#cognition — Public Fediverse posts

#Cognition, an #AIcoding #startup, acquired #Poke, an #AIassistant known for its conversational and personalised interactions. The acquisition aims to enhance Cognition’s coding assistant, Devin, by incorporating Poke’s engaging user experience. This move highlights the growing importance of user interaction in AI assistants, alongside the underlying models. https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/why-cognition-bought-poke-ai-personality-is-becoming-a-competitive-advantage/?eicker.news #tech #media #news

#Cognition, an #AIcoding #startup, acquired #Poke, an #AIassistant known for its conversational and personalised interactions. The acquisition aims to enhance Cognition’s coding assistant, Devin, by incorporating Poke’s engaging user experience. This move highlights the growing importance of user interaction in AI assistants, alongside the underlying models. https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/why-cognition-bought-poke-ai-personality-is-becoming-a-competitive-advantage/?eicker.news #tech #media #news

This sequence is intended as a conceptual decomposition:

world event or stimulus → salience → attention → embodied presentation → perception or event construction → apprehension as ‘an experience’ → conceptual framing → verbal representation

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/before-the-word-the-model
#philosophy #language #experience #video #blog #substack #mind #perception #linguistics #determinism #thought #realism #reality #consciousness #vocabulary #cognition #biology #speech #mediation #model #neuroscience #flow #cognitive

This sequence is intended as a conceptual decomposition:

world event or stimulus → salience → attention → embodied presentation → perception or event construction → apprehension as ‘an experience’ → conceptual framing → verbal representation

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/before-the-word-the-model
#philosophy #language #experience #video #blog #substack #mind #perception #linguistics #determinism #thought #realism #reality #consciousness #vocabulary #cognition #biology #speech #mediation #model #neuroscience #flow #cognitive

This sequence is intended as a conceptual decomposition:

world event or stimulus → salience → attention → embodied presentation → perception or event construction → apprehension as ‘an experience’ → conceptual framing → verbal representation

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/before-the-word-the-model
#philosophy #language #experience #video #blog #substack #mind #perception #linguistics #determinism #thought #realism #reality #consciousness #vocabulary #cognition #biology #speech #mediation #model #neuroscience #flow #cognitive

This sequence is intended as a conceptual decomposition:

world event or stimulus → salience → attention → embodied presentation → perception or event construction → apprehension as ‘an experience’ → conceptual framing → verbal representation

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/before-the-word-the-model
#philosophy #language #experience #video #blog #substack #mind #perception #linguistics #determinism #thought #realism #reality #consciousness #vocabulary #cognition #biology #speech #mediation #model #neuroscience #flow #cognitive

This sequence is intended as a conceptual decomposition:

world event or stimulus → salience → attention → embodied presentation → perception or event construction → apprehension as ‘an experience’ → conceptual framing → verbal representation

https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/before-the-word-the-model
#philosophy #language #experience #video #blog #substack #mind #perception #linguistics #determinism #thought #realism #reality #consciousness #vocabulary #cognition #biology #speech #mediation #model #neuroscience #flow #cognitive

Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage

Poke, the AI assistant you text like a friend, is making its next big move. The company behind…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Artificialintelligence #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #cognition #Technology
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/782706/

Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage

Poke, the AI assistant you text like a friend, is making its next big move. The company behind…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Artificialintelligence #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #cognition #Technology
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/782706/

https://www.europesays.com/ie/602545/ Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage #AI #AIAgents #ArtificialIntelligence #ArtificialIntelligence #Cognition #Éire #IE #Ireland #Technology

"Interaction is at the heart of cognition," say 28 scientists. I think they're right—and it's at the heart of events too!

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2023/02/interaction-heart-cognition

#meetings #MeetingDesign #interaction #cognition #eventprofs #assnchat

"Interaction is at the heart of cognition," say 28 scientists. I think they're right—and it's at the heart of events too!

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2023/02/interaction-heart-cognition

#meetings #MeetingDesign #interaction #cognition #eventprofs #assnchat

"Interaction is at the heart of cognition," say 28 scientists. I think they're right—and it's at the heart of events too!

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2023/02/interaction-heart-cognition

#meetings #MeetingDesign #interaction #cognition #eventprofs #assnchat

"Interaction is at the heart of cognition," say 28 scientists. I think they're right—and it's at the heart of events too!

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2023/02/interaction-heart-cognition

#meetings #MeetingDesign #interaction #cognition #eventprofs #assnchat

"Interaction is at the heart of cognition," say 28 scientists. I think they're right—and it's at the heart of events too!

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2023/02/interaction-heart-cognition

#meetings #MeetingDesign #interaction #cognition #eventprofs #assnchat

Personal Narratives on the Behavior Analysis of Human Language and Cognition; Stories from Around the World by Colin Harte et al, 2026

This volume unveils the untold personal narratives behind the scientific study of human language and cognition from a behavioral perspective.

#books
#nonfiction
#language
#cognition
#behaviour
#Routledge

Personal Narratives on the Behavior Analysis of Human Language and Cognition; Stories from Around the World by Colin Harte et al, 2026

This volume unveils the untold personal narratives behind the scientific study of human language and cognition from a behavioral perspective.

#books
#nonfiction
#language
#cognition
#behaviour
#Routledge

Brain scans show that both inductive and deductive logic puzzles are solved in brain regions separate from language-processing regions. Experiments with individuals who have had their language-processing centers damaged by stroke found that their logical reasoning was equivalent to controls. Logical reasoning is separate from language.

Summary: https://scitechdaily.com/the-brain-can-reason-without-language-mit-study-finds/

Original (not open access): https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2520095123

#Science #Logic #Language #Cognition #Reasoning #Brain #LLMs

Brain scans show that both inductive and deductive logic puzzles are solved in brain regions separate from language-processing regions. Experiments with individuals who have had their language-processing centers damaged by stroke found that their logical reasoning was equivalent to controls. Logical reasoning is separate from language.

Summary: https://scitechdaily.com/the-brain-can-reason-without-language-mit-study-finds/

Original (not open access): https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2520095123

#Science #Logic #Language #Cognition #Reasoning #Brain #LLMs

DATE: July 23, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Contrary to popular belief, a testosterone boost doesn’t make men overconfident

URL: https://www.psypost.org/contrary-to-popular-belief-a-testosterone-boost-doesnt-make-men-overconfident/

A recent study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that a single dose of testosterone does not cause men to abandon deliberate reasoning in favor of gut instincts. In fact, contrary to previous assumptions, the hormone might actually lower a person’s confidence in their own cognitive performance. These findings provide evidence that short-term spikes in testosterone do not significantly alter this specific type of human decision-making.

The human brain can solve problems using fast, intuitive thinking or slow, deliberate reasoning. Psychologists often measure this tendency using the Cognitive Reflection Test, an assessment that presents questions with an obvious but mathematically incorrect intuitive answer. Arriving at the correct solution requires pausing and overriding that initial gut reaction.

Testosterone is a sex steroid hormone that responds dynamically to social and environmental changes. In both animals and humans, testosterone levels can rise rapidly in competitive or mating contexts. This environmental reactivity forms the basis of the challenge hypothesis, a biological theory proposing that testosterone modulates behavior in a context-sensitive way to facilitate fast-acting, instinctive actions under social threat.

Translating this biological theory to human cognition led to a specific hypothesis regarding decision-making. Past researchers proposed that transient testosterone elevations might shift judgments toward intuitive responses. An influential 2017 paper reported exactly this effect, finding that testosterone administration significantly reduced scores on the Cognitive Reflection Test.

Subsequent follow-up studies produced inconsistent or completely null results, creating confusion in the scientific community. To settle the debate, scientists who authored the conflicting papers teamed up to design an adversarial collaboration. This is a research project where scientists with opposing views work together to design a definitive experiment.

Gideon Nave, the Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, helped organize this joint effort. “The original idea came from evolutionary biology and neuroscience,” Nave said. “Testosterone rises in situations such as competition and mating, where acting quickly and instinctively can be more adaptive than careful deliberation, so we hypothesized that a temporary increase in testosterone might reduce cognitive reflection by making people more likely to rely on intuitive responses.”

“Our original 2017 experiment supported that idea, but later studies produced different results,” Nave added. “Rather than arguing over which study was right, the different research teams decided to work together in an adversarial collaboration. We have always had a collegial relationship, despite reaching different conclusions, and jointly designed the largest and most rigorous study we could conduct to settle the question once and for all.”

The team preregistered their methods, meaning they published their exact plan and hypotheses before collecting any data. They recruited 1,000 adult men between the ages of 18 and 45. The study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design. This means neither the participants nor the research assistants handing out the doses knew who received the actual hormone and who received an inactive substitute.

Half of the participants self-administered an intranasal testosterone gel, which delivers 11 milligrams of the hormone directly into the nose. The other 500 men received a placebo gel that looked and felt identical. Following a 30-minute waiting period, which allows the hormone to enter the bloodstream and reach the high-normal physiological range, the men completed a variety of behavioral tasks.

The main task of interest was a modified seven-item version of the Cognitive Reflection Test. The authors used a reworded version of the classic test to ensure participants had not seen the specific puzzles before on the internet. To keep participants motivated, the scientists offered a one-dollar cash bonus for every correct answer. Following the test, the men guessed how many questions they answered correctly out of seven.

The test scores failed to support the original 2017 hypothesis. The researchers found no statistically significant difference in test performance between the testosterone group and the placebo group. The men who received testosterone answered an average of 3.01 questions correctly, compared to 2.86 in the placebo group.

When analyzing the self-reported confidence ratings, the researchers found another unexpected result. The team had originally predicted that testosterone would make the men more overconfident in their performance. Instead, the data showed a significant decrease in self-confidence among those who received the hormone. The men in the testosterone group estimated they got fewer questions right compared to the estimates made by the placebo group.

“Not only did we fail to replicate our original finding, but the estimated effect actually pointed in the opposite direction,” Nave told PsyPost. “We also found evidence that testosterone reduced confidence rather than increased it, which runs counter to many existing theories. Because this finding was unexpected, we interpret it cautiously and believe it should be independently replicated before drawing strong conclusions.”

The researchers also explored whether the treatment changed how participants viewed their abilities relative to others. They asked the participants to guess how many questions the average participant in the study got right. They then calculated a relative confidence score by subtracting the participant’s guess about the average person’s score from their own self-estimated score. The data showed that both groups overestimated their performance compared to others, and the testosterone treatment did not significantly alter this gap.

In addition to the main experiment, the authors ran several exploratory analyses based on the participants’ natural hormone levels. They defined baseline testosterone as the naturally occurring hormone level found in the very first saliva sample. The researchers found a negative association between natural, baseline testosterone and test performance. Men with naturally higher baseline testosterone tended to score slightly lower on the cognitive reflection test.

The scientists also looked at cortisol, a hormone closely associated with stress. They found suggestive evidence of a positive interaction between baseline cortisol levels and the testosterone treatment on test performance. Additionally, they tested whether a person’s natural impulsivity changed how they reacted to the hormone dose. An earlier study suggested that testosterone might impair performance in low-impulsivity men, but the current massive sample found no evidence of any interaction between personality traits and the treatment.

Readers should be aware of a few limitations when interpreting these findings. The study only included adult men, which restricts the ability to generalize the results to the broader public. Men and women can process and react to sex steroid hormones differently. Future research needs to include female participants to see if these null results hold true across different populations.

The exact timing and dosage of the hormone administration also present limitations. The researchers waited 30 minutes after the nasal gel administration before starting the behavioral tasks. Although previous evidence favors a rapid timescale for testosterone’s influence on behavior, it remains possible that the hormone influences cognitive reflection over a much longer time frame.

The study only addresses short-term, sudden spikes in hormone levels. Administering testosterone over a longer period of time might influence cognitive reflection differently. Chronic exposure can lead to structural neural changes that differ entirely from those observed in a single-dose experiment.

“Our study examined the effects of a single, short term increase in testosterone in healthy men,” Nave told PsyPost. “It does not address the effects of long term testosterone exposure, hormone replacement therapy, or testosterone during critical developmental periods such as puberty, all of which could have different consequences but are much more difficult, and often impossible, to study experimentally.”

Looking forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring the boundaries of behavioral endocrinology. “One important direction is understanding when hormones do influence cognition and behavior and when they do not,” Nave said. “Our findings suggest that a temporary increase in testosterone does not meaningfully change people’s ability to override intuitive responses and engage in deliberate reasoning.”

The team hopes their methodological approach will inspire other scientists facing contradictory data. Nave hopes this project encourages more adversarial collaborations in behavioral science. “They require researchers to put aside attachment to their previous findings and focus on designing the strongest possible test of a scientific question, which ultimately benefits the entire field,” he said.

“For me, one of the most important aspects of this project is not just the result but the process,” Nave said. “This study brought together researchers who had previously published conflicting findings, yet we shared a common goal of finding the correct answer rather than defending our earlier work.”

“We agreed on the design and analysis plan before looking at the data, and I think this kind of collaboration provides a model for how science can efficiently resolve important disagreements,” Nave added. “More broadly, I hope people see this study as an example of science working as it should. Different laboratories sometimes obtain different results, and the best way to resolve those disagreements is not through debate, but by working together on larger and more rigorous studies that everyone agrees on in advance.”

The study, “Does Testosterone Affect Cognitive Reflection? Evidence From a Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Study of 1,000 Participants,” was authored by Erik L. Knight, Gideon Nave, Steven D. Shaw, Coren Apicella, Pierre L. Bonin, Anna Dreber, Shawn N. Geniole, Magnus Johannesson, Dylan Manfredi, Pranjal Mehta, Valentina Proietti, Steven J. Stanton, Francesca R. Luberti, Triana Ortiz, and Justin M. Carré.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/contrary-to-popular-belief-a-testosterone-boost-doesnt-make-men-overconfident/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CognitiveReflectionTest #Testosterone #AdversarialCollaboration #PsychologicalScience #Cognition #HormonesAndBehavior #DeliberateThinking #ConfidenceBias #ScienceCommunication #BehavioralEndocrinology

DATE: July 23, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Contrary to popular belief, a testosterone boost doesn’t make men overconfident

URL: https://www.psypost.org/contrary-to-popular-belief-a-testosterone-boost-doesnt-make-men-overconfident/

A recent study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that a single dose of testosterone does not cause men to abandon deliberate reasoning in favor of gut instincts. In fact, contrary to previous assumptions, the hormone might actually lower a person’s confidence in their own cognitive performance. These findings provide evidence that short-term spikes in testosterone do not significantly alter this specific type of human decision-making.

The human brain can solve problems using fast, intuitive thinking or slow, deliberate reasoning. Psychologists often measure this tendency using the Cognitive Reflection Test, an assessment that presents questions with an obvious but mathematically incorrect intuitive answer. Arriving at the correct solution requires pausing and overriding that initial gut reaction.

Testosterone is a sex steroid hormone that responds dynamically to social and environmental changes. In both animals and humans, testosterone levels can rise rapidly in competitive or mating contexts. This environmental reactivity forms the basis of the challenge hypothesis, a biological theory proposing that testosterone modulates behavior in a context-sensitive way to facilitate fast-acting, instinctive actions under social threat.

Translating this biological theory to human cognition led to a specific hypothesis regarding decision-making. Past researchers proposed that transient testosterone elevations might shift judgments toward intuitive responses. An influential 2017 paper reported exactly this effect, finding that testosterone administration significantly reduced scores on the Cognitive Reflection Test.

Subsequent follow-up studies produced inconsistent or completely null results, creating confusion in the scientific community. To settle the debate, scientists who authored the conflicting papers teamed up to design an adversarial collaboration. This is a research project where scientists with opposing views work together to design a definitive experiment.

Gideon Nave, the Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, helped organize this joint effort. “The original idea came from evolutionary biology and neuroscience,” Nave said. “Testosterone rises in situations such as competition and mating, where acting quickly and instinctively can be more adaptive than careful deliberation, so we hypothesized that a temporary increase in testosterone might reduce cognitive reflection by making people more likely to rely on intuitive responses.”

“Our original 2017 experiment supported that idea, but later studies produced different results,” Nave added. “Rather than arguing over which study was right, the different research teams decided to work together in an adversarial collaboration. We have always had a collegial relationship, despite reaching different conclusions, and jointly designed the largest and most rigorous study we could conduct to settle the question once and for all.”

The team preregistered their methods, meaning they published their exact plan and hypotheses before collecting any data. They recruited 1,000 adult men between the ages of 18 and 45. The study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design. This means neither the participants nor the research assistants handing out the doses knew who received the actual hormone and who received an inactive substitute.

Half of the participants self-administered an intranasal testosterone gel, which delivers 11 milligrams of the hormone directly into the nose. The other 500 men received a placebo gel that looked and felt identical. Following a 30-minute waiting period, which allows the hormone to enter the bloodstream and reach the high-normal physiological range, the men completed a variety of behavioral tasks.

The main task of interest was a modified seven-item version of the Cognitive Reflection Test. The authors used a reworded version of the classic test to ensure participants had not seen the specific puzzles before on the internet. To keep participants motivated, the scientists offered a one-dollar cash bonus for every correct answer. Following the test, the men guessed how many questions they answered correctly out of seven.

The test scores failed to support the original 2017 hypothesis. The researchers found no statistically significant difference in test performance between the testosterone group and the placebo group. The men who received testosterone answered an average of 3.01 questions correctly, compared to 2.86 in the placebo group.

When analyzing the self-reported confidence ratings, the researchers found another unexpected result. The team had originally predicted that testosterone would make the men more overconfident in their performance. Instead, the data showed a significant decrease in self-confidence among those who received the hormone. The men in the testosterone group estimated they got fewer questions right compared to the estimates made by the placebo group.

“Not only did we fail to replicate our original finding, but the estimated effect actually pointed in the opposite direction,” Nave told PsyPost. “We also found evidence that testosterone reduced confidence rather than increased it, which runs counter to many existing theories. Because this finding was unexpected, we interpret it cautiously and believe it should be independently replicated before drawing strong conclusions.”

The researchers also explored whether the treatment changed how participants viewed their abilities relative to others. They asked the participants to guess how many questions the average participant in the study got right. They then calculated a relative confidence score by subtracting the participant’s guess about the average person’s score from their own self-estimated score. The data showed that both groups overestimated their performance compared to others, and the testosterone treatment did not significantly alter this gap.

In addition to the main experiment, the authors ran several exploratory analyses based on the participants’ natural hormone levels. They defined baseline testosterone as the naturally occurring hormone level found in the very first saliva sample. The researchers found a negative association between natural, baseline testosterone and test performance. Men with naturally higher baseline testosterone tended to score slightly lower on the cognitive reflection test.

The scientists also looked at cortisol, a hormone closely associated with stress. They found suggestive evidence of a positive interaction between baseline cortisol levels and the testosterone treatment on test performance. Additionally, they tested whether a person’s natural impulsivity changed how they reacted to the hormone dose. An earlier study suggested that testosterone might impair performance in low-impulsivity men, but the current massive sample found no evidence of any interaction between personality traits and the treatment.

Readers should be aware of a few limitations when interpreting these findings. The study only included adult men, which restricts the ability to generalize the results to the broader public. Men and women can process and react to sex steroid hormones differently. Future research needs to include female participants to see if these null results hold true across different populations.

The exact timing and dosage of the hormone administration also present limitations. The researchers waited 30 minutes after the nasal gel administration before starting the behavioral tasks. Although previous evidence favors a rapid timescale for testosterone’s influence on behavior, it remains possible that the hormone influences cognitive reflection over a much longer time frame.

The study only addresses short-term, sudden spikes in hormone levels. Administering testosterone over a longer period of time might influence cognitive reflection differently. Chronic exposure can lead to structural neural changes that differ entirely from those observed in a single-dose experiment.

“Our study examined the effects of a single, short term increase in testosterone in healthy men,” Nave told PsyPost. “It does not address the effects of long term testosterone exposure, hormone replacement therapy, or testosterone during critical developmental periods such as puberty, all of which could have different consequences but are much more difficult, and often impossible, to study experimentally.”

Looking forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring the boundaries of behavioral endocrinology. “One important direction is understanding when hormones do influence cognition and behavior and when they do not,” Nave said. “Our findings suggest that a temporary increase in testosterone does not meaningfully change people’s ability to override intuitive responses and engage in deliberate reasoning.”

The team hopes their methodological approach will inspire other scientists facing contradictory data. Nave hopes this project encourages more adversarial collaborations in behavioral science. “They require researchers to put aside attachment to their previous findings and focus on designing the strongest possible test of a scientific question, which ultimately benefits the entire field,” he said.

“For me, one of the most important aspects of this project is not just the result but the process,” Nave said. “This study brought together researchers who had previously published conflicting findings, yet we shared a common goal of finding the correct answer rather than defending our earlier work.”

“We agreed on the design and analysis plan before looking at the data, and I think this kind of collaboration provides a model for how science can efficiently resolve important disagreements,” Nave added. “More broadly, I hope people see this study as an example of science working as it should. Different laboratories sometimes obtain different results, and the best way to resolve those disagreements is not through debate, but by working together on larger and more rigorous studies that everyone agrees on in advance.”

The study, “Does Testosterone Affect Cognitive Reflection? Evidence From a Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Study of 1,000 Participants,” was authored by Erik L. Knight, Gideon Nave, Steven D. Shaw, Coren Apicella, Pierre L. Bonin, Anna Dreber, Shawn N. Geniole, Magnus Johannesson, Dylan Manfredi, Pranjal Mehta, Valentina Proietti, Steven J. Stanton, Francesca R. Luberti, Triana Ortiz, and Justin M. Carré.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/contrary-to-popular-belief-a-testosterone-boost-doesnt-make-men-overconfident/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CognitiveReflectionTest #Testosterone #AdversarialCollaboration #PsychologicalScience #Cognition #HormonesAndBehavior #DeliberateThinking #ConfidenceBias #ScienceCommunication #BehavioralEndocrinology

DATE: July 23, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Contrary to popular belief, a testosterone boost doesn’t make men overconfident

URL: https://www.psypost.org/contrary-to-popular-belief-a-testosterone-boost-doesnt-make-men-overconfident/

A recent study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that a single dose of testosterone does not cause men to abandon deliberate reasoning in favor of gut instincts. In fact, contrary to previous assumptions, the hormone might actually lower a person’s confidence in their own cognitive performance. These findings provide evidence that short-term spikes in testosterone do not significantly alter this specific type of human decision-making.

The human brain can solve problems using fast, intuitive thinking or slow, deliberate reasoning. Psychologists often measure this tendency using the Cognitive Reflection Test, an assessment that presents questions with an obvious but mathematically incorrect intuitive answer. Arriving at the correct solution requires pausing and overriding that initial gut reaction.

Testosterone is a sex steroid hormone that responds dynamically to social and environmental changes. In both animals and humans, testosterone levels can rise rapidly in competitive or mating contexts. This environmental reactivity forms the basis of the challenge hypothesis, a biological theory proposing that testosterone modulates behavior in a context-sensitive way to facilitate fast-acting, instinctive actions under social threat.

Translating this biological theory to human cognition led to a specific hypothesis regarding decision-making. Past researchers proposed that transient testosterone elevations might shift judgments toward intuitive responses. An influential 2017 paper reported exactly this effect, finding that testosterone administration significantly reduced scores on the Cognitive Reflection Test.

Subsequent follow-up studies produced inconsistent or completely null results, creating confusion in the scientific community. To settle the debate, scientists who authored the conflicting papers teamed up to design an adversarial collaboration. This is a research project where scientists with opposing views work together to design a definitive experiment.

Gideon Nave, the Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, helped organize this joint effort. “The original idea came from evolutionary biology and neuroscience,” Nave said. “Testosterone rises in situations such as competition and mating, where acting quickly and instinctively can be more adaptive than careful deliberation, so we hypothesized that a temporary increase in testosterone might reduce cognitive reflection by making people more likely to rely on intuitive responses.”

“Our original 2017 experiment supported that idea, but later studies produced different results,” Nave added. “Rather than arguing over which study was right, the different research teams decided to work together in an adversarial collaboration. We have always had a collegial relationship, despite reaching different conclusions, and jointly designed the largest and most rigorous study we could conduct to settle the question once and for all.”

The team preregistered their methods, meaning they published their exact plan and hypotheses before collecting any data. They recruited 1,000 adult men between the ages of 18 and 45. The study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design. This means neither the participants nor the research assistants handing out the doses knew who received the actual hormone and who received an inactive substitute.

Half of the participants self-administered an intranasal testosterone gel, which delivers 11 milligrams of the hormone directly into the nose. The other 500 men received a placebo gel that looked and felt identical. Following a 30-minute waiting period, which allows the hormone to enter the bloodstream and reach the high-normal physiological range, the men completed a variety of behavioral tasks.

The main task of interest was a modified seven-item version of the Cognitive Reflection Test. The authors used a reworded version of the classic test to ensure participants had not seen the specific puzzles before on the internet. To keep participants motivated, the scientists offered a one-dollar cash bonus for every correct answer. Following the test, the men guessed how many questions they answered correctly out of seven.

The test scores failed to support the original 2017 hypothesis. The researchers found no statistically significant difference in test performance between the testosterone group and the placebo group. The men who received testosterone answered an average of 3.01 questions correctly, compared to 2.86 in the placebo group.

When analyzing the self-reported confidence ratings, the researchers found another unexpected result. The team had originally predicted that testosterone would make the men more overconfident in their performance. Instead, the data showed a significant decrease in self-confidence among those who received the hormone. The men in the testosterone group estimated they got fewer questions right compared to the estimates made by the placebo group.

“Not only did we fail to replicate our original finding, but the estimated effect actually pointed in the opposite direction,” Nave told PsyPost. “We also found evidence that testosterone reduced confidence rather than increased it, which runs counter to many existing theories. Because this finding was unexpected, we interpret it cautiously and believe it should be independently replicated before drawing strong conclusions.”

The researchers also explored whether the treatment changed how participants viewed their abilities relative to others. They asked the participants to guess how many questions the average participant in the study got right. They then calculated a relative confidence score by subtracting the participant’s guess about the average person’s score from their own self-estimated score. The data showed that both groups overestimated their performance compared to others, and the testosterone treatment did not significantly alter this gap.

In addition to the main experiment, the authors ran several exploratory analyses based on the participants’ natural hormone levels. They defined baseline testosterone as the naturally occurring hormone level found in the very first saliva sample. The researchers found a negative association between natural, baseline testosterone and test performance. Men with naturally higher baseline testosterone tended to score slightly lower on the cognitive reflection test.

The scientists also looked at cortisol, a hormone closely associated with stress. They found suggestive evidence of a positive interaction between baseline cortisol levels and the testosterone treatment on test performance. Additionally, they tested whether a person’s natural impulsivity changed how they reacted to the hormone dose. An earlier study suggested that testosterone might impair performance in low-impulsivity men, but the current massive sample found no evidence of any interaction between personality traits and the treatment.

Readers should be aware of a few limitations when interpreting these findings. The study only included adult men, which restricts the ability to generalize the results to the broader public. Men and women can process and react to sex steroid hormones differently. Future research needs to include female participants to see if these null results hold true across different populations.

The exact timing and dosage of the hormone administration also present limitations. The researchers waited 30 minutes after the nasal gel administration before starting the behavioral tasks. Although previous evidence favors a rapid timescale for testosterone’s influence on behavior, it remains possible that the hormone influences cognitive reflection over a much longer time frame.

The study only addresses short-term, sudden spikes in hormone levels. Administering testosterone over a longer period of time might influence cognitive reflection differently. Chronic exposure can lead to structural neural changes that differ entirely from those observed in a single-dose experiment.

“Our study examined the effects of a single, short term increase in testosterone in healthy men,” Nave told PsyPost. “It does not address the effects of long term testosterone exposure, hormone replacement therapy, or testosterone during critical developmental periods such as puberty, all of which could have different consequences but are much more difficult, and often impossible, to study experimentally.”

Looking forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring the boundaries of behavioral endocrinology. “One important direction is understanding when hormones do influence cognition and behavior and when they do not,” Nave said. “Our findings suggest that a temporary increase in testosterone does not meaningfully change people’s ability to override intuitive responses and engage in deliberate reasoning.”

The team hopes their methodological approach will inspire other scientists facing contradictory data. Nave hopes this project encourages more adversarial collaborations in behavioral science. “They require researchers to put aside attachment to their previous findings and focus on designing the strongest possible test of a scientific question, which ultimately benefits the entire field,” he said.

“For me, one of the most important aspects of this project is not just the result but the process,” Nave said. “This study brought together researchers who had previously published conflicting findings, yet we shared a common goal of finding the correct answer rather than defending our earlier work.”

“We agreed on the design and analysis plan before looking at the data, and I think this kind of collaboration provides a model for how science can efficiently resolve important disagreements,” Nave added. “More broadly, I hope people see this study as an example of science working as it should. Different laboratories sometimes obtain different results, and the best way to resolve those disagreements is not through debate, but by working together on larger and more rigorous studies that everyone agrees on in advance.”

The study, “Does Testosterone Affect Cognitive Reflection? Evidence From a Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Study of 1,000 Participants,” was authored by Erik L. Knight, Gideon Nave, Steven D. Shaw, Coren Apicella, Pierre L. Bonin, Anna Dreber, Shawn N. Geniole, Magnus Johannesson, Dylan Manfredi, Pranjal Mehta, Valentina Proietti, Steven J. Stanton, Francesca R. Luberti, Triana Ortiz, and Justin M. Carré.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/contrary-to-popular-belief-a-testosterone-boost-doesnt-make-men-overconfident/

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Kate Middleton reveals her experience with "chemo fog" during cancer recovery. Learn the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and ways to manage chemotherapy-related cognitive changes. #wellness #chemotherapy #cognition

https://www.medicaldaily.com/kate-middleton-chemo-fog-cancer-recovery-chemotherapy-cognitive-effects-476267?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

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Kate Middleton reveals her experience with "chemo fog" during cancer recovery. Learn the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and ways to manage chemotherapy-related cognitive changes. #wellness #chemotherapy #cognition

https://www.medicaldaily.com/kate-middleton-chemo-fog-cancer-recovery-chemotherapy-cognitive-effects-476267?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

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DATE: July 21, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Socioeconomic status shapes brain networks in different ways for boys and girls

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-wiring-heavily-impacted-by-socioeconomic-environment-but-mostly-unaffected/

A child’s socioeconomic environment shares a measurable relationship with their physical brain architecture and cognitive test scores. A large study of elementary schoolers has found that while biological sex fundamentally alters these relationships, socially constructed categories like race do not. The findings suggest that unequal access to resources is what truly drives most observed racial differences in brain development. The study was published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

A child’s socioeconomic status encompasses more than just household income. It includes a variety of environmental factors, such as parental education, food security, neighborhood safety, and the emotional environment at home. Researchers know that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds often experience different developmental trajectories than their wealthier peers. These differences show up in cognitive test scores and in the physical structure of the brain itself.

In the United States, systemic inequalities have led to a reality where race and socioeconomic status are heavily intertwined. Because of this, it can be difficult for researchers to isolate the effects of environmental resources from other demographic factors. Previous research often treated race as a simple statistical adjustment. But scientists have grown increasingly concerned that this approach might obscure important nuances in how poverty and resources interact with childhood development.

To understand how the environment alters the brain, scientists look at white matter. The brain’s white matter acts as the physical communication network between different gray matter regions. Researchers evaluate this network by looking at two main properties known as integration and segregation.

Integration describes the global efficiency of the network. A highly integrated brain resembles a system of long-distance highways that allows information to travel quickly across the entire brain with very few stops. Segregation refers to localized efficiency. A segregated network is similar to tight-knit local neighborhoods, where nearby brain regions communicate heavily with one another rather than reaching out across the brain.

To explore how these environmental and physical factors overlap, lead author Jaden Kropf and senior author Donald J. Mabbott, both based at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, worked alongside their colleagues to analyze child brain data. They used information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. This produced a large study of 8,064 nine- and ten-year-old children from across the United States.

The researchers gathered information on sixteen different measures of socioeconomic status. They grouped these measures into four distinct categories. These categories included general resources like parental education, material resources like food security, non-material resources like school engagement, and household dynamics like living with two parents.

The team then evaluated diffusion magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the white matter networks of each child. This imaging technique works by tracking the movement of water molecules along the brain’s fibrous pathways. Finally, they recorded general cognitive ability using a standardized battery of tests that assess memory, language, and attention. By building statistical models, the researchers could look at the associations between socioeconomic status, brain network organization, and cognitive scores.

The researchers found that all categories of socioeconomic status were linked to general cognitive ability. Increased general resources, non-material resources, and household stability were associated with higher cognitive scores. Conversely, higher material resources actually predicted lower cognitive scores. The study authors note that this specific negative association contradicts some previous research, pointing to the varied nature of socioeconomic measures.

In looking at the brain, the team uncovered unexpected patterns. They originally suspected that decreased socioeconomic status would be linked to lower levels of white matter integration and segregation. Instead, they found the opposite. Children with lower socioeconomic status tended to have more highly integrated and segregated white matter networks.

Because integration and segregation usually increase as a person ages, this means the brain networks of low-income children appeared more mature than their peers. The authors suggest this aligns with the stress acceleration hypothesis. This theory proposes that children facing early environmental adversity may experience faster biological development. In a stressful environment, the brain might accelerate its maturation to adapt to immediate survival challenges.

While a highly organized brain network is typically a sign of healthy development in adults, premature maturation might come with trade-offs. In this age group, the researchers found that increased network segregation was associated with lower cognitive test scores. Ultimately, the way the brain wired itself into segregated networks partially explained the link between socioeconomic status and cognitive ability.

After establishing these baseline associations, the researchers set out to see if demographic factors changed the modeled relationships. They first grouped the participants by race. They wanted to know if being part of a specific racial group altered how resources, brain wiring, and cognition interacted.

When the researchers simply grouped the children by race, they observed some group-specific associations. However, because wealth and resources are distributed so unequally across racial lines in the United States, the scientists ran a second analysis. In this analysis, they artificially balanced the sample so that each racial group had an equal number of participants from the exact same income brackets.

Once the socioeconomic distributions were equalized, nearly all unique racial differences vanished. The relationships between resources and cognitive ability were largely the same regardless of a child’s race. The study notes that white matter differences previously attributed to race are likely just the result of unequally distributed socioeconomic resources.

The scientists then examined biological sex, which they recorded as sex assigned at birth. Unlike race, sex is a fundamentally biological characteristic. When the researchers ran their models comparing male and female participants, they found distinct patterns.

Biological sex meaningfully changed how the environment was tied to brain development and cognition. For instance, living in a two-parent household was linked to higher cognitive ability in boys, but the results were not statistically significant for girls. Alternatively, having more non-material resources was associated with network segregation only in girls. The brain’s network segregation mediated the link between socioeconomic status and cognition in boys, but it did not do the same in girls.

These sex-based divergences might reflect different biological timelines for boys and girls. Nine- and ten-year-old children are at the onset of puberty. The authors point out that puberty has sex-specific influences on white matter development, and children in lower socioeconomic environments often enter puberty earlier.

The authors acknowledge a few limitations in their work. Because the study relies on data taken from a single point in time, it cannot demonstrate that a lack of resources causes specific changes in the brain. The associations highlight a pattern, but developmental trajectories can only be confirmed through studies that follow the same children over many years.

The mathematical models used to represent brain networks are also simplifications. Brain connectivity involves actual hierarchies that graph-based metrics do not completely capture. The researchers also note that cognitive tests inherently favor the cultural assumptions of the majorities they were designed around, meaning cultural biases could still influence test scores.

These findings advocate for a customized approach when scientists evaluate demographics. Socially constructed categories like race might not act as biological variables, but they do dictate access to resources. In contrast, biological traits like sex can fundamentally alter the pathways through which the environment shapes the growing brain.

The study, “Demographics Change the Relationships Between Socioeconomic Status, White Matter Network Organization, and Cognition in Children,” was authored by Jaden Kropf, Busisiwe Zapparoli, Julie Tseng, Amy S. Finn, Anne L. Wheeler, Nomazulu Dlamini, and Donald J. Mabbott.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-wiring-heavily-impacted-by-socioeconomic-environment-but-mostly-unaffected/

-------------------------------------------------

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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #socioeconomicstatus #braindevelopment #whiteMatter #cognition #childdevelopment #sexdifferences #puberty #neuroscience #educationandhealth #DevelopmentalCognitiveNeuroscience

DATE: July 21, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Socioeconomic status shapes brain networks in different ways for boys and girls

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-wiring-heavily-impacted-by-socioeconomic-environment-but-mostly-unaffected/

A child’s socioeconomic environment shares a measurable relationship with their physical brain architecture and cognitive test scores. A large study of elementary schoolers has found that while biological sex fundamentally alters these relationships, socially constructed categories like race do not. The findings suggest that unequal access to resources is what truly drives most observed racial differences in brain development. The study was published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

A child’s socioeconomic status encompasses more than just household income. It includes a variety of environmental factors, such as parental education, food security, neighborhood safety, and the emotional environment at home. Researchers know that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds often experience different developmental trajectories than their wealthier peers. These differences show up in cognitive test scores and in the physical structure of the brain itself.

In the United States, systemic inequalities have led to a reality where race and socioeconomic status are heavily intertwined. Because of this, it can be difficult for researchers to isolate the effects of environmental resources from other demographic factors. Previous research often treated race as a simple statistical adjustment. But scientists have grown increasingly concerned that this approach might obscure important nuances in how poverty and resources interact with childhood development.

To understand how the environment alters the brain, scientists look at white matter. The brain’s white matter acts as the physical communication network between different gray matter regions. Researchers evaluate this network by looking at two main properties known as integration and segregation.

Integration describes the global efficiency of the network. A highly integrated brain resembles a system of long-distance highways that allows information to travel quickly across the entire brain with very few stops. Segregation refers to localized efficiency. A segregated network is similar to tight-knit local neighborhoods, where nearby brain regions communicate heavily with one another rather than reaching out across the brain.

To explore how these environmental and physical factors overlap, lead author Jaden Kropf and senior author Donald J. Mabbott, both based at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, worked alongside their colleagues to analyze child brain data. They used information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. This produced a large study of 8,064 nine- and ten-year-old children from across the United States.

The researchers gathered information on sixteen different measures of socioeconomic status. They grouped these measures into four distinct categories. These categories included general resources like parental education, material resources like food security, non-material resources like school engagement, and household dynamics like living with two parents.

The team then evaluated diffusion magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the white matter networks of each child. This imaging technique works by tracking the movement of water molecules along the brain’s fibrous pathways. Finally, they recorded general cognitive ability using a standardized battery of tests that assess memory, language, and attention. By building statistical models, the researchers could look at the associations between socioeconomic status, brain network organization, and cognitive scores.

The researchers found that all categories of socioeconomic status were linked to general cognitive ability. Increased general resources, non-material resources, and household stability were associated with higher cognitive scores. Conversely, higher material resources actually predicted lower cognitive scores. The study authors note that this specific negative association contradicts some previous research, pointing to the varied nature of socioeconomic measures.

In looking at the brain, the team uncovered unexpected patterns. They originally suspected that decreased socioeconomic status would be linked to lower levels of white matter integration and segregation. Instead, they found the opposite. Children with lower socioeconomic status tended to have more highly integrated and segregated white matter networks.

Because integration and segregation usually increase as a person ages, this means the brain networks of low-income children appeared more mature than their peers. The authors suggest this aligns with the stress acceleration hypothesis. This theory proposes that children facing early environmental adversity may experience faster biological development. In a stressful environment, the brain might accelerate its maturation to adapt to immediate survival challenges.

While a highly organized brain network is typically a sign of healthy development in adults, premature maturation might come with trade-offs. In this age group, the researchers found that increased network segregation was associated with lower cognitive test scores. Ultimately, the way the brain wired itself into segregated networks partially explained the link between socioeconomic status and cognitive ability.

After establishing these baseline associations, the researchers set out to see if demographic factors changed the modeled relationships. They first grouped the participants by race. They wanted to know if being part of a specific racial group altered how resources, brain wiring, and cognition interacted.

When the researchers simply grouped the children by race, they observed some group-specific associations. However, because wealth and resources are distributed so unequally across racial lines in the United States, the scientists ran a second analysis. In this analysis, they artificially balanced the sample so that each racial group had an equal number of participants from the exact same income brackets.

Once the socioeconomic distributions were equalized, nearly all unique racial differences vanished. The relationships between resources and cognitive ability were largely the same regardless of a child’s race. The study notes that white matter differences previously attributed to race are likely just the result of unequally distributed socioeconomic resources.

The scientists then examined biological sex, which they recorded as sex assigned at birth. Unlike race, sex is a fundamentally biological characteristic. When the researchers ran their models comparing male and female participants, they found distinct patterns.

Biological sex meaningfully changed how the environment was tied to brain development and cognition. For instance, living in a two-parent household was linked to higher cognitive ability in boys, but the results were not statistically significant for girls. Alternatively, having more non-material resources was associated with network segregation only in girls. The brain’s network segregation mediated the link between socioeconomic status and cognition in boys, but it did not do the same in girls.

These sex-based divergences might reflect different biological timelines for boys and girls. Nine- and ten-year-old children are at the onset of puberty. The authors point out that puberty has sex-specific influences on white matter development, and children in lower socioeconomic environments often enter puberty earlier.

The authors acknowledge a few limitations in their work. Because the study relies on data taken from a single point in time, it cannot demonstrate that a lack of resources causes specific changes in the brain. The associations highlight a pattern, but developmental trajectories can only be confirmed through studies that follow the same children over many years.

The mathematical models used to represent brain networks are also simplifications. Brain connectivity involves actual hierarchies that graph-based metrics do not completely capture. The researchers also note that cognitive tests inherently favor the cultural assumptions of the majorities they were designed around, meaning cultural biases could still influence test scores.

These findings advocate for a customized approach when scientists evaluate demographics. Socially constructed categories like race might not act as biological variables, but they do dictate access to resources. In contrast, biological traits like sex can fundamentally alter the pathways through which the environment shapes the growing brain.

The study, “Demographics Change the Relationships Between Socioeconomic Status, White Matter Network Organization, and Cognition in Children,” was authored by Jaden Kropf, Busisiwe Zapparoli, Julie Tseng, Amy S. Finn, Anne L. Wheeler, Nomazulu Dlamini, and Donald J. Mabbott.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-wiring-heavily-impacted-by-socioeconomic-environment-but-mostly-unaffected/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #socioeconomicstatus #braindevelopment #whiteMatter #cognition #childdevelopment #sexdifferences #puberty #neuroscience #educationandhealth #DevelopmentalCognitiveNeuroscience

DATE: July 21, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Socioeconomic status shapes brain networks in different ways for boys and girls

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-wiring-heavily-impacted-by-socioeconomic-environment-but-mostly-unaffected/

A child’s socioeconomic environment shares a measurable relationship with their physical brain architecture and cognitive test scores. A large study of elementary schoolers has found that while biological sex fundamentally alters these relationships, socially constructed categories like race do not. The findings suggest that unequal access to resources is what truly drives most observed racial differences in brain development. The study was published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

A child’s socioeconomic status encompasses more than just household income. It includes a variety of environmental factors, such as parental education, food security, neighborhood safety, and the emotional environment at home. Researchers know that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds often experience different developmental trajectories than their wealthier peers. These differences show up in cognitive test scores and in the physical structure of the brain itself.

In the United States, systemic inequalities have led to a reality where race and socioeconomic status are heavily intertwined. Because of this, it can be difficult for researchers to isolate the effects of environmental resources from other demographic factors. Previous research often treated race as a simple statistical adjustment. But scientists have grown increasingly concerned that this approach might obscure important nuances in how poverty and resources interact with childhood development.

To understand how the environment alters the brain, scientists look at white matter. The brain’s white matter acts as the physical communication network between different gray matter regions. Researchers evaluate this network by looking at two main properties known as integration and segregation.

Integration describes the global efficiency of the network. A highly integrated brain resembles a system of long-distance highways that allows information to travel quickly across the entire brain with very few stops. Segregation refers to localized efficiency. A segregated network is similar to tight-knit local neighborhoods, where nearby brain regions communicate heavily with one another rather than reaching out across the brain.

To explore how these environmental and physical factors overlap, lead author Jaden Kropf and senior author Donald J. Mabbott, both based at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, worked alongside their colleagues to analyze child brain data. They used information from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. This produced a large study of 8,064 nine- and ten-year-old children from across the United States.

The researchers gathered information on sixteen different measures of socioeconomic status. They grouped these measures into four distinct categories. These categories included general resources like parental education, material resources like food security, non-material resources like school engagement, and household dynamics like living with two parents.

The team then evaluated diffusion magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the white matter networks of each child. This imaging technique works by tracking the movement of water molecules along the brain’s fibrous pathways. Finally, they recorded general cognitive ability using a standardized battery of tests that assess memory, language, and attention. By building statistical models, the researchers could look at the associations between socioeconomic status, brain network organization, and cognitive scores.

The researchers found that all categories of socioeconomic status were linked to general cognitive ability. Increased general resources, non-material resources, and household stability were associated with higher cognitive scores. Conversely, higher material resources actually predicted lower cognitive scores. The study authors note that this specific negative association contradicts some previous research, pointing to the varied nature of socioeconomic measures.

In looking at the brain, the team uncovered unexpected patterns. They originally suspected that decreased socioeconomic status would be linked to lower levels of white matter integration and segregation. Instead, they found the opposite. Children with lower socioeconomic status tended to have more highly integrated and segregated white matter networks.

Because integration and segregation usually increase as a person ages, this means the brain networks of low-income children appeared more mature than their peers. The authors suggest this aligns with the stress acceleration hypothesis. This theory proposes that children facing early environmental adversity may experience faster biological development. In a stressful environment, the brain might accelerate its maturation to adapt to immediate survival challenges.

While a highly organized brain network is typically a sign of healthy development in adults, premature maturation might come with trade-offs. In this age group, the researchers found that increased network segregation was associated with lower cognitive test scores. Ultimately, the way the brain wired itself into segregated networks partially explained the link between socioeconomic status and cognitive ability.

After establishing these baseline associations, the researchers set out to see if demographic factors changed the modeled relationships. They first grouped the participants by race. They wanted to know if being part of a specific racial group altered how resources, brain wiring, and cognition interacted.

When the researchers simply grouped the children by race, they observed some group-specific associations. However, because wealth and resources are distributed so unequally across racial lines in the United States, the scientists ran a second analysis. In this analysis, they artificially balanced the sample so that each racial group had an equal number of participants from the exact same income brackets.

Once the socioeconomic distributions were equalized, nearly all unique racial differences vanished. The relationships between resources and cognitive ability were largely the same regardless of a child’s race. The study notes that white matter differences previously attributed to race are likely just the result of unequally distributed socioeconomic resources.

The scientists then examined biological sex, which they recorded as sex assigned at birth. Unlike race, sex is a fundamentally biological characteristic. When the researchers ran their models comparing male and female participants, they found distinct patterns.

Biological sex meaningfully changed how the environment was tied to brain development and cognition. For instance, living in a two-parent household was linked to higher cognitive ability in boys, but the results were not statistically significant for girls. Alternatively, having more non-material resources was associated with network segregation only in girls. The brain’s network segregation mediated the link between socioeconomic status and cognition in boys, but it did not do the same in girls.

These sex-based divergences might reflect different biological timelines for boys and girls. Nine- and ten-year-old children are at the onset of puberty. The authors point out that puberty has sex-specific influences on white matter development, and children in lower socioeconomic environments often enter puberty earlier.

The authors acknowledge a few limitations in their work. Because the study relies on data taken from a single point in time, it cannot demonstrate that a lack of resources causes specific changes in the brain. The associations highlight a pattern, but developmental trajectories can only be confirmed through studies that follow the same children over many years.

The mathematical models used to represent brain networks are also simplifications. Brain connectivity involves actual hierarchies that graph-based metrics do not completely capture. The researchers also note that cognitive tests inherently favor the cultural assumptions of the majorities they were designed around, meaning cultural biases could still influence test scores.

These findings advocate for a customized approach when scientists evaluate demographics. Socially constructed categories like race might not act as biological variables, but they do dictate access to resources. In contrast, biological traits like sex can fundamentally alter the pathways through which the environment shapes the growing brain.

The study, “Demographics Change the Relationships Between Socioeconomic Status, White Matter Network Organization, and Cognition in Children,” was authored by Jaden Kropf, Busisiwe Zapparoli, Julie Tseng, Amy S. Finn, Anne L. Wheeler, Nomazulu Dlamini, and Donald J. Mabbott.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-wiring-heavily-impacted-by-socioeconomic-environment-but-mostly-unaffected/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #socioeconomicstatus #braindevelopment #whiteMatter #cognition #childdevelopment #sexdifferences #puberty #neuroscience #educationandhealth #DevelopmentalCognitiveNeuroscience

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐵🔺 Researchers at #CarnegieMellon tested geometric shape matching in #monkeys, #children, and #adults with little formal schooling.

Both monkeys and preschoolers relied on intuitive reasoning, while educated adults used symbolic tools. The results suggest geometric intuition is shared across #primates and refined through #learning.

👉 https://www.sciencealert.com/monkeys-have-geometric-skills-on-par-with-human-preschoolers-study-suggests

#primates #geometry #cognition #science #math #education #animals #intelligence #psychology

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐵🔺 Researchers at #CarnegieMellon tested geometric shape matching in #monkeys, #children, and #adults with little formal schooling.

Both monkeys and preschoolers relied on intuitive reasoning, while educated adults used symbolic tools. The results suggest geometric intuition is shared across #primates and refined through #learning.

👉 https://www.sciencealert.com/monkeys-have-geometric-skills-on-par-with-human-preschoolers-study-suggests

#primates #geometry #cognition #science #math #education #animals #intelligence #psychology

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐵🔺 Researchers at #CarnegieMellon tested geometric shape matching in #monkeys, #children, and #adults with little formal schooling.

Both monkeys and preschoolers relied on intuitive reasoning, while educated adults used symbolic tools. The results suggest geometric intuition is shared across #primates and refined through #learning.

👉 https://www.sciencealert.com/monkeys-have-geometric-skills-on-par-with-human-preschoolers-study-suggests

#primates #geometry #cognition #science #math #education #animals #intelligence #psychology

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐵🔺 Researchers at #CarnegieMellon tested geometric shape matching in #monkeys, #children, and #adults with little formal schooling.

Both monkeys and preschoolers relied on intuitive reasoning, while educated adults used symbolic tools. The results suggest geometric intuition is shared across #primates and refined through #learning.

👉 https://www.sciencealert.com/monkeys-have-geometric-skills-on-par-with-human-preschoolers-study-suggests

#primates #geometry #cognition #science #math #education #animals #intelligence #psychology

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐵🔺 Researchers at #CarnegieMellon tested geometric shape matching in #monkeys, #children, and #adults with little formal schooling.

Both monkeys and preschoolers relied on intuitive reasoning, while educated adults used symbolic tools. The results suggest geometric intuition is shared across #primates and refined through #learning.

👉 https://www.sciencealert.com/monkeys-have-geometric-skills-on-par-with-human-preschoolers-study-suggests

#primates #geometry #cognition #science #math #education #animals #intelligence #psychology

https://www.europesays.com/at/287000/ Demenz-Prävention: 3.000 Schritte täglich können Alzheimer verlangsamen #AI #Alzheimer #ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE #AT #Austria #Balance #Cognition #Dementia #Falls #Gesundheit #Health #KI #KünstlicheIntelligenz #NatureMedicine #Österreich #PhysicalActivity #prevention #Risk #Steps #StrengthTraining #Walking #WHO

As the saying goes, everything is a remix. There is no such thing as an original thought. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news for those who feel this – or a form of creativity – is what separates humans from LLMs, from stochastic parrots.

👉https://substack.com/profile/43480121-bry-willis/note/c-298478111?r=pvxh5&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

👉 https://iai.tv/video/memes-minds-and-the-myth-of-control

👉https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NLBQOJmJ3K8

#philosophy #selfhood #creativity #video #blog #identity #originality #humanity #exceptionalism #hubris #strawson #althusser #wilde #quote #ai #llms #intelligence #cognition

As the saying goes, everything is a remix. There is no such thing as an original thought. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news for those who feel this – or a form of creativity – is what separates humans from LLMs, from stochastic parrots.

👉https://substack.com/profile/43480121-bry-willis/note/c-298478111?r=pvxh5&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

👉 https://iai.tv/video/memes-minds-and-the-myth-of-control

👉https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NLBQOJmJ3K8

#philosophy #selfhood #creativity #video #blog #identity #originality #humanity #exceptionalism #hubris #strawson #althusser #wilde #quote #ai #llms #intelligence #cognition

As the saying goes, everything is a remix. There is no such thing as an original thought. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news for those who feel this – or a form of creativity – is what separates humans from LLMs, from stochastic parrots.

👉https://substack.com/profile/43480121-bry-willis/note/c-298478111?r=pvxh5&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

👉 https://iai.tv/video/memes-minds-and-the-myth-of-control

👉https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NLBQOJmJ3K8

#philosophy #selfhood #creativity #video #blog #identity #originality #humanity #exceptionalism #hubris #strawson #althusser #wilde #quote #ai #llms #intelligence #cognition

As the saying goes, everything is a remix. There is no such thing as an original thought. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news for those who feel this – or a form of creativity – is what separates humans from LLMs, from stochastic parrots.

👉https://substack.com/profile/43480121-bry-willis/note/c-298478111?r=pvxh5&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

👉 https://iai.tv/video/memes-minds-and-the-myth-of-control

👉https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NLBQOJmJ3K8

#philosophy #selfhood #creativity #video #blog #identity #originality #humanity #exceptionalism #hubris #strawson #althusser #wilde #quote #ai #llms #intelligence #cognition

As the saying goes, everything is a remix. There is no such thing as an original thought. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news for those who feel this – or a form of creativity – is what separates humans from LLMs, from stochastic parrots.

👉https://substack.com/profile/43480121-bry-willis/note/c-298478111?r=pvxh5&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

👉 https://iai.tv/video/memes-minds-and-the-myth-of-control

👉https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NLBQOJmJ3K8

#philosophy #selfhood #creativity #video #blog #identity #originality #humanity #exceptionalism #hubris #strawson #althusser #wilde #quote #ai #llms #intelligence #cognition

Research reveals live music brings peace to dementia patients | Health

The Apasionado Duo performs at the Musical Museum July 7, 2026, on the Northwestern University campus in Chicago.…
#NewsBeep #News #Health #behaviouralsciences #CA #Canada #cognition #concert #Dementia #diseasesanddisorders #MentalDisorders #Mentalhealth #Museum #Music #neurocognitivedisorder #Neuroscience #psychologicalconcepts #psychology #stephenbeech
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/814629/

Deadline is approaching, but there's still time to submit your abstracts for ISPSM 2026!

Submissions will close at the end of this month (31/07).

For more details, check:

https://philevents.org/event/show/147033

Hope to see you there!

#philosophy #mind #ai #cognition

@philosophyofmind
@philosophy

Deadline is approaching, but there's still time to submit your abstracts for ISPSM 2026!

Submissions will close at the end of this month (31/07).

For more details, check:

https://philevents.org/event/show/147033

Hope to see you there!

#philosophy #mind #ai #cognition

@philosophyofmind
@philosophy

The Guardian: Could AI be conscious?. “In building ever more advanced AI, we may be creating a new type of being – and this could be the most consequential thing our species has ever done. Yet we have essentially no plan for how to navigate this process ethically. That, by any reckoning, is insane. Are we creating a kind of being that matters morally? Are AI systems conscious, in some way? […]

The Guardian: Could AI be conscious?. “In building ever more advanced AI, we may be creating a new type of being – and this could be the most consequential thing our species has ever done. Yet we have essentially no plan for how to navigate this process ethically. That, by any reckoning, is insane. Are we creating a kind of being that matters morally? Are AI systems conscious, in some way? […]

The Guardian: Could AI be conscious?. “In building ever more advanced AI, we may be creating a new type of being – and this could be the most consequential thing our species has ever done. Yet we have essentially no plan for how to navigate this process ethically. That, by any reckoning, is insane. Are we creating a kind of being that matters morally? Are AI systems conscious, in some way? […]

The Guardian: Could AI be conscious?. “In building ever more advanced AI, we may be creating a new type of being – and this could be the most consequential thing our species has ever done. Yet we have essentially no plan for how to navigate this process ethically. That, by any reckoning, is insane. Are we creating a kind of being that matters morally? Are AI systems conscious, in some way? […]

The Guardian: Could AI be conscious?. “In building ever more advanced AI, we may be creating a new type of being – and this could be the most consequential thing our species has ever done. Yet we have essentially no plan for how to navigate this process ethically. That, by any reckoning, is insane. Are we creating a kind of being that matters morally? Are AI systems conscious, in some way? […]

Common Digestive Drug May Help Ease Depression and Brain Fog

Many people recover from depression but continue to struggle with lingering symptoms such as memory problems, poor concentration…
#NewsBeep #News #Health #Brain #cognition #cognitivedecline #depression #digestivecondition #digestivedrug #GB #guthealth #laxatives #Memory #Mentalhealth #study #symptoms #UK #UnitedKingdom
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/699994/

Eye contact is an over-stimulation of the "sixth sense."

— An Autistic Person

Eye contact is an over-stimulation of the "sixth sense."

— An Autistic Person

Eye contact is an over-stimulation of the "sixth sense."

— An Autistic Person