#psychiatry — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #psychiatry, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: October 3, 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: Conscientiousness outshines cognitive ability in predicting leadership among West Point cadets
Academic records and standardized test scores accurately forecast whether a student will succeed in the classroom. When it comes to forecasting leadership potential, personality traits such as conscientiousness carry the most weight. A recent study published in Military Psychology synthesized decades of data on United States Military Academy cadets to show how different admission criteria relate to later academic, physical, and leadership performance.
The United States Military Academy at West Point aims to produce officers capable of leading soldiers in complex, unpredictable, and potentially hostile environments. To identify candidates with this potential, the academy uses a highly structured admissions process. The process evaluates cognitive abilities, physical fitness, and non-cognitive traits. Cognitive traits are typically measured by standardized test scores and high school grades.
In its earliest days, admission to West Point was based primarily on congressional nominations and basic literacy tests. Over the past century, the academy has continually refined its criteria. The modern admissions process relies on a composite ranking called the Whole Candidate Score. This score weights a candidate’s academic ability, leadership potential, and physical ability to provide a comprehensive profile of their potential.
Once admitted, cadet performance is tracked across three distinct domains. The Academic Performance Score reflects grades in core coursework. The Military Performance Score encompasses evaluations from summer training and leadership ratings from cadet positions. The Physical Performance Score includes physical education grades and standardized fitness tests.
To study the psychological aspects of candidate success, researchers often use the Five-Factor Model of personality. This framework categorizes broad personality traits into openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Conscientiousness involves impulse control, goal-directed behavior, and a tendency to follow established rules.
Another popular psychological concept is grit, which describes a person’s perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Researchers also study hardiness. Hardiness is considered a blend of commitment, a sense of control, and a willingness to embrace new challenges.
While researchers have studied West Point admission criteria for decades, no one had combined these findings into a single statistical review. Psychology researchers Benjamin J. Elliott and Nathan R. Kuncel from the University of Minnesota sought to fill this gap. They wanted to understand exactly how well different cognitive and non-cognitive variables predict success in the three main areas of cadet life.
To conduct their review, Elliott and Kuncel performed a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical method that pools data from multiple individual studies to identify overarching trends that a single study might miss. The researchers gathered data from 15 published and unpublished sources representing 21 independent samples. Their combined dataset included a large sample of 29,102 cadets from West Point graduating classes between 1949 and 2022.
The researchers extracted the statistical relationships between pre-admission variables and the actual performance outcomes measured during the cadets’ time at the academy. They applied mathematical corrections to the data to account for the reliability of the measurements used in the original studies. They also adjusted the numbers to account for the fact that West Point cadets are a highly selected group. Admitted cadets usually have higher test scores and better physical fitness than the general population, which can statistically limit the range of the data.
The analysis revealed that cognitive predictors functioned exactly as expected for classroom outcomes. Standardized test scores and high school class rank were strongly associated with academic success. Traditional cognitive measures had a much weaker relationship with military leadership performance, however.
These cognitive scores were almost entirely unrelated to physical performance, with the exception of a small positive link between math scores and physical outcomes. The authors note this small link might reflect an indirect effect where individuals who apply sustained effort to learning math also apply discipline to physical training.
When evaluating personality traits, the researchers found that conscientiousness emerged as the most powerful non-cognitive predictor of leader performance. Cadets who scored high in conscientiousness also performed better academically and physically. Other major personality traits, such as extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism, showed little to no relationship with leadership ratings.
The researchers also looked at grit, which is often cited as a highly desired trait in military culture. They found that grit had only a modest relationship with leadership performance. It demonstrated an even smaller positive relationship with academic and physical outcomes. Hardiness showed a very weak relationship with leadership.
These results indicate that conscientiousness plays an outsized role in a cadet’s ability to navigate the rigorous environment of a military academy. The trait involves planning, self-discipline, and long-term orientation. These characteristics align closely with strict institutional standards. Cadets who internalize these behaviors tend to set an example for others to follow, a habit that is associated with effective leadership.
The authors suggest that selection systems could benefit from incorporating measurements of conscientiousness. Cognitive measures like the SAT are excellent at predicting who will pass classes, but they miss the personality elements associated with leadership. Adding personality assessments to the admissions process could help institutions select candidates with a broader range of the skills needed to succeed.
A primary limitation of this research is its reliance on self-reported personality assessments. Traits like conscientiousness are highly desirable in competitive admissions environments. Applicants might intentionally alter their survey responses to appear more organized or disciplined than they actually are, a phenomenon known as social desirability bias. This bias can artificially inflate a candidate’s apparent qualifications.
To address the issue of biased self-reporting, future research could explore observer-based assessments. Having teachers, coaches, or peers rate an applicant’s personality could provide a more accurate picture of their character. Admissions systems could also use forced-choice personality tests, which require applicants to choose between equally desirable options. These formats make the tests harder to manipulate.
Future studies could also examine how well these admission variables relate to outcomes long after graduation. Tracking junior officers as they advance in their military careers would help determine if the traits associated with success at West Point also predict long-term occupational achievement. Linking pre-commissioning data with career milestones could reveal the ideal mix of personality traits required in complex operational environments.
The study, “Brain, personality, and leadership: A meta-analysis of performance predictors among West Point cadets,” was authored by Benjamin J. Elliott and Nathan R. Kuncel.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #WestPointLeadership #ConscientiousnessMatters #PersonalityOverIQ #LeadershipPrediction #CadetPerformance #MilitaryPsychology #NonCognitiveTraits #GritVsConscientiousness #AdmissionsStrategy #PersonalityAssessment
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DATE: October 3, 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: Conscientiousness outshines cognitive ability in predicting leadership among West Point cadets
Academic records and standardized test scores accurately forecast whether a student will succeed in the classroom. When it comes to forecasting leadership potential, personality traits such as conscientiousness carry the most weight. A recent study published in Military Psychology synthesized decades of data on United States Military Academy cadets to show how different admission criteria relate to later academic, physical, and leadership performance.
The United States Military Academy at West Point aims to produce officers capable of leading soldiers in complex, unpredictable, and potentially hostile environments. To identify candidates with this potential, the academy uses a highly structured admissions process. The process evaluates cognitive abilities, physical fitness, and non-cognitive traits. Cognitive traits are typically measured by standardized test scores and high school grades.
In its earliest days, admission to West Point was based primarily on congressional nominations and basic literacy tests. Over the past century, the academy has continually refined its criteria. The modern admissions process relies on a composite ranking called the Whole Candidate Score. This score weights a candidate’s academic ability, leadership potential, and physical ability to provide a comprehensive profile of their potential.
Once admitted, cadet performance is tracked across three distinct domains. The Academic Performance Score reflects grades in core coursework. The Military Performance Score encompasses evaluations from summer training and leadership ratings from cadet positions. The Physical Performance Score includes physical education grades and standardized fitness tests.
To study the psychological aspects of candidate success, researchers often use the Five-Factor Model of personality. This framework categorizes broad personality traits into openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Conscientiousness involves impulse control, goal-directed behavior, and a tendency to follow established rules.
Another popular psychological concept is grit, which describes a person’s perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Researchers also study hardiness. Hardiness is considered a blend of commitment, a sense of control, and a willingness to embrace new challenges.
While researchers have studied West Point admission criteria for decades, no one had combined these findings into a single statistical review. Psychology researchers Benjamin J. Elliott and Nathan R. Kuncel from the University of Minnesota sought to fill this gap. They wanted to understand exactly how well different cognitive and non-cognitive variables predict success in the three main areas of cadet life.
To conduct their review, Elliott and Kuncel performed a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical method that pools data from multiple individual studies to identify overarching trends that a single study might miss. The researchers gathered data from 15 published and unpublished sources representing 21 independent samples. Their combined dataset included a large sample of 29,102 cadets from West Point graduating classes between 1949 and 2022.
The researchers extracted the statistical relationships between pre-admission variables and the actual performance outcomes measured during the cadets’ time at the academy. They applied mathematical corrections to the data to account for the reliability of the measurements used in the original studies. They also adjusted the numbers to account for the fact that West Point cadets are a highly selected group. Admitted cadets usually have higher test scores and better physical fitness than the general population, which can statistically limit the range of the data.
The analysis revealed that cognitive predictors functioned exactly as expected for classroom outcomes. Standardized test scores and high school class rank were strongly associated with academic success. Traditional cognitive measures had a much weaker relationship with military leadership performance, however.
These cognitive scores were almost entirely unrelated to physical performance, with the exception of a small positive link between math scores and physical outcomes. The authors note this small link might reflect an indirect effect where individuals who apply sustained effort to learning math also apply discipline to physical training.
When evaluating personality traits, the researchers found that conscientiousness emerged as the most powerful non-cognitive predictor of leader performance. Cadets who scored high in conscientiousness also performed better academically and physically. Other major personality traits, such as extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism, showed little to no relationship with leadership ratings.
The researchers also looked at grit, which is often cited as a highly desired trait in military culture. They found that grit had only a modest relationship with leadership performance. It demonstrated an even smaller positive relationship with academic and physical outcomes. Hardiness showed a very weak relationship with leadership.
These results indicate that conscientiousness plays an outsized role in a cadet’s ability to navigate the rigorous environment of a military academy. The trait involves planning, self-discipline, and long-term orientation. These characteristics align closely with strict institutional standards. Cadets who internalize these behaviors tend to set an example for others to follow, a habit that is associated with effective leadership.
The authors suggest that selection systems could benefit from incorporating measurements of conscientiousness. Cognitive measures like the SAT are excellent at predicting who will pass classes, but they miss the personality elements associated with leadership. Adding personality assessments to the admissions process could help institutions select candidates with a broader range of the skills needed to succeed.
A primary limitation of this research is its reliance on self-reported personality assessments. Traits like conscientiousness are highly desirable in competitive admissions environments. Applicants might intentionally alter their survey responses to appear more organized or disciplined than they actually are, a phenomenon known as social desirability bias. This bias can artificially inflate a candidate’s apparent qualifications.
To address the issue of biased self-reporting, future research could explore observer-based assessments. Having teachers, coaches, or peers rate an applicant’s personality could provide a more accurate picture of their character. Admissions systems could also use forced-choice personality tests, which require applicants to choose between equally desirable options. These formats make the tests harder to manipulate.
Future studies could also examine how well these admission variables relate to outcomes long after graduation. Tracking junior officers as they advance in their military careers would help determine if the traits associated with success at West Point also predict long-term occupational achievement. Linking pre-commissioning data with career milestones could reveal the ideal mix of personality traits required in complex operational environments.
The study, “Brain, personality, and leadership: A meta-analysis of performance predictors among West Point cadets,” was authored by Benjamin J. Elliott and Nathan R. Kuncel.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #WestPointLeadership #ConscientiousnessMatters #PersonalityOverIQ #LeadershipPrediction #CadetPerformance #MilitaryPsychology #NonCognitiveTraits #GritVsConscientiousness #AdmissionsStrategy #PersonalityAssessment
-
DATE: October 3, 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: Conscientiousness outshines cognitive ability in predicting leadership among West Point cadets
Academic records and standardized test scores accurately forecast whether a student will succeed in the classroom. When it comes to forecasting leadership potential, personality traits such as conscientiousness carry the most weight. A recent study published in Military Psychology synthesized decades of data on United States Military Academy cadets to show how different admission criteria relate to later academic, physical, and leadership performance.
The United States Military Academy at West Point aims to produce officers capable of leading soldiers in complex, unpredictable, and potentially hostile environments. To identify candidates with this potential, the academy uses a highly structured admissions process. The process evaluates cognitive abilities, physical fitness, and non-cognitive traits. Cognitive traits are typically measured by standardized test scores and high school grades.
In its earliest days, admission to West Point was based primarily on congressional nominations and basic literacy tests. Over the past century, the academy has continually refined its criteria. The modern admissions process relies on a composite ranking called the Whole Candidate Score. This score weights a candidate’s academic ability, leadership potential, and physical ability to provide a comprehensive profile of their potential.
Once admitted, cadet performance is tracked across three distinct domains. The Academic Performance Score reflects grades in core coursework. The Military Performance Score encompasses evaluations from summer training and leadership ratings from cadet positions. The Physical Performance Score includes physical education grades and standardized fitness tests.
To study the psychological aspects of candidate success, researchers often use the Five-Factor Model of personality. This framework categorizes broad personality traits into openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Conscientiousness involves impulse control, goal-directed behavior, and a tendency to follow established rules.
Another popular psychological concept is grit, which describes a person’s perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Researchers also study hardiness. Hardiness is considered a blend of commitment, a sense of control, and a willingness to embrace new challenges.
While researchers have studied West Point admission criteria for decades, no one had combined these findings into a single statistical review. Psychology researchers Benjamin J. Elliott and Nathan R. Kuncel from the University of Minnesota sought to fill this gap. They wanted to understand exactly how well different cognitive and non-cognitive variables predict success in the three main areas of cadet life.
To conduct their review, Elliott and Kuncel performed a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical method that pools data from multiple individual studies to identify overarching trends that a single study might miss. The researchers gathered data from 15 published and unpublished sources representing 21 independent samples. Their combined dataset included a large sample of 29,102 cadets from West Point graduating classes between 1949 and 2022.
The researchers extracted the statistical relationships between pre-admission variables and the actual performance outcomes measured during the cadets’ time at the academy. They applied mathematical corrections to the data to account for the reliability of the measurements used in the original studies. They also adjusted the numbers to account for the fact that West Point cadets are a highly selected group. Admitted cadets usually have higher test scores and better physical fitness than the general population, which can statistically limit the range of the data.
The analysis revealed that cognitive predictors functioned exactly as expected for classroom outcomes. Standardized test scores and high school class rank were strongly associated with academic success. Traditional cognitive measures had a much weaker relationship with military leadership performance, however.
These cognitive scores were almost entirely unrelated to physical performance, with the exception of a small positive link between math scores and physical outcomes. The authors note this small link might reflect an indirect effect where individuals who apply sustained effort to learning math also apply discipline to physical training.
When evaluating personality traits, the researchers found that conscientiousness emerged as the most powerful non-cognitive predictor of leader performance. Cadets who scored high in conscientiousness also performed better academically and physically. Other major personality traits, such as extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism, showed little to no relationship with leadership ratings.
The researchers also looked at grit, which is often cited as a highly desired trait in military culture. They found that grit had only a modest relationship with leadership performance. It demonstrated an even smaller positive relationship with academic and physical outcomes. Hardiness showed a very weak relationship with leadership.
These results indicate that conscientiousness plays an outsized role in a cadet’s ability to navigate the rigorous environment of a military academy. The trait involves planning, self-discipline, and long-term orientation. These characteristics align closely with strict institutional standards. Cadets who internalize these behaviors tend to set an example for others to follow, a habit that is associated with effective leadership.
The authors suggest that selection systems could benefit from incorporating measurements of conscientiousness. Cognitive measures like the SAT are excellent at predicting who will pass classes, but they miss the personality elements associated with leadership. Adding personality assessments to the admissions process could help institutions select candidates with a broader range of the skills needed to succeed.
A primary limitation of this research is its reliance on self-reported personality assessments. Traits like conscientiousness are highly desirable in competitive admissions environments. Applicants might intentionally alter their survey responses to appear more organized or disciplined than they actually are, a phenomenon known as social desirability bias. This bias can artificially inflate a candidate’s apparent qualifications.
To address the issue of biased self-reporting, future research could explore observer-based assessments. Having teachers, coaches, or peers rate an applicant’s personality could provide a more accurate picture of their character. Admissions systems could also use forced-choice personality tests, which require applicants to choose between equally desirable options. These formats make the tests harder to manipulate.
Future studies could also examine how well these admission variables relate to outcomes long after graduation. Tracking junior officers as they advance in their military careers would help determine if the traits associated with success at West Point also predict long-term occupational achievement. Linking pre-commissioning data with career milestones could reveal the ideal mix of personality traits required in complex operational environments.
The study, “Brain, personality, and leadership: A meta-analysis of performance predictors among West Point cadets,” was authored by Benjamin J. Elliott and Nathan R. Kuncel.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #WestPointLeadership #ConscientiousnessMatters #PersonalityOverIQ #LeadershipPrediction #CadetPerformance #MilitaryPsychology #NonCognitiveTraits #GritVsConscientiousness #AdmissionsStrategy #PersonalityAssessment
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DATE: October 3, 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: Hormone therapy before frozen embryo transfer is tied to larger babies but not to differences in early childhood IQ
Children conceived through frozen embryo transfers prepared with hormone replacement therapy tend to score about the same on early childhood intelligence tests as those conceived using natural cycle protocols. The hormone method was, however, linked to a higher rate of unusually large babies and more admissions to newborn care units. The research was published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology.
Assisted reproductive technology provides medical procedures to help people achieve pregnancy, and advancements in freezing techniques have made frozen embryo transfer increasingly common. In this procedure, an embryo created in a laboratory is frozen, thawed at a later date, and then placed into the mother’s uterus. Preparing the lining of the uterus to receive the embryo is a necessary step. The timing must align closely so that the uterus is ready when the embryo is introduced.
For women who have regular menstrual periods, doctors generally use one of two methods to prepare the uterus. The natural cycle method relies on the woman’s own hormonal cycle to naturally thicken the uterine lining. Medical staff monitor this cycle, sometimes use an injection to trigger ovulation, and then provide a supplemental progesterone-like drug to support early pregnancy.
In contrast, the hormone replacement therapy method lacks natural ovulation. Instead, patients take external hormones, specifically estrogen and progesterone, to artificially build up the lining and prepare it for the embryo.
While hormone replacement therapy is widely used, it relies on adding estrogen from medication, which alters the mother’s internal hormone levels. Prior studies provide evidence that being exposed to unusually high levels of estrogen during early pregnancy might be linked to changes in an offspring’s brain development.
The research, led by Xiaomeng Shi, Minyue Tang, and Yimin Zhu of Zhejiang University, aimed to compare the cognitive function of children conceived through these two different uterine preparation methods. By analyzing past intelligence assessments of children between three and six years old, an age range the authors note is too young for puberty to affect the results, the researchers hoped to provide better guidance for patients choosing an embryo transfer protocol.
The research team looked at medical records and follow-up assessments from a reproductive center in China. Out of 1,538 recruited families, 790 children born from single, non-twin pregnancies met the criteria and made the final sample. These children were born to mothers who had regular menstrual cycles and underwent frozen, early-stage embryo transfers between 2004 and 2017.
Blastocyst transfers, which involve embryos developed a few days longer in the laboratory, were excluded from the analysis. Out of the included children, 434 were conceived using the natural cycle method, and 356 were conceived using the hormone replacement therapy method.
At the follow-up visits, trained assessors evaluated the children’s cognitive function using a standardized intelligence test adapted for Chinese children. The test measured verbal intelligence through tasks like vocabulary and comprehension, and performance intelligence using mazes, block design, and a matching task. Together, these scores provided a full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ. To reduce bias, the assessors did not know which embryo transfer method each child’s mother had used.
The researchers also gathered extensive medical data to account for variables that might influence a child’s intelligence. In their statistical model, they adjusted for the year of transfer, the parents’ ages and body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height. They also accounted for the fertilization method, how long the embryo was frozen, uterine lining thickness, the mother’s estrogen level, length of pregnancy, and newborn unit admissions.
The results indicated that the cognitive function of children born after hormone replacement therapy was similar to that of children born after the natural cycle method. The researchers found no statistically significant differences in verbal intelligence, performance intelligence, or full-scale IQ scores between the two groups. After adjustment, the hormone group’s full-scale IQ averaged about two points lower, a gap that fell just short of statistical significance. The results argue against a large difference but cannot rule out a small one.
Rates of what the researchers defined as intellectual disability, an IQ below 80, were similar regardless of how the mother’s uterus was prepared. This threshold is higher than the usual clinical cutoff of about 70. After adjustment, the hormone group scored slightly higher on the vocabulary subtest. The authors did not correct for running many comparisons and describe these secondary results as exploratory, so this single difference may reflect chance.
The scientists also broke the data down by the child’s sex and by the specific fertilization method used. They looked at sex because biological differences can sometimes lead to different sensitivities to the environment inside the womb. They looked at the fertilization method, separating standard in vitro fertilization from intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.
Earlier studies disagree on whether this injection procedure is tied to cognitive differences. In all of these smaller groups, the researchers still found no statistically significant differences in IQ scores between the two uterine preparation protocols.
The authors propose that estrogen levels in the hormone therapy group may fall below the levels tied to cognitive problems in earlier research, though the study did not test this directly. The typical level in the hormone group, measured in the mother’s blood shortly before the transfer, was about a third higher than in the natural cycle group. However, levels varied much more widely, and about a quarter of mothers in the hormone group had levels more than four times the typical natural cycle level.
Looking at the birth records, the study noted that babies in the hormone therapy group had a higher chance of being born unusually large for their gestational age, meaning heavier than 90 percent of babies born at the same point in pregnancy. Specifically, 22.2 percent of the babies in the hormone group were classified as large, compared to 15.2 percent in the natural cycle group. The babies in the hormone group also had a higher rate of admission to newborn care units, at 14.6 percent versus 9.0 percent for the natural cycle group. The major reasons for these newborn care unit admissions included jaundice, respiratory system diseases, and preterm birth.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. Because the study looked back at past medical records rather than randomly assigning patients to a protocol, unmeasured factors such as the parents’ lifestyle, family socioeconomic status, or the child’s early educational environment might influence the results. The timeline of treatments was also not evenly distributed, with hormone therapy becoming much more common in the later years of the study period. The analysis adjusted for transfer year, but changes in clinical and laboratory practice over that period could still affect the comparison.
There is also a chance of over-adjustment in the statistical model. By controlling for factors like estrogen levels and length of pregnancy, which are part of the pathway being studied or possible downstream effects, the model could potentially hide a real effect. The unadjusted results also showed no statistically significant differences, so the main conclusion does not depend entirely on these adjustments.
Additionally, the findings may not apply to blastocyst transfers, which are now common in modern clinics, or to women who do not ovulate regularly. Finally, the children were followed only up to age six. Future studies could track cognitive abilities into the teenage years to see if any subtle differences emerge over time.
The study, “Cognitive function in offspring born after frozen embryo transfer following hormone replacement therapy cycles versus natural cycles: a retrospective cohort study,” was authored by Xiaomeng Shi, Xiaojing Wu, Aqiong Xie, Shuangying Liu, Xiaoqian Zhou, Yingzhi Yang, Minyue Tang, and Yimin Zhu.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #FrozenEmbryoTransfer #HormoneReplacementTherapy #NaturalCycleVsHormoneCycle #EmbryoTransferResearch #PediatricIQ #ChildDevelopment #AssistedReproduction #IVFNews #BirthOutcomes #NewbornCareUnits
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DATE: October 3, 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: Hormone therapy before frozen embryo transfer is tied to larger babies but not to differences in early childhood IQ
Children conceived through frozen embryo transfers prepared with hormone replacement therapy tend to score about the same on early childhood intelligence tests as those conceived using natural cycle protocols. The hormone method was, however, linked to a higher rate of unusually large babies and more admissions to newborn care units. The research was published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology.
Assisted reproductive technology provides medical procedures to help people achieve pregnancy, and advancements in freezing techniques have made frozen embryo transfer increasingly common. In this procedure, an embryo created in a laboratory is frozen, thawed at a later date, and then placed into the mother’s uterus. Preparing the lining of the uterus to receive the embryo is a necessary step. The timing must align closely so that the uterus is ready when the embryo is introduced.
For women who have regular menstrual periods, doctors generally use one of two methods to prepare the uterus. The natural cycle method relies on the woman’s own hormonal cycle to naturally thicken the uterine lining. Medical staff monitor this cycle, sometimes use an injection to trigger ovulation, and then provide a supplemental progesterone-like drug to support early pregnancy.
In contrast, the hormone replacement therapy method lacks natural ovulation. Instead, patients take external hormones, specifically estrogen and progesterone, to artificially build up the lining and prepare it for the embryo.
While hormone replacement therapy is widely used, it relies on adding estrogen from medication, which alters the mother’s internal hormone levels. Prior studies provide evidence that being exposed to unusually high levels of estrogen during early pregnancy might be linked to changes in an offspring’s brain development.
The research, led by Xiaomeng Shi, Minyue Tang, and Yimin Zhu of Zhejiang University, aimed to compare the cognitive function of children conceived through these two different uterine preparation methods. By analyzing past intelligence assessments of children between three and six years old, an age range the authors note is too young for puberty to affect the results, the researchers hoped to provide better guidance for patients choosing an embryo transfer protocol.
The research team looked at medical records and follow-up assessments from a reproductive center in China. Out of 1,538 recruited families, 790 children born from single, non-twin pregnancies met the criteria and made the final sample. These children were born to mothers who had regular menstrual cycles and underwent frozen, early-stage embryo transfers between 2004 and 2017.
Blastocyst transfers, which involve embryos developed a few days longer in the laboratory, were excluded from the analysis. Out of the included children, 434 were conceived using the natural cycle method, and 356 were conceived using the hormone replacement therapy method.
At the follow-up visits, trained assessors evaluated the children’s cognitive function using a standardized intelligence test adapted for Chinese children. The test measured verbal intelligence through tasks like vocabulary and comprehension, and performance intelligence using mazes, block design, and a matching task. Together, these scores provided a full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ. To reduce bias, the assessors did not know which embryo transfer method each child’s mother had used.
The researchers also gathered extensive medical data to account for variables that might influence a child’s intelligence. In their statistical model, they adjusted for the year of transfer, the parents’ ages and body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height. They also accounted for the fertilization method, how long the embryo was frozen, uterine lining thickness, the mother’s estrogen level, length of pregnancy, and newborn unit admissions.
The results indicated that the cognitive function of children born after hormone replacement therapy was similar to that of children born after the natural cycle method. The researchers found no statistically significant differences in verbal intelligence, performance intelligence, or full-scale IQ scores between the two groups. After adjustment, the hormone group’s full-scale IQ averaged about two points lower, a gap that fell just short of statistical significance. The results argue against a large difference but cannot rule out a small one.
Rates of what the researchers defined as intellectual disability, an IQ below 80, were similar regardless of how the mother’s uterus was prepared. This threshold is higher than the usual clinical cutoff of about 70. After adjustment, the hormone group scored slightly higher on the vocabulary subtest. The authors did not correct for running many comparisons and describe these secondary results as exploratory, so this single difference may reflect chance.
The scientists also broke the data down by the child’s sex and by the specific fertilization method used. They looked at sex because biological differences can sometimes lead to different sensitivities to the environment inside the womb. They looked at the fertilization method, separating standard in vitro fertilization from intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.
Earlier studies disagree on whether this injection procedure is tied to cognitive differences. In all of these smaller groups, the researchers still found no statistically significant differences in IQ scores between the two uterine preparation protocols.
The authors propose that estrogen levels in the hormone therapy group may fall below the levels tied to cognitive problems in earlier research, though the study did not test this directly. The typical level in the hormone group, measured in the mother’s blood shortly before the transfer, was about a third higher than in the natural cycle group. However, levels varied much more widely, and about a quarter of mothers in the hormone group had levels more than four times the typical natural cycle level.
Looking at the birth records, the study noted that babies in the hormone therapy group had a higher chance of being born unusually large for their gestational age, meaning heavier than 90 percent of babies born at the same point in pregnancy. Specifically, 22.2 percent of the babies in the hormone group were classified as large, compared to 15.2 percent in the natural cycle group. The babies in the hormone group also had a higher rate of admission to newborn care units, at 14.6 percent versus 9.0 percent for the natural cycle group. The major reasons for these newborn care unit admissions included jaundice, respiratory system diseases, and preterm birth.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. Because the study looked back at past medical records rather than randomly assigning patients to a protocol, unmeasured factors such as the parents’ lifestyle, family socioeconomic status, or the child’s early educational environment might influence the results. The timeline of treatments was also not evenly distributed, with hormone therapy becoming much more common in the later years of the study period. The analysis adjusted for transfer year, but changes in clinical and laboratory practice over that period could still affect the comparison.
There is also a chance of over-adjustment in the statistical model. By controlling for factors like estrogen levels and length of pregnancy, which are part of the pathway being studied or possible downstream effects, the model could potentially hide a real effect. The unadjusted results also showed no statistically significant differences, so the main conclusion does not depend entirely on these adjustments.
Additionally, the findings may not apply to blastocyst transfers, which are now common in modern clinics, or to women who do not ovulate regularly. Finally, the children were followed only up to age six. Future studies could track cognitive abilities into the teenage years to see if any subtle differences emerge over time.
The study, “Cognitive function in offspring born after frozen embryo transfer following hormone replacement therapy cycles versus natural cycles: a retrospective cohort study,” was authored by Xiaomeng Shi, Xiaojing Wu, Aqiong Xie, Shuangying Liu, Xiaoqian Zhou, Yingzhi Yang, Minyue Tang, and Yimin Zhu.
-------------------------------------------------
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DATE: October 3, 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: Hormone therapy before frozen embryo transfer is tied to larger babies but not to differences in early childhood IQ
Children conceived through frozen embryo transfers prepared with hormone replacement therapy tend to score about the same on early childhood intelligence tests as those conceived using natural cycle protocols. The hormone method was, however, linked to a higher rate of unusually large babies and more admissions to newborn care units. The research was published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology.
Assisted reproductive technology provides medical procedures to help people achieve pregnancy, and advancements in freezing techniques have made frozen embryo transfer increasingly common. In this procedure, an embryo created in a laboratory is frozen, thawed at a later date, and then placed into the mother’s uterus. Preparing the lining of the uterus to receive the embryo is a necessary step. The timing must align closely so that the uterus is ready when the embryo is introduced.
For women who have regular menstrual periods, doctors generally use one of two methods to prepare the uterus. The natural cycle method relies on the woman’s own hormonal cycle to naturally thicken the uterine lining. Medical staff monitor this cycle, sometimes use an injection to trigger ovulation, and then provide a supplemental progesterone-like drug to support early pregnancy.
In contrast, the hormone replacement therapy method lacks natural ovulation. Instead, patients take external hormones, specifically estrogen and progesterone, to artificially build up the lining and prepare it for the embryo.
While hormone replacement therapy is widely used, it relies on adding estrogen from medication, which alters the mother’s internal hormone levels. Prior studies provide evidence that being exposed to unusually high levels of estrogen during early pregnancy might be linked to changes in an offspring’s brain development.
The research, led by Xiaomeng Shi, Minyue Tang, and Yimin Zhu of Zhejiang University, aimed to compare the cognitive function of children conceived through these two different uterine preparation methods. By analyzing past intelligence assessments of children between three and six years old, an age range the authors note is too young for puberty to affect the results, the researchers hoped to provide better guidance for patients choosing an embryo transfer protocol.
The research team looked at medical records and follow-up assessments from a reproductive center in China. Out of 1,538 recruited families, 790 children born from single, non-twin pregnancies met the criteria and made the final sample. These children were born to mothers who had regular menstrual cycles and underwent frozen, early-stage embryo transfers between 2004 and 2017.
Blastocyst transfers, which involve embryos developed a few days longer in the laboratory, were excluded from the analysis. Out of the included children, 434 were conceived using the natural cycle method, and 356 were conceived using the hormone replacement therapy method.
At the follow-up visits, trained assessors evaluated the children’s cognitive function using a standardized intelligence test adapted for Chinese children. The test measured verbal intelligence through tasks like vocabulary and comprehension, and performance intelligence using mazes, block design, and a matching task. Together, these scores provided a full-scale intelligence quotient, or IQ. To reduce bias, the assessors did not know which embryo transfer method each child’s mother had used.
The researchers also gathered extensive medical data to account for variables that might influence a child’s intelligence. In their statistical model, they adjusted for the year of transfer, the parents’ ages and body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height. They also accounted for the fertilization method, how long the embryo was frozen, uterine lining thickness, the mother’s estrogen level, length of pregnancy, and newborn unit admissions.
The results indicated that the cognitive function of children born after hormone replacement therapy was similar to that of children born after the natural cycle method. The researchers found no statistically significant differences in verbal intelligence, performance intelligence, or full-scale IQ scores between the two groups. After adjustment, the hormone group’s full-scale IQ averaged about two points lower, a gap that fell just short of statistical significance. The results argue against a large difference but cannot rule out a small one.
Rates of what the researchers defined as intellectual disability, an IQ below 80, were similar regardless of how the mother’s uterus was prepared. This threshold is higher than the usual clinical cutoff of about 70. After adjustment, the hormone group scored slightly higher on the vocabulary subtest. The authors did not correct for running many comparisons and describe these secondary results as exploratory, so this single difference may reflect chance.
The scientists also broke the data down by the child’s sex and by the specific fertilization method used. They looked at sex because biological differences can sometimes lead to different sensitivities to the environment inside the womb. They looked at the fertilization method, separating standard in vitro fertilization from intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.
Earlier studies disagree on whether this injection procedure is tied to cognitive differences. In all of these smaller groups, the researchers still found no statistically significant differences in IQ scores between the two uterine preparation protocols.
The authors propose that estrogen levels in the hormone therapy group may fall below the levels tied to cognitive problems in earlier research, though the study did not test this directly. The typical level in the hormone group, measured in the mother’s blood shortly before the transfer, was about a third higher than in the natural cycle group. However, levels varied much more widely, and about a quarter of mothers in the hormone group had levels more than four times the typical natural cycle level.
Looking at the birth records, the study noted that babies in the hormone therapy group had a higher chance of being born unusually large for their gestational age, meaning heavier than 90 percent of babies born at the same point in pregnancy. Specifically, 22.2 percent of the babies in the hormone group were classified as large, compared to 15.2 percent in the natural cycle group. The babies in the hormone group also had a higher rate of admission to newborn care units, at 14.6 percent versus 9.0 percent for the natural cycle group. The major reasons for these newborn care unit admissions included jaundice, respiratory system diseases, and preterm birth.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. Because the study looked back at past medical records rather than randomly assigning patients to a protocol, unmeasured factors such as the parents’ lifestyle, family socioeconomic status, or the child’s early educational environment might influence the results. The timeline of treatments was also not evenly distributed, with hormone therapy becoming much more common in the later years of the study period. The analysis adjusted for transfer year, but changes in clinical and laboratory practice over that period could still affect the comparison.
There is also a chance of over-adjustment in the statistical model. By controlling for factors like estrogen levels and length of pregnancy, which are part of the pathway being studied or possible downstream effects, the model could potentially hide a real effect. The unadjusted results also showed no statistically significant differences, so the main conclusion does not depend entirely on these adjustments.
Additionally, the findings may not apply to blastocyst transfers, which are now common in modern clinics, or to women who do not ovulate regularly. Finally, the children were followed only up to age six. Future studies could track cognitive abilities into the teenage years to see if any subtle differences emerge over time.
The study, “Cognitive function in offspring born after frozen embryo transfer following hormone replacement therapy cycles versus natural cycles: a retrospective cohort study,” was authored by Xiaomeng Shi, Xiaojing Wu, Aqiong Xie, Shuangying Liu, Xiaoqian Zhou, Yingzhi Yang, Minyue Tang, and Yimin Zhu.
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 01:27PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Did Musk's AI Chatbot Lead Trump to Capture Venezuela's President?
Source: Yahoo News - Top Headlines
In December 2025, about a month before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, President Trump had a secret meeting with Elon Musk, Time magazine reports. This was roughly seven months after Musk left his Trump administration role at the Department of Government Efficiency. During this meeting, Trump "spent hours" talking to Musk's Grok chatbot, including asking how Venezuelans would respond to the capture of...
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 01:27PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Did Musk's AI Chatbot Lead Trump to Capture Venezuela's President?
Source: Yahoo News - Top Headlines
In December 2025, about a month before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, President Trump had a secret meeting with Elon Musk, Time magazine reports. This was roughly seven months after Musk left his Trump administration role at the Department of Government Efficiency. During this meeting, Trump "spent hours" talking to Musk's Grok chatbot, including asking how Venezuelans would respond to the capture of...
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 01:27PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Did Musk's AI Chatbot Lead Trump to Capture Venezuela's President?
Source: Yahoo News - Top Headlines
In December 2025, about a month before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, President Trump had a secret meeting with Elon Musk, Time magazine reports. This was roughly seven months after Musk left his Trump administration role at the Department of Government Efficiency. During this meeting, Trump "spent hours" talking to Musk's Grok chatbot, including asking how Venezuelans would respond to the capture of...
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 01:27PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: At Cornell, Rape Allegations Spark Outrage, Soul-Searching
Source: Yahoo News - Top Headlines
Cornell University student Sophia Riley Sim skipped classes this week, consumed by allegations in a lawsuit that several members of a fraternity raped a young woman and troubled by how her university handled the case, and she is not alone. The Ivy League school has defended its handling of the matter, saying it launched a comprehensive investigation, but many students are questioning whether the school's policies and processes are enough to...
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 01:27PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: At Cornell, Rape Allegations Spark Outrage, Soul-Searching
Source: Yahoo News - Top Headlines
Cornell University student Sophia Riley Sim skipped classes this week, consumed by allegations in a lawsuit that several members of a fraternity raped a young woman and troubled by how her university handled the case, and she is not alone. The Ivy League school has defended its handling of the matter, saying it launched a comprehensive investigation, but many students are questioning whether the school's policies and processes are enough to...
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 01:27PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: At Cornell, Rape Allegations Spark Outrage, Soul-Searching
Source: Yahoo News - Top Headlines
Cornell University student Sophia Riley Sim skipped classes this week, consumed by allegations in a lawsuit that several members of a fraternity raped a young woman and troubled by how her university handled the case, and she is not alone. The Ivy League school has defended its handling of the matter, saying it launched a comprehensive investigation, but many students are questioning whether the school's policies and processes are enough to...
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 12:44PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Quitting Ultra-Processed Food May Boost Your Mental Health
Source: Science Daily - Top Health
A small preliminary study from UC San Francisco adds to mounting evidence that eating fewer ultra-processed foods may help reduce symptoms of depression. Published September 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers believe it is the first study to compare depression symptoms in the same participants before and after they moved from their usual ultra-processed diet to healthier foods. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 12:44PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Quitting Ultra-Processed Food May Boost Your Mental Health
Source: Science Daily - Top Health
A small preliminary study from UC San Francisco adds to mounting evidence that eating fewer ultra-processed foods may help reduce symptoms of depression. Published September 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers believe it is the first study to compare depression symptoms in the same participants before and after they moved from their usual ultra-processed diet to healthier foods. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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-
DATE: October 3, 2026 at 12:44PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Quitting Ultra-Processed Food May Boost Your Mental Health
Source: Science Daily - Top Health
A small preliminary study from UC San Francisco adds to mounting evidence that eating fewer ultra-processed foods may help reduce symptoms of depression. Published September 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers believe it is the first study to compare depression symptoms in the same participants before and after they moved from their usual ultra-processed diet to healthier foods. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 12:44PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: 9 in 10 Americans Have Encountered a Cyber Scam, Says Report
Source: CBS News - U.S. News
Digital fraud is skyrocketing due to artificial intelligence, which is boosting criminals' ability to separate Americans from their money, new research shows. Cyberattacks and scams have targeted nine in 10 Americans, with 17% of consumers saying they've lost money to a digital security breach, according to the report, entitled the "2026 Consumer Cyber Readiness Report," from Consumer Reports, Aspen Digital, and the Global Cyber Alliance.
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 12:44PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: 9 in 10 Americans Have Encountered a Cyber Scam, Says Report
Source: CBS News - U.S. News
Digital fraud is skyrocketing due to artificial intelligence, which is boosting criminals' ability to separate Americans from their money, new research shows. Cyberattacks and scams have targeted nine in 10 Americans, with 17% of consumers saying they've lost money to a digital security breach, according to the report, entitled the "2026 Consumer Cyber Readiness Report," from Consumer Reports, Aspen Digital, and the Global Cyber Alliance.
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-
DATE: October 3, 2026 at 12:44PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: 9 in 10 Americans Have Encountered a Cyber Scam, Says Report
Source: CBS News - U.S. News
Digital fraud is skyrocketing due to artificial intelligence, which is boosting criminals' ability to separate Americans from their money, new research shows. Cyberattacks and scams have targeted nine in 10 Americans, with 17% of consumers saying they've lost money to a digital security breach, according to the report, entitled the "2026 Consumer Cyber Readiness Report," from Consumer Reports, Aspen Digital, and the Global Cyber Alliance.
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DATE: October 3, 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: Brain scans reveal hyper-connected reward networks in autistic individuals
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-hyper-connected-reward-networks-in-autistic-individuals/
Autistic individuals often process social information differently, which is reflected in how various regions of the brain communicate with one another. A recent study published in Autism Research reveals that the brain’s reward center is unusually intertwined with other social processing networks in autistic people. This hyper-connectivity correlates with social communication differences and is linked to specific genetic and chemical markers in the brain.
The human brain handles social interactions through a distributed set of specialized regions known collectively as the social brain. This system includes four distinct subnetworks that govern different aspects of human connection. The reward system processes motivation and the pleasure associated with social stimuli. The face perception network supports the encoding and recognition of facial expressions.
The other two subnetworks handle more abstract social processes. The theory of mind network allows individuals to attribute mental states and intentions to themselves and others. The mirror neuron system activates both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action, aiding in imitation and learning.
For social cognition to function smoothly, these four subnetworks must maintain a delicate balance. They need to operate independently to process their specific tasks efficiently, a concept known as modular segregation. At the same time, they must share information across the broader brain network to produce coherent social behaviors, a process known as modular integration.
Previous research indicates this balance is altered in autism spectrum disorder. Autistic people often exhibit differences in social motivation, facial recognition, and mimicking behaviors. Researchers Chen Yang, Ai-Ping Sun, and colleagues wanted to systematically map how these social subnetworks integrate and whether any imbalances relate to clinical social symptoms. They also aimed to investigate the underlying chemical and genetic profiles of these brain regions.
To examine these network dynamics, the researchers analyzed brain imaging data from an existing database of 646 participants, comprising 298 autistic individuals and 348 typically developing individuals. They used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which tracks blood flow to measure brain activity while participants are awake but not engaged in a specific task. By recording how blood oxygen levels fluctuate over time, researchers can identify which brain areas activate synchronously and infer how strongly they are connected.
Using an automated process, the team isolated 102 specific brain regions that make up the four subnetworks of the social brain. They then calculated a metric called the participation coefficient for each participant. This mathematical formula quantifies how much a specific brain node communicates with outside modules compared to its own internal components. A low score indicates high segregation, while a high score indicates high integration across different networks.
The analysis showed that autistic participants exhibited increased modular integration of the reward system. Instead of remaining relatively isolated, the reward network formed an unusually high number of connections with the face perception network and the mirror neuron system. Autistic individuals also showed higher integration in the face perception network itself, though the changes in the reward system were more pronounced.
Next, the researchers investigated whether this network overlap corresponded to observable social behaviors. They compared the brain connectivity metrics against the participants’ scores on standard clinical assessments, including parental reports of social communication and motivation.
The researchers found that increased integration of the reward system correlated with higher scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale. This means that individuals with a more hyper-integrated reward network tended to experience greater challenges in social communication, social awareness, and social cognition. The team verified that this correlation was driven specifically by social functioning rather than restricted and repetitive behaviors.
To understand the chemical foundation of these brain patterns, the team compared their brain connectivity maps against established atlases of neurotransmitter distribution. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that either stimulate or inhibit brain activity. A leading theory in neuroscience proposes that autism involves an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signals in the brain, often stemming from alterations in how these chemicals bind to their receptors.
The regions of the reward system that were highly integrated in autistic participants physically overlapped with brain areas known to have lower densities of certain serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, receptors. GABA is the brain’s primary inhibitory messenger. A reduction in these receptors implies a lack of inhibitory control, supporting the idea that a hyper-excitable reward network might drive the observed social differences in autism.
The researchers then explored the genetic underpinnings of this connectivity pattern using a public database of human brain tissue gene expression. They mapped thousands of gene transcripts to see if the expression levels of specific genes matched the locations where the reward system was most hyper-integrated.
This spatial analysis identified a set of genetic signatures associated with the structural development of the nervous system. The genes most correlated with the altered reward network are primarily involved in cellular proliferation, the positive regulation of cell migration, and the formation of tissues during early development. This implies that the hyper-integration seen in the adult and adolescent autistic brain may originate from foundational changes in how neurons migrate and form circuits during early development.
The team also mapped how this reward network integration changes over time and tested their findings in a second, independent dataset. Because autism is a developmental condition, the brain’s organization naturally shifts as an individual ages. The researchers used linear regression models to track age-related changes in both autistic and typically developing participants, looking for divergent or parallel growth trajectories.
The integration of the reward system increased as individuals grew older in both groups, maintaining a parallel developmental trajectory. However, the connectivity levels in autistic individuals remained consistently higher than those of their typically developing peers across all age stages. In the second dataset, the direction of the effect was similar: autistic participants showed higher reward system integration at seven of nine sites. However, the pooled effect across sites was small and not statistically significant.
While these analyses draw connections between brain activity, genetics, and behavior, they rely on chemical and genetic maps derived from healthy individuals. The study overlays these standard profiles onto the brain scans of autistic individuals to estimate molecular relationships. Because the researchers did not directly measure neurotransmitter levels or gene expression in the autistic participants themselves, the results do not definitively prove that these specific chemical deficits caused the altered brain connectivity.
Future studies will need to incorporate molecular imaging data collected directly from autistic individuals to confirm these relationships. Additionally, longitudinal tracking of the same individuals over time, rather than comparing different age groups in a single snapshot, could reveal exactly how the social brain develops and changes throughout an autistic person’s lifespan.
The study, “Disrupted Modular Integration of the Reward System Is Associated With Social Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” was authored by Chen Yang, Ai-Ping Sun, Sheng-Zhi Ma, Wen-Qiang Dong, Xiao Chen, Shuai-Yu Chen, Yuqi You, Yu-Feng Zang, and Li-Xia Yuan.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-hyper-connected-reward-networks-in-autistic-individuals/
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-
DATE: October 3, 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: Brain scans reveal hyper-connected reward networks in autistic individuals
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-hyper-connected-reward-networks-in-autistic-individuals/
Autistic individuals often process social information differently, which is reflected in how various regions of the brain communicate with one another. A recent study published in Autism Research reveals that the brain’s reward center is unusually intertwined with other social processing networks in autistic people. This hyper-connectivity correlates with social communication differences and is linked to specific genetic and chemical markers in the brain.
The human brain handles social interactions through a distributed set of specialized regions known collectively as the social brain. This system includes four distinct subnetworks that govern different aspects of human connection. The reward system processes motivation and the pleasure associated with social stimuli. The face perception network supports the encoding and recognition of facial expressions.
The other two subnetworks handle more abstract social processes. The theory of mind network allows individuals to attribute mental states and intentions to themselves and others. The mirror neuron system activates both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action, aiding in imitation and learning.
For social cognition to function smoothly, these four subnetworks must maintain a delicate balance. They need to operate independently to process their specific tasks efficiently, a concept known as modular segregation. At the same time, they must share information across the broader brain network to produce coherent social behaviors, a process known as modular integration.
Previous research indicates this balance is altered in autism spectrum disorder. Autistic people often exhibit differences in social motivation, facial recognition, and mimicking behaviors. Researchers Chen Yang, Ai-Ping Sun, and colleagues wanted to systematically map how these social subnetworks integrate and whether any imbalances relate to clinical social symptoms. They also aimed to investigate the underlying chemical and genetic profiles of these brain regions.
To examine these network dynamics, the researchers analyzed brain imaging data from an existing database of 646 participants, comprising 298 autistic individuals and 348 typically developing individuals. They used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which tracks blood flow to measure brain activity while participants are awake but not engaged in a specific task. By recording how blood oxygen levels fluctuate over time, researchers can identify which brain areas activate synchronously and infer how strongly they are connected.
Using an automated process, the team isolated 102 specific brain regions that make up the four subnetworks of the social brain. They then calculated a metric called the participation coefficient for each participant. This mathematical formula quantifies how much a specific brain node communicates with outside modules compared to its own internal components. A low score indicates high segregation, while a high score indicates high integration across different networks.
The analysis showed that autistic participants exhibited increased modular integration of the reward system. Instead of remaining relatively isolated, the reward network formed an unusually high number of connections with the face perception network and the mirror neuron system. Autistic individuals also showed higher integration in the face perception network itself, though the changes in the reward system were more pronounced.
Next, the researchers investigated whether this network overlap corresponded to observable social behaviors. They compared the brain connectivity metrics against the participants’ scores on standard clinical assessments, including parental reports of social communication and motivation.
The researchers found that increased integration of the reward system correlated with higher scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale. This means that individuals with a more hyper-integrated reward network tended to experience greater challenges in social communication, social awareness, and social cognition. The team verified that this correlation was driven specifically by social functioning rather than restricted and repetitive behaviors.
To understand the chemical foundation of these brain patterns, the team compared their brain connectivity maps against established atlases of neurotransmitter distribution. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that either stimulate or inhibit brain activity. A leading theory in neuroscience proposes that autism involves an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signals in the brain, often stemming from alterations in how these chemicals bind to their receptors.
The regions of the reward system that were highly integrated in autistic participants physically overlapped with brain areas known to have lower densities of certain serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, receptors. GABA is the brain’s primary inhibitory messenger. A reduction in these receptors implies a lack of inhibitory control, supporting the idea that a hyper-excitable reward network might drive the observed social differences in autism.
The researchers then explored the genetic underpinnings of this connectivity pattern using a public database of human brain tissue gene expression. They mapped thousands of gene transcripts to see if the expression levels of specific genes matched the locations where the reward system was most hyper-integrated.
This spatial analysis identified a set of genetic signatures associated with the structural development of the nervous system. The genes most correlated with the altered reward network are primarily involved in cellular proliferation, the positive regulation of cell migration, and the formation of tissues during early development. This implies that the hyper-integration seen in the adult and adolescent autistic brain may originate from foundational changes in how neurons migrate and form circuits during early development.
The team also mapped how this reward network integration changes over time and tested their findings in a second, independent dataset. Because autism is a developmental condition, the brain’s organization naturally shifts as an individual ages. The researchers used linear regression models to track age-related changes in both autistic and typically developing participants, looking for divergent or parallel growth trajectories.
The integration of the reward system increased as individuals grew older in both groups, maintaining a parallel developmental trajectory. However, the connectivity levels in autistic individuals remained consistently higher than those of their typically developing peers across all age stages. In the second dataset, the direction of the effect was similar: autistic participants showed higher reward system integration at seven of nine sites. However, the pooled effect across sites was small and not statistically significant.
While these analyses draw connections between brain activity, genetics, and behavior, they rely on chemical and genetic maps derived from healthy individuals. The study overlays these standard profiles onto the brain scans of autistic individuals to estimate molecular relationships. Because the researchers did not directly measure neurotransmitter levels or gene expression in the autistic participants themselves, the results do not definitively prove that these specific chemical deficits caused the altered brain connectivity.
Future studies will need to incorporate molecular imaging data collected directly from autistic individuals to confirm these relationships. Additionally, longitudinal tracking of the same individuals over time, rather than comparing different age groups in a single snapshot, could reveal exactly how the social brain develops and changes throughout an autistic person’s lifespan.
The study, “Disrupted Modular Integration of the Reward System Is Associated With Social Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” was authored by Chen Yang, Ai-Ping Sun, Sheng-Zhi Ma, Wen-Qiang Dong, Xiao Chen, Shuai-Yu Chen, Yuqi You, Yu-Feng Zang, and Li-Xia Yuan.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-hyper-connected-reward-networks-in-autistic-individuals/
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AutismBrain #SocialNeuroscience #RewardNetwork #BrainConnectivity #Hyperconnectivity #FacePerception #MirrorNeuronSystem #SocialResponsiveness #Neurotransmitters #GeneExpression
-
DATE: October 3, 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: Brain scans reveal hyper-connected reward networks in autistic individuals
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-hyper-connected-reward-networks-in-autistic-individuals/
Autistic individuals often process social information differently, which is reflected in how various regions of the brain communicate with one another. A recent study published in Autism Research reveals that the brain’s reward center is unusually intertwined with other social processing networks in autistic people. This hyper-connectivity correlates with social communication differences and is linked to specific genetic and chemical markers in the brain.
The human brain handles social interactions through a distributed set of specialized regions known collectively as the social brain. This system includes four distinct subnetworks that govern different aspects of human connection. The reward system processes motivation and the pleasure associated with social stimuli. The face perception network supports the encoding and recognition of facial expressions.
The other two subnetworks handle more abstract social processes. The theory of mind network allows individuals to attribute mental states and intentions to themselves and others. The mirror neuron system activates both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action, aiding in imitation and learning.
For social cognition to function smoothly, these four subnetworks must maintain a delicate balance. They need to operate independently to process their specific tasks efficiently, a concept known as modular segregation. At the same time, they must share information across the broader brain network to produce coherent social behaviors, a process known as modular integration.
Previous research indicates this balance is altered in autism spectrum disorder. Autistic people often exhibit differences in social motivation, facial recognition, and mimicking behaviors. Researchers Chen Yang, Ai-Ping Sun, and colleagues wanted to systematically map how these social subnetworks integrate and whether any imbalances relate to clinical social symptoms. They also aimed to investigate the underlying chemical and genetic profiles of these brain regions.
To examine these network dynamics, the researchers analyzed brain imaging data from an existing database of 646 participants, comprising 298 autistic individuals and 348 typically developing individuals. They used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which tracks blood flow to measure brain activity while participants are awake but not engaged in a specific task. By recording how blood oxygen levels fluctuate over time, researchers can identify which brain areas activate synchronously and infer how strongly they are connected.
Using an automated process, the team isolated 102 specific brain regions that make up the four subnetworks of the social brain. They then calculated a metric called the participation coefficient for each participant. This mathematical formula quantifies how much a specific brain node communicates with outside modules compared to its own internal components. A low score indicates high segregation, while a high score indicates high integration across different networks.
The analysis showed that autistic participants exhibited increased modular integration of the reward system. Instead of remaining relatively isolated, the reward network formed an unusually high number of connections with the face perception network and the mirror neuron system. Autistic individuals also showed higher integration in the face perception network itself, though the changes in the reward system were more pronounced.
Next, the researchers investigated whether this network overlap corresponded to observable social behaviors. They compared the brain connectivity metrics against the participants’ scores on standard clinical assessments, including parental reports of social communication and motivation.
The researchers found that increased integration of the reward system correlated with higher scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale. This means that individuals with a more hyper-integrated reward network tended to experience greater challenges in social communication, social awareness, and social cognition. The team verified that this correlation was driven specifically by social functioning rather than restricted and repetitive behaviors.
To understand the chemical foundation of these brain patterns, the team compared their brain connectivity maps against established atlases of neurotransmitter distribution. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that either stimulate or inhibit brain activity. A leading theory in neuroscience proposes that autism involves an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signals in the brain, often stemming from alterations in how these chemicals bind to their receptors.
The regions of the reward system that were highly integrated in autistic participants physically overlapped with brain areas known to have lower densities of certain serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, receptors. GABA is the brain’s primary inhibitory messenger. A reduction in these receptors implies a lack of inhibitory control, supporting the idea that a hyper-excitable reward network might drive the observed social differences in autism.
The researchers then explored the genetic underpinnings of this connectivity pattern using a public database of human brain tissue gene expression. They mapped thousands of gene transcripts to see if the expression levels of specific genes matched the locations where the reward system was most hyper-integrated.
This spatial analysis identified a set of genetic signatures associated with the structural development of the nervous system. The genes most correlated with the altered reward network are primarily involved in cellular proliferation, the positive regulation of cell migration, and the formation of tissues during early development. This implies that the hyper-integration seen in the adult and adolescent autistic brain may originate from foundational changes in how neurons migrate and form circuits during early development.
The team also mapped how this reward network integration changes over time and tested their findings in a second, independent dataset. Because autism is a developmental condition, the brain’s organization naturally shifts as an individual ages. The researchers used linear regression models to track age-related changes in both autistic and typically developing participants, looking for divergent or parallel growth trajectories.
The integration of the reward system increased as individuals grew older in both groups, maintaining a parallel developmental trajectory. However, the connectivity levels in autistic individuals remained consistently higher than those of their typically developing peers across all age stages. In the second dataset, the direction of the effect was similar: autistic participants showed higher reward system integration at seven of nine sites. However, the pooled effect across sites was small and not statistically significant.
While these analyses draw connections between brain activity, genetics, and behavior, they rely on chemical and genetic maps derived from healthy individuals. The study overlays these standard profiles onto the brain scans of autistic individuals to estimate molecular relationships. Because the researchers did not directly measure neurotransmitter levels or gene expression in the autistic participants themselves, the results do not definitively prove that these specific chemical deficits caused the altered brain connectivity.
Future studies will need to incorporate molecular imaging data collected directly from autistic individuals to confirm these relationships. Additionally, longitudinal tracking of the same individuals over time, rather than comparing different age groups in a single snapshot, could reveal exactly how the social brain develops and changes throughout an autistic person’s lifespan.
The study, “Disrupted Modular Integration of the Reward System Is Associated With Social Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” was authored by Chen Yang, Ai-Ping Sun, Sheng-Zhi Ma, Wen-Qiang Dong, Xiao Chen, Shuai-Yu Chen, Yuqi You, Yu-Feng Zang, and Li-Xia Yuan.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-hyper-connected-reward-networks-in-autistic-individuals/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #AutismBrain #SocialNeuroscience #RewardNetwork #BrainConnectivity #Hyperconnectivity #FacePerception #MirrorNeuronSystem #SocialResponsiveness #Neurotransmitters #GeneExpression
-
DATE: October 3, 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: Teen cannabis use linked to flattened cognitive development in large U.S. study
New research suggests that adolescents who begin using cannabis may experience a slowing in their cognitive development compared to peers who do not use the drug. The findings, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, indicate that while these youth often start out with slightly better cognitive scores in late childhood, their rate of mental improvement falls behind as they age.
Adolescence is a time of extensive brain development. During these years, the brain undergoes major structural and functional changes that lay the groundwork for adult cognitive abilities. Because the brain is changing so rapidly, it is particularly sensitive to outside chemical influences during this window.
Cannabis contains more than 120 cannabinoids, but the two most studied are THC and CBD. THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the primary psychoactive component responsible for the high associated with cannabis use. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-intoxicating compound sometimes used for perceived medical or therapeutic benefits. Some adult studies suggest CBD might blunt THC’s effects on thinking, though results are mixed and little is known about its impact on teens.
The research, led by Natasha E. Wade of the University of California, San Diego, aimed to map how the onset of cannabis use tracks with cognitive changes across adolescence. Prior studies have often relied on teenagers self-reporting their substance use, which can lead to inaccuracies. For instance, a 2023 study of young adults indicated that self-reports often underestimate the prevalence of most illicit substances by 30 to 60 percent when compared to objective hair testing.
To get a more accurate picture, Wade and her colleagues combined self-reported data with objective biological tests. This approach allowed the researchers to capture a more complete timeline of when teenagers started using cannabis and what specific types of cannabinoids were present in their systems.
The scientists drew data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a large national project tracking the biological and behavioral development of youth across the United States. The current analysis included up to 11,036 youth between the ages of 9 and 17, depending on the test. For instance, working memory was assessed in 4,371 participants and verbal recall in 4,487.
To identify which participants had started using cannabis, the research team looked at annual interviews where the youth reported their own substance use alongside results from biological samples like hair, urine, breath, and oral fluid tests. Self-report flagged 67 percent of cannabis users, hair tests 22 percent, and urine tests 21 percent. These figures overlap because some youth were flagged by more than one method, but they show that the biological tests caught youth who did not report their use.
Youth were counted as cannabis users from the first time any use beyond a single puff or taste was reported or detected, and they stayed in that group for the rest of the study, regardless of how often they used afterward. In the full cohort, about 2,200 youth were identified as having used cannabis, compared with about 9,700 who had not.
The participants completed a battery of cognitive tests every other year to measure a variety of mental skills. For example, working memory was tested by asking participants to mentally sort a list of animals and foods by size. Inhibitory control, or the ability to suppress impulsive responses, was measured using a task where youth had to quickly identify the direction of an arrow while ignoring distracting arrows pointing the other way. Other tasks measured language skills, processing speed, visuospatial processing, and episodic memory.
The researchers accounted for a wide range of factors that might independently influence brain development or drug use. These included the highest level of education achieved by the parents, family history of substance use problems, prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol, parent-reported emotional and behavioral problems at the start of the study (ages 9 to 10), sex, race and ethnicity, and the use of other substances like alcohol and nicotine.
The results indicated that the cognitive trajectories of youth who initiated cannabis use differed from those who did not. In late childhood between the ages of 9 and 11, the youth who would eventually use cannabis tended to score slightly higher on most of the tests than their peers.
As the youth progressed through adolescence, this pattern reversed. While the non-using youth showed steady, age-typical improvements in their cognitive scores, the youth who initiated cannabis use experienced a flattened trajectory. On most tasks they still improved, just not as quickly. By ages 15 to 17, the teens who used cannabis performed worse than their non-using peers across almost all measured domains, including processing speed, verbal recall, and visuospatial skills.
The researchers described most differences as small, with a medium-sized effect for episodic memory and a large effect for working memory. They noted that even modest effects could matter for real-world activities like schooling and driving.
The researchers also wanted to know if different chemical components of cannabis might relate to these cognitive changes in different ways. They looked at a smaller subset of 645 participants who had repeated hair toxicology tests between the ages of 12 and 16. Hair testing mainly detects regular use, roughly twice a month or more, so this analysis likely reflects heavier use than the main one. The team divided this group into those with no cannabinoids in their hair, those with THC (81 youth), and those with CBD (21 youth, 13 of whom also had THC in their hair).
The hair analysis indicated that teens with objective evidence of recent THC exposure had a reduced rate of improvement in episodic memory compared to teens with no cannabinoids in their hair. Episodic memory involves the ability to recall specific events and experiences. By ages 15 to 17, the THC group showed worse episodic memory performance than the control group, whereas the cognitive trajectories of teens with CBD in their hair did not differ from the control group.
Episodic memory was the only task on which the THC group differed from controls; they did not differ on language, processing speed, inhibitory control, or reading. This analysis also adjusted for fewer factors than the main one: sex, other substances detected in hair, and study site.
“This is an impressive and timely study using longitudinal data from the ABCD database to examine cognitive function over time in relation to cannabis use, in a large sample of youth aged 9-17,” Harriet de Wit, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the research, told PsyPost. “The authors controlled for numerous potential confounding factors,” she added. “The self-reported use of the drug was validated with biological samples. These data confirm a growing public concern that cannabis use among adolescents can have serious adverse developmental consequences.”
The findings are in line with an earlier study of the same group of youth covered by PsyPost in 2024, which linked cannabis use to poorer episodic memory at ages 13 to 14. They also echo a 2021 meta-analysis that tied frequent teen cannabis use to a drop of about two IQ points, though it measured overall IQ rather than specific mental skills, and a 2017 study that linked starting cannabis around age 14 to poorer verbal and learning abilities by age 20, though it followed only disadvantaged boys and relied on self-reports. The results stand in some tension with a study covered by PsyPost in 2018, which found that adults who used cannabis as teens performed as well as or better than non-users on a spatial working memory task, though that study tested adults at age 28 rather than tracking them through adolescence.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study cannot show that cannabis caused the slower gains. The authors note that whatever makes some youth more likely to try cannabis, such as maturing earlier, could also shape their cognitive development. They also note that scores that start out above average tend to drift back toward the average over time, a statistical pattern called regression to the mean.
The secondary analysis focusing on specific cannabinoids had a relatively small sample size. Only 21 participants were identified as having CBD in their hair, which makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions about the impact of CBD on the developing brain.
Additionally, teenagers using CBD might be doing so to manage underlying symptoms, such as sleep issues or anxiety. These pre-existing conditions could influence cognitive test scores independently of the CBD itself. The researchers also note that some participants might be exposed to THC inadvertently, as product mislabeling is a known concern even in regulated markets.
Finally, the participants in this study are still in the middle of adolescence. Their brains will continue to mature into their mid-twenties. Continued monitoring of this group will help clarify how quitting or heavier use relates to cognition over time.
The study, “Longitudinal neurocognitive trajectories in a large cohort of youth who use cannabis: combining self-report and toxicology,” was authored by Natasha E. Wade, Ryan M. Sullivan, Alexander L. Wallace, Rachel Visontay, Veronica Szpak, Krista M. Lisdahl, Marilyn A. Huestis, Priscila Dib Gonçalves, Hollie Byrne, Louise Mewton, Joanna Jacobus, and Susan F. Tapert.
-------------------------------------------------
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: October 3, 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: Teen cannabis use linked to flattened cognitive development in large U.S. study
New research suggests that adolescents who begin using cannabis may experience a slowing in their cognitive development compared to peers who do not use the drug. The findings, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, indicate that while these youth often start out with slightly better cognitive scores in late childhood, their rate of mental improvement falls behind as they age.
Adolescence is a time of extensive brain development. During these years, the brain undergoes major structural and functional changes that lay the groundwork for adult cognitive abilities. Because the brain is changing so rapidly, it is particularly sensitive to outside chemical influences during this window.
Cannabis contains more than 120 cannabinoids, but the two most studied are THC and CBD. THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the primary psychoactive component responsible for the high associated with cannabis use. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-intoxicating compound sometimes used for perceived medical or therapeutic benefits. Some adult studies suggest CBD might blunt THC’s effects on thinking, though results are mixed and little is known about its impact on teens.
The research, led by Natasha E. Wade of the University of California, San Diego, aimed to map how the onset of cannabis use tracks with cognitive changes across adolescence. Prior studies have often relied on teenagers self-reporting their substance use, which can lead to inaccuracies. For instance, a 2023 study of young adults indicated that self-reports often underestimate the prevalence of most illicit substances by 30 to 60 percent when compared to objective hair testing.
To get a more accurate picture, Wade and her colleagues combined self-reported data with objective biological tests. This approach allowed the researchers to capture a more complete timeline of when teenagers started using cannabis and what specific types of cannabinoids were present in their systems.
The scientists drew data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a large national project tracking the biological and behavioral development of youth across the United States. The current analysis included up to 11,036 youth between the ages of 9 and 17, depending on the test. For instance, working memory was assessed in 4,371 participants and verbal recall in 4,487.
To identify which participants had started using cannabis, the research team looked at annual interviews where the youth reported their own substance use alongside results from biological samples like hair, urine, breath, and oral fluid tests. Self-report flagged 67 percent of cannabis users, hair tests 22 percent, and urine tests 21 percent. These figures overlap because some youth were flagged by more than one method, but they show that the biological tests caught youth who did not report their use.
Youth were counted as cannabis users from the first time any use beyond a single puff or taste was reported or detected, and they stayed in that group for the rest of the study, regardless of how often they used afterward. In the full cohort, about 2,200 youth were identified as having used cannabis, compared with about 9,700 who had not.
The participants completed a battery of cognitive tests every other year to measure a variety of mental skills. For example, working memory was tested by asking participants to mentally sort a list of animals and foods by size. Inhibitory control, or the ability to suppress impulsive responses, was measured using a task where youth had to quickly identify the direction of an arrow while ignoring distracting arrows pointing the other way. Other tasks measured language skills, processing speed, visuospatial processing, and episodic memory.
The researchers accounted for a wide range of factors that might independently influence brain development or drug use. These included the highest level of education achieved by the parents, family history of substance use problems, prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol, parent-reported emotional and behavioral problems at the start of the study (ages 9 to 10), sex, race and ethnicity, and the use of other substances like alcohol and nicotine.
The results indicated that the cognitive trajectories of youth who initiated cannabis use differed from those who did not. In late childhood between the ages of 9 and 11, the youth who would eventually use cannabis tended to score slightly higher on most of the tests than their peers.
As the youth progressed through adolescence, this pattern reversed. While the non-using youth showed steady, age-typical improvements in their cognitive scores, the youth who initiated cannabis use experienced a flattened trajectory. On most tasks they still improved, just not as quickly. By ages 15 to 17, the teens who used cannabis performed worse than their non-using peers across almost all measured domains, including processing speed, verbal recall, and visuospatial skills.
The researchers described most differences as small, with a medium-sized effect for episodic memory and a large effect for working memory. They noted that even modest effects could matter for real-world activities like schooling and driving.
The researchers also wanted to know if different chemical components of cannabis might relate to these cognitive changes in different ways. They looked at a smaller subset of 645 participants who had repeated hair toxicology tests between the ages of 12 and 16. Hair testing mainly detects regular use, roughly twice a month or more, so this analysis likely reflects heavier use than the main one. The team divided this group into those with no cannabinoids in their hair, those with THC (81 youth), and those with CBD (21 youth, 13 of whom also had THC in their hair).
The hair analysis indicated that teens with objective evidence of recent THC exposure had a reduced rate of improvement in episodic memory compared to teens with no cannabinoids in their hair. Episodic memory involves the ability to recall specific events and experiences. By ages 15 to 17, the THC group showed worse episodic memory performance than the control group, whereas the cognitive trajectories of teens with CBD in their hair did not differ from the control group.
Episodic memory was the only task on which the THC group differed from controls; they did not differ on language, processing speed, inhibitory control, or reading. This analysis also adjusted for fewer factors than the main one: sex, other substances detected in hair, and study site.
“This is an impressive and timely study using longitudinal data from the ABCD database to examine cognitive function over time in relation to cannabis use, in a large sample of youth aged 9-17,” Harriet de Wit, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the research, told PsyPost. “The authors controlled for numerous potential confounding factors,” she added. “The self-reported use of the drug was validated with biological samples. These data confirm a growing public concern that cannabis use among adolescents can have serious adverse developmental consequences.”
The findings are in line with an earlier study of the same group of youth covered by PsyPost in 2024, which linked cannabis use to poorer episodic memory at ages 13 to 14. They also echo a 2021 meta-analysis that tied frequent teen cannabis use to a drop of about two IQ points, though it measured overall IQ rather than specific mental skills, and a 2017 study that linked starting cannabis around age 14 to poorer verbal and learning abilities by age 20, though it followed only disadvantaged boys and relied on self-reports. The results stand in some tension with a study covered by PsyPost in 2018, which found that adults who used cannabis as teens performed as well as or better than non-users on a spatial working memory task, though that study tested adults at age 28 rather than tracking them through adolescence.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study cannot show that cannabis caused the slower gains. The authors note that whatever makes some youth more likely to try cannabis, such as maturing earlier, could also shape their cognitive development. They also note that scores that start out above average tend to drift back toward the average over time, a statistical pattern called regression to the mean.
The secondary analysis focusing on specific cannabinoids had a relatively small sample size. Only 21 participants were identified as having CBD in their hair, which makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions about the impact of CBD on the developing brain.
Additionally, teenagers using CBD might be doing so to manage underlying symptoms, such as sleep issues or anxiety. These pre-existing conditions could influence cognitive test scores independently of the CBD itself. The researchers also note that some participants might be exposed to THC inadvertently, as product mislabeling is a known concern even in regulated markets.
Finally, the participants in this study are still in the middle of adolescence. Their brains will continue to mature into their mid-twenties. Continued monitoring of this group will help clarify how quitting or heavier use relates to cognition over time.
The study, “Longitudinal neurocognitive trajectories in a large cohort of youth who use cannabis: combining self-report and toxicology,” was authored by Natasha E. Wade, Ryan M. Sullivan, Alexander L. Wallace, Rachel Visontay, Veronica Szpak, Krista M. Lisdahl, Marilyn A. Huestis, Priscila Dib Gonçalves, Hollie Byrne, Louise Mewton, Joanna Jacobus, and Susan F. Tapert.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #CannabisAndCognition #AdolescentBrainDevelopment #TeenCannabisUse #NeurocognitiveTrajectories #ABCDStudy #THCImpactOnMemory #EpisodicMemory #YouthHealth #PublicHealthResearch #BrainDevelopment
-
DATE: October 3, 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: Teen cannabis use linked to flattened cognitive development in large U.S. study
New research suggests that adolescents who begin using cannabis may experience a slowing in their cognitive development compared to peers who do not use the drug. The findings, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, indicate that while these youth often start out with slightly better cognitive scores in late childhood, their rate of mental improvement falls behind as they age.
Adolescence is a time of extensive brain development. During these years, the brain undergoes major structural and functional changes that lay the groundwork for adult cognitive abilities. Because the brain is changing so rapidly, it is particularly sensitive to outside chemical influences during this window.
Cannabis contains more than 120 cannabinoids, but the two most studied are THC and CBD. THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the primary psychoactive component responsible for the high associated with cannabis use. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-intoxicating compound sometimes used for perceived medical or therapeutic benefits. Some adult studies suggest CBD might blunt THC’s effects on thinking, though results are mixed and little is known about its impact on teens.
The research, led by Natasha E. Wade of the University of California, San Diego, aimed to map how the onset of cannabis use tracks with cognitive changes across adolescence. Prior studies have often relied on teenagers self-reporting their substance use, which can lead to inaccuracies. For instance, a 2023 study of young adults indicated that self-reports often underestimate the prevalence of most illicit substances by 30 to 60 percent when compared to objective hair testing.
To get a more accurate picture, Wade and her colleagues combined self-reported data with objective biological tests. This approach allowed the researchers to capture a more complete timeline of when teenagers started using cannabis and what specific types of cannabinoids were present in their systems.
The scientists drew data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a large national project tracking the biological and behavioral development of youth across the United States. The current analysis included up to 11,036 youth between the ages of 9 and 17, depending on the test. For instance, working memory was assessed in 4,371 participants and verbal recall in 4,487.
To identify which participants had started using cannabis, the research team looked at annual interviews where the youth reported their own substance use alongside results from biological samples like hair, urine, breath, and oral fluid tests. Self-report flagged 67 percent of cannabis users, hair tests 22 percent, and urine tests 21 percent. These figures overlap because some youth were flagged by more than one method, but they show that the biological tests caught youth who did not report their use.
Youth were counted as cannabis users from the first time any use beyond a single puff or taste was reported or detected, and they stayed in that group for the rest of the study, regardless of how often they used afterward. In the full cohort, about 2,200 youth were identified as having used cannabis, compared with about 9,700 who had not.
The participants completed a battery of cognitive tests every other year to measure a variety of mental skills. For example, working memory was tested by asking participants to mentally sort a list of animals and foods by size. Inhibitory control, or the ability to suppress impulsive responses, was measured using a task where youth had to quickly identify the direction of an arrow while ignoring distracting arrows pointing the other way. Other tasks measured language skills, processing speed, visuospatial processing, and episodic memory.
The researchers accounted for a wide range of factors that might independently influence brain development or drug use. These included the highest level of education achieved by the parents, family history of substance use problems, prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol, parent-reported emotional and behavioral problems at the start of the study (ages 9 to 10), sex, race and ethnicity, and the use of other substances like alcohol and nicotine.
The results indicated that the cognitive trajectories of youth who initiated cannabis use differed from those who did not. In late childhood between the ages of 9 and 11, the youth who would eventually use cannabis tended to score slightly higher on most of the tests than their peers.
As the youth progressed through adolescence, this pattern reversed. While the non-using youth showed steady, age-typical improvements in their cognitive scores, the youth who initiated cannabis use experienced a flattened trajectory. On most tasks they still improved, just not as quickly. By ages 15 to 17, the teens who used cannabis performed worse than their non-using peers across almost all measured domains, including processing speed, verbal recall, and visuospatial skills.
The researchers described most differences as small, with a medium-sized effect for episodic memory and a large effect for working memory. They noted that even modest effects could matter for real-world activities like schooling and driving.
The researchers also wanted to know if different chemical components of cannabis might relate to these cognitive changes in different ways. They looked at a smaller subset of 645 participants who had repeated hair toxicology tests between the ages of 12 and 16. Hair testing mainly detects regular use, roughly twice a month or more, so this analysis likely reflects heavier use than the main one. The team divided this group into those with no cannabinoids in their hair, those with THC (81 youth), and those with CBD (21 youth, 13 of whom also had THC in their hair).
The hair analysis indicated that teens with objective evidence of recent THC exposure had a reduced rate of improvement in episodic memory compared to teens with no cannabinoids in their hair. Episodic memory involves the ability to recall specific events and experiences. By ages 15 to 17, the THC group showed worse episodic memory performance than the control group, whereas the cognitive trajectories of teens with CBD in their hair did not differ from the control group.
Episodic memory was the only task on which the THC group differed from controls; they did not differ on language, processing speed, inhibitory control, or reading. This analysis also adjusted for fewer factors than the main one: sex, other substances detected in hair, and study site.
“This is an impressive and timely study using longitudinal data from the ABCD database to examine cognitive function over time in relation to cannabis use, in a large sample of youth aged 9-17,” Harriet de Wit, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the research, told PsyPost. “The authors controlled for numerous potential confounding factors,” she added. “The self-reported use of the drug was validated with biological samples. These data confirm a growing public concern that cannabis use among adolescents can have serious adverse developmental consequences.”
The findings are in line with an earlier study of the same group of youth covered by PsyPost in 2024, which linked cannabis use to poorer episodic memory at ages 13 to 14. They also echo a 2021 meta-analysis that tied frequent teen cannabis use to a drop of about two IQ points, though it measured overall IQ rather than specific mental skills, and a 2017 study that linked starting cannabis around age 14 to poorer verbal and learning abilities by age 20, though it followed only disadvantaged boys and relied on self-reports. The results stand in some tension with a study covered by PsyPost in 2018, which found that adults who used cannabis as teens performed as well as or better than non-users on a spatial working memory task, though that study tested adults at age 28 rather than tracking them through adolescence.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study cannot show that cannabis caused the slower gains. The authors note that whatever makes some youth more likely to try cannabis, such as maturing earlier, could also shape their cognitive development. They also note that scores that start out above average tend to drift back toward the average over time, a statistical pattern called regression to the mean.
The secondary analysis focusing on specific cannabinoids had a relatively small sample size. Only 21 participants were identified as having CBD in their hair, which makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions about the impact of CBD on the developing brain.
Additionally, teenagers using CBD might be doing so to manage underlying symptoms, such as sleep issues or anxiety. These pre-existing conditions could influence cognitive test scores independently of the CBD itself. The researchers also note that some participants might be exposed to THC inadvertently, as product mislabeling is a known concern even in regulated markets.
Finally, the participants in this study are still in the middle of adolescence. Their brains will continue to mature into their mid-twenties. Continued monitoring of this group will help clarify how quitting or heavier use relates to cognition over time.
The study, “Longitudinal neurocognitive trajectories in a large cohort of youth who use cannabis: combining self-report and toxicology,” was authored by Natasha E. Wade, Ryan M. Sullivan, Alexander L. Wallace, Rachel Visontay, Veronica Szpak, Krista M. Lisdahl, Marilyn A. Huestis, Priscila Dib Gonçalves, Hollie Byrne, Louise Mewton, Joanna Jacobus, and Susan F. Tapert.
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DATE: October 3, 2026 at 08:13AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your gut may be making a molecule that raises Alzheimer’s risk
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260930225459.htm
Scientists have linked a gut bacterial compound called ImP to greater Alzheimer’s risk, harmful brain protein buildup, and faster cognitive decline. The finding raises the possibility that reducing ImP in the blood could one day help slow or prevent dementia.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260930225459.htm
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #GutHealth #AlzheimersResearch #ImP #DementiaPrevention #BrainHealth #Microbiome #CognitiveDecline #AlzheimersDisease #GutBrainAxis #Neuroscience
-
DATE: October 3, 2026 at 08:13AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your gut may be making a molecule that raises Alzheimer’s risk
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260930225459.htm
Scientists have linked a gut bacterial compound called ImP to greater Alzheimer’s risk, harmful brain protein buildup, and faster cognitive decline. The finding raises the possibility that reducing ImP in the blood could one day help slow or prevent dementia.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260930225459.htm
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #GutHealth #AlzheimersResearch #ImP #DementiaPrevention #BrainHealth #Microbiome #CognitiveDecline #AlzheimersDisease #GutBrainAxis #Neuroscience
-
DATE: October 3, 2026 at 08:13AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your gut may be making a molecule that raises Alzheimer’s risk
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260930225459.htm
Scientists have linked a gut bacterial compound called ImP to greater Alzheimer’s risk, harmful brain protein buildup, and faster cognitive decline. The finding raises the possibility that reducing ImP in the blood could one day help slow or prevent dementia.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260930225459.htm
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-
DATE: October 3, 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: Psilocybin shows early promise for lingering Lyme disease symptoms
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-shows-early-promise-for-lingering-lyme-disease-symptoms/
A small pilot study of 20 people with post-treatment Lyme disease found that, 6 months after two psilocybin sessions with psychological support, their overall symptom burden was 40% lower than at the start of the study, and their health-related quality of life had improved. Mood, fatigue, sleep quality, and pain also showed significant and sustained improvements, although the study did not include a control group. The paper was published in Scientific Reports.
Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia bacteria and transmitted to people through the bite of infected ticks. It can affect the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart. Early symptoms typically include fever, fatigue, headache, and a characteristic expanding skin rash. When recognized and treated with appropriate antibiotics, most people recover well.
However, an estimated 10% to 20% of patients continue to experience symptoms such as fatigue, pain, sleep problems, and difficulties with memory or concentration after completing standard treatment. This condition is called post-treatment Lyme disease, or PTLD. The symptoms can persist for months or years and may substantially interfere with everyday functioning and quality of life. Many patients also struggle with depression and anxiety, and there are currently no established treatments for the condition.
Why PTLD develops is still not fully understood. Proposed explanations include lingering immune changes, tissue injury from the original infection, and other biological or psychological factors. Importantly, persistent symptoms after treatment do not necessarily mean that the original bacterial infection is still active.
Study author Albert Garcia-Romeu of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his colleagues reasoned that classic psychedelics might help ease symptoms and improve quality of life in people with chronic illnesses that have not responded to other treatments, such as PTLD. In clinical trials, psilocybin has shown antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects, and animal studies have provided preliminary evidence that psychedelics may reduce inflammation. Classic psychedelics are psychoactive substances such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and mescaline that primarily alter perception, mood, and cognition through serotonin receptor activity.
Although these substances are illegal or tightly controlled in many countries, researchers are actively examining their use in treating various mental health conditions, with many reporting positive results. The authors of this study explored how PTLD symptoms change after treatment with psilocybin accompanied by psychological support.
Study participants were 20 patients with PTLD. The main source of recruitment was patients who had previously taken part in studies at the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center and had agreed to be contacted about future research. Additional participants were recruited through online advertisements and word of mouth. To be eligible, participants needed medical records documenting a Lyme disease diagnosis and a standard course of antibiotics, followed by persistent symptoms. Screening was strict: of 486 people who were pre-screened, 20 enrolled and received the treatment.
Participants’ average age was 44 years, 11 of them were women, and 90% were white. Their median illness duration was 5.7 years. At screening, five participants met criteria for major depression and five met criteria for ADHD, and three remained on antidepressants throughout the trial.
After enrollment, participants completed an 8-week study intervention that included two sessions in which they received psilocybin with psychological support. Everyone received 15 mg in week 4. In week 6, 18 participants received a higher 25 mg dose, while two stayed at 15 mg because they had strong reactions to the first session.
Before receiving psilocybin, participants attended three weekly preparatory meetings that included standard psychoeducation about its effects and a brief life review to discuss the course of their illness, their symptom burden, and other formative life events. These meetings were also used to help participants set their own treatment goals.
After each psilocybin session, participants completed an integration meeting within three days so the team could assess their mental status and document any adverse events. Weekly meetings with facilitators continued through week 8 to discuss the contents of participants’ psilocybin sessions and to monitor their overall progress. Participants completed follow-up assessments approximately 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the second psilocybin session. Most study visits took place over video chat, but the dosing sessions, the week 8 visit, and the 6-month follow-up were conducted in person at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus.
These self-reported assessments covered PTLD symptoms (using the General Symptom Questionnaire-30), health-related quality of life (the Short-Form Health Survey), depressive symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue severity, and pain severity.
Results showed that PTLD symptoms and all other outcomes improved after treatment, and the improvements largely held through the 6-month follow-up. The study’s main endpoint was 1 month after the second dose, and by that point general symptom burden was 42% lower than at the start of the study, after being 52% lower at 2 weeks. Six months after the second dose, symptom burden remained 40% lower than at baseline. Mental and physical quality of life scores were each about 13% higher at 6 months.
Mood, fatigue, sleep quality, and pain improved as well. Across the follow-ups, depressive symptoms were roughly 50% to 60% lower than at baseline, sleep problems 40% to 50% lower, fatigue 25% to 30% lower, and overall pain 40% to 50% lower.
No serious adverse events related to the treatment occurred, and all participants completed both dosing sessions. The most common side effects attributed to psilocybin were temporary increases in blood pressure (in 90% of participants), headache (65%), rapid heart rate (35%), pain (20%), and fatigue (15%). The blood pressure and heart rate increases were modest and resolved on their own, and over-the-counter pain relievers were the only treatment needed to manage side effects.
Two serious adverse events occurred during the study period, and both were judged unrelated to psilocybin. One participant developed passive suicidal thoughts about seven weeks after their last psilocybin session, shortly after starting a new antidepressant, and the thoughts resolved within four days of stopping that medication. Another participant was diagnosed with rectal cancer at the 6-month follow-up.
“Preliminary findings support that psilocybin-assisted treatment was feasible and well-tolerated among the sample. Clinical outcomes indicated potentially long-lasting benefits of psilocybin-assisted treatment, warranting further investigation for PTLD,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on potential uses of psilocybin for treating PTLD. However, it did not include a control group, and participants knew they were receiving psilocybin, which may have shaped their expectations about the outcome.
Because there was no control group, it remains unknown whether the observed changes resulted from psilocybin treatment, from the natural course of the illness over time, or from other factors that might have affected symptoms independently of the study treatment. Some of the improvement may also reflect regression to the mean, the tendency for unusually high scores at the start of a study to drift back toward typical levels on their own. Additionally, participants’ expectations, which the researchers did not measure, may have influenced how they reported their symptoms.
Because psilocybin was given together with psychological support, the study also cannot separate the effects of the drug from those of the support sessions. The sample was small and mostly white and highly educated, several participants had depression or ADHD or were taking psychiatric medications, and the study did not measure memory or concentration, even though cognitive difficulties are a core feature of PTLD. The researchers say the results are encouraging enough to justify randomized controlled trials.
The paper, “Pilot study of psilocybin in patients with post-treatment lyme disease,” was authored by Albert Garcia-Romeu, Gideon P. Naudé, Alison W. Rebman, Sara So, Abigail Yaffe, Ian Geithner, Erica A. Kozero, Ting Yang, Mark J. Soloski, and John N. Aucott.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-shows-early-promise-for-lingering-lyme-disease-symptoms/
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #PsilocybinPTLD #LymeDiseaseRecovery #PsychedelicTherapy #PostTreatmentLymeDisease #MentalHealthInnovation #ChronicIllnessCare #QualityOfLifeBoost #DepressionFatigueSleepPain #ClinicalTrial # JohnsHopkinsStudy
-
DATE: October 3, 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: Psilocybin shows early promise for lingering Lyme disease symptoms
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-shows-early-promise-for-lingering-lyme-disease-symptoms/
A small pilot study of 20 people with post-treatment Lyme disease found that, 6 months after two psilocybin sessions with psychological support, their overall symptom burden was 40% lower than at the start of the study, and their health-related quality of life had improved. Mood, fatigue, sleep quality, and pain also showed significant and sustained improvements, although the study did not include a control group. The paper was published in Scientific Reports.
Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia bacteria and transmitted to people through the bite of infected ticks. It can affect the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart. Early symptoms typically include fever, fatigue, headache, and a characteristic expanding skin rash. When recognized and treated with appropriate antibiotics, most people recover well.
However, an estimated 10% to 20% of patients continue to experience symptoms such as fatigue, pain, sleep problems, and difficulties with memory or concentration after completing standard treatment. This condition is called post-treatment Lyme disease, or PTLD. The symptoms can persist for months or years and may substantially interfere with everyday functioning and quality of life. Many patients also struggle with depression and anxiety, and there are currently no established treatments for the condition.
Why PTLD develops is still not fully understood. Proposed explanations include lingering immune changes, tissue injury from the original infection, and other biological or psychological factors. Importantly, persistent symptoms after treatment do not necessarily mean that the original bacterial infection is still active.
Study author Albert Garcia-Romeu of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his colleagues reasoned that classic psychedelics might help ease symptoms and improve quality of life in people with chronic illnesses that have not responded to other treatments, such as PTLD. In clinical trials, psilocybin has shown antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects, and animal studies have provided preliminary evidence that psychedelics may reduce inflammation. Classic psychedelics are psychoactive substances such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and mescaline that primarily alter perception, mood, and cognition through serotonin receptor activity.
Although these substances are illegal or tightly controlled in many countries, researchers are actively examining their use in treating various mental health conditions, with many reporting positive results. The authors of this study explored how PTLD symptoms change after treatment with psilocybin accompanied by psychological support.
Study participants were 20 patients with PTLD. The main source of recruitment was patients who had previously taken part in studies at the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center and had agreed to be contacted about future research. Additional participants were recruited through online advertisements and word of mouth. To be eligible, participants needed medical records documenting a Lyme disease diagnosis and a standard course of antibiotics, followed by persistent symptoms. Screening was strict: of 486 people who were pre-screened, 20 enrolled and received the treatment.
Participants’ average age was 44 years, 11 of them were women, and 90% were white. Their median illness duration was 5.7 years. At screening, five participants met criteria for major depression and five met criteria for ADHD, and three remained on antidepressants throughout the trial.
After enrollment, participants completed an 8-week study intervention that included two sessions in which they received psilocybin with psychological support. Everyone received 15 mg in week 4. In week 6, 18 participants received a higher 25 mg dose, while two stayed at 15 mg because they had strong reactions to the first session.
Before receiving psilocybin, participants attended three weekly preparatory meetings that included standard psychoeducation about its effects and a brief life review to discuss the course of their illness, their symptom burden, and other formative life events. These meetings were also used to help participants set their own treatment goals.
After each psilocybin session, participants completed an integration meeting within three days so the team could assess their mental status and document any adverse events. Weekly meetings with facilitators continued through week 8 to discuss the contents of participants’ psilocybin sessions and to monitor their overall progress. Participants completed follow-up assessments approximately 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the second psilocybin session. Most study visits took place over video chat, but the dosing sessions, the week 8 visit, and the 6-month follow-up were conducted in person at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus.
These self-reported assessments covered PTLD symptoms (using the General Symptom Questionnaire-30), health-related quality of life (the Short-Form Health Survey), depressive symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue severity, and pain severity.
Results showed that PTLD symptoms and all other outcomes improved after treatment, and the improvements largely held through the 6-month follow-up. The study’s main endpoint was 1 month after the second dose, and by that point general symptom burden was 42% lower than at the start of the study, after being 52% lower at 2 weeks. Six months after the second dose, symptom burden remained 40% lower than at baseline. Mental and physical quality of life scores were each about 13% higher at 6 months.
Mood, fatigue, sleep quality, and pain improved as well. Across the follow-ups, depressive symptoms were roughly 50% to 60% lower than at baseline, sleep problems 40% to 50% lower, fatigue 25% to 30% lower, and overall pain 40% to 50% lower.
No serious adverse events related to the treatment occurred, and all participants completed both dosing sessions. The most common side effects attributed to psilocybin were temporary increases in blood pressure (in 90% of participants), headache (65%), rapid heart rate (35%), pain (20%), and fatigue (15%). The blood pressure and heart rate increases were modest and resolved on their own, and over-the-counter pain relievers were the only treatment needed to manage side effects.
Two serious adverse events occurred during the study period, and both were judged unrelated to psilocybin. One participant developed passive suicidal thoughts about seven weeks after their last psilocybin session, shortly after starting a new antidepressant, and the thoughts resolved within four days of stopping that medication. Another participant was diagnosed with rectal cancer at the 6-month follow-up.
“Preliminary findings support that psilocybin-assisted treatment was feasible and well-tolerated among the sample. Clinical outcomes indicated potentially long-lasting benefits of psilocybin-assisted treatment, warranting further investigation for PTLD,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on potential uses of psilocybin for treating PTLD. However, it did not include a control group, and participants knew they were receiving psilocybin, which may have shaped their expectations about the outcome.
Because there was no control group, it remains unknown whether the observed changes resulted from psilocybin treatment, from the natural course of the illness over time, or from other factors that might have affected symptoms independently of the study treatment. Some of the improvement may also reflect regression to the mean, the tendency for unusually high scores at the start of a study to drift back toward typical levels on their own. Additionally, participants’ expectations, which the researchers did not measure, may have influenced how they reported their symptoms.
Because psilocybin was given together with psychological support, the study also cannot separate the effects of the drug from those of the support sessions. The sample was small and mostly white and highly educated, several participants had depression or ADHD or were taking psychiatric medications, and the study did not measure memory or concentration, even though cognitive difficulties are a core feature of PTLD. The researchers say the results are encouraging enough to justify randomized controlled trials.
The paper, “Pilot study of psilocybin in patients with post-treatment lyme disease,” was authored by Albert Garcia-Romeu, Gideon P. Naudé, Alison W. Rebman, Sara So, Abigail Yaffe, Ian Geithner, Erica A. Kozero, Ting Yang, Mark J. Soloski, and John N. Aucott.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-shows-early-promise-for-lingering-lyme-disease-symptoms/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PsilocybinPTLD #LymeDiseaseRecovery #PsychedelicTherapy #PostTreatmentLymeDisease #MentalHealthInnovation #ChronicIllnessCare #QualityOfLifeBoost #DepressionFatigueSleepPain #ClinicalTrial # JohnsHopkinsStudy
-
DATE: October 3, 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: Psilocybin shows early promise for lingering Lyme disease symptoms
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-shows-early-promise-for-lingering-lyme-disease-symptoms/
A small pilot study of 20 people with post-treatment Lyme disease found that, 6 months after two psilocybin sessions with psychological support, their overall symptom burden was 40% lower than at the start of the study, and their health-related quality of life had improved. Mood, fatigue, sleep quality, and pain also showed significant and sustained improvements, although the study did not include a control group. The paper was published in Scientific Reports.
Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia bacteria and transmitted to people through the bite of infected ticks. It can affect the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart. Early symptoms typically include fever, fatigue, headache, and a characteristic expanding skin rash. When recognized and treated with appropriate antibiotics, most people recover well.
However, an estimated 10% to 20% of patients continue to experience symptoms such as fatigue, pain, sleep problems, and difficulties with memory or concentration after completing standard treatment. This condition is called post-treatment Lyme disease, or PTLD. The symptoms can persist for months or years and may substantially interfere with everyday functioning and quality of life. Many patients also struggle with depression and anxiety, and there are currently no established treatments for the condition.
Why PTLD develops is still not fully understood. Proposed explanations include lingering immune changes, tissue injury from the original infection, and other biological or psychological factors. Importantly, persistent symptoms after treatment do not necessarily mean that the original bacterial infection is still active.
Study author Albert Garcia-Romeu of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his colleagues reasoned that classic psychedelics might help ease symptoms and improve quality of life in people with chronic illnesses that have not responded to other treatments, such as PTLD. In clinical trials, psilocybin has shown antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects, and animal studies have provided preliminary evidence that psychedelics may reduce inflammation. Classic psychedelics are psychoactive substances such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and mescaline that primarily alter perception, mood, and cognition through serotonin receptor activity.
Although these substances are illegal or tightly controlled in many countries, researchers are actively examining their use in treating various mental health conditions, with many reporting positive results. The authors of this study explored how PTLD symptoms change after treatment with psilocybin accompanied by psychological support.
Study participants were 20 patients with PTLD. The main source of recruitment was patients who had previously taken part in studies at the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center and had agreed to be contacted about future research. Additional participants were recruited through online advertisements and word of mouth. To be eligible, participants needed medical records documenting a Lyme disease diagnosis and a standard course of antibiotics, followed by persistent symptoms. Screening was strict: of 486 people who were pre-screened, 20 enrolled and received the treatment.
Participants’ average age was 44 years, 11 of them were women, and 90% were white. Their median illness duration was 5.7 years. At screening, five participants met criteria for major depression and five met criteria for ADHD, and three remained on antidepressants throughout the trial.
After enrollment, participants completed an 8-week study intervention that included two sessions in which they received psilocybin with psychological support. Everyone received 15 mg in week 4. In week 6, 18 participants received a higher 25 mg dose, while two stayed at 15 mg because they had strong reactions to the first session.
Before receiving psilocybin, participants attended three weekly preparatory meetings that included standard psychoeducation about its effects and a brief life review to discuss the course of their illness, their symptom burden, and other formative life events. These meetings were also used to help participants set their own treatment goals.
After each psilocybin session, participants completed an integration meeting within three days so the team could assess their mental status and document any adverse events. Weekly meetings with facilitators continued through week 8 to discuss the contents of participants’ psilocybin sessions and to monitor their overall progress. Participants completed follow-up assessments approximately 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the second psilocybin session. Most study visits took place over video chat, but the dosing sessions, the week 8 visit, and the 6-month follow-up were conducted in person at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus.
These self-reported assessments covered PTLD symptoms (using the General Symptom Questionnaire-30), health-related quality of life (the Short-Form Health Survey), depressive symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue severity, and pain severity.
Results showed that PTLD symptoms and all other outcomes improved after treatment, and the improvements largely held through the 6-month follow-up. The study’s main endpoint was 1 month after the second dose, and by that point general symptom burden was 42% lower than at the start of the study, after being 52% lower at 2 weeks. Six months after the second dose, symptom burden remained 40% lower than at baseline. Mental and physical quality of life scores were each about 13% higher at 6 months.
Mood, fatigue, sleep quality, and pain improved as well. Across the follow-ups, depressive symptoms were roughly 50% to 60% lower than at baseline, sleep problems 40% to 50% lower, fatigue 25% to 30% lower, and overall pain 40% to 50% lower.
No serious adverse events related to the treatment occurred, and all participants completed both dosing sessions. The most common side effects attributed to psilocybin were temporary increases in blood pressure (in 90% of participants), headache (65%), rapid heart rate (35%), pain (20%), and fatigue (15%). The blood pressure and heart rate increases were modest and resolved on their own, and over-the-counter pain relievers were the only treatment needed to manage side effects.
Two serious adverse events occurred during the study period, and both were judged unrelated to psilocybin. One participant developed passive suicidal thoughts about seven weeks after their last psilocybin session, shortly after starting a new antidepressant, and the thoughts resolved within four days of stopping that medication. Another participant was diagnosed with rectal cancer at the 6-month follow-up.
“Preliminary findings support that psilocybin-assisted treatment was feasible and well-tolerated among the sample. Clinical outcomes indicated potentially long-lasting benefits of psilocybin-assisted treatment, warranting further investigation for PTLD,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on potential uses of psilocybin for treating PTLD. However, it did not include a control group, and participants knew they were receiving psilocybin, which may have shaped their expectations about the outcome.
Because there was no control group, it remains unknown whether the observed changes resulted from psilocybin treatment, from the natural course of the illness over time, or from other factors that might have affected symptoms independently of the study treatment. Some of the improvement may also reflect regression to the mean, the tendency for unusually high scores at the start of a study to drift back toward typical levels on their own. Additionally, participants’ expectations, which the researchers did not measure, may have influenced how they reported their symptoms.
Because psilocybin was given together with psychological support, the study also cannot separate the effects of the drug from those of the support sessions. The sample was small and mostly white and highly educated, several participants had depression or ADHD or were taking psychiatric medications, and the study did not measure memory or concentration, even though cognitive difficulties are a core feature of PTLD. The researchers say the results are encouraging enough to justify randomized controlled trials.
The paper, “Pilot study of psilocybin in patients with post-treatment lyme disease,” was authored by Albert Garcia-Romeu, Gideon P. Naudé, Alison W. Rebman, Sara So, Abigail Yaffe, Ian Geithner, Erica A. Kozero, Ting Yang, Mark J. Soloski, and John N. Aucott.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-shows-early-promise-for-lingering-lyme-disease-symptoms/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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DATE: October 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: Left-wing justifications partly shield antisemitism from liberal disapproval, study suggests
A recent study published in American Psychologist suggests that while political liberals generally harbor a strong distaste for prejudiced individuals, they tend to evaluate people expressing antisemitism more positively when those remarks are accompanied by justifications related to human rights or criticism of Israel. The research provides evidence that these specific justifications act as social signals, and liberals tended to view the speaker as a political ally who is not broadly bigoted.
Antisemitism involves prejudice or hatred directed toward Jewish people. In social psychology, researchers also study how prejudices are expressed in daily life, noting that people rarely state a prejudice outright without offering a justification. A justification is a reason or rationale provided by a speaker to make their prejudiced views seem more socially acceptable or grounded in a legitimate concern.
Hate crimes against Jewish people in the United States spiked following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, rising from 11% of all hate crimes in the year before the war to 27% in the year after. Historically, political liberals have been fiercely protective of minority groups and quick to condemn discrimination. In fact, a study covered by PsyPost in 2022 found that, before the war, agreement with overtly antisemitic statements was two to three times higher on the American far right than on the far left.
“Part of our motivation came from observing political discourse,” lead author Jordan W. Moon, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Southampton, told PsyPost. “There has been a sharp rise in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents, but it seemed to us that the people who were otherwise most concerned about protecting minorities were somewhat unconcerned or even dismissive of this rise.”
Moon and his team wanted to investigate this apparent contradiction. “We wondered whether some types of prejudice and discrimination were more tolerated by different audiences—in this case, whether antisemitism was tolerated by political liberals,” he added. “We wanted to know, first, whether liberals indeed currently tolerated antisemitism, and second, whether there are certain ways of expressing antisemitism that are more accepted by liberal audiences.”
Antisemitism and criticism of Israel are related but distinct attitudes. A study covered by PsyPost in 2025, for example, found that antisemitic attitudes were linked to greater support for political violence, while criticism of Israel on its own was linked to legal activism but not to support for violence.
The researchers aimed to understand whether specific political rationalizations help explain why liberals might tolerate certain expressions of anti-Jewish prejudice. They noted that by 2025, 75% of Republicans but only 21% of Democrats said their sympathies lay with Israelis, which they argued may make criticism of Israel a marker of liberal identity. They proposed two potential psychological mechanisms: ingroup favoritism, where a justification signals shared political views, and alliance politics, where a justification implies the speaker is not indiscriminately hateful toward other groups.
To test these ideas, the research team conducted three preregistered online experiments between October and December of 2024 involving 979 American adults. The samples were recruited via Prolific and quota-matched to the U.S. population on age, gender, ethnicity, and political party; the number of Jewish participants was negligible. In their analyses, the researchers treated political views as a continuous scale running from 0 (extremely liberal) to 100 (extremely conservative). They then estimated each effect for someone somewhat liberal, around 17 or 18 on that scale, and someone somewhat conservative, around 79 to 81.
In the first experiment, 270 participants read profiles of individuals expressing prejudice against Jewish people, Black people, or Muslims. Each participant saw all three prejudiced profiles mixed among five unrelated distractor profiles. Participants were randomly assigned to see the prejudice stated plainly without explanation, or accompanied by a socially common justification.
For antisemitism, the justification was a strong disapproval of Israel and its war in Gaza. For anti-Black prejudice, the justification was a belief about crime rates, and for anti-Muslim prejudice, it was a belief about conflicting cultural values. After reading the profiles, participants rated how much they liked or disliked the individual on a 7-point scale, and estimated the speaker’s likely political orientation and how likely they were to be a bigot.
The results showed that without any justification, liberal participants disliked all prejudiced individuals more than conservative participants did. But when the anti-Jewish prejudice was justified by a disapproval of Israel, liberals liked the speaker 1.1 points more on the 7-point scale. This particular justification did not have an effect on how conservative participants evaluated the speaker. The justifications used for anti-Black and anti-Muslim prejudices did not increase liking among liberals.
The researchers emphasized that this relative increase in liking did not mean these participants suddenly endorsed prejudice. “On a scale of ‘Dislike Extremely’ toward ‘Like Extremely’, the prejudiced targets were largely disliked by both liberals and conservatives, regardless of which prejudice they expressed and how it was justified,” Moon noted. “That is, liberals did not ‘like’ antisemites, but certain justifications did make them feel relatively more positively toward them.”
To test if left-leaning justifications work for other types of prejudices, the scientists conducted a second experiment with 277 participants. They expanded the targets of prejudice to include Jewish, Black, Muslim, Chinese, and Russian Americans. This time, they tested justifications appealing to liberal values, such as accusing the targeted group’s ancestral home country of human rights violations. They compared these to justifications appealing to conservative values, such as claiming the targeted group threatens traditional American values.
Once again, liberals strongly disliked all prejudiced individuals when no justification was provided. However, when prejudices against any of the five groups were justified by citing human rights violations, liberals evaluated the speakers more positively, by roughly half a point to a full point on the 7-point scale.
Conservatives also liked some of these speakers more, including those prejudiced against Muslim and Chinese Americans, so only for the anti-Jewish speaker did the effect differ reliably between liberals and conservatives. Justifications centered on traditional American values mostly had no effect for either group, raising liberals’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Russian Americans and conservatives’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Chinese Americans.
The authors pointed out that this finding addresses a common misperception that their results only apply to antisemitism. “Although we focused our writeup on antisemitism, we found similar effects for other prejudices,” Moon clarified. “A person who expresses prejudice toward Black Americans or Chinese Americans was liked a bit more by politically liberal observers when they appealed to human rights abuses by African countries or China. This process seems to be a general notion of ‘prejudice is more acceptable when expressed by someone in my group’ than something that is unique to a single type of prejudice.”
A third experiment with 432 participants focused exclusively on anti-Jewish prejudice but tested a wider variety of rationalizations. These included disapproval of Israel, conspiracies about Jewish power and influence, historical beliefs about genetic inferiority, and religious blame. Each participant saw only one profile.
As in the earlier experiments, liberals disliked the unjustified antisemitic speaker more than conservatives did. When the speaker justified their prejudice using a disapproval of Israel or conspiracies about Jewish power, the negative social penalty for expressing the prejudice was reduced relative to when no reason was given. Unlike in the first two experiments, however, these two effects did not differ between liberals and conservatives, and neither reached statistical significance when the researchers examined liberals and conservatives separately. The authors say they are cautious about treating these results as definitive.
Justifying the prejudice with claims that Jews are genetically inferior lowered liking overall, and both liberals and conservatives saw that speaker as more likely to be a bigot. The religious justification had no statistically significant effect.
Moon said the team was surprised by how participants responded to a conspiracy trope long associated with the political right. “One of the justifications we included was the trope that Jews hold too much power and influence over financial markets, governments, and the media,” he explained. “Historically in the U.S., this has been a right-coded justification. However, in our experiment, participants thought the profile uttering this trope was more politically liberal than the profile expressing unjustified antisemitism, and this trope had a similar effect in licensing antisemitism as the disapproval of Israel and the war in Gaza justification.”
Across the experiments, the authors found evidence for two psychological processes that statistically accounted for why liberals liked speakers who used left-leaning justifications. First, liberals viewed these speakers as being politically closer to themselves, indicating a type of ingroup favoritism. Second, liberals inferred that a speaker focusing on human rights was less likely to be generally bigoted, which the authors interpret as making them less of a threat to the broader liberal political coalition.
Dylan Selterman, director of research and resource development at Heterodox Academy and an SNF Agora Faculty Affiliate at Johns Hopkins University, was not involved in the research. (He noted that these views are his own and do not represent his employer, Heterodox Academy.) He told PsyPost that “this research shows how people who in some cases eschew group-based ethnic prejudice may yet condone it in other cases, if such prejudice is accompanied by a moral justification.”
“This is an important fact because many people believe that they are immune to negative prejudices,” Selterman added. “However, this is not always the case.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The specific justifications tested across different marginalized groups in the first two experiments were not perfectly identical, which makes direct comparisons between prejudices somewhat difficult. The study also relied on statistical models to test the psychological mechanisms, meaning future experimental designs would be needed to establish exact cause and effect. Additionally, the research measured how people react to brief written profiles, which might not fully capture the complexities of real-world social interactions.
“My confidence is high,” Selterman said. “The authors appear to have done some elegant experiments, with sound statistical tests. Experiment 3 was somewhat inconsistent with the results of Experiments 1 and 2 but the authors reported it anyway,” he noted. “That makes me feel more confident in the results that did emerge.”
“Condoning prejudice is not the same as expressing prejudice,” Selterman explained. “The authors did not find that respondents held prejudice; rather, they studied how people view others who hold prejudices. These studies highlight how third-party judgment works. However, even though these studies did not examine prejudicial feelings directly, the findings are still very important because they show how prejudice can become more socially acceptable, which can lead to increases in discrimination and even violence.”
The authors suggest that efforts to combat antisemitism should consider not just the underlying prejudice but the language used to package it. They speculate that a prejudiced statement made in the service of a social cause might signal especially strong commitment to that cause, and to the political group associated with it.
“This kind of justification communicates that one is part of the liberal political coalition,” Moon said. “Because of ingroup favoritism, liberals were more tolerant of the person expressing antisemitism in this way. If we want to understand why some prejudices become socially acceptable, we should consider the guises they take, and what information they communicate to others.”
As for next steps, Selterman said he would want to better understand “(a) whether people are aware that they are using a justification to morally license bigoted attitudes, (b) what specific political attitudes (beyond simply being liberal or conservative) are associated with this kind of licensing, and (c) what kind of interventions would get people to have consistent moral standards against prejudice, without any justification.”
The study, “Justifying Antisemitism: Political Liberalism and Perceptions of Prejudices,” was authored by Jordan W. Moon, Michael Barlev, and Steven L. Neuberg.
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #JustifyingAntisemitism #LiberalBias # antisemitism #PoliticalPsychology #HumanRightsJustifications #IngroupFavoritism #AlliancePolitics # Liberal vs Conservative # antisemitismresearch #SocialSignals
-
DATE: October 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: Left-wing justifications partly shield antisemitism from liberal disapproval, study suggests
A recent study published in American Psychologist suggests that while political liberals generally harbor a strong distaste for prejudiced individuals, they tend to evaluate people expressing antisemitism more positively when those remarks are accompanied by justifications related to human rights or criticism of Israel. The research provides evidence that these specific justifications act as social signals, and liberals tended to view the speaker as a political ally who is not broadly bigoted.
Antisemitism involves prejudice or hatred directed toward Jewish people. In social psychology, researchers also study how prejudices are expressed in daily life, noting that people rarely state a prejudice outright without offering a justification. A justification is a reason or rationale provided by a speaker to make their prejudiced views seem more socially acceptable or grounded in a legitimate concern.
Hate crimes against Jewish people in the United States spiked following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, rising from 11% of all hate crimes in the year before the war to 27% in the year after. Historically, political liberals have been fiercely protective of minority groups and quick to condemn discrimination. In fact, a study covered by PsyPost in 2022 found that, before the war, agreement with overtly antisemitic statements was two to three times higher on the American far right than on the far left.
“Part of our motivation came from observing political discourse,” lead author Jordan W. Moon, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Southampton, told PsyPost. “There has been a sharp rise in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents, but it seemed to us that the people who were otherwise most concerned about protecting minorities were somewhat unconcerned or even dismissive of this rise.”
Moon and his team wanted to investigate this apparent contradiction. “We wondered whether some types of prejudice and discrimination were more tolerated by different audiences—in this case, whether antisemitism was tolerated by political liberals,” he added. “We wanted to know, first, whether liberals indeed currently tolerated antisemitism, and second, whether there are certain ways of expressing antisemitism that are more accepted by liberal audiences.”
Antisemitism and criticism of Israel are related but distinct attitudes. A study covered by PsyPost in 2025, for example, found that antisemitic attitudes were linked to greater support for political violence, while criticism of Israel on its own was linked to legal activism but not to support for violence.
The researchers aimed to understand whether specific political rationalizations help explain why liberals might tolerate certain expressions of anti-Jewish prejudice. They noted that by 2025, 75% of Republicans but only 21% of Democrats said their sympathies lay with Israelis, which they argued may make criticism of Israel a marker of liberal identity. They proposed two potential psychological mechanisms: ingroup favoritism, where a justification signals shared political views, and alliance politics, where a justification implies the speaker is not indiscriminately hateful toward other groups.
To test these ideas, the research team conducted three preregistered online experiments between October and December of 2024 involving 979 American adults. The samples were recruited via Prolific and quota-matched to the U.S. population on age, gender, ethnicity, and political party; the number of Jewish participants was negligible. In their analyses, the researchers treated political views as a continuous scale running from 0 (extremely liberal) to 100 (extremely conservative). They then estimated each effect for someone somewhat liberal, around 17 or 18 on that scale, and someone somewhat conservative, around 79 to 81.
In the first experiment, 270 participants read profiles of individuals expressing prejudice against Jewish people, Black people, or Muslims. Each participant saw all three prejudiced profiles mixed among five unrelated distractor profiles. Participants were randomly assigned to see the prejudice stated plainly without explanation, or accompanied by a socially common justification.
For antisemitism, the justification was a strong disapproval of Israel and its war in Gaza. For anti-Black prejudice, the justification was a belief about crime rates, and for anti-Muslim prejudice, it was a belief about conflicting cultural values. After reading the profiles, participants rated how much they liked or disliked the individual on a 7-point scale, and estimated the speaker’s likely political orientation and how likely they were to be a bigot.
The results showed that without any justification, liberal participants disliked all prejudiced individuals more than conservative participants did. But when the anti-Jewish prejudice was justified by a disapproval of Israel, liberals liked the speaker 1.1 points more on the 7-point scale. This particular justification did not have an effect on how conservative participants evaluated the speaker. The justifications used for anti-Black and anti-Muslim prejudices did not increase liking among liberals.
The researchers emphasized that this relative increase in liking did not mean these participants suddenly endorsed prejudice. “On a scale of ‘Dislike Extremely’ toward ‘Like Extremely’, the prejudiced targets were largely disliked by both liberals and conservatives, regardless of which prejudice they expressed and how it was justified,” Moon noted. “That is, liberals did not ‘like’ antisemites, but certain justifications did make them feel relatively more positively toward them.”
To test if left-leaning justifications work for other types of prejudices, the scientists conducted a second experiment with 277 participants. They expanded the targets of prejudice to include Jewish, Black, Muslim, Chinese, and Russian Americans. This time, they tested justifications appealing to liberal values, such as accusing the targeted group’s ancestral home country of human rights violations. They compared these to justifications appealing to conservative values, such as claiming the targeted group threatens traditional American values.
Once again, liberals strongly disliked all prejudiced individuals when no justification was provided. However, when prejudices against any of the five groups were justified by citing human rights violations, liberals evaluated the speakers more positively, by roughly half a point to a full point on the 7-point scale.
Conservatives also liked some of these speakers more, including those prejudiced against Muslim and Chinese Americans, so only for the anti-Jewish speaker did the effect differ reliably between liberals and conservatives. Justifications centered on traditional American values mostly had no effect for either group, raising liberals’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Russian Americans and conservatives’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Chinese Americans.
The authors pointed out that this finding addresses a common misperception that their results only apply to antisemitism. “Although we focused our writeup on antisemitism, we found similar effects for other prejudices,” Moon clarified. “A person who expresses prejudice toward Black Americans or Chinese Americans was liked a bit more by politically liberal observers when they appealed to human rights abuses by African countries or China. This process seems to be a general notion of ‘prejudice is more acceptable when expressed by someone in my group’ than something that is unique to a single type of prejudice.”
A third experiment with 432 participants focused exclusively on anti-Jewish prejudice but tested a wider variety of rationalizations. These included disapproval of Israel, conspiracies about Jewish power and influence, historical beliefs about genetic inferiority, and religious blame. Each participant saw only one profile.
As in the earlier experiments, liberals disliked the unjustified antisemitic speaker more than conservatives did. When the speaker justified their prejudice using a disapproval of Israel or conspiracies about Jewish power, the negative social penalty for expressing the prejudice was reduced relative to when no reason was given. Unlike in the first two experiments, however, these two effects did not differ between liberals and conservatives, and neither reached statistical significance when the researchers examined liberals and conservatives separately. The authors say they are cautious about treating these results as definitive.
Justifying the prejudice with claims that Jews are genetically inferior lowered liking overall, and both liberals and conservatives saw that speaker as more likely to be a bigot. The religious justification had no statistically significant effect.
Moon said the team was surprised by how participants responded to a conspiracy trope long associated with the political right. “One of the justifications we included was the trope that Jews hold too much power and influence over financial markets, governments, and the media,” he explained. “Historically in the U.S., this has been a right-coded justification. However, in our experiment, participants thought the profile uttering this trope was more politically liberal than the profile expressing unjustified antisemitism, and this trope had a similar effect in licensing antisemitism as the disapproval of Israel and the war in Gaza justification.”
Across the experiments, the authors found evidence for two psychological processes that statistically accounted for why liberals liked speakers who used left-leaning justifications. First, liberals viewed these speakers as being politically closer to themselves, indicating a type of ingroup favoritism. Second, liberals inferred that a speaker focusing on human rights was less likely to be generally bigoted, which the authors interpret as making them less of a threat to the broader liberal political coalition.
Dylan Selterman, director of research and resource development at Heterodox Academy and an SNF Agora Faculty Affiliate at Johns Hopkins University, was not involved in the research. (He noted that these views are his own and do not represent his employer, Heterodox Academy.) He told PsyPost that “this research shows how people who in some cases eschew group-based ethnic prejudice may yet condone it in other cases, if such prejudice is accompanied by a moral justification.”
“This is an important fact because many people believe that they are immune to negative prejudices,” Selterman added. “However, this is not always the case.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The specific justifications tested across different marginalized groups in the first two experiments were not perfectly identical, which makes direct comparisons between prejudices somewhat difficult. The study also relied on statistical models to test the psychological mechanisms, meaning future experimental designs would be needed to establish exact cause and effect. Additionally, the research measured how people react to brief written profiles, which might not fully capture the complexities of real-world social interactions.
“My confidence is high,” Selterman said. “The authors appear to have done some elegant experiments, with sound statistical tests. Experiment 3 was somewhat inconsistent with the results of Experiments 1 and 2 but the authors reported it anyway,” he noted. “That makes me feel more confident in the results that did emerge.”
“Condoning prejudice is not the same as expressing prejudice,” Selterman explained. “The authors did not find that respondents held prejudice; rather, they studied how people view others who hold prejudices. These studies highlight how third-party judgment works. However, even though these studies did not examine prejudicial feelings directly, the findings are still very important because they show how prejudice can become more socially acceptable, which can lead to increases in discrimination and even violence.”
The authors suggest that efforts to combat antisemitism should consider not just the underlying prejudice but the language used to package it. They speculate that a prejudiced statement made in the service of a social cause might signal especially strong commitment to that cause, and to the political group associated with it.
“This kind of justification communicates that one is part of the liberal political coalition,” Moon said. “Because of ingroup favoritism, liberals were more tolerant of the person expressing antisemitism in this way. If we want to understand why some prejudices become socially acceptable, we should consider the guises they take, and what information they communicate to others.”
As for next steps, Selterman said he would want to better understand “(a) whether people are aware that they are using a justification to morally license bigoted attitudes, (b) what specific political attitudes (beyond simply being liberal or conservative) are associated with this kind of licensing, and (c) what kind of interventions would get people to have consistent moral standards against prejudice, without any justification.”
The study, “Justifying Antisemitism: Political Liberalism and Perceptions of Prejudices,” was authored by Jordan W. Moon, Michael Barlev, and Steven L. Neuberg.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #JustifyingAntisemitism #LiberalBias # antisemitism #PoliticalPsychology #HumanRightsJustifications #IngroupFavoritism #AlliancePolitics # Liberal vs Conservative # antisemitismresearch #SocialSignals
-
DATE: October 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: Left-wing justifications partly shield antisemitism from liberal disapproval, study suggests
A recent study published in American Psychologist suggests that while political liberals generally harbor a strong distaste for prejudiced individuals, they tend to evaluate people expressing antisemitism more positively when those remarks are accompanied by justifications related to human rights or criticism of Israel. The research provides evidence that these specific justifications act as social signals, and liberals tended to view the speaker as a political ally who is not broadly bigoted.
Antisemitism involves prejudice or hatred directed toward Jewish people. In social psychology, researchers also study how prejudices are expressed in daily life, noting that people rarely state a prejudice outright without offering a justification. A justification is a reason or rationale provided by a speaker to make their prejudiced views seem more socially acceptable or grounded in a legitimate concern.
Hate crimes against Jewish people in the United States spiked following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, rising from 11% of all hate crimes in the year before the war to 27% in the year after. Historically, political liberals have been fiercely protective of minority groups and quick to condemn discrimination. In fact, a study covered by PsyPost in 2022 found that, before the war, agreement with overtly antisemitic statements was two to three times higher on the American far right than on the far left.
“Part of our motivation came from observing political discourse,” lead author Jordan W. Moon, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Southampton, told PsyPost. “There has been a sharp rise in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents, but it seemed to us that the people who were otherwise most concerned about protecting minorities were somewhat unconcerned or even dismissive of this rise.”
Moon and his team wanted to investigate this apparent contradiction. “We wondered whether some types of prejudice and discrimination were more tolerated by different audiences—in this case, whether antisemitism was tolerated by political liberals,” he added. “We wanted to know, first, whether liberals indeed currently tolerated antisemitism, and second, whether there are certain ways of expressing antisemitism that are more accepted by liberal audiences.”
Antisemitism and criticism of Israel are related but distinct attitudes. A study covered by PsyPost in 2025, for example, found that antisemitic attitudes were linked to greater support for political violence, while criticism of Israel on its own was linked to legal activism but not to support for violence.
The researchers aimed to understand whether specific political rationalizations help explain why liberals might tolerate certain expressions of anti-Jewish prejudice. They noted that by 2025, 75% of Republicans but only 21% of Democrats said their sympathies lay with Israelis, which they argued may make criticism of Israel a marker of liberal identity. They proposed two potential psychological mechanisms: ingroup favoritism, where a justification signals shared political views, and alliance politics, where a justification implies the speaker is not indiscriminately hateful toward other groups.
To test these ideas, the research team conducted three preregistered online experiments between October and December of 2024 involving 979 American adults. The samples were recruited via Prolific and quota-matched to the U.S. population on age, gender, ethnicity, and political party; the number of Jewish participants was negligible. In their analyses, the researchers treated political views as a continuous scale running from 0 (extremely liberal) to 100 (extremely conservative). They then estimated each effect for someone somewhat liberal, around 17 or 18 on that scale, and someone somewhat conservative, around 79 to 81.
In the first experiment, 270 participants read profiles of individuals expressing prejudice against Jewish people, Black people, or Muslims. Each participant saw all three prejudiced profiles mixed among five unrelated distractor profiles. Participants were randomly assigned to see the prejudice stated plainly without explanation, or accompanied by a socially common justification.
For antisemitism, the justification was a strong disapproval of Israel and its war in Gaza. For anti-Black prejudice, the justification was a belief about crime rates, and for anti-Muslim prejudice, it was a belief about conflicting cultural values. After reading the profiles, participants rated how much they liked or disliked the individual on a 7-point scale, and estimated the speaker’s likely political orientation and how likely they were to be a bigot.
The results showed that without any justification, liberal participants disliked all prejudiced individuals more than conservative participants did. But when the anti-Jewish prejudice was justified by a disapproval of Israel, liberals liked the speaker 1.1 points more on the 7-point scale. This particular justification did not have an effect on how conservative participants evaluated the speaker. The justifications used for anti-Black and anti-Muslim prejudices did not increase liking among liberals.
The researchers emphasized that this relative increase in liking did not mean these participants suddenly endorsed prejudice. “On a scale of ‘Dislike Extremely’ toward ‘Like Extremely’, the prejudiced targets were largely disliked by both liberals and conservatives, regardless of which prejudice they expressed and how it was justified,” Moon noted. “That is, liberals did not ‘like’ antisemites, but certain justifications did make them feel relatively more positively toward them.”
To test if left-leaning justifications work for other types of prejudices, the scientists conducted a second experiment with 277 participants. They expanded the targets of prejudice to include Jewish, Black, Muslim, Chinese, and Russian Americans. This time, they tested justifications appealing to liberal values, such as accusing the targeted group’s ancestral home country of human rights violations. They compared these to justifications appealing to conservative values, such as claiming the targeted group threatens traditional American values.
Once again, liberals strongly disliked all prejudiced individuals when no justification was provided. However, when prejudices against any of the five groups were justified by citing human rights violations, liberals evaluated the speakers more positively, by roughly half a point to a full point on the 7-point scale.
Conservatives also liked some of these speakers more, including those prejudiced against Muslim and Chinese Americans, so only for the anti-Jewish speaker did the effect differ reliably between liberals and conservatives. Justifications centered on traditional American values mostly had no effect for either group, raising liberals’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Russian Americans and conservatives’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Chinese Americans.
The authors pointed out that this finding addresses a common misperception that their results only apply to antisemitism. “Although we focused our writeup on antisemitism, we found similar effects for other prejudices,” Moon clarified. “A person who expresses prejudice toward Black Americans or Chinese Americans was liked a bit more by politically liberal observers when they appealed to human rights abuses by African countries or China. This process seems to be a general notion of ‘prejudice is more acceptable when expressed by someone in my group’ than something that is unique to a single type of prejudice.”
A third experiment with 432 participants focused exclusively on anti-Jewish prejudice but tested a wider variety of rationalizations. These included disapproval of Israel, conspiracies about Jewish power and influence, historical beliefs about genetic inferiority, and religious blame. Each participant saw only one profile.
As in the earlier experiments, liberals disliked the unjustified antisemitic speaker more than conservatives did. When the speaker justified their prejudice using a disapproval of Israel or conspiracies about Jewish power, the negative social penalty for expressing the prejudice was reduced relative to when no reason was given. Unlike in the first two experiments, however, these two effects did not differ between liberals and conservatives, and neither reached statistical significance when the researchers examined liberals and conservatives separately. The authors say they are cautious about treating these results as definitive.
Justifying the prejudice with claims that Jews are genetically inferior lowered liking overall, and both liberals and conservatives saw that speaker as more likely to be a bigot. The religious justification had no statistically significant effect.
Moon said the team was surprised by how participants responded to a conspiracy trope long associated with the political right. “One of the justifications we included was the trope that Jews hold too much power and influence over financial markets, governments, and the media,” he explained. “Historically in the U.S., this has been a right-coded justification. However, in our experiment, participants thought the profile uttering this trope was more politically liberal than the profile expressing unjustified antisemitism, and this trope had a similar effect in licensing antisemitism as the disapproval of Israel and the war in Gaza justification.”
Across the experiments, the authors found evidence for two psychological processes that statistically accounted for why liberals liked speakers who used left-leaning justifications. First, liberals viewed these speakers as being politically closer to themselves, indicating a type of ingroup favoritism. Second, liberals inferred that a speaker focusing on human rights was less likely to be generally bigoted, which the authors interpret as making them less of a threat to the broader liberal political coalition.
Dylan Selterman, director of research and resource development at Heterodox Academy and an SNF Agora Faculty Affiliate at Johns Hopkins University, was not involved in the research. (He noted that these views are his own and do not represent his employer, Heterodox Academy.) He told PsyPost that “this research shows how people who in some cases eschew group-based ethnic prejudice may yet condone it in other cases, if such prejudice is accompanied by a moral justification.”
“This is an important fact because many people believe that they are immune to negative prejudices,” Selterman added. “However, this is not always the case.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The specific justifications tested across different marginalized groups in the first two experiments were not perfectly identical, which makes direct comparisons between prejudices somewhat difficult. The study also relied on statistical models to test the psychological mechanisms, meaning future experimental designs would be needed to establish exact cause and effect. Additionally, the research measured how people react to brief written profiles, which might not fully capture the complexities of real-world social interactions.
“My confidence is high,” Selterman said. “The authors appear to have done some elegant experiments, with sound statistical tests. Experiment 3 was somewhat inconsistent with the results of Experiments 1 and 2 but the authors reported it anyway,” he noted. “That makes me feel more confident in the results that did emerge.”
“Condoning prejudice is not the same as expressing prejudice,” Selterman explained. “The authors did not find that respondents held prejudice; rather, they studied how people view others who hold prejudices. These studies highlight how third-party judgment works. However, even though these studies did not examine prejudicial feelings directly, the findings are still very important because they show how prejudice can become more socially acceptable, which can lead to increases in discrimination and even violence.”
The authors suggest that efforts to combat antisemitism should consider not just the underlying prejudice but the language used to package it. They speculate that a prejudiced statement made in the service of a social cause might signal especially strong commitment to that cause, and to the political group associated with it.
“This kind of justification communicates that one is part of the liberal political coalition,” Moon said. “Because of ingroup favoritism, liberals were more tolerant of the person expressing antisemitism in this way. If we want to understand why some prejudices become socially acceptable, we should consider the guises they take, and what information they communicate to others.”
As for next steps, Selterman said he would want to better understand “(a) whether people are aware that they are using a justification to morally license bigoted attitudes, (b) what specific political attitudes (beyond simply being liberal or conservative) are associated with this kind of licensing, and (c) what kind of interventions would get people to have consistent moral standards against prejudice, without any justification.”
The study, “Justifying Antisemitism: Political Liberalism and Perceptions of Prejudices,” was authored by Jordan W. Moon, Michael Barlev, and Steven L. Neuberg.
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DATE: October 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: Left-wing justifications partly shield antisemitism from liberal disapproval, study suggests
A recent study published in American Psychologist suggests that while political liberals generally harbor a strong distaste for prejudiced individuals, they tend to evaluate people expressing antisemitism more positively when those remarks are accompanied by justifications related to human rights or criticism of Israel. The research provides evidence that these specific justifications act as social signals, and liberals tended to view the speaker as a political ally who is not broadly bigoted.
Antisemitism involves prejudice or hatred directed toward Jewish people. In social psychology, researchers also study how prejudices are expressed in daily life, noting that people rarely state a prejudice outright without offering a justification. A justification is a reason or rationale provided by a speaker to make their prejudiced views seem more socially acceptable or grounded in a legitimate concern.
Hate crimes against Jewish people in the United States spiked following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, rising from 11% of all hate crimes in the year before the war to 27% in the year after. Historically, political liberals have been fiercely protective of minority groups and quick to condemn discrimination. In fact, a study covered by PsyPost in 2022 found that, before the war, agreement with overtly antisemitic statements was two to three times higher on the American far right than on the far left.
“Part of our motivation came from observing political discourse,” lead author Jordan W. Moon, a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Southampton, told PsyPost. “There has been a sharp rise in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents, but it seemed to us that the people who were otherwise most concerned about protecting minorities were somewhat unconcerned or even dismissive of this rise.”
Moon and his team wanted to investigate this apparent contradiction. “We wondered whether some types of prejudice and discrimination were more tolerated by different audiences—in this case, whether antisemitism was tolerated by political liberals,” he added. “We wanted to know, first, whether liberals indeed currently tolerated antisemitism, and second, whether there are certain ways of expressing antisemitism that are more accepted by liberal audiences.”
Antisemitism and criticism of Israel are related but distinct attitudes. A study covered by PsyPost in 2025, for example, found that antisemitic attitudes were linked to greater support for political violence, while criticism of Israel on its own was linked to legal activism but not to support for violence.
The researchers aimed to understand whether specific political rationalizations help explain why liberals might tolerate certain expressions of anti-Jewish prejudice. They noted that by 2025, 75% of Republicans but only 21% of Democrats said their sympathies lay with Israelis, which they argued may make criticism of Israel a marker of liberal identity. They proposed two potential psychological mechanisms: ingroup favoritism, where a justification signals shared political views, and alliance politics, where a justification implies the speaker is not indiscriminately hateful toward other groups.
To test these ideas, the research team conducted three preregistered online experiments between October and December of 2024 involving 979 American adults. The samples were recruited via Prolific and quota-matched to the U.S. population on age, gender, ethnicity, and political party; the number of Jewish participants was negligible. In their analyses, the researchers treated political views as a continuous scale running from 0 (extremely liberal) to 100 (extremely conservative). They then estimated each effect for someone somewhat liberal, around 17 or 18 on that scale, and someone somewhat conservative, around 79 to 81.
In the first experiment, 270 participants read profiles of individuals expressing prejudice against Jewish people, Black people, or Muslims. Each participant saw all three prejudiced profiles mixed among five unrelated distractor profiles. Participants were randomly assigned to see the prejudice stated plainly without explanation, or accompanied by a socially common justification.
For antisemitism, the justification was a strong disapproval of Israel and its war in Gaza. For anti-Black prejudice, the justification was a belief about crime rates, and for anti-Muslim prejudice, it was a belief about conflicting cultural values. After reading the profiles, participants rated how much they liked or disliked the individual on a 7-point scale, and estimated the speaker’s likely political orientation and how likely they were to be a bigot.
The results showed that without any justification, liberal participants disliked all prejudiced individuals more than conservative participants did. But when the anti-Jewish prejudice was justified by a disapproval of Israel, liberals liked the speaker 1.1 points more on the 7-point scale. This particular justification did not have an effect on how conservative participants evaluated the speaker. The justifications used for anti-Black and anti-Muslim prejudices did not increase liking among liberals.
The researchers emphasized that this relative increase in liking did not mean these participants suddenly endorsed prejudice. “On a scale of ‘Dislike Extremely’ toward ‘Like Extremely’, the prejudiced targets were largely disliked by both liberals and conservatives, regardless of which prejudice they expressed and how it was justified,” Moon noted. “That is, liberals did not ‘like’ antisemites, but certain justifications did make them feel relatively more positively toward them.”
To test if left-leaning justifications work for other types of prejudices, the scientists conducted a second experiment with 277 participants. They expanded the targets of prejudice to include Jewish, Black, Muslim, Chinese, and Russian Americans. This time, they tested justifications appealing to liberal values, such as accusing the targeted group’s ancestral home country of human rights violations. They compared these to justifications appealing to conservative values, such as claiming the targeted group threatens traditional American values.
Once again, liberals strongly disliked all prejudiced individuals when no justification was provided. However, when prejudices against any of the five groups were justified by citing human rights violations, liberals evaluated the speakers more positively, by roughly half a point to a full point on the 7-point scale.
Conservatives also liked some of these speakers more, including those prejudiced against Muslim and Chinese Americans, so only for the anti-Jewish speaker did the effect differ reliably between liberals and conservatives. Justifications centered on traditional American values mostly had no effect for either group, raising liberals’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Russian Americans and conservatives’ liking only for the speaker prejudiced against Chinese Americans.
The authors pointed out that this finding addresses a common misperception that their results only apply to antisemitism. “Although we focused our writeup on antisemitism, we found similar effects for other prejudices,” Moon clarified. “A person who expresses prejudice toward Black Americans or Chinese Americans was liked a bit more by politically liberal observers when they appealed to human rights abuses by African countries or China. This process seems to be a general notion of ‘prejudice is more acceptable when expressed by someone in my group’ than something that is unique to a single type of prejudice.”
A third experiment with 432 participants focused exclusively on anti-Jewish prejudice but tested a wider variety of rationalizations. These included disapproval of Israel, conspiracies about Jewish power and influence, historical beliefs about genetic inferiority, and religious blame. Each participant saw only one profile.
As in the earlier experiments, liberals disliked the unjustified antisemitic speaker more than conservatives did. When the speaker justified their prejudice using a disapproval of Israel or conspiracies about Jewish power, the negative social penalty for expressing the prejudice was reduced relative to when no reason was given. Unlike in the first two experiments, however, these two effects did not differ between liberals and conservatives, and neither reached statistical significance when the researchers examined liberals and conservatives separately. The authors say they are cautious about treating these results as definitive.
Justifying the prejudice with claims that Jews are genetically inferior lowered liking overall, and both liberals and conservatives saw that speaker as more likely to be a bigot. The religious justification had no statistically significant effect.
Moon said the team was surprised by how participants responded to a conspiracy trope long associated with the political right. “One of the justifications we included was the trope that Jews hold too much power and influence over financial markets, governments, and the media,” he explained. “Historically in the U.S., this has been a right-coded justification. However, in our experiment, participants thought the profile uttering this trope was more politically liberal than the profile expressing unjustified antisemitism, and this trope had a similar effect in licensing antisemitism as the disapproval of Israel and the war in Gaza justification.”
Across the experiments, the authors found evidence for two psychological processes that statistically accounted for why liberals liked speakers who used left-leaning justifications. First, liberals viewed these speakers as being politically closer to themselves, indicating a type of ingroup favoritism. Second, liberals inferred that a speaker focusing on human rights was less likely to be generally bigoted, which the authors interpret as making them less of a threat to the broader liberal political coalition.
Dylan Selterman, director of research and resource development at Heterodox Academy and an SNF Agora Faculty Affiliate at Johns Hopkins University, was not involved in the research. (He noted that these views are his own and do not represent his employer, Heterodox Academy.) He told PsyPost that “this research shows how people who in some cases eschew group-based ethnic prejudice may yet condone it in other cases, if such prejudice is accompanied by a moral justification.”
“This is an important fact because many people believe that they are immune to negative prejudices,” Selterman added. “However, this is not always the case.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The specific justifications tested across different marginalized groups in the first two experiments were not perfectly identical, which makes direct comparisons between prejudices somewhat difficult. The study also relied on statistical models to test the psychological mechanisms, meaning future experimental designs would be needed to establish exact cause and effect. Additionally, the research measured how people react to brief written profiles, which might not fully capture the complexities of real-world social interactions.
“My confidence is high,” Selterman said. “The authors appear to have done some elegant experiments, with sound statistical tests. Experiment 3 was somewhat inconsistent with the results of Experiments 1 and 2 but the authors reported it anyway,” he noted. “That makes me feel more confident in the results that did emerge.”
“Condoning prejudice is not the same as expressing prejudice,” Selterman explained. “The authors did not find that respondents held prejudice; rather, they studied how people view others who hold prejudices. These studies highlight how third-party judgment works. However, even though these studies did not examine prejudicial feelings directly, the findings are still very important because they show how prejudice can become more socially acceptable, which can lead to increases in discrimination and even violence.”
The authors suggest that efforts to combat antisemitism should consider not just the underlying prejudice but the language used to package it. They speculate that a prejudiced statement made in the service of a social cause might signal especially strong commitment to that cause, and to the political group associated with it.
“This kind of justification communicates that one is part of the liberal political coalition,” Moon said. “Because of ingroup favoritism, liberals were more tolerant of the person expressing antisemitism in this way. If we want to understand why some prejudices become socially acceptable, we should consider the guises they take, and what information they communicate to others.”
As for next steps, Selterman said he would want to better understand “(a) whether people are aware that they are using a justification to morally license bigoted attitudes, (b) what specific political attitudes (beyond simply being liberal or conservative) are associated with this kind of licensing, and (c) what kind of interventions would get people to have consistent moral standards against prejudice, without any justification.”
The study, “Justifying Antisemitism: Political Liberalism and Perceptions of Prejudices,” was authored by Jordan W. Moon, Michael Barlev, and Steven L. Neuberg.
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DATE: October 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: Curious people tend to have more of the experiences linked to cognitive reserve, study finds
A small study in the Netherlands found that people with a more curious personality tended to score higher on indicators of cognitive reserve, such as education and mentally stimulating leisure activities. However, neither curiosity nor these indicators of cognitive reserve were associated with performance on cognitive tests. The paper was published in Personality and Individual Differences.
As people age, many experience gradual cognitive decline. However, not everyone experiences this decline at the same pace or at the same age. While some individuals show marked cognitive decline relatively early, others maintain normal cognitive abilities into very advanced age. To help explain these differences, scientists developed the concept of cognitive reserve.
Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to maintain cognitive functioning despite aging, brain injury, or disease-related changes. It is thought to develop gradually across life through experiences that repeatedly engage the brain, such as education, intellectually demanding work, reading, learning new skills, and other mentally stimulating activities. In later life, greater cognitive reserve may help delay or reduce the cognitive effects of brain atrophy and other age-related changes, even though it does not necessarily prevent those physical changes from occurring.
One factor that may be of particular importance for building cognitive reserve is curiosity. Curious people are more likely to seek new information, explore unfamiliar experiences, and continue learning throughout adulthood. Activities encouraged by curiosity, such as reading books, learning languages, or exploring new places and ideas, may provide repeated cognitive stimulation over many years. Research has already linked the personality trait of openness to experience (a trait that also predisposes people to curious behaviors) to slower cognitive decline, suggesting that it may support resilience against it.
Study author Carolien Torenvliet and colleagues at Radboud University’s Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour explored the association between curiosity and various indicators of cognitive reserve. They also examined whether a curious personality (i.e., openness to experience and interest-based curiosity) was associated with cognitive abilities, and whether cognitive reserve might explain any such link.
Study participants were 106 adults recruited mainly from around Nijmegen in the Netherlands. They were between 40 and 85 years of age, with an average age of about 62, and 57% were women. People with current or past psychiatric or neurological disorders were excluded. Participants’ average estimated IQ was 118, well above the population average of 100.
Participants completed three questionnaires assessing curious personality: two measuring interest-based curiosity and one measuring openness to experience. They also completed the Dutch version of the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire, which estimates cognitive reserve from a person’s education, the complexity of their work, and their leisure activities. Finally, they completed three brief neuropsychological tests measuring memory, executive function, and processing speed.
Results showed that more curious individuals tended to score higher on indicators of cognitive reserve, specifically education and leisure activities, but not the complexity of their work. This association held after accounting for participants’ age. However, neither curiosity nor the cognitive reserve indicators were associated with performance on the cognitive tests.
“Although this study is limited by its cross-sectional design and relatively healthy sample, the results suggest that a curious personality may drive individual differences in cognitively stimulating experiences, but not cognitive abilities themselves,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of cognitive reserve. However, it should be noted that the design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be drawn from the results. Curiosity may lead people to pursue more education and stimulating activities, but those experiences could also foster curiosity.
In addition, cognitive reserve was estimated from participants’ own reports of their past education, work, and activities rather than measured directly. Finally, participants were healthy and had higher-than-average estimated intelligence, and the sample was relatively small for a study of this type, which may have made it harder to detect links with cognitive performance.
The paper, “Curious people, resilient minds? The role of a curious personality in cognitive reserve and cognitive abilities,” was authored by Carolien Torenvliet, Dirk Bertens, Joukje M. Oosterman, and Iris Wiegand.
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DATE: October 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: Curious people tend to have more of the experiences linked to cognitive reserve, study finds
A small study in the Netherlands found that people with a more curious personality tended to score higher on indicators of cognitive reserve, such as education and mentally stimulating leisure activities. However, neither curiosity nor these indicators of cognitive reserve were associated with performance on cognitive tests. The paper was published in Personality and Individual Differences.
As people age, many experience gradual cognitive decline. However, not everyone experiences this decline at the same pace or at the same age. While some individuals show marked cognitive decline relatively early, others maintain normal cognitive abilities into very advanced age. To help explain these differences, scientists developed the concept of cognitive reserve.
Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to maintain cognitive functioning despite aging, brain injury, or disease-related changes. It is thought to develop gradually across life through experiences that repeatedly engage the brain, such as education, intellectually demanding work, reading, learning new skills, and other mentally stimulating activities. In later life, greater cognitive reserve may help delay or reduce the cognitive effects of brain atrophy and other age-related changes, even though it does not necessarily prevent those physical changes from occurring.
One factor that may be of particular importance for building cognitive reserve is curiosity. Curious people are more likely to seek new information, explore unfamiliar experiences, and continue learning throughout adulthood. Activities encouraged by curiosity, such as reading books, learning languages, or exploring new places and ideas, may provide repeated cognitive stimulation over many years. Research has already linked the personality trait of openness to experience (a trait that also predisposes people to curious behaviors) to slower cognitive decline, suggesting that it may support resilience against it.
Study author Carolien Torenvliet and colleagues at Radboud University’s Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour explored the association between curiosity and various indicators of cognitive reserve. They also examined whether a curious personality (i.e., openness to experience and interest-based curiosity) was associated with cognitive abilities, and whether cognitive reserve might explain any such link.
Study participants were 106 adults recruited mainly from around Nijmegen in the Netherlands. They were between 40 and 85 years of age, with an average age of about 62, and 57% were women. People with current or past psychiatric or neurological disorders were excluded. Participants’ average estimated IQ was 118, well above the population average of 100.
Participants completed three questionnaires assessing curious personality: two measuring interest-based curiosity and one measuring openness to experience. They also completed the Dutch version of the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire, which estimates cognitive reserve from a person’s education, the complexity of their work, and their leisure activities. Finally, they completed three brief neuropsychological tests measuring memory, executive function, and processing speed.
Results showed that more curious individuals tended to score higher on indicators of cognitive reserve, specifically education and leisure activities, but not the complexity of their work. This association held after accounting for participants’ age. However, neither curiosity nor the cognitive reserve indicators were associated with performance on the cognitive tests.
“Although this study is limited by its cross-sectional design and relatively healthy sample, the results suggest that a curious personality may drive individual differences in cognitively stimulating experiences, but not cognitive abilities themselves,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of cognitive reserve. However, it should be noted that the design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be drawn from the results. Curiosity may lead people to pursue more education and stimulating activities, but those experiences could also foster curiosity.
In addition, cognitive reserve was estimated from participants’ own reports of their past education, work, and activities rather than measured directly. Finally, participants were healthy and had higher-than-average estimated intelligence, and the sample was relatively small for a study of this type, which may have made it harder to detect links with cognitive performance.
The paper, “Curious people, resilient minds? The role of a curious personality in cognitive reserve and cognitive abilities,” was authored by Carolien Torenvliet, Dirk Bertens, Joukje M. Oosterman, and Iris Wiegand.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CuriosityAndCognition #CognitiveReserve #CuriousMinds #OpennessToExperience #MentalStimulation #EducationAndLeisure #CognitiveHealth #AgingAndBrain #Neurocognition #BrainResilience
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DATE: October 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: Curious people tend to have more of the experiences linked to cognitive reserve, study finds
A small study in the Netherlands found that people with a more curious personality tended to score higher on indicators of cognitive reserve, such as education and mentally stimulating leisure activities. However, neither curiosity nor these indicators of cognitive reserve were associated with performance on cognitive tests. The paper was published in Personality and Individual Differences.
As people age, many experience gradual cognitive decline. However, not everyone experiences this decline at the same pace or at the same age. While some individuals show marked cognitive decline relatively early, others maintain normal cognitive abilities into very advanced age. To help explain these differences, scientists developed the concept of cognitive reserve.
Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to maintain cognitive functioning despite aging, brain injury, or disease-related changes. It is thought to develop gradually across life through experiences that repeatedly engage the brain, such as education, intellectually demanding work, reading, learning new skills, and other mentally stimulating activities. In later life, greater cognitive reserve may help delay or reduce the cognitive effects of brain atrophy and other age-related changes, even though it does not necessarily prevent those physical changes from occurring.
One factor that may be of particular importance for building cognitive reserve is curiosity. Curious people are more likely to seek new information, explore unfamiliar experiences, and continue learning throughout adulthood. Activities encouraged by curiosity, such as reading books, learning languages, or exploring new places and ideas, may provide repeated cognitive stimulation over many years. Research has already linked the personality trait of openness to experience (a trait that also predisposes people to curious behaviors) to slower cognitive decline, suggesting that it may support resilience against it.
Study author Carolien Torenvliet and colleagues at Radboud University’s Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour explored the association between curiosity and various indicators of cognitive reserve. They also examined whether a curious personality (i.e., openness to experience and interest-based curiosity) was associated with cognitive abilities, and whether cognitive reserve might explain any such link.
Study participants were 106 adults recruited mainly from around Nijmegen in the Netherlands. They were between 40 and 85 years of age, with an average age of about 62, and 57% were women. People with current or past psychiatric or neurological disorders were excluded. Participants’ average estimated IQ was 118, well above the population average of 100.
Participants completed three questionnaires assessing curious personality: two measuring interest-based curiosity and one measuring openness to experience. They also completed the Dutch version of the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire, which estimates cognitive reserve from a person’s education, the complexity of their work, and their leisure activities. Finally, they completed three brief neuropsychological tests measuring memory, executive function, and processing speed.
Results showed that more curious individuals tended to score higher on indicators of cognitive reserve, specifically education and leisure activities, but not the complexity of their work. This association held after accounting for participants’ age. However, neither curiosity nor the cognitive reserve indicators were associated with performance on the cognitive tests.
“Although this study is limited by its cross-sectional design and relatively healthy sample, the results suggest that a curious personality may drive individual differences in cognitively stimulating experiences, but not cognitive abilities themselves,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of cognitive reserve. However, it should be noted that the design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be drawn from the results. Curiosity may lead people to pursue more education and stimulating activities, but those experiences could also foster curiosity.
In addition, cognitive reserve was estimated from participants’ own reports of their past education, work, and activities rather than measured directly. Finally, participants were healthy and had higher-than-average estimated intelligence, and the sample was relatively small for a study of this type, which may have made it harder to detect links with cognitive performance.
The paper, “Curious people, resilient minds? The role of a curious personality in cognitive reserve and cognitive abilities,” was authored by Carolien Torenvliet, Dirk Bertens, Joukje M. Oosterman, and Iris Wiegand.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CuriosityAndCognition #CognitiveReserve #CuriousMinds #OpennessToExperience #MentalStimulation #EducationAndLeisure #CognitiveHealth #AgingAndBrain #Neurocognition #BrainResilience
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DATE: October 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: Scientists reveal the brain’s hidden role in building exercise endurance
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brain-s-hidden-role-in-building-exercise-endurance/
Repeated physical activity builds endurance by triggering widespread adaptations throughout the human body, but a new study reveals that the brain actually directs these physiological changes. Researchers found that activating a specific cluster of brain cells immediately after a workout is required for mice to increase their physical stamina over time. This discovery flips the traditional view of exercise physiology by showing that structural changes in the brain drive muscle adaptations, rather than just reflecting them. The findings were published in the journal Neuron.
Physiology research on exercise adaptations often focuses on the periphery of the body. When an animal or a human engages in a workout routine, skeletal muscles, the cardiovascular system, and immune function all undergo structural and chemical changes. For years, researchers viewed the brain’s structural changes during exercise as a reflection of these peripheral adaptations. Under this model, muscle tissues release chemical signals into the bloodstream, and the rest of the body responds to that muscular stress.
However, the central nervous system maintains an expansive network for sensing and regulating the body’s daily energy demands. The ventromedial hypothalamus is a region deep in the brain that manages energy expenditure, feeding behavior, and blood sugar levels. Within this neural region sits a specific population of neurons that express a protein known as steroidogenic factor-1, or SF1. Because these cells regulate metabolism, researchers suspected they might play an active role in how the body handles the physical stress of a demanding workout.
University of Pennsylvania researcher Morgan Kindel, Providence College researcher Ryan J. Post, and a team of colleagues investigated whether these SF1 neurons respond to physical exertion. The scientists hypothesized that the brain actively coordinates the metabolic remodeling that leads to increased athletic stamina. They designed a series of small studies using mice to test how manipulating this tiny cluster of brain cells would affect overall physical endurance. The resulting data established a feed-forward loop between physical movement and brain plasticity.
The researchers first exposed a small group of mice to a single session of treadmill running and analyzed their brain tissue. They stained the tissue to measure the expression of a gene called Bdnf, which becomes more active when neurons fire. The analysis showed an increase in both the number of SF1 neurons expressing this gene and the total amount of the gene’s transcripts per cell. This initial test indicated that the exercise session successfully stimulated the neural population.
To see what happens when this neural activity is blocked, the team injected a specialized genetic tool into the brains of a small group of mice. This tool produced a tetanus toxin that prevented the SF1 neurons from releasing chemical signals to other cells. When placed on a treadmill stress test that gradually increased in speed, the mice with silenced SF1 neurons reached exhaustion faster than unmodified control mice. The researchers used indirect calorimetry, which measures oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output to track metabolism, and found that the modified mice burned through their carbohydrate stores prematurely rather than relying on fat reserves.
Next, the researchers put the mice through a three-week treadmill training program to see if they could build endurance. The control mice steadily improved their running times and maximum distances over the three weeks. The mice with silenced SF1 neurons failed to build this endurance capacity. An analysis of their leg muscles showed an absence of the genetic changes that typically optimize energy use after regular training, showing that silencing the brain cells halted the muscles’ ability to adapt.
To track how the neurons behaved in real time, the team used tiny head-mounted microscopes to monitor calcium levels in the brains of active mice. Calcium flows into neurons when they fire, providing a visual proxy for cellular activity. During a week of daily training, the researchers observed a specific subset of SF1 neurons that consistently became active right after the exercise ended. Over the course of the week, the repeated training increased both the number of these post-workout neurons and the intensity of their firing.
The researchers then extracted brain tissue from mice that had exercised for three weeks and measured the electrical properties of individual SF1 neurons. Compared to tissue from sedentary mice, the cells from the trained animals were more electrically excitable and fired spontaneous action potentials at a higher rate. High-resolution imaging of the cells’ branches, or dendrites, revealed that the exercised mice had twice as many tiny protrusions called dendritic spines. This structural growth means the neurons had physically adapted to accommodate more synaptic connections.
Because the live imaging showed peak activity right after running, the team tested whether post-workout firing is the primary driver of endurance. They used optogenetics, a technique that allows researchers to turn specific neurons off using targeted light. By delivering light through fiber optic implants, they inhibited SF1 neurons for exactly 15 minutes immediately following each daily treadmill session. This brief post-workout suppression blunted the endurance gains that the mice would normally achieve.
In a final test, the researchers used a different optogenetic setup to artificially stimulate the SF1 neurons for one hour immediately after daily exercise. Activating the cells during this recovery window enhanced the animals’ endurance gains beyond their normal physiological plateau. The artificial stimulation triggered an increase in blood sugar and overall energy expenditure, which the researchers suggest may help initiate the metabolic recovery signals that prepare muscles for future physical stress.
These experiments rely on mouse models running on treadmills, and rodent metabolism does not perfectly map onto human physiology. Human endurance adaptations take place over longer time scales and involve more varied types of physical training. The results show that activating these brain cells is necessary for building stamina in mice, but they do not establish exactly how the brain receives the message that the exercise has stopped.
Identifying the physical pathways that carry signals from fatigued muscles back up to the ventromedial hypothalamus remains a goal for future studies. Researchers will also need to determine if different types of exercise, such as weightlifting or high-intensity interval training, recruit these exact same neural pathways. Mapping out this brain-to-body loop could eventually inform the development of therapeutics for individuals who cannot safely engage in rigorous physical activity.
The study, “Exercise-induced activation of ventromedial hypothalamic steroidogenic factor-1 neurons mediates improvements in endurance,” was published in May 2026. It was authored by Morgan Kindel, Ryan J. Post, Kyle Grose, Louise Lantier, Eunsang Hwang, Jamie R.E. Carty, Lenka Dohnalova´, Lauren Lepeak, Hallie C. Kern, Rachael Villari, Nitsan Goldstein, Emily Lo, Albert Yeung, Lukas Richie, Bridget Skelly, Jenna Golub, Manmeet Rai, Teppei Fujikawa, Julio E. Ayala, Joel K. Elmquist, Christoph A. Thaiss, David H. Wasserman, Kevin W. Williams, Erik B. Bloss, and J. Nicholas Betley.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brain-s-hidden-role-in-building-exercise-endurance/
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DATE: October 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: Scientists reveal the brain’s hidden role in building exercise endurance
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brain-s-hidden-role-in-building-exercise-endurance/
Repeated physical activity builds endurance by triggering widespread adaptations throughout the human body, but a new study reveals that the brain actually directs these physiological changes. Researchers found that activating a specific cluster of brain cells immediately after a workout is required for mice to increase their physical stamina over time. This discovery flips the traditional view of exercise physiology by showing that structural changes in the brain drive muscle adaptations, rather than just reflecting them. The findings were published in the journal Neuron.
Physiology research on exercise adaptations often focuses on the periphery of the body. When an animal or a human engages in a workout routine, skeletal muscles, the cardiovascular system, and immune function all undergo structural and chemical changes. For years, researchers viewed the brain’s structural changes during exercise as a reflection of these peripheral adaptations. Under this model, muscle tissues release chemical signals into the bloodstream, and the rest of the body responds to that muscular stress.
However, the central nervous system maintains an expansive network for sensing and regulating the body’s daily energy demands. The ventromedial hypothalamus is a region deep in the brain that manages energy expenditure, feeding behavior, and blood sugar levels. Within this neural region sits a specific population of neurons that express a protein known as steroidogenic factor-1, or SF1. Because these cells regulate metabolism, researchers suspected they might play an active role in how the body handles the physical stress of a demanding workout.
University of Pennsylvania researcher Morgan Kindel, Providence College researcher Ryan J. Post, and a team of colleagues investigated whether these SF1 neurons respond to physical exertion. The scientists hypothesized that the brain actively coordinates the metabolic remodeling that leads to increased athletic stamina. They designed a series of small studies using mice to test how manipulating this tiny cluster of brain cells would affect overall physical endurance. The resulting data established a feed-forward loop between physical movement and brain plasticity.
The researchers first exposed a small group of mice to a single session of treadmill running and analyzed their brain tissue. They stained the tissue to measure the expression of a gene called Bdnf, which becomes more active when neurons fire. The analysis showed an increase in both the number of SF1 neurons expressing this gene and the total amount of the gene’s transcripts per cell. This initial test indicated that the exercise session successfully stimulated the neural population.
To see what happens when this neural activity is blocked, the team injected a specialized genetic tool into the brains of a small group of mice. This tool produced a tetanus toxin that prevented the SF1 neurons from releasing chemical signals to other cells. When placed on a treadmill stress test that gradually increased in speed, the mice with silenced SF1 neurons reached exhaustion faster than unmodified control mice. The researchers used indirect calorimetry, which measures oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output to track metabolism, and found that the modified mice burned through their carbohydrate stores prematurely rather than relying on fat reserves.
Next, the researchers put the mice through a three-week treadmill training program to see if they could build endurance. The control mice steadily improved their running times and maximum distances over the three weeks. The mice with silenced SF1 neurons failed to build this endurance capacity. An analysis of their leg muscles showed an absence of the genetic changes that typically optimize energy use after regular training, showing that silencing the brain cells halted the muscles’ ability to adapt.
To track how the neurons behaved in real time, the team used tiny head-mounted microscopes to monitor calcium levels in the brains of active mice. Calcium flows into neurons when they fire, providing a visual proxy for cellular activity. During a week of daily training, the researchers observed a specific subset of SF1 neurons that consistently became active right after the exercise ended. Over the course of the week, the repeated training increased both the number of these post-workout neurons and the intensity of their firing.
The researchers then extracted brain tissue from mice that had exercised for three weeks and measured the electrical properties of individual SF1 neurons. Compared to tissue from sedentary mice, the cells from the trained animals were more electrically excitable and fired spontaneous action potentials at a higher rate. High-resolution imaging of the cells’ branches, or dendrites, revealed that the exercised mice had twice as many tiny protrusions called dendritic spines. This structural growth means the neurons had physically adapted to accommodate more synaptic connections.
Because the live imaging showed peak activity right after running, the team tested whether post-workout firing is the primary driver of endurance. They used optogenetics, a technique that allows researchers to turn specific neurons off using targeted light. By delivering light through fiber optic implants, they inhibited SF1 neurons for exactly 15 minutes immediately following each daily treadmill session. This brief post-workout suppression blunted the endurance gains that the mice would normally achieve.
In a final test, the researchers used a different optogenetic setup to artificially stimulate the SF1 neurons for one hour immediately after daily exercise. Activating the cells during this recovery window enhanced the animals’ endurance gains beyond their normal physiological plateau. The artificial stimulation triggered an increase in blood sugar and overall energy expenditure, which the researchers suggest may help initiate the metabolic recovery signals that prepare muscles for future physical stress.
These experiments rely on mouse models running on treadmills, and rodent metabolism does not perfectly map onto human physiology. Human endurance adaptations take place over longer time scales and involve more varied types of physical training. The results show that activating these brain cells is necessary for building stamina in mice, but they do not establish exactly how the brain receives the message that the exercise has stopped.
Identifying the physical pathways that carry signals from fatigued muscles back up to the ventromedial hypothalamus remains a goal for future studies. Researchers will also need to determine if different types of exercise, such as weightlifting or high-intensity interval training, recruit these exact same neural pathways. Mapping out this brain-to-body loop could eventually inform the development of therapeutics for individuals who cannot safely engage in rigorous physical activity.
The study, “Exercise-induced activation of ventromedial hypothalamic steroidogenic factor-1 neurons mediates improvements in endurance,” was published in May 2026. It was authored by Morgan Kindel, Ryan J. Post, Kyle Grose, Louise Lantier, Eunsang Hwang, Jamie R.E. Carty, Lenka Dohnalova´, Lauren Lepeak, Hallie C. Kern, Rachael Villari, Nitsan Goldstein, Emily Lo, Albert Yeung, Lukas Richie, Bridget Skelly, Jenna Golub, Manmeet Rai, Teppei Fujikawa, Julio E. Ayala, Joel K. Elmquist, Christoph A. Thaiss, David H. Wasserman, Kevin W. Williams, Erik B. Bloss, and J. Nicholas Betley.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brain-s-hidden-role-in-building-exercise-endurance/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: October 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: Scientists reveal the brain’s hidden role in building exercise endurance
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brain-s-hidden-role-in-building-exercise-endurance/
Repeated physical activity builds endurance by triggering widespread adaptations throughout the human body, but a new study reveals that the brain actually directs these physiological changes. Researchers found that activating a specific cluster of brain cells immediately after a workout is required for mice to increase their physical stamina over time. This discovery flips the traditional view of exercise physiology by showing that structural changes in the brain drive muscle adaptations, rather than just reflecting them. The findings were published in the journal Neuron.
Physiology research on exercise adaptations often focuses on the periphery of the body. When an animal or a human engages in a workout routine, skeletal muscles, the cardiovascular system, and immune function all undergo structural and chemical changes. For years, researchers viewed the brain’s structural changes during exercise as a reflection of these peripheral adaptations. Under this model, muscle tissues release chemical signals into the bloodstream, and the rest of the body responds to that muscular stress.
However, the central nervous system maintains an expansive network for sensing and regulating the body’s daily energy demands. The ventromedial hypothalamus is a region deep in the brain that manages energy expenditure, feeding behavior, and blood sugar levels. Within this neural region sits a specific population of neurons that express a protein known as steroidogenic factor-1, or SF1. Because these cells regulate metabolism, researchers suspected they might play an active role in how the body handles the physical stress of a demanding workout.
University of Pennsylvania researcher Morgan Kindel, Providence College researcher Ryan J. Post, and a team of colleagues investigated whether these SF1 neurons respond to physical exertion. The scientists hypothesized that the brain actively coordinates the metabolic remodeling that leads to increased athletic stamina. They designed a series of small studies using mice to test how manipulating this tiny cluster of brain cells would affect overall physical endurance. The resulting data established a feed-forward loop between physical movement and brain plasticity.
The researchers first exposed a small group of mice to a single session of treadmill running and analyzed their brain tissue. They stained the tissue to measure the expression of a gene called Bdnf, which becomes more active when neurons fire. The analysis showed an increase in both the number of SF1 neurons expressing this gene and the total amount of the gene’s transcripts per cell. This initial test indicated that the exercise session successfully stimulated the neural population.
To see what happens when this neural activity is blocked, the team injected a specialized genetic tool into the brains of a small group of mice. This tool produced a tetanus toxin that prevented the SF1 neurons from releasing chemical signals to other cells. When placed on a treadmill stress test that gradually increased in speed, the mice with silenced SF1 neurons reached exhaustion faster than unmodified control mice. The researchers used indirect calorimetry, which measures oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output to track metabolism, and found that the modified mice burned through their carbohydrate stores prematurely rather than relying on fat reserves.
Next, the researchers put the mice through a three-week treadmill training program to see if they could build endurance. The control mice steadily improved their running times and maximum distances over the three weeks. The mice with silenced SF1 neurons failed to build this endurance capacity. An analysis of their leg muscles showed an absence of the genetic changes that typically optimize energy use after regular training, showing that silencing the brain cells halted the muscles’ ability to adapt.
To track how the neurons behaved in real time, the team used tiny head-mounted microscopes to monitor calcium levels in the brains of active mice. Calcium flows into neurons when they fire, providing a visual proxy for cellular activity. During a week of daily training, the researchers observed a specific subset of SF1 neurons that consistently became active right after the exercise ended. Over the course of the week, the repeated training increased both the number of these post-workout neurons and the intensity of their firing.
The researchers then extracted brain tissue from mice that had exercised for three weeks and measured the electrical properties of individual SF1 neurons. Compared to tissue from sedentary mice, the cells from the trained animals were more electrically excitable and fired spontaneous action potentials at a higher rate. High-resolution imaging of the cells’ branches, or dendrites, revealed that the exercised mice had twice as many tiny protrusions called dendritic spines. This structural growth means the neurons had physically adapted to accommodate more synaptic connections.
Because the live imaging showed peak activity right after running, the team tested whether post-workout firing is the primary driver of endurance. They used optogenetics, a technique that allows researchers to turn specific neurons off using targeted light. By delivering light through fiber optic implants, they inhibited SF1 neurons for exactly 15 minutes immediately following each daily treadmill session. This brief post-workout suppression blunted the endurance gains that the mice would normally achieve.
In a final test, the researchers used a different optogenetic setup to artificially stimulate the SF1 neurons for one hour immediately after daily exercise. Activating the cells during this recovery window enhanced the animals’ endurance gains beyond their normal physiological plateau. The artificial stimulation triggered an increase in blood sugar and overall energy expenditure, which the researchers suggest may help initiate the metabolic recovery signals that prepare muscles for future physical stress.
These experiments rely on mouse models running on treadmills, and rodent metabolism does not perfectly map onto human physiology. Human endurance adaptations take place over longer time scales and involve more varied types of physical training. The results show that activating these brain cells is necessary for building stamina in mice, but they do not establish exactly how the brain receives the message that the exercise has stopped.
Identifying the physical pathways that carry signals from fatigued muscles back up to the ventromedial hypothalamus remains a goal for future studies. Researchers will also need to determine if different types of exercise, such as weightlifting or high-intensity interval training, recruit these exact same neural pathways. Mapping out this brain-to-body loop could eventually inform the development of therapeutics for individuals who cannot safely engage in rigorous physical activity.
The study, “Exercise-induced activation of ventromedial hypothalamic steroidogenic factor-1 neurons mediates improvements in endurance,” was published in May 2026. It was authored by Morgan Kindel, Ryan J. Post, Kyle Grose, Louise Lantier, Eunsang Hwang, Jamie R.E. Carty, Lenka Dohnalova´, Lauren Lepeak, Hallie C. Kern, Rachael Villari, Nitsan Goldstein, Emily Lo, Albert Yeung, Lukas Richie, Bridget Skelly, Jenna Golub, Manmeet Rai, Teppei Fujikawa, Julio E. Ayala, Joel K. Elmquist, Christoph A. Thaiss, David H. Wasserman, Kevin W. Williams, Erik B. Bloss, and J. Nicholas Betley.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brain-s-hidden-role-in-building-exercise-endurance/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainEndurance #SF1Neurons #ExerciseNeurology #VentralHypothalamus #Neuroplasticity #PostWorkoutRecovery #BrainBodyConnection #EnduranceTraining #BDNF #Optogenetics
-
DATE: October 1, 2026 at 05:02AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: A.I. Anxiety Is Showing Up in Therapy
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
Patients and providers are processing their uncertainty in real time.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
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-
DATE: October 1, 2026 at 05:02AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: A.I. Anxiety Is Showing Up in Therapy
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
Patients and providers are processing their uncertainty in real time.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AIanxiety #therapy #mentalhealth #AItakesover #digitalwellness #mentalhealthawareness #therapytools #anxietyrelief #psychiatry #technologyintherapy
-
DATE: October 1, 2026 at 05:02AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: A.I. Anxiety Is Showing Up in Therapy
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
Patients and providers are processing their uncertainty in real time.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: October 1, 2026 at 05:02AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: A.I. Anxiety Is Showing Up in Therapy
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
Patients and providers are processing their uncertainty in real time.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/well/mind/ai-anxiety-therapy-artificial-intelligence.html
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: October 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: Longitudinal study highlights the enduring toll of childhood loneliness and social isolation
A new study published in Development and Psychopathology indicates that experiencing loneliness during childhood does not help socially isolated youth reconnect with others later on. Instead, childhood loneliness and social isolation independently predict a range of mental health and socioeconomic difficulties in young adulthood. The findings challenge the idea that feeling lonely serves as a helpful biological alarm bell that pushes young people to repair their social bonds.
To understand the study, it helps to distinguish between two related concepts: social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation is the objective, physical reality of lacking positive social relationships and a support network. In childhood and adolescence, this often looks like social withdrawal and peer rejection. Loneliness, on the other hand, is the subjective, internal feeling of being dissatisfied with the quality or quantity of one’s relationships.
A person can be surrounded by peers but still feel lonely, or they can spend a lot of time by themselves without feeling lonely at all. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2026 found that teenagers who spend more time in physical solitude are not necessarily lonelier overall, highlighting the difference between temporary alone time and structural social isolation.
Past research has debated how these two social deficits influence one another. A 2013 paper proposed an evolutionary theory suggesting that loneliness acts as an adaptive warning signal, motivating individuals to seek out companionship and escape the dangers of isolation. At the same time, a 2018 study of middle-aged and older adults in Germany found that loneliness and social isolation interacted to predict mortality, with each amplifying the other’s effect.
The research team, led by Bridget T. Bryan and Louise Arseneault of King’s College London, wanted to directly test these competing ideas during the transition from childhood to adulthood.
“Although there is a large body of evidence that loneliness has negative consequences for health and wellbeing, some influential theories suggest that loneliness also serves a useful purpose by motivating socially isolated people to rebuild their social connections,” Bryan, a research fellow at King’s College London’s Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, told PsyPost. “They argue that loneliness is a bit like hunger: an uncomfortable experience that signals to us that a basic need isn’t being met and motivates us to act on it. In this case, loneliness signals that we have unmet social needs, and pushes us to connect with others.”
“But few studies have tested whether this plays out in the long term, partly because loneliness and social isolation are rarely measured together,” Bryan said. To address this gap, the researchers designed a study to track whether loneliness actually helps isolated children reconnect over time, and whether facing both loneliness and isolation simultaneously creates a magnified penalty for a person’s future well-being. “We also wanted to better understand how loneliness and isolation work together and separately to shape a young person’s health, wellbeing, education and employment as they grow up,” she added.
To do this, the researchers used data from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, which follows 2,232 twins born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. The sample is nationally representative, covering a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, and consists of 49% male and 90% White participants. The team collected data on the participants at two key developmental stages: age 12 and age 18.
At age 12, the researchers gathered data on social isolation by asking mothers and teachers to rate the children’s social withdrawal and the extent to which they were rejected by peers. The 12-year-olds also filled out a questionnaire to self-report their own feelings of loneliness. At age 18, the participants self-reported both their loneliness and their level of social isolation, which was measured by asking about their access to supportive relationships with family and friends.
The team also assessed a wide array of life outcomes when the participants reached age 18. These included mental health indicators, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. They also measured general well-being, like life satisfaction and sleep quality, along with health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol use. Finally, they evaluated socioeconomic outcomes, tracking the participants’ educational achievements, employability, and whether they were currently out of school and out of work.
The researchers found that loneliness and social isolation feed into each other over time, rather than correcting one another. Children who felt lonely at age 12 tended to be more socially isolated at age 18, and this effect was about twice as strong as the reverse, where children who were socially isolated at age 12 reported higher levels of loneliness as young adults.
This does not support the evolutionary theory that loneliness acts as a helpful alarm bell. Isolated children who experienced high loneliness went on to experience high levels of social isolation as young adults, just like their peers who were isolated but not lonely. The distress of loneliness did not seem to help these youths successfully build or rebuild social connections over the six-year period. “Rather than assuming these children will find their own way through it, our findings suggest loneliness and social isolation may need to be tackled directly,” Bryan noted.
The study also evaluated how these two social deficits impact later life outcomes. Both loneliness and isolation at age 12 independently predicted poorer mental health, worse well-being, and lower socioeconomic standing at age 18. While most mental health links held even after accounting for childhood mental health and personality, childhood isolation’s link to depression and loneliness’s link to anxiety disappeared when these earlier factors were considered. However, childhood social isolation remained linked to every future socioeconomic outcome. “Each mattered in its own right, not just because they tend to occur together,” Bryan explained.
The impact on a participant’s future career prospects proved especially dramatic. “Social isolation was particularly important for education and employment outcomes more socially isolated secondary school students went on to have fewer qualifications and be less employable in young adulthood than their less isolated peers,” the researcher continued. “The risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) was particularly striking: the most isolated children had around 2.4 times the odds of being NEET at 18, compared with their peers.”
Interestingly, the researchers did not find evidence of a compounded penalty. Young people who were both highly lonely and highly isolated struggled with similar levels of mental health and socioeconomic difficulties as those who experienced only one of the issues. For well-being and socioeconomic outcomes, the authors described this as a potential ceiling effect. For children who reported the highest levels of loneliness, being socially isolated did not add much extra damage to their well-being or socioeconomic outcomes, possibly because those outcomes were already heavily affected, or because loneliness and isolation work through similar pathways.
Despite this ceiling effect, the sheer impact of isolation alone stood out to the research team. “What surprised us most was the strength of the association between social isolation and poor education and employment outcomes,” Bryan said. “We didn’t expect it to be quite this strong two to three times stronger than for other well-established risk factors, like childhood depression or anxiety.”
This finding highlights a potential blind spot in how society addresses youth employment. “Given how much public and policy attention youth employment is getting right now, it was striking to find social isolation playing such a large role, when most current strategies focus on skills and job opportunities instead,” she added.
These long-term impacts on mental health are in line with research covered by PsyPost previously. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2025 tracked youth into adulthood and found that adolescent loneliness predicted a higher risk for depression and stress-related conditions. In a similar vein, a meta-analysis covered by PsyPost in 2022 highlighted a steady link between youth loneliness and depressive symptoms across different ages and genders. However, while that review measured depressive symptoms at a single point in time, the new study tracked broader mental health longitudinally into young adulthood.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study measured loneliness and social isolation only at two points in time, separated by six years. This large gap makes it impossible to know if short, temporary bursts of loneliness might act differently than long-term, persistent loneliness. The evolutionary theory suggests that mild, fleeting loneliness might prompt social connection, but this study could not track daily or weekly fluctuations.
The researchers also used different measurement tools at age 12 compared to age 18. This was done to ensure the questions were appropriate for the participants’ changing developmental stages, but it makes it slightly harder to compare their social experiences directly across time.
There are a few things to keep in mind regarding the study sample. Because all participants are twins, their social experiences might look slightly different from those of single children. Twins grow up with a sibling of the exact same age, which could influence how they interact with peers and experience feelings of isolation or companionship.
Going forward, the team hopes to identify the mechanisms that prevent lonely youth from rebuilding their networks. “We’d like to better understand why loneliness doesn’t seem to help isolated children reconnect for example, whether this is because they withdraw rather than reach out, or because other difficulties that often go along with loneliness (like social difficulties or anxiety) make attempts to reconnect less successful,” Bryan said.
The researchers also want to expand their timeline. “It would also be important to look at how loneliness and isolation relate to each other across different stages of life,” Bryan noted. “Our study focused on childhood and adolescence, but loneliness and social isolation matter at all stages of life.”
The study, “Investigating the interplay of loneliness and social isolation across adolescence: Findings from a nationally representative longitudinal study,” was authored by Bridget T. Bryan, Katherine N. Thompson, Helen L. Fisher, Timothy Matthews, Barry Milne, and Louise Arseneault.
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: October 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: Longitudinal study highlights the enduring toll of childhood loneliness and social isolation
A new study published in Development and Psychopathology indicates that experiencing loneliness during childhood does not help socially isolated youth reconnect with others later on. Instead, childhood loneliness and social isolation independently predict a range of mental health and socioeconomic difficulties in young adulthood. The findings challenge the idea that feeling lonely serves as a helpful biological alarm bell that pushes young people to repair their social bonds.
To understand the study, it helps to distinguish between two related concepts: social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation is the objective, physical reality of lacking positive social relationships and a support network. In childhood and adolescence, this often looks like social withdrawal and peer rejection. Loneliness, on the other hand, is the subjective, internal feeling of being dissatisfied with the quality or quantity of one’s relationships.
A person can be surrounded by peers but still feel lonely, or they can spend a lot of time by themselves without feeling lonely at all. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2026 found that teenagers who spend more time in physical solitude are not necessarily lonelier overall, highlighting the difference between temporary alone time and structural social isolation.
Past research has debated how these two social deficits influence one another. A 2013 paper proposed an evolutionary theory suggesting that loneliness acts as an adaptive warning signal, motivating individuals to seek out companionship and escape the dangers of isolation. At the same time, a 2018 study of middle-aged and older adults in Germany found that loneliness and social isolation interacted to predict mortality, with each amplifying the other’s effect.
The research team, led by Bridget T. Bryan and Louise Arseneault of King’s College London, wanted to directly test these competing ideas during the transition from childhood to adulthood.
“Although there is a large body of evidence that loneliness has negative consequences for health and wellbeing, some influential theories suggest that loneliness also serves a useful purpose by motivating socially isolated people to rebuild their social connections,” Bryan, a research fellow at King’s College London’s Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, told PsyPost. “They argue that loneliness is a bit like hunger: an uncomfortable experience that signals to us that a basic need isn’t being met and motivates us to act on it. In this case, loneliness signals that we have unmet social needs, and pushes us to connect with others.”
“But few studies have tested whether this plays out in the long term, partly because loneliness and social isolation are rarely measured together,” Bryan said. To address this gap, the researchers designed a study to track whether loneliness actually helps isolated children reconnect over time, and whether facing both loneliness and isolation simultaneously creates a magnified penalty for a person’s future well-being. “We also wanted to better understand how loneliness and isolation work together and separately to shape a young person’s health, wellbeing, education and employment as they grow up,” she added.
To do this, the researchers used data from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, which follows 2,232 twins born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. The sample is nationally representative, covering a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, and consists of 49% male and 90% White participants. The team collected data on the participants at two key developmental stages: age 12 and age 18.
At age 12, the researchers gathered data on social isolation by asking mothers and teachers to rate the children’s social withdrawal and the extent to which they were rejected by peers. The 12-year-olds also filled out a questionnaire to self-report their own feelings of loneliness. At age 18, the participants self-reported both their loneliness and their level of social isolation, which was measured by asking about their access to supportive relationships with family and friends.
The team also assessed a wide array of life outcomes when the participants reached age 18. These included mental health indicators, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. They also measured general well-being, like life satisfaction and sleep quality, along with health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol use. Finally, they evaluated socioeconomic outcomes, tracking the participants’ educational achievements, employability, and whether they were currently out of school and out of work.
The researchers found that loneliness and social isolation feed into each other over time, rather than correcting one another. Children who felt lonely at age 12 tended to be more socially isolated at age 18, and this effect was about twice as strong as the reverse, where children who were socially isolated at age 12 reported higher levels of loneliness as young adults.
This does not support the evolutionary theory that loneliness acts as a helpful alarm bell. Isolated children who experienced high loneliness went on to experience high levels of social isolation as young adults, just like their peers who were isolated but not lonely. The distress of loneliness did not seem to help these youths successfully build or rebuild social connections over the six-year period. “Rather than assuming these children will find their own way through it, our findings suggest loneliness and social isolation may need to be tackled directly,” Bryan noted.
The study also evaluated how these two social deficits impact later life outcomes. Both loneliness and isolation at age 12 independently predicted poorer mental health, worse well-being, and lower socioeconomic standing at age 18. While most mental health links held even after accounting for childhood mental health and personality, childhood isolation’s link to depression and loneliness’s link to anxiety disappeared when these earlier factors were considered. However, childhood social isolation remained linked to every future socioeconomic outcome. “Each mattered in its own right, not just because they tend to occur together,” Bryan explained.
The impact on a participant’s future career prospects proved especially dramatic. “Social isolation was particularly important for education and employment outcomes more socially isolated secondary school students went on to have fewer qualifications and be less employable in young adulthood than their less isolated peers,” the researcher continued. “The risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) was particularly striking: the most isolated children had around 2.4 times the odds of being NEET at 18, compared with their peers.”
Interestingly, the researchers did not find evidence of a compounded penalty. Young people who were both highly lonely and highly isolated struggled with similar levels of mental health and socioeconomic difficulties as those who experienced only one of the issues. For well-being and socioeconomic outcomes, the authors described this as a potential ceiling effect. For children who reported the highest levels of loneliness, being socially isolated did not add much extra damage to their well-being or socioeconomic outcomes, possibly because those outcomes were already heavily affected, or because loneliness and isolation work through similar pathways.
Despite this ceiling effect, the sheer impact of isolation alone stood out to the research team. “What surprised us most was the strength of the association between social isolation and poor education and employment outcomes,” Bryan said. “We didn’t expect it to be quite this strong two to three times stronger than for other well-established risk factors, like childhood depression or anxiety.”
This finding highlights a potential blind spot in how society addresses youth employment. “Given how much public and policy attention youth employment is getting right now, it was striking to find social isolation playing such a large role, when most current strategies focus on skills and job opportunities instead,” she added.
These long-term impacts on mental health are in line with research covered by PsyPost previously. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2025 tracked youth into adulthood and found that adolescent loneliness predicted a higher risk for depression and stress-related conditions. In a similar vein, a meta-analysis covered by PsyPost in 2022 highlighted a steady link between youth loneliness and depressive symptoms across different ages and genders. However, while that review measured depressive symptoms at a single point in time, the new study tracked broader mental health longitudinally into young adulthood.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study measured loneliness and social isolation only at two points in time, separated by six years. This large gap makes it impossible to know if short, temporary bursts of loneliness might act differently than long-term, persistent loneliness. The evolutionary theory suggests that mild, fleeting loneliness might prompt social connection, but this study could not track daily or weekly fluctuations.
The researchers also used different measurement tools at age 12 compared to age 18. This was done to ensure the questions were appropriate for the participants’ changing developmental stages, but it makes it slightly harder to compare their social experiences directly across time.
There are a few things to keep in mind regarding the study sample. Because all participants are twins, their social experiences might look slightly different from those of single children. Twins grow up with a sibling of the exact same age, which could influence how they interact with peers and experience feelings of isolation or companionship.
Going forward, the team hopes to identify the mechanisms that prevent lonely youth from rebuilding their networks. “We’d like to better understand why loneliness doesn’t seem to help isolated children reconnect for example, whether this is because they withdraw rather than reach out, or because other difficulties that often go along with loneliness (like social difficulties or anxiety) make attempts to reconnect less successful,” Bryan said.
The researchers also want to expand their timeline. “It would also be important to look at how loneliness and isolation relate to each other across different stages of life,” Bryan noted. “Our study focused on childhood and adolescence, but loneliness and social isolation matter at all stages of life.”
The study, “Investigating the interplay of loneliness and social isolation across adolescence: Findings from a nationally representative longitudinal study,” was authored by Bridget T. Bryan, Katherine N. Thompson, Helen L. Fisher, Timothy Matthews, Barry Milne, and Louise Arseneault.
-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: October 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: Longitudinal study highlights the enduring toll of childhood loneliness and social isolation
A new study published in Development and Psychopathology indicates that experiencing loneliness during childhood does not help socially isolated youth reconnect with others later on. Instead, childhood loneliness and social isolation independently predict a range of mental health and socioeconomic difficulties in young adulthood. The findings challenge the idea that feeling lonely serves as a helpful biological alarm bell that pushes young people to repair their social bonds.
To understand the study, it helps to distinguish between two related concepts: social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation is the objective, physical reality of lacking positive social relationships and a support network. In childhood and adolescence, this often looks like social withdrawal and peer rejection. Loneliness, on the other hand, is the subjective, internal feeling of being dissatisfied with the quality or quantity of one’s relationships.
A person can be surrounded by peers but still feel lonely, or they can spend a lot of time by themselves without feeling lonely at all. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2026 found that teenagers who spend more time in physical solitude are not necessarily lonelier overall, highlighting the difference between temporary alone time and structural social isolation.
Past research has debated how these two social deficits influence one another. A 2013 paper proposed an evolutionary theory suggesting that loneliness acts as an adaptive warning signal, motivating individuals to seek out companionship and escape the dangers of isolation. At the same time, a 2018 study of middle-aged and older adults in Germany found that loneliness and social isolation interacted to predict mortality, with each amplifying the other’s effect.
The research team, led by Bridget T. Bryan and Louise Arseneault of King’s College London, wanted to directly test these competing ideas during the transition from childhood to adulthood.
“Although there is a large body of evidence that loneliness has negative consequences for health and wellbeing, some influential theories suggest that loneliness also serves a useful purpose by motivating socially isolated people to rebuild their social connections,” Bryan, a research fellow at King’s College London’s Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, told PsyPost. “They argue that loneliness is a bit like hunger: an uncomfortable experience that signals to us that a basic need isn’t being met and motivates us to act on it. In this case, loneliness signals that we have unmet social needs, and pushes us to connect with others.”
“But few studies have tested whether this plays out in the long term, partly because loneliness and social isolation are rarely measured together,” Bryan said. To address this gap, the researchers designed a study to track whether loneliness actually helps isolated children reconnect over time, and whether facing both loneliness and isolation simultaneously creates a magnified penalty for a person’s future well-being. “We also wanted to better understand how loneliness and isolation work together and separately to shape a young person’s health, wellbeing, education and employment as they grow up,” she added.
To do this, the researchers used data from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, which follows 2,232 twins born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995. The sample is nationally representative, covering a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, and consists of 49% male and 90% White participants. The team collected data on the participants at two key developmental stages: age 12 and age 18.
At age 12, the researchers gathered data on social isolation by asking mothers and teachers to rate the children’s social withdrawal and the extent to which they were rejected by peers. The 12-year-olds also filled out a questionnaire to self-report their own feelings of loneliness. At age 18, the participants self-reported both their loneliness and their level of social isolation, which was measured by asking about their access to supportive relationships with family and friends.
The team also assessed a wide array of life outcomes when the participants reached age 18. These included mental health indicators, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. They also measured general well-being, like life satisfaction and sleep quality, along with health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol use. Finally, they evaluated socioeconomic outcomes, tracking the participants’ educational achievements, employability, and whether they were currently out of school and out of work.
The researchers found that loneliness and social isolation feed into each other over time, rather than correcting one another. Children who felt lonely at age 12 tended to be more socially isolated at age 18, and this effect was about twice as strong as the reverse, where children who were socially isolated at age 12 reported higher levels of loneliness as young adults.
This does not support the evolutionary theory that loneliness acts as a helpful alarm bell. Isolated children who experienced high loneliness went on to experience high levels of social isolation as young adults, just like their peers who were isolated but not lonely. The distress of loneliness did not seem to help these youths successfully build or rebuild social connections over the six-year period. “Rather than assuming these children will find their own way through it, our findings suggest loneliness and social isolation may need to be tackled directly,” Bryan noted.
The study also evaluated how these two social deficits impact later life outcomes. Both loneliness and isolation at age 12 independently predicted poorer mental health, worse well-being, and lower socioeconomic standing at age 18. While most mental health links held even after accounting for childhood mental health and personality, childhood isolation’s link to depression and loneliness’s link to anxiety disappeared when these earlier factors were considered. However, childhood social isolation remained linked to every future socioeconomic outcome. “Each mattered in its own right, not just because they tend to occur together,” Bryan explained.
The impact on a participant’s future career prospects proved especially dramatic. “Social isolation was particularly important for education and employment outcomes more socially isolated secondary school students went on to have fewer qualifications and be less employable in young adulthood than their less isolated peers,” the researcher continued. “The risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) was particularly striking: the most isolated children had around 2.4 times the odds of being NEET at 18, compared with their peers.”
Interestingly, the researchers did not find evidence of a compounded penalty. Young people who were both highly lonely and highly isolated struggled with similar levels of mental health and socioeconomic difficulties as those who experienced only one of the issues. For well-being and socioeconomic outcomes, the authors described this as a potential ceiling effect. For children who reported the highest levels of loneliness, being socially isolated did not add much extra damage to their well-being or socioeconomic outcomes, possibly because those outcomes were already heavily affected, or because loneliness and isolation work through similar pathways.
Despite this ceiling effect, the sheer impact of isolation alone stood out to the research team. “What surprised us most was the strength of the association between social isolation and poor education and employment outcomes,” Bryan said. “We didn’t expect it to be quite this strong two to three times stronger than for other well-established risk factors, like childhood depression or anxiety.”
This finding highlights a potential blind spot in how society addresses youth employment. “Given how much public and policy attention youth employment is getting right now, it was striking to find social isolation playing such a large role, when most current strategies focus on skills and job opportunities instead,” she added.
These long-term impacts on mental health are in line with research covered by PsyPost previously. For example, a study covered by PsyPost in 2025 tracked youth into adulthood and found that adolescent loneliness predicted a higher risk for depression and stress-related conditions. In a similar vein, a meta-analysis covered by PsyPost in 2022 highlighted a steady link between youth loneliness and depressive symptoms across different ages and genders. However, while that review measured depressive symptoms at a single point in time, the new study tracked broader mental health longitudinally into young adulthood.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study measured loneliness and social isolation only at two points in time, separated by six years. This large gap makes it impossible to know if short, temporary bursts of loneliness might act differently than long-term, persistent loneliness. The evolutionary theory suggests that mild, fleeting loneliness might prompt social connection, but this study could not track daily or weekly fluctuations.
The researchers also used different measurement tools at age 12 compared to age 18. This was done to ensure the questions were appropriate for the participants’ changing developmental stages, but it makes it slightly harder to compare their social experiences directly across time.
There are a few things to keep in mind regarding the study sample. Because all participants are twins, their social experiences might look slightly different from those of single children. Twins grow up with a sibling of the exact same age, which could influence how they interact with peers and experience feelings of isolation or companionship.
Going forward, the team hopes to identify the mechanisms that prevent lonely youth from rebuilding their networks. “We’d like to better understand why loneliness doesn’t seem to help isolated children reconnect for example, whether this is because they withdraw rather than reach out, or because other difficulties that often go along with loneliness (like social difficulties or anxiety) make attempts to reconnect less successful,” Bryan said.
The researchers also want to expand their timeline. “It would also be important to look at how loneliness and isolation relate to each other across different stages of life,” Bryan noted. “Our study focused on childhood and adolescence, but loneliness and social isolation matter at all stages of life.”
The study, “Investigating the interplay of loneliness and social isolation across adolescence: Findings from a nationally representative longitudinal study,” was authored by Bridget T. Bryan, Katherine N. Thompson, Helen L. Fisher, Timothy Matthews, Barry Milne, and Louise Arseneault.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ChildhoodLoneliness #SocialIsolation #LonelinessVsIsolation #AdolescentMentalHealth #EducationAndEmployment #NEETRisk #LonelinessLongTermEffects #TwinStudy #EnvironmentalRiskLongitudinalStudy #MentalHealthResearch
-
DATE: October 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: Financial and relationship worries predict bad dreams
URL: https://www.psypost.org/daytime-stress-predicts-negative-emotions-during-sleep/
People experiencing high levels of stress during their waking hours are more likely to experience negative emotions while they dream. However, the specific coping strategies people use to manage daytime stress do not appear to alter these nocturnal emotional responses. These findings were published in the journal Dreaming.
Psychologists often frame the relationship between daily life and sleep through a concept known as the Continuity Hypothesis. This idea suggests that a person’s waking experiences, thoughts, and feelings carry over directly into their dream content. If someone experiences a highly stressful event at work or in their personal life, those same anxious or fearful emotions are expected to surface while they sleep.
Stress is a common psychological experience, but individuals manage it in vastly different ways. This management process is known as coping. Coping strategies are generally divided into adaptive and maladaptive categories.
Adaptive methods are considered healthy and constructive. They include seeking social support from friends, focusing on positive thoughts, keeping faith, or engaging in active problem solving to remove the source of the stress.
Maladaptive methods are less constructive and can sometimes worsen the original problem. These behaviors often involve avoiding the issue or engaging in harmful habits, such as excessive alcohol consumption or smoking. Both types of coping shape how individuals experience waking distress, and researchers are curious if these habits also shape the subconscious mind.
Some psychological theories propose that dreaming itself acts as an overnight coping mechanism. Known as the Mastery Hypothesis, this idea posits that dreams help the brain process difficult waking events in a safe, offline environment. By simulating stressful scenarios, the mind might be trying to practice emotional regulation or problem solving.
Past research has established a firm connection between daily distress and the frequency of nightmares. Less is known about whether the waking behaviors people use to handle stress might influence the emotional tone of their dreams at night. Psychologist Jonas Mathes of SRH University Heidelberg and his colleagues designed a study to test whether specific daytime coping strategies could buffer the effects of stress on negative dream emotions.
The research team recruited 65 participants, ranging in age from 17 to 61, primarily through social media advertisements. The vast majority of the participants were female, and most were currently enrolled as students. Before beginning the main observation period, the participants completed a comprehensive survey assessing their current levels of daily stress.
This initial questionnaire asked participants to rate their burdens across various domains of life, including financial problems, performance pressure at work or school, and uncertainties regarding their health. It also asked them to identify the coping strategies they typically use to handle these difficult situations. The strategies were sorted into adaptive categories, like positive thinking and social support, and maladaptive categories, which the survey defined exclusively as increased alcohol and cigarette consumption.
After finishing the survey, participants were instructed to keep a structured online dream diary for 14 consecutive days. Each morning, they recorded whether they remembered their dreams and rated the intensity of any positive or negative emotions they experienced while sleeping on a scale from zero to three.
The diary also asked participants to note the specific types of emotions present in their dreams. They could select from fear, sadness, contempt, joy, anger, disgust, and surprise, with multiple selections allowed per night. Finally, the participants indicated whether they intuitively felt the dream was a nightmare, relying on their own personal interpretation rather than a strict clinical definition.
Over the two-week period, the participants recorded a total of 276 dreams. The emotions of surprise and joy were the most frequently reported, appearing in the majority of the dream entries. However, participants reported primary negative emotions, such as fear, sadness, contempt, anger, or disgust, in 39 percent of their dream reports.
Out of all the recorded dreams, approximately 11 percent were classified by the dreamers as nightmares. The frequency of these self-described nightmares was closely tied to negative dream emotions, particularly feelings of anger. Nightmares were also inversely associated with feelings of joy, meaning dreams labeled as nightmares tended to contain less joy.
When analyzing the questionnaire data alongside the dream diaries, the researchers found that waking-life distress was a predictable indicator of negative emotions during sleep. Participants who reported higher levels of daily stress were more likely to experience intense negative emotions in their dreams.
The researchers looked at specific sources of waking stress to see which had the strongest carryover effect. They found that interpersonal and financial worries were the most closely linked to bad dreams. Specifically, uncertainties regarding family, friends, romantic relationships, and debt had the strongest associations with negative dream emotions.
The research team then evaluated whether coping strategies modified this emotional carryover. They anticipated that adaptive daytime coping might reduce the occurrence of negative dreams, while maladaptive coping might exacerbate them. However, the influence of both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies on negative dream emotions was not statistically significant.
Participants who frequently relied on social support or positive thinking did not predictably experience fewer negative emotions in their sleep compared to those who did not. Similarly, the use of alcohol or cigarettes to cope with stress did not produce a statistically significant increase in negative dream emotions. The way a person managed their stress during the day did not seem to change how that stress manifested at night.
The study relies heavily on self-reported data entered retrospectively each morning. This approach means the results could be influenced by memory errors, as people often struggle to recall the exact emotional nuances of their dreams upon waking. A participant might remember a dream as frightening in the morning, even if the fear was only a minor component of the actual dream experience.
The sample size was also relatively constrained and consisted mainly of younger adult students recruited online. This demographic makeup might limit how well the findings apply to the broader population, as older adults or non-students might experience different types of stress or rely on different coping mechanisms. The overall frequency of nightmares in the sample was also quite low, which made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about nightmare disorders.
The measurement tool used to track maladaptive coping only asked about alcohol and cigarette consumption. People use many other less healthy strategies to manage stress, such as overeating, behavioral avoidance, or social withdrawal, which were not captured by the questionnaire.
Future research could expand on these behavioral measures by utilizing a wider array of maladaptive coping descriptions. Researchers could also focus specifically on individuals who experience frequent, severe nightmares to better understand how daily coping mechanisms interact with sleep. Tracking participants over a longer period, such as a full month, could also provide a better picture of how fluctuating stress levels alter the dream landscape.
The study, “Coping Strategies and Dreams: The Impact of Waking-Life Distress on Negative Dream Emotions,” was authored by Jonas Mathes, Eileen Hizal-Keul, and Nadia Sosnowsky-Waschek.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/daytime-stress-predicts-negative-emotions-during-sleep/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #stressanddreams #nightmares #dreamemotion #sleepstudy #continuityhypothesis #copingstrategies #financialworries #interpersonalstress #negativeemotions #DreamingJournal
-
DATE: October 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: Financial and relationship worries predict bad dreams
URL: https://www.psypost.org/daytime-stress-predicts-negative-emotions-during-sleep/
People experiencing high levels of stress during their waking hours are more likely to experience negative emotions while they dream. However, the specific coping strategies people use to manage daytime stress do not appear to alter these nocturnal emotional responses. These findings were published in the journal Dreaming.
Psychologists often frame the relationship between daily life and sleep through a concept known as the Continuity Hypothesis. This idea suggests that a person’s waking experiences, thoughts, and feelings carry over directly into their dream content. If someone experiences a highly stressful event at work or in their personal life, those same anxious or fearful emotions are expected to surface while they sleep.
Stress is a common psychological experience, but individuals manage it in vastly different ways. This management process is known as coping. Coping strategies are generally divided into adaptive and maladaptive categories.
Adaptive methods are considered healthy and constructive. They include seeking social support from friends, focusing on positive thoughts, keeping faith, or engaging in active problem solving to remove the source of the stress.
Maladaptive methods are less constructive and can sometimes worsen the original problem. These behaviors often involve avoiding the issue or engaging in harmful habits, such as excessive alcohol consumption or smoking. Both types of coping shape how individuals experience waking distress, and researchers are curious if these habits also shape the subconscious mind.
Some psychological theories propose that dreaming itself acts as an overnight coping mechanism. Known as the Mastery Hypothesis, this idea posits that dreams help the brain process difficult waking events in a safe, offline environment. By simulating stressful scenarios, the mind might be trying to practice emotional regulation or problem solving.
Past research has established a firm connection between daily distress and the frequency of nightmares. Less is known about whether the waking behaviors people use to handle stress might influence the emotional tone of their dreams at night. Psychologist Jonas Mathes of SRH University Heidelberg and his colleagues designed a study to test whether specific daytime coping strategies could buffer the effects of stress on negative dream emotions.
The research team recruited 65 participants, ranging in age from 17 to 61, primarily through social media advertisements. The vast majority of the participants were female, and most were currently enrolled as students. Before beginning the main observation period, the participants completed a comprehensive survey assessing their current levels of daily stress.
This initial questionnaire asked participants to rate their burdens across various domains of life, including financial problems, performance pressure at work or school, and uncertainties regarding their health. It also asked them to identify the coping strategies they typically use to handle these difficult situations. The strategies were sorted into adaptive categories, like positive thinking and social support, and maladaptive categories, which the survey defined exclusively as increased alcohol and cigarette consumption.
After finishing the survey, participants were instructed to keep a structured online dream diary for 14 consecutive days. Each morning, they recorded whether they remembered their dreams and rated the intensity of any positive or negative emotions they experienced while sleeping on a scale from zero to three.
The diary also asked participants to note the specific types of emotions present in their dreams. They could select from fear, sadness, contempt, joy, anger, disgust, and surprise, with multiple selections allowed per night. Finally, the participants indicated whether they intuitively felt the dream was a nightmare, relying on their own personal interpretation rather than a strict clinical definition.
Over the two-week period, the participants recorded a total of 276 dreams. The emotions of surprise and joy were the most frequently reported, appearing in the majority of the dream entries. However, participants reported primary negative emotions, such as fear, sadness, contempt, anger, or disgust, in 39 percent of their dream reports.
Out of all the recorded dreams, approximately 11 percent were classified by the dreamers as nightmares. The frequency of these self-described nightmares was closely tied to negative dream emotions, particularly feelings of anger. Nightmares were also inversely associated with feelings of joy, meaning dreams labeled as nightmares tended to contain less joy.
When analyzing the questionnaire data alongside the dream diaries, the researchers found that waking-life distress was a predictable indicator of negative emotions during sleep. Participants who reported higher levels of daily stress were more likely to experience intense negative emotions in their dreams.
The researchers looked at specific sources of waking stress to see which had the strongest carryover effect. They found that interpersonal and financial worries were the most closely linked to bad dreams. Specifically, uncertainties regarding family, friends, romantic relationships, and debt had the strongest associations with negative dream emotions.
The research team then evaluated whether coping strategies modified this emotional carryover. They anticipated that adaptive daytime coping might reduce the occurrence of negative dreams, while maladaptive coping might exacerbate them. However, the influence of both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies on negative dream emotions was not statistically significant.
Participants who frequently relied on social support or positive thinking did not predictably experience fewer negative emotions in their sleep compared to those who did not. Similarly, the use of alcohol or cigarettes to cope with stress did not produce a statistically significant increase in negative dream emotions. The way a person managed their stress during the day did not seem to change how that stress manifested at night.
The study relies heavily on self-reported data entered retrospectively each morning. This approach means the results could be influenced by memory errors, as people often struggle to recall the exact emotional nuances of their dreams upon waking. A participant might remember a dream as frightening in the morning, even if the fear was only a minor component of the actual dream experience.
The sample size was also relatively constrained and consisted mainly of younger adult students recruited online. This demographic makeup might limit how well the findings apply to the broader population, as older adults or non-students might experience different types of stress or rely on different coping mechanisms. The overall frequency of nightmares in the sample was also quite low, which made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about nightmare disorders.
The measurement tool used to track maladaptive coping only asked about alcohol and cigarette consumption. People use many other less healthy strategies to manage stress, such as overeating, behavioral avoidance, or social withdrawal, which were not captured by the questionnaire.
Future research could expand on these behavioral measures by utilizing a wider array of maladaptive coping descriptions. Researchers could also focus specifically on individuals who experience frequent, severe nightmares to better understand how daily coping mechanisms interact with sleep. Tracking participants over a longer period, such as a full month, could also provide a better picture of how fluctuating stress levels alter the dream landscape.
The study, “Coping Strategies and Dreams: The Impact of Waking-Life Distress on Negative Dream Emotions,” was authored by Jonas Mathes, Eileen Hizal-Keul, and Nadia Sosnowsky-Waschek.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/daytime-stress-predicts-negative-emotions-during-sleep/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #stressanddreams #nightmares #dreamemotion #sleepstudy #continuityhypothesis #copingstrategies #financialworries #interpersonalstress #negativeemotions #DreamingJournal
-
DATE: October 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: Financial and relationship worries predict bad dreams
URL: https://www.psypost.org/daytime-stress-predicts-negative-emotions-during-sleep/
People experiencing high levels of stress during their waking hours are more likely to experience negative emotions while they dream. However, the specific coping strategies people use to manage daytime stress do not appear to alter these nocturnal emotional responses. These findings were published in the journal Dreaming.
Psychologists often frame the relationship between daily life and sleep through a concept known as the Continuity Hypothesis. This idea suggests that a person’s waking experiences, thoughts, and feelings carry over directly into their dream content. If someone experiences a highly stressful event at work or in their personal life, those same anxious or fearful emotions are expected to surface while they sleep.
Stress is a common psychological experience, but individuals manage it in vastly different ways. This management process is known as coping. Coping strategies are generally divided into adaptive and maladaptive categories.
Adaptive methods are considered healthy and constructive. They include seeking social support from friends, focusing on positive thoughts, keeping faith, or engaging in active problem solving to remove the source of the stress.
Maladaptive methods are less constructive and can sometimes worsen the original problem. These behaviors often involve avoiding the issue or engaging in harmful habits, such as excessive alcohol consumption or smoking. Both types of coping shape how individuals experience waking distress, and researchers are curious if these habits also shape the subconscious mind.
Some psychological theories propose that dreaming itself acts as an overnight coping mechanism. Known as the Mastery Hypothesis, this idea posits that dreams help the brain process difficult waking events in a safe, offline environment. By simulating stressful scenarios, the mind might be trying to practice emotional regulation or problem solving.
Past research has established a firm connection between daily distress and the frequency of nightmares. Less is known about whether the waking behaviors people use to handle stress might influence the emotional tone of their dreams at night. Psychologist Jonas Mathes of SRH University Heidelberg and his colleagues designed a study to test whether specific daytime coping strategies could buffer the effects of stress on negative dream emotions.
The research team recruited 65 participants, ranging in age from 17 to 61, primarily through social media advertisements. The vast majority of the participants were female, and most were currently enrolled as students. Before beginning the main observation period, the participants completed a comprehensive survey assessing their current levels of daily stress.
This initial questionnaire asked participants to rate their burdens across various domains of life, including financial problems, performance pressure at work or school, and uncertainties regarding their health. It also asked them to identify the coping strategies they typically use to handle these difficult situations. The strategies were sorted into adaptive categories, like positive thinking and social support, and maladaptive categories, which the survey defined exclusively as increased alcohol and cigarette consumption.
After finishing the survey, participants were instructed to keep a structured online dream diary for 14 consecutive days. Each morning, they recorded whether they remembered their dreams and rated the intensity of any positive or negative emotions they experienced while sleeping on a scale from zero to three.
The diary also asked participants to note the specific types of emotions present in their dreams. They could select from fear, sadness, contempt, joy, anger, disgust, and surprise, with multiple selections allowed per night. Finally, the participants indicated whether they intuitively felt the dream was a nightmare, relying on their own personal interpretation rather than a strict clinical definition.
Over the two-week period, the participants recorded a total of 276 dreams. The emotions of surprise and joy were the most frequently reported, appearing in the majority of the dream entries. However, participants reported primary negative emotions, such as fear, sadness, contempt, anger, or disgust, in 39 percent of their dream reports.
Out of all the recorded dreams, approximately 11 percent were classified by the dreamers as nightmares. The frequency of these self-described nightmares was closely tied to negative dream emotions, particularly feelings of anger. Nightmares were also inversely associated with feelings of joy, meaning dreams labeled as nightmares tended to contain less joy.
When analyzing the questionnaire data alongside the dream diaries, the researchers found that waking-life distress was a predictable indicator of negative emotions during sleep. Participants who reported higher levels of daily stress were more likely to experience intense negative emotions in their dreams.
The researchers looked at specific sources of waking stress to see which had the strongest carryover effect. They found that interpersonal and financial worries were the most closely linked to bad dreams. Specifically, uncertainties regarding family, friends, romantic relationships, and debt had the strongest associations with negative dream emotions.
The research team then evaluated whether coping strategies modified this emotional carryover. They anticipated that adaptive daytime coping might reduce the occurrence of negative dreams, while maladaptive coping might exacerbate them. However, the influence of both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies on negative dream emotions was not statistically significant.
Participants who frequently relied on social support or positive thinking did not predictably experience fewer negative emotions in their sleep compared to those who did not. Similarly, the use of alcohol or cigarettes to cope with stress did not produce a statistically significant increase in negative dream emotions. The way a person managed their stress during the day did not seem to change how that stress manifested at night.
The study relies heavily on self-reported data entered retrospectively each morning. This approach means the results could be influenced by memory errors, as people often struggle to recall the exact emotional nuances of their dreams upon waking. A participant might remember a dream as frightening in the morning, even if the fear was only a minor component of the actual dream experience.
The sample size was also relatively constrained and consisted mainly of younger adult students recruited online. This demographic makeup might limit how well the findings apply to the broader population, as older adults or non-students might experience different types of stress or rely on different coping mechanisms. The overall frequency of nightmares in the sample was also quite low, which made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about nightmare disorders.
The measurement tool used to track maladaptive coping only asked about alcohol and cigarette consumption. People use many other less healthy strategies to manage stress, such as overeating, behavioral avoidance, or social withdrawal, which were not captured by the questionnaire.
Future research could expand on these behavioral measures by utilizing a wider array of maladaptive coping descriptions. Researchers could also focus specifically on individuals who experience frequent, severe nightmares to better understand how daily coping mechanisms interact with sleep. Tracking participants over a longer period, such as a full month, could also provide a better picture of how fluctuating stress levels alter the dream landscape.
The study, “Coping Strategies and Dreams: The Impact of Waking-Life Distress on Negative Dream Emotions,” was authored by Jonas Mathes, Eileen Hizal-Keul, and Nadia Sosnowsky-Waschek.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/daytime-stress-predicts-negative-emotions-during-sleep/
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