Psychology News and Research

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

Listening to music in the early stages after a stroke can improve patients' recovery

Researchers from Finland found that if stroke patients listened to music for a couple of hours a day, their verbal memory and focused attention recovered better and they had a more positive mood than patients who did not listen to anything or who listened to audio books.

20 Feb 2008

Children show goal-oriented behavior by age 3

Hang on, parents. After the terrible twos come the goal-oriented threes.

20 Feb 2008

Research helps explain why some stroke patients recover language skills

New research suggests that when one part of our language network breaks down, the system has the ability to reroute itself.

14 Feb 2008

Search for genes tied to social behavior

The first genome-wide search for genes governing social behavior has found that even the simplest social creatures - the amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum - have more than 100 genes that help regulate their cooperative behavior.

14 Feb 2008

Prenatal exposure to maternal antibodies linked to autistic behaviors in offspring

New research from the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute shows that an interaction between fetal brain cells and maternal antibodies could be linked with the repetitive behavior - also called stereotypies - that is characteristic of autism.

12 Feb 2008

Hostility plus depression elevates risk for heart disease

Researchers led by Jesse Stewart, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, report that hostility and depression appear to act together in a complex way to elevate inflammatory proteins in the human body, possibly putting hostility plus depression on the list of risk factors for heart disease along with high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and smoking.

12 Feb 2008

Oxytocin hormone promotes bonding

Gazing into your lover's eyes isn't only romantic; it may also mimic early attachments that forever alter your brain and body.

11 Feb 2008

More doctors prescribe exercise to treat depression

A mental health charity in Britain says increasing numbers of doctors are prescribing exercise for people with depression.

11 Feb 2008

Team approach to treating depression cuts medical costs

A team approach to treating depression in older adults, already shown to improve health, can also cut total health-care costs, according to a new study led by the University of Washington.

8 Feb 2008

Moderate prenatal exposure to alcohol and stress in monkeys can cause touch sensitivity

A new study on monkeys has found that moderate exposure to alcohol and stress during pregnancy can lead to sensitivity to touch in the monkeys' babies.

8 Feb 2008

Close ties between parents and babies yield benefits for preschoolers

Having close ties with parents is obviously good for preschoolers, but what does that really mean? It means that the preschoolers are better able to control their own behavior by showing patience, deliberation, restraint, and even maturity.

8 Feb 2008

PDAs push older adults into increasing their physical activity levels

Today's younger generation may reckon that "ne'er the twain shall meet" where technology and their elders are concerned. However, ongoing research by Abby King, PhD, professor of health research and policy and of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, appears to be gradually dispelling that notion.

5 Feb 2008

Could the pursuit of happiness go too far?

Could the pursuit of happiness go too far? Most self-help books on the subject offer tips on how to maximize one's bliss, but a new study suggests that moderate happiness may be preferable to full-fledged elation.

25 Jan 2008

Same-sex couples just as committed in relationships as heterosexual couples

Their finding disputes the stereotype that couples in same-sex relationships are not as committed as their heterosexual counterparts and are therefore not as psychologically healthy.

23 Jan 2008

A good fight with your spouse may be good for your health!

Couples in which both the husband and wife suppress their anger when one attacks the other die earlier than members of couples where one or both partners express their anger and resolve the conflict, according to preliminary results of a University of Michigan study.

23 Jan 2008

Something special about loneliness

New research at the University of Chicago finds evidence for a clever way that people manage to alleviate the pain of loneliness: They create people in their surroundings to keep them company.

21 Jan 2008

Military radar could help stroke patients

University of Leicester researchers are pioneering use of military radar signal processing methods to help victims of stroke - the third most common cause of death in the UK.

21 Jan 2008

International congress on gait and mental function

There is a widespread misunderstanding that stance and gait are automatic processes, i.e. not controlled by the human brain. However, the fact that many patients with brain disorders are no longer able to walk and engage in simple conversation at the same time makes it abundantly clear that our consciousness and our thinking do indeed control such apparently simple actions.

17 Jan 2008

Bisexual women - new research findings

Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt "on their way" to lesbianism, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

17 Jan 2008

Study supports role of a dopamine related gene in the onset of depression

Depression is one of the most common forms of psychopathology. According to diathesis-stress theories of depression, genetic liability interacts with negative life experiences to cause depression.

16 Jan 2008