Psychology News and Research

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

Activity in one brain structure can predict people's preferences

The study shows that even when people rate options similarly, they will choose the one that causes more activation in the caudate nucleus, a brain region involved in anticipating reward.

24 Mar 2009

Social isolation makes strokes more deadly in mice

New research in mice suggests that social isolation may promote more damaging inflammation in the brain during a stroke.

23 Mar 2009

Naltrexone can reduce relapse rates among alcohol-dependence patients

Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist approved in 1994 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for alcohol-dependence (AD) treatment, can reduce relapse rates among AD patients.

20 Mar 2009

Social scientists say having kids does not increase happiness

As the nation prepares to celebrate motherhood, a University of York economist is claiming that the idea that parenting makes us happy is an illusion.

20 Mar 2009

Cognitive decline can begins in late 20s

A new study indicates that some aspects of peoples' cognitive skills - such as the ability to make rapid comparisons, remember unrelated information and detect relationships - peak at about the age of 22, and then begin a slow decline starting around age 27.

20 Mar 2009

Emotions and emotional control in eating disorders: predictor role and emotional profiles

A Ph.D. thesis at the University of the Basque Country has analyzed the role played by a number of emotional variables, such as the way in which negative emotions are controlled or attitudes to emotional expression, and to use these variables as tools to predict the possibility of suffering an eating disorder.

17 Mar 2009

Brain abnormality found in boys with ADHD

Researchers trying to uncover the mechanisms that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder have found an abnormality in the brains of adolescent boys suffering from the conditions, but not where they expected to find it.

17 Mar 2009

Music lessons help children improve reading skills

Children exposed to a multi-year programme of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music, published by SAGE.

16 Mar 2009

University of Florida doctors test targets for Parkinson surgery

Doctors may be able to tailor a specialized form of brain surgery to more closely match the needs of Parkinson patients, according to results from the first large-scale effort to compare the two current target areas of deep brain stimulation surgery, or DBS.

15 Mar 2009

Men much less likely to feel and express gratitude than women

With Mother's Day, Father's Day and high school and college graduations upcoming, there will be plenty of gift-giving and well wishes.

15 Mar 2009

A blood test for Alzheimer's on the horizon

Researchers have revealed a direct relationship between two specific antibodies and the severity of Alzheimer's disease symptoms, raising hopes that a diagnostic blood test for the devastating disorder is within reach.

11 Mar 2009

Study looks at driving under the influence of cannabis

Thrill-seeking young men are more likely to drive under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) and engage in reckless driving, according to a new University of Montreal study.

11 Mar 2009

MRI and CT used to map intelligence in the brain

Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have conducted the most comprehensive brain mapping to date of the cognitive abilities measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the most widely used intelligence test in the world.

11 Mar 2009

Salt could be 'nature's antidepressant' according to new research

Most people consume far too much salt, and a University of Iowa researcher has discovered one potential reason we crave it: it might put us in a better mood.

11 Mar 2009

Identifying and treating depression plus exercise in African-Americans may reduce heart disease

Identifying and treating depression, including increasing physical activity, may improve quality of life and reduce cardiovascular disease and death in African Americans, according to reports presented at the American Heart Association's 2009 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

11 Mar 2009