Psychology news

• The medical approach to mental illness has been a success | Letters

  02-03-2016 20:57
  
  Richard Bentall (Mental illness is a result of misery yet still we stigmatise it, 26 February) has provided a thoughtful analysis. However, arguing that taking an “extreme biological approach … makes it all too easy to believe that human beings fall into two subspecies, the mentally well and the mentally ill” is unhelpful and introduces a straw man.As Professor Simon Wessely (Letters, 27 February) replied,“psychiatry brings together in equal measure the biological, psych
  
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• Me! Me! Me! Are we living through a narcissism epidemic?

  02-03-2016 19:29
  
  From attention-seeking celebrities to digital oversharing and the boom in cosmetic surgery, narcissistic behaviour is all around us. How worried should we be about our growing self-obsession?‘They unconsciously deny an unstated and intolerably poor self-image through inflation. They turn themselves into glittering figures of immense grandeur surrounded by psychologically impenetrable walls. The goal of this self-deception is to be impervious to greatly feared external criticism and to thei
  
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• PET scans reveal key details of Alzheimer's protein growth in aging brains

  02-03-2016 19:25
  Neuroscientists show for the first time that PET scans can track the progression of Alzheimer's disease. In doing so, they also shed light on tau and beta amyloid, two key proteins associated with the neurodegenerative disorder.
  
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• Learning a new sport may be good for the brain

  02-03-2016 18:43 via well.blogs.nytimes.com
  Learning a new physical skill in midlife could change and strengthen the brain in ways that practicing other familiar pursuits such as crossword puzzles or marathon training will not.
  
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• Device to combat memory loss from brain injury, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease created

  02-03-2016 18:15
  New technologies to improve memory in people with traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease have been developed by scientists.
  
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• Mobile device addiction linked to depression, anxiety

  02-03-2016 18:13
  Is cellphone use detrimental to mental health? A new study finds that addiction to, and not simply use of, mobile technology is linked to anxiety and depression in college-age students.
  
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• What you know can affect how you see

  02-03-2016 18:00
  
  Objects -- everything from cars, birds and faces to letters of the alphabet -- look significantly different to people familiar with them, a new study suggests.
  
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• Chronic stress leads to brain inflammation and memory loss

  02-03-2016 18:00
  
  Stress caused by an aggressive alpha intruder caused memory loss in mice that lasted up to 28 days, accompanied by signs of inflammation in the brain.
  
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• Workers prefer consistent jerk to loose cannon boss

  02-03-2016 17:00
  
  Is your boss always a jerk? You still may be better off than those workers whose supervisor is courteous one moment and rude the next.
  
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• Genetics and brain regions linked to sex differences in anxiety-related behavior in chimpanzees

  02-03-2016 15:46
  Genetics and specific brain regions are linked to sex differences in chimpanzees' scratching behavior, a common indicator of anxiety in humans and others primates, according to a new research study that shows chimpanzees can be models of human mental illness.
  
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• Researchers publish first empirical study on evolution of musical aptitude

  02-03-2016 15:45
  Geneticists have explored the evolution of musical aptitude in the first-ever empirical study of the evolution of music.
  
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• Young marijuana users respond differently to social exclusion

  02-03-2016 15:00
  
  A new study published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging reports that young adults who regularly use marijuana display altered brain activation...
  
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• New approaches for Parkinson's treatment? Researchers study metabolic changes

  02-03-2016 14:35
  Researchers are studying the causes of premature aging of neurons in Parkinson’s patients with a defective DJ1 (PARK7) gene. The genetic defect causes changes in the cellular metabolism meaning that neurons are subjected to oxidative stress and an increased immune response in the brain.
  
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• Americans who see God as 'a secure base' tend to be more committed, satisfied on the job

  02-03-2016 14:00
  
  People who see God as a "secure base" for intimacy and attachment are more likely to be emotionally committed to their workplace and satisfied with their jobs.
  
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• Trial shows risk of suicide re-attempt substantially reduced after a novel psychiatric intervention

  02-03-2016 13:00
  
  A low-cost, alliance-based psychiatric intervention for emergency department patients admitted after a suicide attempt substantially reduced suicide re-attempt in a single-site randomized...
  
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• Pitt study shows mindfulness meditation can lead to back pain relief for older adults

  02-03-2016 13:00
  
  Mindfulness meditation programs can help reduce severe pain and increase function for older adults with chronic low back pain, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh School...
  
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• Why don’t I know who I am? You asked Google – here’s the answer | Linda Blair

  02-03-2016 09:00
  
  Every day millions of internet users ask Google some of life’s most difficult questions, big and small. Our writers answer some of the commonest queriesTo ask this question is to misunderstand identity. To ask, “Who am I?” is to suggest that identity is static, tangible and whole. It is none of these things.Just as our body constantly renews itself, so our identity is continually forming and reforming. Did you know that our body replaces itself completely every seven to 10 year
  
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• Ethnic minority women more likely to believe that cancer is deadly and down to fate

  02-03-2016 02:00
  
  Women from ethnic minorities in the UK are more likely to believe that cancer is incurable and is down to fate than their white counterparts, according to a Cancer Research UK study published in...
  
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