Psychology news

• How obesity makes memory go bad

  26-01-2016 23:55
  Obesity is associated with epigenetic changes that dysregulate memory-associated genes, and a particular enzyme in brain neurons of the hippocampus appears to be a link between chronic obesity and cognitive decline.
  
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• Study details source of mental problems associated with MS

  26-01-2016 23:50
  A study sheds new light on multiple sclerosis, specifically damage in the brain caused by the disease that may explain the slow and continuous cognitive decline that many patients experience. The findings show that the brain's immune system is responsible for disrupting communication between nerve cells, even in parts of the brain that are not normally considered to be primary targets of the disease.
  
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• Brain structure governing emotion is passed down from mother to daughter, says study

  26-01-2016 23:50
  A study of 35 families by a psychiatric researcher showed for the first time that the structure of the brain circuitry known as the corticolimbic system is more likely to be passed down from mothers to daughters than from mothers to sons or from fathers to children of either gender.
  
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• Brain’s wiring connected to sensory processing disorder

  26-01-2016 22:24
  Researchers have found that boys and girls with sensory processing disorder (SPD) have altered pathways for brain connectivity when compared to typically developing children, and the difference predicts challenges with auditory and tactile processing.
  
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• Panel calls for depression screenings during and after pregnancy

  26-01-2016 20:25 via nytimes.com
  Women should be screened for depression during pregnancy and after giving birth, an influential government-appointed health panel said, the first time it has recommended screening for maternal mental illness.
  
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• How meditation, placebos and virtual reality help power 'mind over body'

  26-01-2016 20:25 via npr.org
  
  The mind can play an important role in dealing with a variety of health concerns, including pain, heart disease and depression.
  
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• Bop It in an Uber: the most inventive ways to stop crime before it happens

  26-01-2016 18:49
  
  Uber is trialling children’s toys and mirrors in a bid to prevent drunk customers becoming aggressive. But do such simple techniques really work?As anyone with a toddler, terrier or a black belt in karate will know, distraction techniques can work wonders. The latest to realise this is the taxi company Uber, which is hoping distraction will protect its drivers from being assaulted by drunken fares. In one US city, Uber drivers are taking part in an experiment in which they leave a Bop It &
  
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• Alzheimer-type brain pathology after transplantation of dura mater

  26-01-2016 17:15
  Up to now Alzheimer’s disease has not been recognized as transmissible. Now researchers have demonstrated Alzheimer-type pathology in brains of recipients of dura mater grafts who died later from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
  
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• Screening for depression recommended for adults, including pregnant and postpartum women

  26-01-2016 17:00
  
  The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending screening for depression in the general adult population, including pregnant and postpartum women, and that screening should be...
  
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• Link between food advertising and child food consumption

  26-01-2016 17:00
  
  New research by University of Liverpool health expert Dr Emma Boyland has confirmed that unhealthy food advertising does increase food intake in children.
  
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• Epilepsy drug could protect nerves from damage in MS

  26-01-2016 14:58
  An epilepsy drug could lead to a new treatment that protects nerve damage in MS patients, according to research. Scientists have found that the anti-convulsant drug phenytoin protected neural tissue in patients with optic neuritis. Optic neuritis is a symptom of MS which causes the nerves carrying information between the eye to the brain to become inflamed and damaged.
  
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• Treating depressive symptoms from their roots

  26-01-2016 14:57
  A wide range of compounds is on the market to ameliorate depressive symptoms, however their efficiency is achieved only after long periods of treatment and not in 100 percent of patients. Researchers identified early cellular changes in the brain for the emergence of depressive symptoms, and a novel promising drug target.
  
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• Why the Earth is actually 100% flat | Dean Burnett

  26-01-2016 13:14
  
  Rapper B.o.B. has been criticised for publicly insisting the Earth is flat. You may think his claims are ludicrous, but the truth is: they don’t go far enoughRapper B.o.B. has caused a furore by tweeting that the Earth is in fact flat, and you only need to look at the evidence to come to the same conclusion. Obviously, prominent scientists have openly mocked this claim, showing the many ways in which it is ludicrous, no matter how many people insist otherwise. They’re right though; s
  
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• Bullying hinders positive youth development for sexual-minority youth

  26-01-2016 13:00
  
  When compared with their heterosexual peers, sexual-minority youth score lower on key indicators of positive youth development--and those disparities may be due in part to more bullying of these...
  
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• Artificial Intelligence: Gods, egos and Ex Machina

  26-01-2016 12:49
  
  Even with its flaws, last year’s Ex Machina perfectly captured the curious relationship between artificial intelligence, God and ego. A tiny change in its closing moments would have given it an intriguing new dimension. It’s taken me a year and a several viewings to collect my thoughts about Ex Machina. Superficially it looks like a film about the future of artificial intelligence, but like most science fiction, it tells us more about the present than the future; and like most discus
  
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• Brain function differs in obese children, study shows

  26-01-2016 00:50
  The brains of children who are obese function differently from those of children of healthy weight, and exhibit an "imbalance" between food-seeking and food-avoiding behaviors, researchers have found. Because of this, mindfulness, a practice used as a therapeutic technique to focus awareness, should be studied as a way to encourage healthy eating and weight loss in children, the new research suggests.
  
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• Researchers uncover how dopamine transports within the brain

  26-01-2016 00:43
  The mechanics of how dopamine transports into and out of brain cells has been uncovered by researchers, a finding that could someday lead to more effective treatment of drug addictions and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
  
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