Psychology news

• Brain receptor found to significantly affect cocaine addiction

  18-06-2015 16:34
  By manipulating the activity of Activin receptors in the brain, researchers report that they were able to increase or decrease cocaine-taking and relapse behavior in animal models. The study focused on receptors in regions of the brain involved in pleasure and reward.
  
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• CCHR Tennessee Joins International Protest to Expose Coercive and Failed Mental Health Practices at Psychiatric Convention

  20-07-2026 20:24 via pr.com
  
  Group Calls for Ending Electroshock and Greater Disclosure of Psychiatric Drug Risks Linked to Violence [PR.com]
  
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• China Calls for Global Cooperation in AI Development

  18-07-2026 07:37 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: DW- top storiesChina's President Xi Jinping has called for global cooperation on artificial intelligence development, telling a major Shanghai forum that no single country should dominate the AI industry. Xi delivered a keynote address Friday at the World ​Artificial ‌Intelligence Conference. To prevent the creation of what he called "new ​historical injustices" ​in AI, Xi promoted China's role in ensuring equitable access for developing countries to...
  
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• Many older Americans unaware of 988 suicide help line

  17-07-2026 06:00 via healthday.com
  
  New research suggests that this resource is failing to reach those 50 and older.
  
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• Trump Administration Replaces Philadelphia Slavery Memorial

  16-07-2026 19:24 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: DW- top storiesThe Trump administration has replaced panels at Philadelphia's President's House site, where George Washington lived during the 1790s, when the city served as the U.S. capital. The new display mentions that enslaved people lived with and served Washington and his wife, Martha, but is sanitized, say critics. For example, a panel title that originally said "The Dirty Business of Slavery" now says "Celebrating Independence Throughout the Years."
  
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• Blood Test Accurately Predicts Five-Year Alzheimer's Risk

  16-07-2026 19:24 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthA blood test for a biomarker known as p-tau217 recently received federal clearance, but it's been unclear whether such tests can accurately predict whether a cognitively healthy individual will develop cognitive impairment—a key symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Now, a study published in JAMA suggests the value of such tests. The study found that unimpaired people with high levels of p-tau217 had a 38% risk of cognitive impairment over the next...
  
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• How to keep your cool when it feels like everything is going wrong

  14-07-2026 06:00 via vox.com
  
  Bad days are inevitable. A meltdown doesn’t have to be.
  
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• 'The Trojan Teddy Bear': The promise and peril of childhood in the age of AI

  14-07-2026 06:00 via npr.org
  
  Professor and author Dana Suskind is concerned about AI companions and other systems that interact socially with children.
  
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• Tahlia Rahme Brings Warm, Evidence-Based Child Psychology to Melbourne

  13-07-2026 09:15 via pr.com
  
  As demand for accessible youth mental health services rise across Australia, MLA Psychology strengthens its clinical offering with the appointment of neuroaffirming child and adolescent psychologist Tahlia Rahme. [PR.com]
  
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• Why Many People Say an Apology for the Slave Trade Is Not Enough

  13-07-2026 07:39 via socialpsychology.org
  Source:Al JazeeraFor many descendants of enslaved Africans, a formal apology for the transatlantic slave trade is inadequate. As calls for reparations gain momentum, they say an apology without meaningful action cannot counter generations of injustice. The debate is receiving global attention after the "Next Steps" conference on slavery and reparatory justice, held in Accra June 17-19, brought together heads of state, policymakers, legal experts, and civil...
  
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• Second Pregnancy Changes the Brain in Surprising New Ways

  13-07-2026 07:39 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthResearchers have found that every pregnancy rewires the brain in its own way, with a second pregnancy bringing a different pattern of changes than the first. This finding, reported in the journal Nature Communications, could lead to better treatments of maternal mental health challenges, including peripartum depression. The study also identified links between structural changes in the brain and peripartum depression during both first and second...
  
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• Scientists May Have Solved Mystery of Earth's Largest Mass Extinction

  13-07-2026 07:39 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top NewsWhy do beaches today have seashells from clams and snails instead of brachiopods? A new study suggests that the answer lies in Earth's greatest mass extinction, when warming oceans and falling oxygen levels wiped out animals that couldn't adapt. Species with body plans and metabolisms better suited to the changing conditions survived and went on to dominate the seas, offering a glimpse of how modern marine life could respond to climate change.
  
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• Gray Whales Facing "Catastrophic" Depletion From Climate Crisis

  13-07-2026 07:39 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: The Guardian - Climate CrisisClimate change is driving a gray whale "catastrophic mortality event" in the Pacific Ocean as melting sea ice depletes food sources and the whales starve, environmental groups warn. Meanwhile, ship strikes, oil spills, and microplastic pollution are also likely contributing to a die-off that has nearly halved the whales' estimated population. The population has fallen from 20,000 in 2019 to fewer than 13,000 in 2026, and the deaths appear to be...
  
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• Earliest Right-Handedness Emerged 550 Million Years Ago, Fossil Suggests

  13-07-2026 07:39 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthScientists have uncovered what may be the earliest evidence of "right-handedness" in the animal kingdom, dating back more than half a billion years. The discovery comes from the fossil record of Spriggina floundersi, an organism that lived about 550 million years ago. These new findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, suggest that the origins of left-right asymmetry in animals evolved far earlier than previously recognized.
  
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• School Smartphone Bans Don't Boost Student Mental Health, Study Finds

  12-07-2026 15:43 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostSchools around the world are increasingly restricting phone use. The hope is that limiting access to smartphones during the school day will reduce distractions, improve behavior, protect students from online harms, and support learning. Some schools even ban smart phones from the premises. Yet a new study, published in BMJ Mental Health, finds that smartphone restrictions do not appear to meaningfully improve pupils' quality of life or mental...
  
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• Trump's Pivot on Face Masks Changed Republican Behavior, Not Beliefs

  12-07-2026 15:42 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostWhen public health crises occur, people must first be persuaded that a medical intervention works before they'll adopt it, right? Actually, a large study published in the American Sociological Review challenges this assumption. By tracking reactions to former President Donald Trump's unexpected endorsement of face masks in 2020, the study found that President Trump's supporters readily adopted the behavior without altering their private beliefs.
  
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• Soccer, not just American football, may affect long-term brain health

  12-07-2026 06:00 via cnn.com
  
  Initial research finds that retired professional soccer players in their midlife show signs of neurological impacts, which could affect their mental health.
  
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• U.N. Probe Finds Mass Killings, Gang Rapes in Sudan Amount to Genocide

  09-07-2026 09:46 via socialpsychology.org
  Source:Al JazeeraSudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed genocide in the city of el-Fasher, carrying out mass killings, gang rapes, and starvation as part of an intentional policy, a United Nations investigation has found. The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan released its findings Wednesday, concluding that the RSF's systematic campaign of violence against civilians amounted to genocide, building on a February report that identified hallmarks of the...
  
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• Study Challenges Major Assumption About Why We Bond With Our Friends

  09-07-2026 09:46 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostA new study suggests that friends tend to have slightly similar personalities, but simply being alike does not do a good job of predicting friendship satisfaction. For that, what matters more is whether friends possess generally positive traits. The findings, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, suggest that how people perceive the quality of their friends' personalities is more important than strict personality...
  
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• How to choose the best therapy for whatever you’re going through

  09-07-2026 06:00 via oprahdaily.com
  
  Mental health experts to help readers understand the landscape and find the best help possible.
  
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• No one knows how to deal with anyone else’s kids anymore

  08-07-2026 06:00 via vox.com
  
  Interacting with children has gotten a lot less intuitive, even if you’re a parent yourself.
  
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• The Dark Side of Weight Loss Drugs: Ozempic's Surprising Hidden Cost

  07-07-2026 17:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top SocietyGLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are often celebrated as game-changing solutions, but new research reveals a surprising social twist. People who lose weight using these medications may actually face more judgment than those who lose weight through diet and exercise—or even those who don't lose weight at all. The stigma seems rooted in a perception that these drugs are an "easy way out," which in practice is often far from the...
  
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• Chatbots Can Help Perpetuate Stigma About Certain Health Conditions

  07-07-2026 17:04 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: SciencePeople with certain illnesses—such as schizophrenia, depression, and AIDS—can face stigma that makes it harder to get a job, receive medical care, or just interact with others. Now, a study published this week in Nature Health finds such health conditions can trigger subtle but potentially damaging discrimination from another source: artificial intelligence chatbots. The results suggest that AI may perpetuate—rather than...
  
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• Conflict, Climate Change, Cash-Strapped: Why Poverty Persists

  07-07-2026 17:03 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: DW- top storiesOne in ten people remain in extreme poverty, over two billion face moderate or severe food insecurity, and the number affected by climate-related disasters has more than doubled since 2015. That's according to data from the United Nations published in a report today. Although the international community agreed more than a decade ago adopt goals such as ending hunger by 2030—and progress has been made regarding some goals—many other areas are...
  
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• LSU's Pennington Biomedical Researchers Identify Key Factors That Build Resilience and Support Mental Health in Female Athletes

  07-07-2026 14:31 via pr.com
  
  This longitudinal study highlights modifiable factors that may help reduce depression, anxiety, PTSD and stress [PR.com]
  
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• LSU's Pennington Biomedical Researcgers Identify Key Factors That Build Resilience and Support Mental Health in Female Athletes

  07-07-2026 14:31 via pr.com
  
  This longitudinal study highlights modifiable factors that may help reduce depression, anxiety, PTSD and stress [PR.com]
  
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• What Do Human Thinking and AI Have to Offer Each Other?

  07-07-2026 09:54 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Association for Psychological ScienceThe Association for Psychological Science has released a special issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science on the intersection of psychology and AI. Public debates often frame AI as a rival to human intelligence—something that will eventually outperform and perhaps replace humans. The authors in this journal issue largely reject that framing, however, envisioning complementary intelligences and intellectual partnerships that deepen...
  
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• Trump Administration Can Remove History and Climate Info, Court Rules

  07-07-2026 09:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: The Guardian - Climate CrisisThe Trump administration does not have to reinstate materials related to climate change, immigration and slavery that it has removed from national parks, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday. It's the latest twist in a legal battle over how history is remembered at American public monuments.
  
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• From AI to "Killer Robots": U.N. Chief Issues Urgent Governance Call

  07-07-2026 09:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Nations NewsU.N. chief António Guterres appealed Monday for far-reaching worldwide controls on AI. Addressing the inaugural U.N. Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva, he asked that safety come first, especially when it comes to protecting children from manipulation and abuse. The President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, also urged collective action, noting that a reported 99% of deepfakes are sexual in nature, and 96% target women and...
  
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• Common gym supplement could help fight depression, new research suggests

  07-07-2026 06:00 via foxnews.com
  
  Doctor calls creatine 'promising but not definitive' as a complement to depression care.
  
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