#counseling — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #counseling, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 03:40AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Jamaica to File Slavery Reparations Petition During UK Visit
Source: Al Jazeera
A Jamaican delegation to the UK has said it will petition King Charles III to seek legal guidance on the question of slavery reparations. This is the first time a British Commonwealth state will use this legal route "for the cause of reparatory justice," the delegation said, as the visit to London begins Monday. Jamaican officials added that they will also meet with the British Museum to discuss "the repatriation of cultural artifacts taken from...
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #JamaicaReparations #SlaveryReparations #UKVisit #CharlesIII #ReparatoryJustice #BritishMuseum #CulturalArtifacts #LegalRoutes #CommonwealthDialogue #RepatriationWorks
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 04:00PM
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: Researchers find AI spontaneously develops a sense of facial beauty without training
Artificial intelligence models can spontaneously develop an ability to recognize human facial beauty without any prior training or exposure to human preferences. A recent study published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts suggests that this aesthetic sense emerges naturally from the way computer networks process basic visual information. The research hints that human aesthetic preferences might also have an innate origin rooted in our basic sensory wiring.
For centuries, philosophers and scientists have debated whether humans are born with an innate sense of beauty or if aesthetic preferences are learned through cultural exposure. In human infants and nonhuman primates, researchers have observed a natural preference for faces that adults deem attractive. It remains difficult to determine whether this preference is hardwired into the brain before birth or acquired rapidly through early visual experiences.
Deep neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence designed to mimic the human brain’s visual processing pathways, offer a way to test this question. In an untrained state, these networks contain randomized connections and have no prior visual experience or knowledge of human preferences. If an untrained network can detect beauty, it suggests the ability is a byproduct of basic structural encoding rather than a learned behavior.
Researchers Tianxin Shu and Delong Zhang from South China Normal University, along with their colleagues, designed an experiment to explore this phenomenon. They aimed to see if artificial neural units would naturally respond to varying degrees of facial beauty. The research team focused on understanding how simple sensory properties might inherently shape aesthetic perception.
The researchers first generated a dataset of human faces using a specialized artificial intelligence program capable of producing highly realistic images. They manipulated the underlying code of these artificial faces to create different levels of beauty. A small group of human volunteers assessed the images to ensure they still looked like natural human faces.
This process yielded more than 10,000 facial images with distinctly graded aesthetic values. The researchers fed these images into an untrained version of a deep neural network called AlexNet. This network consists of multiple layers of artificial neurons that process visual information, starting with simple edges and moving to whole objects.
Because the network was untrained, its internal weights, which are the mathematical rules determining how neurons interact, were completely random. The researchers analyzed the responses of artificial neurons in the network’s final visual processing layer. They discovered that specific neural units spontaneously began responding selectively to different levels of facial beauty.
These “beauty-selective units” appeared consistently, regardless of the face’s orientation or the specific random initialization of the network. To understand how the network processed this information, the researchers altered the facial images. They applied random scrambling, which disrupted the overall shape of the face but kept local details intact.
They also utilized a different type of scrambling that preserved the general spatial arrangement but obscured fine details. Additionally, they tested images reduced entirely to their simple outlines. The team found that both the specific facial features and the spatial arrangement of those features were necessary for the network to evaluate beauty.
In psychological research, this is known as dual-code theory. This theory suggests that humans rely on both the detailed traits of a face and its broader geometric layout to recognize it. The neural network processed this visual information hierarchically, much like the human visual system.
The network’s earlier layers handled simple geometric features and local details. The later layers then integrated this fragmented data into a complete representation of facial beauty. The research team then tested whether these beauty-selective units could actively compare faces.
They trained a simple sorting algorithm to use the responses from these specific units to judge which of two faces was more attractive. The beauty-selective units successfully differentiated between varying levels of beauty. They performed better than units that simply processed raw image pixels.
The accuracy of these units increased as the difference in beauty between the two faces grew larger. Next, the scientists investigated how the final layer of the network arrived at its beauty preferences. They tracked the activity of units in the earlier layers of the network.
They identified specific neurons that responded to beauty on a sliding scale. The activity of these units steadily increased or steadily decreased as the faces became more attractive. The researchers mapped how these earlier units connected to the final beauty-selective units.
They found that the network constructed its sense of beauty by combining the inputs from these earlier, simpler neurons. Units that preferred highly attractive faces received stronger signals from neurons that increased their activity in response to beauty. Finally, to ensure their results were not unique to one specific network or dataset, the researchers repeated their experiments.
They used a different neural network architecture, known as VGG-16, and again found that beauty-selective units emerged spontaneously. They also tested the network using a database of 200 real human faces spanning different racial backgrounds. The beauty-selective units successfully evaluated the attractiveness of these natural faces.
This outcome proved their ability generalized beyond artificial images. While these findings offer an intriguing look at artificial cognition, a network’s sense of beauty is not identical to human aesthetic appreciation. The study focused on a mathematical abstraction of facial structure rather than the subjective emotional experience humans associate with beauty.
A generalized visual preference for symmetrical or average features does not equate to the rich psychological experience of finding someone beautiful. The artificial faces used in the primary experiments were heavily standardized, minimizing variations in lighting, background, and hairstyle. Real-world aesthetic judgments involve highly variable environments and subjective personal preferences that these models cannot capture.
The current algorithm also primarily evaluated a single baseline standard of beauty. Future research could explore how untrained networks respond to other aesthetic categories, such as natural landscapes, architecture, or fine art. Expanding the criteria for beauty could help scientists determine if this inherent perceptual bias applies to all visual structures or just human faces.
The study, “The Spontaneous Emergence of “A Sense of Beauty ” in Untrained Deep Neural Networks,” was authored by Tianxin Shu, Huawei Xu, Xingxing Chen, Yuxuan Cai, Ming Liu, and Delong Zhang.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AIbeauty #facialaesthetics #untrainedneuralnetworks #deeplearning #AlexNet #VGG16 #beautyselection #neuroscienceofaesthetics #dualcodetheory #facerecognition
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 02:00PM
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: More time spent playing video games is linked to a thinner cerebral cortex in adolescents
Adolescents who spend more time playing video games tend to show differences in the outer layer of their brains, such as a thinner cortex and smaller surface area. The research, published in NeuroImage, provides a nuanced look at how solo play, social play, and mature content each relate to adolescent brain structure.
The cerebral cortex is the wrinkled outer layer of the brain responsible for higher-level processes like thinking, memory, emotion, and language. Researchers often measure its structure in two ways: cortical thickness, which is the depth of this tissue, and surface area, which represents how much space the folds cover. During early adolescence, the brain undergoes a natural remodeling process where the cortex typically thins out as brain circuits become more efficient.
Past research on how video games interact with this brain development has painted an inconsistent picture. For instance, an earlier study of 14-year-olds found that more gaming was linked to thicker frontal brain regions.
As highlighted in a 2019 review, this area of study has been complicated by conflicting findings and small groups of participants. These early studies struggled to determine whether gaming consistently expands or reduces certain brain regions in teenagers. To address these gaps, scientists have begun using massive national datasets to better understand how specific digital habits interact with the developing brain.
The new study was led by Jason M. Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and a principal investigator at the Nagata Lab. The research team aimed to clarify these structural brain links by examining a large, diverse group of young people.
“Video gaming is a major part of adolescents’ daily lives, but we still know relatively little about how it relates to brain development,” Nagata told PsyPost. “We wanted to examine these associations in a large, diverse sample and also look beyond total gaming time to whether adolescents played single-player, multiplayer, or mature-rated games.”
The researchers analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a large, ongoing project tracking youth health and brain development in the United States. For this analysis, the team looked at information from 5,686 adolescents who were around 14 years old on average. Participants completed surveys detailing how much time they spent playing single-player and multi-player video games on a typical weekday and weekend.
They also reported how often they played mature-rated games, which often feature violence or strong language. On average, the teens reported playing video games for about 3.1 hours per day, and about 81% reported playing at least some video games. To evaluate brain structure, the adolescents underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans. These scans provided precise measurements of cortical thickness and surface area across various regions of the brain.
The analysis indicated that higher total time spent playing video games was associated with both a thinner cortex and a smaller cortical surface area in several regions of the brain. These differences were spread across the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. The researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for factors like age, sex, genetic ancestry, household income, body weight, and non-gaming screen time, suggesting the link is specific to gaming behavior.
“Greater time spent gaming was associated with small but widespread differences in brain structure, including lower cortical surface area and thickness across several regions,” Nagata noted.
When breaking down the type of play, the team found that single-player gaming was linked to a lower surface area in regions of the brain involved in language processing, social cognition, and emotional regulation. Multi-player gaming, on the other hand, did not show statistical associations with differences in cortical structure. The content of the games also seemed to matter, as adolescents who more frequently played mature-rated games tended to have a thinner cortex in networks supporting attention and the processing of social and emotional cues.
“It was interesting that single-player and multiplayer gaming showed different patterns,” Nagata said. “Single-player gaming was associated with differences in several regions involved in language processing and social cognition, whereas multiplayer gaming was not significantly associated with cortical morphology after correcting for multiple comparisons.”
“This suggests that how adolescents game may matter in addition to how much they game,” the researcher added.
These findings align with research covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which found that higher average daily social media use was linked to a thinner cerebral cortex in young adolescents. Both studies suggest that high levels of digital media engagement relate to structural brain differences in this age group, though the specific activities differ.
There are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. The study relies on a single point in time, meaning it is impossible to determine whether video gaming causes these brain differences or if adolescents with certain brain structures are simply more drawn to gaming.
“Because this was a cross-sectional study, we cannot determine whether gaming contributed to differences in brain structure or whether adolescents with pre-existing differences were more likely to engage in particular gaming behaviors,” Nagata explained.
The data on video game habits was based on self-reported estimates, which can sometimes be inaccurate as people tend to misjudge the exact hours they spend on screens. The researchers also did not assess the specific genres of the games being played, such as fast-paced action games versus strategic puzzle games, which might engage the brain in entirely different ways.
The authors note that a thinning cortex is a normal part of adolescent brain development. The observed differences were relatively small in magnitude, and long-term studies will be needed to see if these patterns represent a harmless variation in normal growth or something that affects cognitive health over time.
“These findings do not mean that video games necessarily damage adolescents’ brains,” Nagata said. “Lower cortical thickness or surface area also should not automatically be interpreted as harmful, since these measures can normally decrease during adolescent development.”
To build on these findings, the team plans to track the same participants as they grow older. “We would like to use longitudinal data to better understand the direction of these associations,” Nagata said. “Future studies should also examine more detailed aspects of gaming, including specific genres and content, social versus solitary gaming, and problematic gaming behaviors.”
“One important message is that not all gaming is necessarily the same,” he concluded. “Future research and guidance may need to consider not only how much adolescents game, but also what they play and the social context in which they play.”
The study, “Associations Between Video Gaming Behaviors and Cortical Morphology in Adolescents,” was authored by Jason M. Nagata, Kevin Bao, Kevin Handoko, Stuart B. Murray, Kristen E. Kim, Pierre Nedelec, Eva Muller-Oehring, Aaron Scheffler, Leana E. King, Andreas M. Rauschecker, and Fiona C. Baker.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #VideoGamingAndBrainDevelopment #AdolescentBrains #CorticalMorphology #CerebralCortex #NeuroImageStudy #SinglePlayerVsMultiplayer #MatureRatedGames #BrainStructure #AdolescentNeuroscience #GamingHabits
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 12:00PM
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: Cannabis use alters how the human brain processes nicotine, new research suggests
Recent non-daily use of cannabis might make the effects of nicotine feel more unpleasant at higher doses, without necessarily changing how often a person chooses to consume it. These findings help unravel the complex biological relationship between two commonly used substances and suggest that cannabis alters how the human body processes nicotine. The research was published in International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Cannabis and tobacco are frequently used together, and co-use is rising as legal cannabis markets expand and product varieties increase. Cannabis is a psychoactive plant containing compounds like delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Nicotine is the highly addictive chemical found in tobacco plants.
Studies show that combining these substances often makes it harder for people to quit. For example, a 2022 survey study found that people who increase their cannabis use have a harder time successfully quitting cigarette smoking. Animal research has hinted at the biology behind this, demonstrating that stimulating the brain’s cannabinoid receptors increases the motivation to seek out nicotine.
“Notably, cannabinoid and nicotinic receptors overlap in the brain circuits involved in reward and aversion, which in animal models helps explain the interaction between the two drugs,” Joao P. De Aquino, an assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the Pain and Addiction Interaction Neuroscience (PAIN) Lab at the Yale University School of Medicine, told PsyPost.
In humans, the interaction appears a bit more complicated. A study covered by PsyPost in 2018 showed that a large dose of cannabidiol actually stopped the typical increase in attention to cigarette cues during nicotine withdrawal. Another human laboratory experiment tested how smoking cannabis right before a tobacco cigarette altered immediate sensations, finding it changed subjective feelings but did not alter actual smoking behavior.
Despite this knowledge, it remained unknown how cannabis exposure directly changes a person’s immediate physiological and subjective reactions to pure nicotine. Most studies on human smoking involve tobacco cigarettes, which contain thousands of other chemicals that can cloud the results.
“The human evidence has been limited and sometimes contradictory,” De Aquino explained. “One reason is methodological: cigarette smoke contains thousands of compounds besides nicotine, which makes it difficult to isolate what nicotine itself is doing.”
The research, conducted at the Yale University School of Medicine, aimed to answer this question by isolating nicotine from tobacco smoke entirely. Gabriel P. A. Costa led the analysis under the senior authorship of Mehmet Sofuoglu and De Aquino.
“We analyzed two previously completed randomized, double-blind studies in which nicotine was administered intravenously, which let us isolate nicotine’s effects and directly ask whether recent cannabis use was associated with differences in how people responded to nicotine,” De Aquino said. “That is part of why we think carefully controlled human laboratory datasets remain valuable well beyond the aims of the trials that produced them.”
To examine the pure effects of nicotine, the researchers pooled data from 60 adults who regularly smoke tobacco cigarettes. Half of the participants had recently used cannabis, which was confirmed by a positive urine test. The other half had not used cannabis in the past 30 days and tested negative.
The team used intravenous nicotine administration, delivering the substance directly into the bloodstream through a catheter in the participant’s arm. In separate laboratory sessions, participants received a placebo consisting of saltwater, a low dose of nicotine (0.1 milligrams per 70 kilograms of body weight), and a higher dose (0.2 milligrams). These doses were designed to mimic the amount of nicotine absorbed from one to three puffs of a typical cigarette.
During the sessions, participants rated their subjective experiences on 100-point scales. They assessed stimulatory feelings, pleasurable feelings, and aversive feelings. Aversive effects included feeling anxious, feeling down, or experiencing a bad reaction to the drug. The researchers also tracked the participants’ heart rates and blood pressures.
Later in the sessions, participants completed a choice task. They were given multiple opportunities to choose between receiving the nicotine dose or the placebo again. This allowed the researchers to measure the primary reinforcement, or how much the participants actively wanted the drug. The statistical analysis controlled for factors like the participant’s sex and their baseline level of nicotine dependence.
Nicotine produced expected physiological changes, increasing heart rate and blood pressure across all participants. The drug also caused dose-dependent increases in subjective feelings of stimulation and pleasure. The cannabis-exposed group reported slightly higher pleasurable and stimulatory effects than the unexposed group, but the results were not statistically significant.
The most prominent difference emerged in how the groups experienced the aversive side effects of nicotine. At the higher 0.2 milligram dose, individuals with recent cannabis exposure reported substantially stronger unpleasant feelings compared to those without recent exposure. This amplified aversion was primarily driven by higher ratings of feeling down and experiencing bad drug effects.
“The difference in unpleasant effects at the higher dose was not simply a marginal statistical difference,” De Aquino noted. “It was relatively large by the standards of this type of laboratory study, and it grew with the nicotine dose.”
“Going from the lower to the higher nicotine dose, the differences in pleasure and stimulation stayed roughly flat, while the difference in unpleasant effects grew sharply,” he added. “That was the part we did not anticipate.”
Nicotine’s overall appeal relies on a delicate balance in the brain between reward pathways and aversion pathways. A person’s likelihood to keep smoking depends heavily on this balance. The findings suggest that cannabis might shift this scale, increasing the brain’s sensitivity to the unpleasant side effects of nicotine at higher doses.
“That suggests that recent cannabis use may shift the point at which nicotine’s unpleasant effects begin to build, rather than making people generally more sensitive to nicotine,” De Aquino explained.
Interestingly, the heightened negative feelings did not change the participants’ behavior during the choice task. Neither group showed a preference for the nicotine over the saline placebo in the laboratory setting. The physical cardiovascular reactions to the drug were also nearly identical between the two groups.
“Thus, recent cannabis use was linked to how unpleasant nicotine felt, but not to how often participants chose it in the laboratory,” De Aquino pointed out. “Our choice procedure was also short and ran under controlled conditions, so it may not capture what happens when people choose in ordinary life.”
The cannabis-exposed participants did show a distinct baseline clinical profile outside the laboratory. On average, they smoked about 40 percent fewer tobacco cigarettes per day (8.2 cigarettes compared to 13.4 cigarettes for the unexposed group). They also scored lower on standard tests measuring nicotine dependence.
“Those were pre-existing differences between the groups, not effects our study shows cannabis produced,” De Aquino emphasized.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study relied on a single urine test and self-reports to confirm cannabis use. This means the researchers did not have detailed information on how often participants used cannabis, what types of products they consumed, or the exact concentrations of compounds they ingested. Different cannabis profiles might interact with nicotine in distinct ways.
“To make more precise inferences we would need more granular data on the composition of the cannabis products themselves, including their potency, the THC-to-CBD ratio, how they were taken, and how often,” De Aquino said. Furthermore, “the trials whose data we leveraged excluded daily cannabis use and cannabis use disorder, so our findings are applicable to recent, non-daily cannabis use rather than heavy cannabis use.”
Because participants were not randomly assigned to use cannabis, the study cannot confirm that cannabis directly caused the heightened aversion to nicotine. It is possible that people who naturally find heavy nicotine doses unpleasant are simply more likely to use cannabis.
“Participants came into the studies with their existing patterns of cannabis and tobacco use, so we cannot tell whether cannabis changed their response to nicotine or whether people who respond differently to nicotine are also more likely to use cannabis,” De Aquino stated. He stressed that “our study does not show that cannabis makes it easier or harder to quit smoking. We did not measure smoking or quitting at all.”
Future studies tracking individuals before and after they begin using cannabis could help clarify whether the drug causes long-term changes in nicotine sensitivity. “One priority is to characterize cannabis exposure more precisely,” De Aquino noted, adding that “following people over time, ideally from before they start using cannabis, would also help establish which comes first.”
To better understand why this interaction happens, more investigation into the brain’s circuitry is needed. “One candidate neural substrate behind this aversive response to nicotine among people with recent cannabis exposure involves the habenula, a small brain region involved in nicotine’s unpleasant effects, along with alpha-5-containing nicotinic receptors,” De Aquino explained. “Imaging the brain during controlled nicotine administration, and studying genetic variation in those receptors, for example, could help test that possibility.”
This line of research ultimately aims to improve cessation strategies, such as the use of varenicline, a prescription medication used to help people quit smoking by reducing nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms. “Underneath all of this lies a clinically consequential question: whether treatments such as nicotine replacement therapy or varenicline may eventually need to be tailored for people who use both cannabis and nicotine,” De Aquino added.
“This is a reason to pursue clinical studies, not a finding that should change treatment today,” De Aquino concluded.
The study, “Recent cannabis exposure and acute nicotine effects: insights from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intravenous nicotine studies,” was authored by Gabriel P. A. Costa, R. Ross MacLean, Mehmet Sofuoglu, and Joao P. De Aquino.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CannabisNicotineInteraction #NicotineAversions #CannabisAndTobacco #NicotineResearch #CannabisResearch #Neuropharmacology #AddictionScience #YaleMedicine #Cannabinoids #NicotinePhysiology
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 10:00AM
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: Higher intelligence might accelerate the development of metacognitive knowledge in mathematics
A study involving 1,050 German early adolescents found that more intelligent students showed greater increases in metacognitive knowledge (in mathematics) over time. This suggests that higher intelligence accelerates metacognitive knowledge development. Interestingly, math knowledge, motivation, and school class type were not associated with the pace of metacognitive knowledge development. The paper was published in Learning and Individual Differences.
Metacognitive knowledge is a person’s knowledge and beliefs about how their own thinking and learning processes work. It includes knowing what one is good or poor at, which tasks are likely to be difficult, and which strategies may help in a particular situation. For example, a student may know that they remember information better when they summarize it in their own words rather than simply rereading it.
Metacognitive knowledge also includes understanding that different tasks may require different approaches, such as memorizing facts versus solving a complex problem. It is commonly divided into declarative knowledge (knowledge about oneself as a learner, knowledge about tasks, and knowledge about strategies), procedural knowledge (how to apply strategies), and conditional knowledge. Conditional knowledge, which is what this study focused on, involves knowing when and why to use particular strategies depending on the specific situation and task at hand.
This type of knowledge helps people plan how to approach learning or problem solving before they begin. It can also guide decisions about when to change strategies if the current approach is not working. Stronger metacognitive knowledge can therefore support more efficient learning, better problem solving, and greater independence in academic work.
Study author Maria Theobald and her colleagues note that metacognitive knowledge is central to learning and academic success, especially in mathematics. However, the trajectory of metacognitive knowledge development and the role of intelligence in this development remain poorly understood. With this in mind, they conducted a study that examined the development of metacognitive knowledge in the domain of mathematics. They chose this aspect of metacognitive knowledge because it strongly predicts mathematical learning and achievement.
Study authors analyzed data from the project PULSS, which examined the development of academic achievement and motivation in the early secondary school years. Participants of this study were 1,050 5th grade students from seven high-track secondary schools (Gymnasium) in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, federal states in southern Germany. On average, participants were 11 years old at the start of the study. 40% of participating students were girls. 89% had German as their primary language. The primary languages of the other students were most often Russian, English, and Turkish.
Students were tested at the beginning (T1) and the end of grade 5 (T2), the end of grade 6 (T3), and the middle of grade 7 (T4). However, this analysis used only the data from the first three data collection waves (T1-T3), because metacognitive knowledge was not assessed in the T4 data collection wave. Participants completed assessments of conditional metacognitive knowledge in the domain of mathematics (the MAESTRA 5-6 test), intelligence (only at T1, using the Cognitive Ability Test for Grades 4-12), math knowledge (the German Mathematics Test for Grade 5), and math-related motivation (goal orientation, mathematics self-concept, and interest, all assessed at T1 only).
Results showed that students’ metacognitive knowledge in mathematics generally increased over time, but this varied greatly between students. Students with higher intelligence tended to show greater increases in mathematics metacognitive knowledge over time. Study authors indicate that this suggests that higher intelligence accelerates metacognitive knowledge development. Girls showed a greater increase in metacognitive knowledge than boys over time. Math knowledge, motivation, and class-type (regular vs. for gifted students) were not associated with metacognitive knowledge development.
“These findings highlight the variability in metacognitive knowledge development and underscore intelligence as an important predictor of this differential development,” study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the factors associated with the development of metacognitive knowledge. However, it should be noted that the design of the study does not allow any definitive causal inferences to be derived from the results.
The paper, “The role of intelligence in the development of metacognitive knowledge,” was authored by Maria Theobald, Wolfgang Schneider, and Franzis Preckel.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MetacognitiveKnowledge #MathematicsEducation #IntelligenceDevelopment #LearningAndIndividualDifferences #MAESTRA526 #MathLearningStrategies #EducationalPsychology #AdolescentLearning #CognitiveAbility #MetacognitionResearch
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 09:00AM
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: Struggling to find “the one”? A new psychology study says the problem might be your underlying motivation
A new study finds that the reasons single people want a relationship shape both the type of partnership they seek and whether they achieve their dating goals. Individuals driven by a genuine desire for connection tend to focus on relationship quality, while those driven by social pressure or a need for validation often prioritize simply finding a partner, which can hinder their progress. The research was published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Self-determination theory is a psychological framework for understanding human motivation. It suggests that our reasons for doing things exist on a spectrum, ranging from actions we take for pure enjoyment to actions we take because we feel forced or pressured. Historically, psychological research has shown that the internal drive behind our actions matters just as much as the actions themselves. For instance, a 2004 study demonstrated that why someone chases an objective and what that objective actually is are two distinct forces that shape their overall well-being.
Building on this idea, a 2008 study found that people tend to make far more headway on goals they truly care about than on goals driven by guilt or social pressure. Recently, scientists began applying this concept specifically to single people and dating. In fact, a 2025 study introduced a framework to measure internal versus external motivations for dating, noting that a person’s inner drive makes them more likely to find a partner. This framework aligns with a study covered by PsyPost in 2026, which found that emotional fulfillment strongly motivates the pursuit of long-term relationships.
The new study builds on this lineage to see how singles’ core motivations dictate the exact goals they set and whether they achieve them over time. “Previous work suggests that the average single person desires to partner, but it was unclear to us what exactly it is that single people desire from these relationships, if they desire one at all,” said study author Laura Hawkins, a second-year PhD student in psychology at the University of Toronto.
“In other words, what are their goals for romantic partnership?” The research uses this motivational framework to categorize why single people might want a relationship.
These categories include intrinsic motivation, which means enjoying relationships for what they are, and identified motivation, which means personally valuing partnership. They also include introjected motivation, which involves acting to avoid guilt or to boost self-worth, and external motivation, which involves acting due to social pressure. Finally, the researchers measured amotivation, which refers to a complete lack of desire or intention to seek a partner.
To understand how these motivations operate in the real world, the researchers recruited 4,019 single adults between the ages of 18 and 39. Participants completed a baseline survey that measured their motivations for wanting a romantic relationship. They were also asked to write out up to three personal relationship goals for the upcoming six months.
The research team read through the roughly 12,000 written goals and categorized them into 41 distinct themes. These themes included things like going on dates, improving finances, remaining single, or building intimacy. Six months later, 3,176 of the original participants returned for a follow-up survey. They reviewed the goals they had written down previously and rated their progress on a scale from zero to 100 percent. On average, participants reported a 41.7 percent completion rate across their goals.
The results indicate that singles who were intrinsically motivated or had identified motivation set goals focused on high-quality connections. Intrinsically motivated singles had a higher likelihood of setting goals to have fun, build emotional intimacy, and enter a healthy relationship. Identified motivation was linked to seeking committed, long-term partnerships. Both of these groups were far less likely to say their main goal was to remain single.
People driven by a need for self-affirmation or a fear of failure displayed a very different pattern. Singles with this introjected motivation focused more on securing a relationship than on the quality of that connection. They were more likely to set goals to go on dates, have sex, socialize, or improve their physical attractiveness and self-confidence.
At the same time, introjected singles were less likely to prioritize building intimacy, sharing a home, or having a healthy relationship. Interestingly, introjected motivation was also linked to making less progress on relationship goals over the six-month period.
“You would think that entering a relationship is easier than entering a quality relationship,” Hawkins said. “But one finding that surprised me was that singles who simply wanted to enter a relationship (irrespective of quality) actually made less progress on this goal.”
“Although we can’t be sure, we think part of the reason this may be is because these singles are fundamentally pursuing partnership to improve their self-image, which may hinder their ability to build a romantic connection,” she continued. “So, in an ironic twist of fate, the reason they want a relationship may actually be driving potential partners away.”
External motivation, or dating to appease others, was mainly linked to the goal of going on dates. Amotivation was strongly associated with a desire to remain single or setting no relationship goals at all. When evaluating their success six months later, amotivated singles reported the highest amount of progress among all the groups.
“Not every single wants to partner!” Hawkins pointed out. “In fact, our data suggests singles who did not want to partner were not necessarily relationally avoidant, but rather, actively pursuing singlehood.”
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost last year. That earlier study, which looked at whether singles actually entered a relationship rather than the specific goals they set, similarly found that autonomous motives support positive romantic outcomes while introjected motives and a lack of motivation do not.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The researchers did not test whether these patterns look different depending on a person’s age, gender, sexual orientation, or cultural background, which could change how people approach dating. The measurement of goal progress also relied entirely on self-reports, which might contain subjective biases.
Additionally, the structural nature of the goals varied wildly from person to person. For example, staying single is an objective a person can accomplish all on their own. Finding a healthy, long-term romantic relationship requires the cooperation of another person. Because of this, the high reported success rate of amotivated singles might simply reflect that it is easier to achieve the goal of staying single than the goal of finding a compatible partner.
“As a singlehood researcher I often get asked ‘how do I find “the one”?'” Hawkins noted. “Our data suggests that answer might lie inwards. Simply put, why you want to become partnered shapes the quality (or lack thereof) of the romantic relationship you seek.”
The study, “Does Why You Want Partnership Shape What You Want? A Self-Determination Perspective on Singles’ Relationship Goals,” was authored by Laura Hawkins, Serena Thapar, Will Ryan, and Geoff MacDonald.
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DATE: September 4, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: It shouldn’t feel impossible to finish a book
URL: https://www.vox.com/life/502018/attention-tiktok-reading-books-better-tips
Screens have atrophied our reading muscles. Here’s how to get them back.
URL: https://www.vox.com/life/502018/attention-tiktok-reading-books-better-tips
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DATE: September 4, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: The Lindsay Clancy trial brings maternal mental health into the spotlight
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/health/postpartum-psychosis-lindsay-clancy
Postpartum psychosis ranks as one of the rarest and most severe mental health disorders associated with childbirth.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/health/postpartum-psychosis-lindsay-clancy
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DATE: September 4, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: The Lindsay Clancy trial brings maternal mental health into the spotlight
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/health/postpartum-psychosis-lindsay-clancy
Postpartum psychosis ranks as one of the rarest and most severe mental health disorders associated with childbirth.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/health/postpartum-psychosis-lindsay-clancy
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DATE: September 4, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: The Lindsay Clancy trial brings maternal mental health into the spotlight
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/health/postpartum-psychosis-lindsay-clancy
Postpartum psychosis ranks as one of the rarest and most severe mental health disorders associated with childbirth.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/health/postpartum-psychosis-lindsay-clancy
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DATE: September 4, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: It shouldn’t feel impossible to finish a book
URL: https://www.vox.com/life/502018/attention-tiktok-reading-books-better-tips
Screens have atrophied our reading muscles. Here’s how to get them back.
URL: https://www.vox.com/life/502018/attention-tiktok-reading-books-better-tips
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DATE: September 4, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: It shouldn’t feel impossible to finish a book
URL: https://www.vox.com/life/502018/attention-tiktok-reading-books-better-tips
Screens have atrophied our reading muscles. Here’s how to get them back.
URL: https://www.vox.com/life/502018/attention-tiktok-reading-books-better-tips
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DATE: September 3, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: The AI backlash uniting a divided America
Polls show a growing share of Americans are skeptical of big‑tech companies and AI products.
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DATE: September 2, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: What shapes your personality?
URL: https://www.popsci.com/science/what-determines-personality/
Genes and environment play a big role, but the ratio of each is up for debate.
URL: https://www.popsci.com/science/what-determines-personality/
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DATE: August 30, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Why Dolly Parton’s death can feel like losing someone you knew personally
URL: https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-dolly-parton-death-feel-like-losing-someone-knew-personally
Fans across the world mourn the loss of country icon, described as ‘post-Parton depression’.
URL: https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-dolly-parton-death-feel-like-losing-someone-knew-personally
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DATE: September 2, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: 'AI food slop' is making people so uncomfortable and upset
When images look almost real but clearly fake, our brains get stuck trying to make sense of it.
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DATE: August 30, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Why Dolly Parton’s death can feel like losing someone you knew personally
URL: https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-dolly-parton-death-feel-like-losing-someone-knew-personally
Fans across the world mourn the loss of country icon, described as ‘post-Parton depression’.
URL: https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-dolly-parton-death-feel-like-losing-someone-knew-personally
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DATE: August 30, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Why Dolly Parton’s death can feel like losing someone you knew personally
URL: https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-dolly-parton-death-feel-like-losing-someone-knew-personally
Fans across the world mourn the loss of country icon, described as ‘post-Parton depression’.
URL: https://www.foxnews.com/health/why-dolly-parton-death-feel-like-losing-someone-knew-personally
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DATE: August 29, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Why it can take time and effort to find the right meds to help mental health
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/health/mental-health-medications
It can be hard to find the right medication to treat any kind of complex brain disorder, and some take weeks to work.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/health/mental-health-medications
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DATE: August 27, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Largest ever ‘map’ of autism may hold clues for new targeted therapies
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/health/autism-treatment-new-map-study
Scientists are getting a step closer to understanding exactly how autism develops in the brain – and what might work to treat it.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/27/health/autism-treatment-new-map-study
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DATE: August 29, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Why it can take time and effort to find the right meds to help mental health
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/health/mental-health-medications
It can be hard to find the right medication to treat any kind of complex brain disorder, and some take weeks to work.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/health/mental-health-medications
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DATE: August 29, 2026
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Why it can take time and effort to find the right meds to help mental health
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/health/mental-health-medications
It can be hard to find the right medication to treat any kind of complex brain disorder, and some take weeks to work.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/29/health/mental-health-medications
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DATE: August 8, 2026 at 12:08AM
SOURCE: AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONTITLE: Is watching too much TV bad for your brain? Possibly
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/08/health/television-brain-dementia-sedentary-health-wellness
Researchers found that people who reported watching television more often in midlife had smaller brain volumes decades later in areas involved in language and thinking.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/08/health/television-brain-dementia-sedentary-health-wellness
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 08:00AM
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: How chemical tags on a dopamine gene are linked to teen creativity
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-chemical-tags-on-a-dopamine-gene-are-linked-to-teen-creativity/
Researchers have identified a link between molecular tags on a specific gene and creative thinking abilities in male adolescents. The study explored how biological mechanisms might influence brain function without altering the underlying genetic code. The results were published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
Creativity is generally divided into two main cognitive processes. Divergent thinking is the ability to brainstorm multiple novel solutions to an open-ended problem. Convergent thinking is the ability to synthesize information to find a single correct answer to a well-defined problem. Both types of thinking rely on a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which helps the brain regulate attention, working memory, and response inhibition.
The genetic blueprint of the dopamine system varies from person to person. Researchers have studied how variations in the DNA sequence of dopamine-related genes relate to individual differences in creativity. However, the genetic sequence alone does not entirely determine how a gene behaves. A separate process called epigenetics also regulates how genes function.
Epigenetic mechanisms control how often or how strongly a gene is expressed, effectively acting like a volume dial. One primary epigenetic mechanism is DNA methylation, where tiny chemical tags called methyl groups attach to specific regions of the DNA molecule. These tags can turn a gene’s activity up or down in response to developmental stages or environmental influences like stress.
Xiaolei Yang of Qilu Normal University, alongside Jinghuan Zhang and Shun Zhang of Shandong Normal University, conducted a study to see if DNA methylation patterns on dopamine genes were associated with creative abilities in teenagers. Adolescence is a period characterized by intense brain development and high sensitivity to environmental factors. The researchers wanted to explore the epigenetic mechanisms that might be at work during this developmental window.
The research team recruited an initial group of 95 junior high school students in China, with an average age of about 13. The participants completed a battery of divergent thinking tests. Some tasks were verbal, asking students to list as many alternative uses as possible for common objects like a toothbrush. Other tasks were visual, requiring the students to look at ambiguous line drawings and list as many interpretations of the shapes as they could imagine.
The students were given four minutes to complete each specific task. The researchers scored the answers based on the sheer number of ideas generated, the variety of categories those ideas covered, and the originality of the responses.
To analyze the students’ epigenetic profiles, the researchers collected saliva samples. They extracted DNA and sequenced specific regions of six different genes known to be involved in dopamine signaling. The team calculated the average DNA methylation levels for each gene and compared these biological metrics against the students’ scores on the creativity tests.
In this first group, the researchers found that methylation levels on several genes were associated with different aspects of divergent thinking. Methylation of a gene called COMT was linked to the number of ideas and the flexibility of ideas generated in the visual tasks. Another gene, DRD4, showed an association with visual creativity and verbal flexibility. The most consistent association appeared with the MAOB gene, as its average methylation level was positively linked to all six measures of divergent thinking.
To see if these results could be replicated, the researchers recruited a second, slightly older group of 169 junior high school students. This second group completed the same types of divergent thinking tasks and also took a test designed to measure convergent thinking, which both samples had completed. The convergent thinking assessment was a Chinese remote association test. Participants saw three distinct Chinese characters and had to think of a fourth character that could combine with each of the original three to form meaningful words.
The participants were given 10 minutes to complete 20 test items, and their final score was based on the total number of correct answers. The researchers again collected saliva samples to sequence the DNA methylation patterns of the same six dopamine genes.
The results from the second group revealed an association between the DAT gene’s methylation levels and all six divergent thinking scores. The MAOB gene again showed a strong association with all six divergent thinking scores. The MAOB gene’s methylation level was also associated with better performance on the convergent thinking test in this second group.
When the researchers looked closer at the MAOB gene data from both groups, they noticed a distinct pattern. The association between MAOB methylation and divergent thinking was only present in male adolescents.
The MAOB gene, short for monoamine oxidase B, carries the instructions for an enzyme that helps break down dopamine in the brain. It is located on the X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y chromosome.
Because females have two copies of the X chromosome, one is typically silenced during development to balance out the genetic dosage. This silencing process heavily involves DNA methylation. The researchers suspect that this fundamental biological difference, along with the influence of sex hormones, might explain why the link between MAOB methylation and creativity appeared only in males.
The location of the methylation tags on the MAOB gene also provided structural clues. The association with creativity was found in the main body of the gene, rather than the promoter region that typically acts as the gene’s primary on and off switch. High methylation in a gene’s body is often associated with a medium level of overall gene expression.
Previous studies suggest that dopamine activity follows an inverted U-shape curve when it comes to creativity. Too much or too little dopamine can hinder cognitive flexibility, but a moderate amount promotes optimal creative performance. The researchers hypothesize that a medium level of MAOB expression might help maintain the moderate, balanced levels of dopamine activity required for creative problem-solving.
The study has several limitations that should be noted. The number of participants in both groups was relatively modest. A smaller number of subjects can make it harder to detect weak associations or increase the risk of false positives. The initial associations seen with the COMT, DRD4, and DAT genes were not consistent across both groups.
The researchers relied on saliva samples rather than brain tissue to measure DNA methylation. While saliva is a common and accessible proxy in genetic studies, methylation patterns can vary between different tissues in the body. It is not fully known how closely saliva methylation matches the exact patterns found inside the human brain.
The findings are based entirely on young adolescents. Epigenetic patterns change dynamically as people age. The relationship between dopamine gene methylation and creativity might look completely different in adults or younger children.
The research acts as a starting point for generating new hypotheses rather than providing absolute conclusions. It offers a glimpse into how the environment might biologically embed itself into our cognitive processes through epigenetics. Future studies will need to follow larger groups of people over time to see if environmental factors like stress directly influence these epigenetic shifts.
The study, “The Association Between Dopaminergic Gene Methylation and Adolescent Creativity,” was authored by Xiaolei Yang, Jinghuan Zhang, and Shun Zhang.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-chemical-tags-on-a-dopamine-gene-are-linked-to-teen-creativity/
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 07:30AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
Today, we’re celebrating the psychiatrists, mental health professionals, researchers, and advocates whose work continues to advance mental health care and improve lives.
Wishing you a safe and happy Labor Day from Psychiatric Times! 💙 https://t.co/7XwGyk6VZ5
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 07:00AM
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: Earlier menopause is linked to faster memory decline and earlier Alzheimer’s onset
New research suggests that women who experience menopause at an earlier age tend to have faster rates of memory decline and a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, also provides evidence that an earlier transition into menopause is linked to accelerated structural changes in the brain decades later. These findings indicate that the age a woman stops menstruating might serve as an early indicator of her long-term neurological health.
Menopause marks a major biological transition when a woman stops menstruating and her ovaries cease producing hormones like estrogen on a regular cycle. This loss of estrogen is thought to affect brain health, as the hormone helps support brain cell function, maintain healthy blood vessels, and protect against inflammation. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. Women have a higher lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s disease than men, even after accounting for the fact that women tend to live longer.
A 2014 study found that women who had their ovaries surgically removed at younger ages experienced faster cognitive decline and more Alzheimer’s-related brain changes later in life. Building on that idea, a 2012 study demonstrated that surgically removing one or both ovaries is linked to a progressively higher risk of developing dementia. These functional risks are mirrored by physical changes in the brain, as a 2023 review compiled brain scan studies showing that menopause is associated with measurable shrinkage in areas of the brain critical for memory and thinking.
This aligns with research covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which indicated that post-menopausal women exhibit reduced gray matter volume, the brain tissue made up largely of neuronal cell bodies and synapses that handles information processing, in key brain regions compared to pre-menopausal women.
To expand on this foundation, a research team led by Riley Bove, a professor of clinical neurology at the UCSF MS and Neuroinflammation Center, set out to track long-term rates of brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s disease progression across both natural and surgical menopause. They wanted to see if the age at which a woman undergoes this transition affects the physical structure of her brain decades later.
The study’s origins were deeply personal for the researchers. “My grandmother experienced adversity over her lifespan, as well as early surgical menopause,” Bove, who also directs the Bove Lab at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, told PsyPost. “She developed Alzheimer’s Disease when I was in high school. Watching her brain and self change, I always wondered about the effect of her reproductive experiences on her brain health.”
To explore these questions, the researchers analyzed data from 2,603 older women participating in two long-running projects: the Religious Orders Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project. The women had an average age of 78 when they enrolled and did not have known dementia at the time. Researchers tracked the participants for up to 18 years, assessing them annually with a battery of cognitive tests that measured skills like memory and thinking speed.
The team also collected self-reported information on reproductive history, such as the age at which the women began menstruating and the age they stopped. This allowed the authors to calculate each participant’s reproductive lifespan, which is the total number of years between a woman’s first period and her final period. The women were also asked whether their menopause was natural or surgical.
Beyond cognitive testing, the study involved brain autopsies for 1,287 women who passed away during the research period, allowing pathologists to look for physical signs of Alzheimer’s disease. A subgroup of 774 women underwent brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) every two years. These scans allowed the researchers to measure changes in total brain volume and to track the accumulation of white matter hyperintensities. White matter hyperintensities are areas of the brain that appear as bright spots on an MRI scan, signaling damage or injury to the brain’s white matter, which acts as the communication network between different brain regions.
The findings indicate that an earlier age at menopause is associated with a faster decline in general cognitive abilities, as well as a more rapid decline in episodic memory, which is the ability to remember specific past events. Women who experienced menopause earlier were also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier age. For example, the models estimated that a woman who went through menopause ten years earlier than another woman might experience nearly two fewer years free of Alzheimer’s disease in her old age.
When the researchers separated the data by menopause type, they found that the risks of cognitive decline and earlier Alzheimer’s diagnosis were stronger in women who experienced surgical menopause. Surgical menopause involves the removal of the ovaries, leading to a sudden, dramatic drop in hormone levels, unlike the gradual decline seen in natural menopause.
“We found that over time, those who had experienced earlier menopause had steeper patterns of cognitive change, earlier onset of Alzheimer’s, and more injury in the white matter of their brains, than women whose menopause occurred later,” Bove explained. “This suggests that longer exposure to reproductive hormones during the reproductive years (i.e., a later age at menopause) could play a role in maintaining brain health long-term.”
The researchers were particularly surprised to detect this association between menopause and brain health so long, often several decades, after the women’s final menstrual periods.
However, the brain scan data told a slightly different story regarding physical brain structures. While earlier menopause had only a modest link to total brain volume loss overall, it was strongly associated with vascular damage in women who went through natural menopause. Specifically, women who experienced natural menopause at an earlier age showed a much faster accumulation of white matter hyperintensities. The researchers calculated that a woman who underwent natural menopause just five years earlier than an otherwise identical peer would accumulate roughly 15 percent more of this white matter damage over a decade. This specific physical change was not observed in the surgical menopause group.
Maria Pia Campagna, a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in neurology at UCSF and the study’s lead author, noted that these findings represent averages across a large group of women, not predictions for any one person. “The difference in overall brain volume was small enough that it fell below what we would usually call a small effect,” Campagna said. However, she pointed to the multi-year transitional phase leading up to menopause when hormone levels begin to fluctuate, known as the perimenopausal period. “The larger white matter finding is, as Dr Bove has said, an opportunity for intervention during the perimenopausal period as it reflects the health of small blood vessels, which is among the more modifiable contributors to brain aging,” Campagna said.
The study also evaluated reproductive lifespan as a secondary measure of long-term hormone exposure. Consistent with the main results, women with a shorter reproductive lifespan tended to experience faster cognitive decline and an earlier onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost earlier this year, which found that greater lifetime estrogen exposure is generally associated with better cognitive performance and a reduced risk of dementia.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study relies on observational data, meaning it provides evidence for a link between menopause timing and brain aging, but it cannot confirm that early menopause directly causes these negative outcomes. It is possible that early natural menopause is simply a marker of a broader, accelerated aging process within the body, which also affects the brain. The researchers noted that the stronger cognitive findings in the surgical menopause group lend some support to a direct hormonal role, since surgery abruptly cuts off hormones regardless of the body’s natural aging timeline.
“One major unanswered question is whether menopausal hormone therapy is protective against brain aging,” Bove pointed out. While observational studies suggest it might be protective, she noted that healthier women might simply be more likely to start the medication. “The higher quality interventional trials, which can reduce the biases that we see in observational studies, have not shown that it is, but perhaps women have not yet been followed for long enough.”
Another detail to keep in mind is that the study relied on participants recalling the ages at which they experienced their first and last menstrual periods. While generally reliable, human memory is not perfect, and small errors in recall could affect the data. The researchers also did not have complete information on other factors that affect a woman’s lifetime hormone exposure, such as pregnancies, breastfeeding, or the use of oral contraceptives.
Above all, the researchers want their findings to encourage proactive health management. “This study is not intended to alarm women. A majority of women go through menopause and maintain brain health over their postmenopausal lifespan,” Bove said. “Rather than alarming women, we’d like to empower women to consider the perimenopause as a window of opportunity. An opportunity to assess carefully their risk factors for brain aging and to personalize the care and interventions (such as sleep study, mood management, exercise program, blood pressure treatment) intended to support brain longevity.”
Looking forward, Bove said the team hopes “to see more focused scientific exploration into mechanisms, as well as more concrete implementation of what we already know into clinical practice.” She noted that her colleague Aleksandra Pikula is actively pursuing this implementation work. The research also fits into a broader roadmap the researchers recently published that “calls for more focused research and care around menopause and brain health,” Bove added. “Several pioneering scientists and groups have been calling for sustained attention to this question for decades,” she noted. “It’s great to see that the public, and science, are finally catching up.”
The study, “Age at Menopause and Brain Atrophy Among Older Women,” was authored by M. Pia Campagna, Julie A. Schneider, Lisa L. Barnes, Konstantinos Arfanakis, Galit Levi Dunietz, David A. Bennett, and Riley M. Bove.
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DATE: September 7, 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: Autistic language abilities are vastly more complex than “verbal” or “nonverbal,” large study shows
A recent study has identified detailed new categories for how autistic individuals understand and use language, suggesting that evaluating these two skills separately offers a more accurate picture of their abilities. The research, published in npj Science of Learning, provides evidence that the traditional three-part system for classifying language in autism misses important individual differences.
The research, led by Katrine Gankin of George Washington University and Andrey Vyshedskiy of Boston University, sought to address how language skills are evaluated in autistic children and young adults. Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a neurodevelopmental condition often characterized by differences in social communication. In clinical settings, professionals typically group the language abilities of autistic individuals into three broad categories: speaking individuals without structural language impairment, speaking individuals with structural language impairment, and minimally speaking individuals.
“Traditional classifications of language profiles in autism distinguish three groups: verbal, nonverbal, and minimally verbal,” Andrey Vyshedskiy, an adjunct professor at Boston University and co-author of the study, told PsyPost. “This tripartite framework is bad for children, for parents, and for therapists, because this classification stands in a way of full language acquisition.”
This one-dimensional system might oversimplify communication patterns. A 2026 study of young autistic children indicated that simple labels like “speaking” or “non-speaking” overlook the true complexity of communication, as different language skills often develop independently. For example, a 2026 analysis of autistic children found that those who speak very little still show wide differences in how well they understand words.
This variation fits into a broader context of language development trajectories in autism. A study covered by PsyPost in 2026 found that while autistic children initially acquire language comprehension skills at rates comparable to neurotypical peers, their learning rate begins to slow down exponentially starting around age two. Because of this high variability in language progression, the researchers suspected that independently measuring what a child understands, known as receptive language, and what a child can say, known as expressive language, would create a more precise classification system.
To investigate this, the research team analyzed data from 62,414 autistic individuals aged 4 to 22 years, gathered through a free, language-focused mobile application. Caregivers completed standardized surveys assessing their child’s abilities, answering 15 items regarding language comprehension and 11 items regarding expressive language. The questions covered a range of skills, from recognizing a name or responding to the word “no” to holding multi-sentence conversations and understanding complex spatial prepositions.
The researchers then used data-driven statistical methods, including unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis. These techniques automatically group items and individuals based on similar patterns in the data, without relying on predefined clinical assumptions. This allowed the team to see naturally occurring language profiles within the massive dataset.
The analysis identified three distinct profiles, or phenotypes, for language comprehension. The first was the command phenotype, which characterized 35.6 percent of the participants. Individuals in this group were primarily limited to understanding single words and simple commands. The second was the modifier phenotype, representing 47 percent of the sample. These individuals could understand basic commands as well as integrate nouns with adjectives, such as recognizing differences in color, size, and number.
The third comprehension group was the syntactic phenotype, which made up 17.4 percent of the sample. Participants in this group demonstrated understanding of the previous levels alongside complex grammatical structures, including verb tenses, possessive pronouns, and elaborate stories. These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025. That study, which examined language comprehension in speaking children across various developmental conditions rather than a large cohort specifically of autistic individuals across all expressive levels, similarly identified three distinct receptive language phenotypes.
When the researchers looked at expressive language independently, they found four distinct speaking phenotypes. The nonspeaking phenotype described 28.4 percent of participants, who did not show functional spoken language. The single-word phenotype, representing 34.4 percent, characterized those who primarily communicated using isolated words. The single-sentence phenotype made up 24.1 percent of the sample, describing individuals who could use basic, short sentences. The final group, the multi-sentence phenotype, applied to 13.2 percent of participants who could carry on conversations and ask meaningful questions.
By combining both dimensions, the researchers discovered four primary receptive-expressive phenotypes. The highest functioning group, demonstrating multi-sentence expression and syntactic comprehension, made up 9.7 percent of the participants. Another 25.4 percent fell into a group characterized by single-sentence expression and modifier comprehension. A third group, making up 30.5 percent of the sample, exhibited a nonspeaking profile alongside command-level comprehension. The fourth group, comprising 22.3 percent, showed single-word expression combined with modifier-level comprehension.
“The study suggests that language profiles in autism are better described on two separate axes — receptive comprehension and expressive language — than by the usual three broad categories,” Gianluca Esposito, a researcher at the University of Trento’s Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science and University College London’s Institute of Education who was not involved in the study, told PsyPost.
Esposito noted that the work extends rather than overturns prior research. “It supports evidence that receptive and expressive language can diverge, and that language heterogeneity in autism is greater than broad labels suggest,” he said. “In this large sample, three receptive and four expressive profiles emerged; combining them distinguishes profiles that conventional classifications tend to merge.”
“Adopting a two-dimensional framework that separately evaluates language comprehension and expressive language offers greater precision than the conventional tripartite system,” Vyshedskiy explained. “This approach better captures individual variability and can guide more targeted language interventions addressing specific strengths and deficits in each domain.”
This new two-dimensional framework highlights the limitations of the traditional three-part system used in clinical settings. In the older model, the single-word expression group and the completely nonspeaking group were lumped together into a single “minimally speaking” category. The new data indicates that these two groups actually have very different language profiles, particularly in their ability to understand modifiers versus simple commands.
Future studies will need to investigate how this more detailed language phenotyping might influence the success of specialized therapies. Evaluating an autistic individual’s abilities across both understanding and speaking domains independently could help clinicians design highly personalized interventions. By targeting the exact linguistic stage a child is currently at, therapists might be able to foster better communication outcomes over time.
The stakes for these early interventions are significant. “Children are not born with fully developed brain networks for syntactic language,” Vyshedskiy said. “These networks develop through syntactic conversations and oral storytelling during an early-childhood sensitive period. When conversations and storytelling are replaced by passive video viewing, the networks underlying syntactic language may not develop adequately.”
“In some autistic children, this sensitive period appears to be shorter than in typically-developing children,” he added. “Missing opportunities for conversation and storytelling before age 4, and especially before age 3, may deprive an autistic child of the opportunity to acquire full syntactic language. Individuals without syntactic comprehension usually remain intellectually disabled and cannot live independently.”
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The data relied entirely on caregiver evaluations rather than direct assessments by clinicians. Caregivers also reported the autism severity levels of the participants without providing supporting medical documentation. While parent reports of language skills tend to be consistent with professional assessments, they can sometimes introduce measurement noise into a study.
Esposito expressed moderate confidence in the results, pointing out that while the exceptionally large sample is a major strength, the observational nature of the data requires caution. “The main limitation is that these are observational, app-based, caregiver-reported data: the profiles have not yet been independently validated against standardized clinical assessments, and the paper does not report formal estimates of clustering confidence or sensitivity analyses,” he explained.
“These profiles are not new diagnoses, nor do they show that a particular intervention improves outcomes,” Esposito cautioned. “They describe associations and patterns in the data, not causes or inevitable developmental trajectories. A child should not be clinically classified from an app questionnaire alone: diagnostic and language assessment still require direct, contextualized professional evaluation.”
The wording of some items in the standardized questionnaires also left room for ambiguity. For example, a survey item asking if a child can use four or more words in a sentence does not differentiate between a simple string of nouns and a complex grammatical structure. The researchers noted this is a common issue with standardized parent-report measures.
The sample composition also presents a potential participation bias. The data came from a language therapy app downloaded voluntarily, meaning the caregivers involved might be more proactive, educated, or digitally literate than the general population. The sample lacked data on whether participants lived in bilingual households or what their socioeconomic status was. As Esposito pointed out, “diagnostic practices, access to services, translations, and interpretation of survey questions may also differ across countries and cultures.”
“Thus, multilingual app data greatly increase the study’s potential relevance, but they require explicit testing of measurement equivalence across languages and clinical confirmation of diagnoses,” Esposito said. The most important next step, he noted, would be “a prospective, multicenter study in which these profiles are assigned both through the app and through standardized clinician-administered assessments across languages.”
Such a study should test “whether the clusters replicate, whether the measures work equivalently across linguistic and cultural groups, whether profiles remain stable over time, and whether using this two-dimensional profile actually improves therapy decisions and communication outcomes,” he added.
Given the critical window for language development, parents should not wait for formal schooling to begin addressing these skills. “Some parents think that children can acquire syntactic language later at school,” Vyshedskiy noted. “That is not true. For most children, acquiring syntactic comprehension depends on syntactic conversations during early childhood.”
To help caregivers monitor this development, Vyshedskiy outlined a series of milestones that can be tested with everyday objects. Using simple items like plush animals, a cup, and a pencil, parents can observe how well their child grasps increasingly complex instructions.
“By age 2, the great majority of children can follow instructions such as ‘give the cup to the monkey’ and ‘give the pencil to the dog,'” he explained. “By 2.5 years, most children can easily identify ‘a green pencil,’ ‘a red Lego,’ and ‘a blue straw’ from a set of objects of different colors.”
These early steps lay the foundation for understanding even more complex descriptions shortly after.
“By 3 years, most children can combine size adjectives with nouns,” Vyshedskiy continued. “By 3.5 years, most children can combine size and color adjectives with nouns. If your child has missed any of these fundamental developmental milestones, eliminate passive video watching, read simple fairy tales to your child, and seek professional language therapy.”
For caregivers and readers seeking more resources, Vyshedskiy explores these topics further in two published guides.
“For parents interested in language acquisition, see This Way to Language: Four Things to Do at the First Sign of Autism,” he added. “For readers interested in the neuroscience and evolution of language, see The Evolution of Language: How the Brain Evolved Syntactic Language from Early Mammals to Homo sapiens.”
The study, “Receptive and expressive language phenotyping in over 62,000 autistic individuals,” was authored by Katrine Gankin, Rohan Venkatesh, Edward Khokhlovich, and Andrey Vyshedskiy.
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 08:00PM
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: How cognitive shortcuts fuel American political divisions
URL: https://www.psypost.org/recognizing-political-belief-patterns-fuels-deeper-animosity-among-voters/
When politically engaged individuals clash over public policy, their mutual dislike is often driven by how recognizable and organized their beliefs are. People who consistently hold strong liberal or conservative views express much more animosity toward opposing thinkers than those with moderate or mixed political opinions do. These findings, published in Political Behavior, suggest that the structure of a person’s worldview plays a central role in driving modern political divisions.
Political scientists often trace interpersonal hostility back to disagreements over specific public policies. In recent years, researchers have identified a divide in American politics based on political engagement. This divide separates individuals deeply involved in political conflict from bystanders who lack strong attachments to political parties. Not everyone approaches politics with the same level of intensity or organization.
Some voters possess highly structured belief systems. For these individuals, a stance on one issue reliably predicts their stance on another. Other citizens hold a mix of liberal and conservative views, or they remain ambivalent on major national issues. Tadeas Cely, a political science researcher at Masaryk University and Dartmouth College, wanted to find out how these different belief structures influence political hostility.
Past research often combined all policy disagreements into a single category. Cely sought to test whether clashing with a staunch ideologue generates different emotional reactions than clashing with a moderate. The research focused on two main traits: opinionatedness and belief alignment. Opinionatedness describes the tendency to hold strong views rather than neutral ones.
Belief alignment refers to how consistently a person’s views match a single political ideology, such as modern liberalism or conservatism. Together, these traits define what political scientists consider an ideologue. Cely hypothesized that disagreements among ideologues result in higher expected disagreement and greater mutual animosity.
When confronted with broad policy agendas, individuals often rely on cognitive shortcuts to inform their political decisions. In the context of public policy, belief patterns that follow recognizable structures provide mental cues for emotional reactions. Foundational literature on this topic describes a specific type of political thinker who knows which political ideas typically group together. For these individuals, a single political stance serves as a reliable indicator of a much larger worldview.
These politically sophisticated individuals can infer an entire belief system from a few distinct opinions. When ideologues encounter someone who expresses unambiguous, organized views, they instantly recognize the structural pattern. If the pattern aligns with their own, it signals a likable, belief-congruent peer. If the pattern opposes their own, it triggers an immediate emotional response of dislike, long before every individual policy is debated.
To investigate these dynamics, Cely conducted a large survey experiment involving 2,000 adults in the United States in early 2024. Participants reviewed hypothetical profiles of fellow citizens, each displaying stances on eight different public policies. The hypothetical citizens represented varying degrees of opinionatedness and ideological consistency. Participants then rated their feelings toward each profile on a standard thermometer scale measuring interpersonal warmth, ranging from completely cold to completely warm.
The results revealed that the nature of the opposing belief system heavily influences interpersonal affection. Disagreeing with an opinionated counterpart resulted in a substantial drop in positive feelings. For every single issue where opinions strongly clashed, warmth ratings plummeted. When participants disagreed with a centrist profile, meaning someone holding neutral positions on the issues, the resulting animosity was nearly four times lower.
The specific topic also mattered. Disagreements on highly debated issues like abortion, firearms regulation, and immigration produced the largest drops in warmth. The organization of a participant’s own beliefs also altered their emotional response. Participants with aligned beliefs, meaning they were consistently liberal or conservative, reported steep declines in affection when faced with an opposing profile.
Among these ideologically aligned individuals, the warmth gap between a similar-minded profile and a different-minded profile was massive. At the exact same level of policy disagreement, these structured ideologues experienced a much colder emotional reaction than non-ideologues. Participants with mixed or unstructured beliefs showed much less hostility toward profiles they disagreed with. They did not feel particularly warm toward similar-minded counterparts, but they also did not react with extreme animosity toward differing views.
A second large experiment, also involving 2,000 United States adults, explored why these structured belief systems produce such strong reactions. This survey tested whether ideologues expect to disagree more than others, even when the observed level of disagreement is identical. Participants read text-based descriptions of hypothetical citizens featuring four specific political opinions. These profiles represented either consistently liberal, consistently conservative, centrist, or mixed viewpoints.
Participants were then told the hypothetical citizen held opinions on two additional, unrevealed issues. These hidden issues were student debt relief and a ceasefire in Gaza. The participants had to predict the citizen’s stance on these hidden issues and estimate how often they would disagree with the person overall.
Cely found that ideologues use recognizable belief patterns as a mental shortcut. When a consistent liberal or conservative recognized an opposing ideological pattern in a profile, they anticipated high levels of disagreement on the unrevealed issues. Participants without a structured ideology did not make these same sweeping assumptions. This lack of assumptions among non-ideologues led to lower expectations of future conflict.
The anticipation of conflict was most pronounced among politically sophisticated participants. These individuals successfully recognized which political views typically group together. Because they could easily fill in the blanks of an opposing worldview, these politically savvy individuals expected the highest levels of overall disagreement. This assumed friction appears to fuel greater animosity before a specific policy is even discussed.
The research relies on a simplified measure of moderate beliefs. The survey design does not distinguish between participants who hold genuine, centrist policy preferences and those who are simply ambivalent. Separating these two groups could provide a more precise understanding of how moderation affects interpersonal hostility. Additionally, the study design measures the outcomes of differing belief systems but does not isolate the exact psychological mechanisms at play.
The heightened animosity among ideologues might stem from a general tendency toward closed-mindedness or intolerance of differing worldviews. Future research could involve directly manipulating the presentation of belief structures to isolate these cognitive processes. Expanding this framework to democracies outside the United States, where two to five distinct belief systems often coexist, would help determine how broadly these patterns apply.
The study, “Hatred Takes An Ideologue: Recognizable Belief Patterns Lead to More Animosity and Disagreement,” was authored by Tadeas Cely.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/recognizing-political-belief-patterns-fuels-deeper-animosity-among-voters/
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DATE: September 6, 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: Study outlines the five-stage pipeline Clavicular used to spread “diagnostic masculinity” and looksmaxxing
A recent study explores how an extreme male self-improvement trend known as looksmaxxing moved from obscure internet forums into mainstream public awareness. The research suggests that this spread relies not just on social media algorithms, but on a coordinated system of controversy, short-form video clips, and mainstream media coverage. The findings were published in Journal. Media.
Looksmaxxing revolves around the intense, systematic attempt to maximize a person’s physical attractiveness. Participants often scrutinize their own facial features, such as jawlines and eye angles, using harsh rating systems. The culture encourages men to alter their bodies to climb a perceived social hierarchy, sometimes endorsing dangerous practices.
For example, participants might engage in “bonesmashing,” a pseudoscientific practice involving hitting one’s face with a hammer to supposedly encourage stronger bone growth. Others promote using anabolic steroids or taking crystal meth as an appetite suppressant. These practices are part of what the community calls “hardmaxxing,” which involves intense and painful physical alterations.
Recent research has documented the harms of these online spaces. A 2025 study detailed how looksmaxxing communities subject men to severe critiques of their physical flaws under the guise of self-help. Participants are often made to feel like failures, driving them toward extreme cosmetic interventions.
This connects with another 2025 study indicating that these forums rely on aggressive peer feedback and pseudo-medical language to instruct men on how to correct their perceived shortcomings. These communities initially operated on the fringes of the internet, heavily tied to involuntary celibate, or incel, subcultures. However, a separate 2025 paper demonstrated how niche concepts like looksmaxxing have begun migrating onto mainstream platforms, cloaking their origins behind the language of self-improvement.
The rise of content creators promoting rigid masculine ideals has also drawn attention. In fact, a study covered by PsyPost in 2025 found that following online “manfluencers” tends to increase mistrust and misogynistic beliefs among young men. Building on this progression, the new research aimed to understand exactly how this subculture becomes widely recognizable to the general public.
To investigate how this operates in practice, researcher Dag Øivind Madsen of the University of South-Eastern Norway used a conceptual case study. He focused on Braden Eric Peters, a controversial livestreamer known online as Clavicular. Peters became a prominent face of looksmaxxing in early 2025, taking his alias from the community’s intense focus on clavicle width.
Peters began browsing looksmaxxing forums for up to 14 hours a day during the COVID-19 lockdowns. He openly documented his use of anabolic steroids since age 14, which he claims left him infertile, and was reportedly expelled from college for using performance-enhancing drugs. He gained a massive following by instructing fans on how to “ascend” the social hierarchy through intense physical alterations, even livestreaming himself injecting fat-dissolving peptides into other influencers.
The author analyzed public digital traces surrounding Peters from December 2025 to July 2026. These materials included mainstream media articles, platform profiles across networks like Kick and TikTok, public visibility indicators, and links to paid community sites. The goal was to map how his online persona circulated and gained widespread attention.
Madsen introduces the concept of diagnostic masculinity to explain this phenomenon. Unlike typical influencers who project a desirable lifestyle for audiences to aspire to, diagnostic influencers focus on identifying their viewers’ flaws. These content creators rank bodily deficits and promise that the viewer can purchase coaching to fix them.
Peters exemplified this by selling access to a self-improvement course called the “Clavicular System” for $50 a month. He provided guides on how to become more attractive and which peptides to inject. Through this system and his streaming revenue, he reportedly earned over $100,000 a month, turning male insecurity into a highly profitable enterprise.
The study identifies a five-stage model of containment failure. This term describes how a niche, coded subculture breaks out of its isolated bubble and becomes understandable to the broader public. The first stage, vernacular incubation, involves the community developing its own specific slang, such as “mogging” (being more attractive than someone else) or “foid” (a derogatory term for women).
In the second stage, infrastructural assembly, influencers build a network across multiple platforms. Peters used livestreaming sites to generate hours of raw video, while relying on a network of “clippers” to distribute easily digestible moments on short-form video apps. Many of these clippers were financially motivated, paid by platforms or creator programs to spread the content.
The third stage is controversy acceleration. The author notes that public scandals create dramatic, highly narratable moments that outsiders can easily understand. This brings the influencer to the attention of people who have never heard of looksmaxxing.
Peters generated numerous controversies during his rise to prominence. In December 2025, a livestream clip went viral showing him hitting a man with a Tesla Cybertruck in Miami. He was later filmed singing an antisemitic song in a nightclub alongside far-right figures, was arrested on drug possession and battery charges, and was investigated for shooting a dead alligator on a livestream. In April 2026, he was hospitalized following an on-stream overdose of a dangerous drug cocktail.
These controversies provide fresh material that users can cut into short clips, rapidly spreading the influencer’s face and vocabulary across the internet. This leads directly into the fourth stage, mainstream translation. At this point, traditional media outlets and high-profile commentators step in to decode the subculture for their audiences.
For example, Peters appeared in an interview with conservative commentator Michael Knowles, where he went viral for calling Vice President JD Vance “subhuman” due to his physical profile while praising California Governor Gavin Newsom as a “Chad.” He also appeared on mainstream television, abruptly walking out of a 60 Minutes Australia interview when asked if he was an incel. Even critical profiles in major newspapers helped translate his fringe concepts for everyday readers.
Finally, the fifth stage is parodic consolidation. At this point, the persona and vocabulary become so recognizable that mainstream culture adopts them as a shared public reference point. Terms like “mogging” and the suffix “-maxxing” seeped into everyday public consciousness.
This consolidation was evident when Saturday Night Live aired a sketch mocking the looksmaxxing trend, requiring no background explanation for the audience to understand the joke. Peters even walked the runway at a Paris Fashion Week event in June 2026. Though he faced mockery from locals during the trip, his presence at a high-profile fashion event highlighted how thoroughly the internet subculture had integrated into mainstream media.
There are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these findings. The study relies on a single case study of one specific influencer, meaning the exact trajectory might differ for other online figures or subcultures. Public platform metrics, like follower counts or search trends, are also highly volatile and provide only an approximate picture of actual audience size.
Additionally, the research focuses on how the media and platforms distribute these ideas, rather than measuring how deeply everyday viewers actually adopt the underlying looksmaxxing ideology. Future research could explore how ordinary users process and internalize these highly edited video clips.
The study, “Containment Failure, Diagnostic Masculinity, and the Diffusion of Looksmaxxing: The Case of Clavicular,” was authored by Dag Øivind Madsen.
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 01:07PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: This lifestyle program improved cognition 55% more than basic health advice
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260903064246.htm
Older adults at risk of dementia improved their memory and thinking after following lifestyle programs combining exercise, healthy eating, cognitive training, and social engagement. Those who received regular coaching and structured support improved substantially more than participants given general health advice.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260903064246.htm
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 05:21PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Popular brain supplement linked to shorter lifespan in men
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000330.htm
A large study involving more than 270,000 people has linked higher blood levels of the amino acid tyrosine to a shorter lifespan in men. Using both observational data and genetic analysis, researchers found that elevated tyrosine could potentially reduce male life expectancy by nearly a year, while no significant effect appeared in women. Tyrosine is found naturally in protein-rich foods and is also sold as a supplement for boosting focus and mental performance, making the finding especially intriguing.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000330.htm
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 05:21PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Popular brain supplement linked to shorter lifespan in men
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000330.htm
A large study involving more than 270,000 people has linked higher blood levels of the amino acid tyrosine to a shorter lifespan in men. Using both observational data and genetic analysis, researchers found that elevated tyrosine could potentially reduce male life expectancy by nearly a year, while no significant effect appeared in women. Tyrosine is found naturally in protein-rich foods and is also sold as a supplement for boosting focus and mental performance, making the finding especially intriguing.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000330.htm
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 05:21PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Popular brain supplement linked to shorter lifespan in men
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000330.htm
A large study involving more than 270,000 people has linked higher blood levels of the amino acid tyrosine to a shorter lifespan in men. Using both observational data and genetic analysis, researchers found that elevated tyrosine could potentially reduce male life expectancy by nearly a year, while no significant effect appeared in women. Tyrosine is found naturally in protein-rich foods and is also sold as a supplement for boosting focus and mental performance, making the finding especially intriguing.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260904000330.htm
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 01:07PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: This lifestyle program improved cognition 55% more than basic health advice
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260903064246.htm
Older adults at risk of dementia improved their memory and thinking after following lifestyle programs combining exercise, healthy eating, cognitive training, and social engagement. Those who received regular coaching and structured support improved substantially more than participants given general health advice.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260903064246.htm
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 04:00PM
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: The psychological effects of padel and pickleball, according to science
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-psychological-effects-of-padel-and-pickleball-according-to-science/
Pickleball participation was associated with greater happiness, life satisfaction, social integration and lower depression, while padel was more closely studied in relation to confidence, anxiety and mental fatigue, according to a systematic review published in Frontiers in Psychology.
Physical activity is widely linked to better mental health, yet many people do not meet recommended activity levels. Padel and pickleball have attracted attention because they are social, relatively accessible and can be played across a range of ages and skill levels. Padel is played on an enclosed court where the ball can rebound from the walls, while pickleball uses a smaller court, a perforated plastic ball and slower-paced play that emphasizes strategy and interaction.
The researchers conducted the review because most previous studies had concentrated on physical fitness, injuries and sporting performance. Less was known about whether these sports were related to mental health and wellbeing. The review ultimately revealed a stark divide in the existing literature: padel has mostly been studied in competitive settings, while pickleball research has frequently focused on recreational play among older adults.
Led by Lena Lauxtermann at the University of Vienna, the researchers searched for studies published through October 8, 2024. Of 71 records screened, 14 studies were included, representing 1,403 participants. Eight padel studies included 538 people and six pickleball studies included 865. Women represented 42% of the overall sample, or approximately 589 participants.
The pickleball findings were mainly linked to wellbeing. Participation was associated with greater happiness, stronger social connections and higher life satisfaction. One study found that happiness was positively related to participation, while another linked more serious involvement in pickleball with lower depression. Social integration appeared particularly important for female players. During the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced opportunities to play were associated with increased loneliness and poorer mental health, suggesting that the social contact provided by the sport may be part of its benefit.
The padel studies focused more on athletes’ performance-related emotions. Higher-level players generally reported greater self-confidence and lower physical symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety also changed according to ranking, gender, match stage and whether players won or lost. Mental fatigue increased across consecutive matches and was linked to slower reactions and poorer accuracy. Motivation sometimes rose during mentally demanding matches, which may help explain why players continued performing despite feeling mentally tired.
The findings suggest the two rapidly growing racket sports may offer different mental-health benefits, but stronger research is needed to determine whether playing them directly causes improvements.
The authors summarized: “Padel studies primarily target performance aspects like self-confidence, anxiety, and mental fatigue, while pickleball research highlights wellbeing gains in life satisfaction, happiness, and social integration.”
Some limitations are to be noted. The results should not be interpreted as proof that either sport prevents depression or anxiety. For example, many studies relied on self-reported experiences, and all of the included studies were observational rather than randomized controlled trials. Padel research also overrepresented elite and competitive players, while pickleball research focused mainly on older adults. Additionally, the available research was geographically narrow, with all included studies originating from just three countries: the United States, Spain and Finland.
The study, “Padel, pickleball and wellbeing: a systematic review,” was authored by Lena Lauxtermann and Brendon Stubbs.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-psychological-effects-of-padel-and-pickleball-according-to-science/
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 02:00PM
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: Common artificial sweetener aspartame makes brain cells more vulnerable to stroke damage, mouse study suggests
Recent research in mice provides evidence that consuming the common artificial sweetener aspartame may worsen the brain damage caused by a stroke. The findings indicate that the sweetener disrupts cellular energy centers and blocks protective signaling pathways during periods of oxygen deprivation, making brain cells more vulnerable to injury. The study was published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
Aspartame is a non-nutritive sweetener widely used in zero-calorie beverages and processed foods. While regulatory agencies generally consider it safe for human consumption within established daily limits, ongoing scientific debates have raised questions about its potential effects on the nervous system. For instance, a study covered by PsyPost in 2023 found that mothers of boys with autism had more than tripled odds of daily exposure to diet soda or aspartame during pregnancy.
Additionally, a 2023 study indicated that treating human brain cells with aspartame led to oxidative stress and damage to mitochondria, the energy-producing structures inside cells. The new research, led by Yan Bai and Ji Feng at Fudan University, aimed to test whether aspartame consumption might make the brain more susceptible to injury during the intense stress of a stroke.
When an ischemic stroke occurs, a blockage prevents blood and oxygen from reaching parts of the brain. When blood flow is finally restored, the sudden rush of oxygen and nutrients can paradoxically trigger a cascade of inflammation and oxidative stress, causing additional tissue damage. This secondary wave of damage is known as cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.
The scientists conducted their research using both living mice and lab-grown mouse brain cells. For the animal model, they divided 50 male mice into groups. The experimental groups were given drinking water containing either 0.1% or 0.2% aspartame for seven days. These concentrations were specifically chosen to approximate the upper limits of an acceptable daily intake for humans.
After the week of aspartame consumption, the researchers temporarily blocked the mice’s carotid arteries for two hours to simulate an ischemic stroke. They then removed the blockage to allow 12 hours of reperfusion.
The findings indicated that mice pretreated with aspartame suffered worse brain damage than those that drank regular water. In mice exposed to a simulated stroke without aspartame, the area of dead brain tissue was about 24.3%. In mice given the 0.2% aspartame water, the dead tissue area expanded to 58.6%.
Microscopic examination of the brain tissue showed that aspartame worsened the physical breakdown of neurons in the cortex and hippocampus, two brain regions involved in memory and thinking. The aspartame-treated mice had fewer surviving neurons and showed more severe signs of cellular degeneration.
To understand exactly how aspartame caused this added damage, the researchers isolated neural stem cells from the brains of newborn mice. They grew these cells in a laboratory dish and pretreated them with aspartame for 48 hours. They then subjected the cells to oxygen and glucose deprivation to replicate the harsh conditions of a stroke.
Similar to the animal experiment, aspartame increased cell death in the dish. Cells treated with the sweetener experienced an approximate 25% larger reduction in viability compared to cells that underwent oxygen and glucose deprivation alone. Interestingly, other common artificial sweeteners tested in the study, such as sucralose and acesulfame potassium, did not produce this added toxic effect.
The researchers observed that aspartame caused a massive buildup of reactive oxygen species within the mitochondria of the cells. Reactive oxygen species are unstable molecules that can cause severe structural damage when they accumulate beyond normal levels. This buildup was accompanied by a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, a sign that the cells’ energy centers were failing.
The sweetener also suppressed the ERK/CREB1 pathway, a sequence of chemical signals that normally helps cells survive stress and promotes neuronal resilience. When the researchers added specific chemical compounds to activate this protective pathway and neutralize the reactive oxygen species in the mitochondria, they were able to partially reverse the cell death and inflammation caused by the aspartame.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding these results. The study exposed the mice to aspartame for only seven days, which does not reflect the long-term, daily consumption habits of many people who drink artificially sweetened beverages. It remains unknown how chronic, low-dose exposure might alter the brain’s resilience to injury over a lifetime.
The animal experiments also relied exclusively on male mice, meaning it is uncertain if females would show the same neurological vulnerabilities. The researchers did not test the mice for behavioral or cognitive changes, so it is not entirely established how this cellular damage might translate to physical or mental impairments after a stroke.
Future research will need to explore how artificial sweeteners alter metabolic pathways over longer periods and whether these mechanisms hold true in human clinical scenarios.
The study, “Aspartame exacerbates cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury via mitochondrial dysfunction and ERK/CREB1 pathway suppression,” was authored by Yan Bai, Ji Feng, Xiao-Yu Wu, Zhi-Sheng Yao, Yue-Tong Liu, Yu-Hong Li, Guo-Dong Lu, and Kun Xue.
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 12:00PM
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: Escitalopram reduces impulsivity and anger in women with severe premenstrual irritability
A study of women suffering from severe premenstrual irritability and anger found that escitalopram reduced their irritability and anger in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Participants on escitalopram also demonstrated a lower frequency of anticipatory responses and greater consistency in response speeds in a sustained attention test. The paper was published in Psychological Medicine.
The menstrual cycle is a recurring biological process in which hormonal changes prepare the body of a woman for a possible pregnancy. It is commonly divided into the menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases. The cycle begins with menstruation, when the uterine lining is shed and menstrual bleeding occurs. Ovulation occurs around the middle of the cycle, when a mature egg is released from the ovary. The last is the luteal phase, during which progesterone becomes dominant and the uterine lining is maintained in preparation for a possible pregnancy. If pregnancy does not occur, estrogen and progesterone levels fall toward the end of the luteal phase, leading to the beginning of a new menstrual cycle.
For some women, these hormonal changes are accompanied by recurring emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms that become particularly pronounced before menstruation. These changes, called premenstrual symptoms, are thought to be linked to normal fluctuations in sex hormones across the menstrual cycle. In more severe cases, the symptoms may form part of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD. In this disorder, several symptoms repeatedly emerge during the luteal phase and largely disappear after menstruation begins.
Studies have shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, a type of medication used to treat depression, can be effective in reducing the symptoms of PMDD within only a few days. This suggests that serotonin, a neurotransmitter affected by SSRIs, might play an important role in premenstrual symptoms. It seems to be particularly effective in reducing irritability, anger, and rapid mood shifts.
Study author Maria Gröndal and her colleagues conducted a study in which they examined possible cognitive components of impulsivity in premenstrual irritability. They also examined the women’s sustained attention and the effects of intermittent treatment with escitalopram, a widely used SSRI.
Study participants were 27 women suffering from severe premenstrual irritability and anger, selected from an initial pool of 203 prospective participants. Participants were included in the study if they showed at least a 50% increase in irritability/anger symptoms from the follicular phase to the luteal phase of a menstrual cycle, and had a mean rating of irritability/anger over a threshold study authors defined over the last 5 days of the menstrual cycle. Participants’ average age was 33 years. 85% of them had a university degree. Participants received 1000 SEK (around $100) for each of their three lab visits, plus reimbursement for travel or loss of income.
The study extended over three of the study participants’ menstrual cycles. The first cycle did not involve any intervention. In cycles 2 and 3, participants were randomly assigned to either receive 20mg of escitalopram per day during the luteal phase of cycle 2 and placebo (an identically looking pill with no effects) during the luteal phase of cycle 3, in a single-blind design, or to receive these same treatments in the reverse order (placebo in cycle 2, escitalopram in cycle 3).
Participants completed a sustained attention test (the Conners Continuous Performance Test 3 – CPT 3) twice, once in the luteal phase of cycle 2 and once in the luteal phase of cycle 3. They also completed an assessment of impulsivity twice – once in the follicular phase and once in the luteal phase of the cycle when they were receiving placebo. Participants also rated their symptoms on a daily basis using an online survey. The symptoms they rated were irritability/anger, depressed mood, mood swings, and tension/anxiety.
Results showed that participants reported significantly higher levels of negative urgency (the tendency to act impulsively when experiencing negative emotions) during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle compared to the follicular phase. They also showed lower levels of sensation seeking. There were no differences between phases of the menstrual cycle in the other two aspects of impulsivity (lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance).
On the sustained attention test, perseverations (anticipatory, repetitive, or random responses) were significantly higher during the placebo cycle than during the escitalopram cycle. During the menstrual cycle when participants were receiving placebo, they also showed greater variability in their response speeds. In other words, escitalopram reduced participants’ anticipatory responses and made their reaction speeds more consistent. Escitalopram treatment also caused a significant reduction in self-rated irritability, anger, and mood swings in the luteal phase.
“The current study showed that intermittent treatment with escitalopram during the symptomatic luteal phase of the menstrual cycle may have a beneficial impact on specific aspects of impulsivity and inattentiveness in women with severe premenstrual irritability and anger. Moreover, our findings showed that self-reported urgency increased, whereas self-reported sensation seeking decreased in the luteal versus the follicular phase, suggesting that different facets of impulsivity may be of different significance to premenstrual complaints,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific knowledge about premenstrual disorders and ways to treat their symptoms. However, it should be noted that the study was conducted on a very small group of women, selected for severe premenstrual irritability and anger. Results of studies involving larger groups of women may not be identical.
The paper, “The effects of intermittent escitalopram treatment on impulsivity and inattention in women with premenstrual irritability and anger,” was authored by Maria Gröndal, Christin Englund, Jakob Näslund, Karl Ask, Elias Eriksson, and Stefan Winblad.
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 10:00AM
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: Free-to-play video games carry heavy financial costs for a vulnerable minority of teens
A recent study has found that financial spending on video games is highly unequal among adolescents, with just 10 percent of paying players accounting for over 60 percent of all in-game purchases. The research indicates that these heavy spenders are more likely to exhibit symptoms of gaming and gambling disorders, regardless of their family’s economic background. The findings, published in Frontiers in Public Health, raise consumer protection concerns about modern video game monetization strategies.
The research, led by Markus Meschik, a professor of social pedagogy at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, aimed to understand the extent of monetary expenditure on in-game purchases among adolescents in Austria.
“In my work as a counselor for families affected by problematic video gaming, I repeatedly encountered young players who were spending large amounts of money in games,” Meschik told PsyPost.
“This was not limited to loot boxes, which have already been studied quite extensively, but also involved in-game purchases in games more generally. Both the actual extent of these expenditures and their associations with pathological behaviors have received relatively little research attention so far, which is why we conducted this study.”
Over the past decade, the video game industry has shifted away from selling games as single, standalone products. Instead, many developers now use a free-to-play model.
These games cost nothing to download but rely on continuous microtransactions to generate revenue. Microtransactions are small, real-money purchases made during gameplay. Players might buy cosmetic items that change a character’s appearance or pay for features that provide a competitive advantage.
Often, these purchases involve loot boxes, which are virtual grab-bags that dispense randomized digital rewards. Because the player does not know what they will get until they pay and open the box, the mechanics closely mirror traditional casino games. This convergence of gaming and gambling has raised concerns, particularly regarding younger players whose impulse control is still developing.
Previous investigations have shown that randomized in-game purchases can carry risks. For instance, a 2018 survey showed that adult gamers who spent more money on loot boxes tended to experience more severe gambling problems. In the broader betting industry, revenue is notoriously dependent on a tiny fraction of heavy spenders.
For example, a 2019 study of traditional gambling markets indicated that a disproportionately large share of revenue comes from problem gamblers. Meschik and his colleagues wanted to know if this same pattern exists in the video game market for adolescents. They also aimed to determine whether heavy spenders in video games come from wealthier families, or if disadvantaged youth are spending large amounts of money they might not be able to afford.
To explore these questions, the research team analyzed survey data from 2,308 students aged 10 to 19 across various school types in Austria. The sample was roughly evenly split between boys and girls. The survey asked students about their video game habits, their in-game spending over the past 12 months, and their family’s economic status.
The researchers also included psychological screening tools to check for signs of gaming disorder and gambling disorder. Gaming disorder involves a loss of control over gaming habits to the point that it disrupts daily life and responsibilities. Gambling disorder is a similar condition related to betting money, and this screening was only given to the 103 students who reported actually gambling with real money in the past year.
Out of the total sample, 818 participants, or about 35 percent, reported spending money on in-game purchases during the past year. Among these paying players, the average annual expenditure was about 170 euros. Boys spent considerably more than girls, averaging 181 euros compared to 102 euros.
Spending did not simply increase as children got older. Instead, it peaked among 15- to 16-year-olds, who averaged over 200 euros in yearly in-game purchases. When the researchers looked at how this spending was distributed across the group, they found extreme inequality.
Most adolescents spent very little, but a small minority spent massive amounts. The top 10 percent of spenders, often referred to in the gaming and gambling industries as whales, accounted for 61.4 percent of all the money spent by the entire group. These 85 heavy spenders spent between 400 and 12,000 euros in a single year, averaging just over 1,000 euros each.
“The strong concentration of spending was particularly striking,” Meschik said. “Consumer spending is often described using the Pareto principle, according to which roughly 20% of consumers account for 80% of revenue of a product.”
“In our sample, however, the distribution was even more concentrated,” he explained. “A similarly pronounced concentration of spending can also be observed in gambling, which makes this pattern particularly noteworthy.”
Heavy spenders were mostly boys, and they were more likely to show signs of psychological distress. Among the heavy spenders, 14.1 percent met the criteria for gaming disorder, compared to just 4.2 percent of the casual spenders. Within the smaller subgroup of students who also gambled with real money, the heavy in-game spenders were substantially more likely to meet the criteria for a probable gambling disorder.
Interestingly, a family’s financial situation had no bearing on whether a teenager became a heavy spender. Adolescents from lower-income backgrounds spent roughly the same absolute amounts of money on games as their wealthier peers. This indicates that high spending is not restricted to teenagers with a lot of disposable family income.
Instead, young people with fewer financial resources might be dedicating a much larger share of their available money to virtual items, making the financial burden heavier for them. These results are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that excessive engagement with loot boxes was associated with higher levels of problematic gambling behaviors. The new study demonstrates comparable patterns, though it examined overall in-game microtransaction spending among adolescents, whereas the earlier study focused specifically on loot box use in adults, with both linking heavy game-related spending to problem gambling.
“One important takeaway is that free-to-play games are not necessarily free in practice,” Meschik told PsyPost. “Players, even young ones, can spend substantial amounts of money on these games, and higher spending can be associated with pathological behaviors, irrespective of socioeconomic status.”
“Our findings also suggest that existing regulations may not be sufficient and that additional measures to protect vulnerable players should be considered,” he added.
“Spending money in video games is not problematic per se,” Meschik noted. “The majority of players appear to use these monetization models without experiencing problems, as the industry also regularly emphasizes.”
“This does not excuse the absence of regulation, however. Regulatory efforts should aim at protecting the smaller group of players who spend disproportionately large amounts of money and who may also experience pathological gaming or gambling-related behaviors, for example by introducing greater friction into purchasing processes and additional safeguards for high levels of spending.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on self-reported data, which means participants had to remember and estimate how much money they spent over an entire year. People often struggle to accurately recall their expenses, especially when making many small digital purchases over a long period.
Heavy spenders might have underestimated their total costs, which could affect the exact financial figures reported. Additionally, the gambling disorder screening was only given to a small subset of 103 students who reported betting real money in the past year. Because of this small sample size, the estimates regarding gambling disorder should be viewed as preliminary.
The research also captured a single snapshot in time. This makes it impossible to know whether spending money in video games causes problematic behaviors to develop, or if adolescents who already have these tendencies are just more drawn to heavy in-game spending. Future research could benefit from using actual transaction data from video game companies to track spending patterns more objectively.
Exploring how specific consumer protection measures, such as mandatory spending limits or better transparency regarding the odds of winning digital items, might help mitigate these risks would also provide practical guidance for policymakers.
“One important next step is to understand the mechanisms or dark patterns behind these numbers,” Meschik said. “Quantitative data can show us that heavy spending and problematic behavior are associated, but they tell us much less about why people continue spending, how they experience these systems, and which game-design mechanisms are particularly influential.”
“We are therefore also interested in qualitative research with high-spending players, including adults, and in examining similarities and differences between monetization mechanisms in digital games and gambling,” he explained. “In the longer term, I hope this work can contribute to evidence-based consumer protection and to a discussion about how game monetization can be designed without disproportionately relying on vulnerable players.”
The study, “Heavy spenders in digital games: expenditure disparities and associations between microtransactions, gaming disorder and gambling disorder among adolescents,” was authored by Markus Meschik, Elena Hammer, Doris Malischnig, Natalia Wächter, and Mark D. Griffiths.
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 10:00AM
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: Free-to-play video games carry heavy financial costs for a vulnerable minority of teens
A recent study has found that financial spending on video games is highly unequal among adolescents, with just 10 percent of paying players accounting for over 60 percent of all in-game purchases. The research indicates that these heavy spenders are more likely to exhibit symptoms of gaming and gambling disorders, regardless of their family’s economic background. The findings, published in Frontiers in Public Health, raise consumer protection concerns about modern video game monetization strategies.
The research, led by Markus Meschik, a professor of social pedagogy at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, aimed to understand the extent of monetary expenditure on in-game purchases among adolescents in Austria.
“In my work as a counselor for families affected by problematic video gaming, I repeatedly encountered young players who were spending large amounts of money in games,” Meschik told PsyPost.
“This was not limited to loot boxes, which have already been studied quite extensively, but also involved in-game purchases in games more generally. Both the actual extent of these expenditures and their associations with pathological behaviors have received relatively little research attention so far, which is why we conducted this study.”
Over the past decade, the video game industry has shifted away from selling games as single, standalone products. Instead, many developers now use a free-to-play model.
These games cost nothing to download but rely on continuous microtransactions to generate revenue. Microtransactions are small, real-money purchases made during gameplay. Players might buy cosmetic items that change a character’s appearance or pay for features that provide a competitive advantage.
Often, these purchases involve loot boxes, which are virtual grab-bags that dispense randomized digital rewards. Because the player does not know what they will get until they pay and open the box, the mechanics closely mirror traditional casino games. This convergence of gaming and gambling has raised concerns, particularly regarding younger players whose impulse control is still developing.
Previous investigations have shown that randomized in-game purchases can carry risks. For instance, a 2018 survey showed that adult gamers who spent more money on loot boxes tended to experience more severe gambling problems. In the broader betting industry, revenue is notoriously dependent on a tiny fraction of heavy spenders.
For example, a 2019 study of traditional gambling markets indicated that a disproportionately large share of revenue comes from problem gamblers. Meschik and his colleagues wanted to know if this same pattern exists in the video game market for adolescents. They also aimed to determine whether heavy spenders in video games come from wealthier families, or if disadvantaged youth are spending large amounts of money they might not be able to afford.
To explore these questions, the research team analyzed survey data from 2,308 students aged 10 to 19 across various school types in Austria. The sample was roughly evenly split between boys and girls. The survey asked students about their video game habits, their in-game spending over the past 12 months, and their family’s economic status.
The researchers also included psychological screening tools to check for signs of gaming disorder and gambling disorder. Gaming disorder involves a loss of control over gaming habits to the point that it disrupts daily life and responsibilities. Gambling disorder is a similar condition related to betting money, and this screening was only given to the 103 students who reported actually gambling with real money in the past year.
Out of the total sample, 818 participants, or about 35 percent, reported spending money on in-game purchases during the past year. Among these paying players, the average annual expenditure was about 170 euros. Boys spent considerably more than girls, averaging 181 euros compared to 102 euros.
Spending did not simply increase as children got older. Instead, it peaked among 15- to 16-year-olds, who averaged over 200 euros in yearly in-game purchases. When the researchers looked at how this spending was distributed across the group, they found extreme inequality.
Most adolescents spent very little, but a small minority spent massive amounts. The top 10 percent of spenders, often referred to in the gaming and gambling industries as whales, accounted for 61.4 percent of all the money spent by the entire group. These 85 heavy spenders spent between 400 and 12,000 euros in a single year, averaging just over 1,000 euros each.
“The strong concentration of spending was particularly striking,” Meschik said. “Consumer spending is often described using the Pareto principle, according to which roughly 20% of consumers account for 80% of revenue of a product.”
“In our sample, however, the distribution was even more concentrated,” he explained. “A similarly pronounced concentration of spending can also be observed in gambling, which makes this pattern particularly noteworthy.”
Heavy spenders were mostly boys, and they were more likely to show signs of psychological distress. Among the heavy spenders, 14.1 percent met the criteria for gaming disorder, compared to just 4.2 percent of the casual spenders. Within the smaller subgroup of students who also gambled with real money, the heavy in-game spenders were substantially more likely to meet the criteria for a probable gambling disorder.
Interestingly, a family’s financial situation had no bearing on whether a teenager became a heavy spender. Adolescents from lower-income backgrounds spent roughly the same absolute amounts of money on games as their wealthier peers. This indicates that high spending is not restricted to teenagers with a lot of disposable family income.
Instead, young people with fewer financial resources might be dedicating a much larger share of their available money to virtual items, making the financial burden heavier for them. These results are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that excessive engagement with loot boxes was associated with higher levels of problematic gambling behaviors. The new study demonstrates comparable patterns, though it examined overall in-game microtransaction spending among adolescents, whereas the earlier study focused specifically on loot box use in adults, with both linking heavy game-related spending to problem gambling.
“One important takeaway is that free-to-play games are not necessarily free in practice,” Meschik told PsyPost. “Players, even young ones, can spend substantial amounts of money on these games, and higher spending can be associated with pathological behaviors, irrespective of socioeconomic status.”
“Our findings also suggest that existing regulations may not be sufficient and that additional measures to protect vulnerable players should be considered,” he added.
“Spending money in video games is not problematic per se,” Meschik noted. “The majority of players appear to use these monetization models without experiencing problems, as the industry also regularly emphasizes.”
“This does not excuse the absence of regulation, however. Regulatory efforts should aim at protecting the smaller group of players who spend disproportionately large amounts of money and who may also experience pathological gaming or gambling-related behaviors, for example by introducing greater friction into purchasing processes and additional safeguards for high levels of spending.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on self-reported data, which means participants had to remember and estimate how much money they spent over an entire year. People often struggle to accurately recall their expenses, especially when making many small digital purchases over a long period.
Heavy spenders might have underestimated their total costs, which could affect the exact financial figures reported. Additionally, the gambling disorder screening was only given to a small subset of 103 students who reported betting real money in the past year. Because of this small sample size, the estimates regarding gambling disorder should be viewed as preliminary.
The research also captured a single snapshot in time. This makes it impossible to know whether spending money in video games causes problematic behaviors to develop, or if adolescents who already have these tendencies are just more drawn to heavy in-game spending. Future research could benefit from using actual transaction data from video game companies to track spending patterns more objectively.
Exploring how specific consumer protection measures, such as mandatory spending limits or better transparency regarding the odds of winning digital items, might help mitigate these risks would also provide practical guidance for policymakers.
“One important next step is to understand the mechanisms or dark patterns behind these numbers,” Meschik said. “Quantitative data can show us that heavy spending and problematic behavior are associated, but they tell us much less about why people continue spending, how they experience these systems, and which game-design mechanisms are particularly influential.”
“We are therefore also interested in qualitative research with high-spending players, including adults, and in examining similarities and differences between monetization mechanisms in digital games and gambling,” he explained. “In the longer term, I hope this work can contribute to evidence-based consumer protection and to a discussion about how game monetization can be designed without disproportionately relying on vulnerable players.”
The study, “Heavy spenders in digital games: expenditure disparities and associations between microtransactions, gaming disorder and gambling disorder among adolescents,” was authored by Markus Meschik, Elena Hammer, Doris Malischnig, Natalia Wächter, and Mark D. Griffiths.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HeavySpendersInGames #InGamePurchases #LootBoxes #GamingDisorder #GamblingDisorder #FreeToPlayCosts #AdolescentGaming #Microtransactions #ConsumerProtection #ParetoPrinciple
-
DATE: September 6, 2026 at 10:00AM
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: Free-to-play video games carry heavy financial costs for a vulnerable minority of teens
A recent study has found that financial spending on video games is highly unequal among adolescents, with just 10 percent of paying players accounting for over 60 percent of all in-game purchases. The research indicates that these heavy spenders are more likely to exhibit symptoms of gaming and gambling disorders, regardless of their family’s economic background. The findings, published in Frontiers in Public Health, raise consumer protection concerns about modern video game monetization strategies.
The research, led by Markus Meschik, a professor of social pedagogy at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, aimed to understand the extent of monetary expenditure on in-game purchases among adolescents in Austria.
“In my work as a counselor for families affected by problematic video gaming, I repeatedly encountered young players who were spending large amounts of money in games,” Meschik told PsyPost.
“This was not limited to loot boxes, which have already been studied quite extensively, but also involved in-game purchases in games more generally. Both the actual extent of these expenditures and their associations with pathological behaviors have received relatively little research attention so far, which is why we conducted this study.”
Over the past decade, the video game industry has shifted away from selling games as single, standalone products. Instead, many developers now use a free-to-play model.
These games cost nothing to download but rely on continuous microtransactions to generate revenue. Microtransactions are small, real-money purchases made during gameplay. Players might buy cosmetic items that change a character’s appearance or pay for features that provide a competitive advantage.
Often, these purchases involve loot boxes, which are virtual grab-bags that dispense randomized digital rewards. Because the player does not know what they will get until they pay and open the box, the mechanics closely mirror traditional casino games. This convergence of gaming and gambling has raised concerns, particularly regarding younger players whose impulse control is still developing.
Previous investigations have shown that randomized in-game purchases can carry risks. For instance, a 2018 survey showed that adult gamers who spent more money on loot boxes tended to experience more severe gambling problems. In the broader betting industry, revenue is notoriously dependent on a tiny fraction of heavy spenders.
For example, a 2019 study of traditional gambling markets indicated that a disproportionately large share of revenue comes from problem gamblers. Meschik and his colleagues wanted to know if this same pattern exists in the video game market for adolescents. They also aimed to determine whether heavy spenders in video games come from wealthier families, or if disadvantaged youth are spending large amounts of money they might not be able to afford.
To explore these questions, the research team analyzed survey data from 2,308 students aged 10 to 19 across various school types in Austria. The sample was roughly evenly split between boys and girls. The survey asked students about their video game habits, their in-game spending over the past 12 months, and their family’s economic status.
The researchers also included psychological screening tools to check for signs of gaming disorder and gambling disorder. Gaming disorder involves a loss of control over gaming habits to the point that it disrupts daily life and responsibilities. Gambling disorder is a similar condition related to betting money, and this screening was only given to the 103 students who reported actually gambling with real money in the past year.
Out of the total sample, 818 participants, or about 35 percent, reported spending money on in-game purchases during the past year. Among these paying players, the average annual expenditure was about 170 euros. Boys spent considerably more than girls, averaging 181 euros compared to 102 euros.
Spending did not simply increase as children got older. Instead, it peaked among 15- to 16-year-olds, who averaged over 200 euros in yearly in-game purchases. When the researchers looked at how this spending was distributed across the group, they found extreme inequality.
Most adolescents spent very little, but a small minority spent massive amounts. The top 10 percent of spenders, often referred to in the gaming and gambling industries as whales, accounted for 61.4 percent of all the money spent by the entire group. These 85 heavy spenders spent between 400 and 12,000 euros in a single year, averaging just over 1,000 euros each.
“The strong concentration of spending was particularly striking,” Meschik said. “Consumer spending is often described using the Pareto principle, according to which roughly 20% of consumers account for 80% of revenue of a product.”
“In our sample, however, the distribution was even more concentrated,” he explained. “A similarly pronounced concentration of spending can also be observed in gambling, which makes this pattern particularly noteworthy.”
Heavy spenders were mostly boys, and they were more likely to show signs of psychological distress. Among the heavy spenders, 14.1 percent met the criteria for gaming disorder, compared to just 4.2 percent of the casual spenders. Within the smaller subgroup of students who also gambled with real money, the heavy in-game spenders were substantially more likely to meet the criteria for a probable gambling disorder.
Interestingly, a family’s financial situation had no bearing on whether a teenager became a heavy spender. Adolescents from lower-income backgrounds spent roughly the same absolute amounts of money on games as their wealthier peers. This indicates that high spending is not restricted to teenagers with a lot of disposable family income.
Instead, young people with fewer financial resources might be dedicating a much larger share of their available money to virtual items, making the financial burden heavier for them. These results are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that excessive engagement with loot boxes was associated with higher levels of problematic gambling behaviors. The new study demonstrates comparable patterns, though it examined overall in-game microtransaction spending among adolescents, whereas the earlier study focused specifically on loot box use in adults, with both linking heavy game-related spending to problem gambling.
“One important takeaway is that free-to-play games are not necessarily free in practice,” Meschik told PsyPost. “Players, even young ones, can spend substantial amounts of money on these games, and higher spending can be associated with pathological behaviors, irrespective of socioeconomic status.”
“Our findings also suggest that existing regulations may not be sufficient and that additional measures to protect vulnerable players should be considered,” he added.
“Spending money in video games is not problematic per se,” Meschik noted. “The majority of players appear to use these monetization models without experiencing problems, as the industry also regularly emphasizes.”
“This does not excuse the absence of regulation, however. Regulatory efforts should aim at protecting the smaller group of players who spend disproportionately large amounts of money and who may also experience pathological gaming or gambling-related behaviors, for example by introducing greater friction into purchasing processes and additional safeguards for high levels of spending.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on self-reported data, which means participants had to remember and estimate how much money they spent over an entire year. People often struggle to accurately recall their expenses, especially when making many small digital purchases over a long period.
Heavy spenders might have underestimated their total costs, which could affect the exact financial figures reported. Additionally, the gambling disorder screening was only given to a small subset of 103 students who reported betting real money in the past year. Because of this small sample size, the estimates regarding gambling disorder should be viewed as preliminary.
The research also captured a single snapshot in time. This makes it impossible to know whether spending money in video games causes problematic behaviors to develop, or if adolescents who already have these tendencies are just more drawn to heavy in-game spending. Future research could benefit from using actual transaction data from video game companies to track spending patterns more objectively.
Exploring how specific consumer protection measures, such as mandatory spending limits or better transparency regarding the odds of winning digital items, might help mitigate these risks would also provide practical guidance for policymakers.
“One important next step is to understand the mechanisms or dark patterns behind these numbers,” Meschik said. “Quantitative data can show us that heavy spending and problematic behavior are associated, but they tell us much less about why people continue spending, how they experience these systems, and which game-design mechanisms are particularly influential.”
“We are therefore also interested in qualitative research with high-spending players, including adults, and in examining similarities and differences between monetization mechanisms in digital games and gambling,” he explained. “In the longer term, I hope this work can contribute to evidence-based consumer protection and to a discussion about how game monetization can be designed without disproportionately relying on vulnerable players.”
The study, “Heavy spenders in digital games: expenditure disparities and associations between microtransactions, gaming disorder and gambling disorder among adolescents,” was authored by Markus Meschik, Elena Hammer, Doris Malischnig, Natalia Wächter, and Mark D. Griffiths.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #HeavySpendersInGames #InGamePurchases #LootBoxes #GamingDisorder #GamblingDisorder #FreeToPlayCosts #AdolescentGaming #Microtransactions #ConsumerProtection #ParetoPrinciple
-
DATE: September 6, 2026 at 10:00AM
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: Free-to-play video games carry heavy financial costs for a vulnerable minority of teens
A recent study has found that financial spending on video games is highly unequal among adolescents, with just 10 percent of paying players accounting for over 60 percent of all in-game purchases. The research indicates that these heavy spenders are more likely to exhibit symptoms of gaming and gambling disorders, regardless of their family’s economic background. The findings, published in Frontiers in Public Health, raise consumer protection concerns about modern video game monetization strategies.
The research, led by Markus Meschik, a professor of social pedagogy at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, aimed to understand the extent of monetary expenditure on in-game purchases among adolescents in Austria.
“In my work as a counselor for families affected by problematic video gaming, I repeatedly encountered young players who were spending large amounts of money in games,” Meschik told PsyPost.
“This was not limited to loot boxes, which have already been studied quite extensively, but also involved in-game purchases in games more generally. Both the actual extent of these expenditures and their associations with pathological behaviors have received relatively little research attention so far, which is why we conducted this study.”
Over the past decade, the video game industry has shifted away from selling games as single, standalone products. Instead, many developers now use a free-to-play model.
These games cost nothing to download but rely on continuous microtransactions to generate revenue. Microtransactions are small, real-money purchases made during gameplay. Players might buy cosmetic items that change a character’s appearance or pay for features that provide a competitive advantage.
Often, these purchases involve loot boxes, which are virtual grab-bags that dispense randomized digital rewards. Because the player does not know what they will get until they pay and open the box, the mechanics closely mirror traditional casino games. This convergence of gaming and gambling has raised concerns, particularly regarding younger players whose impulse control is still developing.
Previous investigations have shown that randomized in-game purchases can carry risks. For instance, a 2018 survey showed that adult gamers who spent more money on loot boxes tended to experience more severe gambling problems. In the broader betting industry, revenue is notoriously dependent on a tiny fraction of heavy spenders.
For example, a 2019 study of traditional gambling markets indicated that a disproportionately large share of revenue comes from problem gamblers. Meschik and his colleagues wanted to know if this same pattern exists in the video game market for adolescents. They also aimed to determine whether heavy spenders in video games come from wealthier families, or if disadvantaged youth are spending large amounts of money they might not be able to afford.
To explore these questions, the research team analyzed survey data from 2,308 students aged 10 to 19 across various school types in Austria. The sample was roughly evenly split between boys and girls. The survey asked students about their video game habits, their in-game spending over the past 12 months, and their family’s economic status.
The researchers also included psychological screening tools to check for signs of gaming disorder and gambling disorder. Gaming disorder involves a loss of control over gaming habits to the point that it disrupts daily life and responsibilities. Gambling disorder is a similar condition related to betting money, and this screening was only given to the 103 students who reported actually gambling with real money in the past year.
Out of the total sample, 818 participants, or about 35 percent, reported spending money on in-game purchases during the past year. Among these paying players, the average annual expenditure was about 170 euros. Boys spent considerably more than girls, averaging 181 euros compared to 102 euros.
Spending did not simply increase as children got older. Instead, it peaked among 15- to 16-year-olds, who averaged over 200 euros in yearly in-game purchases. When the researchers looked at how this spending was distributed across the group, they found extreme inequality.
Most adolescents spent very little, but a small minority spent massive amounts. The top 10 percent of spenders, often referred to in the gaming and gambling industries as whales, accounted for 61.4 percent of all the money spent by the entire group. These 85 heavy spenders spent between 400 and 12,000 euros in a single year, averaging just over 1,000 euros each.
“The strong concentration of spending was particularly striking,” Meschik said. “Consumer spending is often described using the Pareto principle, according to which roughly 20% of consumers account for 80% of revenue of a product.”
“In our sample, however, the distribution was even more concentrated,” he explained. “A similarly pronounced concentration of spending can also be observed in gambling, which makes this pattern particularly noteworthy.”
Heavy spenders were mostly boys, and they were more likely to show signs of psychological distress. Among the heavy spenders, 14.1 percent met the criteria for gaming disorder, compared to just 4.2 percent of the casual spenders. Within the smaller subgroup of students who also gambled with real money, the heavy in-game spenders were substantially more likely to meet the criteria for a probable gambling disorder.
Interestingly, a family’s financial situation had no bearing on whether a teenager became a heavy spender. Adolescents from lower-income backgrounds spent roughly the same absolute amounts of money on games as their wealthier peers. This indicates that high spending is not restricted to teenagers with a lot of disposable family income.
Instead, young people with fewer financial resources might be dedicating a much larger share of their available money to virtual items, making the financial burden heavier for them. These results are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2019, which found that excessive engagement with loot boxes was associated with higher levels of problematic gambling behaviors. The new study demonstrates comparable patterns, though it examined overall in-game microtransaction spending among adolescents, whereas the earlier study focused specifically on loot box use in adults, with both linking heavy game-related spending to problem gambling.
“One important takeaway is that free-to-play games are not necessarily free in practice,” Meschik told PsyPost. “Players, even young ones, can spend substantial amounts of money on these games, and higher spending can be associated with pathological behaviors, irrespective of socioeconomic status.”
“Our findings also suggest that existing regulations may not be sufficient and that additional measures to protect vulnerable players should be considered,” he added.
“Spending money in video games is not problematic per se,” Meschik noted. “The majority of players appear to use these monetization models without experiencing problems, as the industry also regularly emphasizes.”
“This does not excuse the absence of regulation, however. Regulatory efforts should aim at protecting the smaller group of players who spend disproportionately large amounts of money and who may also experience pathological gaming or gambling-related behaviors, for example by introducing greater friction into purchasing processes and additional safeguards for high levels of spending.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on self-reported data, which means participants had to remember and estimate how much money they spent over an entire year. People often struggle to accurately recall their expenses, especially when making many small digital purchases over a long period.
Heavy spenders might have underestimated their total costs, which could affect the exact financial figures reported. Additionally, the gambling disorder screening was only given to a small subset of 103 students who reported betting real money in the past year. Because of this small sample size, the estimates regarding gambling disorder should be viewed as preliminary.
The research also captured a single snapshot in time. This makes it impossible to know whether spending money in video games causes problematic behaviors to develop, or if adolescents who already have these tendencies are just more drawn to heavy in-game spending. Future research could benefit from using actual transaction data from video game companies to track spending patterns more objectively.
Exploring how specific consumer protection measures, such as mandatory spending limits or better transparency regarding the odds of winning digital items, might help mitigate these risks would also provide practical guidance for policymakers.
“One important next step is to understand the mechanisms or dark patterns behind these numbers,” Meschik said. “Quantitative data can show us that heavy spending and problematic behavior are associated, but they tell us much less about why people continue spending, how they experience these systems, and which game-design mechanisms are particularly influential.”
“We are therefore also interested in qualitative research with high-spending players, including adults, and in examining similarities and differences between monetization mechanisms in digital games and gambling,” he explained. “In the longer term, I hope this work can contribute to evidence-based consumer protection and to a discussion about how game monetization can be designed without disproportionately relying on vulnerable players.”
The study, “Heavy spenders in digital games: expenditure disparities and associations between microtransactions, gaming disorder and gambling disorder among adolescents,” was authored by Markus Meschik, Elena Hammer, Doris Malischnig, Natalia Wächter, and Mark D. Griffiths.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #HeavySpendersInGames #InGamePurchases #LootBoxes #GamingDisorder #GamblingDisorder #FreeToPlayCosts #AdolescentGaming #Microtransactions #ConsumerProtection #ParetoPrinciple
-
DATE: September 6, 2026 at 09:00AM
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: Survey reveals associations between Big Five personality traits and nightmare coping habits
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-personality-traits-shape-the-way-we-cope-with-nightmares/
New research indicates that a person’s personality traits might slightly influence how they deal with distressing dreams. People who are more outgoing tend to cope with nightmares by talking about them, while other personality traits show weaker links to specific coping behaviors. The findings were published in the Journal of Sleep Research.
Nightmares are vivid, frightening dreams that usually occur during rapid eye movement sleep. They often cause a person to wake up feeling intense fear that lingers even after they are fully conscious. If these bad dreams cause extreme distress or impair a person’s ability to function during the day, doctors might diagnose them with a nightmare disorder. However, occasional bad dreams are very common in the general population.
Despite the distress they cause, nightmares are rarely treated with specific medical interventions. This leaves many people to find their own ways to manage the experience in their daily lives. The “Big Five” is a well-established psychological model that groups human personality into five broad categories. These categories are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Previous psychological research has shown that these traits affect how people manage daily stress. For instance, people with high levels of neuroticism, a trait associated with experiencing negative emotions, often use avoidant coping strategies. Researchers Julia Wiesenthal and Michael Schredl from Heidelberg University in Germany wanted to understand how the general public copes with nighttime distress. They designed a study to test if these personality traits play a role in selecting specific nightmare coping strategies.
To investigate this question, the researchers conducted an online survey of 411 adults. The participant pool consisted mostly of university psychology students, with an average age of 28. The participants completed standardized questionnaires that measured their personality traits, how often they experienced nightmares, and the level of distress those dreams caused. They also reported their experiences with lucid dreaming, a state where a person becomes aware that they are dreaming while the dream is still happening.
The survey included a section asking participants about eight specific coping strategies. These strategies included talking to someone, avoiding triggers, gathering information, using medication, and seeking professional help. The list also included cognitive techniques like trying to induce lucid dreams or practicing self-administered imagery rehearsal therapy. Imagery rehearsal therapy is a technique where a person writes down their bad dream and rewrites it with a positive ending while awake.
Participants indicated how often they used each strategy and rated how helpful they perceived each one to be. The researchers then used statistical models to look for associations between specific personality traits and coping behaviors. They adjusted their mathematical models to account for factors like the participants’ age, gender, and education levels. The team formulated three main predictions before they began analyzing the survey responses.
They expected that high openness to experience would predict seeking out information about nightmares. They also predicted that high extraversion would predict talking about the dreams, and high neuroticism would predict avoiding situations that might trigger a nightmare. Out of these three initial predictions, only one was supported by the survey data. The results showed a positive link between extraversion and discussing nightmares with others.
People scoring high in openness did not show a tendency to research their nightmares. Similarly, people with high levels of neuroticism were not more likely to avoid potential nightmare triggers. The study did reveal several secondary associations through exploratory data analysis. For example, people with higher neuroticism scores were slightly more likely to seek professional help for their dreams.
Participants who scored high in openness were somewhat more likely to practice self-administered imagery rehearsal therapy. They were also more likely to document their dreams by writing them down or drawing them. Agreeable individuals showed a slight preference for discussing their nightmares with friends or family. These agreeable participants were also less likely to practice lucid dreaming techniques to control their bad dreams.
Looking at overall habits across all personality types, discussing nightmares was the most common coping strategy. Participants also rated talking about their dreams as the most helpful approach. Avoiding potential triggers was the second most common method used by the respondents. Strategies like practicing lucid dreaming, seeking information, and rewriting the dream’s ending were used far less frequently.
Seeking professional help was quite rare among the participants in the survey. However, the small number of people who did consult a professional rated it as a highly helpful strategy. Using medication for nightmares was the least common approach reported. In line with the lack of medical evidence for treating regular nightmares with drugs, no participants rated medication as very helpful.
The researchers also noticed demographic differences in how people viewed the effectiveness of these strategies. Female participants tended to find talking about their nightmares more helpful than male participants did. Conversely, male participants rated lucid dreaming as a more effective coping tool than female participants did. Older participants generally found both discussing nightmares and rewriting dream endings to be less helpful than younger participants did.
The study relies on self-reported survey data collected at a single point in time. This type of research design means the results cannot prove that a specific personality trait causes a person to choose a certain coping mechanism. The data only shows that the personality traits and the coping behaviors are statistically related. People might also be biased in their survey responses, such as rating a strategy as highly effective simply because they use it often.
Because the participants were mostly university psychology students, their behavior might not represent how the broader public handles bad dreams. The study also measured perceived helpfulness rather than tracking actual changes in nightmare frequency over time. Future studies would need to track participants over a longer period to see if these coping strategies actually reduce the occurrence of nightmares.
Researchers might also assign specific coping techniques to different groups of people to better measure their true effectiveness. Assessing how coping mechanisms work in people formally diagnosed with nightmare disorders could also provide better guidance for medical treatments. Until then, these findings offer a preliminary look at how human personality shapes the way we handle nighttime fears.
The study, “Nightmare Coping Strategies and Their Association With Big Five Personality Traits,” was authored by Julia Wiesenthal and Michael Schredl.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-personality-traits-shape-the-way-we-cope-with-nightmares/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #NightmareCoping #BigFivePersonality #ExtraversionTalks #NightmareStrategies #LucidDreamingTechniques #ImageryRehearsalTherapy #PersonalityAndDreams #SleepResearch #NightmareAwareness #MentalHealthInsights
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 08:00AM
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: Rising loneliness among US veterans is closely tied to psychiatric burden and suicide risk
New research indicates that loneliness is a widespread and worsening issue among United States military veterans, with more than one in five reporting frequent feelings of isolation. The study, published in J Clin Psychiatry, provides evidence that higher levels of loneliness are strongly linked to increased risks of psychiatric disorders and suicidal thoughts. These findings suggest that addressing social disconnection could be an important target for improving veteran mental health and preventing suicide.
The research was led by Robert H. Pietrzak, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and professor of public health at the Yale School of Public Health. He and his team aimed to update our understanding of how social disconnection affects former military personnel. Loneliness is generally defined as the subjective feeling of being left out, isolated, or lacking in companionship. It is not just about being physically alone, but rather experiencing a painful gap between the social connections a person wants and the ones they actually have.
“Loneliness was already highly prevalent among U.S. veterans in 2019–2020, but the demographic composition of the veteran population and broader social environment have changed since then, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pietrzak told PsyPost. “We wanted to provide updated national estimates of the prevalence of loneliness and determine whether it is independently associated with psychiatric disorders and suicide-related outcomes after accounting for a broad range of sociodemographic, military, trauma, health, and social factors.”
Data from 2019 and 2020 showed that more than half of U.S. veterans experienced at least moderate loneliness, with nearly one in five feeling lonely on a frequent basis. Since then, the social landscape has shifted considerably. The researchers noted that the veteran population has been changing, with an increasing proportion of younger, female, and racially diverse individuals transitioning out of the military. This demographic shift is an important detail, as a study covered by PsyPost in 2015 found that younger generations of military personnel tend to experience lower levels of social integration, making them more vulnerable to mental health struggles and suicide.
In addition to these demographic changes, the lingering social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and broader societal stressors may have worsened feelings of isolation. Because loneliness often co-occurs with serious mental health conditions, the researchers wanted to explore exactly how current levels of loneliness correspond to specific psychiatric burdens. For instance, research covered by PsyPost in 2018 highlighted that veterans battling both post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and depression face an exceptionally high risk of suicidal thoughts. Pietrzak and his team sought to determine if loneliness was acting as a similar, widespread risk factor that spans multiple psychiatric conditions.
To investigate these trends, the researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. This nationally representative survey gathered responses from 2,612 U.S. veterans between December 2025 and January 2026. The participants were drawn from a large, probability-based panel designed to reflect the broader U.S. household population. By weighting the data, the researchers ensured their findings could be generalized to the entire population of living U.S. veterans.
The survey measured loneliness using a standard three-item questionnaire. Participants were asked how often they felt left out, how often they felt isolated from others, and how often they felt they lacked companionship. Based on their responses, the veterans were placed into one of three categories: hardly ever lonely, moderate loneliness, or frequent loneliness. The researchers also collected data on a variety of mental health indicators, including symptoms of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, alcohol and drug use disorders, and various measures of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
The results indicated that loneliness is highly prevalent among veterans. Overall, 58.7% of the respondents reported experiencing at least moderate loneliness. When broken down further, 36.3% fell into the moderate loneliness category, while 22.4% reported frequent loneliness. When compared to the estimates from 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of moderate loneliness remained relatively stable. However, the rate of frequent loneliness increased from 19.7% to 22.4%. The researchers estimate that this percentage increase translates to roughly 460,000 additional veterans experiencing frequent loneliness across the country.
“Loneliness is not simply an unpleasant feeling—it is a major public health concern,” Pietrzak explained. “Prior work has found that chronic loneliness is associated with an increased risk of premature mortality comparable to the risk associated with smoking as many as 15 cigarettes per day.”
The study also provides evidence of a strong relationship between the severity of loneliness and mental health struggles. Veterans in the moderate loneliness group had notably higher odds of meeting the screening criteria for depression, anxiety, PTSD, hazardous alcohol use, and suicidal thoughts over the past year, compared to those who were hardly ever lonely.
For veterans experiencing frequent loneliness, the psychiatric burden was even heavier. Compared to the hardly ever lonely group, frequently lonely veterans were much more likely to screen positive for six of the eight mental health measures assessed, excluding only drug use disorders and lifetime suicide attempts. The differences were stark when looking at suicidal ideation. Only 3.8% of veterans who were hardly ever lonely reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year. That figure jumped to 14.8% for moderately lonely veterans, and soared to 32.3% for those experiencing frequent loneliness.
When the researchers compared the frequently lonely group directly to the moderately lonely group, the risks were still elevated. Frequently lonely veterans showed much higher odds of facing almost all the measured mental health challenges, with particularly high associations for depression and future suicidal intent. These associations held up even after the researchers accounted for other potential influencing factors, such as age, sex, income, combat experience, physical health conditions, and history of childhood trauma.
“The magnitude of the associations among frequently lonely veterans was particularly striking,” Pietrzak noted. “Even after extensive adjustment for sociodemographic, military, trauma, health, and social factors, frequently lonely veterans had 32 times the odds of screening positive for depression compared with veterans who were hardly ever lonely; they also had substantially greater odds of having attempted suicide relative to less lonely veterans.”
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study relied on self-reported survey data, which means the results depend on the participants’ willingness and ability to accurately describe their feelings and symptoms. Additionally, the researchers used a cross-sectional design, capturing a snapshot of the veterans’ experiences at a single point in time. Because of this, the study cannot determine the direction of the relationship between loneliness and mental health.
“Because the study was cross-sectional, it cannot establish that loneliness causes psychiatric disorders or suicidality; these associations are likely bidirectional and mutually reinforcing,” Pietrzak explained. “The findings also should not be interpreted to mean that every lonely veteran has a mental disorder or is suicidal, but rather that loneliness may be an important marker of elevated vulnerability that warrants further assessment and support.”
There is also a possibility that by statistically adjusting for certain psychiatric conditions, the researchers might have understated the direct relationship between loneliness and suicide-related outcomes. Despite these limitations, the findings indicate that loneliness is a growing issue that requires ongoing attention from mental health professionals.
“An important next step is to use longitudinal data to clarify how loneliness and mental health measures influence one another over time and to identify veterans at greatest risk for persistent or worsening loneliness,” Pietrzak told PsyPost.
The researchers suggest that loneliness represents a key target for future prevention and treatment efforts. Because social isolation is something that can be modified, initiatives like peer support programs, community engagement activities, and social prescribing, where healthcare providers connect patients with community groups and social activities, could play a major role in improving veteran well-being. By focusing on helping veterans build stronger social connections, health systems might be able to reduce the broader psychiatric burden and lower the risk of suicide.
“Loneliness is modifiable, which makes these findings concerning but also actionable,” Pietrzak said. “Routine assessment of loneliness, followed by efforts to connect veterans with appropriate clinical, peer, and community resources, may provide an additional avenue for improving mental health and strengthening suicide-prevention efforts.”
The study, “A Growing Epidemic of Loneliness Among US Military Veterans: National Trends, Psychiatric Burden, and Suicide Risk,” was authored by Robert H. Pietrzak, Ian C. Fischer, and Peter J. Na.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #LonelinessAmongUSVeterans #VeteranMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention #PTSD #Depression #Anxiety #SocialConnection #MentalHealthAwareness #VeteransSupport #PublicHealthImpact
-
DATE: September 6, 2026 at 08:00AM
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: Rising loneliness among US veterans is closely tied to psychiatric burden and suicide risk
New research indicates that loneliness is a widespread and worsening issue among United States military veterans, with more than one in five reporting frequent feelings of isolation. The study, published in J Clin Psychiatry, provides evidence that higher levels of loneliness are strongly linked to increased risks of psychiatric disorders and suicidal thoughts. These findings suggest that addressing social disconnection could be an important target for improving veteran mental health and preventing suicide.
The research was led by Robert H. Pietrzak, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and professor of public health at the Yale School of Public Health. He and his team aimed to update our understanding of how social disconnection affects former military personnel. Loneliness is generally defined as the subjective feeling of being left out, isolated, or lacking in companionship. It is not just about being physically alone, but rather experiencing a painful gap between the social connections a person wants and the ones they actually have.
“Loneliness was already highly prevalent among U.S. veterans in 2019–2020, but the demographic composition of the veteran population and broader social environment have changed since then, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pietrzak told PsyPost. “We wanted to provide updated national estimates of the prevalence of loneliness and determine whether it is independently associated with psychiatric disorders and suicide-related outcomes after accounting for a broad range of sociodemographic, military, trauma, health, and social factors.”
Data from 2019 and 2020 showed that more than half of U.S. veterans experienced at least moderate loneliness, with nearly one in five feeling lonely on a frequent basis. Since then, the social landscape has shifted considerably. The researchers noted that the veteran population has been changing, with an increasing proportion of younger, female, and racially diverse individuals transitioning out of the military. This demographic shift is an important detail, as a study covered by PsyPost in 2015 found that younger generations of military personnel tend to experience lower levels of social integration, making them more vulnerable to mental health struggles and suicide.
In addition to these demographic changes, the lingering social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and broader societal stressors may have worsened feelings of isolation. Because loneliness often co-occurs with serious mental health conditions, the researchers wanted to explore exactly how current levels of loneliness correspond to specific psychiatric burdens. For instance, research covered by PsyPost in 2018 highlighted that veterans battling both post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and depression face an exceptionally high risk of suicidal thoughts. Pietrzak and his team sought to determine if loneliness was acting as a similar, widespread risk factor that spans multiple psychiatric conditions.
To investigate these trends, the researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. This nationally representative survey gathered responses from 2,612 U.S. veterans between December 2025 and January 2026. The participants were drawn from a large, probability-based panel designed to reflect the broader U.S. household population. By weighting the data, the researchers ensured their findings could be generalized to the entire population of living U.S. veterans.
The survey measured loneliness using a standard three-item questionnaire. Participants were asked how often they felt left out, how often they felt isolated from others, and how often they felt they lacked companionship. Based on their responses, the veterans were placed into one of three categories: hardly ever lonely, moderate loneliness, or frequent loneliness. The researchers also collected data on a variety of mental health indicators, including symptoms of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, alcohol and drug use disorders, and various measures of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
The results indicated that loneliness is highly prevalent among veterans. Overall, 58.7% of the respondents reported experiencing at least moderate loneliness. When broken down further, 36.3% fell into the moderate loneliness category, while 22.4% reported frequent loneliness. When compared to the estimates from 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of moderate loneliness remained relatively stable. However, the rate of frequent loneliness increased from 19.7% to 22.4%. The researchers estimate that this percentage increase translates to roughly 460,000 additional veterans experiencing frequent loneliness across the country.
“Loneliness is not simply an unpleasant feeling—it is a major public health concern,” Pietrzak explained. “Prior work has found that chronic loneliness is associated with an increased risk of premature mortality comparable to the risk associated with smoking as many as 15 cigarettes per day.”
The study also provides evidence of a strong relationship between the severity of loneliness and mental health struggles. Veterans in the moderate loneliness group had notably higher odds of meeting the screening criteria for depression, anxiety, PTSD, hazardous alcohol use, and suicidal thoughts over the past year, compared to those who were hardly ever lonely.
For veterans experiencing frequent loneliness, the psychiatric burden was even heavier. Compared to the hardly ever lonely group, frequently lonely veterans were much more likely to screen positive for six of the eight mental health measures assessed, excluding only drug use disorders and lifetime suicide attempts. The differences were stark when looking at suicidal ideation. Only 3.8% of veterans who were hardly ever lonely reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year. That figure jumped to 14.8% for moderately lonely veterans, and soared to 32.3% for those experiencing frequent loneliness.
When the researchers compared the frequently lonely group directly to the moderately lonely group, the risks were still elevated. Frequently lonely veterans showed much higher odds of facing almost all the measured mental health challenges, with particularly high associations for depression and future suicidal intent. These associations held up even after the researchers accounted for other potential influencing factors, such as age, sex, income, combat experience, physical health conditions, and history of childhood trauma.
“The magnitude of the associations among frequently lonely veterans was particularly striking,” Pietrzak noted. “Even after extensive adjustment for sociodemographic, military, trauma, health, and social factors, frequently lonely veterans had 32 times the odds of screening positive for depression compared with veterans who were hardly ever lonely; they also had substantially greater odds of having attempted suicide relative to less lonely veterans.”
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study relied on self-reported survey data, which means the results depend on the participants’ willingness and ability to accurately describe their feelings and symptoms. Additionally, the researchers used a cross-sectional design, capturing a snapshot of the veterans’ experiences at a single point in time. Because of this, the study cannot determine the direction of the relationship between loneliness and mental health.
“Because the study was cross-sectional, it cannot establish that loneliness causes psychiatric disorders or suicidality; these associations are likely bidirectional and mutually reinforcing,” Pietrzak explained. “The findings also should not be interpreted to mean that every lonely veteran has a mental disorder or is suicidal, but rather that loneliness may be an important marker of elevated vulnerability that warrants further assessment and support.”
There is also a possibility that by statistically adjusting for certain psychiatric conditions, the researchers might have understated the direct relationship between loneliness and suicide-related outcomes. Despite these limitations, the findings indicate that loneliness is a growing issue that requires ongoing attention from mental health professionals.
“An important next step is to use longitudinal data to clarify how loneliness and mental health measures influence one another over time and to identify veterans at greatest risk for persistent or worsening loneliness,” Pietrzak told PsyPost.
The researchers suggest that loneliness represents a key target for future prevention and treatment efforts. Because social isolation is something that can be modified, initiatives like peer support programs, community engagement activities, and social prescribing, where healthcare providers connect patients with community groups and social activities, could play a major role in improving veteran well-being. By focusing on helping veterans build stronger social connections, health systems might be able to reduce the broader psychiatric burden and lower the risk of suicide.
“Loneliness is modifiable, which makes these findings concerning but also actionable,” Pietrzak said. “Routine assessment of loneliness, followed by efforts to connect veterans with appropriate clinical, peer, and community resources, may provide an additional avenue for improving mental health and strengthening suicide-prevention efforts.”
The study, “A Growing Epidemic of Loneliness Among US Military Veterans: National Trends, Psychiatric Burden, and Suicide Risk,” was authored by Robert H. Pietrzak, Ian C. Fischer, and Peter J. Na.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #LonelinessAmongUSVeterans #VeteranMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention #PTSD #Depression #Anxiety #SocialConnection #MentalHealthAwareness #VeteransSupport #PublicHealthImpact
-
DATE: September 6, 2026 at 08:00AM
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: Rising loneliness among US veterans is closely tied to psychiatric burden and suicide risk
New research indicates that loneliness is a widespread and worsening issue among United States military veterans, with more than one in five reporting frequent feelings of isolation. The study, published in J Clin Psychiatry, provides evidence that higher levels of loneliness are strongly linked to increased risks of psychiatric disorders and suicidal thoughts. These findings suggest that addressing social disconnection could be an important target for improving veteran mental health and preventing suicide.
The research was led by Robert H. Pietrzak, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and professor of public health at the Yale School of Public Health. He and his team aimed to update our understanding of how social disconnection affects former military personnel. Loneliness is generally defined as the subjective feeling of being left out, isolated, or lacking in companionship. It is not just about being physically alone, but rather experiencing a painful gap between the social connections a person wants and the ones they actually have.
“Loneliness was already highly prevalent among U.S. veterans in 2019–2020, but the demographic composition of the veteran population and broader social environment have changed since then, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pietrzak told PsyPost. “We wanted to provide updated national estimates of the prevalence of loneliness and determine whether it is independently associated with psychiatric disorders and suicide-related outcomes after accounting for a broad range of sociodemographic, military, trauma, health, and social factors.”
Data from 2019 and 2020 showed that more than half of U.S. veterans experienced at least moderate loneliness, with nearly one in five feeling lonely on a frequent basis. Since then, the social landscape has shifted considerably. The researchers noted that the veteran population has been changing, with an increasing proportion of younger, female, and racially diverse individuals transitioning out of the military. This demographic shift is an important detail, as a study covered by PsyPost in 2015 found that younger generations of military personnel tend to experience lower levels of social integration, making them more vulnerable to mental health struggles and suicide.
In addition to these demographic changes, the lingering social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and broader societal stressors may have worsened feelings of isolation. Because loneliness often co-occurs with serious mental health conditions, the researchers wanted to explore exactly how current levels of loneliness correspond to specific psychiatric burdens. For instance, research covered by PsyPost in 2018 highlighted that veterans battling both post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and depression face an exceptionally high risk of suicidal thoughts. Pietrzak and his team sought to determine if loneliness was acting as a similar, widespread risk factor that spans multiple psychiatric conditions.
To investigate these trends, the researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. This nationally representative survey gathered responses from 2,612 U.S. veterans between December 2025 and January 2026. The participants were drawn from a large, probability-based panel designed to reflect the broader U.S. household population. By weighting the data, the researchers ensured their findings could be generalized to the entire population of living U.S. veterans.
The survey measured loneliness using a standard three-item questionnaire. Participants were asked how often they felt left out, how often they felt isolated from others, and how often they felt they lacked companionship. Based on their responses, the veterans were placed into one of three categories: hardly ever lonely, moderate loneliness, or frequent loneliness. The researchers also collected data on a variety of mental health indicators, including symptoms of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, alcohol and drug use disorders, and various measures of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
The results indicated that loneliness is highly prevalent among veterans. Overall, 58.7% of the respondents reported experiencing at least moderate loneliness. When broken down further, 36.3% fell into the moderate loneliness category, while 22.4% reported frequent loneliness. When compared to the estimates from 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of moderate loneliness remained relatively stable. However, the rate of frequent loneliness increased from 19.7% to 22.4%. The researchers estimate that this percentage increase translates to roughly 460,000 additional veterans experiencing frequent loneliness across the country.
“Loneliness is not simply an unpleasant feeling—it is a major public health concern,” Pietrzak explained. “Prior work has found that chronic loneliness is associated with an increased risk of premature mortality comparable to the risk associated with smoking as many as 15 cigarettes per day.”
The study also provides evidence of a strong relationship between the severity of loneliness and mental health struggles. Veterans in the moderate loneliness group had notably higher odds of meeting the screening criteria for depression, anxiety, PTSD, hazardous alcohol use, and suicidal thoughts over the past year, compared to those who were hardly ever lonely.
For veterans experiencing frequent loneliness, the psychiatric burden was even heavier. Compared to the hardly ever lonely group, frequently lonely veterans were much more likely to screen positive for six of the eight mental health measures assessed, excluding only drug use disorders and lifetime suicide attempts. The differences were stark when looking at suicidal ideation. Only 3.8% of veterans who were hardly ever lonely reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year. That figure jumped to 14.8% for moderately lonely veterans, and soared to 32.3% for those experiencing frequent loneliness.
When the researchers compared the frequently lonely group directly to the moderately lonely group, the risks were still elevated. Frequently lonely veterans showed much higher odds of facing almost all the measured mental health challenges, with particularly high associations for depression and future suicidal intent. These associations held up even after the researchers accounted for other potential influencing factors, such as age, sex, income, combat experience, physical health conditions, and history of childhood trauma.
“The magnitude of the associations among frequently lonely veterans was particularly striking,” Pietrzak noted. “Even after extensive adjustment for sociodemographic, military, trauma, health, and social factors, frequently lonely veterans had 32 times the odds of screening positive for depression compared with veterans who were hardly ever lonely; they also had substantially greater odds of having attempted suicide relative to less lonely veterans.”
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study relied on self-reported survey data, which means the results depend on the participants’ willingness and ability to accurately describe their feelings and symptoms. Additionally, the researchers used a cross-sectional design, capturing a snapshot of the veterans’ experiences at a single point in time. Because of this, the study cannot determine the direction of the relationship between loneliness and mental health.
“Because the study was cross-sectional, it cannot establish that loneliness causes psychiatric disorders or suicidality; these associations are likely bidirectional and mutually reinforcing,” Pietrzak explained. “The findings also should not be interpreted to mean that every lonely veteran has a mental disorder or is suicidal, but rather that loneliness may be an important marker of elevated vulnerability that warrants further assessment and support.”
There is also a possibility that by statistically adjusting for certain psychiatric conditions, the researchers might have understated the direct relationship between loneliness and suicide-related outcomes. Despite these limitations, the findings indicate that loneliness is a growing issue that requires ongoing attention from mental health professionals.
“An important next step is to use longitudinal data to clarify how loneliness and mental health measures influence one another over time and to identify veterans at greatest risk for persistent or worsening loneliness,” Pietrzak told PsyPost.
The researchers suggest that loneliness represents a key target for future prevention and treatment efforts. Because social isolation is something that can be modified, initiatives like peer support programs, community engagement activities, and social prescribing, where healthcare providers connect patients with community groups and social activities, could play a major role in improving veteran well-being. By focusing on helping veterans build stronger social connections, health systems might be able to reduce the broader psychiatric burden and lower the risk of suicide.
“Loneliness is modifiable, which makes these findings concerning but also actionable,” Pietrzak said. “Routine assessment of loneliness, followed by efforts to connect veterans with appropriate clinical, peer, and community resources, may provide an additional avenue for improving mental health and strengthening suicide-prevention efforts.”
The study, “A Growing Epidemic of Loneliness Among US Military Veterans: National Trends, Psychiatric Burden, and Suicide Risk,” was authored by Robert H. Pietrzak, Ian C. Fischer, and Peter J. Na.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #LonelinessAmongUSVeterans #VeteranMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention #PTSD #Depression #Anxiety #SocialConnection #MentalHealthAwareness #VeteransSupport #PublicHealthImpact
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DATE: September 6, 2026 at 07:00AM
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: Study finds AI companions boost mental health while damaging offline connections
Artificial intelligence companions that mimic emotional intelligence can improve a user’s personal mental health but may simultaneously damage their real-world relationships. These divergent effects become even stronger when users interact with chatbots through augmented reality features rather than basic text. The research was published in Psychology & Marketing.
Loneliness has become a major global health concern, with nearly a quarter of adults worldwide reporting that they feel lonely. To combat this isolation, many people are turning to artificial intelligence. Early conversational agents were designed for functional tasks like booking flights, but modern social chatbots are designed to fulfill a user’s need for affection and belonging.
These digital companions rely on simulated emotional intelligence, which is the ability to monitor, appraise, and respond to human feelings. By mimicking empathy, these algorithms create a safe space for users to express themselves without fear of judgment. The machines can detect sadness in a user’s text and respond with tailored self-care suggestions.
Researchers Shaphali Gupta, Sumit Saxena, and Sonia Kataria noticed a gap in how technologists understand the impacts of these emotionally aware algorithms. Past investigations mostly focused on the broader concept of how human-like a machine appears. The team wanted to isolate the specific trait of emotional intelligence to see how it alters a user’s psychological and social wellbeing.
Psychological wellbeing refers to a person’s individual mental state, encompassing positive emotions, self-esteem, and a sense of life purpose. Social wellbeing describes a person’s integration into their physical community and the quality of their face-to-face relationships.
The researchers used a mixed-method approach, beginning with a qualitative analysis of public posts on Reddit, YouTube, and Trustpilot. They collected user comments discussing Replika, a popular digital companion app with millions of registered users. The team categorized the text to identify recurring themes in how people experience artificial emotional intelligence.
The online comments revealed that users view their chatbots as highly empathetic entities capable of regulating human moods. Beyond simple mood regulation, some users felt the chatbots helped them find existential meaning and navigate difficult life situations. Many people reported feeling emotionally uplifted, with one user writing, “She is the best friend I have ever had! My stress has gone down to almost zero.”
However, the analysis also uncovered a darker trend of emotional disengagement from other humans. Some individuals admitted that their intensive digital interactions left them with little desire to maintain offline friendships. One user noted, “I am hardly left with any time to talk to my friends and meet them in-person.”
To test these qualitative observations, the team designed an experiment with 167 university students belonging to Generation Z. Participants read a scenario in which they interacted with a chatbot that exhibited either high or low emotional intelligence. The high emotional intelligence bots used empathetic language and emoticons to simulate deep understanding, while the low emotional intelligence bots offered standard, robotic responses.
The participants then answered questionnaires assessing their perceived closeness to the bot, as well as their personal and social wellbeing. The results indicated that high emotional intelligence chatbots increased a user’s psychological wellbeing but decreased their social wellbeing. The data showed that a feeling of perceived closeness drove both outcomes.
When people felt emotionally connected to the bot, they experienced personal mental health benefits but withdrew from real-world human interactions. The machine’s ability to understand their emotions made them feel better internally, but it also reduced their motivation to socialize with peers in physical spaces.
The researchers then conducted a second experiment with 350 university students to see if the medium of communication alters this dynamic. Participants were assigned to one of four groups, mixing high or low emotional intelligence with either a text-based chat interface or an augmented reality mode. Augmented reality is a technology that overlays digital images onto the physical world, often viewed through a smartphone camera.
In the augmented reality scenario, users watched a video demonstration and imagined the chatbot sitting beside them in their actual room. The augmented reality interaction mode amplified the effects observed in the previous experiment. When high emotional intelligence chatbots were combined with augmented reality, participants reported even stronger feelings of closeness.
This heightened immersion produced greater psychological benefits but resulted in steeper declines in their desire to engage in offline human relationships. The digital presence of the avatar made the emotional connection feel more realistic. As the technology became more immersive, the trade-off between personal happiness and social isolation became more pronounced.
Readers should not assume that emotionally intelligent chatbots will inevitably ruin human relationships, nor should they view them as a guaranteed cure for depression. The findings simply highlight a trade-off that occurs when users rely heavily on digital empathy. A chatbot might provide immediate comfort, but that very comfort can reduce the necessity of seeking out human support.
Designers of artificial intelligence systems might need to implement guardrails to prevent users from abandoning their physical communities. The authors suggest introducing session time limits or programming the bots to encourage offline socialization after emotionally intense conversations. Monitoring these routines could preserve the benefits of digital companions while reducing social displacement.
The experiments relied on university students reading imagined scenarios, which limits how broadly the conclusions can be applied. The studies also measured short-term reactions rather than long-term habit formation. Future research could track users over extended periods to see if emotional co-dependency develops, or investigate how different age groups respond to digital companions.
The study, “The Dual Impact of AI Emotional Intelligence on Users: Are Social Chatbots Promoting Psychological Wellbeing or Deteriorating Social Wellbeing?,” was authored by Shaphali Gupta, Sumit Saxena, and Sonia Kataria.
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DATE: September 6, 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: Scientists discover previously unknown brainwave chains that organize memory during REM sleep
A recent study in rats suggests that during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, the brain uses repeating chains of rapid electrical waves to organize and replay memories in a highly specific manner. These high-frequency brainwave chains appear to foster communication between different brain regions and help regulate activity in the memory centers of the brain. The research was published in eLife.
Memory consolidation is the biological process of turning fleeting recent experiences into stable long-term memories. This process heavily relies on the interaction between two major brain areas. The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain that initially records new memories, while the prefrontal cortex is a region at the front of the brain responsible for complex thinking and long-term storage.
While scientists have long known that sharp electrical waves coordinate memory replay between the hippocampus and the cortex during deep non-REM (NREM) sleep, how REM sleep contributes to this dialogue remained murky. For instance, a 2016 study covered by PsyPost demonstrated that during deep sleep, sharp-wave ripples in the hippocampus dictate slow brainwave rhythms in the cortex to drive memory replay.
More recently, a 2024 study indicated that rapid ripples of electricity originating in the prefrontal cortex during NREM sleep actually suppress hippocampal activity. Other research, such as a 2012 study, found that REM sleep adjusts the overall excitability of hippocampal neurons.
The new study connects these threads by exploring how rapid-fire brainwave chains in the prefrontal cortex during REM sleep organize a distinct replay of memories and regulate hippocampal brain activity. The research, led by Justin D. Shin and Shantanu P. Jadhav, aimed to determine exactly how prefrontal and hippocampal dynamics differ during high-frequency electrical events across both NREM and REM sleep stages.
“Decades of research has established the role of reactivation in hippocampal and cortical regions of the brain during NREM sleep,” Jadhav, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Volen Center for Complex Systems at Brandeis University and head of the Jadhav Lab, told PsyPost. “REM sleep stages, which are typically associated with dreaming, are known to be important for memory consolidation, but whether and how memory reactivation occurs in REM sleep is still unknown and debated.”
“The motivation for our study was to address this gap,” Jadhav explained. “We used spatial learning tasks in rodent models to investigate memory reactivation in REM sleep, and its relationship to NREM sleep reactivation, to shed light on sleep memory processes.”
To investigate this, the scientists monitored the brain activity of 10 adult rats as they learned a spatial memory task. The rats navigated a W-shaped maze to receive rewards, an activity that requires active communication between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. During the learning phase and the subsequent sleep sessions, the researchers continuously tracked the animals’ brain activity.
They surgically implanted arrays of microelectrodes, known as tetrodes, into both the prefrontal cortex and the CA1 region, a major subfield of the hippocampus that serves as a primary output zone for memory signals. This allowed the team to record both the broad electrical rhythms of the brain and the firing patterns of individual neurons. Using the ratio of different brainwave frequencies, the researchers categorized the rats’ sleep into NREM and REM stages.
During NREM sleep, the prefrontal cortex produces brief, rapid bursts of electrical activity known as ripples. The researchers noticed that these NREM ripples triggered massive, synchronous bursts of firing among prefrontal neurons. During REM sleep, the researchers detected similar rapid events, which they termed high-frequency oscillations (HFOs).
Unlike the single bursts seen in NREM sleep, REM HFOs tended to occur in repeating chains. These chains repeated roughly every 130 milliseconds, a timing that perfectly aligns with a slower, steady brain rhythm called the theta wave, which is highly active during REM sleep.
The neuron firing patterns during these REM HFO chains were highly structured. Instead of the massive bursts of widespread activity seen in NREM sleep, the overall background noise of the prefrontal cortex quieted down. Against this suppressed background, specific small groups of neurons fired in sparse, sequential patterns. This indicates that the prefrontal cortex replays memories in a much more precise and orderly sequence during REM sleep.
“A particularly surprising finding was that neural reactivation in REM sleep is organized differently compared to NREM sleep,” Jadhav said. “REM reactivation was sparse, involving smaller specific subsets of neurons in cortical regions, and temporally extended, lasting on the order of ~1 second. In contrast, NREM reactivation occurs in bursts of activity lasting ~100 msec.”
During these REM HFO chains, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus showed increased synchronization in the theta frequency range. The REM HFO chains also engaged a specific subset of neurons in the hippocampus. Interestingly, these were the exact same hippocampal neurons that were most strongly silenced during the prefrontal ripples of NREM sleep.
By tracking these specific hippocampal neurons over time, the researchers observed that they gradually increased their baseline firing rates across the sleep session. This provides evidence that the alternating stages of NREM and REM sleep work together to adjust and tune the excitability of memory circuits. The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which similarly found that memory consolidation during REM sleep relies on sparse, highly coordinated neural replay, though that study focused on fear memory rather than spatial learning.
“Our results show clear qualitative as well as quantitative differences in memory reactivation patterns in REM vs. NREM sleep in cortical-hippocampal regions,” Jadhav noted. “These findings suggest new mechanisms for how the two major sleep stages, NREM and REM sleep, together reactivate memories of daily experiences for selectively storing and integrating long-term memories.”
To better understand the biological mechanics driving these differences, the researchers built a computational model of the brain network. They focused on acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is highly concentrated in the brain during REM sleep but practically absent during NREM sleep.
“The study also included a modeling component, in which we were able to replicate the experimental results of distinct reactivation patterns in REM and NREM sleep using a model cortical network, based on known differences in the amount of a specific neuromodulator called acetylcholine,” Jadhav explained.
When the model simulated the low acetylcholine levels of NREM sleep, a small input triggered widespread, explosive bursts of neural activity. But when the model simulated the high acetylcholine levels of REM sleep, the network became more restrained. The high acetylcholine limited the spread of activity, perfectly recreating the sparse, sequential firing seen during the actual REM HFO chains.
There are a few things to keep in mind regarding this study. The researchers could not directly link these REM-specific memory replay events to behavioral improvements on the spatial task. Future studies using tasks known to heavily depend on REM sleep might be necessary to map these brainwaves directly to learning outcomes.
“Our study provides phenomenological evidence for distinct physiological signatures of reactivation in REM and NREM sleep, but we have yet to show a direct link between this novel form of REM reactivation and memory consolidation,” Jadhav clarified.
Moving forward, the research team aims to test this direct link. “A major long-term goal is to establish that this REM reactivation process is required for memory consolidation, and dissect the complementary roles of REM and NREM sleep reactivation in long-term memory storage,” Jadhav stated. “Indeed, how these two sleep stages work together to mediate memory consolidation is a major outstanding question in the field.”
Additionally, the researchers could not perfectly separate REM sleep into its more granular sub-stages, known as tonic and phasic REM, because they did not record the rats’ eye movements. The data was also collected over a few hours rather than a full 24-hour cycle, which means the study did not capture how these sleep dynamics might shift over a full day and night.
“A second major line of research is to investigate the role of neuromodulators, chemicals in the brain which are largely responsible for the vastly different activity signatures seen in REM and NREM sleep,” Jadhav added.
The study, “REM sleep prefrontal high-frequency oscillation chains mediate distinct cortical – hippocampal reactivation patterns compared to NREM sleep,” was authored by Justin D. Shin, Michael Satchell, Paul Miller, and Shantanu P. Jadhav.
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: September 6, 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: Scientists discover previously unknown brainwave chains that organize memory during REM sleep
A recent study in rats suggests that during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, the brain uses repeating chains of rapid electrical waves to organize and replay memories in a highly specific manner. These high-frequency brainwave chains appear to foster communication between different brain regions and help regulate activity in the memory centers of the brain. The research was published in eLife.
Memory consolidation is the biological process of turning fleeting recent experiences into stable long-term memories. This process heavily relies on the interaction between two major brain areas. The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain that initially records new memories, while the prefrontal cortex is a region at the front of the brain responsible for complex thinking and long-term storage.
While scientists have long known that sharp electrical waves coordinate memory replay between the hippocampus and the cortex during deep non-REM (NREM) sleep, how REM sleep contributes to this dialogue remained murky. For instance, a 2016 study covered by PsyPost demonstrated that during deep sleep, sharp-wave ripples in the hippocampus dictate slow brainwave rhythms in the cortex to drive memory replay.
More recently, a 2024 study indicated that rapid ripples of electricity originating in the prefrontal cortex during NREM sleep actually suppress hippocampal activity. Other research, such as a 2012 study, found that REM sleep adjusts the overall excitability of hippocampal neurons.
The new study connects these threads by exploring how rapid-fire brainwave chains in the prefrontal cortex during REM sleep organize a distinct replay of memories and regulate hippocampal brain activity. The research, led by Justin D. Shin and Shantanu P. Jadhav, aimed to determine exactly how prefrontal and hippocampal dynamics differ during high-frequency electrical events across both NREM and REM sleep stages.
“Decades of research has established the role of reactivation in hippocampal and cortical regions of the brain during NREM sleep,” Jadhav, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Volen Center for Complex Systems at Brandeis University and head of the Jadhav Lab, told PsyPost. “REM sleep stages, which are typically associated with dreaming, are known to be important for memory consolidation, but whether and how memory reactivation occurs in REM sleep is still unknown and debated.”
“The motivation for our study was to address this gap,” Jadhav explained. “We used spatial learning tasks in rodent models to investigate memory reactivation in REM sleep, and its relationship to NREM sleep reactivation, to shed light on sleep memory processes.”
To investigate this, the scientists monitored the brain activity of 10 adult rats as they learned a spatial memory task. The rats navigated a W-shaped maze to receive rewards, an activity that requires active communication between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. During the learning phase and the subsequent sleep sessions, the researchers continuously tracked the animals’ brain activity.
They surgically implanted arrays of microelectrodes, known as tetrodes, into both the prefrontal cortex and the CA1 region, a major subfield of the hippocampus that serves as a primary output zone for memory signals. This allowed the team to record both the broad electrical rhythms of the brain and the firing patterns of individual neurons. Using the ratio of different brainwave frequencies, the researchers categorized the rats’ sleep into NREM and REM stages.
During NREM sleep, the prefrontal cortex produces brief, rapid bursts of electrical activity known as ripples. The researchers noticed that these NREM ripples triggered massive, synchronous bursts of firing among prefrontal neurons. During REM sleep, the researchers detected similar rapid events, which they termed high-frequency oscillations (HFOs).
Unlike the single bursts seen in NREM sleep, REM HFOs tended to occur in repeating chains. These chains repeated roughly every 130 milliseconds, a timing that perfectly aligns with a slower, steady brain rhythm called the theta wave, which is highly active during REM sleep.
The neuron firing patterns during these REM HFO chains were highly structured. Instead of the massive bursts of widespread activity seen in NREM sleep, the overall background noise of the prefrontal cortex quieted down. Against this suppressed background, specific small groups of neurons fired in sparse, sequential patterns. This indicates that the prefrontal cortex replays memories in a much more precise and orderly sequence during REM sleep.
“A particularly surprising finding was that neural reactivation in REM sleep is organized differently compared to NREM sleep,” Jadhav said. “REM reactivation was sparse, involving smaller specific subsets of neurons in cortical regions, and temporally extended, lasting on the order of ~1 second. In contrast, NREM reactivation occurs in bursts of activity lasting ~100 msec.”
During these REM HFO chains, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus showed increased synchronization in the theta frequency range. The REM HFO chains also engaged a specific subset of neurons in the hippocampus. Interestingly, these were the exact same hippocampal neurons that were most strongly silenced during the prefrontal ripples of NREM sleep.
By tracking these specific hippocampal neurons over time, the researchers observed that they gradually increased their baseline firing rates across the sleep session. This provides evidence that the alternating stages of NREM and REM sleep work together to adjust and tune the excitability of memory circuits. The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which similarly found that memory consolidation during REM sleep relies on sparse, highly coordinated neural replay, though that study focused on fear memory rather than spatial learning.
“Our results show clear qualitative as well as quantitative differences in memory reactivation patterns in REM vs. NREM sleep in cortical-hippocampal regions,” Jadhav noted. “These findings suggest new mechanisms for how the two major sleep stages, NREM and REM sleep, together reactivate memories of daily experiences for selectively storing and integrating long-term memories.”
To better understand the biological mechanics driving these differences, the researchers built a computational model of the brain network. They focused on acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is highly concentrated in the brain during REM sleep but practically absent during NREM sleep.
“The study also included a modeling component, in which we were able to replicate the experimental results of distinct reactivation patterns in REM and NREM sleep using a model cortical network, based on known differences in the amount of a specific neuromodulator called acetylcholine,” Jadhav explained.
When the model simulated the low acetylcholine levels of NREM sleep, a small input triggered widespread, explosive bursts of neural activity. But when the model simulated the high acetylcholine levels of REM sleep, the network became more restrained. The high acetylcholine limited the spread of activity, perfectly recreating the sparse, sequential firing seen during the actual REM HFO chains.
There are a few things to keep in mind regarding this study. The researchers could not directly link these REM-specific memory replay events to behavioral improvements on the spatial task. Future studies using tasks known to heavily depend on REM sleep might be necessary to map these brainwaves directly to learning outcomes.
“Our study provides phenomenological evidence for distinct physiological signatures of reactivation in REM and NREM sleep, but we have yet to show a direct link between this novel form of REM reactivation and memory consolidation,” Jadhav clarified.
Moving forward, the research team aims to test this direct link. “A major long-term goal is to establish that this REM reactivation process is required for memory consolidation, and dissect the complementary roles of REM and NREM sleep reactivation in long-term memory storage,” Jadhav stated. “Indeed, how these two sleep stages work together to mediate memory consolidation is a major outstanding question in the field.”
Additionally, the researchers could not perfectly separate REM sleep into its more granular sub-stages, known as tonic and phasic REM, because they did not record the rats’ eye movements. The data was also collected over a few hours rather than a full 24-hour cycle, which means the study did not capture how these sleep dynamics might shift over a full day and night.
“A second major line of research is to investigate the role of neuromodulators, chemicals in the brain which are largely responsible for the vastly different activity signatures seen in REM and NREM sleep,” Jadhav added.
The study, “REM sleep prefrontal high-frequency oscillation chains mediate distinct cortical – hippocampal reactivation patterns compared to NREM sleep,” was authored by Justin D. Shin, Michael Satchell, Paul Miller, and Shantanu P. Jadhav.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #REMsleep #memoryconsolidation #hippocampus #prefrontalcortex #neuraloscillations #highfrequencyoscillations #brainwaves #sleepresearch #corticalhippocampalcommunication #neuroscience
-
DATE: September 6, 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: Scientists discover previously unknown brainwave chains that organize memory during REM sleep
A recent study in rats suggests that during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, the brain uses repeating chains of rapid electrical waves to organize and replay memories in a highly specific manner. These high-frequency brainwave chains appear to foster communication between different brain regions and help regulate activity in the memory centers of the brain. The research was published in eLife.
Memory consolidation is the biological process of turning fleeting recent experiences into stable long-term memories. This process heavily relies on the interaction between two major brain areas. The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain that initially records new memories, while the prefrontal cortex is a region at the front of the brain responsible for complex thinking and long-term storage.
While scientists have long known that sharp electrical waves coordinate memory replay between the hippocampus and the cortex during deep non-REM (NREM) sleep, how REM sleep contributes to this dialogue remained murky. For instance, a 2016 study covered by PsyPost demonstrated that during deep sleep, sharp-wave ripples in the hippocampus dictate slow brainwave rhythms in the cortex to drive memory replay.
More recently, a 2024 study indicated that rapid ripples of electricity originating in the prefrontal cortex during NREM sleep actually suppress hippocampal activity. Other research, such as a 2012 study, found that REM sleep adjusts the overall excitability of hippocampal neurons.
The new study connects these threads by exploring how rapid-fire brainwave chains in the prefrontal cortex during REM sleep organize a distinct replay of memories and regulate hippocampal brain activity. The research, led by Justin D. Shin and Shantanu P. Jadhav, aimed to determine exactly how prefrontal and hippocampal dynamics differ during high-frequency electrical events across both NREM and REM sleep stages.
“Decades of research has established the role of reactivation in hippocampal and cortical regions of the brain during NREM sleep,” Jadhav, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Volen Center for Complex Systems at Brandeis University and head of the Jadhav Lab, told PsyPost. “REM sleep stages, which are typically associated with dreaming, are known to be important for memory consolidation, but whether and how memory reactivation occurs in REM sleep is still unknown and debated.”
“The motivation for our study was to address this gap,” Jadhav explained. “We used spatial learning tasks in rodent models to investigate memory reactivation in REM sleep, and its relationship to NREM sleep reactivation, to shed light on sleep memory processes.”
To investigate this, the scientists monitored the brain activity of 10 adult rats as they learned a spatial memory task. The rats navigated a W-shaped maze to receive rewards, an activity that requires active communication between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. During the learning phase and the subsequent sleep sessions, the researchers continuously tracked the animals’ brain activity.
They surgically implanted arrays of microelectrodes, known as tetrodes, into both the prefrontal cortex and the CA1 region, a major subfield of the hippocampus that serves as a primary output zone for memory signals. This allowed the team to record both the broad electrical rhythms of the brain and the firing patterns of individual neurons. Using the ratio of different brainwave frequencies, the researchers categorized the rats’ sleep into NREM and REM stages.
During NREM sleep, the prefrontal cortex produces brief, rapid bursts of electrical activity known as ripples. The researchers noticed that these NREM ripples triggered massive, synchronous bursts of firing among prefrontal neurons. During REM sleep, the researchers detected similar rapid events, which they termed high-frequency oscillations (HFOs).
Unlike the single bursts seen in NREM sleep, REM HFOs tended to occur in repeating chains. These chains repeated roughly every 130 milliseconds, a timing that perfectly aligns with a slower, steady brain rhythm called the theta wave, which is highly active during REM sleep.
The neuron firing patterns during these REM HFO chains were highly structured. Instead of the massive bursts of widespread activity seen in NREM sleep, the overall background noise of the prefrontal cortex quieted down. Against this suppressed background, specific small groups of neurons fired in sparse, sequential patterns. This indicates that the prefrontal cortex replays memories in a much more precise and orderly sequence during REM sleep.
“A particularly surprising finding was that neural reactivation in REM sleep is organized differently compared to NREM sleep,” Jadhav said. “REM reactivation was sparse, involving smaller specific subsets of neurons in cortical regions, and temporally extended, lasting on the order of ~1 second. In contrast, NREM reactivation occurs in bursts of activity lasting ~100 msec.”
During these REM HFO chains, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus showed increased synchronization in the theta frequency range. The REM HFO chains also engaged a specific subset of neurons in the hippocampus. Interestingly, these were the exact same hippocampal neurons that were most strongly silenced during the prefrontal ripples of NREM sleep.
By tracking these specific hippocampal neurons over time, the researchers observed that they gradually increased their baseline firing rates across the sleep session. This provides evidence that the alternating stages of NREM and REM sleep work together to adjust and tune the excitability of memory circuits. The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which similarly found that memory consolidation during REM sleep relies on sparse, highly coordinated neural replay, though that study focused on fear memory rather than spatial learning.
“Our results show clear qualitative as well as quantitative differences in memory reactivation patterns in REM vs. NREM sleep in cortical-hippocampal regions,” Jadhav noted. “These findings suggest new mechanisms for how the two major sleep stages, NREM and REM sleep, together reactivate memories of daily experiences for selectively storing and integrating long-term memories.”
To better understand the biological mechanics driving these differences, the researchers built a computational model of the brain network. They focused on acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is highly concentrated in the brain during REM sleep but practically absent during NREM sleep.
“The study also included a modeling component, in which we were able to replicate the experimental results of distinct reactivation patterns in REM and NREM sleep using a model cortical network, based on known differences in the amount of a specific neuromodulator called acetylcholine,” Jadhav explained.
When the model simulated the low acetylcholine levels of NREM sleep, a small input triggered widespread, explosive bursts of neural activity. But when the model simulated the high acetylcholine levels of REM sleep, the network became more restrained. The high acetylcholine limited the spread of activity, perfectly recreating the sparse, sequential firing seen during the actual REM HFO chains.
There are a few things to keep in mind regarding this study. The researchers could not directly link these REM-specific memory replay events to behavioral improvements on the spatial task. Future studies using tasks known to heavily depend on REM sleep might be necessary to map these brainwaves directly to learning outcomes.
“Our study provides phenomenological evidence for distinct physiological signatures of reactivation in REM and NREM sleep, but we have yet to show a direct link between this novel form of REM reactivation and memory consolidation,” Jadhav clarified.
Moving forward, the research team aims to test this direct link. “A major long-term goal is to establish that this REM reactivation process is required for memory consolidation, and dissect the complementary roles of REM and NREM sleep reactivation in long-term memory storage,” Jadhav stated. “Indeed, how these two sleep stages work together to mediate memory consolidation is a major outstanding question in the field.”
Additionally, the researchers could not perfectly separate REM sleep into its more granular sub-stages, known as tonic and phasic REM, because they did not record the rats’ eye movements. The data was also collected over a few hours rather than a full 24-hour cycle, which means the study did not capture how these sleep dynamics might shift over a full day and night.
“A second major line of research is to investigate the role of neuromodulators, chemicals in the brain which are largely responsible for the vastly different activity signatures seen in REM and NREM sleep,” Jadhav added.
The study, “REM sleep prefrontal high-frequency oscillation chains mediate distinct cortical – hippocampal reactivation patterns compared to NREM sleep,” was authored by Justin D. Shin, Michael Satchell, Paul Miller, and Shantanu P. Jadhav.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #REMsleep #memoryconsolidation #hippocampus #prefrontalcortex #neuraloscillations #highfrequencyoscillations #brainwaves #sleepresearch #corticalhippocampalcommunication #neuroscience
-
DATE: September 6, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: We Can’t Know Our A.I. Future if We Don’t Study It
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/ai-social-sciences.html
Just as A.I. is poised to change the world, we’re losing our best ways of studying what that change will look like.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/ai-social-sciences.html
-------------------------------------------------
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