Psychology news

• Why kids' recovery times vary widely after brain injury

  14-07-2015 23:41
  Why do some youngsters bounce back quickly from a traumatic brain injury, while others suffer for years? New research suggests that damage to the coating around the brain's nerve fibers may explain the difference. The finding identifies possible biomarkers that physicians could use to predict high-risk patients.
  
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• Researchers discover way to assess future literacy challenges

  14-07-2015 21:09
  A quick biological test may be able to identify children who have literacy challenges or learning disabilities long before they learn to read, according to new research. The study centers on the child's ability to decipher speech -- specifically consonants -- in a chaotic, noisy environment. Noisy environments, such as homes with blaring televisions and wailing children, loud classrooms or urban streetscapes, can disrupt brain mechanisms associated with literacy development in school-age childre
  
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• Wal-Mart Accused of Same-Sex Bias in Class-Action Lawsuit

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportClass-action lawsuit accuses Wal-Mart wrongly denying employee benefits for same-sex spouses.
  
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• U.S. Military Announces Plan to Lift Transgender Ban

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered a six-month study aimed at formally ending one of the last gender- or sexuality-based barriers to military service, saying the Pentagon's current regulations banning transgender individuals from serving in the military need to be examined.
  
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• Psychologist Who Warned of Torture Collusion Hailed As Hero

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The GuardianJean Maria Arrigo was largely ignored and the subject of a smear campaign for sounding alarms about psychologists’ post-9/11 torture complicity but has emerged from the damning report as the story’s hero – and martyr. Jean Maria Arrigo’s inbox is filling up with apologies. For a decade, colleagues of the 71-year-old psychologist ignored, derided and in some cases attacked Arrigo for sounding alarms that the American Psychological...
  
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• Losing Half a Night of Sleep Impairs Memory Under Stress

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyIt is known that sleep facilitates the formation of long-term memory in humans. Researchers now show that sleep does not only help form long-term memory but also ensures access to it during times of cognitive stress.
  
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• Confederate Flag Supporters Rise Up to Defend Embattled Symbol

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesHorns blared and hundreds of the rebel flags fluttered as more than 1,500 vehicles and some 4,500 people turned out for the "Florida Southern Pride Ride" in Ocala, according to police estimates. "That flag has a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people," said David Stone, 38, who organized the event. In South Carolina, lawmakers moved quickly to take the flag down from the statehouse grounds in Columbia, a...
  
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• Case of Memory Loss "Like Nothing We Have Ever Seen Before"

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyA psychologist has described a unique case, new to science. A 38-year-old fit and healthy man suffered memory loss after a local anesthetic and root-canal treatment at his dentist. For the past decade he can only remember up to 90 minutes. Symptoms are akin to those depicted in movies such as Groundhog Day and Memento. And, there is no evidence that the treatment at the dentist can be blamed for his condition. He is fully aware of his identity...
  
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• Baby's First Stool Can Alert Doctors to Future Cognitive Issues

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyA newborn's first stool can signal the child may struggle with persistent cognitive problems. In particular, high levels of fatty acid ethyl esters found in the meconium (a newborn's first stool) from a mother's alcohol use during pregnancy can alert doctors that a child is at risk for problems with intelligence and reasoning.
  
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• Abortion Study Finds 95% of Women Do Not Regret Procedure

  14-07-2015 19:17 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Medical News TodayA new study finds no evidence to support the theory that women who have abortions subsequently experience mental health problems as a consequence.
  
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• High-pressure oxygen can effectively treat fibromyalgia

  14-07-2015 18:49
  Women with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, were able to drastically reduce, or even eliminate, their use of pain medication following hyperbaric oxygen treatment, according to new research.. The researchers also believe they have identified the primary factor causing fibromyalgia: the disruption of the brain mechanism for processing pain.
  
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• This is your brain on fried eggs: Brain, motivation and eating a high-fat diet

  14-07-2015 17:24
  High-fat feeding can cause impairments in the functioning of the mesolimbic dopamine system, according to new research. This system is a critical brain pathway controlling motivation. These findings may have important health implications.
  
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• Mental health resources inadequate across the globe

  14-07-2015 16:28
  
  A World Health Organization analysis looks at the availability of mental health workers and nation-by-nation spending on mental health.
  
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• MRI studies point to brain connectivity changes in autism spectrum disorders

  14-07-2015 16:10
  Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are beginning to reveal differences in brain connectivity -- the ways that different parts of the brain are connected to each other and work together -- in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), reports a new review.
  
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• Benzodiazepines not recommended for patients with PTSD or recent trauma

  14-07-2015 15:38
  Benzodiazepine drugs are widely used in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but available evidence suggests that they are not effective -- and may even be harmful, concludes a systematic review and meta-analysis.
  
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• Older age at onset of type 1 diabetes associated with lower brain connectivity later

  14-07-2015 15:36
  People diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in later childhood have weaker brain connectivity in midlife.
  
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• Memory-loss man case 'like nothing we have ever seen before'

  14-07-2015 15:00
  
  A University of Leicester clinical psychologist has described treating an individual with a 'Groundhog Day/Memento'- style memory loss as 'like nothing we have ever seen before'.
  
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• Substance abuse reduces brain volume in women but not men

  14-07-2015 14:25
  Stimulant drug abuse has long-term effects on brain volume in women, according to a new study. Brain structures involved in reward, learning and executive control showed vast changes even after a prolonged period of abstinence from drug use.
  
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• What is going on in Donald Trump's head? | Oliver Burkeman

  14-07-2015 13:15
  
  If you can stand to have a little empathy for someone who seems unsympathetic, maybe his whole life is dedicated to feeling less empty insideLately, as I follow American politics, a question keeps nagging at me, resurfacing unbidden in idle moments over coffee, or while waiting on station platforms: what is Donald Trump thinking? To be clear, I don’t mean “what makes Trump think he can be president?”, since for all I know, he doesn’t really think this. And I don’t mean “what makes Tr
  
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• Teaching reflection to doctors to improve physician-patient interactions

  14-07-2015 11:00
  
  Physicians in their medical residency training programs often focus on scientific reasoning and research evidence in their efforts to provide medical care.
  
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• Losing half a night of sleep makes memories less accessible in stressful situations

  14-07-2015 10:00
  
  It is known that sleep facilitates the formation of long-term memory in humans.
  
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• Antioxidants help treat skin-picking disorder in mice, Stanford researcher says

  14-07-2015 10:00
  
  Two antioxidant supplements are effective in treating skin-picking disorder in mice, according to a study led by a Stanford University School of Medicine researcher.
  
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