Psychology News and Research

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

Study reveals critical aspect of how frontopolar cortex contributes to decision making

Researchers at the University of Iowa, together with colleagues from the California Institute of Technology and New York University, have discovered how a part of the brain helps predict future events from past experiences. The work sheds light on the function of the front-most part of the frontal lobe, known as the frontopolar cortex, an area of the cortex uniquely well developed in humans in comparison with apes and other primates.

20 Jun 2012

Mental health hospitals scrutinized in Calif., Mass.

The Los Angeles Times looks at former consultant who helped overhaul California's psychiatric hospitals. In Massachusetts, the future of Taunton State Hospital -- one of two remaining publicly run mental health hospitals there -- is uncertain.

19 Jun 2012

Program to correct problematic research practices

A $500,000 grant to Saint Louis University's Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics will fund the first ever remediation program to aid institutions when they discover researchers who have engaged in wrongdoing or unprofessional behavior. The Restoring Professionalism and Integrity in Research (RePAIR) program is expected to launch in November 2012.

19 Jun 2012

Difficult childhood affects brain development and can increase risk of adolescent crimes

The legal system needs to take greater account of new discoveries in neuroscience that show how a difficult childhood can affect the development of a young person's brain which can increase the risk adolescent crimes, according to researchers. The research will be presented as part of an Economic and Social Research Council seminar series in conjunction with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.

19 Jun 2012

Unique brain characteristics behind people's excellence

Scientists trying to understand why some people excel - whether as world-class athletes, virtuoso musicians, or top CEOs - have discovered that these outstanding performers have unique brain characteristics that make them different from other people.

19 Jun 2012

MRI images of the brain when a person loses self-control

New pictures from the University of Iowa show what it looks like when a person runs out of patience and loses self-control.

19 Jun 2012

Rusk Rehabilitation moves to NYU Langone's new Ambulatory Care Center

NYU Langone Medical Center announced that Rusk Rehabilitation non-musculoskeletal outpatient rehabilitation care, research and administrative offices have moved to a 40,000 square-foot space in NYU Langone's new Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) located at 240 East 38th Street in Manhattan.

19 Jun 2012

Link between unconscious conflicts and conscious anxiety disorder symptoms

An experiment that Sigmund Freud could never have imagined 100 years ago may help lend scientific support for one of his key theories, and help connect it with current neuroscience.

18 Jun 2012

Latest allergy research presented at EAACI Congress 2012

Ground-breaking research results about stress during pregnancy and changes in pollen potency across Europe will be presented - among other novel research - at the world's leading congress on allergy and immunology - the EAACI Congress 2012 - that will open tomorrow in Geneva, Switzerland.

16 Jun 2012

'Tip-of-the-tongue' errors happen often to adults over 65

Has your memory failed you today, such as struggling to recall a word that's "on the tip of your tongue?" If so, you're not alone.

16 Jun 2012

People can train their brains to become less impulsive

New research from psychologists at the Universities of Exeter and Cardiff shows that people can train their brains to become less impulsive, resulting in less risk-taking during gambling. The research could pave the way for new treatments for people with addictions to gambling, drugs or alcohol as well as impulse-control disorders, such as ADHD.

15 Jun 2012

Exposure to BPA during gestation has long-lasting, trans-generational effects

Exposure to low doses of Bisphenol A (BPA) during gestation had immediate and long-lasting, trans-generational effects on the brain and social behaviors in mice, according to a recent study accepted for publication in the journal Endocrinology, a publication of The Endocrine Society.

15 Jun 2012

IBMT linked with positive structural changes in brain connectivity

A Texas Tech University scientist studying the Chinese mindfulness meditation known as integrative body-mind training (IBMT) said he and other researchers have confirmed and expanded on changes in structural efficiency of white matter in the brain that can be related to positive behavioral changes in subjects practicing the technique for a month and a minimum of 11 hours total.

14 Jun 2012

Research into alcohol's effect on juvenile rats

Research into alcohol's effect on juvenile rats shows they have an ability to build up a physical, but not cognitive, tolerance over the short term - a finding that could have implications for adolescent humans, according to Baylor University psychologists.

14 Jun 2012

Reovirus can trick the body's defenses to reach and kill cancer cells

Scientists have shown how a promising viral therapy that delivers a double blow to cancer can sneak up on tumors undetected by hitching a ride on blood cells.

14 Jun 2012

Study analyses impact of one-off advice session and ongoing support for patients with T2D

Research led by the University of Leicester concludes that people newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes need ongoing advice from GPs sustained over a number of years rather than a one-off session when they are first diagnosed.

14 Jun 2012

New study on motor chunking

You pick up your cell phone and dial the new number of a friend. Ten numbers. One. Number. At. A. Time. Because you haven't actually typed the number before, your brain handles each button press separately, as a sequence of distinct movements.

13 Jun 2012

A father's love contributes more to a child's development

A father's love contributes as much - and sometimes more - to a child's development as does a mother's love. That is one of many findings in a new large-scale analysis of research about the power of parental rejection and acceptance in shaping our personalities as children and into adulthood.

13 Jun 2012

Study compares stress levels in individuals across the U.S.

Until now, comparing stress levels in individuals across the United States over time was not possible due to a lack of historical data that tracks stress using accepted comparable measures.

13 Jun 2012

Alcohol consumption leads to increased social stress and poor grades in teens

Rather than gaining "liquid courage" to let loose with friends, teenage drinkers are more likely to feel like social outcasts, according to a new sociological study.

13 Jun 2012