Psychology news

• Why hierarchy exists in biological networks: New insight will aid development of artificial intelligence

  09-06-2016 21:12
  New research explains why so many biological networks, including the human brain (a network of neurons), exhibit a hierarchical structure, and will improve attempts to create artificial intelligence. The study demonstrates this by showing that the evolution of hierarchy -- a simple system of ranking -- in biological networks may arise because of the costs associated with network connections.
  
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• Scientists unpack how Toxoplasma infection is linked to neurodegenerative disease

  09-06-2016 21:08
  Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite, infects a third of the world's population. Working on mice, biomedical scientists report that Toxoplasma infection leads to a disruption of neurotransmitters in the brain and postulates that it triggers neurological disease in those already predisposed to such a disease. The researchers note that Toxoplasma infection leads to a significant increase in glutamate -- the primary and most important neurotransmitter in the brain.
  
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• How the brain helps humans navigate from place to place

  09-06-2016 21:08
  Interactions between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex enable humans to plan and navigate their route from one location to another, a new study reveals.
  
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• New biomarker for nerve cell damage

  09-06-2016 19:42
  Scientists have identified proteins in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid that reflect nerve cell damage. The results of the study suggest that the concentration of these 'neurofilament light chain proteins' could provide information about the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and the effects of treatment. Such a biomarker would be valuable for developing therapies.
  
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• Cellular 'racetrack' accurately clocks brain cancer cell movement

  09-06-2016 19:42
  Researchers have developed an experimental laboratory test that accurately clocks the 'speed' of human brain tumor cell movement along a small glass 'track.' The assay, so far tested on the cells of 14 glioblastoma patients, has the potential, they say, to predict how quickly and aggressively a given cancer might lethally spread.
  
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• Autism is not just a disorder of the brain, mouse study suggests

  09-06-2016 19:42
  Autism spectrum disorders are generally thought to be caused by deficits in brain development, but a study in mice now suggests that at least some aspects of the disorder -- including how touch is perceived, anxiety, and social abnormalities -- are linked to defects in another area of the nervous system, the peripheral nerves found throughout the limbs, digits, and other parts of the body that communicate sensory information to the brain.
  
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• Ireland’s Abortion Laws Violate Woman's Human Rights, Says U.N.

  09-06-2016 18:12 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The GuardianThe UN’s human rights committee has ruled that Ireland’s restrictive abortion legislation subjected a woman to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and violated her human rights, in a ground-breaking judgment that is expected to set an international precedent.
  
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• Transgender Activists Don't Share Pentagon "Pride"

  09-06-2016 18:11 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Google NewsThe Pentagon hosted a LGBT celebration Wednesday, but transgender activists weren't feeling it. The "Celebrate" event, which is organized by DOD Pride, an employee resource group that works with the Pentagon, comes at a time when transgender supporters are still pushing for an end to the military's policy that bars them from serving openly.
  
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• Today's Teen Troubles: Sex, Drugs, and Texting on the Go

  09-06-2016 18:11 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Google News - HealthIt's a question every mom and dad wants answered: What are their kids really up to? Today, parents are getting some insight from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which has been conducted every other
  
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• FAA Says No Psychological Testing Needed of Airline Pilots

  09-06-2016 18:11 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsPsychological tests are ineffective because they reveal a pilot's mental health for only a moment in time, the FAA has found.
  
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• Trauma in childhood linked to drug use in adolescence

  09-06-2016 18:00
  
  Latest research from a national sample of almost 10,000 U.S. adolescents found psychological trauma, especially abuse and domestic violence before age 11, can increase the likelihood of...
  
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• Our brain activity could be nudged to make healthier choices

  09-06-2016 17:55
  Netflix binge-watching versus a hike in the woods. A cheeseburger versus kale salad. Fentanyl versus Tylenol. New research suggests our brain activity could be influenced to make the healthier choice.
  
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• Witnesses can catch criminals by smell: Human nose-witnesses identify criminals in a lineup of body odor

  09-06-2016 17:51
  Move over sniffer dogs, people who witnessed a crime are able to identify criminals by their smell. Police lineups normally rely on sight, but nose-witnesses can be just as reliable as eye-witnesses, new research has found.
  
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• Concussion outcome predicted using advanced imaging

  09-06-2016 17:49
  Using an advanced imaging technique, researchers have been able to predict which patients who'd recently suffered concussions were likely to fully recover.
  
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• In the brain, one area sees familiar words as pictures, another sounds out words

  09-06-2016 15:36
  Skilled readers can quickly recognize words when they read because the word has been placed in a visual dictionary of sorts which functions separately from an area that processes the sounds of written words, say neuroscientists. The visual dictionary idea rebuts a common theory that our brain needs to "sound out" words each time we see them.
  
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• Most antidepressants ineffective in teens

  09-06-2016 15:21 via cbsnews.com
  
  Most antidepressants on the market are ineffective for children and teens with major depressive disorder, and some may be unsafe for young patients, according to new research.
  
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• A poor brain is as worthy as a rich brain: psychotherapy faces a privilege problem

  09-06-2016 14:30
  
  A study showing psychotherapists are less likely to offer appointments to working-class people comes as researchers say poor communities and communities of colour grapple with inordinate levels of traumaWhen Terrell Jermaine Starr, a high-profile 35-year-old political reporter, entered therapy for the first time in 2013 after having faced months of suicidal ideation and depression, he says he quickly realised that his mental ordeal came in part from unresolved childhood trauma.Starr grew up in D
  
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• Clinical trial examines treatment of complicated grief

  09-06-2016 13:00
  
  A new study reports on the results of a randomized clinical trial that looked at whether the antidepressant citalopram would enhance complicated grief treatment psychotherapy, and if citalopram...
  
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• Major depression: Most antidepressants ineffective for children, teens

  09-06-2016 09:00
  
  A review in The Lancet finds that most antidepressants offer no benefit for children and adolescents with major depression, and they may even cause harm.
  
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