Psychology news

• Researcher finds key clues about 'betel nut' addiction that plagues millions worldwide

  21-10-2015 22:10
  For hundreds of millions of people around the world, chewing betel nut produces a cheap, quick high but also raises the risk of addiction and oral cancer. Now, new findings reveal how the nut's psychoactive chemical works in the brain and suggest that an addiction treatment may already exist.
  
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• Targeting mutant proteins might be silver bullet for neurodegenerative diseases

  21-10-2015 19:56
  A mutant protein has been identified by scientists as culprit in Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) diseases. CMT is a group of hereditary disorders that affects about 1 in every 2,500 people in the United States, making it one of the most common inherited neurological diseases. While different forms of the disease vary in their symptoms and underlying genetic causes, the common thread is that CMT damages the nerves in a person's arms and legs.
  
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• Study reveals how brain multitasks

  21-10-2015 19:56
  Researchers report that they have added to evidence that a shell-shaped region in the center of the mammalian brain, known as the thalamic reticular nucleus or TRN, is likely responsible for the ability to routinely and seamlessly multitask.
  
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• Biologists discover bacteria communicate like neurons in the brain

  21-10-2015 19:56
  Biologists have discovered that bacteria -- often viewed as lowly, solitary creatures -- are actually quite sophisticated in their social interactions and communicate with one another through similar electrical signaling mechanisms as neurons in the human brain.
  
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• Why too much choice is stressing us out

  21-10-2015 19:14
  
  From jeans to dating partners and TV subscriptions to schools, we think the more choices we have the better. But too many options create anxiety and leave us less satisfied. Could one answer lie in a return to the state monopolies of old?Once upon a time in Springfield, the Simpson family visited a new supermarket. Monstromart’s slogan was “where shopping is a baffling ordeal”. Product choice was unlimited, shelving reached the ceiling, nutmeg came in 12lb boxes and the express
  
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• 'Sesame Street' adds Julia, an autistic character, to its cast

  21-10-2015 19:08 via cnn.com
  
  Sesame Workshop partners with program designed to spread awareness about children with autism.
  
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• New technique permits cell-specific examination of proteins in Alzheimer's brain tissue

  21-10-2015 17:51
  A novel method to examine the structure and function of proteins at the cell level has been developed by researchers, providing greater means to study protein changes found in Alzheimer's disease.
  
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• Test could predict whether breast cancer will spread to the brain

  21-10-2015 17:49
  Women with particularly aggressive forms of breast cancer could be identified by a test that predicts whether the disease is likely to spread to the brain. An analysis of almost 4,000 patients with breast cancer found that testing for high activity in a particular gene could pick out women who were at greater risk of developing secondary brain tumors compared to women who tested negative.
  
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• New research paves the way to begin developing a computer you can control with your mind

  21-10-2015 14:36
  A team of researchers has been able to predict participants' movements just by analyzing their brain activity. This study is the first human study to look at the neural signals of planned actions that are freely chosen by the participant and could be the first step in the development of brain-computer interfaces.
  
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• Different memory resolutions map onto different brain locations

  21-10-2015 14:35
  Neuroscientists have shown that memories of the same events co-exist at different resolutions in the brain. Coarse and fine memory scales are distributed across different parts of the hippocampus, a brain area that plays an important part in memory.
  
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• A 'fuzzy' method for interpreting fMRI recordings

  21-10-2015 14:33
  A method for data analysis used in medical diagnostics has been tested for the first time on resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The method, which relies on "fuzziness," proved to be as robust as the well-known and regularly used sample entropy (SampEn) method but with the advantage of offering greater detail than sample entropy
  
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• ‘Mental patient’ Halloween costumes: a scientific guide | Dean Burnett

  21-10-2015 13:56
  
  Yet another upset caused by “mental patient” Halloween costumes suggests that many people still consider this a valid option. If they will insist on dressing like people with mental health problems, they may as well do it accurately.Another year, another Halloween approaching, another business gets called out for thinking mental illness is a perfectly fine idea for a Halloween costume. While it’s not the first time this has happened, things may be improving; the portrayal of me
  
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• Researchers develop drug delivery technique to bypass blood-brain barrier

  21-10-2015 11:00
  
  Breakthrough could help countless patients with neurological conditions that are currently hard to treatResearchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and Boston University have...
  
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