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Results 1 to 30How psychopathy connects alexithymia to decisions that sacrifice others
2025-07-30, 00:29People who have difficulty identifying and expressing emotions are more likely to endorse causing harm if it benefits the greater good—especially if they also show traits linked to psychopathy. A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences sheds light on how emotional processing...
The psychology of belief explains America’s ongoing war with Darwin
2025-07-29, 22:39One hundred years after a Tennessee teacher named John Scopes started a legal battle over what the state’s schools can teach children, Americans are still divided over evolution. Scopes was charged with violating Tennessee law by teaching evolution, in a highly publicised July 1925 trial that led to...
Sugar addiction is real, according to these scientists
2025-07-29, 19:38A new scientific review argues that sugar addiction is not just a metaphor, but a real and measurable condition that mirrors the brain and behavioral patterns found in drug dependence. Published in the journal Brain and Behavior, the paper brings together a wide body of research to show that sugar...
Narcissism is associated with higher aggression in combat athletes, study finds
2025-07-29, 17:32A new study published in the journal Deviant Behavior has found that narcissistic traits are positively associated with aggressive behaviors among licensed combat sports athletes. The researchers also tested whether demographic factors such as gender, age, sports experience, and athlete ranking...
Depressed individuals who feel stigmatized are more likely to contemplate suicide
2025-07-29, 15:44A longitudinal study of depressed individuals in China found that those experiencing more severe personal stigma were more likely to contemplate suicide. Their suicidal thoughts also tended to be more severe. The research was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Suicide is the act of...
Fascinating new research reveals how sexual desire shapes long-term partner preferences
2025-07-29, 13:38People often say they want long-term partners who are kind, dependable, and emotionally supportive. But despite those intentions, many still place a surprising amount of importance on physical attractiveness—even when seeking committed relationships. A new study published in the Journal of...
Surprising Alzheimer’s breakthrough: Sugar in neurons might be the missing link
2025-07-29, 11:31A new study has identified an unexpected contributor to Alzheimer’s disease: glycogen, a complex sugar stored inside brain cells. While traditionally associated with muscles and the liver, glycogen appears to accumulate abnormally in neurons affected by Alzheimer’s and other tau-related disorders....
Lucid dreamers report reduced fear after confronting phobias in their sleep
2025-07-28, 19:36New research suggests that lucid dreaming may help people reduce their fears by allowing them to face phobia-related situations in a safe, dream-based environment. In a study published in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, participants who encountered the object of their...
Is trauma really carried in our DNA? The scientific story is more complicated
2025-07-28, 17:28As war continues to rage in Gaza and Ukraine, there is concern about how the related trauma might be transmitted to future generations of people in those regions. More generally, interest in the idea of transgenerational trauma has recently surged. For example, earlier this year, National Geographic...
Scientists observe synchronized oxytocin in couples after sex
2025-07-28, 15:22A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior provides rare insight into how oxytocin levels change across a sexual encounter between romantic partners in their own homes. The researchers found that men’s and women’s oxytocin levels tended to peak 40 minutes after sex and showed signs of...
New psychology research challenges influential theory linking childhood poverty to risk-taking
2025-07-28, 13:34People who grow up in poverty may respond to life-threatening situations by taking more financial risks—but this connection may be much weaker than previously thought. A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied attempted to replicate an influential 2011 study that tied...
When parents get involved in their kids’ love lives, it can shake up their own relationship
2025-07-28, 11:28Emerging adults often lean on their parents for emotional support while forging their own romantic relationships. But new research suggests that when parents try to influence their child’s love life—whether by helping or hindering—it can affect the stability of their relationship with that child....
Exposure to gun violence linked to depression and suicide risk
2025-07-27, 15:21A nationwide survey of adult U.S. residents found that individuals frequently exposed to gun violence tend to have a heightened risk of depression and suicide. They are also more likely to use mental health services. The research was published in Social Science & Medicine. Gun violence in the...
Cross-party friendships are shockingly rare in the United States, study suggests
2025-07-27, 13:33In the United States, friendships between people who hold different political views are surprisingly uncommon. But when they do exist, they may come with a trade-off: slightly lower friendship quality, but also more positive attitudes toward people with opposing political beliefs. That’s according...
Neuroscientists uncover how sound processing shifts during sleep
2025-07-27, 11:26New research published in The Journal of Neuroscience reveals that basic sound processing remains active in the brainstem during non-rapid eye movement sleep, but weakens in the auditory cortex as sleep deepens. The study sheds light on how the sleeping brain manages to preserve rest while staying...
Tooth loss linked to faster cognitive decline in Hispanic older adults
2025-07-26, 21:36Older Hispanic adults who have lost all their natural teeth may face faster declines in cognitive function compared to those who still have their teeth, according to a new study published in Research on Aging. The findings also suggest that while both Hispanic and Black adults tend to begin with...
Cortisol and testosterone may influence how teens navigate trust in social situations
2025-07-26, 19:30A new study has found that adolescents tend to trust their friends more than strangers, and this difference in trust is associated with variations in hormone levels, impulsivity, and social reasoning. The research highlights how biological and cognitive factors may relate to how adolescents navigate...
Socially anxious people are better at detecting subtle signs of anger
2025-07-26, 17:23A new study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy suggests that people with high social anxiety are more accurate at recognizing subtle angry expressions compared to people with low social anxiety. The researchers found that individuals who scored high on social anxiety tests showed stronger...
Bored individuals are more likely to develop social media addiction
2025-07-26, 15:35A survey of adults residing in Sakarya, Türkiye, found that loneliness was not associated with social media addiction (when controlling for other factors), but boredom in life was. Bored individuals were more likely to exhibit signs of social media addiction. Social media addiction symptoms also...
Longer birth control pill use linked to lower odds of depressive symptoms
2025-07-26, 13:29Women in the United States who have used birth control pills for a longer period may be less likely to experience symptoms of depression, according to a new study published in The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. The research found a consistent link between extended oral...
Fascinating new neuroscience study shows the brain emits light through the skull
2025-07-26, 11:23A new study published in iScience provides evidence that the human brain emits extremely faint light signals that not only pass through the skull but also appear to change in response to mental states. Researchers found that these ultraweak light emissions could be recorded in complete darkness, and...
A startling psychology study has linked nightmares to premature death
2025-07-25, 21:14Waking up from a nightmare can leave your heart pounding, but the effects may reach far beyond a restless night. Adults who suffer bad dreams every week were almost three times more likely to die before age 75 than people who rarely have them. This alarming conclusion – which is yet to be peer...
New research supports the universality of maternal sensitivity in shaping child attachment
2025-07-25, 19:09A new study published in Child Development provides the strongest longitudinal evidence to date that sensitive caregiving in early life predicts children’s attachment security in China, a country with cultural traditions and parenting styles often seen as different from those in the West. Drawing...
People in open relationships report better sexual communication
2025-07-25, 17:19A new study suggests that people in consensually nonmonogamous relationships tend to experience higher-quality sexual communication compared to those in monogamous relationships. Despite this difference, both groups showed similar levels of sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and...
Individuals with alcohol use disorder have much higher concentration of glutathione in certain brain areas
2025-07-25, 15:13An analysis of neuroimaging data from individuals with alcohol use disorder showed that these individuals tend to have higher concentrations of the antioxidant glutathione in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex region of their brains. Interestingly, individuals with this disorder who had fewer...
Humans still beat AI at one key creative task, new study finds
2025-07-25, 13:07In a new experiment comparing different types of collaboration, researchers found that pairs of humans working together produced more original ideas than individuals collaborating with artificial intelligence or using internet search tools. The findings suggest that human interaction still holds a...
Study shows Congressional stock gains come at democracy’s expense
2025-07-25, 11:18A new study suggests that when Americans learn about members of Congress profiting from stock trading, their trust in Congress falls—and so does their willingness to comply with the laws that Congress passes. Researchers found that people who read about Congressional stock trades rated Congress as...
Psychedelics alter neurochemical signals tied to hunger and mood in the hypothalamus
2025-07-25, 00:10New research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has found that a single dose of psilocybin leads to widespread changes in gene expression for several neuropeptides in the rat hypothalamus, while ketamine has a more limited effect. The findings suggest that these psychedelics may...
Zapping the brain’s prefrontal cortex with electricity helps people learn math
2025-07-24, 22:03A painless, non-invasive brain stimulation technique can significantly improve how young adults learn maths, my colleagues and I found in a recent...
Brain scans shed light on how green space might support children’s cognitive development
2025-07-24, 19:57A large-scale study of U.S. children has found that exposure to green spaces in urban areas is associated with healthier brain development, fewer emotional and behavioral problems, and improved cognitive performance. The findings, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, suggest that...
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