Psychology News and Research

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

Fibromyalgia: an interview with Dr Frederick Wolfe, University of Kansas School of Medicine

Fibromyalgia is a common disorder that is diagnosed in people who have pain in many areas of their body together with important symptoms such as...

22 Mar 2013

Estrogen therapy keeps joint pain at bay post hysterectomy

Estrogen therapy can help keep joint pain at bay after menopause for women who have had a hysterectomy. Joint pain was modestly, but significantly, lower in women who took estrogen alone than in women who took placebo in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial.

21 Mar 2013

Sleep plays important role in brain's ability to consolidate learning for competing tasks

Sleep plays an important role in the brain's ability to consolidate learning when two new potentially competing tasks are learned in the same day, research at the University of Chicago demonstrates.

21 Mar 2013

Depression and lower cognitive status are associated with rapid functional decline in Alzheimer's patients

More symptoms of depression and lower cognitive status are independently associated with a more rapid decline in the ability to handle tasks of everyday living, according to a study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers in this month's Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

20 Mar 2013

Older women in rural areas tend to suffer from recurrent bouts of depression

Being female and living in a rural area are among several factors that predicted whether an elderly person with depression recovered over the course of a year, finds a recent study in Depression Research and Treatment. Additional risk factors included having high levels of stress, being chronically ill and having a low estimate of one's own mental health.

20 Mar 2013

Researchers find little support for legal controls on cross-border fertility treatment

PROBLEMS in accessing donor sperm and eggs at home appear to be behind a reported increase in the number of UK citizens who seek fertility treatment abroad, despite the fact that this is widely seen as risky.

20 Mar 2013

Ill health and retirement: an interview with Dr Sabrina Pit, University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney

In our study population, which was drawn from NSW Australia only, the proportion of working aged men who were fully retired due to ill-health in cities is five percent, eight percent for inner regional areas and nine for outer regional areas.

20 Mar 2013

Study shows worsened cognitive status associated with faster decline in functional abilities

20 Mar 2013

Memories of recent meals reduce amount of food eaten later on

Research led by a psychologist at the University of Liverpool has found that using memories of recent meals reduces the amount of food eaten later on. It also found that being distracted when eating leads to increased consumption.

19 Mar 2013

New research suggests elite athletes perform better than others in some ways

New research suggests that elite athletes - Olympic medalists in volleyball, for example - perform better than the rest of us in yet another way. These athletes excel not only in their sport of choice but also in how fast their brains take in and respond to new information - cognitive abilities that are important on and off the court.

19 Mar 2013

Neuropsychology professor receives Lifetime Distinguished Career award from INS

H. Julia Hannay, the John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Psychology at the University of Houston (UH), received the Lifetime Distinguished Career Award from the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) at its 41st annual meeting in Waikoloa, Hawaii. The award recognizes her contributions to the field of neuropsychology.

18 Mar 2013

New research examines behaviour of young people lured into internet gambling

New research from the University of Adelaide has studied the behaviour of young people lured into internet gambling through so-called 'free-play' or 'practice' modes.

16 Mar 2013

Researchers show inhibiting brain's filter can boost performance for tasks

The brain's prefrontal cortex is thought to be the seat of cognitive control, working as a kind of filter that keeps irrelevant thoughts, perceptions and memories from interfering with a task at hand.

15 Mar 2013

Article explores benefits of innovative programs for personalized health care

Two innovative programs designed to improve the availability of emerging medical technologies that can help patients receive more effective, efficient and personalized health care are advanced in a commentary written by a team of scientists and policy experts, including seven from Arizona State University, and published today in Science Translational Medicine.

15 Mar 2013

Study presents new method of measuring avoidance behavior in young children

Children who avoid situations they find scary are likely to have anxiety a Mayo Clinic study of more than 800 children ages 7 to 18 found. The study published this month in Behavior Therapy presents a new method of measuring avoidance behavior in young children.

13 Mar 2013

Infants choose alliances by nine months, shows study

Babies have a dark side under their cute exteriors, according to University of British Columbia-led study that finds infants as young as nine months embrace those who pick on individuals who are different from them.

13 Mar 2013

Measuring avoidance could predict children's development of anxiety

12 Mar 2013

Study reveals role of maternal sensitivity in language growth for deaf children

University of Miami Psychologist Alexandra L. Quittner leads one of the largest, most nationally representative studies of the effects of parenting on very young, deaf children who have received cochlear implants.

11 Mar 2013

New study shows emotions affect health and wellness in low-income countries

Positive emotions are known to play a role in physical well-being, and stress is strongly linked to poor health, but is this strictly a "First World" phenomenon?

11 Mar 2013

Endometrial cancer survivors more likely to complete physical activity

Endometrial cancer survivors are more likely to complete physical activity, and for longer durations, when their daily self-efficacy is higher, according to a study published online in the journal Health Psychology - a publication of the American Psychology Association.

11 Mar 2013