Psychology News and Research

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

Researchers examine impact of user experience with topical vaginal gels against HIV

Are women willing to use a vaginal gel to protect themselves against HIV infection? Researchers at The Miriam Hospital say that is the million dollar question when it comes to developing products known as microbicides that can prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.

20 Apr 2012

Coast or the countryside better for exercise than an urban park

Exercise in the open air is good for you, but if you want to reap the full benefits you should head for the coast or the countryside rather than an urban park.

20 Apr 2012

Connection between eating meat and faster weaning process

Carnivory is behind the evolutionary success of humankind. When early humans started to eat meat and eventually hunt, their new, higher-quality diet meant that women could wean their children earlier. Women could then give birth to more children during their reproductive life, which is a possible contribution to the population gradually spreading over the world.

20 Apr 2012

Breakdown of white-matter pathways affects decision-making as we age

If you are an aging baby boomer and you've noticed it's a bit harder to drive to unfamiliar locations or to pick a new brand of olive oil at the supermarket, you can blame it on the white matter in your brain.

20 Apr 2012

Thinking about death can actually be a good thing

Thinking about death can actually be a good thing. An awareness of mortality can improve physical health and help us re-prioritize our goals and values, according to a new analysis of recent scientific studies. Even non-conscious thinking about death - say walking by a cemetery - could prompt positive changes and promote helping others.

20 Apr 2012

UH to conduct research on causes and treatment of learning disabilities

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $9 million grant to the University of Houston's Texas Center for Learning Disabilities to conduct research on the causes and treatment of learning disabilities in children and adolescents. UH is one of four universities nationally to receive funding from the NIH for a learning disability research center.

20 Apr 2012

Optimism could benefit the heart: A review of studies

A Harvard School of Public Health review of more than 200 studies suggests that optimism is good for the heart. The researchers looked at studies that had recorded psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. This revealed that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness appeared to be linked associated with a reduced risk of heart and circulatory diseases, regardless of a person's age, socio-economic status, smoking status or body weight. Disease risk was 50% lower among the most optimistic individuals.

19 Apr 2012

Physical exercise, meditation can change brains for the better

Practices like physical exercise, certain forms of psychological counseling and meditation can all change brains for the better, and these changes can be measured with the tools of modern neuroscience, according to a review article now online at Nature Neuroscience.

19 Apr 2012

First neurobiological model for third-party punishment

In a paper published online on April 15 by the journal Nature Neuroscience, a pair of neuroscientists from Vanderbilt and Harvard universities has proposed the first neurobiological model for third-party punishment. It outlines a collection of potential cognitive and brain processes that evolutionary pressures could have re-purposed to make this behavior possible.

19 Apr 2012

Veterans with killing experience more likely to report suicidal thoughts

The experience of killing in war was strongly associated with thoughts of suicide, in a study of Vietnam-era veterans led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and the University of California, San Francisco.

19 Apr 2012

Brain size and IQ secret may lie in genes: Study

The study, conducted by a team of more than 200 scientists from 100 institutions worldwide, measured the size of the brain and its memory centers in thousands of MRI images from 21,151 healthy people while simultaneously screening their DNA. According to the researchers, a variant in a gene called HMGA2 affected the brain size, as well as a person's intelligence.

18 Apr 2012

Excessive alcohol use associated with lower self-reporting of maturity

Tipping back one too many cocktails during an individual's early 20s doesn't correlate to a personal sense of immaturity; however if this habit doesn't stop as they reach age 30, young adults can feel psychologically underdeveloped, according to a University of Missouri study. Helping young adults acknowledge their mental impulse to "sober up" as they mature can improve substance abuse intervention programs.

18 Apr 2012

Tattoos and piercings linked to heavy drinking: Study

Alcohol tests performed on nearly 2,000 young men and women frequenting bars in the west of France showed a strong correlation between body art and drinking, they said. “Pierced and/or tattooed individuals had consumed more alcohol in bars on a Saturday night than patrons in the same bars who were non-pierced and non-tattooed,” said a study for the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

17 Apr 2012

Caring for wife with breast cancer can affect men's health

Caring for a wife with breast cancer can have a measurable negative effect on men's health, even years after the cancer diagnosis and completion of treatment, according to recent research.

17 Apr 2012

MU wins Jeanne M. Priester Award for mind-body interaction program

The belief that the mind plays an integral role in physical health dates back to the earliest days of medicine. The Greek physician Hippocrates, often referred to as the founder of medicine, wrote "natural forces within us are the true healers of disease." A University of Missouri team has tapped into the science and practice of this mind-body interaction to develop an innovative and award-winning program.

17 Apr 2012

Maternal depression may affect infants’ sleep

Sleep problems are common in young children and can lead to difficulties in families. Several factors likely contribute to these problems, and mothers' depression has consistently been identified as one. Now a new study has found that moms with higher levels of symptoms of depression might act in ways that disturb their infants' sleep.

17 Apr 2012

Simple two-question test more effective in identifying anxiety disorders in children

A University of British Columbia researcher has developed a simple two-question test to screen kindergarten-aged children for future anxiety disorders - the most commonly reported mental health concern among children.

17 Apr 2012

Depressed mothers more likely to wake up their infants at night

Depressed mothers are more likely to needlessly wake up their infants at night than mothers who are not depressed, according to Penn State researchers.

17 Apr 2012

Physical activity reduces depression, enhances QOL during treatment for breast cancer

Women undergoing treatment for breast cancer might fight off distressing side effects and improve psychological well-being by staying off the couch. According to the University of Miami (UM) study, women who are physically active during treatment have less depression and an enhanced quality of life and report less debilitating fatigue.

16 Apr 2012

Niceness is gene deep

Researchers at the University of Buffalo and University of California, Irvine, found a connection between people being nice and versions of receptor genes for two hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, that have been associated with niceness in past studies.

12 Apr 2012