Psychology News and Research

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

Friendship enriched by bad gossip about others

According to newly released research sharing negative attitudes about others may have positive consequences because it promotes closeness and friendship.

22 May 2006

Botox eases lines and depression

According to a U.S. study patients who were depressed who received the treatment botulinum toxin A (Botox) experienced relief from their symptoms.

22 May 2006

Depression in multiple sclerosis patients clue to better treatment

Depression increases in some patients with multiple sclerosis over time, according to neuropsychologists, and this research finding could help reduce depression in patients and aid in better treatment strategies.

17 May 2006

Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy in relation to child development

Many cultures hold that stress during pregnancy affects a woman's unborn child. However, there has been surprisingly little research on the topic.

17 May 2006

Students feel safer in ethnically diverse classrooms and schools

Middle school students are more likely to feel safer, less bullied and less lonely in ethnically diverse schools, psychologists from UCLA and UC Davis report in a new study of more than 70 sixth-grade classrooms in 11 Los Angeles public middle schools with predominantly minority and low-income students.

11 May 2006

Psychological well-being improves after adolescence

Although young adults are faced with a diversity of life choices, they seem to be coming to terms with themselves and their lives in their 20s, says new University of Alberta research that shows psychological well-being improves after adolescence and girls improve faster than boys.

10 May 2006

An evolutionary life-history framework for understanding sex differences in human mortality rates

Despite research efforts to find modern factors that would explain the different life expectancies of men and women, the gap is actually ancient and universal, according to University of Michigan researchers.

10 May 2006

Research into tiny muscle movements proves useful in anti-terror investigations

When trying to lie your way through any situation, keep a tight rein on your zygo maticus major and your orbicularis oculi. They'll give you away faster than a snitch.

8 May 2006

Pten regulates neuronal arborization and social interaction in mice

While the causes of autism remain complex and mysterious, researchers are steadily adding pieces to its intricate puzzle. In what they believe to be a significant new approach to understanding "autism spectrum disorders" (ASD), researchers have developed a mouse that shows abnormal social interactions and brain hypertrophy characteristic of the disease.

3 May 2006

Hormones may affect how brain listens

From zebra fish to humans, reproductive hormones govern behavioral responses to courtship signals.

3 May 2006

Good and bad sides of the Internet as it relates to children

Between 75 and 90 percent of teenagers in the United States use the Internet to email, instant message (IM), visit chat rooms and explore other sites on the World Wide Web.

3 May 2006

Premenstrual syndrome and self-policing: constructing and deconstructing premenstrual distress in lesbian and heterosexual relationships

Premenstrual distress: An unavoidable condition many women suffer with relentless regularity. Or is it? Can heterosexual women learn a thing or two from their lesbian sisterhood?

3 May 2006

Ancient rodent DNA being used to identify the cause of its low genetic diversity

A rare Patagonian rodent known as the colonial tuco-tuco fascinates biologists because it seems to defy all odds. This threatened species has so little genetic diversity that the slightest whiff of climate change or disease should have wiped it off the face of the earth long ago. Yet the hearty gopher-like creature has not only managed to survive for thousands of years in the harsh climate of the Argentine highlands, it has evolved a complex social structure that's unique among the more than 50 closely related tuco-tuco species.

28 Apr 2006

Does secondhand smoke increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in children?

Whether exposure to secondhand smoke increases the chance that children with a family history of cardiovascular disease will develop the disease themselves is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

26 Apr 2006

Researchers identify characteristics that may lead to alcoholism

Those who are male and have behavioral disinhibition have the highest risk of developing alcoholism. Also, individuals with a family history of alcoholism (FH+) have a greater risk of developing alcoholism themselves than do persons with no family history, while FH+ individuals who are male and have behavioral disinhibition may have the greatest risk of developing alcoholism. Researchers caution that these combined characteristics indicate a greater probability, not certainty, of developing alcoholism.

26 Apr 2006

Expert says fetuses cannot feel pain and fetal pain relief is not required during abortions

Proposals to tell women seeking abortions that their unborn child will feel pain, or to provide pain relief during abortions, are scientifically unsound and may put women at unnecessary risk, argues Stuart Derbyshire, a senior psychologist at the University of Birmingham.

26 Apr 2006

Prenatal exposure to alcohol can change child's circadian rhythms

Altered sleeping and eating patterns, behavioral problems, attention deficits and depression in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders may indicate that their biological rhythms, which are controlled by circadian systems, have been affected by alcohol exposure during development.

25 Apr 2006

Groups better at solving problems than individuals

Study shows that the collective efforts of groups may be useful in boosting problem-solving skills. It found groups of three, four, or five perform better on complex problem solving than the best of an equivalent number of individuals.

24 Apr 2006

Bullying pushes overweight kids away from sport, increasing health problems

Most kids are bullied at some point in their lives, but overweight children are more often the targets of bullies' slings and arrows. Now a new UF study reveals this frequently leads them to avoid situations where they have been picked on before, such as gym class and sports.

23 Apr 2006

Research sheds light on eating disorders, compulsive gambling and drug abuse

Researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) report in the April 23 issue of Nature that they have identified neurons that encode the values that subjects assign to different items. The activity of these neurons might facilitate the process of decision-making that occurs when someone chooses between different goods.

23 Apr 2006