Latest Psychology Related Research News

New study shows young American females folic acid levels continuing to fall. All women of child bearing age should be on a folic acid supplement preferably as part of a daily B vitamin. Folic acid absolutely prevents spin bifida.

NO 'SMOKING' GUN -- RESEARCH INDICATES TEEN MARIJUANA USE DOES NOT PREDICT DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE, December 04
Marijuana is not a "gateway" drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study. The study, which found that young men who chose to initiate their drug use with marijuana were no more likely to go on to abuse drugs or alcohol than those who smoked or drank first, calls into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news84468374.html

TEENS WHO TAKE MULTIVITAMINS HAVE HEALTHIER LIFESTYLES, December 04
Teenagers who take a daily multivitamin supplement have a healthier diet and lifestyle than those who don't take vitamins, reports a study in the December Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news84467836.html

PROBING QUESTION: WHAT MAKES SOMEBODY A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?, November 30
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool morning guy: up at 5, nodding off by 9 p.m. My college-freshman son, on the other hand, is the proverbial night owl: up around noon, and I don't even want to know when he gets to bed.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news84126028.html

PREGNANT WOMEN ARE URGED TO AVOID PAXIL, November 30
(AP) -- Pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking the antidepressant Paxil if possible because of the risk of birth defects, a group of obstetricians said Thursday.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news84115255.html

Fish
Fish consumption advice - simple and straight forward:
There are several fish that are high in omega-3s and low in pollutants. These include anchovies, Atlantic mackerel and herring, farmed oysters, sardines, and wild coho, sockeye and pink salmon.

Fish consumption - the latest research complex and circuitous:
Yahoo News Article

Adding further weight to the theory that fish may be brain food, new research found that people with diets rich in fish have a significantly lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The key appears to be docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that appears to affect dementia risk and to be important for the proper functioning of the central nervous system.

"If you have a high level of DHA, a fatty acid found in fish, it reduced your risk of dementia by about half," and also improves memory. So, either eat more fish or use one or two fish oil capsules a day. "...if it is the fat, you could take fish oil supplements and avoid mercury contamination issues."
Yahoo News Article 18 Nov 06

Vitamin D
"...patients should take enough oral cholecalciferol (never ergocalciferol, which is not vitamin D and appears to be a weaker agonist of the vitamin D receptor) in the winter to maintain high average summertime vitamin D blood levels (50 – 60 ng/ml). This means that many people with chronically low 25(OH)D levels, such as people with highly pigmented skin, the aged, the obese, and those who avoid sunlight, may need to take 5,000 IU (125 ug) of cholecalciferol daily during the colder months. How much is needed in sunnier months depends on latitude, season, weather patterns, and sunning habits." John Cannell, MD

My personal experience is that taking two 2000 IU/day has led to zero colds for the consumption period (as of Jan 4, 2007 four months).

Chocolate Milk!
"There's no reason it shouldn't be as good for recovery as a carb drink." It works like aspirin and it's cheaper!

The Courts and Junk Science
The FDA is allowing silicone breast implants to be sold again, 14 years after they were removed from the market by the same agency over questions of safety. Most studies have failed to link the implants to serious or chronic diseases such as cancer and lupus. Lawsuits over the products drove one of the manufacturers, Dow Corning, into bankruptcy, increased the power of the courts, and made many lawyers rich. Oh yea, this junk science also frightened many women, caused needless surgeries to remove the implants, and killed a few women. But who cares about that when you can destroy a company and get rich. Link

Preview Far Infrared Silicon Diodes Treat Burns
The St. Petersburg researchers (Russia) suggest that infrared emission should be used to treat burns. A unique device based on silicon light-emitting diodes was developed by the St. Petersburg physicists – specialists of the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University. Emission of far infra-red range of wave-lengths generated by this device will help to cure in an ordinary hospital even such burns that could be previously treated only in specialized burn centers. The Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE) will help the researchers to arrange production of remarkable devices.Preview Far Infrared Silicon Diodes Treat Burns

BRAIN DIFFERENCES COULD EXPLAIN WHY MALES AND FEMALES
EXPERIENCE PAIN RELIEF DIFFERENTLY, April 18
A study conducted by investigators at Georgia State University and the
Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) reports that
anatomical and functional differences in the brain may explain sex
differences in the experience of pain and in the effects of certain drugs on
pain.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64588700.html

DIET SEEN TO CUT ALZHEIMER'S RISK SHARPLY, April 18
A Columbia University study has found that the Mediterranean diet rich
in olive oil can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by up to 40
percent.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64580999.html

STUDY REVEALS NEW ALCOHOLIC GENES, April 18
U.S. government researchers say they have identified new genes that may
contribute to excessive alcohol consumption.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64547966.html

Stretch your Stretching
First, Pretend You're Gumby . . .
Use your mind to help your muscles go from stiff to supple the next time you're doing a full-body stretch.
Put another way: pretend you're Gumby. Researchers have found that people who vividly imagine lengthening and moving their arms or legs find stretching easier to do. And that could lead to greater flexibility gains. So close your eyes and envision your muscles getting longer and looser whenever you stretch.

In a recent study, three groups of volunteers (30 people in all) went through a 4-week flexibility program. While all the groups emerged with more limber bodies, two of them applied their minds as well as their bodies to the process. One group visualized moving the limb they were stretching, while the other imagined the physiological process of stretching, trying to "see" their muscles elongating. Both of these groups found their flexibility workouts easier to do than the members of the control group did . . . yet they still got at least the same flexibility gains. Sweet.

Get Juiced
If you don't touch the hard stuff but would love some of the highly touted health benefits attributed to red wine, pour yourself a glass of grape juice instead. Like wine, grape juice is full of protective pigments known as flavonoids. Unlike wine, it doesn't . . . Read more: http://ramailer.realage.com/ct/click?q=af-~dE8QLpYDpryumLyIbXb~sv0ksRR

Situation - Auto Accident

* Federal study followed 241 drivers of 100 vehicles for 1 year to observe driving behavior
* Conducted by researchers w/ NHTSA, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute
* Study showed 80% of crashes caused by distractions, sleepiness
* Reading, putting on makeup, reaching for moving object tied to increase chance of crash
* Dialing, answering cell phone increased rate of crash, near-miss 2.8 times
* Likelihood of distraction 4 times higher for drivers age 18-20 than for those over 35

Significance

* 100 vehicles wired w/ cameras, sensors tracked 109 primary drivers, 241 total drivers
* Observed driver behavior for 12-13 months, over 2M miles, in VA, Washington, DC area
* Caught 82 crashes, 761 near-crashes, 8295 critical incidents
* 78% of accidents, 65% of near-crashes involved driver inattention in 3 seconds before incident
* Drowsiness played much greater role in accidents than previously believed
* Automakers using data to develop precrash sensors to warn of impending accidents
http://www.automotivedigest.com/view_art.asp?articlesID=18939

EVEN AT SMALL SCALES, THE BIG DECISIONS ARE MADE AT THE WATER COOLER, April 20
When a group of people tries to decide how to carry out an important
task, it is sometimes said that the pivotal discussions do not happen in large, well-attended meetings, but in one-on-one conversations around the water cooler. It turns out that among individual neurons in our brains, the same may hold true.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64770522.html

NANO WORLD: BREATH TEST FOR BREAST CANCER, April 21
Breath tests for breast cancer might arise via pockets only square
nanometers or billionths of a meter in size, experts told UPI's Nano World.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64858897.html

FINDINGS RELEASED ON REAL-WORLD DRIVER BEHAVIOR, DISTRACTION, CRASH FACTORS, April 20
Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and
near-crashes, according to a landmark research report released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI).
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64755045.html

U.S. MUMPS OUTBREAK LIKELY TO WORSEN, April 20
Federal officials say the outbreak of mumps centered in the U.S.
Midwest is likely to spread before it can be reined in with vaccinations and
quarantines.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64753448.html

EDUCATION LINKED WITH CALCIUM DEPOSITS, April 20
A Northwestern University study suggests higher levels of education are associated with a lower prevalence of coronary artery calcium.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64753402.html

STUDY WATCHES THE BRAIN 'SHUTTING OFF', April 19
Israeli scientists say they have observed the human brain in the act of losing "self" as it shuts down introspection during a demanding sensory task.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64683846.html

MOUSE TO MAN: THE STORY OF CHROMOSOMES, April 19
U.S. scientists say sequencing human chromosome 17 and mouse chromosome 11 has offered unique insights into the evolution of the genome of higher mammals.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64683795.html

'WORD-VISION' BRAIN AREA CONFIRMED, April 19
French neuroscientists have ended a long controversy, confirming a
specific area of the human brain plays a causal role in our ability to
recognize words.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64683768.html

THE LOGIC OF LIFE, April 20
Even though the entire human genome has now been 'read' - the chemical composition of our DNA has been more or less mapped out, gene by gene - we still have a rather poor grasp of how living cells actually work.
That's because the genome is not really a 'book of life', but is just a
catalogue of the parts of the cellular machinery, rather like a list of
all the electronic components in a complicated computer circuit. The
key challenge for biologists in the twenty-first century is to figure
out how those component genes are wired together. To do that, they may need help from physicists, electronic and computer scientists, and others.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news64765763.html

Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip

The Keys to Happiness, and Why We Don't Use Them

Robin Lloyd
Special to LiveScience
LiveScience.com Tue Feb 28, 11:02 AM ET

"It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don't make it." —Author and researcher Gregg Easterbrook

Psychologists have recently handed the keys to happiness to the public, but many people cling to gloomy ways out of habit, experts say. Polls show Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago despite significant increases in prosperity, decreases in crime, cleaner air, larger living quarters and a better overall quality of life. Happiness is 50 percent genetic, says University of Minnesota researcher David Lykken. What you do with the other half of the challenge depends largely on determination, psychologists agree. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Happiness does not come via prescription drugs, although 10 percent of women 18 and older and 4 percent of men take antidepressants, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Anti-depressants benefit those with mental illness but are no happiness guarantee, researchers say.

Nor will money or prosperity buy happiness for many of us. Money that lifts people out of poverty increases happiness, but after that, the better paychecks stop paying off sense-of-well-being dividends, research shows.

One route to more happiness is called "flow," an engrossing state that comes during creative or playful activity, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has found. Athletes, musicians, writers, gamers, and religious adherents know the feeling. It comes less from what you're doing than from how you do it.

Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California at Riverside has discovered that the road toward a more satisfying and meaningful life involves a recipe repeated in schools, churches and synagogues. Make lists of things for which you're grateful in your life, practice random acts of kindness, forgive your enemies, notice life's small pleasures, take care of your health, practice positive thinking, and invest time and energy into friendships and family.

The happiest people have strong friendships, says Ed Diener, a psychologist University of Illinois. Interestingly his research finds that most people are slightly to moderately happy, not unhappy.

"There are selfish reasons to behave in altruistic ways," says Gregg Easterbrook, author of "The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse" (Random House, 2004). "Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes," according to Easterbrook. "If it makes world a better place at same time, this is a real bonus." Diener has collected specific details on this. People who positively evaluate their well-being on average have stronger immune systems, are better citizens at work, earn more income, have better marriages, are more sociable, and cope better with difficulties.

Lethargy holds many people back from doing the things that lead to happiness. Easterbrook, also a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institute, goes back to Freud, who theorized that unhappiness is a default condition because it takes less effort to be unhappy than to be happy.

"If you are looking for something to complain about, you are absolutely certain to find it," Easterbrook told LiveScience. "It requires some effort to achieve a happy outlook on life, and most people don't make it. Most people take the path of least resistance. Far too many people today don't make the steps to make their life more fulfilling one."

The First Runner's High:
Jogging Separated Humans from Apes
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 17 November, 2004
1:07 p.m. ET

No offense, but your long neck, flat face and well-endowed buttocks are the reason you have an edge over pigs and monkeys in the marathon.

And you can thank your hungry ancestors for these useful anatomical features, which may also have led to the big brain you now enjoy.

A new study suggests the need for endurance made us what we are. Hunting or scavenging on the African savannah was the genesis of the Nike empire, the thinking goes. Those who ran well separated themselves from the pack of apes and became the earliest humans, eating protein that enlarged their brains.

Running got us out of the trees and made us smarter.

Head-On Collusions
(HealthScoutNews)
It seems there's a great gender difference in the posture, proximity and position of two people approaching each other.

COFFEE CUTS BREAST CANCER RISK: STUDY, January 06
Women with a particular gene mutation may reduce their risk of breast
cancer by a startling amount simply by drinking coffee, according to
new Canadian research.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news9665.html

Fri Jan 6, 3:00 PM ET

A new study finds that a cell once believed to serve neurons instead may perform the crucial function of regulating blood flow in the brain.

The discovery challenges a basic assumption in neuroscience and could have implications for interpreting brain scans and understanding what occurs during brain trauma and Alzheimer's disease.

December 01,06
The comedians are right. The science proves it. A man's brain and a woman's brain really do work differently. New research from the University of Alberta shows that men and women utilize different parts of their brains while they perform the same tasks. The results of the research are reported this month in the journal NeuroImage.
Full story at: http://www.physorg.com/news8634.html

In their little red, black and blue harnesses, they look like miniature sniffer dogs. But their trainers at Sokoine University of Agriculture say the giant rats can do a much better job. "Rats are good, clever to learn, small, like performing repeated tasks and have a better sense of smell than dogs," said Christophe Cox, the Belgian coordinator of the rat training project.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese researchers said on Monday they had coaxed embryonic stem cells from mice into becoming sperm cells -- a key step into understanding how to control these "master cells" of the body.

The findings appear in the September issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

The researchers found that even as cognitive skills declined, the study subjects retained higher levels of skills in the same areas they had before. For example, participants who were better at quick thinking than verbal skills at age 72 retained that gap at age 83.

The findings suggest that aging doesn't reduce brain power to a single level, Anstey says: "Our results suggest that the picture is much more complex."