Psychology news

• Scientists establish first map of the sea lion brain

  27-04-2016 22:55
  Despite considerable evidence for the California sea lion's intelligence, very little is known about how their brain is organized. Now, a team of neuroscientists has taken an important step toward uncovering this mystery by conducting the first comprehensive study of the California sea lion's central nervous system, concentrating on the somatosensory system, which is concerned with conscious perception of touch, pressure, pain, temperature, position and vibration.
  
  Read more

• Exercise genes? Study suggests certain people with depression may benefit from exercise

  27-04-2016 21:09
  Call it personalized medicine for depression -- but the prescription in this case is exercise, which researchers have found helps people with certain genetic traits.
  
  Read more

• Cellular tree with healthy branches

  27-04-2016 21:09
  Biologists have homed in on the genes that tell brain cells to grow the tendrils critical for passing messages throughout the body. In a new study, they report certain genes in nearby neurons need to be exact matches in order for the signaling branches to grow properly.
  
  Read more

• Surprising central role of darks in brain visual maps

  27-04-2016 21:05
  Scientists have been studying how visual space is mapped in the cerebral cortex for many decades under the assumption that the map is equal for lights and darks. Surprisingly, recent work demonstrates that visual brain maps are dark-centric and that, just as stars rotate around black holes in the Universe, lights rotate around darks in the brain representation of visual space.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Brain's 'thesaurus' mapped to help decode inner thoughts

  27-04-2016 21:03
  What if a map of the brain could help us decode people's inner thoughts? Scientists have taken a step in that direction by building a 'semantic atlas' that shows in vivid colors and multiple dimensions how the human brain organizes language.
  
  Read more

• Tennessee Governor: Therapists Don't Have to Treat LGBT Folks

  27-04-2016 18:14 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CNN - Top StoriesTennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Wednesday signed a bill into law that allows therapists and counselors with "sincerely held principles" to reject gay, lesbian, transgender and other clients.
  
  Read more

• Mindfulness Therapy May Help Ease Recurrent Depression

  27-04-2016 18:14 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportReview of 9 studies suggests it helps patients better cope with troubling thoughts and emotions.
  
  Read more

• New Brain Map Reveals a World of Meaning

  27-04-2016 18:11 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Globe and Mail -NationalBy monitoring the neural activity of human subjects while listening to hour after hour of stories, researchers have captured the way the meaning of language is organized across the entire brain.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Alabama City Criminalizes Bathroom Use by Non-Birth Gender

  27-04-2016 18:11 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: Reuters - US News- An Alabama city appears to be the first in the country to specify criminal penalties for violators of an ordinance requiring people to use bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates, civil rights groups said on Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Group Seeks Records Tied to Eisenhower Antigay Order

  27-04-2016 18:10 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsGay rights group sues DOJ for documents related to 1953 order that let federal agencies investigate and fire employees thought to be gay.
  
  Read more

• How neuroscientists explaing the mind-clearing magic of running

  27-04-2016 17:53 via huffingtonpost.com
  
  Decades of research show that there is a strong link between aerobic exercise and cognitive clarity.
  
  Read more

• Women who are cheated on 'win' in the long run; new women 'lose'

  27-04-2016 17:00
  
  Researchers conduct largest-ever study on relationship dissolution. Women who lose their unfaithful mate to another woman actually win in the long run, according to new research.
  
  Read more

• Near-death experiences: fact or fantasy?

  27-04-2016 17:00
  
  Near-death experiences span age groups and cultures. Often tied to the paranormal and visions of an afterlife, what is the science behind these experiences?
  
  Read more

• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy linked to reduced depressive relapse risk

  27-04-2016 17:00
  
  Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was associated with a reduced risk of depressive relapse over a 60-week follow-up period compared with usual care and outcomes were comparable to those who...
  
  Read more

• Emotion detector: Facial expression recognition to improve learning, gaming

  27-04-2016 16:36
  A computer algorithm that can tell whether you are happy or sad, angry or expressing almost any other emotion would be a boon to the games industry. New research describes such a system that is almost 99 percent accurate.
  
  Read more

• Consumers reveal barriers to brain-training app-iness

  27-04-2016 16:36
  The preconceptions and concerns of young US consumers about brain-training smartphone apps are examined in a new scientific study. The work investigated why consumers decide to download these apps, how they use them and what they think their benefits may be.
  
  Read more

• Weighing the pros and cons of mental-health apps

  27-04-2016 15:00
  
  "There's an app for that."The phrase is so ubiquitous it's a meme, and trademarked by Apple Inc.
  
  Read more

• Who gets hooked on drugs? Rat study finds genetic markers that influence addiction

  27-04-2016 14:09
  Why does addiction vulnerability differ from individual to individual? For the first time, scientists have shown in selectively bred animals that the propensity for addiction is linked to differences in expression of genes for specific molecules in a specific brain region. It's also the first demonstration that a DNA tag called an epigenetic marker can predispose an individual to addiction and relapse.
  
  Read more

• Measuring happiness on social media

  27-04-2016 14:09
  Happiness. It's something we all strive for, but how do we measure it--as a country? A global community? Computer scientists used two years of Twitter data to measure users' life satisfaction, a component of happiness.
  
  Read more

• Unique + ruthless = unforgettable. The secrets of iconic charity slogans

  27-04-2016 08:00
  
  The best charity adverts use words that stick in the mind. How can charities harness the psychology of words to improve their fundraising ads?Contrary to what you may feel about everyday communication, there is science and psychology behind every word we use: our speech is not random at all.Elizabeth Stokoe, a British scientist and professor of Social Interaction at Loughborough University where she studies conversation analysis, explains: “Talk falls into systematic patterns in ways that
  
  Read more

• The social dilemma of dealing with Facebook troublemakers

  27-04-2016 01:00
  
  Online troublemakers tend to be socially well connected. Some Facebook users therefore, remain friends online with troublemakers because they are worried about the repercussions if they 'unfriend...
  
  Read more

• Rosemary aroma can help older adults to remember to do things

  27-04-2016 01:00
  
  The aroma of rosemary essential oil may improve ability of people over 65 to remember events and to remember to complete tasks at particular times in the future.
  
  Read more

• Peppermint tea can help improve your memory

  27-04-2016 01:00
  
  Peppermint tea can help improve long-term and working memory in healthy adults.
  
  Read more

• Bored people reach for the crisps

  27-04-2016 01:00
  
  People crave fatty and sugary foods when they are bored.That is the conclusion of research being presented today, Wednesday 27 April 2016, at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological...
  
  Read more

Follow @PsychologyUKnws on Twitter!