#counseling — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #counseling, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: September 3, 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: The link between dark personality traits and online toxicity is more nuanced than expected
A new study found that individuals with more pronounced dark personality traits tend to report more engagement in uncivil online interactions. However, analysis of their actual Reddit comments did not confirm this association—dark personality traits were not associated with any of the toxicity or linguistic features of their comments. The paper was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
Online social platforms have transformed how people communicate, exchange information, and build communities. However, they have also created new opportunities for harmful behavior. Toxic and hateful speech is particularly concerning because hostile online interactions can result in psychological harm, and, in some cases, offline violence. Research increasingly suggests that such behavior is shaped not only by the design of online platforms or specific situations, but also by individual personality differences.
Particular attention has been given to the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism. These traits have been associated with behaviors such as trolling, cyberbullying, manipulation, hostility, and the production or endorsement of toxic content. For example, people with stronger sadistic tendencies may enjoy provoking or upsetting others, while psychopathic traits have been linked to more impulsive and hostile online interactions.
Because personality also influences how people communicate, researchers have become interested in whether psychological characteristics might be reflected in the language people use online. This has contributed to the development of computational approaches that attempt to infer personality traits from digital behavior and linguistic patterns.
Study author Aldo Cerulli and his colleagues explored the relationship between dark personality traits and the textual content people post online. More specifically, they wanted to see whether dark personality traits can be reliably inferred from textual materials on social media.
Study participants were 114 U.S. individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing platform. After enrolling in the study, participants provided information the researchers needed to link them to their Reddit accounts. For this, the study authors developed a dedicated web application that interfaces directly with Reddit’s Application Programming Interface (API), allowing for the secure, automated collection of participant data.
The study authors used this link to collect participants’ Reddit comments. In total, this included 152,741 sentences that comprised 56,892 comments. The mean number of comments per participant was 499. By analyzing these texts, the study authors derived estimates of participants’ online toxicity, psycholinguistic characteristics, emotional expressions, contextual emotions, moral foundations, use of irony, and text-derived dark personality traits. Aside from this, study participants completed questionnaire assessments of dark personality traits (the Dark Side of Humanity Scale), cyberbullying and trolling (the Cyberbully/Troll Deviancy Scale), and six items regarding their social media use habits.
Results showed no significant associations between the self-reported dark personality traits and estimates of those traits derived computationally from participants’ text responses. Individuals whose self-reported trolling behaviors and dark personality traits, particularly Successful Psychopathy—a calculated, manipulative style combining psychopathy and Machiavellianism—were more pronounced tended to report using uncivil comments and content on social media more often. However, dark personality traits did not predict actual toxicity expressed in participants’ Reddit comments.
Unlike personality traits, participants’ own descriptions of their online behavior were associated with their actual Reddit behavior. More specifically, participants who said they often produced toxic content actually tended to have more toxic Reddit comments. Furthermore, people who reported being targets of toxicity also tended to produce more toxic comments, suggesting a form of perpetrator-victim reciprocity where exposure to hostility increases the likelihood of responding in kind.
“Our results underscore the importance of grounding computational approaches in validated psychological measures and point to the need for richer, context-aware representations to better understand the relationship between personality and online behavior,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the associations between personality traits and online behavior. However, it should be noted that the study was conducted on a relatively small sample of participants and focused on Reddit comments only. Results of studies on larger samples, exploring wider sources of online behavior, and using different approaches to text analysis might differ. Additionally, the validity of estimates of psychological characteristics derived from features of text comments is unclear.
The paper, “Dark personality traits and online toxicity: Linking self-reports to Reddit activity,” was authored by Aldo Cerulli, Benedetta Tessa, Giuseppe La Selva, Oronzo Mazzeo, Lorenzo Cima, Lucia Monacis, and Stefano Cresci.
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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 #DarkTetrad #OnlineToxicity #PsychologyOfSocialMedia #RedditResearch #TrollingAndCyberbullying #Machiavellianism #Psychopathy #DarkPersonality #ComputersInHumanBehavior #TextAnalysis #LinguisticPatterns
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DATE: September 3, 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: The link between dark personality traits and online toxicity is more nuanced than expected
A new study found that individuals with more pronounced dark personality traits tend to report more engagement in uncivil online interactions. However, analysis of their actual Reddit comments did not confirm this association—dark personality traits were not associated with any of the toxicity or linguistic features of their comments. The paper was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
Online social platforms have transformed how people communicate, exchange information, and build communities. However, they have also created new opportunities for harmful behavior. Toxic and hateful speech is particularly concerning because hostile online interactions can result in psychological harm, and, in some cases, offline violence. Research increasingly suggests that such behavior is shaped not only by the design of online platforms or specific situations, but also by individual personality differences.
Particular attention has been given to the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism. These traits have been associated with behaviors such as trolling, cyberbullying, manipulation, hostility, and the production or endorsement of toxic content. For example, people with stronger sadistic tendencies may enjoy provoking or upsetting others, while psychopathic traits have been linked to more impulsive and hostile online interactions.
Because personality also influences how people communicate, researchers have become interested in whether psychological characteristics might be reflected in the language people use online. This has contributed to the development of computational approaches that attempt to infer personality traits from digital behavior and linguistic patterns.
Study author Aldo Cerulli and his colleagues explored the relationship between dark personality traits and the textual content people post online. More specifically, they wanted to see whether dark personality traits can be reliably inferred from textual materials on social media.
Study participants were 114 U.S. individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing platform. After enrolling in the study, participants provided information the researchers needed to link them to their Reddit accounts. For this, the study authors developed a dedicated web application that interfaces directly with Reddit’s Application Programming Interface (API), allowing for the secure, automated collection of participant data.
The study authors used this link to collect participants’ Reddit comments. In total, this included 152,741 sentences that comprised 56,892 comments. The mean number of comments per participant was 499. By analyzing these texts, the study authors derived estimates of participants’ online toxicity, psycholinguistic characteristics, emotional expressions, contextual emotions, moral foundations, use of irony, and text-derived dark personality traits. Aside from this, study participants completed questionnaire assessments of dark personality traits (the Dark Side of Humanity Scale), cyberbullying and trolling (the Cyberbully/Troll Deviancy Scale), and six items regarding their social media use habits.
Results showed no significant associations between the self-reported dark personality traits and estimates of those traits derived computationally from participants’ text responses. Individuals whose self-reported trolling behaviors and dark personality traits, particularly Successful Psychopathy—a calculated, manipulative style combining psychopathy and Machiavellianism—were more pronounced tended to report using uncivil comments and content on social media more often. However, dark personality traits did not predict actual toxicity expressed in participants’ Reddit comments.
Unlike personality traits, participants’ own descriptions of their online behavior were associated with their actual Reddit behavior. More specifically, participants who said they often produced toxic content actually tended to have more toxic Reddit comments. Furthermore, people who reported being targets of toxicity also tended to produce more toxic comments, suggesting a form of perpetrator-victim reciprocity where exposure to hostility increases the likelihood of responding in kind.
“Our results underscore the importance of grounding computational approaches in validated psychological measures and point to the need for richer, context-aware representations to better understand the relationship between personality and online behavior,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the associations between personality traits and online behavior. However, it should be noted that the study was conducted on a relatively small sample of participants and focused on Reddit comments only. Results of studies on larger samples, exploring wider sources of online behavior, and using different approaches to text analysis might differ. Additionally, the validity of estimates of psychological characteristics derived from features of text comments is unclear.
The paper, “Dark personality traits and online toxicity: Linking self-reports to Reddit activity,” was authored by Aldo Cerulli, Benedetta Tessa, Giuseppe La Selva, Oronzo Mazzeo, Lorenzo Cima, Lucia Monacis, and Stefano Cresci.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #DarkTetrad #OnlineToxicity #PsychologyOfSocialMedia #RedditResearch #TrollingAndCyberbullying #Machiavellianism #Psychopathy #DarkPersonality #ComputersInHumanBehavior #TextAnalysis #LinguisticPatterns
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DATE: September 3, 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: The link between dark personality traits and online toxicity is more nuanced than expected
A new study found that individuals with more pronounced dark personality traits tend to report more engagement in uncivil online interactions. However, analysis of their actual Reddit comments did not confirm this association—dark personality traits were not associated with any of the toxicity or linguistic features of their comments. The paper was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
Online social platforms have transformed how people communicate, exchange information, and build communities. However, they have also created new opportunities for harmful behavior. Toxic and hateful speech is particularly concerning because hostile online interactions can result in psychological harm, and, in some cases, offline violence. Research increasingly suggests that such behavior is shaped not only by the design of online platforms or specific situations, but also by individual personality differences.
Particular attention has been given to the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism. These traits have been associated with behaviors such as trolling, cyberbullying, manipulation, hostility, and the production or endorsement of toxic content. For example, people with stronger sadistic tendencies may enjoy provoking or upsetting others, while psychopathic traits have been linked to more impulsive and hostile online interactions.
Because personality also influences how people communicate, researchers have become interested in whether psychological characteristics might be reflected in the language people use online. This has contributed to the development of computational approaches that attempt to infer personality traits from digital behavior and linguistic patterns.
Study author Aldo Cerulli and his colleagues explored the relationship between dark personality traits and the textual content people post online. More specifically, they wanted to see whether dark personality traits can be reliably inferred from textual materials on social media.
Study participants were 114 U.S. individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing platform. After enrolling in the study, participants provided information the researchers needed to link them to their Reddit accounts. For this, the study authors developed a dedicated web application that interfaces directly with Reddit’s Application Programming Interface (API), allowing for the secure, automated collection of participant data.
The study authors used this link to collect participants’ Reddit comments. In total, this included 152,741 sentences that comprised 56,892 comments. The mean number of comments per participant was 499. By analyzing these texts, the study authors derived estimates of participants’ online toxicity, psycholinguistic characteristics, emotional expressions, contextual emotions, moral foundations, use of irony, and text-derived dark personality traits. Aside from this, study participants completed questionnaire assessments of dark personality traits (the Dark Side of Humanity Scale), cyberbullying and trolling (the Cyberbully/Troll Deviancy Scale), and six items regarding their social media use habits.
Results showed no significant associations between the self-reported dark personality traits and estimates of those traits derived computationally from participants’ text responses. Individuals whose self-reported trolling behaviors and dark personality traits, particularly Successful Psychopathy—a calculated, manipulative style combining psychopathy and Machiavellianism—were more pronounced tended to report using uncivil comments and content on social media more often. However, dark personality traits did not predict actual toxicity expressed in participants’ Reddit comments.
Unlike personality traits, participants’ own descriptions of their online behavior were associated with their actual Reddit behavior. More specifically, participants who said they often produced toxic content actually tended to have more toxic Reddit comments. Furthermore, people who reported being targets of toxicity also tended to produce more toxic comments, suggesting a form of perpetrator-victim reciprocity where exposure to hostility increases the likelihood of responding in kind.
“Our results underscore the importance of grounding computational approaches in validated psychological measures and point to the need for richer, context-aware representations to better understand the relationship between personality and online behavior,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the associations between personality traits and online behavior. However, it should be noted that the study was conducted on a relatively small sample of participants and focused on Reddit comments only. Results of studies on larger samples, exploring wider sources of online behavior, and using different approaches to text analysis might differ. Additionally, the validity of estimates of psychological characteristics derived from features of text comments is unclear.
The paper, “Dark personality traits and online toxicity: Linking self-reports to Reddit activity,” was authored by Aldo Cerulli, Benedetta Tessa, Giuseppe La Selva, Oronzo Mazzeo, Lorenzo Cima, Lucia Monacis, and Stefano Cresci.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #DarkTetrad #OnlineToxicity #PsychologyOfSocialMedia #RedditResearch #TrollingAndCyberbullying #Machiavellianism #Psychopathy #DarkPersonality #ComputersInHumanBehavior #TextAnalysis #LinguisticPatterns
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DATE: September 3, 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: Historical slavery predicts modern mortality gaps between Black and White Americans
A recent study has found that United States counties with a higher proportion of enslaved people in 1860 currently experience wider mortality gaps between Black and White residents. This historical legacy appears to be maintained through modern structural inequities like economic and educational disparities. The findings were published in PNAS.
Despite beliefs that racial equality has progressed in the United States, severe health disparities remain between White and Black Americans. These inequalities are reflected in rates of chronic illness, life expectancy, and overall mortality. Over the past two decades, these disparities have resulted in an estimated 1.63 million excess deaths among Black Americans.
Systemic racism theory proposes that historical injustices are not just isolated events of the past but form the foundation of ongoing social institutions. Under this framework, historical practices like chattel slavery shaped the distribution of resources, political power, and opportunities in ways that persist across generations. Because these institutions are tied to specific locations, they can create durable, place-based conditions that maintain racial hierarchies long after formal policies have ended.
When resources like education, stable housing, and health care are unequally distributed, they become social determinants of health. These determinants act as cumulative risks or protections over a person’s life. Previous research indicates that patterns of enslavement prior to the Civil War continue to predict modern disparities in income, segregation, and some specific health outcomes like heart disease.
The authors of this new study aimed to test whether historical slavery predicts modern differences in the overall death rate. They also wanted to see if this relationship is carried through specific structural inequalities, such as economic gaps and unequal college access. Additionally, the researchers sought to address a long-standing debate about whether systems of racial oppression provided broad advantages to White Americans or only benefited a small elite class.
The research, led by Manuel J. Galvan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed data from counties in sixteen states where slavery was legal in 1860. The team combined historical census data on the proportion of enslaved people in each county with modern health data. For their main outcome, they used age-adjusted, all-cause mortality rates from 2010 to 2020 for both non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations.
“I generally study what conditions create and reproduce inequality,” Galvan told PsyPost. “In the case of Black-White racial inequality in the U.S., there is a lot of historical, theoretical, and empirical research that links slavery to a wide variety of racial disparities. This project was about linking the different variables in the literature together in one model where we could evaluate how slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in 1990-2000, and mortality disparities in 2010-2020.”
To understand how historical slavery might connect to modern health, the researchers looked at data on structural inequalities from the years 1990 to 2000. These included measures of residential segregation, overall economic inequality, racial disparities in poverty, and differences in college attainment. Using data from up to 901 counties, they constructed statistical models that accounted for various historical geographic and economic factors.
The team found that modern mortality gaps closely track the historical presence of slavery. In counties where 0 percent of the population was enslaved in 1860, the modern mortality rate was slightly higher for Black residents, with 11 additional deaths per 100,000 people compared to White residents. In counties with the highest historical enslavement rates, the gap was nearly 20 times larger.
In those areas, which had up to 92 percent of their population enslaved in 1860, the model estimated 214 additional deaths per 100,000 for Black Americans compared to White Americans. Specifically, the data indicates that for every 10 percent increase in the historical enslaved population, there are 13.6 more deaths per 100,000 among Black Americans today. At the same time, every 10 percent increase in historical enslavement predicts 8.5 fewer deaths per 100,000 among White Americans.
“These are rate differences, but they describe real people,” Galvan noted. “A county-level gap in age-adjusted mortality is a gap in how many people reach the next birthday.”
“The most important takeaway is that historical slavery predicts contemporary Black-White mortality disparities across U.S. counties, even when the authors use an unusually rigorous design to address alternative explanations,” Kimmo Eriksson, a professor of applied mathematics at Mälardalen University and researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Sweden, told PsyPost. Eriksson, who was not involved in the study, noted that the research “provides strong evidence that institutions and inequalities originating in slavery continue to have measurable health consequences today.”
“The findings largely extend a substantial literature linking slavery to contemporary racial inequalities, but they do so using stronger methods and a health outcome of fundamental importance,” Eriksson added. “The most novel and surprising result is that greater historical slavery was associated not only with higher Black mortality but also with lower White mortality.”
This pattern provides evidence for the competition perspective, which suggests that systemic racial oppression generated widespread material and health advantages for White populations at the expense of Black populations. The researchers also found that this widening mortality gap is largely carried by modern structural inequalities. By measuring these specific pathways, the study illustrates how historical institutions shape everyday life today.
Counties with higher historical enslavement rates tend to have greater economic inequality, wider Black-White poverty gaps, and larger disparities in college attainment. When these economic and educational factors were factored into the models, they fully accounted for the link between historical slavery and modern mortality disparities. This suggests that the legacy of slavery continues to operate primarily through these enduring socioeconomic divides.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that increases in school segregation were independently associated with higher racial disparities in health outcomes, including life expectancy and early mortality. That earlier study, which tracked changes in school and residential segregation across a broad set of health metrics rather than the historical legacy of slavery on adult mortality, similarly found that racial segregation predicts wider Black-White health disparities at the county level.
To evaluate if the link between slavery and mortality might be causal rather than coincidental, the researchers used an analytical technique based on the suitability of the soil for growing cotton. Since cotton suitability is a natural geographic feature that heavily dictated where slavery was economically viable, it acts as a neutral proxy. The models showed that slavery predicted by cotton suitability was still strongly linked to modern mortality disparities, structural inequalities, and educational gaps.
“I think people find the whole thing surprising, ‘how could it be that something from 166 years ago could be influencing life today?'” Galvan said. “But, what was surprising for me was how robust the findings were. The supplemental materials are full of attempts to find alternative explanations.”
“We tried to poke holes in our analysis and kept finding evidence consistent with our theoretical model: That slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in the ’90s and 2000s, which predicts Black-White mortality disparities today,” he added.
Eriksson placed high confidence in the main findings. “The authors use multiple complementary analyses and take causal identification more seriously than is typical in this literature,” he said.
There are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. Because the study relies on historical data and observations rather than a controlled experiment, the statistical models cannot completely rule out the influence of unmeasured variables. Although the researchers adjusted for many historical and modern factors, they note that their findings provide a plausible causal pathway rather than definitive proof of causation.
“From what I’ve read on social media, the main misinterpretation I’ve seen is that some people are motivated to dismiss the findings by simply saying, ‘correlation is not causation,'” Galvan explained. “But the paper does not report a simple correlation.”
“While it is true that the paper is observational and cannot fully check for a causal relationship between the variables, we implemented a causal identification strategy and find evidence that increases the plausibility of causal inference,” he said. “We also looked for evidence of alternative models to our causal model, and did not find support for those alternatives. I encourage people who feel skeptical to read the paper, it is completely open access.”
Eriksson advised some caution regarding the exact mechanisms benefiting White Americans. “My confidence is somewhat lower regarding the interpretation of why White mortality is lower in counties with more historical slavery, because several plausible mechanisms could generate that pattern,” he said. “Readers should be careful not to interpret the study as showing that an otherwise identical White individual would necessarily have better survival chances if placed in a county with a history of greater inequality.”
“The analysis identifies long-run effects on places and populations, not directly on individuals,” Eriksson continued. “Contemporary county populations have been shaped by generations of migration and demographic change, which may contribute to the observed pattern. The data also cannot determine whether the apparent benefits were broadly shared among White residents or concentrated among particular socioeconomic groups.”
“I would most like to see research that disentangles the mechanisms behind the lower White mortality finding, especially the roles of migration, population composition, and socioeconomic stratification within the White population,” Eriksson added. “That would help clarify whether the result reflects broad-based benefits, selective retention of advantaged groups, or some combination of the two.”
The study also measured structural inequalities using snapshots of data from specific time periods. For instance, the poverty data does not capture how deeply poverty may be entrenched across multiple generations within a community. Similarly, by focusing only on college attainment, the analysis does not account for inequalities earlier in the education system, such as disciplinary differences or resources in primary and secondary schools.
“The average person tends to think of health disparities as primarily a consequence of individual choices, but our paper suggests that things outside of our control, like skin color and county history are also shaping our health,” Galvan said. “I also hope that the paper helps people see the role of policy in shaping health.”
“Racial discrimination, through slavery or otherwise, was a policy choice that continues to shape life in the U.S.,” he pointed out. “But that’s also hopeful! If discriminatory policy created an unequal world, egalitarian policy could create a more equitable world.”
Future research might explore the specific timing of other historically discriminatory policies, such as redlining and mass incarceration, to see how they co-occurred and compounded these health inequalities. Untangling these historical events could help policymakers design structural interventions that expand access to resources and improve health outcomes. Such efforts could address the deep-rooted origins of racial health disparities.
“I am generally interested in how historical and structural inequalities influence psychological outcomes,” Galvan added. “My current work shifts attention from how structural inequality is related to mortality to how it is related to psychological variables, like how people perceive and react to inequality, their policy beliefs, and their biases.”
The study, “https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas“>Historical slavery predicts contemporary disparities in mortality between Black and White Americans,” was authored by Manuel J. Galvan, B. Keith Payne, Keely A. Muscatell, Julian M. Rucker, and Paschal Sheeran.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HistoricalSlavery #RacialHealthDisparities #BlackWhiteMortality #StructuralInequality #PlaceBasedHealth #HealthEquity #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #PolicyAndHealth #SystemicRacism #CausalInference
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DATE: September 2, 2026 at 11:44PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: ADHD may have a surprising creative advantage
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015150.htm
Some of the attention patterns that make ADHD challenging may also help spark creativity by allowing the brain to explore more ideas and unexpected connections. Researchers think creative activities could potentially channel this “defocused attention” while helping strengthen the brain systems involved in focus and self-control.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015150.htm
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #Creativity #Neuroscience #DefocusedAttention #AttentionPatterns #CreativeBrain #BrainTraining #SelfControl #BrainHealth #Innovation
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DATE: September 2, 2026 at 11:44PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: ADHD may have a surprising creative advantage
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015150.htm
Some of the attention patterns that make ADHD challenging may also help spark creativity by allowing the brain to explore more ideas and unexpected connections. Researchers think creative activities could potentially channel this “defocused attention” while helping strengthen the brain systems involved in focus and self-control.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015150.htm
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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 #ADHDcreativity #DefocusedAttention #CreativeThinking #Neuroscience #AttentionPatterns #BrainStrength #CreativeActivities #MentalHealthAwareness #InnovativeThinking #ADHDStrong
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DATE: September 2, 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: Psilocybin therapy shows strong potential for treating cocaine addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-therapy-shows-strong-potential-for-treating-cocaine-addiction/
Two newly published studies suggest that psychedelic compounds may offer a novel approach to treating cocaine addiction. A clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open found that psilocybin combined with psychotherapy helped people stop using cocaine. A complementary animal study published in Addiction Biology indicates that while psychedelics can help unlearn drug-seeking behaviors, pairing them with the right environmental support might be needed to prevent long-term relapse.
Cocaine use disorder is a chronic condition in which a person compulsively seeks and uses cocaine despite negative consequences to their health, finances, and personal life. Medical treatments for the disorder have long been lacking. For example, a 2021 review evaluated available treatments for cocaine addiction, highlighting that few medical options successfully help people stop using the drug.
To address this gap, researchers have begun exploring classic psychedelics. Psilocybin is the main psychoactive compound found in certain types of mushrooms, known for altering perception, mood, and cognitive processes. Recent studies have tested its potential to treat various substance use disorders by combining the drug with professional psychological support.
The results from these trials have been encouraging. For instance, a 2022 clinical trial found that psilocybin combined with therapy substantially reduced heavy drinking in people with alcohol addiction. Similarly, a 2026 trial found that the treatment helped people quit smoking cigarettes at much higher rates than standard nicotine patches.
Building on this research progression, scientists wanted to test whether psilocybin could yield similar benefits for cocaine use disorder. At the same time, preclinical researchers, who conduct studies using animal or lab models before testing in humans, sought to understand exactly how psychedelics influence the biological and behavioral mechanisms of addiction in isolation, without the influence of human psychotherapy.
The human clinical trial was led by Peter S. Hendricks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The team recruited 40 adults diagnosed with cocaine use disorder who wanted to quit using the drug. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single oral dose of psilocybin or an active placebo. An active placebo is a control substance that produces mild noticeable side effects so participants cannot easily guess they received a fake treatment. In this case, the placebo was a dose of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine.
Both groups participated in a structured psychotherapy program that included cognitive-behavioral techniques, which are therapy methods that help people identify and change harmful thought patterns and behaviors. They attended preparation sessions before the drug administration day and integration sessions afterward to process their experiences. The researchers specifically recruited individuals from demographic groups that are often underrepresented in psychedelic research. In the final sample, 82.5 percent of participants were Black, and 65 percent reported an annual income of $20,000 or less.
The findings suggest that psilocybin paired with therapy provides a strong protective effect against cocaine use. Over the 180 days following the treatment session, participants in the psilocybin group reported substantially more days without using cocaine compared to the placebo group. During the final three months of the study, the psilocybin group had about 28 more abstinent days out of every 100 days than the control group.
Additionally, the treatment helped a portion of participants stop using the drug entirely. Over the 180-day follow-up, 30 percent of those who received psilocybin maintained complete abstinence from cocaine. By comparison, none of the participants in the placebo group achieved complete abstinence over that same period.
To understand the isolated pharmacological effects of these treatments, meaning how the drugs interact chemically with the body and brain, a related animal study was led by Isis Rita Anzel Koutrouli at the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic. The team investigated how psilocybin and a different psychedelic compound, ibogaine, alter the learning processes associated with addiction. Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance derived from an African shrub that has been historically noted for its potential anti-addictive properties, though it operates differently in the brain than psilocybin.
The researchers trained male Wistar rats, a specific and widely used laboratory strain of white albino rats, to self-administer cocaine by pressing a lever. After the rats developed a reliable cocaine habit, the researchers initiated an extinction phase. During this phase, pressing the lever no longer provided the drug. The goal of extinction training is for the subject to unlearn the association between the action and the reward.
On the first and fifth days of the extinction phase, the rats were given injections of either psilocybin, ibogaine, or a saline placebo. Both psychedelics accelerated the extinction process. Rats treated with ibogaine pressed the lever less frequently starting after the first dose. Those treated with psilocybin showed a similar reduction in drug-seeking behavior following the second dose. Both drugs seemed to stabilize the animals’ behavior, helping them abandon the futile lever-pressing habit more efficiently than the placebo group.
The effects, however, did not translate to total relapse prevention. Six days after the final psychedelic dose, the researchers tested the rats by reintroducing the lights and sounds that had previously been paired with cocaine delivery. This triggers cue-induced reinstatement, a model of relapse. When faced with these triggers, the rats treated with psychedelics resumed pressing the lever just as frequently as the rats given the placebo.
These animal results highlight a nuanced reality about psychedelic treatments. The pharmacological effects of compounds like psilocybin and ibogaine appear to enhance behavioral flexibility, making it easier to break old habits. Yet, without the continuous environmental support or active psychotherapy provided in the human trial, the drugs alone did not block the urge to relapse when familiar drug cues returned.
The success seen in the human trial is in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which found that a single dose of psilocybin paired with psychotherapy substantially reduced heavy drinking days in individuals with alcohol use disorder. The results also align with a 2026 study covered by PsyPost, which found that psilocybin and counseling produced higher rates of verified abstinence in cigarette smokers compared to standard nicotine patches.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The human clinical trial featured a relatively small number of participants, which means the exact size of the treatment effect could vary in larger populations. Additionally, it is difficult to keep participants unaware of which treatment they receive in psychedelic studies, as the perceptual effects of the drug are very obvious. In this trial, 90 percent of the participants in the psilocybin group correctly guessed their assignment, which introduces the possibility that their expectations influenced their outcomes.
For the animal study, the researchers only tested male rats to avoid behavioral variations related to reproductive cycles. Testing female animals in the future will be necessary to see if the extinction-enhancing effects apply universally. The animal model also strips away the psychological and social elements of human addiction treatment. The rats did not receive the equivalent of human psychotherapy, which might be exactly why the drugs failed to protect them from cue-induced relapse.
Future research will need to test these interventions in larger, more diverse human samples to confirm the benefits. Scientists also hope to refine animal models to better understand how therapeutic environments interact with the biological changes caused by psychedelics.
The study, “Psilocybin in the Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was authored by Peter S. Hendricks, Sara N. Lappan, Richard C. Shelton, Adrienne C. Lahti, Karen L. Cropsey, Matthew W. Johnson, Melissa Bradley, Otto Simonsson, Lori L. Davis, Daniel H. Grossman, and Cynthia E. Ortiz.
The study, “Psilocybin and Ibogaine in Cocaine-Seeking: Extinction Enhancement Without Relapse Prevention,” was authored by Isis Rita Anzel Koutrouli, Vojtěch Brejtr, Marek Schwendt, Kacper Witek, Chrysostomos Charalambous, Kristýna Aleksič, Nina Miniariková, Eva Lhotková, Martin Toman, Marek Nikolič, Radek Jurok, Petra Cihlářová, Vladimír Mazoch, Pavel Ryšánek, Martin Kuchař, Klára Šíchová, and Tomáš Páleníček.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-therapy-shows-strong-potential-for-treating-cocaine-addiction/
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DATE: September 2, 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: Psilocybin therapy shows strong potential for treating cocaine addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-therapy-shows-strong-potential-for-treating-cocaine-addiction/
Two newly published studies suggest that psychedelic compounds may offer a novel approach to treating cocaine addiction. A clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open found that psilocybin combined with psychotherapy helped people stop using cocaine. A complementary animal study published in Addiction Biology indicates that while psychedelics can help unlearn drug-seeking behaviors, pairing them with the right environmental support might be needed to prevent long-term relapse.
Cocaine use disorder is a chronic condition in which a person compulsively seeks and uses cocaine despite negative consequences to their health, finances, and personal life. Medical treatments for the disorder have long been lacking. For example, a 2021 review evaluated available treatments for cocaine addiction, highlighting that few medical options successfully help people stop using the drug.
To address this gap, researchers have begun exploring classic psychedelics. Psilocybin is the main psychoactive compound found in certain types of mushrooms, known for altering perception, mood, and cognitive processes. Recent studies have tested its potential to treat various substance use disorders by combining the drug with professional psychological support.
The results from these trials have been encouraging. For instance, a 2022 clinical trial found that psilocybin combined with therapy substantially reduced heavy drinking in people with alcohol addiction. Similarly, a 2026 trial found that the treatment helped people quit smoking cigarettes at much higher rates than standard nicotine patches.
Building on this research progression, scientists wanted to test whether psilocybin could yield similar benefits for cocaine use disorder. At the same time, preclinical researchers, who conduct studies using animal or lab models before testing in humans, sought to understand exactly how psychedelics influence the biological and behavioral mechanisms of addiction in isolation, without the influence of human psychotherapy.
The human clinical trial was led by Peter S. Hendricks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The team recruited 40 adults diagnosed with cocaine use disorder who wanted to quit using the drug. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single oral dose of psilocybin or an active placebo. An active placebo is a control substance that produces mild noticeable side effects so participants cannot easily guess they received a fake treatment. In this case, the placebo was a dose of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine.
Both groups participated in a structured psychotherapy program that included cognitive-behavioral techniques, which are therapy methods that help people identify and change harmful thought patterns and behaviors. They attended preparation sessions before the drug administration day and integration sessions afterward to process their experiences. The researchers specifically recruited individuals from demographic groups that are often underrepresented in psychedelic research. In the final sample, 82.5 percent of participants were Black, and 65 percent reported an annual income of $20,000 or less.
The findings suggest that psilocybin paired with therapy provides a strong protective effect against cocaine use. Over the 180 days following the treatment session, participants in the psilocybin group reported substantially more days without using cocaine compared to the placebo group. During the final three months of the study, the psilocybin group had about 28 more abstinent days out of every 100 days than the control group.
Additionally, the treatment helped a portion of participants stop using the drug entirely. Over the 180-day follow-up, 30 percent of those who received psilocybin maintained complete abstinence from cocaine. By comparison, none of the participants in the placebo group achieved complete abstinence over that same period.
To understand the isolated pharmacological effects of these treatments, meaning how the drugs interact chemically with the body and brain, a related animal study was led by Isis Rita Anzel Koutrouli at the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic. The team investigated how psilocybin and a different psychedelic compound, ibogaine, alter the learning processes associated with addiction. Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance derived from an African shrub that has been historically noted for its potential anti-addictive properties, though it operates differently in the brain than psilocybin.
The researchers trained male Wistar rats, a specific and widely used laboratory strain of white albino rats, to self-administer cocaine by pressing a lever. After the rats developed a reliable cocaine habit, the researchers initiated an extinction phase. During this phase, pressing the lever no longer provided the drug. The goal of extinction training is for the subject to unlearn the association between the action and the reward.
On the first and fifth days of the extinction phase, the rats were given injections of either psilocybin, ibogaine, or a saline placebo. Both psychedelics accelerated the extinction process. Rats treated with ibogaine pressed the lever less frequently starting after the first dose. Those treated with psilocybin showed a similar reduction in drug-seeking behavior following the second dose. Both drugs seemed to stabilize the animals’ behavior, helping them abandon the futile lever-pressing habit more efficiently than the placebo group.
The effects, however, did not translate to total relapse prevention. Six days after the final psychedelic dose, the researchers tested the rats by reintroducing the lights and sounds that had previously been paired with cocaine delivery. This triggers cue-induced reinstatement, a model of relapse. When faced with these triggers, the rats treated with psychedelics resumed pressing the lever just as frequently as the rats given the placebo.
These animal results highlight a nuanced reality about psychedelic treatments. The pharmacological effects of compounds like psilocybin and ibogaine appear to enhance behavioral flexibility, making it easier to break old habits. Yet, without the continuous environmental support or active psychotherapy provided in the human trial, the drugs alone did not block the urge to relapse when familiar drug cues returned.
The success seen in the human trial is in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which found that a single dose of psilocybin paired with psychotherapy substantially reduced heavy drinking days in individuals with alcohol use disorder. The results also align with a 2026 study covered by PsyPost, which found that psilocybin and counseling produced higher rates of verified abstinence in cigarette smokers compared to standard nicotine patches.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The human clinical trial featured a relatively small number of participants, which means the exact size of the treatment effect could vary in larger populations. Additionally, it is difficult to keep participants unaware of which treatment they receive in psychedelic studies, as the perceptual effects of the drug are very obvious. In this trial, 90 percent of the participants in the psilocybin group correctly guessed their assignment, which introduces the possibility that their expectations influenced their outcomes.
For the animal study, the researchers only tested male rats to avoid behavioral variations related to reproductive cycles. Testing female animals in the future will be necessary to see if the extinction-enhancing effects apply universally. The animal model also strips away the psychological and social elements of human addiction treatment. The rats did not receive the equivalent of human psychotherapy, which might be exactly why the drugs failed to protect them from cue-induced relapse.
Future research will need to test these interventions in larger, more diverse human samples to confirm the benefits. Scientists also hope to refine animal models to better understand how therapeutic environments interact with the biological changes caused by psychedelics.
The study, “Psilocybin in the Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was authored by Peter S. Hendricks, Sara N. Lappan, Richard C. Shelton, Adrienne C. Lahti, Karen L. Cropsey, Matthew W. Johnson, Melissa Bradley, Otto Simonsson, Lori L. Davis, Daniel H. Grossman, and Cynthia E. Ortiz.
The study, “Psilocybin and Ibogaine in Cocaine-Seeking: Extinction Enhancement Without Relapse Prevention,” was authored by Isis Rita Anzel Koutrouli, Vojtěch Brejtr, Marek Schwendt, Kacper Witek, Chrysostomos Charalambous, Kristýna Aleksič, Nina Miniariková, Eva Lhotková, Martin Toman, Marek Nikolič, Radek Jurok, Petra Cihlářová, Vladimír Mazoch, Pavel Ryšánek, Martin Kuchař, Klára Šíchová, and Tomáš Páleníček.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-therapy-shows-strong-potential-for-treating-cocaine-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PsilocybinTherapy #CocaineUseDisorder #PsychedelicResearch # AddictionTreatment #PsychotherapySupport #AbruptRelapsePrevention #AlcoholNicotineCocaine #ExtinctionTraining #PsyPost #ClinicalTrialResults
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Psilocybin therapy shows strong potential for treating cocaine addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-therapy-shows-strong-potential-for-treating-cocaine-addiction/
Two newly published studies suggest that psychedelic compounds may offer a novel approach to treating cocaine addiction. A clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open found that psilocybin combined with psychotherapy helped people stop using cocaine. A complementary animal study published in Addiction Biology indicates that while psychedelics can help unlearn drug-seeking behaviors, pairing them with the right environmental support might be needed to prevent long-term relapse.
Cocaine use disorder is a chronic condition in which a person compulsively seeks and uses cocaine despite negative consequences to their health, finances, and personal life. Medical treatments for the disorder have long been lacking. For example, a 2021 review evaluated available treatments for cocaine addiction, highlighting that few medical options successfully help people stop using the drug.
To address this gap, researchers have begun exploring classic psychedelics. Psilocybin is the main psychoactive compound found in certain types of mushrooms, known for altering perception, mood, and cognitive processes. Recent studies have tested its potential to treat various substance use disorders by combining the drug with professional psychological support.
The results from these trials have been encouraging. For instance, a 2022 clinical trial found that psilocybin combined with therapy substantially reduced heavy drinking in people with alcohol addiction. Similarly, a 2026 trial found that the treatment helped people quit smoking cigarettes at much higher rates than standard nicotine patches.
Building on this research progression, scientists wanted to test whether psilocybin could yield similar benefits for cocaine use disorder. At the same time, preclinical researchers, who conduct studies using animal or lab models before testing in humans, sought to understand exactly how psychedelics influence the biological and behavioral mechanisms of addiction in isolation, without the influence of human psychotherapy.
The human clinical trial was led by Peter S. Hendricks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The team recruited 40 adults diagnosed with cocaine use disorder who wanted to quit using the drug. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single oral dose of psilocybin or an active placebo. An active placebo is a control substance that produces mild noticeable side effects so participants cannot easily guess they received a fake treatment. In this case, the placebo was a dose of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine.
Both groups participated in a structured psychotherapy program that included cognitive-behavioral techniques, which are therapy methods that help people identify and change harmful thought patterns and behaviors. They attended preparation sessions before the drug administration day and integration sessions afterward to process their experiences. The researchers specifically recruited individuals from demographic groups that are often underrepresented in psychedelic research. In the final sample, 82.5 percent of participants were Black, and 65 percent reported an annual income of $20,000 or less.
The findings suggest that psilocybin paired with therapy provides a strong protective effect against cocaine use. Over the 180 days following the treatment session, participants in the psilocybin group reported substantially more days without using cocaine compared to the placebo group. During the final three months of the study, the psilocybin group had about 28 more abstinent days out of every 100 days than the control group.
Additionally, the treatment helped a portion of participants stop using the drug entirely. Over the 180-day follow-up, 30 percent of those who received psilocybin maintained complete abstinence from cocaine. By comparison, none of the participants in the placebo group achieved complete abstinence over that same period.
To understand the isolated pharmacological effects of these treatments, meaning how the drugs interact chemically with the body and brain, a related animal study was led by Isis Rita Anzel Koutrouli at the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic. The team investigated how psilocybin and a different psychedelic compound, ibogaine, alter the learning processes associated with addiction. Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance derived from an African shrub that has been historically noted for its potential anti-addictive properties, though it operates differently in the brain than psilocybin.
The researchers trained male Wistar rats, a specific and widely used laboratory strain of white albino rats, to self-administer cocaine by pressing a lever. After the rats developed a reliable cocaine habit, the researchers initiated an extinction phase. During this phase, pressing the lever no longer provided the drug. The goal of extinction training is for the subject to unlearn the association between the action and the reward.
On the first and fifth days of the extinction phase, the rats were given injections of either psilocybin, ibogaine, or a saline placebo. Both psychedelics accelerated the extinction process. Rats treated with ibogaine pressed the lever less frequently starting after the first dose. Those treated with psilocybin showed a similar reduction in drug-seeking behavior following the second dose. Both drugs seemed to stabilize the animals’ behavior, helping them abandon the futile lever-pressing habit more efficiently than the placebo group.
The effects, however, did not translate to total relapse prevention. Six days after the final psychedelic dose, the researchers tested the rats by reintroducing the lights and sounds that had previously been paired with cocaine delivery. This triggers cue-induced reinstatement, a model of relapse. When faced with these triggers, the rats treated with psychedelics resumed pressing the lever just as frequently as the rats given the placebo.
These animal results highlight a nuanced reality about psychedelic treatments. The pharmacological effects of compounds like psilocybin and ibogaine appear to enhance behavioral flexibility, making it easier to break old habits. Yet, without the continuous environmental support or active psychotherapy provided in the human trial, the drugs alone did not block the urge to relapse when familiar drug cues returned.
The success seen in the human trial is in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which found that a single dose of psilocybin paired with psychotherapy substantially reduced heavy drinking days in individuals with alcohol use disorder. The results also align with a 2026 study covered by PsyPost, which found that psilocybin and counseling produced higher rates of verified abstinence in cigarette smokers compared to standard nicotine patches.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The human clinical trial featured a relatively small number of participants, which means the exact size of the treatment effect could vary in larger populations. Additionally, it is difficult to keep participants unaware of which treatment they receive in psychedelic studies, as the perceptual effects of the drug are very obvious. In this trial, 90 percent of the participants in the psilocybin group correctly guessed their assignment, which introduces the possibility that their expectations influenced their outcomes.
For the animal study, the researchers only tested male rats to avoid behavioral variations related to reproductive cycles. Testing female animals in the future will be necessary to see if the extinction-enhancing effects apply universally. The animal model also strips away the psychological and social elements of human addiction treatment. The rats did not receive the equivalent of human psychotherapy, which might be exactly why the drugs failed to protect them from cue-induced relapse.
Future research will need to test these interventions in larger, more diverse human samples to confirm the benefits. Scientists also hope to refine animal models to better understand how therapeutic environments interact with the biological changes caused by psychedelics.
The study, “Psilocybin in the Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was authored by Peter S. Hendricks, Sara N. Lappan, Richard C. Shelton, Adrienne C. Lahti, Karen L. Cropsey, Matthew W. Johnson, Melissa Bradley, Otto Simonsson, Lori L. Davis, Daniel H. Grossman, and Cynthia E. Ortiz.
The study, “Psilocybin and Ibogaine in Cocaine-Seeking: Extinction Enhancement Without Relapse Prevention,” was authored by Isis Rita Anzel Koutrouli, Vojtěch Brejtr, Marek Schwendt, Kacper Witek, Chrysostomos Charalambous, Kristýna Aleksič, Nina Miniariková, Eva Lhotková, Martin Toman, Marek Nikolič, Radek Jurok, Petra Cihlářová, Vladimír Mazoch, Pavel Ryšánek, Martin Kuchař, Klára Šíchová, and Tomáš Páleníček.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-therapy-shows-strong-potential-for-treating-cocaine-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PsilocybinTherapy #CocaineUseDisorder #PsychedelicResearch # AddictionTreatment #PsychotherapySupport #AbruptRelapsePrevention #AlcoholNicotineCocaine #ExtinctionTraining #PsyPost #ClinicalTrialResults
-
TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 05:00PM
SOURCE: CONSORTIUM FOR DEFENSE PSYCHOLOGYDirect article link at end of text block below.
RT @CSTS_USU: 🧠 Join us at our upcoming Brain, Behavior, & Mind 2026 Fall Lecture on September 23! 🧠
#BBMFall2026 is free, virtual, and open to the public. Continuing education credits are available.
Register now: https://t.co/xCOmAQyBR8 https://t.co/nR58pRGPB5
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found at https://deploymentpsych.org/.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #military #militarypsych #militarypsychology #militarycounseling #APA #Division19 #militaryhealth #DeploymentPsychology #DefensePsychology #ConsortiumForDefensePsychology #UniformServicesUniversity
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TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 05:00PM
SOURCE: CONSORTIUM FOR DEFENSE PSYCHOLOGYDirect article link at end of text block below.
RT @CSTS_USU: 🧠 Join us at our upcoming Brain, Behavior, & Mind 2026 Fall Lecture on September 23! 🧠
#BBMFall2026 is free, virtual, and open to the public. Continuing education credits are available.
Register now: https://t.co/xCOmAQyBR8 https://t.co/nR58pRGPB5
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found at https://deploymentpsych.org/.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #military #militarypsych #militarypsychology #militarycounseling #APA #Division19 #militaryhealth #DeploymentPsychology #DefensePsychology #ConsortiumForDefensePsychology #UniformServicesUniversity
-
TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 05:00PM
SOURCE: CONSORTIUM FOR DEFENSE PSYCHOLOGYDirect article link at end of text block below.
RT @CSTS_USU: 🧠 Join us at our upcoming Brain, Behavior, & Mind 2026 Fall Lecture on September 23! 🧠
#BBMFall2026 is free, virtual, and open to the public. Continuing education credits are available.
Register now: https://t.co/xCOmAQyBR8 https://t.co/nR58pRGPB5
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found at https://deploymentpsych.org/.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #military #militarypsych #militarypsychology #militarycounseling #APA #Division19 #militaryhealth #DeploymentPsychology #DefensePsychology #ConsortiumForDefensePsychology #UniformServicesUniversity
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Physical attractiveness appears to shape family planning accuracy for young women
Young adults who are not in a romantic relationship often vastly overestimate their likelihood of having children before age thirty, while those who are married predict their family planning with remarkable accuracy. These differences in expectations, along with the role that physical attractiveness plays in women’s family trajectories, reveal how early social circumstances shape long-term personal forecasts. The research was published in The Economic Journal.
People make many life choices, such as pursuing graduate education or saving money, based on when they expect to start a family. Getting accurate data on these expectations is difficult because few surveys ask people to predict their future and then follow up years later to see what actually happened. Economists Yifan Gong, Tyler Skura, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd Stinebrickner set out to measure this gap between expectations and reality. They wanted to see if relationship status or other personal traits influence how accurately young adults predict their own family planning.
The researchers used data from the Berea Panel Study, a survey that tracked students from Berea College in Kentucky from their college entrance through ten years after graduation. They focused on 355 individuals who were childless at age twenty-four and followed them until age thirty. At age twenty-four, participants estimated the percent chance that they would have their first child at various future ages. The researchers then compared these predictions to the actual birth records reported by the participants over the following years.
Overall, twenty-four-year-olds overestimated how soon they would become parents. As a group, they predicted a 57.6 percent chance of having a child before age thirty, but only 36.1 percent actually did. The researchers found that relationship status at age twenty-four heavily predicted this gap between expectations and reality.
Married individuals had very accurate expectations, predicting a 76 percent chance of early parenthood and experiencing a 69.2 percent actual rate. Those with a boyfriend or girlfriend overestimated their chances, predicting 57.6 percent compared to an actual 32.2 percent. Single individuals were the most inaccurate, predicting a 42.8 percent chance but only reaching a 13.1 percent outcome.
To understand why single individuals were so far off the mark, the researchers looked at their predictions regarding marriage. Participants had also estimated their likelihood of tying the knot before age thirty. The researchers calculated how much of the miscalculation regarding children was tied to miscalculations about weddings.
Single individuals were highly overoptimistic about finding a spouse by age thirty. They predicted a nearly 50 percent chance of marriage, but only 21.5 percent actually married by that age. The researchers calculated that this overestimation of marriage accounted for a large portion of the error in their family planning predictions. When these single individuals reached age thirty and realized they had fewer children than expected, they tended to heavily revise their total lifetime expectations downward.
The researchers also investigated whether physical attractiveness played a role in these trajectories. They used a peer-rating system based on student ID photos. On average, forty-seven student evaluators rated each participant’s photo on a five-point scale. The evaluators were other college students, making their assessments highly relevant to the dating and marriage environment of the study group. The researchers then mapped these peer ratings against the participants’ family expectations and their eventual outcomes.
A higher attractiveness rating was associated with a higher likelihood of having children before age thirty. However, this pattern was driven entirely by the women in the sample. For women, a one-point increase on the five-point attractiveness scale predicted a massive jump in the likelihood of early motherhood. For men, peer-rated attractiveness had almost zero association with early fatherhood.
The survey data showed that participants accurately perceived this gender difference. Women with higher attractiveness ratings predicted higher chances of early motherhood for themselves, aligning with reality. Men did not factor attractiveness into their own predictions, which matched their eventual outcomes.
Even within the married group, which was generally accurate, attractiveness played a role. Married women with above-average attractiveness ratings had nearly perfect predictions about their early motherhood. Married women with below-average attractiveness ratings overestimated their likelihood of having children before age thirty.
The study relies on a sample from a single liberal arts college with a primarily lower-income student body, meaning the patterns might not universally apply to the broader population. The attractiveness metric was based on a single ID photo taken around the time of college enrollment. A single photograph may not capture physical presence, personal style, or changes in appearance over a decade.
The researchers controlled for self-reported personality traits like intelligence, communication skills, and outgoingness, and the association between attractiveness and family outcomes remained strong. However, in observational survey data, unmeasured social or environmental factors could still influence both relationship status and family planning.
The study, “Fertility Beliefs and Outcomes: The Role of Relationship Status and Attractiveness,” was authored by Yifan Gong, Tyler Skura, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd Stinebrickner.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #FertilityBeliefs #FamilyPlanning #AttractivenessDating #WomenAndFertility #EarlyMotherhood #RelationshipStatus #SocialDiffusion #TheEconomicJournal #PredictingParenthood #GenderDifferencesInOutcomes
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Physical attractiveness appears to shape family planning accuracy for young women
Young adults who are not in a romantic relationship often vastly overestimate their likelihood of having children before age thirty, while those who are married predict their family planning with remarkable accuracy. These differences in expectations, along with the role that physical attractiveness plays in women’s family trajectories, reveal how early social circumstances shape long-term personal forecasts. The research was published in The Economic Journal.
People make many life choices, such as pursuing graduate education or saving money, based on when they expect to start a family. Getting accurate data on these expectations is difficult because few surveys ask people to predict their future and then follow up years later to see what actually happened. Economists Yifan Gong, Tyler Skura, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd Stinebrickner set out to measure this gap between expectations and reality. They wanted to see if relationship status or other personal traits influence how accurately young adults predict their own family planning.
The researchers used data from the Berea Panel Study, a survey that tracked students from Berea College in Kentucky from their college entrance through ten years after graduation. They focused on 355 individuals who were childless at age twenty-four and followed them until age thirty. At age twenty-four, participants estimated the percent chance that they would have their first child at various future ages. The researchers then compared these predictions to the actual birth records reported by the participants over the following years.
Overall, twenty-four-year-olds overestimated how soon they would become parents. As a group, they predicted a 57.6 percent chance of having a child before age thirty, but only 36.1 percent actually did. The researchers found that relationship status at age twenty-four heavily predicted this gap between expectations and reality.
Married individuals had very accurate expectations, predicting a 76 percent chance of early parenthood and experiencing a 69.2 percent actual rate. Those with a boyfriend or girlfriend overestimated their chances, predicting 57.6 percent compared to an actual 32.2 percent. Single individuals were the most inaccurate, predicting a 42.8 percent chance but only reaching a 13.1 percent outcome.
To understand why single individuals were so far off the mark, the researchers looked at their predictions regarding marriage. Participants had also estimated their likelihood of tying the knot before age thirty. The researchers calculated how much of the miscalculation regarding children was tied to miscalculations about weddings.
Single individuals were highly overoptimistic about finding a spouse by age thirty. They predicted a nearly 50 percent chance of marriage, but only 21.5 percent actually married by that age. The researchers calculated that this overestimation of marriage accounted for a large portion of the error in their family planning predictions. When these single individuals reached age thirty and realized they had fewer children than expected, they tended to heavily revise their total lifetime expectations downward.
The researchers also investigated whether physical attractiveness played a role in these trajectories. They used a peer-rating system based on student ID photos. On average, forty-seven student evaluators rated each participant’s photo on a five-point scale. The evaluators were other college students, making their assessments highly relevant to the dating and marriage environment of the study group. The researchers then mapped these peer ratings against the participants’ family expectations and their eventual outcomes.
A higher attractiveness rating was associated with a higher likelihood of having children before age thirty. However, this pattern was driven entirely by the women in the sample. For women, a one-point increase on the five-point attractiveness scale predicted a massive jump in the likelihood of early motherhood. For men, peer-rated attractiveness had almost zero association with early fatherhood.
The survey data showed that participants accurately perceived this gender difference. Women with higher attractiveness ratings predicted higher chances of early motherhood for themselves, aligning with reality. Men did not factor attractiveness into their own predictions, which matched their eventual outcomes.
Even within the married group, which was generally accurate, attractiveness played a role. Married women with above-average attractiveness ratings had nearly perfect predictions about their early motherhood. Married women with below-average attractiveness ratings overestimated their likelihood of having children before age thirty.
The study relies on a sample from a single liberal arts college with a primarily lower-income student body, meaning the patterns might not universally apply to the broader population. The attractiveness metric was based on a single ID photo taken around the time of college enrollment. A single photograph may not capture physical presence, personal style, or changes in appearance over a decade.
The researchers controlled for self-reported personality traits like intelligence, communication skills, and outgoingness, and the association between attractiveness and family outcomes remained strong. However, in observational survey data, unmeasured social or environmental factors could still influence both relationship status and family planning.
The study, “Fertility Beliefs and Outcomes: The Role of Relationship Status and Attractiveness,” was authored by Yifan Gong, Tyler Skura, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd Stinebrickner.
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DATE: September 2, 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: Physical attractiveness appears to shape family planning accuracy for young women
Young adults who are not in a romantic relationship often vastly overestimate their likelihood of having children before age thirty, while those who are married predict their family planning with remarkable accuracy. These differences in expectations, along with the role that physical attractiveness plays in women’s family trajectories, reveal how early social circumstances shape long-term personal forecasts. The research was published in The Economic Journal.
People make many life choices, such as pursuing graduate education or saving money, based on when they expect to start a family. Getting accurate data on these expectations is difficult because few surveys ask people to predict their future and then follow up years later to see what actually happened. Economists Yifan Gong, Tyler Skura, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd Stinebrickner set out to measure this gap between expectations and reality. They wanted to see if relationship status or other personal traits influence how accurately young adults predict their own family planning.
The researchers used data from the Berea Panel Study, a survey that tracked students from Berea College in Kentucky from their college entrance through ten years after graduation. They focused on 355 individuals who were childless at age twenty-four and followed them until age thirty. At age twenty-four, participants estimated the percent chance that they would have their first child at various future ages. The researchers then compared these predictions to the actual birth records reported by the participants over the following years.
Overall, twenty-four-year-olds overestimated how soon they would become parents. As a group, they predicted a 57.6 percent chance of having a child before age thirty, but only 36.1 percent actually did. The researchers found that relationship status at age twenty-four heavily predicted this gap between expectations and reality.
Married individuals had very accurate expectations, predicting a 76 percent chance of early parenthood and experiencing a 69.2 percent actual rate. Those with a boyfriend or girlfriend overestimated their chances, predicting 57.6 percent compared to an actual 32.2 percent. Single individuals were the most inaccurate, predicting a 42.8 percent chance but only reaching a 13.1 percent outcome.
To understand why single individuals were so far off the mark, the researchers looked at their predictions regarding marriage. Participants had also estimated their likelihood of tying the knot before age thirty. The researchers calculated how much of the miscalculation regarding children was tied to miscalculations about weddings.
Single individuals were highly overoptimistic about finding a spouse by age thirty. They predicted a nearly 50 percent chance of marriage, but only 21.5 percent actually married by that age. The researchers calculated that this overestimation of marriage accounted for a large portion of the error in their family planning predictions. When these single individuals reached age thirty and realized they had fewer children than expected, they tended to heavily revise their total lifetime expectations downward.
The researchers also investigated whether physical attractiveness played a role in these trajectories. They used a peer-rating system based on student ID photos. On average, forty-seven student evaluators rated each participant’s photo on a five-point scale. The evaluators were other college students, making their assessments highly relevant to the dating and marriage environment of the study group. The researchers then mapped these peer ratings against the participants’ family expectations and their eventual outcomes.
A higher attractiveness rating was associated with a higher likelihood of having children before age thirty. However, this pattern was driven entirely by the women in the sample. For women, a one-point increase on the five-point attractiveness scale predicted a massive jump in the likelihood of early motherhood. For men, peer-rated attractiveness had almost zero association with early fatherhood.
The survey data showed that participants accurately perceived this gender difference. Women with higher attractiveness ratings predicted higher chances of early motherhood for themselves, aligning with reality. Men did not factor attractiveness into their own predictions, which matched their eventual outcomes.
Even within the married group, which was generally accurate, attractiveness played a role. Married women with above-average attractiveness ratings had nearly perfect predictions about their early motherhood. Married women with below-average attractiveness ratings overestimated their likelihood of having children before age thirty.
The study relies on a sample from a single liberal arts college with a primarily lower-income student body, meaning the patterns might not universally apply to the broader population. The attractiveness metric was based on a single ID photo taken around the time of college enrollment. A single photograph may not capture physical presence, personal style, or changes in appearance over a decade.
The researchers controlled for self-reported personality traits like intelligence, communication skills, and outgoingness, and the association between attractiveness and family outcomes remained strong. However, in observational survey data, unmeasured social or environmental factors could still influence both relationship status and family planning.
The study, “Fertility Beliefs and Outcomes: The Role of Relationship Status and Attractiveness,” was authored by Yifan Gong, Tyler Skura, Ralph Stinebrickner, and Todd Stinebrickner.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #FertilityBeliefs #FamilyPlanning #AttractivenessDating #WomenAndFertility #EarlyMotherhood #RelationshipStatus #SocialDiffusion #TheEconomicJournal #PredictingParenthood #GenderDifferencesInOutcomes
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DATE: September 2, 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: Heavy caffeine drinkers sleep less but have deeper sleep, study finds
URL: https://www.psypost.org/heavy-caffeine-drinkers-sleep-less-but-have-deeper-sleep-study-finds/
A recent study using UK Biobank and HypnoLaus cohort data found that individuals drinking four or more caffeinated beverages per day tend to have shorter total sleep time compared to those drinking three or fewer caffeinated drinks per day. While statistical models estimated reductions in sleep length varying from 11 to 229 minutes, the researchers noted that the highest estimates were likely unrealistic, with more reliable causal matching pointing to a reduction of about 11 to 13 minutes per night. The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Caffeine has been part of human diets for centuries. It is now considered the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Caffeine occurs naturally in foods and beverages such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. It is added to many energy drinks. Because of this, the regular consumption of caffeine is extremely common.
When intentionally consuming caffeine-rich beverages, people generally do it to feel more alert and energetic, to improve concentration, or to cope with stress. They also consume caffeine-rich beverages because they enjoy their taste and smell, and because these drinks are parts of social customs that facilitate social interaction (e.g. drinking coffee or tea). Because caffeine use is so widespread, its possible effects on health have attracted considerable scientific interest.
One particularly important topic related to caffeine consumption is sleep. Sleep supports essential processes ranging from memory and emotional regulation to immune and cardiovascular functioning. However, studies have shown that caffeine can make it harder to fall asleep, that it shortens sleep duration, reduces sleep efficiency, and alters the depth and structure of sleep.
Moreover, studies looking for substances that help people avoid sleepiness and stay awake regularly examine the effects of caffeine. However, much of this evidence comes from controlled laboratory experiments in which regular caffeine users temporarily abstain before receiving caffeine or consume caffeine as an experimental treatment, situations that may differ substantially from everyday consumption.
Study author Benjamin Stucky and his colleagues conducted a Mendelian randomization study with the goal of estimating the causal effect of habitual caffeine intake on sleep quality. A Mendelian randomization study uses naturally occurring genetic differences associated with a studied characteristic to test whether that characteristic is likely to have a causal effect on an outcome. In this case, study authors wanted to estimate the effects of different habitual caffeine consumption levels on both objective and subjective sleep characteristics recorded at home.
The study authors used data from the UK Biobank and the HypnoLaus cohort. The UK Biobank is a very large open access prospective study conducted in the UK involving a total of 485,511 participants. The HypnoLaus cohort is a population-based study conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its dataset contains data on caffeine intake, genetic data, and objective sleep characteristics data collected using at-home polysomnography (a comprehensive sleep study that records brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate, and breathing) for 1,702 participants. The polysomnography data were collected during one night.
The study authors used UK Biobank data to estimate the association between various gene variants and caffeine intake, and the HypnoLaus data to estimate the association between each gene variant and objective and subjective measures of sleep quality. Aside from genetic data, study authors used data on the consumption of caffeinated beverages, expressed as the number of cups per day, and data on sleep characteristics.
The sleep characteristics included total sleep time, sleep latency (the time between lights-off and N2 sleep, the second stage of non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, which is a light-to-moderate stage characterized by slower brain activity), number of awakenings during the night, percentage of REM sleep per total sleep time, and some characteristics of EEG (electroencephalogram) activity during sleep, which measures the brain’s electrical signals. Participants also completed self-report assessments of sleep quality (the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), daytime sleepiness (the Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and morningness-eveningness (the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire).
The results showed that participants’ self-rated sleep quality and morningness-eveningness (i.e., whether they are an evening or a morning person) did not depend on the consumption of caffeinated beverages. However, statistical models revealed that four or more caffeinated beverages consumed per day shorten total sleep time compared to three or fewer caffeinated drinks per day.
The estimated reduction in sleep length varied from 11 to 229 minutes, though the researchers caution that the higher end of this range is an overestimation caused by statistical uncertainty in the genetic modeling. Interestingly, the shorter sleep in high habitual caffeine consumers was characterized by increased non-rapid-eye-movement sleep depth (as indicated by a specific pattern of electrical brain activity known as delta power).
“The data show that high habitual caffeine intake alters the characteristics of sleep in the general population, while sparing the major physiological principles of sleep-wake regulation possibly due to adaptation,” the study authors concluded. In other words, while people slept less, their bodies compensated by sleeping more deeply, maintaining the natural homeostatic balance of sleep.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the likely effects of caffeine on sleep quality. However, it should be noted that the key piece of data the study was based on the number of cups of caffeinated beverages consumed per day was self-reported, leaving room for recall bias and estimation errors to have affected the results. Additionally, the study did not take into account the type of caffeinated beverage consumed, even though different beverages can contain substantially different amounts of caffeine. It also did not consider dietary sources of caffeine that are not beverages.
The paper, “Community-based causal evidence that high habitual caffeine consumption alters distinct polysomnography-derived sleep variables,” was authored by Benjamin Stucky, Leonard Henckel, Marloes H. Maathuis, José Haba-Rubio, Pedro Marques-Vidal, Francesca Siclari, Raphaël Heinzer, and Hans-Peter Landolt.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/heavy-caffeine-drinkers-sleep-less-but-have-deeper-sleep-study-finds/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CaffeineAndSleep #SleepQuality #CaffeineConsumption #SleepDepth #HypnoLaus #UKBiobank #SleepScience #NightTimeRest #CircadianHealth #WakefulnessToRest
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Heavy caffeine drinkers sleep less but have deeper sleep, study finds
URL: https://www.psypost.org/heavy-caffeine-drinkers-sleep-less-but-have-deeper-sleep-study-finds/
A recent study using UK Biobank and HypnoLaus cohort data found that individuals drinking four or more caffeinated beverages per day tend to have shorter total sleep time compared to those drinking three or fewer caffeinated drinks per day. While statistical models estimated reductions in sleep length varying from 11 to 229 minutes, the researchers noted that the highest estimates were likely unrealistic, with more reliable causal matching pointing to a reduction of about 11 to 13 minutes per night. The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Caffeine has been part of human diets for centuries. It is now considered the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Caffeine occurs naturally in foods and beverages such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. It is added to many energy drinks. Because of this, the regular consumption of caffeine is extremely common.
When intentionally consuming caffeine-rich beverages, people generally do it to feel more alert and energetic, to improve concentration, or to cope with stress. They also consume caffeine-rich beverages because they enjoy their taste and smell, and because these drinks are parts of social customs that facilitate social interaction (e.g. drinking coffee or tea). Because caffeine use is so widespread, its possible effects on health have attracted considerable scientific interest.
One particularly important topic related to caffeine consumption is sleep. Sleep supports essential processes ranging from memory and emotional regulation to immune and cardiovascular functioning. However, studies have shown that caffeine can make it harder to fall asleep, that it shortens sleep duration, reduces sleep efficiency, and alters the depth and structure of sleep.
Moreover, studies looking for substances that help people avoid sleepiness and stay awake regularly examine the effects of caffeine. However, much of this evidence comes from controlled laboratory experiments in which regular caffeine users temporarily abstain before receiving caffeine or consume caffeine as an experimental treatment, situations that may differ substantially from everyday consumption.
Study author Benjamin Stucky and his colleagues conducted a Mendelian randomization study with the goal of estimating the causal effect of habitual caffeine intake on sleep quality. A Mendelian randomization study uses naturally occurring genetic differences associated with a studied characteristic to test whether that characteristic is likely to have a causal effect on an outcome. In this case, study authors wanted to estimate the effects of different habitual caffeine consumption levels on both objective and subjective sleep characteristics recorded at home.
The study authors used data from the UK Biobank and the HypnoLaus cohort. The UK Biobank is a very large open access prospective study conducted in the UK involving a total of 485,511 participants. The HypnoLaus cohort is a population-based study conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its dataset contains data on caffeine intake, genetic data, and objective sleep characteristics data collected using at-home polysomnography (a comprehensive sleep study that records brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate, and breathing) for 1,702 participants. The polysomnography data were collected during one night.
The study authors used UK Biobank data to estimate the association between various gene variants and caffeine intake, and the HypnoLaus data to estimate the association between each gene variant and objective and subjective measures of sleep quality. Aside from genetic data, study authors used data on the consumption of caffeinated beverages, expressed as the number of cups per day, and data on sleep characteristics.
The sleep characteristics included total sleep time, sleep latency (the time between lights-off and N2 sleep, the second stage of non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, which is a light-to-moderate stage characterized by slower brain activity), number of awakenings during the night, percentage of REM sleep per total sleep time, and some characteristics of EEG (electroencephalogram) activity during sleep, which measures the brain’s electrical signals. Participants also completed self-report assessments of sleep quality (the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), daytime sleepiness (the Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and morningness-eveningness (the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire).
The results showed that participants’ self-rated sleep quality and morningness-eveningness (i.e., whether they are an evening or a morning person) did not depend on the consumption of caffeinated beverages. However, statistical models revealed that four or more caffeinated beverages consumed per day shorten total sleep time compared to three or fewer caffeinated drinks per day.
The estimated reduction in sleep length varied from 11 to 229 minutes, though the researchers caution that the higher end of this range is an overestimation caused by statistical uncertainty in the genetic modeling. Interestingly, the shorter sleep in high habitual caffeine consumers was characterized by increased non-rapid-eye-movement sleep depth (as indicated by a specific pattern of electrical brain activity known as delta power).
“The data show that high habitual caffeine intake alters the characteristics of sleep in the general population, while sparing the major physiological principles of sleep-wake regulation possibly due to adaptation,” the study authors concluded. In other words, while people slept less, their bodies compensated by sleeping more deeply, maintaining the natural homeostatic balance of sleep.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the likely effects of caffeine on sleep quality. However, it should be noted that the key piece of data the study was based on the number of cups of caffeinated beverages consumed per day was self-reported, leaving room for recall bias and estimation errors to have affected the results. Additionally, the study did not take into account the type of caffeinated beverage consumed, even though different beverages can contain substantially different amounts of caffeine. It also did not consider dietary sources of caffeine that are not beverages.
The paper, “Community-based causal evidence that high habitual caffeine consumption alters distinct polysomnography-derived sleep variables,” was authored by Benjamin Stucky, Leonard Henckel, Marloes H. Maathuis, José Haba-Rubio, Pedro Marques-Vidal, Francesca Siclari, Raphaël Heinzer, and Hans-Peter Landolt.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/heavy-caffeine-drinkers-sleep-less-but-have-deeper-sleep-study-finds/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CaffeineAndSleep #SleepQuality #CaffeineConsumption #SleepDepth #HypnoLaus #UKBiobank #SleepScience #NightTimeRest #CircadianHealth #WakefulnessToRest
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Heavy caffeine drinkers sleep less but have deeper sleep, study finds
URL: https://www.psypost.org/heavy-caffeine-drinkers-sleep-less-but-have-deeper-sleep-study-finds/
A recent study using UK Biobank and HypnoLaus cohort data found that individuals drinking four or more caffeinated beverages per day tend to have shorter total sleep time compared to those drinking three or fewer caffeinated drinks per day. While statistical models estimated reductions in sleep length varying from 11 to 229 minutes, the researchers noted that the highest estimates were likely unrealistic, with more reliable causal matching pointing to a reduction of about 11 to 13 minutes per night. The paper was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Caffeine has been part of human diets for centuries. It is now considered the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Caffeine occurs naturally in foods and beverages such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. It is added to many energy drinks. Because of this, the regular consumption of caffeine is extremely common.
When intentionally consuming caffeine-rich beverages, people generally do it to feel more alert and energetic, to improve concentration, or to cope with stress. They also consume caffeine-rich beverages because they enjoy their taste and smell, and because these drinks are parts of social customs that facilitate social interaction (e.g. drinking coffee or tea). Because caffeine use is so widespread, its possible effects on health have attracted considerable scientific interest.
One particularly important topic related to caffeine consumption is sleep. Sleep supports essential processes ranging from memory and emotional regulation to immune and cardiovascular functioning. However, studies have shown that caffeine can make it harder to fall asleep, that it shortens sleep duration, reduces sleep efficiency, and alters the depth and structure of sleep.
Moreover, studies looking for substances that help people avoid sleepiness and stay awake regularly examine the effects of caffeine. However, much of this evidence comes from controlled laboratory experiments in which regular caffeine users temporarily abstain before receiving caffeine or consume caffeine as an experimental treatment, situations that may differ substantially from everyday consumption.
Study author Benjamin Stucky and his colleagues conducted a Mendelian randomization study with the goal of estimating the causal effect of habitual caffeine intake on sleep quality. A Mendelian randomization study uses naturally occurring genetic differences associated with a studied characteristic to test whether that characteristic is likely to have a causal effect on an outcome. In this case, study authors wanted to estimate the effects of different habitual caffeine consumption levels on both objective and subjective sleep characteristics recorded at home.
The study authors used data from the UK Biobank and the HypnoLaus cohort. The UK Biobank is a very large open access prospective study conducted in the UK involving a total of 485,511 participants. The HypnoLaus cohort is a population-based study conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its dataset contains data on caffeine intake, genetic data, and objective sleep characteristics data collected using at-home polysomnography (a comprehensive sleep study that records brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate, and breathing) for 1,702 participants. The polysomnography data were collected during one night.
The study authors used UK Biobank data to estimate the association between various gene variants and caffeine intake, and the HypnoLaus data to estimate the association between each gene variant and objective and subjective measures of sleep quality. Aside from genetic data, study authors used data on the consumption of caffeinated beverages, expressed as the number of cups per day, and data on sleep characteristics.
The sleep characteristics included total sleep time, sleep latency (the time between lights-off and N2 sleep, the second stage of non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, which is a light-to-moderate stage characterized by slower brain activity), number of awakenings during the night, percentage of REM sleep per total sleep time, and some characteristics of EEG (electroencephalogram) activity during sleep, which measures the brain’s electrical signals. Participants also completed self-report assessments of sleep quality (the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), daytime sleepiness (the Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and morningness-eveningness (the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire).
The results showed that participants’ self-rated sleep quality and morningness-eveningness (i.e., whether they are an evening or a morning person) did not depend on the consumption of caffeinated beverages. However, statistical models revealed that four or more caffeinated beverages consumed per day shorten total sleep time compared to three or fewer caffeinated drinks per day.
The estimated reduction in sleep length varied from 11 to 229 minutes, though the researchers caution that the higher end of this range is an overestimation caused by statistical uncertainty in the genetic modeling. Interestingly, the shorter sleep in high habitual caffeine consumers was characterized by increased non-rapid-eye-movement sleep depth (as indicated by a specific pattern of electrical brain activity known as delta power).
“The data show that high habitual caffeine intake alters the characteristics of sleep in the general population, while sparing the major physiological principles of sleep-wake regulation possibly due to adaptation,” the study authors concluded. In other words, while people slept less, their bodies compensated by sleeping more deeply, maintaining the natural homeostatic balance of sleep.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the likely effects of caffeine on sleep quality. However, it should be noted that the key piece of data the study was based on the number of cups of caffeinated beverages consumed per day was self-reported, leaving room for recall bias and estimation errors to have affected the results. Additionally, the study did not take into account the type of caffeinated beverage consumed, even though different beverages can contain substantially different amounts of caffeine. It also did not consider dietary sources of caffeine that are not beverages.
The paper, “Community-based causal evidence that high habitual caffeine consumption alters distinct polysomnography-derived sleep variables,” was authored by Benjamin Stucky, Leonard Henckel, Marloes H. Maathuis, José Haba-Rubio, Pedro Marques-Vidal, Francesca Siclari, Raphaël Heinzer, and Hans-Peter Landolt.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/heavy-caffeine-drinkers-sleep-less-but-have-deeper-sleep-study-finds/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CaffeineAndSleep #SleepQuality #CaffeineConsumption #SleepDepth #HypnoLaus #UKBiobank #SleepScience #NightTimeRest #CircadianHealth #WakefulnessToRest
-
TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 01:43PM
SOURCE: CONSORTIUM FOR DEFENSE PSYCHOLOGYDirect article link at end of text block below.
The Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) identified a number of recommendations for improving suicide prevention efforts. Read the full blog, "Staff Perspective: SPRIRC Year One Update" by Kristyn Heins. https://t.co/f8pjSrEkhI
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found at https://deploymentpsych.org/.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #military #militarypsych #militarypsychology #militarycounseling #APA #Division19 #militaryhealth #DeploymentPsychology #DefensePsychology #ConsortiumForDefensePsychology #UniformServicesUniversity
-
TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 01:43PM
SOURCE: CONSORTIUM FOR DEFENSE PSYCHOLOGYDirect article link at end of text block below.
The Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) identified a number of recommendations for improving suicide prevention efforts. Read the full blog, "Staff Perspective: SPRIRC Year One Update" by Kristyn Heins. https://t.co/f8pjSrEkhI
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found at https://deploymentpsych.org/.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #military #militarypsych #militarypsychology #militarycounseling #APA #Division19 #militaryhealth #DeploymentPsychology #DefensePsychology #ConsortiumForDefensePsychology #UniformServicesUniversity
-
TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 01:43PM
SOURCE: CONSORTIUM FOR DEFENSE PSYCHOLOGYDirect article link at end of text block below.
The Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) identified a number of recommendations for improving suicide prevention efforts. Read the full blog, "Staff Perspective: SPRIRC Year One Update" by Kristyn Heins. https://t.co/f8pjSrEkhI
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found at https://deploymentpsych.org/.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #military #militarypsych #militarypsychology #militarycounseling #APA #Division19 #militaryhealth #DeploymentPsychology #DefensePsychology #ConsortiumForDefensePsychology #UniformServicesUniversity
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Maternal sleep latency during early pregnancy is linked to child intelligence scores
Pregnant people often experience changes in their sleep patterns, but the long-term effects of these disruptions on the developing fetus are not fully understood. A recent study suggests that maternal sleep difficulties, particularly taking a long time to fall asleep, are associated with slightly lower intelligence scores in children at age four. The research, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, also points to specific metabolic chemicals in the pregnant person’s blood that might link poor sleep to offspring brain development.
Nearly half of pregnant individuals report experiencing poor sleep quality. During pregnancy, hormonal, physical, and psychological shifts can dramatically alter a person’s sleep and wake cycles. Concurrently, fetal brain development occurs at a rapid pace.
Because the developing brain is highly adaptable, it is sensitive to the prenatal environment. Prior research has connected maternal sleep problems to adverse outcomes like preterm birth and low birth weight. Animal models have indicated that maternal sleep deprivation alters fetal brain structures, specifically areas involved in memory and learning.
Human studies have also hinted at a connection between prenatal sleep and a child’s cognitive outcomes. Most of these investigations assessed sleep at only one point in time. Pregnancy involves distinct phases of neural system development, meaning the timing of sleep disruptions could influence the brain differently. The basic architectural structures of the brain form rapidly during the first trimester. While the third trimester involves brain growth and maturation, the groundwork laid earlier makes early-pregnancy exposures particularly impactful.
Sleep is a foundational biological process that regulates metabolism. Disrupted sleep can alter glucose processing, increase inflammation, and change how the body breaks down nutrients. Researchers Yun Huang and Jun Zhang of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine wanted to track how sleep patterns throughout all three trimesters related to child intelligence. They also aimed to identify specific chemical markers, or metabolites, that might explain this biological connection.
The researchers analyzed data from 1,870 mother and child pairs enrolled in the Shanghai Birth Cohort. During their first, second, and third trimesters, the pregnant participants completed questionnaires detailing their sleep habits. These surveys asked about sleep duration, subjective sleep quality, and sleep latency. Sleep latency is the amount of time it takes to transition from full wakefulness to sleep.
When the children reached four years of age, trained staff evaluated their intelligence using a standardized assessment called the Wechsler Primary and Preschool Scale of Intelligence. This test measures a child’s full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ, alongside specific cognitive abilities. Verbal comprehension measures a child’s ability to access and apply acquired word knowledge. Fluid reasoning evaluates the capacity to detect underlying conceptual relationships and use reasoning to solve novel problems.
The researchers used statistical models to compare the maternal sleep data from each trimester with the children’s test scores. They adjusted their calculations to account for maternal age, education, physical activity, and family history of mental disorders.
The analysis showed an association between taking longer to fall asleep and lower cognitive scores. Longer sleep latency in the first trimester was linked to lower full-scale IQ and lower verbal comprehension scores. In the second trimester, longer sleep latency was associated with lower fluid reasoning scores. Sleep difficulties in the third trimester did not yield statistically significant associations with the children’s test scores.
Next, the researchers evaluated how consistent sleep patterns across the entirety of pregnancy related to child brain development. They used a statistical technique to group participants based on how their sleep quality changed from the first trimester to the third. This longitudinal approach allowed the team to see the cumulative impact of sleep struggles. They found that individuals who consistently experienced longer sleep latency throughout their entire pregnancy had children with lower full-scale IQ, verbal comprehension, and fluid reasoning scores at age four.
To understand the biological mechanisms behind these observations, the researchers looked at metabolites. Metabolites are small molecules produced when the body breaks down food, chemicals, or its own tissue. The team analyzed fasting blood samples taken from 1,461 of the pregnant participants during their first trimester.
The researchers conducted untargeted metabolomic profiling. Instead of looking for a few specific chemicals, this technique scans the blood for hundreds of small molecules simultaneously, providing a broad snapshot of the body’s metabolic state. After identifying 413 metabolites in the maternal serum, they used a “meet-in-the-middle” analytical strategy. They first looked for metabolites linked to maternal sleep factors, then looked for metabolites linked to child test scores, and finally focused on the overlapping chemicals that connected the two endpoints.
Three specific molecules emerged as potential mediators: inositol, indoleacrylic acid, and 4-hydroxyquinoline. Inositol is a sugar that is synthesized by the body and found in common foods like fruits and beans. It is transferred across the placenta to the fetus, where it contributes to neurotransmitter signaling. The researchers observed an indirect path where maternal sleep duration was linked to child fluid reasoning through changes in maternal inositol levels.
Indoleacrylic acid and 4-hydroxyquinoline are byproducts of tryptophan, an amino acid involved in producing sleep-regulating hormones like serotonin and melatonin. Poor sleep can alter how the body breaks down tryptophan, increasing inflammatory pathways and changing the availability of serotonin, a hormone essential for neuronal growth. The researchers found that sleep disturbances influenced offspring verbal comprehension via alterations in these two tryptophan-related molecules.
The study relied on self-reported questionnaires to assess maternal sleep. These surveys capture a person’s subjective perception of their rest, which might differ from objective measurements like brainwave monitoring or movement tracking devices. The metabolic analysis only tested blood samples from the first trimester. A person’s metabolic profile can fluctuate due to diet and physical activity, meaning a single measurement might not capture the full biological environment across the entire pregnancy.
The large number of metabolites tested also increases the mathematical risk of identifying false associations, requiring future studies to validate these specific chemical links. Most participants in this sample had a college degree, meaning the findings might not generalize to populations with different educational or socioeconomic backgrounds. Because sleep disturbances are sometimes a symptom of underlying psychiatric conditions, residual genetic or environmental factors could still influence the outcomes.
The study, “Maternal sleep disturbance during pregnancy and child intelligence quotient: A metabolome-wide association study in the Shanghai Birth Cohort,” was authored by Yun Huang, Fei Luo, Guanghai Wang, Ting Zhang, Lin Zhang, Lichun Fan, and Jun Zhang.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MaternalSleep #PregnancyHealth #SleepLatency #ChildIQ #PrenatalNutrition #Metabolomics #TryptophanPathways #FetalBrainDevelopment #WechslerIQ #ShanghaiBirthCohort
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Maternal sleep latency during early pregnancy is linked to child intelligence scores
Pregnant people often experience changes in their sleep patterns, but the long-term effects of these disruptions on the developing fetus are not fully understood. A recent study suggests that maternal sleep difficulties, particularly taking a long time to fall asleep, are associated with slightly lower intelligence scores in children at age four. The research, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, also points to specific metabolic chemicals in the pregnant person’s blood that might link poor sleep to offspring brain development.
Nearly half of pregnant individuals report experiencing poor sleep quality. During pregnancy, hormonal, physical, and psychological shifts can dramatically alter a person’s sleep and wake cycles. Concurrently, fetal brain development occurs at a rapid pace.
Because the developing brain is highly adaptable, it is sensitive to the prenatal environment. Prior research has connected maternal sleep problems to adverse outcomes like preterm birth and low birth weight. Animal models have indicated that maternal sleep deprivation alters fetal brain structures, specifically areas involved in memory and learning.
Human studies have also hinted at a connection between prenatal sleep and a child’s cognitive outcomes. Most of these investigations assessed sleep at only one point in time. Pregnancy involves distinct phases of neural system development, meaning the timing of sleep disruptions could influence the brain differently. The basic architectural structures of the brain form rapidly during the first trimester. While the third trimester involves brain growth and maturation, the groundwork laid earlier makes early-pregnancy exposures particularly impactful.
Sleep is a foundational biological process that regulates metabolism. Disrupted sleep can alter glucose processing, increase inflammation, and change how the body breaks down nutrients. Researchers Yun Huang and Jun Zhang of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine wanted to track how sleep patterns throughout all three trimesters related to child intelligence. They also aimed to identify specific chemical markers, or metabolites, that might explain this biological connection.
The researchers analyzed data from 1,870 mother and child pairs enrolled in the Shanghai Birth Cohort. During their first, second, and third trimesters, the pregnant participants completed questionnaires detailing their sleep habits. These surveys asked about sleep duration, subjective sleep quality, and sleep latency. Sleep latency is the amount of time it takes to transition from full wakefulness to sleep.
When the children reached four years of age, trained staff evaluated their intelligence using a standardized assessment called the Wechsler Primary and Preschool Scale of Intelligence. This test measures a child’s full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ, alongside specific cognitive abilities. Verbal comprehension measures a child’s ability to access and apply acquired word knowledge. Fluid reasoning evaluates the capacity to detect underlying conceptual relationships and use reasoning to solve novel problems.
The researchers used statistical models to compare the maternal sleep data from each trimester with the children’s test scores. They adjusted their calculations to account for maternal age, education, physical activity, and family history of mental disorders.
The analysis showed an association between taking longer to fall asleep and lower cognitive scores. Longer sleep latency in the first trimester was linked to lower full-scale IQ and lower verbal comprehension scores. In the second trimester, longer sleep latency was associated with lower fluid reasoning scores. Sleep difficulties in the third trimester did not yield statistically significant associations with the children’s test scores.
Next, the researchers evaluated how consistent sleep patterns across the entirety of pregnancy related to child brain development. They used a statistical technique to group participants based on how their sleep quality changed from the first trimester to the third. This longitudinal approach allowed the team to see the cumulative impact of sleep struggles. They found that individuals who consistently experienced longer sleep latency throughout their entire pregnancy had children with lower full-scale IQ, verbal comprehension, and fluid reasoning scores at age four.
To understand the biological mechanisms behind these observations, the researchers looked at metabolites. Metabolites are small molecules produced when the body breaks down food, chemicals, or its own tissue. The team analyzed fasting blood samples taken from 1,461 of the pregnant participants during their first trimester.
The researchers conducted untargeted metabolomic profiling. Instead of looking for a few specific chemicals, this technique scans the blood for hundreds of small molecules simultaneously, providing a broad snapshot of the body’s metabolic state. After identifying 413 metabolites in the maternal serum, they used a “meet-in-the-middle” analytical strategy. They first looked for metabolites linked to maternal sleep factors, then looked for metabolites linked to child test scores, and finally focused on the overlapping chemicals that connected the two endpoints.
Three specific molecules emerged as potential mediators: inositol, indoleacrylic acid, and 4-hydroxyquinoline. Inositol is a sugar that is synthesized by the body and found in common foods like fruits and beans. It is transferred across the placenta to the fetus, where it contributes to neurotransmitter signaling. The researchers observed an indirect path where maternal sleep duration was linked to child fluid reasoning through changes in maternal inositol levels.
Indoleacrylic acid and 4-hydroxyquinoline are byproducts of tryptophan, an amino acid involved in producing sleep-regulating hormones like serotonin and melatonin. Poor sleep can alter how the body breaks down tryptophan, increasing inflammatory pathways and changing the availability of serotonin, a hormone essential for neuronal growth. The researchers found that sleep disturbances influenced offspring verbal comprehension via alterations in these two tryptophan-related molecules.
The study relied on self-reported questionnaires to assess maternal sleep. These surveys capture a person’s subjective perception of their rest, which might differ from objective measurements like brainwave monitoring or movement tracking devices. The metabolic analysis only tested blood samples from the first trimester. A person’s metabolic profile can fluctuate due to diet and physical activity, meaning a single measurement might not capture the full biological environment across the entire pregnancy.
The large number of metabolites tested also increases the mathematical risk of identifying false associations, requiring future studies to validate these specific chemical links. Most participants in this sample had a college degree, meaning the findings might not generalize to populations with different educational or socioeconomic backgrounds. Because sleep disturbances are sometimes a symptom of underlying psychiatric conditions, residual genetic or environmental factors could still influence the outcomes.
The study, “Maternal sleep disturbance during pregnancy and child intelligence quotient: A metabolome-wide association study in the Shanghai Birth Cohort,” was authored by Yun Huang, Fei Luo, Guanghai Wang, Ting Zhang, Lin Zhang, Lichun Fan, and Jun Zhang.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MaternalSleep #PregnancyHealth #SleepLatency #ChildIQ #PrenatalNutrition #Metabolomics #TryptophanPathways #FetalBrainDevelopment #WechslerIQ #ShanghaiBirthCohort
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Maternal sleep latency during early pregnancy is linked to child intelligence scores
Pregnant people often experience changes in their sleep patterns, but the long-term effects of these disruptions on the developing fetus are not fully understood. A recent study suggests that maternal sleep difficulties, particularly taking a long time to fall asleep, are associated with slightly lower intelligence scores in children at age four. The research, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, also points to specific metabolic chemicals in the pregnant person’s blood that might link poor sleep to offspring brain development.
Nearly half of pregnant individuals report experiencing poor sleep quality. During pregnancy, hormonal, physical, and psychological shifts can dramatically alter a person’s sleep and wake cycles. Concurrently, fetal brain development occurs at a rapid pace.
Because the developing brain is highly adaptable, it is sensitive to the prenatal environment. Prior research has connected maternal sleep problems to adverse outcomes like preterm birth and low birth weight. Animal models have indicated that maternal sleep deprivation alters fetal brain structures, specifically areas involved in memory and learning.
Human studies have also hinted at a connection between prenatal sleep and a child’s cognitive outcomes. Most of these investigations assessed sleep at only one point in time. Pregnancy involves distinct phases of neural system development, meaning the timing of sleep disruptions could influence the brain differently. The basic architectural structures of the brain form rapidly during the first trimester. While the third trimester involves brain growth and maturation, the groundwork laid earlier makes early-pregnancy exposures particularly impactful.
Sleep is a foundational biological process that regulates metabolism. Disrupted sleep can alter glucose processing, increase inflammation, and change how the body breaks down nutrients. Researchers Yun Huang and Jun Zhang of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine wanted to track how sleep patterns throughout all three trimesters related to child intelligence. They also aimed to identify specific chemical markers, or metabolites, that might explain this biological connection.
The researchers analyzed data from 1,870 mother and child pairs enrolled in the Shanghai Birth Cohort. During their first, second, and third trimesters, the pregnant participants completed questionnaires detailing their sleep habits. These surveys asked about sleep duration, subjective sleep quality, and sleep latency. Sleep latency is the amount of time it takes to transition from full wakefulness to sleep.
When the children reached four years of age, trained staff evaluated their intelligence using a standardized assessment called the Wechsler Primary and Preschool Scale of Intelligence. This test measures a child’s full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ, alongside specific cognitive abilities. Verbal comprehension measures a child’s ability to access and apply acquired word knowledge. Fluid reasoning evaluates the capacity to detect underlying conceptual relationships and use reasoning to solve novel problems.
The researchers used statistical models to compare the maternal sleep data from each trimester with the children’s test scores. They adjusted their calculations to account for maternal age, education, physical activity, and family history of mental disorders.
The analysis showed an association between taking longer to fall asleep and lower cognitive scores. Longer sleep latency in the first trimester was linked to lower full-scale IQ and lower verbal comprehension scores. In the second trimester, longer sleep latency was associated with lower fluid reasoning scores. Sleep difficulties in the third trimester did not yield statistically significant associations with the children’s test scores.
Next, the researchers evaluated how consistent sleep patterns across the entirety of pregnancy related to child brain development. They used a statistical technique to group participants based on how their sleep quality changed from the first trimester to the third. This longitudinal approach allowed the team to see the cumulative impact of sleep struggles. They found that individuals who consistently experienced longer sleep latency throughout their entire pregnancy had children with lower full-scale IQ, verbal comprehension, and fluid reasoning scores at age four.
To understand the biological mechanisms behind these observations, the researchers looked at metabolites. Metabolites are small molecules produced when the body breaks down food, chemicals, or its own tissue. The team analyzed fasting blood samples taken from 1,461 of the pregnant participants during their first trimester.
The researchers conducted untargeted metabolomic profiling. Instead of looking for a few specific chemicals, this technique scans the blood for hundreds of small molecules simultaneously, providing a broad snapshot of the body’s metabolic state. After identifying 413 metabolites in the maternal serum, they used a “meet-in-the-middle” analytical strategy. They first looked for metabolites linked to maternal sleep factors, then looked for metabolites linked to child test scores, and finally focused on the overlapping chemicals that connected the two endpoints.
Three specific molecules emerged as potential mediators: inositol, indoleacrylic acid, and 4-hydroxyquinoline. Inositol is a sugar that is synthesized by the body and found in common foods like fruits and beans. It is transferred across the placenta to the fetus, where it contributes to neurotransmitter signaling. The researchers observed an indirect path where maternal sleep duration was linked to child fluid reasoning through changes in maternal inositol levels.
Indoleacrylic acid and 4-hydroxyquinoline are byproducts of tryptophan, an amino acid involved in producing sleep-regulating hormones like serotonin and melatonin. Poor sleep can alter how the body breaks down tryptophan, increasing inflammatory pathways and changing the availability of serotonin, a hormone essential for neuronal growth. The researchers found that sleep disturbances influenced offspring verbal comprehension via alterations in these two tryptophan-related molecules.
The study relied on self-reported questionnaires to assess maternal sleep. These surveys capture a person’s subjective perception of their rest, which might differ from objective measurements like brainwave monitoring or movement tracking devices. The metabolic analysis only tested blood samples from the first trimester. A person’s metabolic profile can fluctuate due to diet and physical activity, meaning a single measurement might not capture the full biological environment across the entire pregnancy.
The large number of metabolites tested also increases the mathematical risk of identifying false associations, requiring future studies to validate these specific chemical links. Most participants in this sample had a college degree, meaning the findings might not generalize to populations with different educational or socioeconomic backgrounds. Because sleep disturbances are sometimes a symptom of underlying psychiatric conditions, residual genetic or environmental factors could still influence the outcomes.
The study, “Maternal sleep disturbance during pregnancy and child intelligence quotient: A metabolome-wide association study in the Shanghai Birth Cohort,” was authored by Yun Huang, Fei Luo, Guanghai Wang, Ting Zhang, Lin Zhang, Lichun Fan, and Jun Zhang.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MaternalSleep #PregnancyHealth #SleepLatency #ChildIQ #PrenatalNutrition #Metabolomics #TryptophanPathways #FetalBrainDevelopment #WechslerIQ #ShanghaiBirthCohort
-
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 10:32AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: Money problems may age your brain faster
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
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-
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 10:32AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: Money problems may age your brain faster
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
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-
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 10:32AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: Money problems may age your brain faster
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
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DATE: September 2, 2026 at 10:32AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Money problems may age your brain faster
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
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DATE: September 2, 2026 at 09:33AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Alzheimer’s may leave a mark on the brain long before plaques appear
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015144.htm
Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s may begin at least seven years before amyloid plaques become detectable with current PET scans. Researchers uncovered the signal by tracking healthy older adults with repeated brain imaging over nearly 20 years. The discovery could help scientists identify Alzheimer’s earlier and suggests that important disease processes may start before visible plaque buildup.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015144.htm
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DATE: September 2, 2026 at 10:32AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Money problems may age your brain faster
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
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DATE: September 2, 2026 at 09:33AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Alzheimer’s may leave a mark on the brain long before plaques appear
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015144.htm
Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s may begin at least seven years before amyloid plaques become detectable with current PET scans. Researchers uncovered the signal by tracking healthy older adults with repeated brain imaging over nearly 20 years. The discovery could help scientists identify Alzheimer’s earlier and suggests that important disease processes may start before visible plaque buildup.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015144.htm
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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-
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 10:32AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Money problems may age your brain faster
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015154.htm
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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
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-
DATE: September 2, 2026 at 09:33AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Alzheimer’s may leave a mark on the brain long before plaques appear
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015144.htm
Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s may begin at least seven years before amyloid plaques become detectable with current PET scans. Researchers uncovered the signal by tracking healthy older adults with repeated brain imaging over nearly 20 years. The discovery could help scientists identify Alzheimer’s earlier and suggests that important disease processes may start before visible plaque buildup.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260831015144.htm
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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-
DATE: September 2, 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: Sex differences in personality traits are shrinking among younger generations
Younger generations are showing smaller differences between men and women when it comes to fundamental social and economic attitudes, such as how much they trust others or their willingness to take risks. A global analysis of survey data indicates that these gender gaps are steadily narrowing, challenging the idea that differences in personality traits become more pronounced as societies become more equal. The findings were published in PNAS Nexus.
Economic and social preferences govern how people make decisions in their daily lives. Patience refers to a person’s willingness to delay gratification to receive a larger reward later. Risk-taking describes how comfortable someone is with uncertainty when making choices that could lead to negative outcomes.
Trust involves the baseline expectation that others will act reliably and fairly. Prosociality encompasses behaviors meant to benefit others, such as giving to charity or helping a stranger. Past research has consistently found that men and women tend to score differently on these traits.
For instance, a 2009 review of experimental data indicated that women typically demonstrate less tolerance for financial risk and exhibit different patterns of altruistic behavior compared to men. These baseline behavioral differences have often been cited to explain why men and women continue to experience different outcomes in the labor market. This includes variations in career choices and lifetime earnings.
Building on this, researchers noticed a puzzling trend when looking at data from around the world. A 2018 study found that differences between men and women in traits like patience and trust were actually largest in wealthy countries with high levels of gender equality. This led to the prominent claim that as societies develop and remove social constraints, men and women have more freedom to express deeply rooted, gender-specific traits.
“Gender gaps in preferences have been documented in the empirical literature over the past years, to some extent paralleling gender gaps in socio-economic outcomes,” Uwe Sunde, a professor in the Economics Department at LMU Munich, told PsyPost. “But while gender gaps in earnings, for instance, have started to decline in many countries, there was no evidence up to now about the dynamics of gender gaps in preferences. In previous work, I had been involved in designing behaviorally valid measures of preferences that can be fielded in large-scale surveys on a global scale, so we started thinking about ways to fill the gap regarding the dynamics of gender preference gaps.”
“We did not have a strong prior,” Sunde explained regarding the researchers’ initial expectations. “Taken literally, this would suggest that gender gaps are wider among younger cohorts as they grow up in countries that experience economic and social development.”
The authors of the new study wanted to test this idea from a different angle by looking across generations. They reasoned that if modern development encourages larger gender gaps, these gaps should be widening over time. To find out, they analyzed how these differences between men and women have evolved across different age groups within the same countries.
“At the same time, younger cohorts are presumably exposed to more gender-neutral influences during their impressionable years than cohorts born thirty or forty years earlier,” Sunde noted. “If preferences are stable, this would suggest that gender gaps should be smaller among younger cohorts. Which hypothesis is right is therefore an empirical question. Our data provide support for the latter hypothesis.”
The research, led by Rainer Kotschy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Sunde, utilized two massive international datasets. The first dataset, the Global Preferences Survey, included around 80,000 individuals from 76 countries who answered validated survey questions about their attitudes in 2012. The second dataset, the World Values Survey, included approximately 380,000 individuals from 106 countries, surveyed at various points between 1981 and 2022.
By combining these resources, the researchers could look at people born in different decades and compare the size of the gender gaps within specific countries. To ensure they were tracking generational shifts rather than just the natural effects of aging, the scientists mathematically adjusted the data to account for typical life-cycle changes. For example, people generally become less willing to take physical or financial risks as they get older, regardless of the era in which they were born.
After filtering out these age-related changes, the researchers calculated the average difference in scores between men and women for each birth decade. The results provide evidence of a steady, ongoing decline in gender gaps across all four measured traits. In both datasets, the differences between men and women in patience, risk-taking, trust, and prosociality were smaller among younger generations.
“This suggests that women and men are becoming more similar in their preferences, since preferences are usually formed early in life and fairly stable thereafter, at least that is what the existing evidence seems to show,” Sunde pointed out.
Specifically, the gap between men and women born in the 1980s was roughly 20 percent smaller than the gap between men and women born in the 1950s. This convergence suggests that the psychological profiles of men and women are becoming more similar over time. Interestingly, the researchers found that these gaps narrowed more rapidly in low-income and less gender-equal countries, rather than in highly developed Western nations.
Sunde elaborated on the magnitude of this shift. “In terms of size, our results indicate that gender preference gaps have declined on average by 21.6 percent over one generation (e.g. comparing the 1950 and 1980 birth decades),” he said. “To put this into perspective, the gender wage gap in the United States has decreased by about 50 percent between 1980 and 2010.”
“The practical significance is harder to evaluate,” Sunde continued. “One interpretation is that the decline in the gender preference gap is part of the explanation of greater gender equality in outcomes, besides institutional changes. But it might be a moderate part.”
This nuanced dynamic aligns with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that economic preference gaps between genders do not universally widen in more gender-equal societies, but rather show domain-specific shifts. At the same time, the age and country-level dynamics are in tension with a 2016 study covered by PsyPost. That older project found that risk-taking remains high into older age and shows smaller sex differences in countries characterized by greater poverty and hardship, whereas the new study notes broader generational convergence globally.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. One primary challenge in this type of analysis is perfectly separating the effects of getting older from the effects of being born in a specific era. The researchers relied on the mathematical assumption that men and women within a country experience similar baseline aging patterns, allowing them to isolate the generational changes.
“Disentangling cohort from age effects is notoriously difficult and we have gone a long way to see whether the effects are due to cohort effects or age,” Sunde told PsyPost. “Our interpretation is that cohort effects, i.e., effects related to socialization during adolescence, are more likely to drive the results than age. But this interpretation is ultimately based on plausibility arguments in view of all of our findings.”
If men and women actually experience psychological aging in drastically different ways that the statistical models could not capture, it might influence the estimated size of the generational gaps. Additionally, the study relies on self-reported survey data, which can sometimes capture what people think they should say rather than how they actually behave in the real world. The questions used in the World Values Survey were also general proxy measures, asking participants what values they thought were important to teach children, rather than placing them in direct behavioral experiments.
Future studies could track the same individuals over several decades using physical or financial experiments to see exactly how these preferences evolve over a lifetime. This would help clarify whether the increasingly similar environments people grow up in today permanently shape their economic traits.
“In ongoing work, we use a modified version of the methodological approach developed in this paper to learn more about whether preferences have become more similar globally among younger cohorts,” Sunde added. “This would speak directly to hypotheses regarding a global convergence in economic preferences.”
The study, “Gender gaps in patience, risk-taking, trust, and prosociality are smaller among younger cohorts,” was authored by Rainer Kotschy and Uwe Sunde.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #GenderGapsDecline #GenerationalConvergence #SexDifferencesShrinking #PatienceAndRisk #TrustProsociality #GlobalPreferences #GenderEqualityImpact #CohortEffects #EconomicPreferences #PsyPostStudy
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Sex differences in personality traits are shrinking among younger generations
Younger generations are showing smaller differences between men and women when it comes to fundamental social and economic attitudes, such as how much they trust others or their willingness to take risks. A global analysis of survey data indicates that these gender gaps are steadily narrowing, challenging the idea that differences in personality traits become more pronounced as societies become more equal. The findings were published in PNAS Nexus.
Economic and social preferences govern how people make decisions in their daily lives. Patience refers to a person’s willingness to delay gratification to receive a larger reward later. Risk-taking describes how comfortable someone is with uncertainty when making choices that could lead to negative outcomes.
Trust involves the baseline expectation that others will act reliably and fairly. Prosociality encompasses behaviors meant to benefit others, such as giving to charity or helping a stranger. Past research has consistently found that men and women tend to score differently on these traits.
For instance, a 2009 review of experimental data indicated that women typically demonstrate less tolerance for financial risk and exhibit different patterns of altruistic behavior compared to men. These baseline behavioral differences have often been cited to explain why men and women continue to experience different outcomes in the labor market. This includes variations in career choices and lifetime earnings.
Building on this, researchers noticed a puzzling trend when looking at data from around the world. A 2018 study found that differences between men and women in traits like patience and trust were actually largest in wealthy countries with high levels of gender equality. This led to the prominent claim that as societies develop and remove social constraints, men and women have more freedom to express deeply rooted, gender-specific traits.
“Gender gaps in preferences have been documented in the empirical literature over the past years, to some extent paralleling gender gaps in socio-economic outcomes,” Uwe Sunde, a professor in the Economics Department at LMU Munich, told PsyPost. “But while gender gaps in earnings, for instance, have started to decline in many countries, there was no evidence up to now about the dynamics of gender gaps in preferences. In previous work, I had been involved in designing behaviorally valid measures of preferences that can be fielded in large-scale surveys on a global scale, so we started thinking about ways to fill the gap regarding the dynamics of gender preference gaps.”
“We did not have a strong prior,” Sunde explained regarding the researchers’ initial expectations. “Taken literally, this would suggest that gender gaps are wider among younger cohorts as they grow up in countries that experience economic and social development.”
The authors of the new study wanted to test this idea from a different angle by looking across generations. They reasoned that if modern development encourages larger gender gaps, these gaps should be widening over time. To find out, they analyzed how these differences between men and women have evolved across different age groups within the same countries.
“At the same time, younger cohorts are presumably exposed to more gender-neutral influences during their impressionable years than cohorts born thirty or forty years earlier,” Sunde noted. “If preferences are stable, this would suggest that gender gaps should be smaller among younger cohorts. Which hypothesis is right is therefore an empirical question. Our data provide support for the latter hypothesis.”
The research, led by Rainer Kotschy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Sunde, utilized two massive international datasets. The first dataset, the Global Preferences Survey, included around 80,000 individuals from 76 countries who answered validated survey questions about their attitudes in 2012. The second dataset, the World Values Survey, included approximately 380,000 individuals from 106 countries, surveyed at various points between 1981 and 2022.
By combining these resources, the researchers could look at people born in different decades and compare the size of the gender gaps within specific countries. To ensure they were tracking generational shifts rather than just the natural effects of aging, the scientists mathematically adjusted the data to account for typical life-cycle changes. For example, people generally become less willing to take physical or financial risks as they get older, regardless of the era in which they were born.
After filtering out these age-related changes, the researchers calculated the average difference in scores between men and women for each birth decade. The results provide evidence of a steady, ongoing decline in gender gaps across all four measured traits. In both datasets, the differences between men and women in patience, risk-taking, trust, and prosociality were smaller among younger generations.
“This suggests that women and men are becoming more similar in their preferences, since preferences are usually formed early in life and fairly stable thereafter, at least that is what the existing evidence seems to show,” Sunde pointed out.
Specifically, the gap between men and women born in the 1980s was roughly 20 percent smaller than the gap between men and women born in the 1950s. This convergence suggests that the psychological profiles of men and women are becoming more similar over time. Interestingly, the researchers found that these gaps narrowed more rapidly in low-income and less gender-equal countries, rather than in highly developed Western nations.
Sunde elaborated on the magnitude of this shift. “In terms of size, our results indicate that gender preference gaps have declined on average by 21.6 percent over one generation (e.g. comparing the 1950 and 1980 birth decades),” he said. “To put this into perspective, the gender wage gap in the United States has decreased by about 50 percent between 1980 and 2010.”
“The practical significance is harder to evaluate,” Sunde continued. “One interpretation is that the decline in the gender preference gap is part of the explanation of greater gender equality in outcomes, besides institutional changes. But it might be a moderate part.”
This nuanced dynamic aligns with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that economic preference gaps between genders do not universally widen in more gender-equal societies, but rather show domain-specific shifts. At the same time, the age and country-level dynamics are in tension with a 2016 study covered by PsyPost. That older project found that risk-taking remains high into older age and shows smaller sex differences in countries characterized by greater poverty and hardship, whereas the new study notes broader generational convergence globally.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. One primary challenge in this type of analysis is perfectly separating the effects of getting older from the effects of being born in a specific era. The researchers relied on the mathematical assumption that men and women within a country experience similar baseline aging patterns, allowing them to isolate the generational changes.
“Disentangling cohort from age effects is notoriously difficult and we have gone a long way to see whether the effects are due to cohort effects or age,” Sunde told PsyPost. “Our interpretation is that cohort effects, i.e., effects related to socialization during adolescence, are more likely to drive the results than age. But this interpretation is ultimately based on plausibility arguments in view of all of our findings.”
If men and women actually experience psychological aging in drastically different ways that the statistical models could not capture, it might influence the estimated size of the generational gaps. Additionally, the study relies on self-reported survey data, which can sometimes capture what people think they should say rather than how they actually behave in the real world. The questions used in the World Values Survey were also general proxy measures, asking participants what values they thought were important to teach children, rather than placing them in direct behavioral experiments.
Future studies could track the same individuals over several decades using physical or financial experiments to see exactly how these preferences evolve over a lifetime. This would help clarify whether the increasingly similar environments people grow up in today permanently shape their economic traits.
“In ongoing work, we use a modified version of the methodological approach developed in this paper to learn more about whether preferences have become more similar globally among younger cohorts,” Sunde added. “This would speak directly to hypotheses regarding a global convergence in economic preferences.”
The study, “Gender gaps in patience, risk-taking, trust, and prosociality are smaller among younger cohorts,” was authored by Rainer Kotschy and Uwe Sunde.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #GenderGapsDecline #GenerationalConvergence #SexDifferencesShrinking #PatienceAndRisk #TrustProsociality #GlobalPreferences #GenderEqualityImpact #CohortEffects #EconomicPreferences #PsyPostStudy
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Sex differences in personality traits are shrinking among younger generations
Younger generations are showing smaller differences between men and women when it comes to fundamental social and economic attitudes, such as how much they trust others or their willingness to take risks. A global analysis of survey data indicates that these gender gaps are steadily narrowing, challenging the idea that differences in personality traits become more pronounced as societies become more equal. The findings were published in PNAS Nexus.
Economic and social preferences govern how people make decisions in their daily lives. Patience refers to a person’s willingness to delay gratification to receive a larger reward later. Risk-taking describes how comfortable someone is with uncertainty when making choices that could lead to negative outcomes.
Trust involves the baseline expectation that others will act reliably and fairly. Prosociality encompasses behaviors meant to benefit others, such as giving to charity or helping a stranger. Past research has consistently found that men and women tend to score differently on these traits.
For instance, a 2009 review of experimental data indicated that women typically demonstrate less tolerance for financial risk and exhibit different patterns of altruistic behavior compared to men. These baseline behavioral differences have often been cited to explain why men and women continue to experience different outcomes in the labor market. This includes variations in career choices and lifetime earnings.
Building on this, researchers noticed a puzzling trend when looking at data from around the world. A 2018 study found that differences between men and women in traits like patience and trust were actually largest in wealthy countries with high levels of gender equality. This led to the prominent claim that as societies develop and remove social constraints, men and women have more freedom to express deeply rooted, gender-specific traits.
“Gender gaps in preferences have been documented in the empirical literature over the past years, to some extent paralleling gender gaps in socio-economic outcomes,” Uwe Sunde, a professor in the Economics Department at LMU Munich, told PsyPost. “But while gender gaps in earnings, for instance, have started to decline in many countries, there was no evidence up to now about the dynamics of gender gaps in preferences. In previous work, I had been involved in designing behaviorally valid measures of preferences that can be fielded in large-scale surveys on a global scale, so we started thinking about ways to fill the gap regarding the dynamics of gender preference gaps.”
“We did not have a strong prior,” Sunde explained regarding the researchers’ initial expectations. “Taken literally, this would suggest that gender gaps are wider among younger cohorts as they grow up in countries that experience economic and social development.”
The authors of the new study wanted to test this idea from a different angle by looking across generations. They reasoned that if modern development encourages larger gender gaps, these gaps should be widening over time. To find out, they analyzed how these differences between men and women have evolved across different age groups within the same countries.
“At the same time, younger cohorts are presumably exposed to more gender-neutral influences during their impressionable years than cohorts born thirty or forty years earlier,” Sunde noted. “If preferences are stable, this would suggest that gender gaps should be smaller among younger cohorts. Which hypothesis is right is therefore an empirical question. Our data provide support for the latter hypothesis.”
The research, led by Rainer Kotschy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Sunde, utilized two massive international datasets. The first dataset, the Global Preferences Survey, included around 80,000 individuals from 76 countries who answered validated survey questions about their attitudes in 2012. The second dataset, the World Values Survey, included approximately 380,000 individuals from 106 countries, surveyed at various points between 1981 and 2022.
By combining these resources, the researchers could look at people born in different decades and compare the size of the gender gaps within specific countries. To ensure they were tracking generational shifts rather than just the natural effects of aging, the scientists mathematically adjusted the data to account for typical life-cycle changes. For example, people generally become less willing to take physical or financial risks as they get older, regardless of the era in which they were born.
After filtering out these age-related changes, the researchers calculated the average difference in scores between men and women for each birth decade. The results provide evidence of a steady, ongoing decline in gender gaps across all four measured traits. In both datasets, the differences between men and women in patience, risk-taking, trust, and prosociality were smaller among younger generations.
“This suggests that women and men are becoming more similar in their preferences, since preferences are usually formed early in life and fairly stable thereafter, at least that is what the existing evidence seems to show,” Sunde pointed out.
Specifically, the gap between men and women born in the 1980s was roughly 20 percent smaller than the gap between men and women born in the 1950s. This convergence suggests that the psychological profiles of men and women are becoming more similar over time. Interestingly, the researchers found that these gaps narrowed more rapidly in low-income and less gender-equal countries, rather than in highly developed Western nations.
Sunde elaborated on the magnitude of this shift. “In terms of size, our results indicate that gender preference gaps have declined on average by 21.6 percent over one generation (e.g. comparing the 1950 and 1980 birth decades),” he said. “To put this into perspective, the gender wage gap in the United States has decreased by about 50 percent between 1980 and 2010.”
“The practical significance is harder to evaluate,” Sunde continued. “One interpretation is that the decline in the gender preference gap is part of the explanation of greater gender equality in outcomes, besides institutional changes. But it might be a moderate part.”
This nuanced dynamic aligns with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that economic preference gaps between genders do not universally widen in more gender-equal societies, but rather show domain-specific shifts. At the same time, the age and country-level dynamics are in tension with a 2016 study covered by PsyPost. That older project found that risk-taking remains high into older age and shows smaller sex differences in countries characterized by greater poverty and hardship, whereas the new study notes broader generational convergence globally.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. One primary challenge in this type of analysis is perfectly separating the effects of getting older from the effects of being born in a specific era. The researchers relied on the mathematical assumption that men and women within a country experience similar baseline aging patterns, allowing them to isolate the generational changes.
“Disentangling cohort from age effects is notoriously difficult and we have gone a long way to see whether the effects are due to cohort effects or age,” Sunde told PsyPost. “Our interpretation is that cohort effects, i.e., effects related to socialization during adolescence, are more likely to drive the results than age. But this interpretation is ultimately based on plausibility arguments in view of all of our findings.”
If men and women actually experience psychological aging in drastically different ways that the statistical models could not capture, it might influence the estimated size of the generational gaps. Additionally, the study relies on self-reported survey data, which can sometimes capture what people think they should say rather than how they actually behave in the real world. The questions used in the World Values Survey were also general proxy measures, asking participants what values they thought were important to teach children, rather than placing them in direct behavioral experiments.
Future studies could track the same individuals over several decades using physical or financial experiments to see exactly how these preferences evolve over a lifetime. This would help clarify whether the increasingly similar environments people grow up in today permanently shape their economic traits.
“In ongoing work, we use a modified version of the methodological approach developed in this paper to learn more about whether preferences have become more similar globally among younger cohorts,” Sunde added. “This would speak directly to hypotheses regarding a global convergence in economic preferences.”
The study, “Gender gaps in patience, risk-taking, trust, and prosociality are smaller among younger cohorts,” was authored by Rainer Kotschy and Uwe Sunde.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #GenderGapsDecline #GenerationalConvergence #SexDifferencesShrinking #PatienceAndRisk #TrustProsociality #GlobalPreferences #GenderEqualityImpact #CohortEffects #EconomicPreferences #PsyPostStudy
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Heavy ChatGPT use linked to intellectual laziness and social isolation
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-relying-on-chatgpt-affects-human-memory-and-critical-thinking/
Artificial intelligence has woven its way into everyday life, prompting questions about how reliance on generative tools affects the human mind. A recent small study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that leaning heavily on ChatGPT can reduce critical thinking, diminish memory, and lead to social isolation. However, users who engage with the software intentionally can also harness it to boost their creativity and reasoning skills.
Over the last few years, tools that generate human-like text have become wildly popular. ChatGPT reached one million users within a week of its launch and currently boasts over 180 million active users. People use the program for everything from writing emails to solving programming problems.
As these programs become a regular part of daily workflows, researchers are trying to understand the psychological and cognitive costs. Zeineb Farhat, a researcher at ISC Paris, initiated the research to investigate what happens when habitual use turns into dependence. Much of the early research on generative software has focused on its benefits in education and the workplace.
Farhat wanted to document the potential downsides of outsourcing mental effort and emotional needs to a machine. The research draws on established ideas in psychology regarding how people manage mental effort and motivation. One concept is cognitive offloading, which happens when individuals use external tools, like calculators or search engines, to reduce the amount of information they need to process or remember.
Another core idea involves the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and social connection. When people feel capable and in control of their actions, they are generally more motivated. Farhat set out to see how constant access to an intelligent digital assistant might alter these processes.
The researcher wanted to know if offloading cognitive tasks to an algorithm would compromise a user’s ability to think independently. To explore these dynamics, Farhat conducted a small study involving 45 young adults in France. The participants, aged 18 to 25, were all regular users who interacted with ChatGPT daily.
The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each participant, either face-to-face or via video call. These interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. The conversations covered how the participants used the software, how it affected their study or work habits, and how it made them feel.
Farhat then analyzed the interview transcripts to identify recurring themes in the users’ experiences. The analysis revealed that heavy reliance on the software often discouraged independent thought. Participants reported that having instant answers at their fingertips made them less likely to analyze problems deeply or evaluate sources.
Some described experiencing intellectual laziness, noting that their attention spans felt shorter. Users also reported trouble retaining information. They were externalizing their memory by relying on the chatbot to retrieve facts rather than practicing active recall.
“I used to take notes and actively review materials, but now I just ask ChatGPT whenever I need something,” one student noted in the study. “The problem is, I don’t retain much. I feel like my memory has become weaker because I rely on ChatGPT instead of trying to recall things on my own.”
Psychologically, the interviews indicated that heavy use eroded the participants’ sense of autonomy and self-trust. Many users started second-guessing their own judgment. They began seeking the software’s validation for simple decisions, like choosing the right words for a basic email.
The ease of getting quick answers also lowered their intrinsic motivation to learn new things. Without the struggle normally required to master a topic, the learning process felt less rewarding. Some participants even reported anxiety and a sense of paralysis when the software was offline for maintenance.
One participant recalled a time when the system went down, bringing their workflow to a complete halt. “I needed it for a work project, and I felt completely paralyzed without it,” the user shared. “It’s like my safety net is gone.”
The study also uncovered shifts in social behavior. Participants frequently chose to interact with the software instead of discussing ideas with peers or teachers. This preference sometimes led to feelings of social isolation, as users lost the habit of engaging in deep conversations with other people.
A few participants began to treat the text generator as a companion, projecting human traits onto it. “ChatGPT has become my friend; it knows everything about me,” one participant stated. “It’s always there, always ready to listen, and it feels like it understands me better than most people do.”
While this offered temporary comfort, it substituted genuine human connection with a machine response. Relying on an algorithm for emotional support risks blurring the line between technological mediation and true social interaction. Over time, this dynamic can weaken interpersonal skills and empathy.
Despite these negative reports, the study identified a pattern of constructive use. Some users treated the software as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for their own brains. By allowing the program to handle tedious tasks like structuring data or summarizing dense text, these individuals freed up mental energy for complex reasoning.
They used the tool to brainstorm or overcome writer’s block. Instead of copying what the program generated, they used the output as a starting point to think differently. When used reflectively, the software actually increased users’ confidence and reduced their anxiety about challenging tasks.
Because the research relies on qualitative interviews with a small group of young adults in France, the findings reflect a specific demographic and cannot be broadly generalized. People from older generations or different cultural backgrounds might interact with the software differently. The study also captures user experiences at a single point in time.
It remains unknown whether these cognitive and social habits change over years of use. Future research will need to track larger and more diverse groups over longer periods to see if these patterns persist. Additional studies could also explore how to best train people to use these tools adaptively rather than dependently.
The study, “When AI Thinks for Us: Unveiling the Cognitive and Social Toll of ChatGPT Over-Reliance,” was authored by Zeineb Farhat.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-relying-on-chatgpt-affects-human-memory-and-critical-thinking/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ChatGPTOverreliance #CognitiveOffloading #DigitalLaziness #MentalAutonomy #SocialIsolation #AIImpactOnLearning #IntrinsicMotivation #MemoryRetention #HumanVsMachine #CreativeThinkingWithCaution
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Heavy ChatGPT use linked to intellectual laziness and social isolation
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-relying-on-chatgpt-affects-human-memory-and-critical-thinking/
Artificial intelligence has woven its way into everyday life, prompting questions about how reliance on generative tools affects the human mind. A recent small study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that leaning heavily on ChatGPT can reduce critical thinking, diminish memory, and lead to social isolation. However, users who engage with the software intentionally can also harness it to boost their creativity and reasoning skills.
Over the last few years, tools that generate human-like text have become wildly popular. ChatGPT reached one million users within a week of its launch and currently boasts over 180 million active users. People use the program for everything from writing emails to solving programming problems.
As these programs become a regular part of daily workflows, researchers are trying to understand the psychological and cognitive costs. Zeineb Farhat, a researcher at ISC Paris, initiated the research to investigate what happens when habitual use turns into dependence. Much of the early research on generative software has focused on its benefits in education and the workplace.
Farhat wanted to document the potential downsides of outsourcing mental effort and emotional needs to a machine. The research draws on established ideas in psychology regarding how people manage mental effort and motivation. One concept is cognitive offloading, which happens when individuals use external tools, like calculators or search engines, to reduce the amount of information they need to process or remember.
Another core idea involves the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and social connection. When people feel capable and in control of their actions, they are generally more motivated. Farhat set out to see how constant access to an intelligent digital assistant might alter these processes.
The researcher wanted to know if offloading cognitive tasks to an algorithm would compromise a user’s ability to think independently. To explore these dynamics, Farhat conducted a small study involving 45 young adults in France. The participants, aged 18 to 25, were all regular users who interacted with ChatGPT daily.
The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each participant, either face-to-face or via video call. These interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. The conversations covered how the participants used the software, how it affected their study or work habits, and how it made them feel.
Farhat then analyzed the interview transcripts to identify recurring themes in the users’ experiences. The analysis revealed that heavy reliance on the software often discouraged independent thought. Participants reported that having instant answers at their fingertips made them less likely to analyze problems deeply or evaluate sources.
Some described experiencing intellectual laziness, noting that their attention spans felt shorter. Users also reported trouble retaining information. They were externalizing their memory by relying on the chatbot to retrieve facts rather than practicing active recall.
“I used to take notes and actively review materials, but now I just ask ChatGPT whenever I need something,” one student noted in the study. “The problem is, I don’t retain much. I feel like my memory has become weaker because I rely on ChatGPT instead of trying to recall things on my own.”
Psychologically, the interviews indicated that heavy use eroded the participants’ sense of autonomy and self-trust. Many users started second-guessing their own judgment. They began seeking the software’s validation for simple decisions, like choosing the right words for a basic email.
The ease of getting quick answers also lowered their intrinsic motivation to learn new things. Without the struggle normally required to master a topic, the learning process felt less rewarding. Some participants even reported anxiety and a sense of paralysis when the software was offline for maintenance.
One participant recalled a time when the system went down, bringing their workflow to a complete halt. “I needed it for a work project, and I felt completely paralyzed without it,” the user shared. “It’s like my safety net is gone.”
The study also uncovered shifts in social behavior. Participants frequently chose to interact with the software instead of discussing ideas with peers or teachers. This preference sometimes led to feelings of social isolation, as users lost the habit of engaging in deep conversations with other people.
A few participants began to treat the text generator as a companion, projecting human traits onto it. “ChatGPT has become my friend; it knows everything about me,” one participant stated. “It’s always there, always ready to listen, and it feels like it understands me better than most people do.”
While this offered temporary comfort, it substituted genuine human connection with a machine response. Relying on an algorithm for emotional support risks blurring the line between technological mediation and true social interaction. Over time, this dynamic can weaken interpersonal skills and empathy.
Despite these negative reports, the study identified a pattern of constructive use. Some users treated the software as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for their own brains. By allowing the program to handle tedious tasks like structuring data or summarizing dense text, these individuals freed up mental energy for complex reasoning.
They used the tool to brainstorm or overcome writer’s block. Instead of copying what the program generated, they used the output as a starting point to think differently. When used reflectively, the software actually increased users’ confidence and reduced their anxiety about challenging tasks.
Because the research relies on qualitative interviews with a small group of young adults in France, the findings reflect a specific demographic and cannot be broadly generalized. People from older generations or different cultural backgrounds might interact with the software differently. The study also captures user experiences at a single point in time.
It remains unknown whether these cognitive and social habits change over years of use. Future research will need to track larger and more diverse groups over longer periods to see if these patterns persist. Additional studies could also explore how to best train people to use these tools adaptively rather than dependently.
The study, “When AI Thinks for Us: Unveiling the Cognitive and Social Toll of ChatGPT Over-Reliance,” was authored by Zeineb Farhat.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-relying-on-chatgpt-affects-human-memory-and-critical-thinking/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ChatGPTOverreliance #CognitiveOffloading #DigitalLaziness #MentalAutonomy #SocialIsolation #AIImpactOnLearning #IntrinsicMotivation #MemoryRetention #HumanVsMachine #CreativeThinkingWithCaution
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Heavy ChatGPT use linked to intellectual laziness and social isolation
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-relying-on-chatgpt-affects-human-memory-and-critical-thinking/
Artificial intelligence has woven its way into everyday life, prompting questions about how reliance on generative tools affects the human mind. A recent small study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology suggests that leaning heavily on ChatGPT can reduce critical thinking, diminish memory, and lead to social isolation. However, users who engage with the software intentionally can also harness it to boost their creativity and reasoning skills.
Over the last few years, tools that generate human-like text have become wildly popular. ChatGPT reached one million users within a week of its launch and currently boasts over 180 million active users. People use the program for everything from writing emails to solving programming problems.
As these programs become a regular part of daily workflows, researchers are trying to understand the psychological and cognitive costs. Zeineb Farhat, a researcher at ISC Paris, initiated the research to investigate what happens when habitual use turns into dependence. Much of the early research on generative software has focused on its benefits in education and the workplace.
Farhat wanted to document the potential downsides of outsourcing mental effort and emotional needs to a machine. The research draws on established ideas in psychology regarding how people manage mental effort and motivation. One concept is cognitive offloading, which happens when individuals use external tools, like calculators or search engines, to reduce the amount of information they need to process or remember.
Another core idea involves the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and social connection. When people feel capable and in control of their actions, they are generally more motivated. Farhat set out to see how constant access to an intelligent digital assistant might alter these processes.
The researcher wanted to know if offloading cognitive tasks to an algorithm would compromise a user’s ability to think independently. To explore these dynamics, Farhat conducted a small study involving 45 young adults in France. The participants, aged 18 to 25, were all regular users who interacted with ChatGPT daily.
The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each participant, either face-to-face or via video call. These interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. The conversations covered how the participants used the software, how it affected their study or work habits, and how it made them feel.
Farhat then analyzed the interview transcripts to identify recurring themes in the users’ experiences. The analysis revealed that heavy reliance on the software often discouraged independent thought. Participants reported that having instant answers at their fingertips made them less likely to analyze problems deeply or evaluate sources.
Some described experiencing intellectual laziness, noting that their attention spans felt shorter. Users also reported trouble retaining information. They were externalizing their memory by relying on the chatbot to retrieve facts rather than practicing active recall.
“I used to take notes and actively review materials, but now I just ask ChatGPT whenever I need something,” one student noted in the study. “The problem is, I don’t retain much. I feel like my memory has become weaker because I rely on ChatGPT instead of trying to recall things on my own.”
Psychologically, the interviews indicated that heavy use eroded the participants’ sense of autonomy and self-trust. Many users started second-guessing their own judgment. They began seeking the software’s validation for simple decisions, like choosing the right words for a basic email.
The ease of getting quick answers also lowered their intrinsic motivation to learn new things. Without the struggle normally required to master a topic, the learning process felt less rewarding. Some participants even reported anxiety and a sense of paralysis when the software was offline for maintenance.
One participant recalled a time when the system went down, bringing their workflow to a complete halt. “I needed it for a work project, and I felt completely paralyzed without it,” the user shared. “It’s like my safety net is gone.”
The study also uncovered shifts in social behavior. Participants frequently chose to interact with the software instead of discussing ideas with peers or teachers. This preference sometimes led to feelings of social isolation, as users lost the habit of engaging in deep conversations with other people.
A few participants began to treat the text generator as a companion, projecting human traits onto it. “ChatGPT has become my friend; it knows everything about me,” one participant stated. “It’s always there, always ready to listen, and it feels like it understands me better than most people do.”
While this offered temporary comfort, it substituted genuine human connection with a machine response. Relying on an algorithm for emotional support risks blurring the line between technological mediation and true social interaction. Over time, this dynamic can weaken interpersonal skills and empathy.
Despite these negative reports, the study identified a pattern of constructive use. Some users treated the software as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for their own brains. By allowing the program to handle tedious tasks like structuring data or summarizing dense text, these individuals freed up mental energy for complex reasoning.
They used the tool to brainstorm or overcome writer’s block. Instead of copying what the program generated, they used the output as a starting point to think differently. When used reflectively, the software actually increased users’ confidence and reduced their anxiety about challenging tasks.
Because the research relies on qualitative interviews with a small group of young adults in France, the findings reflect a specific demographic and cannot be broadly generalized. People from older generations or different cultural backgrounds might interact with the software differently. The study also captures user experiences at a single point in time.
It remains unknown whether these cognitive and social habits change over years of use. Future research will need to track larger and more diverse groups over longer periods to see if these patterns persist. Additional studies could also explore how to best train people to use these tools adaptively rather than dependently.
The study, “When AI Thinks for Us: Unveiling the Cognitive and Social Toll of ChatGPT Over-Reliance,” was authored by Zeineb Farhat.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-relying-on-chatgpt-affects-human-memory-and-critical-thinking/
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DATE: September 2, 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: Brain scans shed light on how practice and genetics combine to influence reading ability
Reading is a complex skill that relies on a combination of innate genetic traits and physical brain changes driven by practice. Recent research provides evidence that our foundational ability to process sounds and meaning is strongly inherited, while the brain connections that stitch these skills together are sculpted by reading experience. These insights, published in Cerebral Cortex, suggest that differences in reading ability across the general population exist on a continuous spectrum of brain anatomy.
Learning to read involves teaching the brain to link written symbols to spoken language and concepts. This process generally relies on two complementary networks. The phonological route maps written letters to speech sounds, a task heavily dependent on the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex is a brain region located on the upper sides of the temporal lobes, just above the ears, and is responsible for processing sound.
The semantic route maps whole words directly to their meanings. This pathway leans on the anterior temporal lobes, which are structures located near the front tips of the temporal lobes that act as hubs for organizing semantic knowledge and recognizing objects.
Connecting these gray matter areas are white matter tracts, which serve as the brain’s information highways. The arcuate fasciculus is a bundle of nerve fibers that connects sound-processing areas to speech-production areas. The inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus bridges visual regions at the back of the brain to language and meaning hubs in the front.
Past studies have often looked at structural differences in these regions to understand conditions like dyslexia. For instance, a 2026 review highlighted that about half of the variation in language and reading outcomes in children is driven by genetics, but that environmental exposure heavily influences how those skills develop. However, researchers have primarily focused on broad anatomical measures or distinct clinical diagnoses. By looking closer at the micro-level structure of specific functional zones within the auditory cortex and anterior temporal lobes, scientists can better understand how neurodevelopmental variation shapes reading ability in the wider population.
“It fascinates me how the brain’s microstructure reflects individual skills and how it builds complex networks of information,” said study author Mikael Roll, a professor at the Centre for Languages and Literature at Lund University. “I wanted to understand which aspects of this structural ‘hardware’ are partly inherited and which may be more strongly shaped by experience.”
Roll told PsyPost that reading is an especially useful model for this question. “Reading is particularly intriguing because it is a relatively recent cultural invention that requires the brain to bring together sounds, visual forms, and meaning,” he explained.
To investigate this, the research analyzed brain imaging and behavioral data from 1,068 young adults who participated in the Human Connectome Project. The participants, aged 22 to 37, were typical readers without severe clinical impairments. To separate genetic influences from environmental ones, the sample included a subgroup of 396 twins. The researchers used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to measure cortical surface area, cortical thickness, and a specific image ratio called T1w/T2w, which serves as an indicator of myelin content.
Myelin is the protective sheath around nerve fibers that helps signals travel faster. Participants completed a standardized oral reading recognition test that evaluated their ability to pronounce letters and words. The research team then looked for statistical relationships between reading scores and the structural features of specific subregions in the auditory cortex and anterior temporal lobes.
The findings point to a dual-route system where genetics and experience play distinct roles. In the phonological route, the researchers found that a higher myelin proxy in the left medial belt of the auditory cortex was associated with lower reading scores.
While this physical brain trait was predominantly shaped by environmental factors rather than being highly heritable, its specific relationship with reading ability showed a stable genetic correlation. The medial belt processes basic sound rhythms and syllable boundaries, which is an early step in learning to decode words. In contrast, cortical thickness in the auditory core, the area responsible for processing fine-grained sound details like individual consonants and vowels, was positively associated with reading ability. This increased thickness did not show a genetic link, which suggests it builds up through the experience of reading.
A similar division appeared in the semantic route. A larger cortical surface area in two specific meaning-processing hubs, the left anterior middle temporal gyrus and the right dorsal temporal pole, was positively associated with better reading skills. Twin comparisons indicated that this expanded surface area was strongly heritable. Follow-up tests showed that these exact brain areas predicted how well participants performed on a vocabulary comprehension task, linking the heritable brain trait specifically to semantic processing.
“The genetic relationships between reading skill and regions in the anterior temporal lobes surprised me,” Roll noted. “These areas are involved in accessing word meaning and identifying faces and familiar visual forms. It is possible that partly inherited differences in these systems give some people an advantage when they begin learning to identify written words and connect them with meaning.”
The team also analyzed the brain’s white matter tracts in a subset of 1,036 participants. They found that the structural integrity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the arcuate fasciculus predicted reading ability independently of genetic influences. This indicates that as people practice reading, the communication pathways that integrate sound and meaning become optimized through experience.
Ultimately, these physical and genetic variations translate into distinct learning styles. “Our different starting points and experiences shape the brain’s routes to reading, producing a unique reading experience for each of us,” Roll said. “Some people may rely more strongly on an inner voice, while others may connect written word forms more directly to meaning.”
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which observed that better reading ability across the general population was associated with a thicker left auditory cortex and a larger left anterior temporal lobe. The current study also aligns broadly with another study covered by PsyPost in 2025 that linked genetic factors to altered white matter and brain volume in language areas. That earlier study, however, specifically examined genetic risk scores for dyslexia rather than directly measuring heritability and continuous reading ability.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The image ratio used to estimate myelin is an indirect measure. While it generally correlates with myelin content, it can also reflect other cellular variations like the density of brain cells or the orientation of nerve fibers.
“Some of the brain features associated with reading ability in this study have previously been linked to dyslexia,” Roll pointed out. “Importantly, I found continuous relationships with reading ability across the population in a group without known dyslexia. This does not diminish the difficulties experienced by people with dyslexia, but suggests that there may also be a broader gray zone of less striking reading difficulties that deserves attention.”
He also cautioned that the structural correlations, while systematic, are not massive. “The effects are modest, which is what we would expect for a complex ability like reading that depends on many biological and environmental factors,” Roll explained. “But they were detected in a large sample of more than a thousand people and reveal systematic differences across the population.”
It is also important to note that the study looked at a single snapshot in time using young adults. Because the researchers compared twins to estimate heritability, they can confidently say certain traits have a genetic basis. However, estimating how much a brain structure changes purely due to reading experience over a lifetime would require tracking the same individuals from childhood through adulthood.
Future studies might look at how these specific structural differences respond to reading interventions in children. Because the study provides evidence that reading relies on both sound-based and meaning-based brain hubs, educators might find that mixing phonological training with vocabulary building helps support the diverse natural brain profiles found in any classroom. “One practical message is that we should recognize that children come to reading with different starting points and may need different kinds of support,” Roll added.
“I would like to extend this approach beyond reading and map more specific language abilities onto genetic and fine-grained measures of brain structure,” Roll said regarding his future research. “I am particularly interested in the structural basis of auditory abilities involved in analyzing speech sounds and speech melody. Ultimately, I would like to understand how inherited differences and experience interact to build the brain networks that support language.”
The study, “Heritable and experience-dependent cortical traits of reading ability,” was authored by Mikael Roll.
-------------------------------------------------
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ReadingAbility #BrainScience #GeneticsOfReading #Neuroeducation #PhonologicalProcessing #SemanticProcessing #AuditoryCortex #TemporalLobes #WhiteMatterTracts #CerebralCortex
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Brain scans shed light on how practice and genetics combine to influence reading ability
Reading is a complex skill that relies on a combination of innate genetic traits and physical brain changes driven by practice. Recent research provides evidence that our foundational ability to process sounds and meaning is strongly inherited, while the brain connections that stitch these skills together are sculpted by reading experience. These insights, published in Cerebral Cortex, suggest that differences in reading ability across the general population exist on a continuous spectrum of brain anatomy.
Learning to read involves teaching the brain to link written symbols to spoken language and concepts. This process generally relies on two complementary networks. The phonological route maps written letters to speech sounds, a task heavily dependent on the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex is a brain region located on the upper sides of the temporal lobes, just above the ears, and is responsible for processing sound.
The semantic route maps whole words directly to their meanings. This pathway leans on the anterior temporal lobes, which are structures located near the front tips of the temporal lobes that act as hubs for organizing semantic knowledge and recognizing objects.
Connecting these gray matter areas are white matter tracts, which serve as the brain’s information highways. The arcuate fasciculus is a bundle of nerve fibers that connects sound-processing areas to speech-production areas. The inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus bridges visual regions at the back of the brain to language and meaning hubs in the front.
Past studies have often looked at structural differences in these regions to understand conditions like dyslexia. For instance, a 2026 review highlighted that about half of the variation in language and reading outcomes in children is driven by genetics, but that environmental exposure heavily influences how those skills develop. However, researchers have primarily focused on broad anatomical measures or distinct clinical diagnoses. By looking closer at the micro-level structure of specific functional zones within the auditory cortex and anterior temporal lobes, scientists can better understand how neurodevelopmental variation shapes reading ability in the wider population.
“It fascinates me how the brain’s microstructure reflects individual skills and how it builds complex networks of information,” said study author Mikael Roll, a professor at the Centre for Languages and Literature at Lund University. “I wanted to understand which aspects of this structural ‘hardware’ are partly inherited and which may be more strongly shaped by experience.”
Roll told PsyPost that reading is an especially useful model for this question. “Reading is particularly intriguing because it is a relatively recent cultural invention that requires the brain to bring together sounds, visual forms, and meaning,” he explained.
To investigate this, the research analyzed brain imaging and behavioral data from 1,068 young adults who participated in the Human Connectome Project. The participants, aged 22 to 37, were typical readers without severe clinical impairments. To separate genetic influences from environmental ones, the sample included a subgroup of 396 twins. The researchers used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to measure cortical surface area, cortical thickness, and a specific image ratio called T1w/T2w, which serves as an indicator of myelin content.
Myelin is the protective sheath around nerve fibers that helps signals travel faster. Participants completed a standardized oral reading recognition test that evaluated their ability to pronounce letters and words. The research team then looked for statistical relationships between reading scores and the structural features of specific subregions in the auditory cortex and anterior temporal lobes.
The findings point to a dual-route system where genetics and experience play distinct roles. In the phonological route, the researchers found that a higher myelin proxy in the left medial belt of the auditory cortex was associated with lower reading scores.
While this physical brain trait was predominantly shaped by environmental factors rather than being highly heritable, its specific relationship with reading ability showed a stable genetic correlation. The medial belt processes basic sound rhythms and syllable boundaries, which is an early step in learning to decode words. In contrast, cortical thickness in the auditory core, the area responsible for processing fine-grained sound details like individual consonants and vowels, was positively associated with reading ability. This increased thickness did not show a genetic link, which suggests it builds up through the experience of reading.
A similar division appeared in the semantic route. A larger cortical surface area in two specific meaning-processing hubs, the left anterior middle temporal gyrus and the right dorsal temporal pole, was positively associated with better reading skills. Twin comparisons indicated that this expanded surface area was strongly heritable. Follow-up tests showed that these exact brain areas predicted how well participants performed on a vocabulary comprehension task, linking the heritable brain trait specifically to semantic processing.
“The genetic relationships between reading skill and regions in the anterior temporal lobes surprised me,” Roll noted. “These areas are involved in accessing word meaning and identifying faces and familiar visual forms. It is possible that partly inherited differences in these systems give some people an advantage when they begin learning to identify written words and connect them with meaning.”
The team also analyzed the brain’s white matter tracts in a subset of 1,036 participants. They found that the structural integrity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the arcuate fasciculus predicted reading ability independently of genetic influences. This indicates that as people practice reading, the communication pathways that integrate sound and meaning become optimized through experience.
Ultimately, these physical and genetic variations translate into distinct learning styles. “Our different starting points and experiences shape the brain’s routes to reading, producing a unique reading experience for each of us,” Roll said. “Some people may rely more strongly on an inner voice, while others may connect written word forms more directly to meaning.”
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which observed that better reading ability across the general population was associated with a thicker left auditory cortex and a larger left anterior temporal lobe. The current study also aligns broadly with another study covered by PsyPost in 2025 that linked genetic factors to altered white matter and brain volume in language areas. That earlier study, however, specifically examined genetic risk scores for dyslexia rather than directly measuring heritability and continuous reading ability.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The image ratio used to estimate myelin is an indirect measure. While it generally correlates with myelin content, it can also reflect other cellular variations like the density of brain cells or the orientation of nerve fibers.
“Some of the brain features associated with reading ability in this study have previously been linked to dyslexia,” Roll pointed out. “Importantly, I found continuous relationships with reading ability across the population in a group without known dyslexia. This does not diminish the difficulties experienced by people with dyslexia, but suggests that there may also be a broader gray zone of less striking reading difficulties that deserves attention.”
He also cautioned that the structural correlations, while systematic, are not massive. “The effects are modest, which is what we would expect for a complex ability like reading that depends on many biological and environmental factors,” Roll explained. “But they were detected in a large sample of more than a thousand people and reveal systematic differences across the population.”
It is also important to note that the study looked at a single snapshot in time using young adults. Because the researchers compared twins to estimate heritability, they can confidently say certain traits have a genetic basis. However, estimating how much a brain structure changes purely due to reading experience over a lifetime would require tracking the same individuals from childhood through adulthood.
Future studies might look at how these specific structural differences respond to reading interventions in children. Because the study provides evidence that reading relies on both sound-based and meaning-based brain hubs, educators might find that mixing phonological training with vocabulary building helps support the diverse natural brain profiles found in any classroom. “One practical message is that we should recognize that children come to reading with different starting points and may need different kinds of support,” Roll added.
“I would like to extend this approach beyond reading and map more specific language abilities onto genetic and fine-grained measures of brain structure,” Roll said regarding his future research. “I am particularly interested in the structural basis of auditory abilities involved in analyzing speech sounds and speech melody. Ultimately, I would like to understand how inherited differences and experience interact to build the brain networks that support language.”
The study, “Heritable and experience-dependent cortical traits of reading ability,” was authored by Mikael Roll.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ReadingAbility #BrainScience #GeneticsOfReading #Neuroeducation #PhonologicalProcessing #SemanticProcessing #AuditoryCortex #TemporalLobes #WhiteMatterTracts #CerebralCortex
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Brain scans shed light on how practice and genetics combine to influence reading ability
Reading is a complex skill that relies on a combination of innate genetic traits and physical brain changes driven by practice. Recent research provides evidence that our foundational ability to process sounds and meaning is strongly inherited, while the brain connections that stitch these skills together are sculpted by reading experience. These insights, published in Cerebral Cortex, suggest that differences in reading ability across the general population exist on a continuous spectrum of brain anatomy.
Learning to read involves teaching the brain to link written symbols to spoken language and concepts. This process generally relies on two complementary networks. The phonological route maps written letters to speech sounds, a task heavily dependent on the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex is a brain region located on the upper sides of the temporal lobes, just above the ears, and is responsible for processing sound.
The semantic route maps whole words directly to their meanings. This pathway leans on the anterior temporal lobes, which are structures located near the front tips of the temporal lobes that act as hubs for organizing semantic knowledge and recognizing objects.
Connecting these gray matter areas are white matter tracts, which serve as the brain’s information highways. The arcuate fasciculus is a bundle of nerve fibers that connects sound-processing areas to speech-production areas. The inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus bridges visual regions at the back of the brain to language and meaning hubs in the front.
Past studies have often looked at structural differences in these regions to understand conditions like dyslexia. For instance, a 2026 review highlighted that about half of the variation in language and reading outcomes in children is driven by genetics, but that environmental exposure heavily influences how those skills develop. However, researchers have primarily focused on broad anatomical measures or distinct clinical diagnoses. By looking closer at the micro-level structure of specific functional zones within the auditory cortex and anterior temporal lobes, scientists can better understand how neurodevelopmental variation shapes reading ability in the wider population.
“It fascinates me how the brain’s microstructure reflects individual skills and how it builds complex networks of information,” said study author Mikael Roll, a professor at the Centre for Languages and Literature at Lund University. “I wanted to understand which aspects of this structural ‘hardware’ are partly inherited and which may be more strongly shaped by experience.”
Roll told PsyPost that reading is an especially useful model for this question. “Reading is particularly intriguing because it is a relatively recent cultural invention that requires the brain to bring together sounds, visual forms, and meaning,” he explained.
To investigate this, the research analyzed brain imaging and behavioral data from 1,068 young adults who participated in the Human Connectome Project. The participants, aged 22 to 37, were typical readers without severe clinical impairments. To separate genetic influences from environmental ones, the sample included a subgroup of 396 twins. The researchers used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to measure cortical surface area, cortical thickness, and a specific image ratio called T1w/T2w, which serves as an indicator of myelin content.
Myelin is the protective sheath around nerve fibers that helps signals travel faster. Participants completed a standardized oral reading recognition test that evaluated their ability to pronounce letters and words. The research team then looked for statistical relationships between reading scores and the structural features of specific subregions in the auditory cortex and anterior temporal lobes.
The findings point to a dual-route system where genetics and experience play distinct roles. In the phonological route, the researchers found that a higher myelin proxy in the left medial belt of the auditory cortex was associated with lower reading scores.
While this physical brain trait was predominantly shaped by environmental factors rather than being highly heritable, its specific relationship with reading ability showed a stable genetic correlation. The medial belt processes basic sound rhythms and syllable boundaries, which is an early step in learning to decode words. In contrast, cortical thickness in the auditory core, the area responsible for processing fine-grained sound details like individual consonants and vowels, was positively associated with reading ability. This increased thickness did not show a genetic link, which suggests it builds up through the experience of reading.
A similar division appeared in the semantic route. A larger cortical surface area in two specific meaning-processing hubs, the left anterior middle temporal gyrus and the right dorsal temporal pole, was positively associated with better reading skills. Twin comparisons indicated that this expanded surface area was strongly heritable. Follow-up tests showed that these exact brain areas predicted how well participants performed on a vocabulary comprehension task, linking the heritable brain trait specifically to semantic processing.
“The genetic relationships between reading skill and regions in the anterior temporal lobes surprised me,” Roll noted. “These areas are involved in accessing word meaning and identifying faces and familiar visual forms. It is possible that partly inherited differences in these systems give some people an advantage when they begin learning to identify written words and connect them with meaning.”
The team also analyzed the brain’s white matter tracts in a subset of 1,036 participants. They found that the structural integrity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the arcuate fasciculus predicted reading ability independently of genetic influences. This indicates that as people practice reading, the communication pathways that integrate sound and meaning become optimized through experience.
Ultimately, these physical and genetic variations translate into distinct learning styles. “Our different starting points and experiences shape the brain’s routes to reading, producing a unique reading experience for each of us,” Roll said. “Some people may rely more strongly on an inner voice, while others may connect written word forms more directly to meaning.”
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which observed that better reading ability across the general population was associated with a thicker left auditory cortex and a larger left anterior temporal lobe. The current study also aligns broadly with another study covered by PsyPost in 2025 that linked genetic factors to altered white matter and brain volume in language areas. That earlier study, however, specifically examined genetic risk scores for dyslexia rather than directly measuring heritability and continuous reading ability.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The image ratio used to estimate myelin is an indirect measure. While it generally correlates with myelin content, it can also reflect other cellular variations like the density of brain cells or the orientation of nerve fibers.
“Some of the brain features associated with reading ability in this study have previously been linked to dyslexia,” Roll pointed out. “Importantly, I found continuous relationships with reading ability across the population in a group without known dyslexia. This does not diminish the difficulties experienced by people with dyslexia, but suggests that there may also be a broader gray zone of less striking reading difficulties that deserves attention.”
He also cautioned that the structural correlations, while systematic, are not massive. “The effects are modest, which is what we would expect for a complex ability like reading that depends on many biological and environmental factors,” Roll explained. “But they were detected in a large sample of more than a thousand people and reveal systematic differences across the population.”
It is also important to note that the study looked at a single snapshot in time using young adults. Because the researchers compared twins to estimate heritability, they can confidently say certain traits have a genetic basis. However, estimating how much a brain structure changes purely due to reading experience over a lifetime would require tracking the same individuals from childhood through adulthood.
Future studies might look at how these specific structural differences respond to reading interventions in children. Because the study provides evidence that reading relies on both sound-based and meaning-based brain hubs, educators might find that mixing phonological training with vocabulary building helps support the diverse natural brain profiles found in any classroom. “One practical message is that we should recognize that children come to reading with different starting points and may need different kinds of support,” Roll added.
“I would like to extend this approach beyond reading and map more specific language abilities onto genetic and fine-grained measures of brain structure,” Roll said regarding his future research. “I am particularly interested in the structural basis of auditory abilities involved in analyzing speech sounds and speech melody. Ultimately, I would like to understand how inherited differences and experience interact to build the brain networks that support language.”
The study, “Heritable and experience-dependent cortical traits of reading ability,” was authored by Mikael Roll.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ReadingAbility #BrainScience #GeneticsOfReading #Neuroeducation #PhonologicalProcessing #SemanticProcessing #AuditoryCortex #TemporalLobes #WhiteMatterTracts #CerebralCortex
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Brain waves reveal how alcohol cues hijack decision-making in addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-waves-reveal-how-alcohol-cues-hijack-decision-making-in-addiction/
People with alcohol use disorder experience automatic emotional reactions to alcohol-related images that disrupt their basic decision-making processes. Research published in Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry suggests that the brain attempts to offset these cognitive disruptions by increasing activity in regions associated with deliberate thought.
According to biological models of addiction, chronic substance use creates a disconnect between the brain’s reward centers and its executive control hubs. Over time, the brain assigns a disproportionate motivational weight to the addictive substance. This means that environmental cues, such as the sight of a bottle or a familiar bar, become highly stimulating and command the brain’s attention.
In alcohol use disorder, seeing a picture of a drink can trigger an immediate, positive emotional association. These latent affective connections operate beneath conscious awareness and encourage the individual to seek out alcohol. They often lead to a relapse by making it harder to implement cognitive strategies for resisting cravings.
Traditional psychological tests measure how fast or accurately someone reacts to a stimulus. These basic metrics do not fully capture the hidden cognitive steps involved in making a choice. To separate these underlying components, researchers use computational frameworks that break down the milliseconds of decision-making into distinct mathematical variables.
This computational approach quantifies how much information a person needs before acting, how fast they process that information, and how long they spend physically executing a response. The biological side of these automatic reactions also requires precise measurement. Scientists use electroencephalography, a method of recording electrical activity on the scalp, to track brain waves known as event-related potentials.
These electrical signals correspond to specific cognitive events and happen in fractions of a second. Early brain waves reflect automatic, unconscious attention. Later waves indicate top-down cognitive control, which involves conscious effort to evaluate a situation and guide behavior.
Researchers wanted to understand the sequence of these neural and behavioral events in people with alcohol use disorder. Zijing Wang, Jiang Du, Tianzhen Chen, and Min Zhao at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, along with colleagues at the Third People’s Hospital of Fuyang, conducted the research. They aimed to map exactly how early emotional biases affect later cognitive control, and how these brain wave patterns correlate with real-time decision-making speeds.
The team recruited 47 men diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and 32 healthy control participants. Because the total sample included 79 participants, this is considered a small study. The individuals with alcohol use disorder were hospitalized and in the withdrawal phase of recovery, having abstained from alcohol for two weeks to six months.
Participants sat in a sound-attenuated room and completed an emotional association task on a computer. In each trial, they viewed a picture for one second. Half of the images depicted alcohol, while the other half depicted healthy activities. Immediately after the picture disappeared, a word appeared on the screen.
Participants had one second to press a key categorizing the word as either positive or negative. The underlying logic of the test is that if a preceding picture elicits a positive emotional state, the participant will categorize a positive word more quickly due to a priming effect. Throughout the task, participants wore sensor caps containing electrodes that recorded their brain’s electrical activity in real time.
The researchers fed the behavioral data into a computational model to separate the decision-making process into three distinct parts. First, they looked at the decision threshold, which represents how much evidence a person needs to make a choice. Second, they analyzed the drift rate, which measures how fast a person accumulates that sensory evidence. Third, they measured non-decision time, which covers the physical execution of the button press and basic sensory encoding.
For positive words that followed alcohol pictures, the men with alcohol use disorder showed a lower decision threshold than the healthy controls. This indicates that they made choices more impulsively, requiring less mental evidence to trigger a response. At the same time, their drift rate was slower, meaning they were less efficient at actually processing the visual information on the screen.
The group with alcohol use disorder also exhibited a longer non-decision time during the alcohol trials. They spent more time physically or perceptually preparing to press the button. The researchers suggest that the emotional weight of the alcohol images likely caused a cognitive conflict that disrupted their basic motor responses.
The electroencephalography data provided a real-time map of the brain’s electrical activity during these delayed responses. The researchers focused on an early brain wave that peaks around 200 to 260 milliseconds after a stimulus appears. This wave tracks automatic emotional processing and early visual attention.
When viewing alcohol-related images, the group with alcohol use disorder showed a heightened electrical response in this early wave compared to the healthy controls. This heightened neural activity points to an unconscious, automatic sensitivity to alcohol cues. Such immediate biological engagement can overwhelm a person’s ability to shift their attention elsewhere.
The team also examined a later brain wave that occurs 600 to 800 milliseconds after a stimulus. This late-stage electrical activity is tied to cognitive reappraisal and the conscious reallocation of mental resources. For the images depicting healthy activities, the men with alcohol use disorder showed a larger late-stage brain wave response than the healthy controls.
The researchers propose that this increased late-stage activity represents a compensatory effort. Because healthy activities lack the dominant emotional pull of alcohol for these individuals, their brains had to exert more conscious cognitive control to process the non-addictive stimuli. This reveals an imbalance in the brain, where high automatic reactivity is paired with an increased need for deliberate mental effort.
Finally, the researchers ran a statistical analysis to see if the brain wave activity directly influenced the behavioral delays. They looked specifically at the relationship between the delayed non-decision time and the late-stage brain waves during the alcohol trials. They found that higher amplitudes in the late-stage brain waves were associated with a reduction in the non-decision time delay.
Even though the men with alcohol use disorder generally had slower physical response times, those who generated stronger late-stage electrical activity managed to speed up their reactions slightly. The brain’s evaluative systems were actively working to suppress the behavioral deficit caused by the emotional distraction. This indicates that enhanced conscious processing can partially counteract the impairments caused by automatic emotional reactions.
The study relied on a small sample of exclusively male participants. Brain responses and emotional association patterns might differ in women. All the individuals with alcohol use disorder were hospitalized and experiencing the withdrawal phase of recovery.
The observed neural and behavioral patterns may not reflect the cognitive processes of people actively consuming alcohol or those in long-term abstinence. Future research will need to track individuals over time to see how these cognitive and biological markers shift as a person transitions from early withdrawal into sustained recovery.
The study, “Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying alcohol-related emotional association bias among alcohol use disorder: Evidence from a hierarchical drift-diffusion model and event-related potentials,” was authored by Zijing Wang, Dapeng Zhang, Jiayi Zhu, Fanfan Luo, Dongli Fan, Luxing Cai, Fei Cheng, Jing Tian, Shiyan Qu, Jiang Du, Tianzhen Chen, and Min Zhao.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-waves-reveal-how-alcohol-cues-hijack-decision-making-in-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AlcoholUseDisorder #AlcoholCues #DecisionMaking #BrainWaves #EEG #EventRelatedPotentials #DriftDiffusionModel #CognitiveControl #RelapsePrevention #Neuropsychopharmacology
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Brain waves reveal how alcohol cues hijack decision-making in addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-waves-reveal-how-alcohol-cues-hijack-decision-making-in-addiction/
People with alcohol use disorder experience automatic emotional reactions to alcohol-related images that disrupt their basic decision-making processes. Research published in Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry suggests that the brain attempts to offset these cognitive disruptions by increasing activity in regions associated with deliberate thought.
According to biological models of addiction, chronic substance use creates a disconnect between the brain’s reward centers and its executive control hubs. Over time, the brain assigns a disproportionate motivational weight to the addictive substance. This means that environmental cues, such as the sight of a bottle or a familiar bar, become highly stimulating and command the brain’s attention.
In alcohol use disorder, seeing a picture of a drink can trigger an immediate, positive emotional association. These latent affective connections operate beneath conscious awareness and encourage the individual to seek out alcohol. They often lead to a relapse by making it harder to implement cognitive strategies for resisting cravings.
Traditional psychological tests measure how fast or accurately someone reacts to a stimulus. These basic metrics do not fully capture the hidden cognitive steps involved in making a choice. To separate these underlying components, researchers use computational frameworks that break down the milliseconds of decision-making into distinct mathematical variables.
This computational approach quantifies how much information a person needs before acting, how fast they process that information, and how long they spend physically executing a response. The biological side of these automatic reactions also requires precise measurement. Scientists use electroencephalography, a method of recording electrical activity on the scalp, to track brain waves known as event-related potentials.
These electrical signals correspond to specific cognitive events and happen in fractions of a second. Early brain waves reflect automatic, unconscious attention. Later waves indicate top-down cognitive control, which involves conscious effort to evaluate a situation and guide behavior.
Researchers wanted to understand the sequence of these neural and behavioral events in people with alcohol use disorder. Zijing Wang, Jiang Du, Tianzhen Chen, and Min Zhao at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, along with colleagues at the Third People’s Hospital of Fuyang, conducted the research. They aimed to map exactly how early emotional biases affect later cognitive control, and how these brain wave patterns correlate with real-time decision-making speeds.
The team recruited 47 men diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and 32 healthy control participants. Because the total sample included 79 participants, this is considered a small study. The individuals with alcohol use disorder were hospitalized and in the withdrawal phase of recovery, having abstained from alcohol for two weeks to six months.
Participants sat in a sound-attenuated room and completed an emotional association task on a computer. In each trial, they viewed a picture for one second. Half of the images depicted alcohol, while the other half depicted healthy activities. Immediately after the picture disappeared, a word appeared on the screen.
Participants had one second to press a key categorizing the word as either positive or negative. The underlying logic of the test is that if a preceding picture elicits a positive emotional state, the participant will categorize a positive word more quickly due to a priming effect. Throughout the task, participants wore sensor caps containing electrodes that recorded their brain’s electrical activity in real time.
The researchers fed the behavioral data into a computational model to separate the decision-making process into three distinct parts. First, they looked at the decision threshold, which represents how much evidence a person needs to make a choice. Second, they analyzed the drift rate, which measures how fast a person accumulates that sensory evidence. Third, they measured non-decision time, which covers the physical execution of the button press and basic sensory encoding.
For positive words that followed alcohol pictures, the men with alcohol use disorder showed a lower decision threshold than the healthy controls. This indicates that they made choices more impulsively, requiring less mental evidence to trigger a response. At the same time, their drift rate was slower, meaning they were less efficient at actually processing the visual information on the screen.
The group with alcohol use disorder also exhibited a longer non-decision time during the alcohol trials. They spent more time physically or perceptually preparing to press the button. The researchers suggest that the emotional weight of the alcohol images likely caused a cognitive conflict that disrupted their basic motor responses.
The electroencephalography data provided a real-time map of the brain’s electrical activity during these delayed responses. The researchers focused on an early brain wave that peaks around 200 to 260 milliseconds after a stimulus appears. This wave tracks automatic emotional processing and early visual attention.
When viewing alcohol-related images, the group with alcohol use disorder showed a heightened electrical response in this early wave compared to the healthy controls. This heightened neural activity points to an unconscious, automatic sensitivity to alcohol cues. Such immediate biological engagement can overwhelm a person’s ability to shift their attention elsewhere.
The team also examined a later brain wave that occurs 600 to 800 milliseconds after a stimulus. This late-stage electrical activity is tied to cognitive reappraisal and the conscious reallocation of mental resources. For the images depicting healthy activities, the men with alcohol use disorder showed a larger late-stage brain wave response than the healthy controls.
The researchers propose that this increased late-stage activity represents a compensatory effort. Because healthy activities lack the dominant emotional pull of alcohol for these individuals, their brains had to exert more conscious cognitive control to process the non-addictive stimuli. This reveals an imbalance in the brain, where high automatic reactivity is paired with an increased need for deliberate mental effort.
Finally, the researchers ran a statistical analysis to see if the brain wave activity directly influenced the behavioral delays. They looked specifically at the relationship between the delayed non-decision time and the late-stage brain waves during the alcohol trials. They found that higher amplitudes in the late-stage brain waves were associated with a reduction in the non-decision time delay.
Even though the men with alcohol use disorder generally had slower physical response times, those who generated stronger late-stage electrical activity managed to speed up their reactions slightly. The brain’s evaluative systems were actively working to suppress the behavioral deficit caused by the emotional distraction. This indicates that enhanced conscious processing can partially counteract the impairments caused by automatic emotional reactions.
The study relied on a small sample of exclusively male participants. Brain responses and emotional association patterns might differ in women. All the individuals with alcohol use disorder were hospitalized and experiencing the withdrawal phase of recovery.
The observed neural and behavioral patterns may not reflect the cognitive processes of people actively consuming alcohol or those in long-term abstinence. Future research will need to track individuals over time to see how these cognitive and biological markers shift as a person transitions from early withdrawal into sustained recovery.
The study, “Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying alcohol-related emotional association bias among alcohol use disorder: Evidence from a hierarchical drift-diffusion model and event-related potentials,” was authored by Zijing Wang, Dapeng Zhang, Jiayi Zhu, Fanfan Luo, Dongli Fan, Luxing Cai, Fei Cheng, Jing Tian, Shiyan Qu, Jiang Du, Tianzhen Chen, and Min Zhao.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-waves-reveal-how-alcohol-cues-hijack-decision-making-in-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #AlcoholUseDisorder #AlcoholCues #DecisionMaking #BrainWaves #EEG #EventRelatedPotentials #DriftDiffusionModel #CognitiveControl #RelapsePrevention #Neuropsychopharmacology
-
DATE: September 2, 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: Brain waves reveal how alcohol cues hijack decision-making in addiction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-waves-reveal-how-alcohol-cues-hijack-decision-making-in-addiction/
People with alcohol use disorder experience automatic emotional reactions to alcohol-related images that disrupt their basic decision-making processes. Research published in Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry suggests that the brain attempts to offset these cognitive disruptions by increasing activity in regions associated with deliberate thought.
According to biological models of addiction, chronic substance use creates a disconnect between the brain’s reward centers and its executive control hubs. Over time, the brain assigns a disproportionate motivational weight to the addictive substance. This means that environmental cues, such as the sight of a bottle or a familiar bar, become highly stimulating and command the brain’s attention.
In alcohol use disorder, seeing a picture of a drink can trigger an immediate, positive emotional association. These latent affective connections operate beneath conscious awareness and encourage the individual to seek out alcohol. They often lead to a relapse by making it harder to implement cognitive strategies for resisting cravings.
Traditional psychological tests measure how fast or accurately someone reacts to a stimulus. These basic metrics do not fully capture the hidden cognitive steps involved in making a choice. To separate these underlying components, researchers use computational frameworks that break down the milliseconds of decision-making into distinct mathematical variables.
This computational approach quantifies how much information a person needs before acting, how fast they process that information, and how long they spend physically executing a response. The biological side of these automatic reactions also requires precise measurement. Scientists use electroencephalography, a method of recording electrical activity on the scalp, to track brain waves known as event-related potentials.
These electrical signals correspond to specific cognitive events and happen in fractions of a second. Early brain waves reflect automatic, unconscious attention. Later waves indicate top-down cognitive control, which involves conscious effort to evaluate a situation and guide behavior.
Researchers wanted to understand the sequence of these neural and behavioral events in people with alcohol use disorder. Zijing Wang, Jiang Du, Tianzhen Chen, and Min Zhao at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, along with colleagues at the Third People’s Hospital of Fuyang, conducted the research. They aimed to map exactly how early emotional biases affect later cognitive control, and how these brain wave patterns correlate with real-time decision-making speeds.
The team recruited 47 men diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and 32 healthy control participants. Because the total sample included 79 participants, this is considered a small study. The individuals with alcohol use disorder were hospitalized and in the withdrawal phase of recovery, having abstained from alcohol for two weeks to six months.
Participants sat in a sound-attenuated room and completed an emotional association task on a computer. In each trial, they viewed a picture for one second. Half of the images depicted alcohol, while the other half depicted healthy activities. Immediately after the picture disappeared, a word appeared on the screen.
Participants had one second to press a key categorizing the word as either positive or negative. The underlying logic of the test is that if a preceding picture elicits a positive emotional state, the participant will categorize a positive word more quickly due to a priming effect. Throughout the task, participants wore sensor caps containing electrodes that recorded their brain’s electrical activity in real time.
The researchers fed the behavioral data into a computational model to separate the decision-making process into three distinct parts. First, they looked at the decision threshold, which represents how much evidence a person needs to make a choice. Second, they analyzed the drift rate, which measures how fast a person accumulates that sensory evidence. Third, they measured non-decision time, which covers the physical execution of the button press and basic sensory encoding.
For positive words that followed alcohol pictures, the men with alcohol use disorder showed a lower decision threshold than the healthy controls. This indicates that they made choices more impulsively, requiring less mental evidence to trigger a response. At the same time, their drift rate was slower, meaning they were less efficient at actually processing the visual information on the screen.
The group with alcohol use disorder also exhibited a longer non-decision time during the alcohol trials. They spent more time physically or perceptually preparing to press the button. The researchers suggest that the emotional weight of the alcohol images likely caused a cognitive conflict that disrupted their basic motor responses.
The electroencephalography data provided a real-time map of the brain’s electrical activity during these delayed responses. The researchers focused on an early brain wave that peaks around 200 to 260 milliseconds after a stimulus appears. This wave tracks automatic emotional processing and early visual attention.
When viewing alcohol-related images, the group with alcohol use disorder showed a heightened electrical response in this early wave compared to the healthy controls. This heightened neural activity points to an unconscious, automatic sensitivity to alcohol cues. Such immediate biological engagement can overwhelm a person’s ability to shift their attention elsewhere.
The team also examined a later brain wave that occurs 600 to 800 milliseconds after a stimulus. This late-stage electrical activity is tied to cognitive reappraisal and the conscious reallocation of mental resources. For the images depicting healthy activities, the men with alcohol use disorder showed a larger late-stage brain wave response than the healthy controls.
The researchers propose that this increased late-stage activity represents a compensatory effort. Because healthy activities lack the dominant emotional pull of alcohol for these individuals, their brains had to exert more conscious cognitive control to process the non-addictive stimuli. This reveals an imbalance in the brain, where high automatic reactivity is paired with an increased need for deliberate mental effort.
Finally, the researchers ran a statistical analysis to see if the brain wave activity directly influenced the behavioral delays. They looked specifically at the relationship between the delayed non-decision time and the late-stage brain waves during the alcohol trials. They found that higher amplitudes in the late-stage brain waves were associated with a reduction in the non-decision time delay.
Even though the men with alcohol use disorder generally had slower physical response times, those who generated stronger late-stage electrical activity managed to speed up their reactions slightly. The brain’s evaluative systems were actively working to suppress the behavioral deficit caused by the emotional distraction. This indicates that enhanced conscious processing can partially counteract the impairments caused by automatic emotional reactions.
The study relied on a small sample of exclusively male participants. Brain responses and emotional association patterns might differ in women. All the individuals with alcohol use disorder were hospitalized and experiencing the withdrawal phase of recovery.
The observed neural and behavioral patterns may not reflect the cognitive processes of people actively consuming alcohol or those in long-term abstinence. Future research will need to track individuals over time to see how these cognitive and biological markers shift as a person transitions from early withdrawal into sustained recovery.
The study, “Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying alcohol-related emotional association bias among alcohol use disorder: Evidence from a hierarchical drift-diffusion model and event-related potentials,” was authored by Zijing Wang, Dapeng Zhang, Jiayi Zhu, Fanfan Luo, Dongli Fan, Luxing Cai, Fei Cheng, Jing Tian, Shiyan Qu, Jiang Du, Tianzhen Chen, and Min Zhao.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-waves-reveal-how-alcohol-cues-hijack-decision-making-in-addiction/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #AlcoholUseDisorder #AlcoholCues #DecisionMaking #BrainWaves #EEG #EventRelatedPotentials #DriftDiffusionModel #CognitiveControl #RelapsePrevention #Neuropsychopharmacology
-
DATE: September 2, 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: For fibromyalgia, gentle and enjoyable exercise seems to works better than pushing through pain
A tailored, low-intensity exercise program provides evidence of lasting relief and improved quality of life for people with fibromyalgia. Brain scans indicate that these benefits are linked to changes in the cerebellum, a brain region involved in movement and pain processing. The research was published in Scientific Reports.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, poor sleep, and a nervous system that is overly sensitive to physical sensations. It often severely impacts a person’s daily life and functional independence. Adapted physical activity involves physical exercises customized to an individual’s specific capabilities, needs, and health limitations.
“When I came to this chronic pain center in 2015, after working in supportive and palliative care, sports medicine, and emergency medicine, I really did not understand this disease,” lead author Stéphanie Ranque-Garnier, a pain medicine physician at Timone Hospital’s Pain Assessment and Treatment Centre in Marseille, France, told PsyPost.
“I often heard that it was ‘not a real disease’ because it was not dangerous in terms of survival, and that people with fibromyalgia ‘would not heal,'” she continued. “This seemed very paradoxical to me.”
A 2019 review gathered earlier clinical trials to show that combining different types of exercise can help people manage fibromyalgia. Additionally, a 2020 review explains the biology behind why working out can provide both immediate and long-term pain relief.
Despite exercise being a recommended treatment, many patients with fibromyalgia remain sedentary because typical workouts tend to trigger symptom flare-ups. Standard exercise guidelines can be vague, leaving patients unsure of how often, how long, or how intensely they should be active.
“In my clinical practice, I was struck by how difficult it was for many patients, especially with fibromyalgia, to become physically active, even when they knew that physical activity could be beneficial,” Ranque-Garnier noted. “I realized that simply telling patients to ‘exercise more’ was not only insufficient, but could even be counterproductive.”
For the current study, the authors wanted to see if a highly structured, supervised, and well-tolerated exercise routine could bring sustained relief. They also sought to understand the brain mechanisms involved by using neuroimaging.
The research, led by Ranque-Garnier and her colleagues, involved 79 adults with moderate to severe fibromyalgia. The scientists randomly assigned the participants into two groups. Thirty-nine patients received the supervised adapted physical activity program alongside standard care, while 40 patients received only standard care. The researchers followed both groups for a total of 12 months.
The exercise intervention lasted for six months and consisted of three two-hour sessions per week. These sessions included a mix of pool and land-based activities kept at a very low intensity. The exercises were broken up into small bursts based on each person’s tolerance limits to avoid exacerbating their pain.
“The activity had to be adapted not only to their physical capacity and symptoms, but also, and importantly, to their tastes,” Ranque-Garnier said. “Motivation cannot come from cycling like a laboratory rat, especially if you do not like cycling!”
The research team used questionnaires to measure the patients’ quality of life, pain levels, sleep quality, and fatigue. They also used pedometers to track daily steps and conducted aerobic fitness tests. A subset of 33 patients underwent positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to track changes in brain metabolism.
The findings showed that quality of life improved for the exercise group. At the six-month mark, the exercise group showed a 14.5 percent better score on a standardized fibromyalgia impact questionnaire compared to the standard care group. Patients in the exercise program reported less average pain, better sleep, and greater flexibility. They also reported immediate symptom relief after individual sessions.
The team carefully monitored this immediate impact. “Our simplest tool for knowing whether a session was appropriate was the patient’s own evaluation before and after the session,” Ranque-Garnier explained. “The session should leave the patient at least as well as, and ideally better than, before — in terms of pain, mood, fatigue, and concentration.”
The exercise group also became more active outside the program. At three months, they added an average of 1,619 daily steps to their baseline of about 4,185 steps, while the standard care group experienced a slight decrease in their daily steps.
These physical and emotional benefits occurred even though the patients did not show improvements in maximum aerobic capacity. This suggests that people with fibromyalgia do not need to endure high-intensity, exhaustion-inducing workouts to experience real health benefits.
“The main message is that physical activity is a major therapeutic approach in fibromyalgia, but more is not better,” Ranque-Garnier told PsyPost. “Quality of life and fibromyalgia symptoms improved even though we did not observe a major improvement in the shuttle walking test.”
In fact, focusing on performance can backfire. “Some patients in the control group became physically more active but experienced worsening symptoms and eventually abandoned their activity because they had pushed themselves too hard,” she noted. “We think that some had been motivated by the title of the study and applied the familiar ‘no pain, no gain’ principle.”
This led to a crucial realization for the research team. “In fibromyalgia, an activity that is physically possible is not necessarily an activity that is therapeutically appropriate,” Ranque-Garnier added.
The brain scans indicated an increase in metabolism in the right cerebellum of the exercise group. The cerebellum is a structure located at the back of the brain that traditionally helps coordinate movement, but it also plays a role in regulating pain and emotion. This metabolic increase was directly correlated with the patients’ increased daily step counts.
“The increase in cerebellar metabolism after six months of the program is particularly interesting in this regard and raises the possibility of changes in neural networks involved in cognitive, movement, and pain processing,” Ranque-Garnier said.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2017, which similarly found that lighter forms of physical activity improve quality of life and reduce pain. The 2017 study evaluated natural daily activity levels across healthy adults rather than a structured low-intensity exercise intervention in fibromyalgia patients.
The results also parallel a 2023 study covered by PsyPost, which found that physical activity provides pain-relieving benefits. However, that previous research evaluated experimental pain tolerance in the general population rather than clinical pain reduction and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients following a structured exercise intervention.
Additionally, the current results echo research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that structured exercise improved sleep and modulated cerebellar brain activity. That 2024 work examined brain functional connectivity in older adults with insomnia rather than cerebellar metabolism in fibromyalgia patients.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The patients in this study were recruited from a specialized pain center and had already participated in therapeutic education workshops. This specific background means they might have been more motivated and ready to adopt new habits than the average person with fibromyalgia.
“Our study does not mean that any form of exercise will improve fibromyalgia, nor that patients should simply push through their pain,” Ranque-Garnier cautioned. She emphasized that the intervention was closely supervised by professionals specifically trained to adapt exercises for chronic pain.
The brain imaging findings are based on a small subset of the total participants. The researchers note that these mechanistic conclusions should be interpreted cautiously until they are confirmed in larger groups.
“The neuroimaging findings should also be considered as mechanistic clues rather than proof of causality,” Ranque-Garnier said. “We therefore cannot conclude that we have identified a single brain mechanism or a universal exercise prescription for fibromyalgia.”
Spontaneous physical activity in the control group could not be fully controlled, and wearing a pedometer might have influenced the behavior of the participants.
Looking ahead, the team hopes to identify predictive factors that lead to long-term remission in chronic pain. The ultimate goal is to help patients regain confidence in their bodies and become more active in their everyday lives.
“One of the most beautiful things I hear from patients in remission is: ‘I stopped passively enduring my symptoms and started being active with the resources I have,'” Ranque-Garnier said.
The study, “Efficacy and mechanism of supervised adapted physical activity on quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia: single-center, prospective, randomised clinical and neuroimaging study,” was authored by Stéphanie Ranque, Jérôme Laurin, Marius George Linguraru, Zhifan Jiang, Anderson Loundou, Laurent Boyer, Régis Guieu, José Boucraut, Caroline Sault, Jeremy Simon, Fanny Barthelemy, Anne Donnet, and Eric Guedj.
-------------------------------------------------
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #FibromyalgiaExercise #AdaptedPhysicalActivity #LowIntensityWorkout #ChronicPainManagement #FibromyalgiaTreatment #QualityOfLifeImprovement #CerebellumResearch #StructuredExercise #SleepAndPainRelief #NeuroimagingStudy
-
DATE: September 2, 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: For fibromyalgia, gentle and enjoyable exercise seems to works better than pushing through pain
A tailored, low-intensity exercise program provides evidence of lasting relief and improved quality of life for people with fibromyalgia. Brain scans indicate that these benefits are linked to changes in the cerebellum, a brain region involved in movement and pain processing. The research was published in Scientific Reports.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, poor sleep, and a nervous system that is overly sensitive to physical sensations. It often severely impacts a person’s daily life and functional independence. Adapted physical activity involves physical exercises customized to an individual’s specific capabilities, needs, and health limitations.
“When I came to this chronic pain center in 2015, after working in supportive and palliative care, sports medicine, and emergency medicine, I really did not understand this disease,” lead author Stéphanie Ranque-Garnier, a pain medicine physician at Timone Hospital’s Pain Assessment and Treatment Centre in Marseille, France, told PsyPost.
“I often heard that it was ‘not a real disease’ because it was not dangerous in terms of survival, and that people with fibromyalgia ‘would not heal,'” she continued. “This seemed very paradoxical to me.”
A 2019 review gathered earlier clinical trials to show that combining different types of exercise can help people manage fibromyalgia. Additionally, a 2020 review explains the biology behind why working out can provide both immediate and long-term pain relief.
Despite exercise being a recommended treatment, many patients with fibromyalgia remain sedentary because typical workouts tend to trigger symptom flare-ups. Standard exercise guidelines can be vague, leaving patients unsure of how often, how long, or how intensely they should be active.
“In my clinical practice, I was struck by how difficult it was for many patients, especially with fibromyalgia, to become physically active, even when they knew that physical activity could be beneficial,” Ranque-Garnier noted. “I realized that simply telling patients to ‘exercise more’ was not only insufficient, but could even be counterproductive.”
For the current study, the authors wanted to see if a highly structured, supervised, and well-tolerated exercise routine could bring sustained relief. They also sought to understand the brain mechanisms involved by using neuroimaging.
The research, led by Ranque-Garnier and her colleagues, involved 79 adults with moderate to severe fibromyalgia. The scientists randomly assigned the participants into two groups. Thirty-nine patients received the supervised adapted physical activity program alongside standard care, while 40 patients received only standard care. The researchers followed both groups for a total of 12 months.
The exercise intervention lasted for six months and consisted of three two-hour sessions per week. These sessions included a mix of pool and land-based activities kept at a very low intensity. The exercises were broken up into small bursts based on each person’s tolerance limits to avoid exacerbating their pain.
“The activity had to be adapted not only to their physical capacity and symptoms, but also, and importantly, to their tastes,” Ranque-Garnier said. “Motivation cannot come from cycling like a laboratory rat, especially if you do not like cycling!”
The research team used questionnaires to measure the patients’ quality of life, pain levels, sleep quality, and fatigue. They also used pedometers to track daily steps and conducted aerobic fitness tests. A subset of 33 patients underwent positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to track changes in brain metabolism.
The findings showed that quality of life improved for the exercise group. At the six-month mark, the exercise group showed a 14.5 percent better score on a standardized fibromyalgia impact questionnaire compared to the standard care group. Patients in the exercise program reported less average pain, better sleep, and greater flexibility. They also reported immediate symptom relief after individual sessions.
The team carefully monitored this immediate impact. “Our simplest tool for knowing whether a session was appropriate was the patient’s own evaluation before and after the session,” Ranque-Garnier explained. “The session should leave the patient at least as well as, and ideally better than, before — in terms of pain, mood, fatigue, and concentration.”
The exercise group also became more active outside the program. At three months, they added an average of 1,619 daily steps to their baseline of about 4,185 steps, while the standard care group experienced a slight decrease in their daily steps.
These physical and emotional benefits occurred even though the patients did not show improvements in maximum aerobic capacity. This suggests that people with fibromyalgia do not need to endure high-intensity, exhaustion-inducing workouts to experience real health benefits.
“The main message is that physical activity is a major therapeutic approach in fibromyalgia, but more is not better,” Ranque-Garnier told PsyPost. “Quality of life and fibromyalgia symptoms improved even though we did not observe a major improvement in the shuttle walking test.”
In fact, focusing on performance can backfire. “Some patients in the control group became physically more active but experienced worsening symptoms and eventually abandoned their activity because they had pushed themselves too hard,” she noted. “We think that some had been motivated by the title of the study and applied the familiar ‘no pain, no gain’ principle.”
This led to a crucial realization for the research team. “In fibromyalgia, an activity that is physically possible is not necessarily an activity that is therapeutically appropriate,” Ranque-Garnier added.
The brain scans indicated an increase in metabolism in the right cerebellum of the exercise group. The cerebellum is a structure located at the back of the brain that traditionally helps coordinate movement, but it also plays a role in regulating pain and emotion. This metabolic increase was directly correlated with the patients’ increased daily step counts.
“The increase in cerebellar metabolism after six months of the program is particularly interesting in this regard and raises the possibility of changes in neural networks involved in cognitive, movement, and pain processing,” Ranque-Garnier said.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2017, which similarly found that lighter forms of physical activity improve quality of life and reduce pain. The 2017 study evaluated natural daily activity levels across healthy adults rather than a structured low-intensity exercise intervention in fibromyalgia patients.
The results also parallel a 2023 study covered by PsyPost, which found that physical activity provides pain-relieving benefits. However, that previous research evaluated experimental pain tolerance in the general population rather than clinical pain reduction and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients following a structured exercise intervention.
Additionally, the current results echo research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that structured exercise improved sleep and modulated cerebellar brain activity. That 2024 work examined brain functional connectivity in older adults with insomnia rather than cerebellar metabolism in fibromyalgia patients.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The patients in this study were recruited from a specialized pain center and had already participated in therapeutic education workshops. This specific background means they might have been more motivated and ready to adopt new habits than the average person with fibromyalgia.
“Our study does not mean that any form of exercise will improve fibromyalgia, nor that patients should simply push through their pain,” Ranque-Garnier cautioned. She emphasized that the intervention was closely supervised by professionals specifically trained to adapt exercises for chronic pain.
The brain imaging findings are based on a small subset of the total participants. The researchers note that these mechanistic conclusions should be interpreted cautiously until they are confirmed in larger groups.
“The neuroimaging findings should also be considered as mechanistic clues rather than proof of causality,” Ranque-Garnier said. “We therefore cannot conclude that we have identified a single brain mechanism or a universal exercise prescription for fibromyalgia.”
Spontaneous physical activity in the control group could not be fully controlled, and wearing a pedometer might have influenced the behavior of the participants.
Looking ahead, the team hopes to identify predictive factors that lead to long-term remission in chronic pain. The ultimate goal is to help patients regain confidence in their bodies and become more active in their everyday lives.
“One of the most beautiful things I hear from patients in remission is: ‘I stopped passively enduring my symptoms and started being active with the resources I have,'” Ranque-Garnier said.
The study, “Efficacy and mechanism of supervised adapted physical activity on quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia: single-center, prospective, randomised clinical and neuroimaging study,” was authored by Stéphanie Ranque, Jérôme Laurin, Marius George Linguraru, Zhifan Jiang, Anderson Loundou, Laurent Boyer, Régis Guieu, José Boucraut, Caroline Sault, Jeremy Simon, Fanny Barthelemy, Anne Donnet, and Eric Guedj.
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DATE: September 2, 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: For fibromyalgia, gentle and enjoyable exercise seems to works better than pushing through pain
A tailored, low-intensity exercise program provides evidence of lasting relief and improved quality of life for people with fibromyalgia. Brain scans indicate that these benefits are linked to changes in the cerebellum, a brain region involved in movement and pain processing. The research was published in Scientific Reports.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, poor sleep, and a nervous system that is overly sensitive to physical sensations. It often severely impacts a person’s daily life and functional independence. Adapted physical activity involves physical exercises customized to an individual’s specific capabilities, needs, and health limitations.
“When I came to this chronic pain center in 2015, after working in supportive and palliative care, sports medicine, and emergency medicine, I really did not understand this disease,” lead author Stéphanie Ranque-Garnier, a pain medicine physician at Timone Hospital’s Pain Assessment and Treatment Centre in Marseille, France, told PsyPost.
“I often heard that it was ‘not a real disease’ because it was not dangerous in terms of survival, and that people with fibromyalgia ‘would not heal,'” she continued. “This seemed very paradoxical to me.”
A 2019 review gathered earlier clinical trials to show that combining different types of exercise can help people manage fibromyalgia. Additionally, a 2020 review explains the biology behind why working out can provide both immediate and long-term pain relief.
Despite exercise being a recommended treatment, many patients with fibromyalgia remain sedentary because typical workouts tend to trigger symptom flare-ups. Standard exercise guidelines can be vague, leaving patients unsure of how often, how long, or how intensely they should be active.
“In my clinical practice, I was struck by how difficult it was for many patients, especially with fibromyalgia, to become physically active, even when they knew that physical activity could be beneficial,” Ranque-Garnier noted. “I realized that simply telling patients to ‘exercise more’ was not only insufficient, but could even be counterproductive.”
For the current study, the authors wanted to see if a highly structured, supervised, and well-tolerated exercise routine could bring sustained relief. They also sought to understand the brain mechanisms involved by using neuroimaging.
The research, led by Ranque-Garnier and her colleagues, involved 79 adults with moderate to severe fibromyalgia. The scientists randomly assigned the participants into two groups. Thirty-nine patients received the supervised adapted physical activity program alongside standard care, while 40 patients received only standard care. The researchers followed both groups for a total of 12 months.
The exercise intervention lasted for six months and consisted of three two-hour sessions per week. These sessions included a mix of pool and land-based activities kept at a very low intensity. The exercises were broken up into small bursts based on each person’s tolerance limits to avoid exacerbating their pain.
“The activity had to be adapted not only to their physical capacity and symptoms, but also, and importantly, to their tastes,” Ranque-Garnier said. “Motivation cannot come from cycling like a laboratory rat, especially if you do not like cycling!”
The research team used questionnaires to measure the patients’ quality of life, pain levels, sleep quality, and fatigue. They also used pedometers to track daily steps and conducted aerobic fitness tests. A subset of 33 patients underwent positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to track changes in brain metabolism.
The findings showed that quality of life improved for the exercise group. At the six-month mark, the exercise group showed a 14.5 percent better score on a standardized fibromyalgia impact questionnaire compared to the standard care group. Patients in the exercise program reported less average pain, better sleep, and greater flexibility. They also reported immediate symptom relief after individual sessions.
The team carefully monitored this immediate impact. “Our simplest tool for knowing whether a session was appropriate was the patient’s own evaluation before and after the session,” Ranque-Garnier explained. “The session should leave the patient at least as well as, and ideally better than, before — in terms of pain, mood, fatigue, and concentration.”
The exercise group also became more active outside the program. At three months, they added an average of 1,619 daily steps to their baseline of about 4,185 steps, while the standard care group experienced a slight decrease in their daily steps.
These physical and emotional benefits occurred even though the patients did not show improvements in maximum aerobic capacity. This suggests that people with fibromyalgia do not need to endure high-intensity, exhaustion-inducing workouts to experience real health benefits.
“The main message is that physical activity is a major therapeutic approach in fibromyalgia, but more is not better,” Ranque-Garnier told PsyPost. “Quality of life and fibromyalgia symptoms improved even though we did not observe a major improvement in the shuttle walking test.”
In fact, focusing on performance can backfire. “Some patients in the control group became physically more active but experienced worsening symptoms and eventually abandoned their activity because they had pushed themselves too hard,” she noted. “We think that some had been motivated by the title of the study and applied the familiar ‘no pain, no gain’ principle.”
This led to a crucial realization for the research team. “In fibromyalgia, an activity that is physically possible is not necessarily an activity that is therapeutically appropriate,” Ranque-Garnier added.
The brain scans indicated an increase in metabolism in the right cerebellum of the exercise group. The cerebellum is a structure located at the back of the brain that traditionally helps coordinate movement, but it also plays a role in regulating pain and emotion. This metabolic increase was directly correlated with the patients’ increased daily step counts.
“The increase in cerebellar metabolism after six months of the program is particularly interesting in this regard and raises the possibility of changes in neural networks involved in cognitive, movement, and pain processing,” Ranque-Garnier said.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2017, which similarly found that lighter forms of physical activity improve quality of life and reduce pain. The 2017 study evaluated natural daily activity levels across healthy adults rather than a structured low-intensity exercise intervention in fibromyalgia patients.
The results also parallel a 2023 study covered by PsyPost, which found that physical activity provides pain-relieving benefits. However, that previous research evaluated experimental pain tolerance in the general population rather than clinical pain reduction and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients following a structured exercise intervention.
Additionally, the current results echo research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that structured exercise improved sleep and modulated cerebellar brain activity. That 2024 work examined brain functional connectivity in older adults with insomnia rather than cerebellar metabolism in fibromyalgia patients.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The patients in this study were recruited from a specialized pain center and had already participated in therapeutic education workshops. This specific background means they might have been more motivated and ready to adopt new habits than the average person with fibromyalgia.
“Our study does not mean that any form of exercise will improve fibromyalgia, nor that patients should simply push through their pain,” Ranque-Garnier cautioned. She emphasized that the intervention was closely supervised by professionals specifically trained to adapt exercises for chronic pain.
The brain imaging findings are based on a small subset of the total participants. The researchers note that these mechanistic conclusions should be interpreted cautiously until they are confirmed in larger groups.
“The neuroimaging findings should also be considered as mechanistic clues rather than proof of causality,” Ranque-Garnier said. “We therefore cannot conclude that we have identified a single brain mechanism or a universal exercise prescription for fibromyalgia.”
Spontaneous physical activity in the control group could not be fully controlled, and wearing a pedometer might have influenced the behavior of the participants.
Looking ahead, the team hopes to identify predictive factors that lead to long-term remission in chronic pain. The ultimate goal is to help patients regain confidence in their bodies and become more active in their everyday lives.
“One of the most beautiful things I hear from patients in remission is: ‘I stopped passively enduring my symptoms and started being active with the resources I have,'” Ranque-Garnier said.
The study, “Efficacy and mechanism of supervised adapted physical activity on quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia: single-center, prospective, randomised clinical and neuroimaging study,” was authored by Stéphanie Ranque, Jérôme Laurin, Marius George Linguraru, Zhifan Jiang, Anderson Loundou, Laurent Boyer, Régis Guieu, José Boucraut, Caroline Sault, Jeremy Simon, Fanny Barthelemy, Anne Donnet, and Eric Guedj.
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #FibromyalgiaExercise #AdaptedPhysicalActivity #LowIntensityWorkout #ChronicPainManagement #FibromyalgiaTreatment #QualityOfLifeImprovement #CerebellumResearch #StructuredExercise #SleepAndPainRelief #NeuroimagingStudy
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TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 1, 2026 at 03:36AM
SOURCE: MILIARY PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL: APA DIVISION 19TITLE: Understanding psychosocial adjustment in military-to-civilian transition: A latent profile analysis of ex-serving Australian Defence Force members
URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08995605.2026.2722597?af=R
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URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08995605.2026.2722597?af=R
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TRIGGER WARNING: Military Psychology
DATE: September 1, 2026 at 03:36AM
SOURCE: MILIARY PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL: APA DIVISION 19TITLE: Understanding psychosocial adjustment in military-to-civilian transition: A latent profile analysis of ex-serving Australian Defence Force members
URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08995605.2026.2722597?af=R
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URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08995605.2026.2722597?af=R
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NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
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