Psychology news

• Early-life stress causes digestive problems and anxiety in rats

  26-05-2016 21:22
  Traumatic events early in life can increase levels of norepinephrine -- the primary hormone responsible for preparing the body to react to stressful situations -- in the gut, increasing the risk of developing chronic indigestion and anxiety during adulthood, a new study reports.
  
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• The brain needs cleaning to stay healthy

  26-05-2016 21:17
  New research has revealed the mechanisms that keep the brain clean during neurodegenerative diseases.
  
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• Mimicking deep sleep brain activity improves memory

  26-05-2016 21:17
  It is not surprising that a good night's sleep improves our ability to remember what we learned during the day. Now, researchers have discovered a brain circuit that governs how certain memories are consolidated in the brain during sleep. The study shows how experimentally manipulating the identified neural connection during non-REM sleep (deep sleep) can prevent or enhance memory retention in mice.
  
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• New technique captures activity of an entire brain in a snapshot

  26-05-2016 20:17
  With a new imaging tool, scientists are able to measure the activity of all the neurons in a mouse brain with unmatched precision. The method is widely applicable for studying how the brain functions both under normal conditions and in disease.
  
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• Difficult decisions involving perception increase activity in brain's insular cortex, study finds

  26-05-2016 18:50
  As the difficulty of making a decision based on sensory evidence increases, activity in the brain's insular cortex also increases, according to researchers.
  
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• Brain picks up the beat of music automatically

  26-05-2016 18:50
  A sense of rhythm is a uniquely human characteristic. Music cognition scientists discovered that the sense of rhythm – also known as the beat – is so fundamental to humans that we recognize patterns in music even without paying any attention or receiving any training.
  
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• New discovery from the molecular machinery for depression and addiction

  26-05-2016 18:49
  Researchers have described how a group of the brain's transport proteins with important roles in depression and dependence overcome the step which limits their effectiveness. The discovery makes it possible to describe the full function of the transport protein and can provide better opportunities for counteracting the effect of amphetamine and ecstasy on the brain.
  
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• Researchers show experience plays strong role in early stages of brain circuit development

  26-05-2016 18:45
  A new study suggests that external stimulation guides certain neurons' early development so that inhibitory neurons split into two different types of neurons, each with a different job, adding another level of complexity and regulation to the brain's circuitry.
  
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• In brain-injured patients, a way to measure awareness or its impending return

  26-05-2016 18:45
  The precise diagnosis and prognosis of recovery of consciousness of patients after a severe brain injury is a challenging clinical task, as some brain-injured patients retain certain levels of awareness despite appearing fully unresponsive. Now, researchers have evidence that measures of the amount of glucose consumed by the brain can predict a person's current level of awareness, or the likelihood that they will recover awareness within a year.
  
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• 11 States Sue U.S. Government Over Transgender Bathroom Policy

  26-05-2016 18:07 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The GuardianTexas, Alabama and other states seek to overturn a directive that schools allow transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity Eleven US states sued the Obama administration on Wednesday, seeking to overturn a directive from the federal government this month that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity. Ramping up the culture wars in America, the states, led by...
  
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• Psychiatric disorders more common among workaholics, study finds

  26-05-2016 18:00
  
  A new study found symptoms of OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression were much more common among adults who met the criteria for workaholism.
  
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• Exhibit Explores Truth About George Washington as Slaveholder

  26-05-2016 17:25 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsIt is the unavoidable Achilles' heel in the reputation of George Washington and so many other Founding Fathers: that men who risked their lives to protect their nation's liberty were also slaveholders.
  
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• Psychology of Strategic Deception Revealed by Online Poker

  26-05-2016 17:24 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyOnline poker offers new insights into the mind-set of scheming Machiavellians, researchers have found. The card betting game can be used as a novel way to better understand the psychology of strategic deception, say the researchers. Before now, the trait has rarely been studied in natural settings outside laboratories.
  
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• South Africa's Parliament Approves Land Expropriation Bill

  26-05-2016 17:21 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesSouth Africa's parliament on Thursday approved a bill allowing state expropriations of land to redress racial disparities in land ownership, an emotive issue two decades after the end of apartheid. Most of South Africa's land remains in white hands and many commercial and small-scale farmers are currently facing tough times because of the worst drought in at least a century.
  
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• Multiple personality disorder may be rooted in traumatic experiences

  26-05-2016 16:00
  
  A new King's College London study supports the notion that multiple personality disorder is rooted in traumatic experiences such as neglect or abuse in childhood, rather than being related to...
  
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• Is grit something you can learn? | Polly Morland

  26-05-2016 14:17
  
  Changing who we are is hard to imagine, and even harder to actually do. But the good news is, it’s not impossibleThanks to the findings of the US psychologist Angela Duckworth, what gives you grit – and whether you can change to develop it – is very much on the agenda.We once intoned “Every day in every way, I’m getting better and better”, or we machinated about winning friends and influencing people. But we barely paused for breath before turning to the culti
  
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• Workaholism tied to psychiatric disorders

  26-05-2016 09:00
  
  A large national Norwegian study shows that workaholism frequently co-occurs with ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression.
  
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• Major new report identifies complex factors and final events that contribute to child suicide risk

  26-05-2016 09:00
  
  Bereavement, bullying, exams and physical health conditions such as acne and asthma are some of the experiences linked to suicide in children and young people according to a new report by The...
  
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