The 'hot hand' and the gambler's fallacy: Why our brains struggle to believe in randomness
We are surrounded by random events every day. Will the stock market rise or fall tomorrow? Will the next penalty kick in a soccer match go left or right? Will your lottery ticket finally win?
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DNA methylation mediates the link between childhood adversity and depression, study suggests
Past psychology research suggests that there is a strong relationship between difficult experiences during childhood and the development of depressive symptoms. In fact, statistics suggest that adverse experiences during ...
Dopamine acts on motivation and reinforcement learning via distinct cellular processes, study suggests
Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter known to modulate motivation and reinforcement learning. While the role of dopamine in these reward-related processes is well-established, the cellular and neural circuit-level mechanisms ...
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation enhances tai chi chuan–linked benefits, study claims
Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China has reported that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) boosts the effectiveness of tai chi chuan in improving sleep quality and cognitive function ...
Ruminating about being lonely is more closely linked to depression than actual loneliness, study suggests
Loneliness is more likely to cause depression if one keeps ruminating on how lonely they are. This is the essence of a study by The University of Hong Kong (HKU) that has therapeutic implications for treating isolated individuals ...
3 hours ago
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Identifying individual and social factors that help teens shun drug use
A team at the University of Cordoba has analyzed more than 8,000 scientific papers on substance use and adolescence to look for the factors that protect adolescents from using them when they are encouraged to do so by those ...
10 hours ago
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Specific cells in rats' brains mark locations to avoid after negative experiences, study shows
Researchers find that rats create neurological maps of places to avoid after experiencing a threat and think about these locations when exhibiting worry-related behaviors. These findings—which A. David Redish of the University ...
23 hours ago
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AI tool can help counselors predict which college students are at risk of anxiety and depression disorders
Mental Health America predicts that nearly 60 million Americans suffered from a mental illness in 2024, and research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham shows that post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress ...
23 hours ago
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Genetic risk for mental health issues linked to higher divorce rates
People who get divorced tend to have higher genetic predispositions for psychiatric disorders, even if they never develop these conditions themselves, according to a Rutgers Health analysis of millions of marital histories ...
Jan 14, 2025
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Scientists uncover rapid-acting, low-side-effect antidepressant target
The global burden of anxiety- and depression-related disorders is on the rise. While multiple drugs have been developed to treat these conditions, current medications have several limitations, including slow action and adverse ...
Jan 14, 2025
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Global study pinpoints genes for depression across ethnicities
New genetic risk factors for depression have been identified across all major global populations for the first time, allowing scientists to predict the risk of depression regardless of ethnicity. The study is published in ...
Jan 14, 2025
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Early life stress alters brain metabolism differently in male and female mice, study reveals
Early life stress (ELS) can have long-lasting effects on mental health, increasing the risk of developing anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Importantly, women are disproportionately affected by ...
Jan 14, 2025
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Climate change threatens the mental well-being of youths: How to help them cope
We've all read the stories and seen the images: The life-threatening heat waves. The wildfires of unprecedented ferocity. The record-breaking storms washing away entire neighborhoods. The melting glaciers, the rising sea ...
Jan 14, 2025
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The infamous Stanford prison experiment was flawed—so why is it still so influential today?
A new translation of a 2018 book by French science historian Thibault Le Texier challenges the claims of one of psychology's most famous experiments.
Jan 14, 2025
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Surveillance tech is changing our behavior—and our brains
From self-service checkouts to public streets to stadiums—surveillance technology is everywhere.
Jan 14, 2025
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How to handle travel stress
Traffic, delays, disruptions due to storms or wildfires, and other surprises may be part of your next business or pleasure trip. In short: travel is more stressful (and more expensive) than ever.
Jan 14, 2025
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Mice's sex-based social preferences shift under stress: Dopamine circuits play crucial role
Researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong University and collaborating institutions in China have identified sexually dimorphic dopamine (DA) circuits in the brain that influence sociosexual preferences in mice. They found innate preferences ...
Three psychological profiles could determine the evolution of mental, cognitive and brain health in aging
An international study published in the journal Nature Mental Health has identified three psychological profiles associated with different patterns of cognitive and brain decline in aging.
Jan 13, 2025
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Why do we prefer curves over straight edges? Researchers probe brain for clues
For over 100 years, psychologists have known that most people prefer curviness over angularity in practically everything—from lines and shapes to faces, paintings and interior spaces. Moreover, the phenomenon has been observed ...
Jan 13, 2025
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Study suggests incentivizing parents to join support groups
A systemic review from the University of Warwick's Medical School shows that financial incentives can increase the number of parents who attend parenting skills groups focused on disruptive behavior in children.
Jan 13, 2025
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Do we perceive the weight of our body parts and the weight of objects differently?
According to Newton's law, weight is given by the product of its mass and gravity. How does the brain determine the weight of objects and body parts? For more than a century, it has been recognized that the size of objects ...
Jan 13, 2025
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Q&A: Why are antidepressants underprescribed?
The University of Virginia's Dr. Anita Clayton has been a primary investigator for nearly every antidepressant approved in the United States since 1990.
Jan 13, 2025
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Depression in older adults could signal early dementia, study suggests
Having depression is known to increase a person's risk of developing dementia, but depression is also an early indicator of dementia—particularly in older people—according to new research led by Queen Mary University ...
Jan 13, 2025
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