-03-2015 23:32 via well.blogs.nytimes.com
  Researchers say lone drivers are more likely to be talking on the phone thandrivers carrying passengers, and women are more likely to be texting than men.
  
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• Should pilots be outed for their psychological problems?

  30-03-2015 23:22 via cnn.com
  
  Stigma can make pilots fear job loss and thus hide diagnoses and not seek treatment.
  
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• 'Wikipedia' for neurons created

  30-03-2015 22:33
  To help scientists make sense of 'brain big data,' researchers have used data mining to create www.neuroelectro.org, a publicly available website that acts like Wikipedia, indexing physiological information about neurons. The site will help to accelerate the advance of neuroscience research by providing a centralized resource for collecting and comparing data on neuronal function.
  
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• Publication bias and 'spin' raise questions about drugs for anxiety disorders

  30-03-2015 22:33
  A new analysis raises serious questions about the increasingly common use of second-generation antidepressant drugs to treat anxiety disorders. It concludes that studies supporting the value of these medications for that purpose have been distorted by publication bias, outcome reporting bias and 'spin,' and suggests that their effectiveness has been exaggerated.
  
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• Electroconvulsive therapy changes key areas of the human brain that play a role in memory, emotion

  30-03-2015 22:26
  Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), sometimes referred to as shock treatment, changes certain areas of the brain that play a role in how people feel, learn and respond to positive and negative environmental factors, concludes a first-f-its-kind study in a large cohort of patients.
  
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• Cancer-targeting mechanism under development

  30-03-2015 22:24
  
  Researchers are developing molecules that bind to more than 60 types of cancer. Several are being tested in early-stage clinical trials, including one for brain cancer. These custom-made molecules can carry either a "flag" that shines brightly in standard medical scanners or a bit of radiation to kill the targeted cancer cells.
  
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• Component of red grapes, wine could help ease depression

  30-03-2015 19:44
  A link between inflammation and depression, which affects approximately 148 million people in the United States, has been identified by researchers. A new study finds that resveratrol -- a natural anti-inflammatory agent found in the skin of red grapes -- can prevent inflammation as well as depression-related behaviors in rodents exposed to a social stress.
  
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• Blueberries show promise as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder

  30-03-2015 19:44
  
  Roughly 8 percent of people in the US suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). SSRIs, such as Zoloft and Paxil, are the only currently-approved therapy, but their effectiveness is marginal. Researchers have found that blueberries could be an effective treatment.
  
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• 'Lightning bolts' in brain show learning in action

  30-03-2015 17:22
  
  Researchers have captured images of the underlying biological activity within brain cells and their tree-like extensions, or dendrites, in mice that show how their brains sort, store and make sense out of information during learning.
  
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• Family income, parental education related to brain structure in children, adolescents

  30-03-2015 17:22
  
  Characterizing associations between socioeconomic factors and children's brain development, a team of investigators reports correlative links between family income and brain structure. Relationships between the brain and family income were strongest in the lowest end of the economic range -- suggesting that interventional policies aimed at these children may have the largest societal impact.
  
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• Our recall of familiar objects - like the Apple logo - may not be as accurate we think

  30-03-2015 16:00
  A study that tested ability to recall the Apple logo, found only 1 out of 85 participants was able to draw it correctly, despite many being confident they would be able to do so.
  
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• Our recall of familiar objects - like the Apple logo - may not be as accurate as we think

  30-03-2015 16:00
  A study that tested ability to recall the Apple logo, found only 1 out of 85 participants was able to draw it correctly, despite many being confident they would be able to do so.
  
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• New molecular clues about mysterious brain blood vessel disorder

  30-03-2015 15:53
  
  New details about the relationship between two proteins associated with the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations, a little understood neurovascular disorder, have been uncovered by researchers.
  
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• Surprising source of serotonin could affect antidepressant activity

  30-03-2015 15:51
  
  An unconventional way that serotonin is released from neurons could play an important role in the mechanism through which antidepressant drugs work, scientists report. Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that plays a key role in regulating various emotions and behaviors. An imbalance in serotonin signaling is generally thought to contribute to depression.
  
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• Specific neurotransmitter receptor supports optimal information processing in the brain

  30-03-2015 14:37
  Researchers have been fascinated for a long time by learning and memory formation, and many questions are still open. Now neuroscientists have discovered a key building block for this complex process. A particular neurotransmitter receptor, namely the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5, is a switch for activating opposing forms of plasticity in the hippocampus, a brain region vital for memory forming.
  
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• 5 Myths Around Bullying

  30-03-2015 12:38 via counsellingresource.com
  
  It's unlikely that you can read or watch your favorite news source and not hear something on the subject of bullying. Here are some of the most common myths about bullying and why it happens.Tags: bullying, parenting and children, school and studies
  
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• Why good solutions make us oblivious to the better ones

  30-03-2015 11:00
  Psychologists have known about the so-called Einstellung effect since the 1940s. Now researchers are developing a solid understanding of how the phenomenon works.
  
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• Stereotypes lower math performance in women, but effects go unrecognized, IU study finds

  30-03-2015 09:00
  A new study from Indiana University suggests that gender stereotypes about women's ability in mathematics negatively impact their performance.
  
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• Perceived open-mindedness explains religion-based dating

  30-03-2015 09:00
  Across a number of faiths and cultures, people tend to date and marry others who share their religious beliefs.
  
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