Psychology news

• Gossiping may make you live longer – but it won’t win you many friends | Stuart Heritage

  08-06-2015 21:00
  
  According to a professor of evolutionary psychology, gossip has a bigger effect on your life expectancy than anything except giving up smoking. Should you start dishing the dirt, or is it better to resign yourself to an early grave?There are upsides and downsides to working from home. Upside: I now live a life almost entirely unencumbered by trousers. Downside: the postman has figured out that I’ll always take my neighbours’ parcels for them. Upside: I get to spend more time with my family.
  
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• Gossip started out as a survival instinct, but has warped into the Sidebar of Shame | Stuart Heritage

  08-06-2015 21:00
  
  According to a professor of evolutionary psychology, gossip has a bigger effect on your life expectancy than anything except giving up smoking. Should you start dishing the dirt, or is it better to resign yourself to an early grave?There are upsides and downsides to working from home. Upside: I now live a life almost entirely unencumbered by trousers. Downside: the postman has figured out that I’ll always take my neighbours’ parcels for them. Upside: I get to spend more time with my family.
  
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• Children with TBI have poorer sleep quality, more daytime sleepiness

  08-06-2015 20:41
  Children with traumatic brain injuries have poorer sleep and more daytime sleepiness in comparison to healthy children, new research confirms. The children with TBI also had impaired emotional, physical and social functioning when compared to healthy children.
  
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• Molecular imaging reveals marker of neurodegenerative disease

  08-06-2015 20:40
  Brain researchers have been working for years on targeting a cellular process involved in neurodegeneration and cognitive dysfunction. A specialized molecular imaging agent does the job by binding to a transporter of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, a major mediator of the central nervous system, say researchers.
  
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• PET reveals inflammatory cycle in the brain

  08-06-2015 20:40
  Neuroinflammation caused by a reactive immune system could be tripping off the neurodegeneration seen in certain dementias, multiple sclerosis, and other deadly diseases of the nervous system. A novel molecular imaging technique could be the key to understanding how best to treat these and other devastating diseases.
  
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• We’re all climate change deniers at heart | Oliver Burkeman

  08-06-2015 19:09
  
  The G7 goal to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century matters – because as individuals we’re hardwired to shirk existential challengesAt yesterday’s summit in Bavaria, the G7 leading industrial nations agreed to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century. It’s easy to be cynical about these things, but these official goals really matter. And one big reason is this: in the absence of intergovernmental action, we are hopelessly ill-equipped to deal with this probl
  
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• How your brain is telling you to vote

  08-06-2015 18:02
  A new study has cast some light on the brain mechanisms that support people's voting decisions. The new study provides the first evidence that the lateral orbitofrontal cortex is critical for integrating different kinds of information to allow people to arrive at a preference.
  
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• Star-shaped cells help blood vessels in the brain keep a grip on a healthy tone

  08-06-2015 17:22
  A star-shaped brain cell called an astrocyte appears to help keep blood pressure and blood flow inside the brain on a healthy, even keel, scientists report. The finger-like appendages of astrocytes, called endfeet, quite literally wrap around the countless, fragile blood vessels in the brain, constantly monitoring what's going on inside and around them
  
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• Poor sleep? Eating less at night may make next day easier

  08-06-2015 15:45
  Concentration and attention problems caused by sleep deprivation might be eased by eating less late at night, according to a new study.
  
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• Does summer make you depressed?

  08-06-2015 15:43
  
  Summertime depression is not as common as the winter version, and scientists don't have a good idea of how to treat it.
  
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• Surgical anesthesia in young children linked to effects on IQ, brain structure

  08-06-2015 14:31
  Children who received general anesthesia for surgery before age 4 had diminished language comprehension, lower IQ and decreased gray matter density in posterior regions of their brain, according to a new study. The authors of the study recommend additional studies to determine anesthesia's precise molecular effects on the brain and contribution to diminished brain function and composition.
  
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• U.S. space program researchers develop potential nano-tools for deep brain stimulation

  08-06-2015 14:16
  The ability of a carbon nanofiber pad to detect changing neurotransmitter concentrations was demonstrated in a proof-of-principle collaboration between engineers and neurosurgeons. The active area was one-tenth the size of current deep-brain-stimulation electrical contacts.
  
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• Weekly non-invasive brain stimulation provides long-term relief of post-stroke pain

  08-06-2015 14:16
  Weekly sessions of non-invasive repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation provided sufficient long-term pain relief in 61 percent of patients with central post-stroke pain, and delivered long-term relief for patients who continued for one year, scientists say.
  
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• The Psychoactive Substances Bill: An opportunity or threat for research? | Nick Davis

  08-06-2015 08:00
  
  A bill before the House of Lords proposes new powers for the police to prosecute people involved in trade in legal highs. But can these drugs ever be beneficial? A research exemption would allow researchers to find outOn 9 June the United Kingdom’s House of Lords will have its first opportunity to debate a new set of drugs laws. The Psychoactive Substances Bill, proposed by Conservative peer Lord Bates, reflects the new government’s manifesto commitment to deal with legal highs. At present,
  
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• Boarding School Syndrome review – education and the pain of separation

  08-06-2015 07:30
  
  A gripping study of the mental wounds inflicted by classic British institutionsI once knew an American psychoanalyst who worked in a Bangkok practice, specialising in expats. He’d first come to east Asia on contract for an international church whose missionaries kept getting into trouble. He never went home: there was more than enough work. “Specifically,” he said, “with people like you. Middle-aged, middle-class Brits who went to your crazy private schools may just about be the most dam
  
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• Narcissism and terrorism: how the personality disorder leads to deadly violence

  08-06-2015 07:00
  
  What do Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis, Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz, Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, and Isis killers Jihadi John and Jihadi Jake have in common? Delusions of grandeur, a fear of failure and a need for admirationWhen Man Haron Monis, self-styled Islamic cleric, took 18 hostages in the Lindt cafe in Sydney, he declared himself to be a jihadist on behalf of Islamic State. Reports of the siege immediately went global. But, in fact, Monis had no connection to the gr
  
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