Psychology News and Research

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Psychology is the study of human mental functions, behavior and processes.

People with similar autistic traits show greater mutual attraction and neural synchrony

New research has revealed that people with similar levels of autistic traits are more attracted to each other, and their brains synchronize in unique ways during passive and active communication.

10 Sep 2025

Brain lateralization shapes the mental number line in newborn chicks

Lateralization of the brain – the tendency for the left and right hemispheres to specialize in different functions – underlies the development of a left-to-right mental number line, according to a study in newborn chicks.

10 Sep 2025

Binge drinking mixed with cannabis tied to greater negative consequences

A new longitudinal study led by York University's Department of Psychology published today finds that young adults experiencing periods of high stress, anxiety and depressed mood more frequently combined binge drinking with cannabis use in order to get more high and drunk, and were also likely to report more adverse life consequences when combining these substances.

9 Sep 2025

Ketogenic diet shows promise in reducing depression symptoms in college students

A new study shows an association between at least 10 weeks of following a well-formulated ketogenic diet and a roughly 70% decrease in depression symptoms among a small group of college students.

9 Sep 2025

Study reveals electrophysiological signals associated with extinction of aversive memories in humans

Suppression of fear-related memories after unpleasant experiences is very critical for adaptive behavior, as it allows one to inhibit responses that could lead to psychiatric problems such as anxiety or depression.

5 Sep 2025

Social isolation drives reward-seeking behavior in teens

A study has found that adolescents become highly motivated to seek rewards after just a few hours of social isolation.

5 Sep 2025

Research on marmosets sheds light on how babies learn to talk

When a baby babbles and their parents respond, these back-and-forth exchanges are more than adorable-if-incoherent chatter - they help to build a baby's emerging language skills.

4 Sep 2025

Overprotective parenting linked to higher anxiety in first year university students

First-year undergraduates who grew up with overly cautious or controlling parents tend to experience increased anxiety when faced with stresses associated with the transition to university, researchers from McGill University and the University of California (Los Angeles) have found.

4 Sep 2025

Unraveling adult ADHD symptoms through genetics and data science

Kelli Lehto, Associate Professor of Neuropsychiatric Genomics at the University of Tartu, is leading a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grant project that brings together genetics, psychology, and data science to investigate the causes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults and enhance diagnostic methods.

4 Sep 2025

What happened to the midlife unhappiness hump?

Recent research shows a decline in youth mental health, replacing the traditional unhappiness hump with increased stress and depression in younger generations.

4 Sep 2025

Better education and income reduce anxiety about growing old

Investigating aging anxiety in China, this research links socioeconomic status to mental health, showing how education and income can alleviate fears of aging.

1 Sep 2025

Most autistic adults over 40 in the UK remain undiagnosed

89 to 97 per cent of autistic adults aged 40+ years are undiagnosed in the UK, according to the largest review of its kind which was conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London.

29 Aug 2025

Better sleep quality and healthy habits linked to improved mental wellbeing in young adults

A new study of young adults has strongly linked better sleep quality with better mental wellbeing, with fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity also strongly associated with psychological wellbeing.

28 Aug 2025

Using cannabis to self medicate linked to higher risk of paranoia

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, in partnership with the University of Bath, has found that the reasons why a person chooses to use cannabis can increase their risk of developing paranoia.

27 Aug 2025

Cognitive behavioral therapy linked to increased grey matter in emotion processing regions

Psychotherapy leads to measurable changes in brain structure. Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of Münster have demonstrated this for the first time in a study in "Translational Psychiatry" by using cognitive behavioral therapy.

27 Aug 2025

New NIH Baby Toolbox offers breakthrough in early childhood development screening

Developmental scientists and medical social science experts at Northwestern University have spearheaded the creation of the most recent NIH Toolbox, providing the newest nationally standardized assessment of cognitive, language, motor and social-emotional skill development in infants aged 16 days to 42 months.

26 Aug 2025