#psychotherapy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #psychotherapy, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 12:36PM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
Traditional eating-disorder models centered on thinness miss male-pattern pathology focused on muscularity, physique optimization, and performance, including bulking/cutting cycles and supplement misuse. https://t.co/GfbMS5eUBH
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #MaleBodyImage #MuscularityCulture #DisorderedEating #BulkingCutting #SupplementMisuse
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 12:36PM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
Traditional eating-disorder models centered on thinness miss male-pattern pathology focused on muscularity, physique optimization, and performance, including bulking/cutting cycles and supplement misuse. https://t.co/GfbMS5eUBH
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #MaleBodyImage #MuscularityCulture #DisorderedEating #BulkingCutting #SupplementMisuse
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DATE: July 30, 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: Scientists are using biological markers to take the guesswork out of depression treatment
A recent study published in Nature Mental Health suggests that using biological and behavioral markers can help predict how well a person with depression will respond to common medications. By evaluating specific brain patterns and cognitive traits before treatment, scientists found evidence that certain patients are much more likely to experience symptom relief from antidepressants. These findings provide a foundation for developing personalized treatment plans that could reduce the time and guesswork typically involved in finding the right medication for depression.
Major depressive disorder affects millions of people, yet finding an effective treatment often relies on a trial and error process. A patient might take a medication for a month or more before knowing if it works, and a large portion of individuals do not experience adequate relief from the first drug they try.
“Treating depression still involves too much trial and error: only about 30-50% of patients respond to the first antidepressant they receive, and it can take several weeks to determine whether a medication is working,” said Diego A. Pizzagalli, founding director of UC Irvine’s Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries and distinguished professor of psychiatry and human behavior, neurobiology and behavior, and biomedical engineering.
To reduce this waiting period and improve outcomes, scientists are searching for objective signs that might predict a person’s response to specific drugs before a prescription is written. These objective signs are known as biomarkers, which are measurable indicators of a biological state or condition. For depression, a biomarker might be a specific pattern of brain activity, a cognitive trait, or even a demographic factor like a person’s employment status. By identifying these markers, clinicians might eventually match patients with the exact medication most likely to help them.
In this context, the study aimed to predict responses to two widely prescribed antidepressants: sertraline and bupropion. Pizzagalli explained the reasoning behind looking at these specific options. “We wanted to test whether information collected before treatment, including brain connectivity, reward learning, cognitive performance, and clinical characteristics, could help identify who is most likely to benefit from two commonly prescribed antidepressants, sertraline and bupropion,” he said.
Sertraline belongs to a class of drugs that increases levels of the chemical serotonin in the brain to help regulate mood. Bupropion operates differently, targeting other brain chemicals called dopamine and norepinephrine, which are associated with motivation and reward processing. Because these drugs work through different chemical pathways, researchers suspected that distinct biological profiles might indicate which medication tends to be most effective for an individual patient.
The authors first developed a predictive tool using data from a previous large clinical trial known as the EMBARC study. “An important feature of this work is that we did not simply examine existing treatment data after the fact,” Pizzagalli said. “We first developed the prediction models in an earlier, independent study and then tested them prospectively in a double-blind clinical trial, making this an unusually rigorous early test of biomarker-guided antidepressant treatment.”
To build this predictive algorithm, the researchers examined various potential biomarkers, including demographic details like employment status and clinical factors such as depression severity and personality traits like neuroticism. They also included specific cognitive tests and brain imaging data to round out the predictive tool. By analyzing these past records, they built a mathematical model to identify the key traits of people who responded well to each medication.
One specific measure in this model involved functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. This technology measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow over time, allowing scientists to see how different regions communicate. The researchers looked at the resting connection between two brain areas involved in processing rewards and regulating emotions. These two regions are the nucleus accumbens, located deep within the brain, and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, situated near the front of the brain.
Along with brain scans, the predictive tool incorporated specific behavioral tests to measure cognitive functions. Participants completed a computer-based assessment called the Probabilistic Reward Task to measure reward sensitivity, which evaluates how strongly a person responds to positive feedback. They also completed a cognitive control assessment known as the Flanker task, which measures a person’s ability to focus on specific targets while actively ignoring distracting information.
By combining these diverse data points, the algorithm assigned a positive or negative marker for both sertraline and bupropion. To test this algorithm in real time, the researchers enrolled a new group of 48 unmedicated adults experiencing major depression. Each participant underwent the baseline MRI scans, cognitive assessments, and clinical interviews. Researchers used standardized clinical questionnaires, such as the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, to quantify the exact severity of each participant’s depressive symptoms before starting any treatment.
Within a few days of these initial tests, the algorithm analyzed the new participants’ data to determine their biological markers. Out of the original group, 47 participants completed at least one week of treatment and were included in the main analysis. Following their biomarker assessment, participants were randomly assigned to receive either sertraline or bupropion.
Half of the group received a medication that was consistent with their biological marker, meaning the algorithm predicted they would respond well to it based on their specific biology. The other half received a medication that was inconsistent with their marker profile. To prevent any bias, the trial was double-blind, meaning neither the patients nor the doctors evaluating them knew which specific medication had been prescribed or what the biomarker results were.
The researchers tracked the participants’ depression symptoms throughout an eight week period to see how they progressed. They anticipated that individuals matched with the correct drug would show a stronger improvement. “We expected people to do better when they received the specific medication indicated by their biomarker profile, but that was not what we found,” Pizzagalli told PsyPost.
“Instead, the markers appeared better at distinguishing people who were generally more likely, or less likely, to respond to either medication: the response rate was approximately 71% among participants with positive markers for both drugs, compared with about 43% among those with neither marker,” Pizzagalli said. The data showed that assigning a drug strictly based on an aligned marker did not produce a statistically significant difference in symptom relief compared to an unaligned assignment. The specific medication a participant received seemed to matter less than the overall presence of positive biomarkers.
Regardless of the drug assignment, participants who possessed positive markers for both drugs, or at least one of the drugs, experienced greater reductions in their depression symptoms than those who had two negative markers. Individuals with a marker for just one of the drugs had a response rate of 65.4 percent. The study defined a response as a 50 percent or greater reduction in clinical depression scores from the beginning to the end of the trial.
“Our results offer an encouraging but preliminary step toward making depression treatment more personalized,” Pizzagalli said. “Participants whose profiles included at least one positive treatment-response marker improved more than those whose profiles suggested that neither medication was likely to help; however, the markers did not reliably tell us whether sertraline or bupropion was the better choice for a particular individual.”
There are some potential misinterpretations that readers should avoid. “These findings do not mean that a brain scan or behavioral test can currently tell a patient which antidepressant to take,” Pizzagalli said. “This was a relatively small study, and our primary comparison, whether patients did better when matched to the medication indicated by their markers, was not statistically significant; the findings therefore need to be replicated in substantially larger and more diverse samples.”
The reliance on functional magnetic resonance imaging presents another practical barrier for widespread clinical application. Brain scans are expensive, time consuming, and require specialized equipment that is not easily accessible in everyday primary care settings. Additionally, variations in how different MRI machines process data can make it difficult to generalize the algorithm across different hospitals or research centers.
Addressing these logistical hurdles will require establishing standardized procedures across the medical field. “The next step is to test and refine these prediction models in larger, multisite clinical trials,” Pizzagalli said. “We also want to develop markers that are easier and less expensive to use in routine care, and to determine whether different profiles predict response not only to conventional antidepressants, but also to treatments such as brain stimulation, ketamine, and other rapid-acting therapies.”
The study, “A precision medicine trial of bupropion and sertraline for major depressive disorder using a biomarker-guided sequential multiple-assignment design,” was authored by Peter Zhukovsky, Manuel Kuhn, Lauren R. Borchers, Boyu Ren, Sarah E. Woronko, Mohan Li, Choi Sze Tracy Lam, Ethan M. Zhang, Kerry J. Ressler, Brian P. Brennan, Gordana Vitaliano, and Diego A. Pizzagalli.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DepressionBiomarkers #PrecisionMentalHealth #BiomarkerGuidedTreatment #DepressionResearch #fmri #sertraline #bupropion #MentalHealthInnovation #PersonalizedMedicine #NatureMentalHealth
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DATE: July 30, 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: Scientists are using biological markers to take the guesswork out of depression treatment
A recent study published in Nature Mental Health suggests that using biological and behavioral markers can help predict how well a person with depression will respond to common medications. By evaluating specific brain patterns and cognitive traits before treatment, scientists found evidence that certain patients are much more likely to experience symptom relief from antidepressants. These findings provide a foundation for developing personalized treatment plans that could reduce the time and guesswork typically involved in finding the right medication for depression.
Major depressive disorder affects millions of people, yet finding an effective treatment often relies on a trial and error process. A patient might take a medication for a month or more before knowing if it works, and a large portion of individuals do not experience adequate relief from the first drug they try.
“Treating depression still involves too much trial and error: only about 30-50% of patients respond to the first antidepressant they receive, and it can take several weeks to determine whether a medication is working,” said Diego A. Pizzagalli, founding director of UC Irvine’s Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries and distinguished professor of psychiatry and human behavior, neurobiology and behavior, and biomedical engineering.
To reduce this waiting period and improve outcomes, scientists are searching for objective signs that might predict a person’s response to specific drugs before a prescription is written. These objective signs are known as biomarkers, which are measurable indicators of a biological state or condition. For depression, a biomarker might be a specific pattern of brain activity, a cognitive trait, or even a demographic factor like a person’s employment status. By identifying these markers, clinicians might eventually match patients with the exact medication most likely to help them.
In this context, the study aimed to predict responses to two widely prescribed antidepressants: sertraline and bupropion. Pizzagalli explained the reasoning behind looking at these specific options. “We wanted to test whether information collected before treatment, including brain connectivity, reward learning, cognitive performance, and clinical characteristics, could help identify who is most likely to benefit from two commonly prescribed antidepressants, sertraline and bupropion,” he said.
Sertraline belongs to a class of drugs that increases levels of the chemical serotonin in the brain to help regulate mood. Bupropion operates differently, targeting other brain chemicals called dopamine and norepinephrine, which are associated with motivation and reward processing. Because these drugs work through different chemical pathways, researchers suspected that distinct biological profiles might indicate which medication tends to be most effective for an individual patient.
The authors first developed a predictive tool using data from a previous large clinical trial known as the EMBARC study. “An important feature of this work is that we did not simply examine existing treatment data after the fact,” Pizzagalli said. “We first developed the prediction models in an earlier, independent study and then tested them prospectively in a double-blind clinical trial, making this an unusually rigorous early test of biomarker-guided antidepressant treatment.”
To build this predictive algorithm, the researchers examined various potential biomarkers, including demographic details like employment status and clinical factors such as depression severity and personality traits like neuroticism. They also included specific cognitive tests and brain imaging data to round out the predictive tool. By analyzing these past records, they built a mathematical model to identify the key traits of people who responded well to each medication.
One specific measure in this model involved functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. This technology measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow over time, allowing scientists to see how different regions communicate. The researchers looked at the resting connection between two brain areas involved in processing rewards and regulating emotions. These two regions are the nucleus accumbens, located deep within the brain, and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, situated near the front of the brain.
Along with brain scans, the predictive tool incorporated specific behavioral tests to measure cognitive functions. Participants completed a computer-based assessment called the Probabilistic Reward Task to measure reward sensitivity, which evaluates how strongly a person responds to positive feedback. They also completed a cognitive control assessment known as the Flanker task, which measures a person’s ability to focus on specific targets while actively ignoring distracting information.
By combining these diverse data points, the algorithm assigned a positive or negative marker for both sertraline and bupropion. To test this algorithm in real time, the researchers enrolled a new group of 48 unmedicated adults experiencing major depression. Each participant underwent the baseline MRI scans, cognitive assessments, and clinical interviews. Researchers used standardized clinical questionnaires, such as the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, to quantify the exact severity of each participant’s depressive symptoms before starting any treatment.
Within a few days of these initial tests, the algorithm analyzed the new participants’ data to determine their biological markers. Out of the original group, 47 participants completed at least one week of treatment and were included in the main analysis. Following their biomarker assessment, participants were randomly assigned to receive either sertraline or bupropion.
Half of the group received a medication that was consistent with their biological marker, meaning the algorithm predicted they would respond well to it based on their specific biology. The other half received a medication that was inconsistent with their marker profile. To prevent any bias, the trial was double-blind, meaning neither the patients nor the doctors evaluating them knew which specific medication had been prescribed or what the biomarker results were.
The researchers tracked the participants’ depression symptoms throughout an eight week period to see how they progressed. They anticipated that individuals matched with the correct drug would show a stronger improvement. “We expected people to do better when they received the specific medication indicated by their biomarker profile, but that was not what we found,” Pizzagalli told PsyPost.
“Instead, the markers appeared better at distinguishing people who were generally more likely, or less likely, to respond to either medication: the response rate was approximately 71% among participants with positive markers for both drugs, compared with about 43% among those with neither marker,” Pizzagalli said. The data showed that assigning a drug strictly based on an aligned marker did not produce a statistically significant difference in symptom relief compared to an unaligned assignment. The specific medication a participant received seemed to matter less than the overall presence of positive biomarkers.
Regardless of the drug assignment, participants who possessed positive markers for both drugs, or at least one of the drugs, experienced greater reductions in their depression symptoms than those who had two negative markers. Individuals with a marker for just one of the drugs had a response rate of 65.4 percent. The study defined a response as a 50 percent or greater reduction in clinical depression scores from the beginning to the end of the trial.
“Our results offer an encouraging but preliminary step toward making depression treatment more personalized,” Pizzagalli said. “Participants whose profiles included at least one positive treatment-response marker improved more than those whose profiles suggested that neither medication was likely to help; however, the markers did not reliably tell us whether sertraline or bupropion was the better choice for a particular individual.”
There are some potential misinterpretations that readers should avoid. “These findings do not mean that a brain scan or behavioral test can currently tell a patient which antidepressant to take,” Pizzagalli said. “This was a relatively small study, and our primary comparison, whether patients did better when matched to the medication indicated by their markers, was not statistically significant; the findings therefore need to be replicated in substantially larger and more diverse samples.”
The reliance on functional magnetic resonance imaging presents another practical barrier for widespread clinical application. Brain scans are expensive, time consuming, and require specialized equipment that is not easily accessible in everyday primary care settings. Additionally, variations in how different MRI machines process data can make it difficult to generalize the algorithm across different hospitals or research centers.
Addressing these logistical hurdles will require establishing standardized procedures across the medical field. “The next step is to test and refine these prediction models in larger, multisite clinical trials,” Pizzagalli said. “We also want to develop markers that are easier and less expensive to use in routine care, and to determine whether different profiles predict response not only to conventional antidepressants, but also to treatments such as brain stimulation, ketamine, and other rapid-acting therapies.”
The study, “A precision medicine trial of bupropion and sertraline for major depressive disorder using a biomarker-guided sequential multiple-assignment design,” was authored by Peter Zhukovsky, Manuel Kuhn, Lauren R. Borchers, Boyu Ren, Sarah E. Woronko, Mohan Li, Choi Sze Tracy Lam, Ethan M. Zhang, Kerry J. Ressler, Brian P. Brennan, Gordana Vitaliano, and Diego A. Pizzagalli.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #DepressionBiomarkers #PrecisionMentalHealth #BiomarkerGuidedTreatment #DepressionResearch #fmri #sertraline #bupropion #MentalHealthInnovation #PersonalizedMedicine #NatureMentalHealth
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 11:00AM
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: Researchers find evidence connecting a specific blood protein to brain tissue loss
Higher levels of a blood protein called growth differentiation factor 15 during midlife were associated with approximately twice the rate of dementia over the following twenty years. This protein is released by cells during aging, inflammation, and other forms of biological stress. The research, published in Science Advances, provides evidence linking this protein to future cognitive decline.
Previous research identified the protein as a possible early warning sign for dementia. However, scientists were uncertain whether it merely reflected poor health or actually contributed to damaging brain processes. To find out, researchers investigated whether blood levels of this protein predicted different forms of dementia. They also examined whether it was connected to brain changes, inherited risk, and immune activity.
Led by Cassandra O. Blew at the US National Institutes of Health, the team combined evidence from six large studies that tracked participants over time. The principal midlife analysis included 11,595 American adults with an average age of fifty-seven. These participants were followed for about twenty years. The scientists also analyzed data from older American adults, British participants, and Icelandic adults, with average ages ranging from sixty to seventy-six.
The researchers measured the protein in blood samples and examined subsequent diagnoses of all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. The statistical models accounted for factors like age, sex, kidney function, smoking, obesity, diabetes, and genetic susceptibility. Results revealed that in the midlife American sample, each doubling of the protein’s levels was associated with a 55 percent greater risk of developing dementia.
Among participants with protein levels in the top half of the group, 7.5 percent developed dementia over twenty years, compared with 3.9 percent of those in the bottom half. A similar pattern emerged in the older American group over a seven-year period. In that older group, 18.7 percent of individuals with high levels developed dementia, compared to 9.5 percent of those with lower levels.
The relationship was stronger for vascular dementia than for Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia develops through reduced blood flow and damage to the brain’s blood vessels, while Alzheimer’s is associated with abnormal protein buildups. In the British sample, each doubling of the protein was associated with a 101 percent higher vascular dementia risk but only a 20 percent higher Alzheimer’s risk. The Icelandic group produced similar estimates, showing a 106 percent higher risk for vascular dementia compared with a 24 percent increase for Alzheimer’s.
Brain scans provided matching evidence. Higher levels of the protein were associated with smaller brain volumes, thinner brain tissue, and greater damage to white matter, which is the network of nerve fibers connecting different brain regions. The elevated protein also predicted increased odds of small strokes and microscopic brain bleeds. The findings suggest the protein relates more strongly to blood vessel damage, general brain tissue loss, and inflammation rather than the specific protein pathways of Alzheimer’s disease.
Genetic analyses provided evidence suggesting the protein might play a direct role in causing brain changes. To explore this, the team conducted an experiment using macrophages, which are immune cells that engulf and destroy cellular debris. The scientists exposed macrophages from six adults to the growth differentiation factor 15 protein. This exposure altered immune and energy-related pathways in the cells, such as reducing antiviral signaling and disrupting the removal of free heme, an iron-rich molecule that can be toxic when released from red blood cells.
The authors concluded that their findings support the role of this circulating protein as an early warning sign, particularly for vascular dementia and brain inflammation. They noted that the results also help identify the biological mechanisms by which the protein might drive dementia risk.
A few limitations restrict the study’s conclusions. The blood protein added only modest predictive information for dementia risk beyond a person’s age. The research design also cannot conclusively establish that the protein causes the disease. Finally, the association between the protein and dementia was not statistically significant in a smaller Japanese group of 340 people, suggesting further research is needed across different populations.
The paper, “Plasma GDF15 affects long-term dementia risk and alters neuroimmune signaling,” was authored by Cassandra O. Blew, Michael R. Duggan, Dimitrios Tsitsipatis, Gabriela T. Gomez, Zulema Rodriguez-Hernandez, Luke C. Pilling, Jingsha Chen, Eva Jacobsen, Heather E. Dark, Yifei Lu, Shannon M. Drouin, Cassandra M. Joynes, Minhao Yao, Murat Bilgel, Abhay Moghekar, Qu Tian, Julián Candia, Mary Kaileh, Aditi Gupta, Krystyna Mazan-Mamczarz, Myriam Gorospe, Alexey Lyashkov, Yevgeniya Lukyanenko, Mika Kivimaki, Philipp Frank, Lori L. Jennings, Valborg Gudmundsdottir, Vilmundur Gudnason, Lenore J. Launer, Naoto Kaneko, Shintaro Kato, Makio Furuichi, Masaki Shibayama, Masahisa Katsuno, Keita Hiraga, Yukiko Nishita, Rei Otsuka, James R. Pike, Mary R. Rooney, Pascal Schlosser, Yuhan Cui, Guray Erus, Christos Davatzikos, Rebecca F. Gottesman, Iwao Waga, Priya Palta, Christie Ballantyne, Michael Griswold, Zhonghua Liu, Luigi Ferrucci, Allison B. Herman, and Keenan A. Walker.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #GDF15 #dementiarisk #vasculardementia #braininflammation #neuroimmunology #bloodprotein #midlifestudies #brainscanmarkers #agingbiology #SciAdvResearch
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 11:00AM
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: Researchers find evidence connecting a specific blood protein to brain tissue loss
Higher levels of a blood protein called growth differentiation factor 15 during midlife were associated with approximately twice the rate of dementia over the following twenty years. This protein is released by cells during aging, inflammation, and other forms of biological stress. The research, published in Science Advances, provides evidence linking this protein to future cognitive decline.
Previous research identified the protein as a possible early warning sign for dementia. However, scientists were uncertain whether it merely reflected poor health or actually contributed to damaging brain processes. To find out, researchers investigated whether blood levels of this protein predicted different forms of dementia. They also examined whether it was connected to brain changes, inherited risk, and immune activity.
Led by Cassandra O. Blew at the US National Institutes of Health, the team combined evidence from six large studies that tracked participants over time. The principal midlife analysis included 11,595 American adults with an average age of fifty-seven. These participants were followed for about twenty years. The scientists also analyzed data from older American adults, British participants, and Icelandic adults, with average ages ranging from sixty to seventy-six.
The researchers measured the protein in blood samples and examined subsequent diagnoses of all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. The statistical models accounted for factors like age, sex, kidney function, smoking, obesity, diabetes, and genetic susceptibility. Results revealed that in the midlife American sample, each doubling of the protein’s levels was associated with a 55 percent greater risk of developing dementia.
Among participants with protein levels in the top half of the group, 7.5 percent developed dementia over twenty years, compared with 3.9 percent of those in the bottom half. A similar pattern emerged in the older American group over a seven-year period. In that older group, 18.7 percent of individuals with high levels developed dementia, compared to 9.5 percent of those with lower levels.
The relationship was stronger for vascular dementia than for Alzheimer’s disease. Vascular dementia develops through reduced blood flow and damage to the brain’s blood vessels, while Alzheimer’s is associated with abnormal protein buildups. In the British sample, each doubling of the protein was associated with a 101 percent higher vascular dementia risk but only a 20 percent higher Alzheimer’s risk. The Icelandic group produced similar estimates, showing a 106 percent higher risk for vascular dementia compared with a 24 percent increase for Alzheimer’s.
Brain scans provided matching evidence. Higher levels of the protein were associated with smaller brain volumes, thinner brain tissue, and greater damage to white matter, which is the network of nerve fibers connecting different brain regions. The elevated protein also predicted increased odds of small strokes and microscopic brain bleeds. The findings suggest the protein relates more strongly to blood vessel damage, general brain tissue loss, and inflammation rather than the specific protein pathways of Alzheimer’s disease.
Genetic analyses provided evidence suggesting the protein might play a direct role in causing brain changes. To explore this, the team conducted an experiment using macrophages, which are immune cells that engulf and destroy cellular debris. The scientists exposed macrophages from six adults to the growth differentiation factor 15 protein. This exposure altered immune and energy-related pathways in the cells, such as reducing antiviral signaling and disrupting the removal of free heme, an iron-rich molecule that can be toxic when released from red blood cells.
The authors concluded that their findings support the role of this circulating protein as an early warning sign, particularly for vascular dementia and brain inflammation. They noted that the results also help identify the biological mechanisms by which the protein might drive dementia risk.
A few limitations restrict the study’s conclusions. The blood protein added only modest predictive information for dementia risk beyond a person’s age. The research design also cannot conclusively establish that the protein causes the disease. Finally, the association between the protein and dementia was not statistically significant in a smaller Japanese group of 340 people, suggesting further research is needed across different populations.
The paper, “Plasma GDF15 affects long-term dementia risk and alters neuroimmune signaling,” was authored by Cassandra O. Blew, Michael R. Duggan, Dimitrios Tsitsipatis, Gabriela T. Gomez, Zulema Rodriguez-Hernandez, Luke C. Pilling, Jingsha Chen, Eva Jacobsen, Heather E. Dark, Yifei Lu, Shannon M. Drouin, Cassandra M. Joynes, Minhao Yao, Murat Bilgel, Abhay Moghekar, Qu Tian, Julián Candia, Mary Kaileh, Aditi Gupta, Krystyna Mazan-Mamczarz, Myriam Gorospe, Alexey Lyashkov, Yevgeniya Lukyanenko, Mika Kivimaki, Philipp Frank, Lori L. Jennings, Valborg Gudmundsdottir, Vilmundur Gudnason, Lenore J. Launer, Naoto Kaneko, Shintaro Kato, Makio Furuichi, Masaki Shibayama, Masahisa Katsuno, Keita Hiraga, Yukiko Nishita, Rei Otsuka, James R. Pike, Mary R. Rooney, Pascal Schlosser, Yuhan Cui, Guray Erus, Christos Davatzikos, Rebecca F. Gottesman, Iwao Waga, Priya Palta, Christie Ballantyne, Michael Griswold, Zhonghua Liu, Luigi Ferrucci, Allison B. Herman, and Keenan A. Walker.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #GDF15 #dementiarisk #vasculardementia #braininflammation #neuroimmunology #bloodprotein #midlifestudies #brainscanmarkers #agingbiology #SciAdvResearch
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DATE: July 30, 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: Psilocybin-assisted therapy shows promise for veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD
A new study provides evidence that psilocybin combined with psychotherapy can safely reduce symptoms for military veterans suffering from severe, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. The findings suggest this approach tends to offer meaningful relief for individuals who have not responded to standard therapies. The research was recently published in the journal Communications Medicine.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD, is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms often include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the trauma. Patients also frequently experience avoidance behaviors and negative changes in mood. Among military veterans, this condition tends to be more severe, chronic, and difficult to treat than in the general public.
Many veterans do not respond to standard psychological therapies or traditional medications like antidepressants. This lack of effective options often leaves them with long-term disability and a heightened risk of suicide. Seeking better solutions, a research team explored the potential of psilocybin, which is the primary psychoactive compound found in certain species of mushrooms. When taken in a controlled clinical setting with psychological support, this substance induces profound alterations in perception and mood that might help individuals process traumatic memories.
The research team was led by Stacey B. Armstrong and Alan K. Davis from the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at The Ohio State University. They designed a clinical trial to evaluate whether this combined approach is safe and effective for veterans specifically. By pairing the drug with intensive psychological support, the scientists aimed to disrupt the underlying emotional maintenance processes that keep patients locked in cycles of trauma.
This new project builds on a growing foundation of previous research indicating the benefits of psychedelic treatments. For example, a previous survey study led by Davis found that psychedelics tend to increase a trait known as psychological flexibility. This concept refers to a person’s ability to stay connected to the present moment and manage difficult emotions without avoiding them. In that survey of over two thousand individuals, increases in psychological flexibility were linked to decreases in depression and anxiety.
Another previous study, authored by Armstrong, looked at 45 United States Special Operations Forces veterans who received treatments in Mexico. These veterans were given ibogaine, a compound derived from an African shrub, alongside a psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT. That research provided evidence for significant reductions in both alcohol misuse and trauma symptoms. The veterans also demonstrated notable improvements in cognitive functioning that persisted for at least six months.
Additionally, Davis recently co-authored a long-term follow-up study on patients who received psilocybin therapy for major depressive disorder. Five years after the initial clinical trial, 67 percent of the participants were still in remission from their depression. The researchers noted that the treatment seemed to fundamentally shift how patients related to their depressive symptoms. Even when patients faced new emotional hurdles, they reported that their depression felt more situational and manageable.
To test the psilocybin approach in a new group, the scientists recruited 12 military veterans for an 11-week pilot study. Each participant suffered from severe PTSD that had not responded to standard medical and psychological treatments. The group included nine men and three women, with an average age of about 38 years. Eight of the participants were married and living with a spouse.
The treatment protocol involved roughly 16 hours of psychotherapy spread across multiple visits. Participants first completed eight hours of preparation therapy to build trust with the clinicians and learn grounding techniques. The preparation phase was designed to help the veterans set intentions and mentally prepare for the intense effects of the drug.
Following the preparation phase, the veterans completed two separate dosing sessions spaced two to three weeks apart. During the first session, they received a 15-milligram dose of synthetic psilocybin. In the second session, they received a higher 25-milligram dose.
Two facilitators stayed in the room for the entire eight-hour drug experience to monitor vital signs and provide emotional support. The participants were encouraged to wear eyeshades and listen to music. This setup allowed them to focus inward on their thoughts and emotions during the acute effects of the medication.
The days after each dosing session included integration therapy, where the clinicians helped the veterans process what they experienced. This step is intended to help the patients apply any psychological insights they gained to their daily lives.
The researchers found the treatment to be safe and well-tolerated by the veterans. No serious adverse events occurred at any point during the trial. The participants’ heart rates and blood pressures remained within safe limits during the dosing sessions. The most common minor side effects were mild headaches, brief anxiety, and dizziness, all of which resolved on their own.
In terms of clinical outcomes, the scientists observed large and statistically significant reductions in trauma symptoms. At a one-month follow-up assessment, 75 percent of the participants no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. On a standardized clinical rating scale, the average symptom severity score dropped by 27.5 points.
The research team also monitored the participants for suicidal thoughts and behaviors throughout the trial. They found no increase in suicidal ideation during the study. By the one-month follow-up, 75 percent of the veterans reported no suicidal thoughts at all, and the remaining reports were classified as passive.
The scientists also noted that the veterans showed some symptom improvement during the preparation therapy phase, even before taking the drug. This provides evidence that the psychological support itself plays a supportive role in the healing process. The researchers also tested whether the participants’ expectations for the treatment influenced their outcomes.
They found that a person’s belief in how well the therapy would work did not predict their actual symptom reduction. This suggests that the positive changes were likely driven by the treatment itself rather than by placebo expectations.
These initial findings offer a promising look at a new therapy, but there are several limitations to keep in mind. The pilot study relied on a very small sample size of only 12 participants and did not include a control group. Because everyone knew they were receiving the active drug, the expectations and the intense support provided might have influenced the outcomes. The observed symptom reductions cannot be strictly proven to be caused by the psilocybin alone.
The highly screened nature of the participants also means the results might not apply to all veterans. Individuals with a history of serious suicide attempts or specific psychotic disorders were excluded from the trial for safety reasons. The follow-up period was also limited to just one month, leaving questions about the long-term durability of these specific results.
Future research needs to include larger groups of participants who are randomly assigned to receive either the active treatment or a placebo. This type of blinded study would help clarify exactly how much of the improvement is due to the chemical effects of the drug versus the therapy itself. Scientists also hope to investigate how biological changes in the brain correspond to the psychological relief reported by the patients.
Additional trials might explore whether combining this intervention with other established psychological treatments could yield even better outcomes. Understanding how this substance interacts with different symptom profiles will help clinicians tailor the approach to individual needs. Expanding the diversity of the participants will also be necessary to ensure the therapy is safe and effective for a wider population.
The study, “Safety, feasibility, and preliminary clinical outcomes of psilocybin-assisted therapy for veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD: an open-label pilot clinical trial,” was authored by Stacey B. Armstrong, Adam W. Levin, Nathan D. Sepeda, Hillary Shaub, Taweh Hunter, Angela Douglas, Rafaelle Lancelotta, and Alan K. Davis.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
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-
DATE: July 30, 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: Psilocybin-assisted therapy shows promise for veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD
A new study provides evidence that psilocybin combined with psychotherapy can safely reduce symptoms for military veterans suffering from severe, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. The findings suggest this approach tends to offer meaningful relief for individuals who have not responded to standard therapies. The research was recently published in the journal Communications Medicine.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD, is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms often include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the trauma. Patients also frequently experience avoidance behaviors and negative changes in mood. Among military veterans, this condition tends to be more severe, chronic, and difficult to treat than in the general public.
Many veterans do not respond to standard psychological therapies or traditional medications like antidepressants. This lack of effective options often leaves them with long-term disability and a heightened risk of suicide. Seeking better solutions, a research team explored the potential of psilocybin, which is the primary psychoactive compound found in certain species of mushrooms. When taken in a controlled clinical setting with psychological support, this substance induces profound alterations in perception and mood that might help individuals process traumatic memories.
The research team was led by Stacey B. Armstrong and Alan K. Davis from the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at The Ohio State University. They designed a clinical trial to evaluate whether this combined approach is safe and effective for veterans specifically. By pairing the drug with intensive psychological support, the scientists aimed to disrupt the underlying emotional maintenance processes that keep patients locked in cycles of trauma.
This new project builds on a growing foundation of previous research indicating the benefits of psychedelic treatments. For example, a previous survey study led by Davis found that psychedelics tend to increase a trait known as psychological flexibility. This concept refers to a person’s ability to stay connected to the present moment and manage difficult emotions without avoiding them. In that survey of over two thousand individuals, increases in psychological flexibility were linked to decreases in depression and anxiety.
Another previous study, authored by Armstrong, looked at 45 United States Special Operations Forces veterans who received treatments in Mexico. These veterans were given ibogaine, a compound derived from an African shrub, alongside a psychedelic substance known as 5-MeO-DMT. That research provided evidence for significant reductions in both alcohol misuse and trauma symptoms. The veterans also demonstrated notable improvements in cognitive functioning that persisted for at least six months.
Additionally, Davis recently co-authored a long-term follow-up study on patients who received psilocybin therapy for major depressive disorder. Five years after the initial clinical trial, 67 percent of the participants were still in remission from their depression. The researchers noted that the treatment seemed to fundamentally shift how patients related to their depressive symptoms. Even when patients faced new emotional hurdles, they reported that their depression felt more situational and manageable.
To test the psilocybin approach in a new group, the scientists recruited 12 military veterans for an 11-week pilot study. Each participant suffered from severe PTSD that had not responded to standard medical and psychological treatments. The group included nine men and three women, with an average age of about 38 years. Eight of the participants were married and living with a spouse.
The treatment protocol involved roughly 16 hours of psychotherapy spread across multiple visits. Participants first completed eight hours of preparation therapy to build trust with the clinicians and learn grounding techniques. The preparation phase was designed to help the veterans set intentions and mentally prepare for the intense effects of the drug.
Following the preparation phase, the veterans completed two separate dosing sessions spaced two to three weeks apart. During the first session, they received a 15-milligram dose of synthetic psilocybin. In the second session, they received a higher 25-milligram dose.
Two facilitators stayed in the room for the entire eight-hour drug experience to monitor vital signs and provide emotional support. The participants were encouraged to wear eyeshades and listen to music. This setup allowed them to focus inward on their thoughts and emotions during the acute effects of the medication.
The days after each dosing session included integration therapy, where the clinicians helped the veterans process what they experienced. This step is intended to help the patients apply any psychological insights they gained to their daily lives.
The researchers found the treatment to be safe and well-tolerated by the veterans. No serious adverse events occurred at any point during the trial. The participants’ heart rates and blood pressures remained within safe limits during the dosing sessions. The most common minor side effects were mild headaches, brief anxiety, and dizziness, all of which resolved on their own.
In terms of clinical outcomes, the scientists observed large and statistically significant reductions in trauma symptoms. At a one-month follow-up assessment, 75 percent of the participants no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. On a standardized clinical rating scale, the average symptom severity score dropped by 27.5 points.
The research team also monitored the participants for suicidal thoughts and behaviors throughout the trial. They found no increase in suicidal ideation during the study. By the one-month follow-up, 75 percent of the veterans reported no suicidal thoughts at all, and the remaining reports were classified as passive.
The scientists also noted that the veterans showed some symptom improvement during the preparation therapy phase, even before taking the drug. This provides evidence that the psychological support itself plays a supportive role in the healing process. The researchers also tested whether the participants’ expectations for the treatment influenced their outcomes.
They found that a person’s belief in how well the therapy would work did not predict their actual symptom reduction. This suggests that the positive changes were likely driven by the treatment itself rather than by placebo expectations.
These initial findings offer a promising look at a new therapy, but there are several limitations to keep in mind. The pilot study relied on a very small sample size of only 12 participants and did not include a control group. Because everyone knew they were receiving the active drug, the expectations and the intense support provided might have influenced the outcomes. The observed symptom reductions cannot be strictly proven to be caused by the psilocybin alone.
The highly screened nature of the participants also means the results might not apply to all veterans. Individuals with a history of serious suicide attempts or specific psychotic disorders were excluded from the trial for safety reasons. The follow-up period was also limited to just one month, leaving questions about the long-term durability of these specific results.
Future research needs to include larger groups of participants who are randomly assigned to receive either the active treatment or a placebo. This type of blinded study would help clarify exactly how much of the improvement is due to the chemical effects of the drug versus the therapy itself. Scientists also hope to investigate how biological changes in the brain correspond to the psychological relief reported by the patients.
Additional trials might explore whether combining this intervention with other established psychological treatments could yield even better outcomes. Understanding how this substance interacts with different symptom profiles will help clinicians tailor the approach to individual needs. Expanding the diversity of the participants will also be necessary to ensure the therapy is safe and effective for a wider population.
The study, “Safety, feasibility, and preliminary clinical outcomes of psilocybin-assisted therapy for veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD: an open-label pilot clinical trial,” was authored by Stacey B. Armstrong, Adam W. Levin, Nathan D. Sepeda, Hillary Shaub, Taweh Hunter, Angela Douglas, Rafaelle Lancelotta, and Alan K. Davis.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #PsilocybinTherapy #PTSDRecovery #VeteransHealth #MentalHealthInnovation #PsychedelicResearch #TraumaHealing # PTSDTreatment #OpenLabelTrial #PsychologicalFlexibility #SafetyFeasibility
-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 09:23AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: What if the brain does not create consciousness?
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729043829.htm
Christof Koch is taking on one of science’s deepest mysteries: how the brain creates conscious experience, or whether it creates it at all. He argues that materialism has yet to solve this “hard problem” and will explore puzzling phenomena such as near-death experiences and terminal lucidity. His work points toward the possibility that consciousness may be woven into reality itself.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729043829.htm
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Consciousness #BrainScience #HardProblem #Materialism #ChristofKoch #NearDeathExperience #TerminalLucidity #ConsciousExperience #ScienceOfConsciousness #WovenReality
-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 09:23AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: What if the brain does not create consciousness?
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729043829.htm
Christof Koch is taking on one of science’s deepest mysteries: how the brain creates conscious experience, or whether it creates it at all. He argues that materialism has yet to solve this “hard problem” and will explore puzzling phenomena such as near-death experiences and terminal lucidity. His work points toward the possibility that consciousness may be woven into reality itself.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729043829.htm
-------------------------------------------------
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 #Consciousness #BrainScience #HardProblem #Materialism #ChristofKoch #NearDeathExperience #TerminalLucidity #ConsciousExperience #ScienceOfConsciousness #WovenReality
-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New space station study reveals a hidden side effect of long-term microgravity on the human brain
A study conducted aboard the China Space Station revealed that astronauts exhibited increased movement durations and altered motion profiles when reaching for a target with their arm, compared to a control group and their own baseline motion profiles on Earth (i.e., before flight). Analysis showed that the differences stemmed from reduced initial force and later compensation, indicating that the astronauts tended to underestimate the effective mass of their own limbs in microgravity. The paper was published in eLife.
Mass is a fundamental property of matter that describes both how strongly an object resists acceleration and how it participates in gravitational interactions. Unlike weight, mass does not depend on the local strength of gravity and is measured in kilograms. An astronaut with a mass of 80 kilograms on Earth still has a mass of 80 kilograms in orbit.
Weight, however, is the gravitational force acting on a mass and is commonly expressed as the product of mass and gravitational acceleration. Astronauts and objects appear weightless in orbit because they and their spacecraft are continuously falling around Earth together. This state is called microgravity because very small residual accelerations remain owing to factors such as atmospheric drag, vibrations, and movements within the spacecraft.
Although objects have almost no apparent weight in microgravity, they retain their mass. Consequently, pushing a massive object in space requires more force than pushing a less massive one, just as it does on Earth. Objects also retain momentum, so a heavy object moving through a spacecraft can be difficult and dangerous to stop despite appearing weightless. Gravity therefore determines how mass is experienced through weight and support forces, but it does not change the mass itself or its fundamental inertial properties.
Study author Zhaoran Zhang and his colleagues note that astronauts tend to show slowed general movements while aboard space stations. One reason for this is that fast movements in microgravity can destabilize body posture, make the arrest of accelerated objects harder, and increase the risk of collisions. However, slowed movements persist even when a person’s body is fully constrained and these risks are eliminated.
One hypothesis proposed to explain this is that the brain treats microgravity as a novel situation and adopts a strategy prioritizing safety and postural stability over speed. The second hypothesis is that the brain underestimates the mass of body segments (like the arms) in microgravity.
To test these hypotheses and compare them, the study authors conducted an experiment leveraging a unique biomechanical property of human arm movement called anisotropic inertia. Anisotropic inertia of the human arm means that the arm resists acceleration differently depending on the direction of movement because of its joint configuration, mass distribution, and biomechanical structure. Because of this, if humans underestimate the mass of their own arm in microgravity, it would show up as reduced peak speed or acceleration of the arm when they try to reach for something.
Participants in this study were 12 astronauts from the first four missions of the China Space Station (i.e., taikonauts) and 12 right-handed residents of Beijing serving as a control group. Ten of the astronauts were male and two were female. Their average age was 50 years. The control group participants were matched with them on age and gender.
The experimental task was conducted using a tablet. At the start of each trial, an orange circle appeared at the bottom of the screen, signaling participants to move their right index finger to this start circle. After a 0.5- to 1-second delay, a target appeared in one of three possible locations, 12 cm from the circle at different angles. Participants were instructed to reach the target quickly and accurately, pausing briefly before returning to the start. If more than 0.65 seconds elapsed before they reached the target, they would get a “too slow” message. In half of the trials, there was a 50 ms “beep” sound. Each session included 120 trials with 3 target directions. The position of the index finger was recorded continuously during the trial.
The astronauts completed multiple training sessions on the ground before their flight to the space station to familiarize themselves with the task. The control group was included to assess the confounding effects of repeated measurements and evaluate practice effects. All tests on the ground were conducted using identical devices and software for both the astronauts and the control group.
Results showed some differences in participants’ response speeds depending on the direction the target was in. However, comparisons between pre-flight and in-flight metrics revealed that astronauts actually had faster reaction times when initiating the reach for a target in space than they had on the ground before the flight. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in their reaction times between their stay at the China Space Station and after their flight, indicating that the faster reaction was likely the effect of practice rather than a microgravity influence. A similar pattern was found in the control group as well.
Although the astronauts’ reaction times were faster, further analysis showed that their overall movement durations were longer while in microgravity. They were particularly longer when reaching for targets at 90° and 135° angles—directions where the effective mass of the moving limb was higher due to anisotropic inertia. This effect was not observed in the control group, indicating that it was specific to spaceflight. The astronauts also showed altered hand movement profiles while in microgravity.
Further analyses indicated that these differences stemmed from reduced initial force generation in the feedforward phase (when the hand is initially propelled toward the target) followed by compensatory, feedback-based corrections. This, along with the other findings, is highly consistent with the hypothesis that the brain underestimates the mass of the arm in microgravity.
“These findings provide support for the body mass underestimation hypothesis while being inconsistent with the strategic slowing hypothesis. Importantly, the sensory estimate of bodily property in microgravity is biased but immune from sensorimotor adaptation, calling for an extension of existing theories of motor learning,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the specificities of motor behavior in microgravity. However, humans learn motor behaviors, and it is possible that movement patterns could further change as astronauts gain more long-term experience with microgravity. This does not mean their motion profiles would eventually become identical to those on Earth, but they could adapt as they find even more effective ways to operate in a weightless environment.
The paper, “Evidence that humans underestimate body mass in microgravity: kinematic signatures in reaching movements during spaceflight,” was authored by Zhaoran Zhang, Yu Tian, Chunhui Wang, Changhua Jiang, Bo Wang, Hongqiang Yu, Rui Zhao, and Kunlin Wei.
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #SpaceStationResearch #MicrogravityEffects #BodyMassUnderestimation #ArmKinematics #SpaceflightMotorLearning #AnisotropicInertia #NASAChinaStation #SpaceMedicine #eLifeStudy #AstronautMovement
-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New space station study reveals a hidden side effect of long-term microgravity on the human brain
A study conducted aboard the China Space Station revealed that astronauts exhibited increased movement durations and altered motion profiles when reaching for a target with their arm, compared to a control group and their own baseline motion profiles on Earth (i.e., before flight). Analysis showed that the differences stemmed from reduced initial force and later compensation, indicating that the astronauts tended to underestimate the effective mass of their own limbs in microgravity. The paper was published in eLife.
Mass is a fundamental property of matter that describes both how strongly an object resists acceleration and how it participates in gravitational interactions. Unlike weight, mass does not depend on the local strength of gravity and is measured in kilograms. An astronaut with a mass of 80 kilograms on Earth still has a mass of 80 kilograms in orbit.
Weight, however, is the gravitational force acting on a mass and is commonly expressed as the product of mass and gravitational acceleration. Astronauts and objects appear weightless in orbit because they and their spacecraft are continuously falling around Earth together. This state is called microgravity because very small residual accelerations remain owing to factors such as atmospheric drag, vibrations, and movements within the spacecraft.
Although objects have almost no apparent weight in microgravity, they retain their mass. Consequently, pushing a massive object in space requires more force than pushing a less massive one, just as it does on Earth. Objects also retain momentum, so a heavy object moving through a spacecraft can be difficult and dangerous to stop despite appearing weightless. Gravity therefore determines how mass is experienced through weight and support forces, but it does not change the mass itself or its fundamental inertial properties.
Study author Zhaoran Zhang and his colleagues note that astronauts tend to show slowed general movements while aboard space stations. One reason for this is that fast movements in microgravity can destabilize body posture, make the arrest of accelerated objects harder, and increase the risk of collisions. However, slowed movements persist even when a person’s body is fully constrained and these risks are eliminated.
One hypothesis proposed to explain this is that the brain treats microgravity as a novel situation and adopts a strategy prioritizing safety and postural stability over speed. The second hypothesis is that the brain underestimates the mass of body segments (like the arms) in microgravity.
To test these hypotheses and compare them, the study authors conducted an experiment leveraging a unique biomechanical property of human arm movement called anisotropic inertia. Anisotropic inertia of the human arm means that the arm resists acceleration differently depending on the direction of movement because of its joint configuration, mass distribution, and biomechanical structure. Because of this, if humans underestimate the mass of their own arm in microgravity, it would show up as reduced peak speed or acceleration of the arm when they try to reach for something.
Participants in this study were 12 astronauts from the first four missions of the China Space Station (i.e., taikonauts) and 12 right-handed residents of Beijing serving as a control group. Ten of the astronauts were male and two were female. Their average age was 50 years. The control group participants were matched with them on age and gender.
The experimental task was conducted using a tablet. At the start of each trial, an orange circle appeared at the bottom of the screen, signaling participants to move their right index finger to this start circle. After a 0.5- to 1-second delay, a target appeared in one of three possible locations, 12 cm from the circle at different angles. Participants were instructed to reach the target quickly and accurately, pausing briefly before returning to the start. If more than 0.65 seconds elapsed before they reached the target, they would get a “too slow” message. In half of the trials, there was a 50 ms “beep” sound. Each session included 120 trials with 3 target directions. The position of the index finger was recorded continuously during the trial.
The astronauts completed multiple training sessions on the ground before their flight to the space station to familiarize themselves with the task. The control group was included to assess the confounding effects of repeated measurements and evaluate practice effects. All tests on the ground were conducted using identical devices and software for both the astronauts and the control group.
Results showed some differences in participants’ response speeds depending on the direction the target was in. However, comparisons between pre-flight and in-flight metrics revealed that astronauts actually had faster reaction times when initiating the reach for a target in space than they had on the ground before the flight. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in their reaction times between their stay at the China Space Station and after their flight, indicating that the faster reaction was likely the effect of practice rather than a microgravity influence. A similar pattern was found in the control group as well.
Although the astronauts’ reaction times were faster, further analysis showed that their overall movement durations were longer while in microgravity. They were particularly longer when reaching for targets at 90° and 135° angles—directions where the effective mass of the moving limb was higher due to anisotropic inertia. This effect was not observed in the control group, indicating that it was specific to spaceflight. The astronauts also showed altered hand movement profiles while in microgravity.
Further analyses indicated that these differences stemmed from reduced initial force generation in the feedforward phase (when the hand is initially propelled toward the target) followed by compensatory, feedback-based corrections. This, along with the other findings, is highly consistent with the hypothesis that the brain underestimates the mass of the arm in microgravity.
“These findings provide support for the body mass underestimation hypothesis while being inconsistent with the strategic slowing hypothesis. Importantly, the sensory estimate of bodily property in microgravity is biased but immune from sensorimotor adaptation, calling for an extension of existing theories of motor learning,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the specificities of motor behavior in microgravity. However, humans learn motor behaviors, and it is possible that movement patterns could further change as astronauts gain more long-term experience with microgravity. This does not mean their motion profiles would eventually become identical to those on Earth, but they could adapt as they find even more effective ways to operate in a weightless environment.
The paper, “Evidence that humans underestimate body mass in microgravity: kinematic signatures in reaching movements during spaceflight,” was authored by Zhaoran Zhang, Yu Tian, Chunhui Wang, Changhua Jiang, Bo Wang, Hongqiang Yu, Rui Zhao, and Kunlin Wei.
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #SpaceStationResearch #MicrogravityEffects #BodyMassUnderestimation #ArmKinematics #SpaceflightMotorLearning #AnisotropicInertia #NASAChinaStation #SpaceMedicine #eLifeStudy #AstronautMovement
-
DATE: July 30, 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: Long COVID symptoms linked to measurable damage in the brain’s dopamine system
A recent study published in eBioMedicine provides evidence that individuals suffering from long COVID show a measurable reduction in the brain’s dopamine-releasing neurons. These physical brain changes tend to be associated with common persistent symptoms such as apathy, memory problems, and a slowing of physical movements. The findings suggest that treatments aimed at boosting dopamine function could offer a new therapeutic direction for people experiencing the neuropsychiatric effects of long COVID.
Long COVID is a condition where individuals experience ongoing physical and mental symptoms long after their initial infection with the COVID-19 virus has resolved. Many people report persistent brain-related symptoms, including a profound lack of motivation, difficulty experiencing pleasure, memory lapses, and general cognitive sluggishness. The biological mechanisms responsible for these lingering issues remain poorly understood by the medical community.
Past medical research primarily focused on how immune system overreactions and persistent brain inflammation might drive these symptoms. Jeffrey Meyer, a Canada Research Chair, senior research scientist, and professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, authored the new study. His prior work focused extensively on similar inflammatory processes.
“We had top international level expertise in measuring brain inflammation in psychiatric illnesses,” Meyer said. “When COVID came, I decided to use the same imaging tools to study long COVID.”
During that earlier research, Meyer found a distinct pattern linking inflammation and specific brain networks. He noted that the most intense areas of inflammation overlapped with the brain’s dopamine pathways.
“When I discovered evidence for brain inflammation in long COVID, I noticed that the greatest elevations in the inflammation marker were in regions where there are nerve terminals that release dopamine,” Meyer said.
These brain regions also control basic physical movements. Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain that regulates motivation, learning, and physical movement, and its neurons are highly concentrated in a deep brain structure called the striatum.
“Also, the inflammation marker correlated with a measure of movement speed that can be affected by injury to dopamine releasing nerves so I speculated that injury to dopamine releasing nerves could account for the symptom of slowed movement speed, and be related to inflammation in the same region,” Meyer said. “Sometimes inflammation can damage dopamine releasing nerves.”
Scientists had additional reasons to look at the dopamine system in relation to COVID-19. The specific cells that produce dopamine contain high levels of the receptor proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to enter and infect human cells.
“Also, the key binding site for the virus to enter cells is higher density on nerves that release dopamine which is another reason to see if their terminals are lost,” Meyer added.
To measure the health of dopamine neurons, the researchers looked at a protein called vesicular monoamine transporter 2. This protein acts like a microscopic pump, packaging dopamine into tiny cellular sacs so that it can be released to communicate with neighboring cells. Because this protein is almost exclusively found within dopamine-releasing neurons in the striatum, measuring its presence provides a highly accurate estimate of how many intact dopamine nerve terminals exist.
The researchers conducted a case-control study involving 24 adults diagnosed with long COVID and 24 healthy adults matched closely for age. The healthy control group was later expanded to 43 participants for additional exploratory comparisons. Participants in the long COVID group had experienced only mild to moderate illness during their initial infection. However, they all developed significant neuropsychiatric symptoms within three months of their acute illness, and these symptoms had persisted for at least three months.
The scientists established strict exclusion criteria for all participants to ensure the accuracy of their measurements. Anyone with a history of neurological illness prior to their COVID-19 infection was excluded from the study. The team also excluded individuals with a history of moderate or severe substance abuse, as well as anyone who had smoked cigarettes or used recreational drugs within the past two months.
Participants underwent brain imaging using positron emission tomography. This is a medical imaging technique that uses a safe, mildly radioactive tracer to visualize and measure specific cellular processes in the body. For this study, the scientists used a specific tracer designed to bind directly to the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 protein.
In addition to brain scans, participants completed a battery of psychological and physical assessments. Motivation levels were measured using the Marin Apathy Evaluation Scale. Fine motor speed was gauged using the Finger Tapping Test, which requires participants to tap a mechanical counter as quickly as possible. Memory retention and cognitive function were assessed using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire.
The brain imaging revealed that the 24 individuals with long COVID had significantly lower levels of the dopamine transporter protein compared to the healthy controls. Specifically, the long COVID group showed an overall reduction in protein binding across three key regions of the striatum.
“The magnitude of loss is about 18% of the dopamine nerve terminals on average,” Meyer told PsyPost. “In other illnesses this magnitude of loss is associated with symptoms i.e. loss in one region is associated with trouble with motivational energy problems, loss in another region is associated with some slowness of movement and loss in a third region is associated with memory trouble.”
Lower protein levels in specific brain regions correlated directly with the severity of the participants’ symptoms. In the ventral striatum, which helps process motivation, reduced dopamine cell density was associated with higher apathy scores and increased reports of daily cognitive failures. In the dorsal putamen, a region heavily involved in movement, lower cell density correlated with slower performances on the physical finger-tapping test. In the dorsal caudate, which supports learning, reduced cell density was linked to poorer scores on the delayed memory recall test.
“The correlations in loss of the marker of dopamine nerves with symptoms were stronger than expected and correlated with a wider range of symptoms than expected,” Meyer said.
The scientists also tested blood samples from the participants to see if peripheral biomarkers of dopamine metabolism or general nerve damage matched the brain scan results. They found no significant correlations between the blood markers and the imaging data in the long COVID group. This indicates that simple blood tests may not accurately reflect the specific dopamine cell damage occurring deep within the central nervous system.
Observational studies of this nature cannot definitively prove causality. The data shows an association between lower dopamine cell density and long COVID symptoms, but it does not confirm that the virus directly killed the cells. Other biological responses triggered by the virus could potentially contribute to both the brain changes and the neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Another limitation relates to what the positron emission tomography scans physically measure. The imaging tracks the density of the transporter proteins rather than the physical brain cells themselves. It is theoretically possible that the neurons remain structurally intact but have simply stopped producing normal levels of the transporter protein.
The study utilized a relatively small sample size of 24 long COVID patients, and all these individuals suffered from a specific set of severe psychological and cognitive symptoms. As a result, these findings might not apply to people whose long COVID primarily involves respiratory or cardiovascular issues. Future research will need to replicate these brain scans in much larger and more diverse groups of patients to confirm the generalizability of the findings.
A key consideration is that these findings represent a specific point in time, and the long-term trajectory for patients remains unknown. The nervous system has a capacity to heal, and symptom persistence varies from person to person.
“It doesn’t mean people can’t regrow the nerve terminals without treatment or that it is permanent for everyone,” Meyer said. “But it may be that some people will need additional treatment to help.”
The authors suggest that these findings point toward new potential treatments for long COVID. Because the data suggests a localized loss of dopamine function, clinical trials could explore whether existing dopamine-enhancing medications might alleviate symptoms.
“People with long COVID with symptoms of low motivational energy, slowed speed taking longer to complete activities and problems with remembering words probably have lost nerves that release a chemical called dopamine,” Meyer said. “Some people may grow new nerve terminals and recover but for those who do not, there is an opportunity to make treatments to help nerves either release more dopamine or regrow nerve terminals.”
Medications that inhibit dopamine breakdown or provide precursors to dopamine might help restore motivation and cognitive speed in affected patients. The research team is currently working to test this hypothesis in a clinical setting.
“I am close to receiving approval for a clinical study to repurpose a medication for long COVID,” Meyer said. “The medication would help nerves release more dopamine and lower some types of brain inflammation. We hope it will help with memory problems and difficulty with motivational energy.”
The study, “Loss of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 in striatum of long COVID and relationship to neuropsychiatric symptoms,” was authored by Yuhan Karida Liu, Devina Persaud, Erica L. Vieira, Joeffre Braga, Pablo Rusjan, Laura Miler, Jennifer S. Rabin, Tina McCluskey, Isabelle Boileau, Thomas Chao, Michael Bagby, Lucas Narciso, Lauren Rose Gray, Neil Vasdev, Kimberly Desmond, Stefan Kloiber, Jerry Warsh, Muhammad Ishrat Husain, Kelly Smart, Wei Wang, and Jeffrey H. Meyer.
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-
DATE: July 30, 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: Long COVID symptoms linked to measurable damage in the brain’s dopamine system
A recent study published in eBioMedicine provides evidence that individuals suffering from long COVID show a measurable reduction in the brain’s dopamine-releasing neurons. These physical brain changes tend to be associated with common persistent symptoms such as apathy, memory problems, and a slowing of physical movements. The findings suggest that treatments aimed at boosting dopamine function could offer a new therapeutic direction for people experiencing the neuropsychiatric effects of long COVID.
Long COVID is a condition where individuals experience ongoing physical and mental symptoms long after their initial infection with the COVID-19 virus has resolved. Many people report persistent brain-related symptoms, including a profound lack of motivation, difficulty experiencing pleasure, memory lapses, and general cognitive sluggishness. The biological mechanisms responsible for these lingering issues remain poorly understood by the medical community.
Past medical research primarily focused on how immune system overreactions and persistent brain inflammation might drive these symptoms. Jeffrey Meyer, a Canada Research Chair, senior research scientist, and professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, authored the new study. His prior work focused extensively on similar inflammatory processes.
“We had top international level expertise in measuring brain inflammation in psychiatric illnesses,” Meyer said. “When COVID came, I decided to use the same imaging tools to study long COVID.”
During that earlier research, Meyer found a distinct pattern linking inflammation and specific brain networks. He noted that the most intense areas of inflammation overlapped with the brain’s dopamine pathways.
“When I discovered evidence for brain inflammation in long COVID, I noticed that the greatest elevations in the inflammation marker were in regions where there are nerve terminals that release dopamine,” Meyer said.
These brain regions also control basic physical movements. Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain that regulates motivation, learning, and physical movement, and its neurons are highly concentrated in a deep brain structure called the striatum.
“Also, the inflammation marker correlated with a measure of movement speed that can be affected by injury to dopamine releasing nerves so I speculated that injury to dopamine releasing nerves could account for the symptom of slowed movement speed, and be related to inflammation in the same region,” Meyer said. “Sometimes inflammation can damage dopamine releasing nerves.”
Scientists had additional reasons to look at the dopamine system in relation to COVID-19. The specific cells that produce dopamine contain high levels of the receptor proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to enter and infect human cells.
“Also, the key binding site for the virus to enter cells is higher density on nerves that release dopamine which is another reason to see if their terminals are lost,” Meyer added.
To measure the health of dopamine neurons, the researchers looked at a protein called vesicular monoamine transporter 2. This protein acts like a microscopic pump, packaging dopamine into tiny cellular sacs so that it can be released to communicate with neighboring cells. Because this protein is almost exclusively found within dopamine-releasing neurons in the striatum, measuring its presence provides a highly accurate estimate of how many intact dopamine nerve terminals exist.
The researchers conducted a case-control study involving 24 adults diagnosed with long COVID and 24 healthy adults matched closely for age. The healthy control group was later expanded to 43 participants for additional exploratory comparisons. Participants in the long COVID group had experienced only mild to moderate illness during their initial infection. However, they all developed significant neuropsychiatric symptoms within three months of their acute illness, and these symptoms had persisted for at least three months.
The scientists established strict exclusion criteria for all participants to ensure the accuracy of their measurements. Anyone with a history of neurological illness prior to their COVID-19 infection was excluded from the study. The team also excluded individuals with a history of moderate or severe substance abuse, as well as anyone who had smoked cigarettes or used recreational drugs within the past two months.
Participants underwent brain imaging using positron emission tomography. This is a medical imaging technique that uses a safe, mildly radioactive tracer to visualize and measure specific cellular processes in the body. For this study, the scientists used a specific tracer designed to bind directly to the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 protein.
In addition to brain scans, participants completed a battery of psychological and physical assessments. Motivation levels were measured using the Marin Apathy Evaluation Scale. Fine motor speed was gauged using the Finger Tapping Test, which requires participants to tap a mechanical counter as quickly as possible. Memory retention and cognitive function were assessed using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire.
The brain imaging revealed that the 24 individuals with long COVID had significantly lower levels of the dopamine transporter protein compared to the healthy controls. Specifically, the long COVID group showed an overall reduction in protein binding across three key regions of the striatum.
“The magnitude of loss is about 18% of the dopamine nerve terminals on average,” Meyer told PsyPost. “In other illnesses this magnitude of loss is associated with symptoms i.e. loss in one region is associated with trouble with motivational energy problems, loss in another region is associated with some slowness of movement and loss in a third region is associated with memory trouble.”
Lower protein levels in specific brain regions correlated directly with the severity of the participants’ symptoms. In the ventral striatum, which helps process motivation, reduced dopamine cell density was associated with higher apathy scores and increased reports of daily cognitive failures. In the dorsal putamen, a region heavily involved in movement, lower cell density correlated with slower performances on the physical finger-tapping test. In the dorsal caudate, which supports learning, reduced cell density was linked to poorer scores on the delayed memory recall test.
“The correlations in loss of the marker of dopamine nerves with symptoms were stronger than expected and correlated with a wider range of symptoms than expected,” Meyer said.
The scientists also tested blood samples from the participants to see if peripheral biomarkers of dopamine metabolism or general nerve damage matched the brain scan results. They found no significant correlations between the blood markers and the imaging data in the long COVID group. This indicates that simple blood tests may not accurately reflect the specific dopamine cell damage occurring deep within the central nervous system.
Observational studies of this nature cannot definitively prove causality. The data shows an association between lower dopamine cell density and long COVID symptoms, but it does not confirm that the virus directly killed the cells. Other biological responses triggered by the virus could potentially contribute to both the brain changes and the neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Another limitation relates to what the positron emission tomography scans physically measure. The imaging tracks the density of the transporter proteins rather than the physical brain cells themselves. It is theoretically possible that the neurons remain structurally intact but have simply stopped producing normal levels of the transporter protein.
The study utilized a relatively small sample size of 24 long COVID patients, and all these individuals suffered from a specific set of severe psychological and cognitive symptoms. As a result, these findings might not apply to people whose long COVID primarily involves respiratory or cardiovascular issues. Future research will need to replicate these brain scans in much larger and more diverse groups of patients to confirm the generalizability of the findings.
A key consideration is that these findings represent a specific point in time, and the long-term trajectory for patients remains unknown. The nervous system has a capacity to heal, and symptom persistence varies from person to person.
“It doesn’t mean people can’t regrow the nerve terminals without treatment or that it is permanent for everyone,” Meyer said. “But it may be that some people will need additional treatment to help.”
The authors suggest that these findings point toward new potential treatments for long COVID. Because the data suggests a localized loss of dopamine function, clinical trials could explore whether existing dopamine-enhancing medications might alleviate symptoms.
“People with long COVID with symptoms of low motivational energy, slowed speed taking longer to complete activities and problems with remembering words probably have lost nerves that release a chemical called dopamine,” Meyer said. “Some people may grow new nerve terminals and recover but for those who do not, there is an opportunity to make treatments to help nerves either release more dopamine or regrow nerve terminals.”
Medications that inhibit dopamine breakdown or provide precursors to dopamine might help restore motivation and cognitive speed in affected patients. The research team is currently working to test this hypothesis in a clinical setting.
“I am close to receiving approval for a clinical study to repurpose a medication for long COVID,” Meyer said. “The medication would help nerves release more dopamine and lower some types of brain inflammation. We hope it will help with memory problems and difficulty with motivational energy.”
The study, “Loss of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 in striatum of long COVID and relationship to neuropsychiatric symptoms,” was authored by Yuhan Karida Liu, Devina Persaud, Erica L. Vieira, Joeffre Braga, Pablo Rusjan, Laura Miler, Jennifer S. Rabin, Tina McCluskey, Isabelle Boileau, Thomas Chao, Michael Bagby, Lucas Narciso, Lauren Rose Gray, Neil Vasdev, Kimberly Desmond, Stefan Kloiber, Jerry Warsh, Muhammad Ishrat Husain, Kelly Smart, Wei Wang, and Jeffrey H. Meyer.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #LongCOVID #DopamineBrain #NeuropsychiatricSymptoms #BrainInflammation #DopaminePathways #VesicularMonoamineTransporter2 #Striatum #MotivationMemoryMovement #NeurodegenerativeResearch #ClinicalTrials
-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Childhood emotional abuse predicts lower romantic relationship satisfaction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/
Adults who experienced psychological maltreatment as children tend to report lower satisfaction in their romantic relationships, largely because they struggle to form a strong sense of belonging. The longitudinal findings suggest that prioritizing therapies that build a person’s feelings of social connectedness could help repair relational damage stemming from early parental mistreatment. The research was published in Personality and Individual Differences.
Psychologists have extensively documented how early trauma shapes human development. Physical maltreatment and sexual abuse are routinely investigated as risk factors for later mental health struggles. Psychological abuse receives less academic attention, despite its pervasive impact on emotional well-being. This type of maltreatment encompasses parental attitudes and behaviors that are consistently repeated during a child’s developmental years, such as constant belittling, emotional neglect, harsh criticism, or active rejection.
Yakup İme, a researcher at Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey, sought to understand how this specific form of early adversity echoes into adulthood. Decades of research grounded in attachment theory suggest that the initial bonds children form with their caregivers serve as a template for future connections. A supportive home environment normally teaches children that others are reliable and trustworthy. When parents are psychologically abusive, children often internalize a negative view of themselves and the outside world.
Children who enjoy a consistent and responsive bond with their primary caregivers generally mature into adults who handle emotional intimacy well. They learn to communicate their needs and regulate their emotions effectively during conflicts. In contrast, those subjected to psychological abuse often adopt disorganized or insecure attachment styles. They may alternate between clinging to a partner and pushing them away, leaving little room for emotional stability.
Researchers suspect this early conditioning can disrupt romantic relationships much later in life. Relationship satisfaction is an emotional reaction formed by an individual’s evaluation of the positive and negative situations in their romantic partnership. High relationship satisfaction is strongly associated with better overall physical health and psychological stability. Lower satisfaction is often linked to emotional distress and relationship dissolution.
To understand the mechanism linking a difficult childhood to an unhappy romantic life, İme focused on the concept of belongingness. Belongingness refers to an individual’s internal perception of being accepted, valued, and supported by a group or another person. Humans are fundamentally social beings driven to seek out safe environments and connect with others.
Past research indicates that a high sense of belonging provides a buffer against stress. Conversely, feeling alienated or rejected is associated with anxiety and social isolation. İme hypothesized that psychological abuse in early life damages a person’s ability to feel integrated into social networks. This damaged sense of belonging might then erode their ability to feel secure and satisfied in a romantic relationship.
To test this proposed pathway, the researcher designed a longitudinal study. Collecting data at multiple points in time allows researchers to track developmental trends and determine if changes in one variable predict changes in another. The study recruited 346 adult university students located in Konya, Turkey.
The participant group included 213 women and 133 men, with ages ranging from 20 to 36. Most participants were clustered around the age of 25. The data collection occurred in two separate waves, spaced three months apart, taking place in February and May of a single academic year. Measuring psychological constructs at spaced intervals helps separate preexisting personality traits from actual emotional shifts over time.
During both sessions, participants completed identical printed questionnaires. They filled out a psychological abuse scale, which measures the frequency of psychologically abusive parenting behaviors during early development. Participants rated statements such as how often a parent would purposefully embarrass them in front of others. A higher score indicated a higher frequency of emotional mistreatment in the past.
Next, they completed a general belongingness scale, which assesses whether an individual feels socially accepted or rejected in the present day. Respondents rated statements indicating whether they felt capable of establishing close relationships with their peers and broader community. Higher scores on this scale pointed to a well-developed sense of belonging.
Finally, the participants answered a relationship assessment scale, which evaluates overall contentment with a current romantic partner. This questionnaire asked participants to grade their general satisfaction with their dating life. Elevated scores on this assessment signified that the participant felt happy and secure with their romantic choices.
The researcher matched the responses from the first wave of data collection with the responses from the second wave. To protect privacy, identifying details were limited to pseudonyms and fragments of phone numbers. The data was then analyzed using a statistical technique favored for tracking variables across different points in time. This analysis controls for initial baseline scores, revealing how the factors influence one another as time passes.
The data revealed a predictable sequence stretching from early parental mistreatment to adult romantic dissatisfaction. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood psychological abuse displayed noticeably lower feelings of belonging during the initial assessment. Even after adjusting for baseline assessments, the history of psychological abuse predicted a further decline in societal belongingness three months later. As these young adults felt more isolated from their peers, their romantic lives suffered.
Lower scores in belongingness at the start of the study predicted diminished relationship satisfaction by the second wave of data collection. Finding a place in a community or feeling accepted by peers appears to sustain the emotional closeness required for romance. When that sense of acceptance was missing, participants grew less content with their dating partners. Overall, the statistical model showed that belonging acts as a mediator, linking early emotional abuse to poor relationship satisfaction.
Those who endured constant belittling or neglect from caregivers often develop self-blame and social withdrawal. Because they expect rejection, they may distance themselves from social support networks entirely. This isolation deprives them of the fundamental human need for safety and connection. Consequently, they enter romantic partnerships with heightened insecurities and an impaired capacity to trust their partners.
The study suggests that finding ways to foster social inclusion could offer a therapeutic lifeline. When adults with adverse childhood experiences are successfully integrated into supportive communities, their internal sense of belonging grows. Feeling valued by a broader group may alleviate some of the heavy emotional burden placed on a single romantic partner. Therapies focused on enhancing social adaptability and general belonging might yield positive outcomes for those struggling with relationship instability.
The research features several practical limitations. The data relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning some responses might have been influenced by a desire to appear socially acceptable. The three-month gap between the two data collection periods limits the ability to track deeply ingrained psychological changes. Tracking participants over several years would offer a more comprehensive look at how these dynamics evolve across a lifespan.
The sample was entirely composed of adult students attending a single university in Turkey. The cultural structure, values, and educational system of the region might have influenced the outcomes. Replicating the study in different countries would help establish whether the observed patterns hold true across diverse populations. The study also stopped short of testing whether the questionnaires maintained strict measurement invariance over time.
Researchers recommend that future inquiries look into other potential mediating factors. Concepts such as interpersonal trust, self-esteem, and emotion regulation skills could also play a role in connecting early emotional maltreatment to later dating distress.
The study, “How early psychological abuse predicts decreased relationship satisfaction via belongingness in adulthood: A longitudinal study,” was authored by Yakup İme.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ChildhoodEmotionalAbuse #BelongingnessMatters #RelationshipSatisfaction #EarlyAdversityEffects #RomanticRelationships #PsychologicalAbuseImpact #SocialConnectedness #AttachmentTheory #LongitudinalStudy #MentalHealthAwareness
-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Childhood emotional abuse predicts lower romantic relationship satisfaction
URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/
Adults who experienced psychological maltreatment as children tend to report lower satisfaction in their romantic relationships, largely because they struggle to form a strong sense of belonging. The longitudinal findings suggest that prioritizing therapies that build a person’s feelings of social connectedness could help repair relational damage stemming from early parental mistreatment. The research was published in Personality and Individual Differences.
Psychologists have extensively documented how early trauma shapes human development. Physical maltreatment and sexual abuse are routinely investigated as risk factors for later mental health struggles. Psychological abuse receives less academic attention, despite its pervasive impact on emotional well-being. This type of maltreatment encompasses parental attitudes and behaviors that are consistently repeated during a child’s developmental years, such as constant belittling, emotional neglect, harsh criticism, or active rejection.
Yakup İme, a researcher at Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey, sought to understand how this specific form of early adversity echoes into adulthood. Decades of research grounded in attachment theory suggest that the initial bonds children form with their caregivers serve as a template for future connections. A supportive home environment normally teaches children that others are reliable and trustworthy. When parents are psychologically abusive, children often internalize a negative view of themselves and the outside world.
Children who enjoy a consistent and responsive bond with their primary caregivers generally mature into adults who handle emotional intimacy well. They learn to communicate their needs and regulate their emotions effectively during conflicts. In contrast, those subjected to psychological abuse often adopt disorganized or insecure attachment styles. They may alternate between clinging to a partner and pushing them away, leaving little room for emotional stability.
Researchers suspect this early conditioning can disrupt romantic relationships much later in life. Relationship satisfaction is an emotional reaction formed by an individual’s evaluation of the positive and negative situations in their romantic partnership. High relationship satisfaction is strongly associated with better overall physical health and psychological stability. Lower satisfaction is often linked to emotional distress and relationship dissolution.
To understand the mechanism linking a difficult childhood to an unhappy romantic life, İme focused on the concept of belongingness. Belongingness refers to an individual’s internal perception of being accepted, valued, and supported by a group or another person. Humans are fundamentally social beings driven to seek out safe environments and connect with others.
Past research indicates that a high sense of belonging provides a buffer against stress. Conversely, feeling alienated or rejected is associated with anxiety and social isolation. İme hypothesized that psychological abuse in early life damages a person’s ability to feel integrated into social networks. This damaged sense of belonging might then erode their ability to feel secure and satisfied in a romantic relationship.
To test this proposed pathway, the researcher designed a longitudinal study. Collecting data at multiple points in time allows researchers to track developmental trends and determine if changes in one variable predict changes in another. The study recruited 346 adult university students located in Konya, Turkey.
The participant group included 213 women and 133 men, with ages ranging from 20 to 36. Most participants were clustered around the age of 25. The data collection occurred in two separate waves, spaced three months apart, taking place in February and May of a single academic year. Measuring psychological constructs at spaced intervals helps separate preexisting personality traits from actual emotional shifts over time.
During both sessions, participants completed identical printed questionnaires. They filled out a psychological abuse scale, which measures the frequency of psychologically abusive parenting behaviors during early development. Participants rated statements such as how often a parent would purposefully embarrass them in front of others. A higher score indicated a higher frequency of emotional mistreatment in the past.
Next, they completed a general belongingness scale, which assesses whether an individual feels socially accepted or rejected in the present day. Respondents rated statements indicating whether they felt capable of establishing close relationships with their peers and broader community. Higher scores on this scale pointed to a well-developed sense of belonging.
Finally, the participants answered a relationship assessment scale, which evaluates overall contentment with a current romantic partner. This questionnaire asked participants to grade their general satisfaction with their dating life. Elevated scores on this assessment signified that the participant felt happy and secure with their romantic choices.
The researcher matched the responses from the first wave of data collection with the responses from the second wave. To protect privacy, identifying details were limited to pseudonyms and fragments of phone numbers. The data was then analyzed using a statistical technique favored for tracking variables across different points in time. This analysis controls for initial baseline scores, revealing how the factors influence one another as time passes.
The data revealed a predictable sequence stretching from early parental mistreatment to adult romantic dissatisfaction. Participants who reported higher levels of childhood psychological abuse displayed noticeably lower feelings of belonging during the initial assessment. Even after adjusting for baseline assessments, the history of psychological abuse predicted a further decline in societal belongingness three months later. As these young adults felt more isolated from their peers, their romantic lives suffered.
Lower scores in belongingness at the start of the study predicted diminished relationship satisfaction by the second wave of data collection. Finding a place in a community or feeling accepted by peers appears to sustain the emotional closeness required for romance. When that sense of acceptance was missing, participants grew less content with their dating partners. Overall, the statistical model showed that belonging acts as a mediator, linking early emotional abuse to poor relationship satisfaction.
Those who endured constant belittling or neglect from caregivers often develop self-blame and social withdrawal. Because they expect rejection, they may distance themselves from social support networks entirely. This isolation deprives them of the fundamental human need for safety and connection. Consequently, they enter romantic partnerships with heightened insecurities and an impaired capacity to trust their partners.
The study suggests that finding ways to foster social inclusion could offer a therapeutic lifeline. When adults with adverse childhood experiences are successfully integrated into supportive communities, their internal sense of belonging grows. Feeling valued by a broader group may alleviate some of the heavy emotional burden placed on a single romantic partner. Therapies focused on enhancing social adaptability and general belonging might yield positive outcomes for those struggling with relationship instability.
The research features several practical limitations. The data relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, meaning some responses might have been influenced by a desire to appear socially acceptable. The three-month gap between the two data collection periods limits the ability to track deeply ingrained psychological changes. Tracking participants over several years would offer a more comprehensive look at how these dynamics evolve across a lifespan.
The sample was entirely composed of adult students attending a single university in Turkey. The cultural structure, values, and educational system of the region might have influenced the outcomes. Replicating the study in different countries would help establish whether the observed patterns hold true across diverse populations. The study also stopped short of testing whether the questionnaires maintained strict measurement invariance over time.
Researchers recommend that future inquiries look into other potential mediating factors. Concepts such as interpersonal trust, self-esteem, and emotion regulation skills could also play a role in connecting early emotional maltreatment to later dating distress.
The study, “How early psychological abuse predicts decreased relationship satisfaction via belongingness in adulthood: A longitudinal study,” was authored by Yakup İme.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-predicts-lower-romantic-relationship-satisfaction/
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #ChildhoodEmotionalAbuse #BelongingnessMatters #RelationshipSatisfaction #EarlyAdversityEffects #RomanticRelationships #PsychologicalAbuseImpact #SocialConnectedness #AttachmentTheory #LongitudinalStudy #MentalHealthAwareness
-
DATE: July 30, 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: Neuroscientists just upended a core assumption about how psychedelics alter brain function
Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that psychedelic substances change how brain activity travels across the surface of the brain. The study provides evidence that drugs like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA reliably reduce the flow of information traveling up into a core brain network associated with self-reflection. These findings offer a new biological explanation for both the therapeutic potential and the psychological risks of using psychedelics to treat mental health conditions.
The default mode network is a collection of interconnected brain regions that are highly active when a person is resting and thinking about themselves. Scientists link this network to introspection, daydreaming, and maintaining a rigid sense of self. In many mental health disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia, the default mode network tends to function abnormally. Because of this connection, researchers want to know exactly how potential psychiatric treatments impact this specific network.
“Psychedelic use is growing faster than our understanding of how these drugs impact the brain, particularly at the level of large-scale brain networks,” said Adam Pines, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, who led the study alongside the study’s senior author, Leanne M. Williams. “Clinically, these unresolved questions limit our ability to know which patients are likely to benefit from psychedelic treatments, and which are at risk of harm.”
Previous studies usually measured brain activity as if it were fixed in place. They looked at average activity in stationary regions over time instead of tracking how signals physically move across the brain tissue.
Brain activity constantly travels in specific directions, either from lower-level sensory areas up to higher-level thinking areas, or vice versa. The upward movement is called bottom-up processing, which involves reacting to basic sensory input. The downward movement is known as top-down processing, where the brain applies past experiences and expectations to interpret incoming information.
“Existing theories on how psychedelics work tend to disagree on a core point: whether psychedelics increase or decrease ‘bottom-up’ brain activity (activity moving from lower-order to higher-order brain areas),” Pines said. “From our perspective, this core premise had not been systematically tested.”
To test this premise, the researchers adapted an analytical method called optical flow. This technique is typically used in computer vision to track the movement of physical objects across video frames. By applying this technique to brain scans, the researchers could evaluate the directional flow of brain activity frame by frame, capturing the exact movement of signals across the cortical surface.
The researchers combined data from four independent studies to test how different psychedelics impact brain activity flow. “Drawing conclusive evidence from psychedelic studies is notoriously difficult,” Pines said. “We tried to establish our results beyond reasonable doubt by replicating our findings across nine different case-control comparisons, involving four datasets and two completely different neuroimaging technologies.”
The first three studies involved human participants who received a specific drug and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan, often called fMRI, measures changes in blood flow to detect active brain areas. Before running their optical flow analysis, the authors masked out segments of data interrupted by head motion to ensure their measurements were highly accurate.
In the first study, fourteen healthy adult participants received either a placebo, eighty milligrams of MDMA, or one hundred and twenty milligrams of MDMA. MDMA is a synthetic substance that alters mood and perception. Participants completed multiple scanning sessions across different days, allowing researchers to compare their brain activity with and without the active drug.
The second study evaluated the effects of psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms. Six healthy participants underwent numerous fMRI scans. During some sessions, they received twenty-five milligrams of psilocybin. On other days, they received either no drug or an active placebo called methylphenidate, a stimulant medication that mimics the physical arousal caused by psilocybin.
The third study focused on LSD, a powerful chemical that alters perception and thought. Eighteen healthy participants received an intravenous infusion of either LSD or a saline placebo. Following a short acclimatization period, they completed about one hour of fMRI scanning to capture their brain activity under the influence of the substance.
The fourth study involved an entirely different species and measurement technique. Fourteen mice were administered LSD, a sedative called diazepam, or another sedative called dexmedetomidine. Instead of using fMRI, the scientists measured the mouse brain activity using widefield calcium imaging. This technique uses fluorescent markers to directly observe the electrical activity of neurons across the brain surface, providing a different perspective on brain function.
Across all four datasets, the authors looked at two main features of brain signals moving within the default mode network. First, they calculated the magnitude, which is the total volume and strength of the traveling brain waves. Second, they measured directionality, specifically looking at the proportion of signals traveling in a bottom-up direction from sensory regions into the default mode network.
The researchers found that all the tested psychedelics significantly reduced the overall magnitude of cortical activity propagations in the default mode network. In the first study, MDMA lowered the strength of these traveling signals compared to both placebo and baseline scans. The exact same pattern appeared in the second study for psilocybin and the third study for LSD.
When observing the mice in the fourth study, the authors noticed a similar reduction in signal magnitude after administering LSD. The active sedatives given to the mice produced the opposite effect, increasing the magnitude of brain signal movement. This suggests that the reduction in traveling waves is a specific feature of psychedelics rather than a general effect of taking any psychoactive drug.
In addition to shrinking the magnitude of these signals, psychedelics altered the direction of their travel. The human studies showed that MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD all reduced the percentage of signals moving in a bottom-up direction. Instead of information flowing freely from sensory areas up into the default mode network, the overall balance of activity shifted away from bottom-up processing.
The mouse study replicated this directional shift, as LSD significantly decreased bottom-up propagations in the mouse brains. Interestingly, the psilocybin study showed that this attenuation of bottom-up directionality persisted for days after the initial dosage. Scans taken within two days of the psilocybin sessions still exhibited proportionately fewer bottom-up propagations.
The scientists also checked whether these movement changes were linked to the subjective psychological effects of the drugs. In the human studies, participants filled out comprehensive questionnaires about their experiences. The scientists found that greater reductions in bottom-up signaling correlated with more intense negative feelings, such as the dread of losing one’s sense of self and feelings of impaired control.
The results went against the original expectations of the research team. “How psychedelics impact large-scale brain function is not settled science,” Pines told PsyPost. “Our study challenges one of the field’s core assumptions. Many researchers, myself included, expected psychedelics to increase ‘bottom-up’ activity.”
Pines noted that the actual data told a different story. “Instead, we found the opposite,” Pines said. “However, like any study, there are caveats and limitations that come along with this new evidence.”
One prospective issue is the way the researchers interpreted the data at a broad level. “In our human data, we described a group-level effect rather than something that occurs 100% of the time for every individual every time they ingest psychedelics,” Pines said. “This is a standard practice for human neuroimaging studies, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the impact of psychedelics on individual people can be quite variable.”
The concept of bottom-up processing also comes with its own complexities. “Scientists still don’t fully understand what we call bottom-up activity, or the different ways it can occur,” Pines said. “Analytically, we only measured bottom-up activity in one way rather than comprehensively resolving all possible bottom-up activity in the brain.”
The researchers acknowledge that they had to narrow their focus to run the optical flow analyses. “While we had to be reductionistic to evaluate our questions of interest, there are undoubtedly more nuanced aspects of bottom-up and top-down activity that are yet to be discovered in psychedelic research and neuroscience broadly,” Pines said.
These brain wave changes might explain why psychedelics have specific therapeutic effects. For instance, ruminative depression involves excessive, automatic negative thoughts, which researchers link to an overabundance of bottom-up cortical propagations. By reducing these bottom-up signals, psychedelics might interrupt the automatic negative thought loops associated with depression.
A reduction in bottom-up processing could also pose risks for certain vulnerable populations. People at risk for psychosis already experience impaired bottom-up processing, often relying too heavily on top-down expectations, which can lead to hallucinations. Taking a psychedelic might exacerbate this existing imbalance, providing a biological explanation for why these drugs can trigger psychotic episodes in susceptible individuals.
The researchers plan to expand this analytical approach beyond psychedelics to other chemical compounds. “Our lack of understanding of large-scale brain function is not unique to psychedelic drugs,” Pines said. “Although decades of thorough research have revealed a lot about how alcohol, nicotine, and neurologically-active pharmaceuticals operate on individual neurons, our knowledge of how they impact large-scale brain function is quite limited.”
Applying this knowledge could eventually help doctors provide more personalized medical care. “If we can clarify the impacts of neurologically-active substances broadly, we can better anticipate the effects of any given therapeutic drug on individual psychiatric patients and tailor prescriptions accordingly,” Pines said. “This gives us more confidence in our findings, but doesn’t mean that the question is closed. Further study is still needed.”
The study, “Psychedelics disrupt hierarchical cortical propagations in the default mode network of humans and mice,” was authored by Adam R. Pines, Xue Zhang, John Kochalka, Sam S. Vesuna, Isaac V. Kauvar, Divya Rajasekharan, T. Rick Reneau, Teddy J. Akiki, Laura M. Hack, Joshua S. Siegel, and Leanne M. Williams.
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DATE: July 30, 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: Neuroscientists just upended a core assumption about how psychedelics alter brain function
Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that psychedelic substances change how brain activity travels across the surface of the brain. The study provides evidence that drugs like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA reliably reduce the flow of information traveling up into a core brain network associated with self-reflection. These findings offer a new biological explanation for both the therapeutic potential and the psychological risks of using psychedelics to treat mental health conditions.
The default mode network is a collection of interconnected brain regions that are highly active when a person is resting and thinking about themselves. Scientists link this network to introspection, daydreaming, and maintaining a rigid sense of self. In many mental health disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia, the default mode network tends to function abnormally. Because of this connection, researchers want to know exactly how potential psychiatric treatments impact this specific network.
“Psychedelic use is growing faster than our understanding of how these drugs impact the brain, particularly at the level of large-scale brain networks,” said Adam Pines, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, who led the study alongside the study’s senior author, Leanne M. Williams. “Clinically, these unresolved questions limit our ability to know which patients are likely to benefit from psychedelic treatments, and which are at risk of harm.”
Previous studies usually measured brain activity as if it were fixed in place. They looked at average activity in stationary regions over time instead of tracking how signals physically move across the brain tissue.
Brain activity constantly travels in specific directions, either from lower-level sensory areas up to higher-level thinking areas, or vice versa. The upward movement is called bottom-up processing, which involves reacting to basic sensory input. The downward movement is known as top-down processing, where the brain applies past experiences and expectations to interpret incoming information.
“Existing theories on how psychedelics work tend to disagree on a core point: whether psychedelics increase or decrease ‘bottom-up’ brain activity (activity moving from lower-order to higher-order brain areas),” Pines said. “From our perspective, this core premise had not been systematically tested.”
To test this premise, the researchers adapted an analytical method called optical flow. This technique is typically used in computer vision to track the movement of physical objects across video frames. By applying this technique to brain scans, the researchers could evaluate the directional flow of brain activity frame by frame, capturing the exact movement of signals across the cortical surface.
The researchers combined data from four independent studies to test how different psychedelics impact brain activity flow. “Drawing conclusive evidence from psychedelic studies is notoriously difficult,” Pines said. “We tried to establish our results beyond reasonable doubt by replicating our findings across nine different case-control comparisons, involving four datasets and two completely different neuroimaging technologies.”
The first three studies involved human participants who received a specific drug and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan, often called fMRI, measures changes in blood flow to detect active brain areas. Before running their optical flow analysis, the authors masked out segments of data interrupted by head motion to ensure their measurements were highly accurate.
In the first study, fourteen healthy adult participants received either a placebo, eighty milligrams of MDMA, or one hundred and twenty milligrams of MDMA. MDMA is a synthetic substance that alters mood and perception. Participants completed multiple scanning sessions across different days, allowing researchers to compare their brain activity with and without the active drug.
The second study evaluated the effects of psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms. Six healthy participants underwent numerous fMRI scans. During some sessions, they received twenty-five milligrams of psilocybin. On other days, they received either no drug or an active placebo called methylphenidate, a stimulant medication that mimics the physical arousal caused by psilocybin.
The third study focused on LSD, a powerful chemical that alters perception and thought. Eighteen healthy participants received an intravenous infusion of either LSD or a saline placebo. Following a short acclimatization period, they completed about one hour of fMRI scanning to capture their brain activity under the influence of the substance.
The fourth study involved an entirely different species and measurement technique. Fourteen mice were administered LSD, a sedative called diazepam, or another sedative called dexmedetomidine. Instead of using fMRI, the scientists measured the mouse brain activity using widefield calcium imaging. This technique uses fluorescent markers to directly observe the electrical activity of neurons across the brain surface, providing a different perspective on brain function.
Across all four datasets, the authors looked at two main features of brain signals moving within the default mode network. First, they calculated the magnitude, which is the total volume and strength of the traveling brain waves. Second, they measured directionality, specifically looking at the proportion of signals traveling in a bottom-up direction from sensory regions into the default mode network.
The researchers found that all the tested psychedelics significantly reduced the overall magnitude of cortical activity propagations in the default mode network. In the first study, MDMA lowered the strength of these traveling signals compared to both placebo and baseline scans. The exact same pattern appeared in the second study for psilocybin and the third study for LSD.
When observing the mice in the fourth study, the authors noticed a similar reduction in signal magnitude after administering LSD. The active sedatives given to the mice produced the opposite effect, increasing the magnitude of brain signal movement. This suggests that the reduction in traveling waves is a specific feature of psychedelics rather than a general effect of taking any psychoactive drug.
In addition to shrinking the magnitude of these signals, psychedelics altered the direction of their travel. The human studies showed that MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD all reduced the percentage of signals moving in a bottom-up direction. Instead of information flowing freely from sensory areas up into the default mode network, the overall balance of activity shifted away from bottom-up processing.
The mouse study replicated this directional shift, as LSD significantly decreased bottom-up propagations in the mouse brains. Interestingly, the psilocybin study showed that this attenuation of bottom-up directionality persisted for days after the initial dosage. Scans taken within two days of the psilocybin sessions still exhibited proportionately fewer bottom-up propagations.
The scientists also checked whether these movement changes were linked to the subjective psychological effects of the drugs. In the human studies, participants filled out comprehensive questionnaires about their experiences. The scientists found that greater reductions in bottom-up signaling correlated with more intense negative feelings, such as the dread of losing one’s sense of self and feelings of impaired control.
The results went against the original expectations of the research team. “How psychedelics impact large-scale brain function is not settled science,” Pines told PsyPost. “Our study challenges one of the field’s core assumptions. Many researchers, myself included, expected psychedelics to increase ‘bottom-up’ activity.”
Pines noted that the actual data told a different story. “Instead, we found the opposite,” Pines said. “However, like any study, there are caveats and limitations that come along with this new evidence.”
One prospective issue is the way the researchers interpreted the data at a broad level. “In our human data, we described a group-level effect rather than something that occurs 100% of the time for every individual every time they ingest psychedelics,” Pines said. “This is a standard practice for human neuroimaging studies, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the impact of psychedelics on individual people can be quite variable.”
The concept of bottom-up processing also comes with its own complexities. “Scientists still don’t fully understand what we call bottom-up activity, or the different ways it can occur,” Pines said. “Analytically, we only measured bottom-up activity in one way rather than comprehensively resolving all possible bottom-up activity in the brain.”
The researchers acknowledge that they had to narrow their focus to run the optical flow analyses. “While we had to be reductionistic to evaluate our questions of interest, there are undoubtedly more nuanced aspects of bottom-up and top-down activity that are yet to be discovered in psychedelic research and neuroscience broadly,” Pines said.
These brain wave changes might explain why psychedelics have specific therapeutic effects. For instance, ruminative depression involves excessive, automatic negative thoughts, which researchers link to an overabundance of bottom-up cortical propagations. By reducing these bottom-up signals, psychedelics might interrupt the automatic negative thought loops associated with depression.
A reduction in bottom-up processing could also pose risks for certain vulnerable populations. People at risk for psychosis already experience impaired bottom-up processing, often relying too heavily on top-down expectations, which can lead to hallucinations. Taking a psychedelic might exacerbate this existing imbalance, providing a biological explanation for why these drugs can trigger psychotic episodes in susceptible individuals.
The researchers plan to expand this analytical approach beyond psychedelics to other chemical compounds. “Our lack of understanding of large-scale brain function is not unique to psychedelic drugs,” Pines said. “Although decades of thorough research have revealed a lot about how alcohol, nicotine, and neurologically-active pharmaceuticals operate on individual neurons, our knowledge of how they impact large-scale brain function is quite limited.”
Applying this knowledge could eventually help doctors provide more personalized medical care. “If we can clarify the impacts of neurologically-active substances broadly, we can better anticipate the effects of any given therapeutic drug on individual psychiatric patients and tailor prescriptions accordingly,” Pines said. “This gives us more confidence in our findings, but doesn’t mean that the question is closed. Further study is still needed.”
The study, “Psychedelics disrupt hierarchical cortical propagations in the default mode network of humans and mice,” was authored by Adam R. Pines, Xue Zhang, John Kochalka, Sam S. Vesuna, Isaac V. Kauvar, Divya Rajasekharan, T. Rick Reneau, Teddy J. Akiki, Laura M. Hack, Joshua S. Siegel, and Leanne M. Williams.
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 05:01AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: Should I Tell My Conservative Mother That My Child Is Trans?
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/well/family/trans-gender-family-secret.html
Our Ask the Therapist columnist, Lori Gottlieb, advises a reader who worries that speaking up will cause a family fracture.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/well/family/trans-gender-family-secret.html
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-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 05:01AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: Should I Tell My Conservative Mother That My Child Is Trans?
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/well/family/trans-gender-family-secret.html
Our Ask the Therapist columnist, Lori Gottlieb, advises a reader who worries that speaking up will cause a family fracture.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/well/family/trans-gender-family-secret.html
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DATE: July 30, 2026 at 03:54AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Climate Change Driving a "Shift" in Childhood Malaria Risk Across Africa
Source: CarbonBrief
Rising temperatures are redistributing the risk of childhood malaria in Africa, resulting in areas of "new risk" in the east and south of the continent but also "relief hotspots" in western Africa. This is according to a new study, published in Nature, which provides the "most comprehensive look to date at the impact of climate change on any infectious disease." The World Health Organization estimates that more than 600,000 people died of...
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-
DATE: July 30, 2026 at 03:54AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Climate Change Driving a "Shift" in Childhood Malaria Risk Across Africa
Source: CarbonBrief
Rising temperatures are redistributing the risk of childhood malaria in Africa, resulting in areas of "new risk" in the east and south of the continent but also "relief hotspots" in western Africa. This is according to a new study, published in Nature, which provides the "most comprehensive look to date at the impact of climate change on any infectious disease." The World Health Organization estimates that more than 600,000 people died of...
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-
DATE: July 29, 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: Spicy food can reduce extreme physical pain
URL: https://www.psypost.org/a-burning-sensation-in-the-mouth-can-reduce-extreme-physical-pain/
Eating a spicy piece of candy might help dull the sensation of intense physical pain, according to a recent small study on human sensory perception. Researchers found that holding a chili-infused gelatin cube in the mouth reduced how violently people reacted to high-intensity laser heat applied to their hands, though it did not relieve the feeling of minor heat pain. The findings were published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.
Capsaicin is the active chemical component that gives chili peppers their famous kick. When consumed, it binds to a specific type of receptor in the body known as TRPV1. These receptors are distributed throughout the mouth, tongue, and skin, and their primary biological job is to detect dangerous environmental heat.
When capsaicin binds to these receptors, it essentially tricks the nervous system. The brain registers a severe burning sensation, even though no physical burning is taking place. This causes an intense bodily reaction without leaving any lasting physical marks or tissue damage behind.
Medical treatments already take advantage of this localized chemical response to treat nerve damage, arthritis, and muscle aches. Topical creams and patches containing high concentrations of capsaicin are routinely used to manage chronic pain. By maintaining a constant, low-level burn, these creams overload the nociceptors, which are the sensory neurons that respond to damaging stimuli.
Over time, this constant stimulation tires the sensory nerves out, blocking them from sending actual pain signals upward to the brain. While the long-term, topical use of capsaicin is a common medical tool, the short-term effects of eating a spicy meal on sudden, acute pain are less fully understood. Previous research has offered mixed results on the topic. Some experiments have suggested that a fiery meal lowers a person’s physical pain threshold, while other trials have pointed toward a rapid pain-relieving effect.
Yizhou Zhou, a researcher at Chongqing Normal University in China, and a team of colleagues wanted to test whether the immediate sensation of a burning mouth could alter how the brain processes other painful events occurring in the body. They designed an experiment to see if a brief exposure to edible spicy food acts as a temporary painkiller for thermal pain. The research team also sought to figure out if a person’s everyday dietary habits relate to their overall baseline pain tolerance.
To investigate this dynamic, the team recruited 48 healthy young adults from a university campus. Because the sample included fewer than 50 participants, it is considered a small study. To participate, the volunteers had to be free of any chronic pain conditions, psychiatric disorders, or digestive issues like stomach ulcers. The experiment required each volunteer to visit the laboratory on two separate occasions spaced roughly a week apart.
During every visit to the laboratory, participants filled out questionnaires meant to assess their mood and hunger levels. The researchers needed to ensure the volunteers were starting from the entire same emotional baseline on both days, as sudden shifts in mood or appetite can alter how a person perceives physical discomfort.
Next, the researchers calibrated a specialized laser machine for each individual participant. The device emitted precise bursts of infrared heat directly onto the back of the left hand. The team used a heat laser because it activates the exact same nerve pathways as capsaicin, making it an ideal tool to test the overlapping sensory responses.
Participants rated the laser pulses on a standard scale from zero, meaning no sensation at all, to ten, meaning the worst pain imaginable. The technicians adjusted the laser energy up or down until they locked in a specific baseline for each person. They isolated a mild stimulus that rated as a four, along with a harsh stimulus that rated as a seven.
Once the customized baselines were set, the taste test began. During one visit, participants held a gelatin cube laced with crushed chili powder in their mouths for five minutes without chewing or swallowing. Based on chemical analyses, the cube contained a safe, moderate dose of capsaicin designed to induce a noticeable burning sensation. During the other visit, participants held a plain, water-based gelatin cube in their mouths as a control condition.
After the five minutes were up, the participants spit out the gelatin and rinsed their mouths thoroughly with pure water. They immediately received 40 tiny laser pulses to their left hand, divided evenly between the mild setting and the intense setting. After every pulse, the volunteers had five seconds to rate the physical intensity of the pain and how emotionally unpleasant the experience felt.
The mood baseline checks revealed that holding the spicy gelatin in the mouth did not alter a participant’s overall emotional state. The participants were not simply in a better or worse mood during the chili condition. As expected, they did report a robust burning sensation in their mouths that lasted throughout the entire laser portion of the test.
When looking at the low-intensity pain trials, the researchers found no differences between the two tasting sessions. Participants rated the mild heat pulses as equally painful regardless of whether they had just tasted the spicy gelatin or the plain water gelatin. The oral burning sensation offered no relief for minor physical discomfort.
For the intense laser pulses, a different pattern emerged. After holding the chili gelatin in their mouths, participants rated the high-level heat bursts as distinctly less intense than they did after holding the plain gelatin. They also rated the high-intensity pulses as much less unpleasant. The spicy taste stimulation acted as a temporary, intense-pain buffer.
At the end of the second visit, the researchers asked the volunteers to fill out final questionnaires detailing their usual dietary habits. The participants reported how often they ate foods that caused a tingling or burning sensation, and what level of heat they usually preferred on a daily basis. They also completed a standard psychological evaluation designed to measure their general fear of medical and incidental pain.
Individuals who reported a regular preference for spicier foods scored lower on the pain sensitivity surveys. They were less likely to fear imagined painful scenarios and generally expressed a higher tolerance for physical distress. People who ate spicy food more often also preferred a much higher level of heat when they cooked at home.
The authors noted a few possible biological explanations for the results. One leading theory involves conditioned pain modulation, a phenomenon where one localized noxious sensation signals the nervous system to inhibit the perception of a second painful event elsewhere in the body. The intense spicy heat in the mouth might trigger natural descending inhibitory pathways from the brain, muting the harsh feeling of the laser on the hand. Capsaicin is also known to promote the release of endorphins, which act as natural pain-relieving chemicals produced by the body.
Alternatively, the oral burn might simply act as a powerful distraction. If participants were hyper-focused on the burning sensation in their mouths, their brains may have possessed less cognitive bandwidth to process the painful lasers. Future experimental studies will need to incorporate methods to measure attention to fully separate mental distraction from physiological nerve signaling.
The relationship found between dietary habits and pain tolerance also comes with limitations. The survey data only shows a mathematical correlation, meaning it cannot demonstrate that eating fiery foods causes someone to become generally tougher against pain. Some individuals might be born with a higher tolerance for pain, which in turn allows them to enjoy spicier meals. A person’s environment and cultural upbringing likely shape diet and pain tolerance simultaneously.
Additionally, the small sample was entirely composed of young, healthy university students in China. Culturally, dietary habits regarding chili consumption vary widely across the globe. The results of the study might not hold true for older adults, people suffering from chronic pain disorders, or populations who rarely encounter spicy seasonings in their everyday meals. To build on this framework, future trials could test individuals across diverse cultural backgrounds and age spans.
The study, “Acute spicy stimulation reduces laser-induced heat pain perception in healthy adults,” was authored by Yizhou Zhou, Tingran Chen, Yu Peng, Jiayu Zheng, and Zhou Yang.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/a-burning-sensation-in-the-mouth-can-reduce-extreme-physical-pain/
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-
DATE: July 29, 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: Spicy food can reduce extreme physical pain
URL: https://www.psypost.org/a-burning-sensation-in-the-mouth-can-reduce-extreme-physical-pain/
Eating a spicy piece of candy might help dull the sensation of intense physical pain, according to a recent small study on human sensory perception. Researchers found that holding a chili-infused gelatin cube in the mouth reduced how violently people reacted to high-intensity laser heat applied to their hands, though it did not relieve the feeling of minor heat pain. The findings were published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.
Capsaicin is the active chemical component that gives chili peppers their famous kick. When consumed, it binds to a specific type of receptor in the body known as TRPV1. These receptors are distributed throughout the mouth, tongue, and skin, and their primary biological job is to detect dangerous environmental heat.
When capsaicin binds to these receptors, it essentially tricks the nervous system. The brain registers a severe burning sensation, even though no physical burning is taking place. This causes an intense bodily reaction without leaving any lasting physical marks or tissue damage behind.
Medical treatments already take advantage of this localized chemical response to treat nerve damage, arthritis, and muscle aches. Topical creams and patches containing high concentrations of capsaicin are routinely used to manage chronic pain. By maintaining a constant, low-level burn, these creams overload the nociceptors, which are the sensory neurons that respond to damaging stimuli.
Over time, this constant stimulation tires the sensory nerves out, blocking them from sending actual pain signals upward to the brain. While the long-term, topical use of capsaicin is a common medical tool, the short-term effects of eating a spicy meal on sudden, acute pain are less fully understood. Previous research has offered mixed results on the topic. Some experiments have suggested that a fiery meal lowers a person’s physical pain threshold, while other trials have pointed toward a rapid pain-relieving effect.
Yizhou Zhou, a researcher at Chongqing Normal University in China, and a team of colleagues wanted to test whether the immediate sensation of a burning mouth could alter how the brain processes other painful events occurring in the body. They designed an experiment to see if a brief exposure to edible spicy food acts as a temporary painkiller for thermal pain. The research team also sought to figure out if a person’s everyday dietary habits relate to their overall baseline pain tolerance.
To investigate this dynamic, the team recruited 48 healthy young adults from a university campus. Because the sample included fewer than 50 participants, it is considered a small study. To participate, the volunteers had to be free of any chronic pain conditions, psychiatric disorders, or digestive issues like stomach ulcers. The experiment required each volunteer to visit the laboratory on two separate occasions spaced roughly a week apart.
During every visit to the laboratory, participants filled out questionnaires meant to assess their mood and hunger levels. The researchers needed to ensure the volunteers were starting from the entire same emotional baseline on both days, as sudden shifts in mood or appetite can alter how a person perceives physical discomfort.
Next, the researchers calibrated a specialized laser machine for each individual participant. The device emitted precise bursts of infrared heat directly onto the back of the left hand. The team used a heat laser because it activates the exact same nerve pathways as capsaicin, making it an ideal tool to test the overlapping sensory responses.
Participants rated the laser pulses on a standard scale from zero, meaning no sensation at all, to ten, meaning the worst pain imaginable. The technicians adjusted the laser energy up or down until they locked in a specific baseline for each person. They isolated a mild stimulus that rated as a four, along with a harsh stimulus that rated as a seven.
Once the customized baselines were set, the taste test began. During one visit, participants held a gelatin cube laced with crushed chili powder in their mouths for five minutes without chewing or swallowing. Based on chemical analyses, the cube contained a safe, moderate dose of capsaicin designed to induce a noticeable burning sensation. During the other visit, participants held a plain, water-based gelatin cube in their mouths as a control condition.
After the five minutes were up, the participants spit out the gelatin and rinsed their mouths thoroughly with pure water. They immediately received 40 tiny laser pulses to their left hand, divided evenly between the mild setting and the intense setting. After every pulse, the volunteers had five seconds to rate the physical intensity of the pain and how emotionally unpleasant the experience felt.
The mood baseline checks revealed that holding the spicy gelatin in the mouth did not alter a participant’s overall emotional state. The participants were not simply in a better or worse mood during the chili condition. As expected, they did report a robust burning sensation in their mouths that lasted throughout the entire laser portion of the test.
When looking at the low-intensity pain trials, the researchers found no differences between the two tasting sessions. Participants rated the mild heat pulses as equally painful regardless of whether they had just tasted the spicy gelatin or the plain water gelatin. The oral burning sensation offered no relief for minor physical discomfort.
For the intense laser pulses, a different pattern emerged. After holding the chili gelatin in their mouths, participants rated the high-level heat bursts as distinctly less intense than they did after holding the plain gelatin. They also rated the high-intensity pulses as much less unpleasant. The spicy taste stimulation acted as a temporary, intense-pain buffer.
At the end of the second visit, the researchers asked the volunteers to fill out final questionnaires detailing their usual dietary habits. The participants reported how often they ate foods that caused a tingling or burning sensation, and what level of heat they usually preferred on a daily basis. They also completed a standard psychological evaluation designed to measure their general fear of medical and incidental pain.
Individuals who reported a regular preference for spicier foods scored lower on the pain sensitivity surveys. They were less likely to fear imagined painful scenarios and generally expressed a higher tolerance for physical distress. People who ate spicy food more often also preferred a much higher level of heat when they cooked at home.
The authors noted a few possible biological explanations for the results. One leading theory involves conditioned pain modulation, a phenomenon where one localized noxious sensation signals the nervous system to inhibit the perception of a second painful event elsewhere in the body. The intense spicy heat in the mouth might trigger natural descending inhibitory pathways from the brain, muting the harsh feeling of the laser on the hand. Capsaicin is also known to promote the release of endorphins, which act as natural pain-relieving chemicals produced by the body.
Alternatively, the oral burn might simply act as a powerful distraction. If participants were hyper-focused on the burning sensation in their mouths, their brains may have possessed less cognitive bandwidth to process the painful lasers. Future experimental studies will need to incorporate methods to measure attention to fully separate mental distraction from physiological nerve signaling.
The relationship found between dietary habits and pain tolerance also comes with limitations. The survey data only shows a mathematical correlation, meaning it cannot demonstrate that eating fiery foods causes someone to become generally tougher against pain. Some individuals might be born with a higher tolerance for pain, which in turn allows them to enjoy spicier meals. A person’s environment and cultural upbringing likely shape diet and pain tolerance simultaneously.
Additionally, the small sample was entirely composed of young, healthy university students in China. Culturally, dietary habits regarding chili consumption vary widely across the globe. The results of the study might not hold true for older adults, people suffering from chronic pain disorders, or populations who rarely encounter spicy seasonings in their everyday meals. To build on this framework, future trials could test individuals across diverse cultural backgrounds and age spans.
The study, “Acute spicy stimulation reduces laser-induced heat pain perception in healthy adults,” was authored by Yizhou Zhou, Tingran Chen, Yu Peng, Jiayu Zheng, and Zhou Yang.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/a-burning-sensation-in-the-mouth-can-reduce-extreme-physical-pain/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SpicyPainRelief #CapsaicinScience #PainPerception #ChiliHeatStudy #TRPV1 #AcutePainReduction #SpicierDiet #EndorphinRelease #PainTolerance #CulturalDietImpact
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 05:13PM
SOURCE: HEALTHCARE INFO SECURITYDirect article link at end of text block below.
Agency's Push to Gather #ER Data Sparks #Privacy Clash: #Hospitals Push Back, Question Scope of #ConsumerSafety Surveillance Record Demand https://t.co/5Cn0KgRtFb #CPSC #KonzaHealth #TEFCA #HIPAA
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 05:11PM
SOURCE: HEALTHCARE INFO SECURITYDirect article link at end of text block below.
Agency's Push to Gather #ER Data Sparks #Privacy Clash: #Hospitals Push Back, Question Scope of #ConsumerSafety Surveillance Record Demand shttps://www.healthcareinfosecurity.com/agencys-push-to-gather-er-data-sparks-privacy-clash-a-32363 #CPSC #KonzaHealth #TEFCA #HIPAA
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 05:13PM
SOURCE: HEALTHCARE INFO SECURITYDirect article link at end of text block below.
Agency's Push to Gather #ER Data Sparks #Privacy Clash: #Hospitals Push Back, Question Scope of #ConsumerSafety Surveillance Record Demand https://t.co/5Cn0KgRtFb #CPSC #KonzaHealth #TEFCA #HIPAA
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Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at https://www.healthcareinfosecurity.com/ under the title "Latest"
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#security #healthcare #doctors #itsecurity #hacking #doxxing #psychotherapy #securitynews #psychotherapist #mentalhealth #psychiatry #hospital #socialwork #datasecurity #webbeacons #cookies #HIPAA #privacy #datanalytics #healthcaresecurity #healthitsecurity #patientrecords @infosec #telehealth #netneutrality #socialengineering
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 05:11PM
SOURCE: HEALTHCARE INFO SECURITYDirect article link at end of text block below.
Agency's Push to Gather #ER Data Sparks #Privacy Clash: #Hospitals Push Back, Question Scope of #ConsumerSafety Surveillance Record Demand shttps://www.healthcareinfosecurity.com/agencys-push-to-gather-er-data-sparks-privacy-clash-a-32363 #CPSC #KonzaHealth #TEFCA #HIPAA
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#security #healthcare #doctors #itsecurity #hacking #doxxing #psychotherapy #securitynews #psychotherapist #mentalhealth #psychiatry #hospital #socialwork #datasecurity #webbeacons #cookies #HIPAA #privacy #datanalytics #healthcaresecurity #healthitsecurity #patientrecords @infosec #telehealth #netneutrality #socialengineering
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DATE: July 29, 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: Night owls may face a higher risk of acquired premature ejaculation
URL: https://www.psypost.org/night-owls-may-face-a-higher-risk-of-acquired-premature-ejaculation/
Men who naturally prefer staying up late might be more susceptible to developing premature ejaculation later in life, and they often experience more severe symptoms than early risers. A recent study found that this association is partly linked to lifestyle habits, highlighting how sleep preferences and daily behaviors influence sexual function. The research was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Premature ejaculation is one of the most common sexual health conditions affecting men worldwide. Doctors categorize it into two main subtypes based on when it begins. Lifelong premature ejaculation is present from a person’s first sexual encounters. The condition can also develop later in life after a period of normal sexual function, a state known as acquired premature ejaculation.
Men experiencing the acquired form often face a sudden onset of symptoms. The condition typically reduces the time to ejaculation to less than three minutes. This rapid shift causes considerable psychological distress and can rapidly impair a person’s overall quality of life.
Medical professionals have identified several risk factors for this acquired sexual dysfunction. Chronic pelvic pain, anxiety, and thyroid issues are all known to play a role. However, the exact biological and behavioral roots of the condition remain somewhat mysterious.
In clinical settings, doctors noticed a recurring pattern among patients dealing with acquired premature ejaculation. Many of these men seemed to favor late bedtimes and experienced erratic sleep schedules. They also struggled with emotional volatility and had a hard time maintaining healthy daily routines.
This observation led doctors to wonder if a person’s innate biological clock might influence their ejaculatory control. Chronotype refers to an individual’s natural internal circadian rhythm. This biological preference dictates an individual’s ideal times for sleeping and waking over a 24-hour cycle.
People are generally grouped into morning types, intermediate types, and evening types based on these natural rhythms. Those with an evening chronotype, colloquially called night owls, frequently experience poorer sleep quality. They are also more prone to anxiety and depressive symptoms, which are already known risk factors for sexual dysfunction.
Lead author Zhi Cao and a research team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University and Peking University First Hospital in China designed an observational study to explore this potential connection. They wanted to see if an evening chronotype correlated with the presence and severity of acquired premature ejaculation.
The researchers also sought to understand if certain behavioral routines played a role in bridging this gap. Specifically, they looked at health promoting lifestyles, which encompass proactive habits like nutritious eating, regular physical exercise, and active stress management. Prior research has connected these positive habits to better erectile function and a lower risk of overall sexual dysfunction.
Because night owls often exhibit lower rates of physical exercise and more irregular sleep durations than morning types, the researchers formulated a testable hypothesis. They speculated that lifestyle habits might mediate the relationship between chronotype and ejaculatory control.
The study involved 1,011 adult men. This sample included 516 patients previously diagnosed with acquired premature ejaculation and 495 healthy control subjects. The control participants were matched to the patient group based on age, body mass index, and substance use history to ensure an even comparison.
Participants completed a series of paper questionnaires during visits to a medical clinic. These surveys evaluated their ejaculatory control, their baseline erectile function, and their natural position on the morning to evening chronotype spectrum. The surveys also assessed the men’s regular engagement in health promoting lifestyle habits.
Men in the diagnosed group filled out an additional survey to measure their illness perception. This concept refers to how threatening, persistent, and uncontrollable a patient believes their own medical condition to be. High illness perception means a patient feels deeply burdened or hopeless about their symptoms, while low illness perception suggests they view the condition as manageable.
The researchers found that men with acquired premature ejaculation scored globally lower on morningness and lifestyle habits than the healthy control subjects. Having an evening chronotype was statistically linked to the presence of the condition. Among the men dealing with the dysfunction, a stronger preference for staying up late correlated with worse ejaculatory control.
Circadian rhythm disruptions, which are common in night owls, might explain this link on a biological level. These internal cycles regulate numerous physiological processes, including the production of key neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Animal studies have shown that serotonin levels fluctuate in a circadian pattern, and central nervous system serotonin is closely linked to ejaculatory latency.
Disruptions in these monoamine systems could undermine the body’s ability to delay ejaculation. Statistical analyses in the current study revealed a secondary behavioral pathway at work. Daily habits partly explained the link between sleep preferences and sexual function in the patient group.
Individuals with an evening chronotype tended to engage in fewer health promoting behaviors. These diminished health habits in turn correlated with worse symptoms. The data indicated that lifestyle habits accounted for a substantial portion of the association between chronotype and symptom severity.
A patient’s individual perception of their condition altered these relationships. For men who felt a high degree of threat and lack of control regarding their sexual health, the positive association between being a morning person and having better lifestyle habits weakened. A similar attenuation appeared in the link between healthy habits and symptom severity.
When men feel overwhelmed by their condition, the potential benefits of regular exercise, nutrition, and stress management seem to diminish. High anxiety and constant symptom vigilance consume cognitive and emotional resources. This heavy psychological burden likely reduces the energy available to maintain healthy daily routines.
Because the study relied on taking a snapshot of data at a single point in time, the researchers cannot state that being a night owl directly causes acquired premature ejaculation. The relationships observed might operate in multiple directions. Repeated failures of ejaculatory control frequently trigger severe sexual performance anxiety.
This anxiety can activate the sympathetic nervous system, leading to difficulties initiating sleep. Progressive delays in bedtime could then reinforce an evening chronotype over time. Validating this cycle definitively requires observing patients over multiple years.
The participant pool was drawn from a single hospital in China, meaning the demographic sample was limited. Testing these variables across different cultural contexts and in broader community settings would help verify the patterns. The researchers also relied on self-reported questionnaires, which are vulnerable to recall bias and social desirability bias.
The researchers did not formally assess clinical anxiety or depressive symptoms beyond basic screening. Since these mental health factors heavily influence sleep, lifestyle, and sexual function, future studies will need to incorporate standardized psychological evaluations to get a more accurate picture of the dynamics at play.
Future research will need to track men over longer periods to see how sleep preferences and health routines evolve alongside sexual function. Clinical trials could eventually test whether targeted behaviors, like improving dietary habits or adjusting sleep schedules, actually improve ejaculatory control. In the meantime, medical professionals might benefit from asking patients about their sleep timing, daily lifestyle, and emotional reactions to their symptoms during routine consultations.
The study, “Chronotype is associated with acquired premature ejaculation: evidence from moderated mediation analysis,” was authored by Zhi Cao, Tianle Zhu, Yunlong Ge, Peng Yang, Yukuai Ma, Pan Gao, Hui Jiang, and Xiansheng Zhang.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/night-owls-may-face-a-higher-risk-of-acquired-premature-ejaculation/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AcquiredPrematureEjaculation #NightOwls #Chronotype #SleepHealth #SexualFunction #EjaculatoryLatency #HealthPromotingLifestyle #CircadianRhythms #MaleHealth #SleepAndSex
-
DATE: July 29, 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: Night owls may face a higher risk of acquired premature ejaculation
URL: https://www.psypost.org/night-owls-may-face-a-higher-risk-of-acquired-premature-ejaculation/
Men who naturally prefer staying up late might be more susceptible to developing premature ejaculation later in life, and they often experience more severe symptoms than early risers. A recent study found that this association is partly linked to lifestyle habits, highlighting how sleep preferences and daily behaviors influence sexual function. The research was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Premature ejaculation is one of the most common sexual health conditions affecting men worldwide. Doctors categorize it into two main subtypes based on when it begins. Lifelong premature ejaculation is present from a person’s first sexual encounters. The condition can also develop later in life after a period of normal sexual function, a state known as acquired premature ejaculation.
Men experiencing the acquired form often face a sudden onset of symptoms. The condition typically reduces the time to ejaculation to less than three minutes. This rapid shift causes considerable psychological distress and can rapidly impair a person’s overall quality of life.
Medical professionals have identified several risk factors for this acquired sexual dysfunction. Chronic pelvic pain, anxiety, and thyroid issues are all known to play a role. However, the exact biological and behavioral roots of the condition remain somewhat mysterious.
In clinical settings, doctors noticed a recurring pattern among patients dealing with acquired premature ejaculation. Many of these men seemed to favor late bedtimes and experienced erratic sleep schedules. They also struggled with emotional volatility and had a hard time maintaining healthy daily routines.
This observation led doctors to wonder if a person’s innate biological clock might influence their ejaculatory control. Chronotype refers to an individual’s natural internal circadian rhythm. This biological preference dictates an individual’s ideal times for sleeping and waking over a 24-hour cycle.
People are generally grouped into morning types, intermediate types, and evening types based on these natural rhythms. Those with an evening chronotype, colloquially called night owls, frequently experience poorer sleep quality. They are also more prone to anxiety and depressive symptoms, which are already known risk factors for sexual dysfunction.
Lead author Zhi Cao and a research team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University and Peking University First Hospital in China designed an observational study to explore this potential connection. They wanted to see if an evening chronotype correlated with the presence and severity of acquired premature ejaculation.
The researchers also sought to understand if certain behavioral routines played a role in bridging this gap. Specifically, they looked at health promoting lifestyles, which encompass proactive habits like nutritious eating, regular physical exercise, and active stress management. Prior research has connected these positive habits to better erectile function and a lower risk of overall sexual dysfunction.
Because night owls often exhibit lower rates of physical exercise and more irregular sleep durations than morning types, the researchers formulated a testable hypothesis. They speculated that lifestyle habits might mediate the relationship between chronotype and ejaculatory control.
The study involved 1,011 adult men. This sample included 516 patients previously diagnosed with acquired premature ejaculation and 495 healthy control subjects. The control participants were matched to the patient group based on age, body mass index, and substance use history to ensure an even comparison.
Participants completed a series of paper questionnaires during visits to a medical clinic. These surveys evaluated their ejaculatory control, their baseline erectile function, and their natural position on the morning to evening chronotype spectrum. The surveys also assessed the men’s regular engagement in health promoting lifestyle habits.
Men in the diagnosed group filled out an additional survey to measure their illness perception. This concept refers to how threatening, persistent, and uncontrollable a patient believes their own medical condition to be. High illness perception means a patient feels deeply burdened or hopeless about their symptoms, while low illness perception suggests they view the condition as manageable.
The researchers found that men with acquired premature ejaculation scored globally lower on morningness and lifestyle habits than the healthy control subjects. Having an evening chronotype was statistically linked to the presence of the condition. Among the men dealing with the dysfunction, a stronger preference for staying up late correlated with worse ejaculatory control.
Circadian rhythm disruptions, which are common in night owls, might explain this link on a biological level. These internal cycles regulate numerous physiological processes, including the production of key neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Animal studies have shown that serotonin levels fluctuate in a circadian pattern, and central nervous system serotonin is closely linked to ejaculatory latency.
Disruptions in these monoamine systems could undermine the body’s ability to delay ejaculation. Statistical analyses in the current study revealed a secondary behavioral pathway at work. Daily habits partly explained the link between sleep preferences and sexual function in the patient group.
Individuals with an evening chronotype tended to engage in fewer health promoting behaviors. These diminished health habits in turn correlated with worse symptoms. The data indicated that lifestyle habits accounted for a substantial portion of the association between chronotype and symptom severity.
A patient’s individual perception of their condition altered these relationships. For men who felt a high degree of threat and lack of control regarding their sexual health, the positive association between being a morning person and having better lifestyle habits weakened. A similar attenuation appeared in the link between healthy habits and symptom severity.
When men feel overwhelmed by their condition, the potential benefits of regular exercise, nutrition, and stress management seem to diminish. High anxiety and constant symptom vigilance consume cognitive and emotional resources. This heavy psychological burden likely reduces the energy available to maintain healthy daily routines.
Because the study relied on taking a snapshot of data at a single point in time, the researchers cannot state that being a night owl directly causes acquired premature ejaculation. The relationships observed might operate in multiple directions. Repeated failures of ejaculatory control frequently trigger severe sexual performance anxiety.
This anxiety can activate the sympathetic nervous system, leading to difficulties initiating sleep. Progressive delays in bedtime could then reinforce an evening chronotype over time. Validating this cycle definitively requires observing patients over multiple years.
The participant pool was drawn from a single hospital in China, meaning the demographic sample was limited. Testing these variables across different cultural contexts and in broader community settings would help verify the patterns. The researchers also relied on self-reported questionnaires, which are vulnerable to recall bias and social desirability bias.
The researchers did not formally assess clinical anxiety or depressive symptoms beyond basic screening. Since these mental health factors heavily influence sleep, lifestyle, and sexual function, future studies will need to incorporate standardized psychological evaluations to get a more accurate picture of the dynamics at play.
Future research will need to track men over longer periods to see how sleep preferences and health routines evolve alongside sexual function. Clinical trials could eventually test whether targeted behaviors, like improving dietary habits or adjusting sleep schedules, actually improve ejaculatory control. In the meantime, medical professionals might benefit from asking patients about their sleep timing, daily lifestyle, and emotional reactions to their symptoms during routine consultations.
The study, “Chronotype is associated with acquired premature ejaculation: evidence from moderated mediation analysis,” was authored by Zhi Cao, Tianle Zhu, Yunlong Ge, Peng Yang, Yukuai Ma, Pan Gao, Hui Jiang, and Xiansheng Zhang.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/night-owls-may-face-a-higher-risk-of-acquired-premature-ejaculation/
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AcquiredPrematureEjaculation #NightOwls #Chronotype #SleepHealth #SexualFunction #EjaculatoryLatency #HealthPromotingLifestyle #CircadianRhythms #MaleHealth #SleepAndSex
-
DATE: July 29, 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: Losing an election is associated with lower social trust among polarized voters
Following a national election, voters whose preferred political party loses tend to experience a noticeable decline in their generalized trust of other people in society. New research published in the journal Electoral Studies suggests that this decline is particularly strong among voters who hold deep negative feelings toward opposing political parties. These findings provide evidence that the competitive nature of modern politics might be weakening the everyday social fabric that helps communities function.
Political scientists often differentiate between political trust and social trust. Political trust refers to how much confidence citizens have in their government institutions, democratic processes, and elected officials. This type of trust is often linked directly to whether a voter’s preferred candidate has the power to implement specific policies. Social trust, on the other hand, is a more generalized, everyday belief that unknown members of society are basically honest and will act according to shared moral rules.
Social trust is often considered a foundational element of a healthy democracy. It encourages civic engagement, supports good governance, and helps communities cooperate to solve collective problems. In the past, experts assumed that a person’s level of social trust was relatively stable and largely immune to the short-term outcomes of political events.
To understand how voting outcomes might shape these everyday attitudes, a team of researchers from McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Zurich, and Toronto Metropolitan University collaborated to explore this dynamic in the Canadian electorate. The research team focused on the idea that an election result acts as an informational signal. When an election concludes, the outcome gives voters a rough estimate of how many of their fellow citizens share their political views.
Psychological research suggests that human beings tend to trust people who are similar to themselves. If voters believe that political affiliation reflects a person’s deeper moral character, learning that a majority of the country voted for an opposing party might act as a negative shock. The researchers suspected this realization could lead electoral losers to view the general public as less trustworthy.
They also expected this dynamic to be magnified by affective polarization. Affective polarization is a term used to describe a growing trend where voters feel intense personal dislike toward supporters of rival political parties. When voters strongly dislike opposing factions, they are more likely to view rival voters as immoral or dishonest. The authors noted that Canada, like many other modern democracies, has experienced a notable increase in this type of polarization over the past decade.
To test these ideas, the authors examined survey data collected in Canada between 2004 and 2024. They utilized responses from the Canadian Election Study and the Consortium on Electoral Democracy, which are large academic projects that track public opinion over time. The dataset included information from six national federal elections and eleven subnational provincial elections.
In total, the researchers analyzed information from more than 30,000 respondents, with specific statistical models focusing on samples ranging from 17,570 to 27,813 individuals. The surveys asked participants about their intended vote choice during the campaign period before an election took place. After the election concluded, the same surveys asked participants to answer a standard question measuring their social trust.
This question asked respondents to indicate whether they felt that most people can be trusted or if they felt they needed to be highly cautious when dealing with others. The surveys also asked participants to rate how they felt about each political party on a scale from zero to one hundred. This allowed the research team to calculate each voter’s level of affective polarization by comparing their warm feelings toward their preferred party with their cold feelings toward opposing parties.
The data provides evidence of a consistent gap in social trust between those who supported the winning party and those who supported a losing party. After accounting for demographic factors like age, gender, education, and employment status, the researchers found that electoral losers were about 3.8 percentage points less likely to express trust in others compared to supporters of the winning party. When the analysis was restricted to just the supporters of the winning party and the primary runner up party, this gap widened to roughly six percentage points.
Interestingly, the pre-election expectations of the voters appeared to play a major role in shaping their post-election trust. Voters who supported a losing party but had confidently expected their party to win beforehand experienced the most substantial drop in social trust. Among these optimistic losers, the gap in social trust was nearly ten percentage points when compared to electoral winners.
The scale of the election also seemed to matter in shaping how people viewed their fellow citizens. The researchers found no meaningful gap in social trust following lower order district or provincial elections. They suggest that national elections, which involve a much larger electorate, provide a stronger and more informative signal to voters about the character of the broader society.
The association between losing an election and reporting lower social trust was heavily moderated by a voter’s level of affective polarization. Among voters who reported low levels of animosity toward opposing parties, losing an election was not associated with a notable decline in social trust. For these less polarized individuals, learning that many people voted for a different party did not seem to alter their basic faith in humanity.
For highly polarized voters who strongly disliked opposing parties, the picture looked quite different. Among these voters, the gap in social trust between winners and losers reached roughly ten percentage points. The informational signal that voters derive from elections appears to be interpreted entirely through a lens of their personal dislike for rival partisans.
The authors also found that the trust gap was most apparent in the 2019 and 2021 national elections. According to the study’s data, these specific election years featured the highest levels of affective polarization in Canada during the two decade study period. In earlier elections, when voters expressed less hostility toward rival parties, the researchers found no meaningful gap in social trust between winners and losers.
There are a few important limitations to keep in mind when interpreting these findings. The study’s design relies heavily on observational survey data, which means it cannot definitively prove that losing an election directly alters a person’s trust in others. The observed differences in trust might be influenced by other unmeasured factors, such as changes in the political environment, the specific candidates running, or broader economic conditions during certain election years.
The data also lacks a true control group of voters who were completely unexposed to the election results. Because every citizen experiences the outcome of a national election at the same time, the researchers could only compare winners against losers. They could not compare electoral losers against a neutral baseline of individuals who received no informational signal at all.
Future research could attempt to replicate these findings using different methodologies, such as behavioral games, to see if self-reported distrust translates into actual discriminatory behavior against strangers. Scientists could also expand this research to a larger cross-national sample of elections to see if these patterns hold true outside of the Canadian political system. Exploring potential interventions that reduce partisan animosity might also help researchers understand if softening political tribalism can protect everyday social cohesion.
The study, “Election outcomes and social trust in polarized times,” was authored by Mark Williamson, Amber Hye-Yon Lee, Daniel Rubenson, Iva Srbinovska, David Sumantry, Jonah Davids, Annika Maulucci, and Kristina Kisin.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ElectionOutcomes #SocialTrust #AffectivePolarization #CanadaVotes #ElectionStudies #PoliticalTrust #VoterBehavior #CivicCohesion #PolarizedPolitics #ElectionImpact
-
DATE: July 29, 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: Losing an election is associated with lower social trust among polarized voters
Following a national election, voters whose preferred political party loses tend to experience a noticeable decline in their generalized trust of other people in society. New research published in the journal Electoral Studies suggests that this decline is particularly strong among voters who hold deep negative feelings toward opposing political parties. These findings provide evidence that the competitive nature of modern politics might be weakening the everyday social fabric that helps communities function.
Political scientists often differentiate between political trust and social trust. Political trust refers to how much confidence citizens have in their government institutions, democratic processes, and elected officials. This type of trust is often linked directly to whether a voter’s preferred candidate has the power to implement specific policies. Social trust, on the other hand, is a more generalized, everyday belief that unknown members of society are basically honest and will act according to shared moral rules.
Social trust is often considered a foundational element of a healthy democracy. It encourages civic engagement, supports good governance, and helps communities cooperate to solve collective problems. In the past, experts assumed that a person’s level of social trust was relatively stable and largely immune to the short-term outcomes of political events.
To understand how voting outcomes might shape these everyday attitudes, a team of researchers from McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Zurich, and Toronto Metropolitan University collaborated to explore this dynamic in the Canadian electorate. The research team focused on the idea that an election result acts as an informational signal. When an election concludes, the outcome gives voters a rough estimate of how many of their fellow citizens share their political views.
Psychological research suggests that human beings tend to trust people who are similar to themselves. If voters believe that political affiliation reflects a person’s deeper moral character, learning that a majority of the country voted for an opposing party might act as a negative shock. The researchers suspected this realization could lead electoral losers to view the general public as less trustworthy.
They also expected this dynamic to be magnified by affective polarization. Affective polarization is a term used to describe a growing trend where voters feel intense personal dislike toward supporters of rival political parties. When voters strongly dislike opposing factions, they are more likely to view rival voters as immoral or dishonest. The authors noted that Canada, like many other modern democracies, has experienced a notable increase in this type of polarization over the past decade.
To test these ideas, the authors examined survey data collected in Canada between 2004 and 2024. They utilized responses from the Canadian Election Study and the Consortium on Electoral Democracy, which are large academic projects that track public opinion over time. The dataset included information from six national federal elections and eleven subnational provincial elections.
In total, the researchers analyzed information from more than 30,000 respondents, with specific statistical models focusing on samples ranging from 17,570 to 27,813 individuals. The surveys asked participants about their intended vote choice during the campaign period before an election took place. After the election concluded, the same surveys asked participants to answer a standard question measuring their social trust.
This question asked respondents to indicate whether they felt that most people can be trusted or if they felt they needed to be highly cautious when dealing with others. The surveys also asked participants to rate how they felt about each political party on a scale from zero to one hundred. This allowed the research team to calculate each voter’s level of affective polarization by comparing their warm feelings toward their preferred party with their cold feelings toward opposing parties.
The data provides evidence of a consistent gap in social trust between those who supported the winning party and those who supported a losing party. After accounting for demographic factors like age, gender, education, and employment status, the researchers found that electoral losers were about 3.8 percentage points less likely to express trust in others compared to supporters of the winning party. When the analysis was restricted to just the supporters of the winning party and the primary runner up party, this gap widened to roughly six percentage points.
Interestingly, the pre-election expectations of the voters appeared to play a major role in shaping their post-election trust. Voters who supported a losing party but had confidently expected their party to win beforehand experienced the most substantial drop in social trust. Among these optimistic losers, the gap in social trust was nearly ten percentage points when compared to electoral winners.
The scale of the election also seemed to matter in shaping how people viewed their fellow citizens. The researchers found no meaningful gap in social trust following lower order district or provincial elections. They suggest that national elections, which involve a much larger electorate, provide a stronger and more informative signal to voters about the character of the broader society.
The association between losing an election and reporting lower social trust was heavily moderated by a voter’s level of affective polarization. Among voters who reported low levels of animosity toward opposing parties, losing an election was not associated with a notable decline in social trust. For these less polarized individuals, learning that many people voted for a different party did not seem to alter their basic faith in humanity.
For highly polarized voters who strongly disliked opposing parties, the picture looked quite different. Among these voters, the gap in social trust between winners and losers reached roughly ten percentage points. The informational signal that voters derive from elections appears to be interpreted entirely through a lens of their personal dislike for rival partisans.
The authors also found that the trust gap was most apparent in the 2019 and 2021 national elections. According to the study’s data, these specific election years featured the highest levels of affective polarization in Canada during the two decade study period. In earlier elections, when voters expressed less hostility toward rival parties, the researchers found no meaningful gap in social trust between winners and losers.
There are a few important limitations to keep in mind when interpreting these findings. The study’s design relies heavily on observational survey data, which means it cannot definitively prove that losing an election directly alters a person’s trust in others. The observed differences in trust might be influenced by other unmeasured factors, such as changes in the political environment, the specific candidates running, or broader economic conditions during certain election years.
The data also lacks a true control group of voters who were completely unexposed to the election results. Because every citizen experiences the outcome of a national election at the same time, the researchers could only compare winners against losers. They could not compare electoral losers against a neutral baseline of individuals who received no informational signal at all.
Future research could attempt to replicate these findings using different methodologies, such as behavioral games, to see if self-reported distrust translates into actual discriminatory behavior against strangers. Scientists could also expand this research to a larger cross-national sample of elections to see if these patterns hold true outside of the Canadian political system. Exploring potential interventions that reduce partisan animosity might also help researchers understand if softening political tribalism can protect everyday social cohesion.
The study, “Election outcomes and social trust in polarized times,” was authored by Mark Williamson, Amber Hye-Yon Lee, Daniel Rubenson, Iva Srbinovska, David Sumantry, Jonah Davids, Annika Maulucci, and Kristina Kisin.
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-
DATE: July 29, 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: How a child’s brain processes emotional faces offers a surprising glimpse into their future friendships
A recent study suggests that how a child’s brain responds to emotional faces can predict their social habits a few years later, with these brain patterns indicating very different outcomes for boys and girls. Specifically, higher activity in a brain area called the amygdala tends to forecast greater overall social involvement for adolescent girls but less involvement for adolescent boys. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
The human brain features specific regions that work together to manage how we interact with others. Scientists call this complex network the social brain. During early adolescence, the social brain goes through massive developmental changes. These biological changes help prepare young people for the increasingly complicated world of peer relationships.
At the same time, children are developing what experts call social health. Social health refers to having an adequate number of friends and high-quality relationships that meet a person’s fundamental need for human connection. Prior research generally looks at isolated pieces of social connection, such as the total number of friends a person has or their individual experiences with bullying.
However, people naturally experience these social factors in combination rather than in isolation. A research team based at the University of California Davis wanted to understand how early social brain function relates to complex, combined patterns of peer relationships later on. The research team included Myles N. Arrington, Johnna R. Swartz, Jeffrey R. Fine, and Amanda E. Guyer. They designed their research to see if brain activity in childhood could predict the specific type of social health a person would experience two years later.
The researchers analyzed data from 5,832 adolescents participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. This is a massive, ongoing national project tracking youth development across the United States. The scientists looked at brain imaging data collected when the children were between eight and eleven years old.
To observe the social brain in action, the participants completed a visual task while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, scanner. An fMRI machine tracks blood flow in the brain to measure which areas are working the hardest. During this specific task, the children viewed images of places, faces showing no emotion, and faces showing specific emotional expressions.
Two years later, when the participants were between ten and thirteen years old, they completed several surveys about their social lives. These surveys measured the exact number of close friends and general friends each participant had. The questionnaires also recorded experiences with peer support, physical and relational aggression, bullying, and the presence of rule-breaking or positive peers.
Using a statistical tool called latent profile analysis, the researchers grouped the teenagers based on their shared social traits. This method identifies hidden patterns in large sets of data. It allowed the scientists to categorize the youth into three distinct social profiles based on their survey answers.
The first group, making up about 53 percent of the sample, was labeled the selective profile. These adolescents had smaller friendship networks but generally fell within normal population boundaries, suggesting they were simply selective about their companions.
The second group, labeled the robust profile, accounted for about 34 percent of the participants. This group reported having the highest number of overall friends, close friends, and supportive peers.
The final group, comprising roughly 13 percent of the youth, was labeled the concerning profile. Adolescents in this group reported the highest levels of aggression, victimization, and friendships with rule-breaking peers. The researchers also noted that girls were slightly more likely to belong to the selective profile, and boys were slightly more likely to fall into the concerning profile.
Next, the researchers compared the earlier brain scan data with the teenagers’ social profiles to see if they could find any predictive links. They focused on several key brain regions, including the amygdala. The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is known for processing strong emotions and rapidly detecting important social information.
The analysis revealed that the amygdala was the only brain region that significantly predicted which general social profile a teenager would belong to. Specifically, the researchers found that amygdala activity in response to emotional faces compared to neutral faces predicted different social outcomes depending on the biological sex of the child.
For girls, heightened activity in the amygdala during the face-viewing task tended to predict a higher likelihood of belonging to either the robust or concerning profiles two years later. Both of these profiles reflect a high degree of involvement with peers, whether that involvement includes positive support or negative conflict.
For boys, the pattern went in the opposite direction. Higher amygdala activation for boys tended to predict a lower likelihood of belonging to these highly social profiles, pushing them instead toward the more isolated selective group. The researchers suggest that the amygdala might act as a gauge for overall peer engagement, but biological and social differences cause this engagement to manifest differently in boys and girls.
The researchers also conducted exploratory tests on other brain regions to see if they predicted specific, individual social outcomes rather than overall combined profiles. They looked at areas of the brain associated with understanding the thoughts of others, such as the superior temporal sulcus and the temporoparietal junction. The data provides evidence that lower activity in these regions predicts higher levels of future aggression.
In addition, the researchers looked at a region linked to anticipating social evaluation, known as the medial orbitofrontal cortex. They found that heightened activity in this area predicted more experiences with peer victimization. This suggests that a high neural sensitivity to social evaluation might indicate a vulnerability to future bullying.
People should exercise caution when interpreting these results, as the study does feature some limitations. For instance, the original brain imaging task was designed primarily to test working memory, rather than to perfectly capture social and emotional processing. As a result, the task might not fully activate all the complex networks involved in adolescent social behavior.
The surveys used to assess social health were also not originally created to measure the concept of social health as a unified whole. The researchers suggest that future studies should utilize tools specifically designed to track social health in daily life.
Another limitation involves the strict screening process for the brain scans. Only participants who could stay perfectly still provided usable data, which might limit how well these findings apply to the general population.
The research did not track biological changes over time, such as the onset of puberty. Puberty can heavily influence both brain development and social habits, and it often occurs at different times for boys and girls. Future research could track these biological markers to see how they influence the relationship between amygdala activity and peer connections.
The scientists also recommend that upcoming studies observe how the social brain and social health change together over longer periods of time. Exploring how these factors evolve side-by-side will help clarify the complex ways that early brain development shapes a person’s social future.
The study, “Contextualizing the adolescent social brain: Links to social health using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study,” was authored by Myles N. Arrington, Johnna R. Swartz, Jeffrey R. Fine, and Amanda E. Guyer.
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-
DATE: July 29, 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: How a child’s brain processes emotional faces offers a surprising glimpse into their future friendships
A recent study suggests that how a child’s brain responds to emotional faces can predict their social habits a few years later, with these brain patterns indicating very different outcomes for boys and girls. Specifically, higher activity in a brain area called the amygdala tends to forecast greater overall social involvement for adolescent girls but less involvement for adolescent boys. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
The human brain features specific regions that work together to manage how we interact with others. Scientists call this complex network the social brain. During early adolescence, the social brain goes through massive developmental changes. These biological changes help prepare young people for the increasingly complicated world of peer relationships.
At the same time, children are developing what experts call social health. Social health refers to having an adequate number of friends and high-quality relationships that meet a person’s fundamental need for human connection. Prior research generally looks at isolated pieces of social connection, such as the total number of friends a person has or their individual experiences with bullying.
However, people naturally experience these social factors in combination rather than in isolation. A research team based at the University of California Davis wanted to understand how early social brain function relates to complex, combined patterns of peer relationships later on. The research team included Myles N. Arrington, Johnna R. Swartz, Jeffrey R. Fine, and Amanda E. Guyer. They designed their research to see if brain activity in childhood could predict the specific type of social health a person would experience two years later.
The researchers analyzed data from 5,832 adolescents participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. This is a massive, ongoing national project tracking youth development across the United States. The scientists looked at brain imaging data collected when the children were between eight and eleven years old.
To observe the social brain in action, the participants completed a visual task while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, scanner. An fMRI machine tracks blood flow in the brain to measure which areas are working the hardest. During this specific task, the children viewed images of places, faces showing no emotion, and faces showing specific emotional expressions.
Two years later, when the participants were between ten and thirteen years old, they completed several surveys about their social lives. These surveys measured the exact number of close friends and general friends each participant had. The questionnaires also recorded experiences with peer support, physical and relational aggression, bullying, and the presence of rule-breaking or positive peers.
Using a statistical tool called latent profile analysis, the researchers grouped the teenagers based on their shared social traits. This method identifies hidden patterns in large sets of data. It allowed the scientists to categorize the youth into three distinct social profiles based on their survey answers.
The first group, making up about 53 percent of the sample, was labeled the selective profile. These adolescents had smaller friendship networks but generally fell within normal population boundaries, suggesting they were simply selective about their companions.
The second group, labeled the robust profile, accounted for about 34 percent of the participants. This group reported having the highest number of overall friends, close friends, and supportive peers.
The final group, comprising roughly 13 percent of the youth, was labeled the concerning profile. Adolescents in this group reported the highest levels of aggression, victimization, and friendships with rule-breaking peers. The researchers also noted that girls were slightly more likely to belong to the selective profile, and boys were slightly more likely to fall into the concerning profile.
Next, the researchers compared the earlier brain scan data with the teenagers’ social profiles to see if they could find any predictive links. They focused on several key brain regions, including the amygdala. The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is known for processing strong emotions and rapidly detecting important social information.
The analysis revealed that the amygdala was the only brain region that significantly predicted which general social profile a teenager would belong to. Specifically, the researchers found that amygdala activity in response to emotional faces compared to neutral faces predicted different social outcomes depending on the biological sex of the child.
For girls, heightened activity in the amygdala during the face-viewing task tended to predict a higher likelihood of belonging to either the robust or concerning profiles two years later. Both of these profiles reflect a high degree of involvement with peers, whether that involvement includes positive support or negative conflict.
For boys, the pattern went in the opposite direction. Higher amygdala activation for boys tended to predict a lower likelihood of belonging to these highly social profiles, pushing them instead toward the more isolated selective group. The researchers suggest that the amygdala might act as a gauge for overall peer engagement, but biological and social differences cause this engagement to manifest differently in boys and girls.
The researchers also conducted exploratory tests on other brain regions to see if they predicted specific, individual social outcomes rather than overall combined profiles. They looked at areas of the brain associated with understanding the thoughts of others, such as the superior temporal sulcus and the temporoparietal junction. The data provides evidence that lower activity in these regions predicts higher levels of future aggression.
In addition, the researchers looked at a region linked to anticipating social evaluation, known as the medial orbitofrontal cortex. They found that heightened activity in this area predicted more experiences with peer victimization. This suggests that a high neural sensitivity to social evaluation might indicate a vulnerability to future bullying.
People should exercise caution when interpreting these results, as the study does feature some limitations. For instance, the original brain imaging task was designed primarily to test working memory, rather than to perfectly capture social and emotional processing. As a result, the task might not fully activate all the complex networks involved in adolescent social behavior.
The surveys used to assess social health were also not originally created to measure the concept of social health as a unified whole. The researchers suggest that future studies should utilize tools specifically designed to track social health in daily life.
Another limitation involves the strict screening process for the brain scans. Only participants who could stay perfectly still provided usable data, which might limit how well these findings apply to the general population.
The research did not track biological changes over time, such as the onset of puberty. Puberty can heavily influence both brain development and social habits, and it often occurs at different times for boys and girls. Future research could track these biological markers to see how they influence the relationship between amygdala activity and peer connections.
The scientists also recommend that upcoming studies observe how the social brain and social health change together over longer periods of time. Exploring how these factors evolve side-by-side will help clarify the complex ways that early brain development shapes a person’s social future.
The study, “Contextualizing the adolescent social brain: Links to social health using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study,” was authored by Myles N. Arrington, Johnna R. Swartz, Jeffrey R. Fine, and Amanda E. Guyer.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AdolescentBrains #Amygdala #SocialHealth #PeerRelationships #SocialBrain #EmotionalFaces #GirlsVsBoys #DevelopmentalCognitiveNeuroscience #ABCDStudy #NeuroscienceOfFriendship
-
DATE: July 29, 2026 at 11:35AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
This week's episode of "Psyched Perspectives," hosted by @tapkidmd, is now available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and https://t.co/u37169iOwz!
Listen here: https://t.co/L2tulQPWhu https://t.co/93XyUHm4C7
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
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-
DATE: July 29, 2026 at 11:35AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
This week's episode of "Psyched Perspectives," hosted by @tapkidmd, is now available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and https://t.co/u37169iOwz!
Listen here: https://t.co/L2tulQPWhu https://t.co/93XyUHm4C7
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #PsychedPerspectives #TapKidMD #AppleMusic #Spotify #PodcastEpisode
-
DATE: July 29, 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: Numbers in brand names make consumers expect tastier food
URL: https://www.psypost.org/numbers-in-brand-names-make-consumers-expect-tastier-food/
The inclusion of numbers in food and beverage brand names tends to make consumers expect the products will taste better and have more complex flavor profiles. A recent paper published in Psychology Marketing suggests that writing numbers out as words, especially those containing certain vowel sounds, enhances this effect by subtly signaling richness and depth to the human brain.
Nathalie Spielmann and Diego Vega designed this research to explore how the format and sound of numbers in brand names influence consumer judgments about flavor. The way a brand name sounds and looks plays a major role in shaping initial impressions. In the food industry, numbers frequently appear in brand names, but the psychological effects of these numeric cues on actual taste expectations remain largely unexplored.
“Being very involved with wine, I noticed that many wine brands were opting for numericals when naming their wines and I wondered what influence that might have on consumer perceptions,” said Spielmann, a professor of marketing at NEOMA Business School. “Particularly as wine is an experiential product and rarely trialed before purchase, it seemed interesting to research what and how consumers might expect wines to taste based on the type of number being used in the brand. This research obviously applies to all foods and beverages.”
The researchers anchored their work in processing fluency theory, which describes how the ease or difficulty of understanding a piece of information affects human preferences. Usually, people prefer things that are easy to process. However, in certain contexts, a slight mental hurdle can make a product seem more elaborate or premium. This slight cognitive friction is known as disfluency.
Spielmann and Vega proposed that encountering numbers in a brand name introduces a mild form of visual and cognitive complexity. Because reading a spelled-out word like “seven” requires slightly more mental effort than reading the digit “7,” the brain might misattribute this slight difficulty to the product itself being complex and layered.
“The takeaway is that consumers might be more influenced than they think when presented with a brand name that includes a numerical cue,” Spielmann said. “Not only does a number positively influence taste perceptions, but this is even more so the case when the number is written versus numerically presented. This occurs because numbers but also written numbers are more complex to read and thus cue complexity.”
The authors also wanted to test phonetic symbolism, which refers to how specific sounds evoke physical sensations or abstract concepts. Specifically, they wondered if front-vowel numbers and back-vowel numbers might cue different flavor expectations. Front vowels are sounds produced with the tongue positioned forward in the mouth, often associated with lightness or sharpness, as seen in words like three or six.
Back vowels involve pulling the tongue back, evoking a sense of richness, depth, or heaviness, as seen in words like one or two. Spielmann noted that “written numbers with back vowel sounds (when the mouth is more rounded, such as 1, 2, 4) amplify this effect, and make the product seem more complex and richer.”
To test these ideas, Spielmann and Vega carried out four separate studies, beginning with an Implicit Association Test. This first study recruited 149 North American participants to measure their automatic, subconscious associations between brand names and taste. The participants sorted words into categories on a computer screen, matching brand names that either contained numbers or did not with either taste-related words or neutral words.
The researchers measured response latencies, which track how quickly a participant can accurately sort the categories. The authors found that participants were significantly faster at categorizing items when brand names with numbers were paired with taste-related words. This outcome suggests that people harbor an underlying implicit belief that food brands featuring numbers are tastier than those without them.
In their second study, the researchers analyzed professional wine evaluations to see if this pattern held up in a natural setting. They collected 695 wine tasting notes from a popular international wine magazine over a twelve-month period, looking at 56 wines with numbers in their names and 639 without. They recorded the expert scores, which served as a proxy for taste and quality, and conducted a textual analysis of the written reviews.
Wines with numerical brand names received statistically higher expert scores, averaging 93.84 out of 100 compared to 93.15 for non-numerical brands. A deeper qualitative analysis of a balanced subset of 112 tasting notes revealed that reviewers used more abstract and complex language when describing numerical wines. This provides evidence that numerical branding is associated with more elaborate and structural tasting experiences.
The third study tested whether the visual format of the number matters. The researchers presented 306 North American participants with a fictional potato chip package. The participants were randomly assigned to view the brand name with no number, a number written as a digit, or a number spelled out as a word. They then rated their expectations of the chips’ taste and complexity on a seven-point scale.
The findings indicate that written numbers produced the highest taste expectations, scoring an average of 5.42 out of 7, compared to 4.85 for the non-numerical brand. The digit format scored in between. The statistical analysis showed that this increase in expected taste was directly linked to heightened perceptions of complexity.
For the final study, Spielmann and Vega scraped 1,032 consumer wine ratings from Vivino, an online marketplace and community platform. They specifically looked for wines featuring numbers in their names to evaluate the impact of phonetic sounds on consumer ratings. They categorized the numbers based on their starting sounds, grouping numbers like three, five, six, seven, eight, and nine as front vowels.
The researchers found that wines with back-vowel numbers received significantly higher consumer ratings than those with front-vowel numbers. This effect was heavily dependent on the presentation format. For numbers written out as words, back-vowel names performed significantly better than front-vowel names, scoring 3.91 out of 5 compared to 3.79.
For numbers presented as simple digits, the phonetic differences had no impact on consumer ratings. This suggests that reading the word aloud in the mind activates these specific sensory associations, while seeing a simple digit does not trigger the same phonetic depth.
“Additionally, and with my colleague Diego Vega, it was interesting to see that across methods, an implicit test, quantitative studies, and also from a descriptive and qualitative perspective… the effects were consistent,” Spielmann said. “Consumers, both novice and experts, do react differently to numerical brands.”
Brand managers could potentially leverage these findings to boost perceived flavor intensity without altering their actual recipes. For example, a company launching a rich dessert might choose a written back-vowel number to maximize sensory expectations. However, Spielmann observed that many food and beverage companies miss this opportunity.
“What seemed more surprising was not the results as much as the use of numericals in brand names that clearly do not consider this sort of effect,” Spielmann explained. “While marketers are very careful about selecting a brand name or icon, ensuring that it is adapted to the product, corporate positioning, company ethos, this does not seem to be the case for number choices.”
She pointed out a common disconnect in the wine industry. “For example, many rich, heavy, broad, oaked wine brand names seem to have front vowel names in numerical format, which would tend to cue lightness and less complexity,” Spielmann said.
Readers should avoid assuming that adding a number to any product will automatically guarantee market success. The current research focuses heavily on hedonic items, specifically potato chips and wine, which are consumed primarily for pleasure. Products bought for functional or health-related reasons might not benefit from these same phonetic or numerical cues, as different psychological mechanisms govern those choices.
Still, the patterns observed in the market hint at a strong underlying trend. “It should be noted that the research was done using real data from either reputable wine magazines or a global wine review platform, suggesting that the research is representative of a market phenomenon,” Spielmann noted. “Not that many brands use numericals but when they do, it is often brands that have market success (7up, Four Seasons, Penfolds 407, etc.), suggesting that numericals are a powerful brand cue when harnessed properly.”
The studies also relied entirely on English-speaking samples and Western food categories. Phonetic symbolism and numerical superstitions vary widely across different cultures and languages. “However, the focus here was on the English language and the assumption that the numerical brand names would be interpreted in English and pronounced in English,” Spielmann said. “While English is the most spoken language in the world, the research results are thus mostly applicable to those who can speak it.”
Future research could explore how these numerical cues affect actual consumption experiences during physical taste tests. Scientists might also investigate whether a person’s individual numeracy skills alter this effect, as consumers who are highly proficient with numbers might process these brand names differently. Testing a wider variety of product types, including healthy food options, could provide a more complete picture of how numerical branding influences dietary choices.
The study, “The Tasty Side of Numbers: How Vowel Type Influences Taste Perceptions for Numerical Brand Names,” was authored by Nathalie Spielmann and Diego Vega.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/numbers-in-brand-names-make-consumers-expect-tastier-food/
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-
DATE: July 29, 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: Numbers in brand names make consumers expect tastier food
URL: https://www.psypost.org/numbers-in-brand-names-make-consumers-expect-tastier-food/
The inclusion of numbers in food and beverage brand names tends to make consumers expect the products will taste better and have more complex flavor profiles. A recent paper published in Psychology Marketing suggests that writing numbers out as words, especially those containing certain vowel sounds, enhances this effect by subtly signaling richness and depth to the human brain.
Nathalie Spielmann and Diego Vega designed this research to explore how the format and sound of numbers in brand names influence consumer judgments about flavor. The way a brand name sounds and looks plays a major role in shaping initial impressions. In the food industry, numbers frequently appear in brand names, but the psychological effects of these numeric cues on actual taste expectations remain largely unexplored.
“Being very involved with wine, I noticed that many wine brands were opting for numericals when naming their wines and I wondered what influence that might have on consumer perceptions,” said Spielmann, a professor of marketing at NEOMA Business School. “Particularly as wine is an experiential product and rarely trialed before purchase, it seemed interesting to research what and how consumers might expect wines to taste based on the type of number being used in the brand. This research obviously applies to all foods and beverages.”
The researchers anchored their work in processing fluency theory, which describes how the ease or difficulty of understanding a piece of information affects human preferences. Usually, people prefer things that are easy to process. However, in certain contexts, a slight mental hurdle can make a product seem more elaborate or premium. This slight cognitive friction is known as disfluency.
Spielmann and Vega proposed that encountering numbers in a brand name introduces a mild form of visual and cognitive complexity. Because reading a spelled-out word like “seven” requires slightly more mental effort than reading the digit “7,” the brain might misattribute this slight difficulty to the product itself being complex and layered.
“The takeaway is that consumers might be more influenced than they think when presented with a brand name that includes a numerical cue,” Spielmann said. “Not only does a number positively influence taste perceptions, but this is even more so the case when the number is written versus numerically presented. This occurs because numbers but also written numbers are more complex to read and thus cue complexity.”
The authors also wanted to test phonetic symbolism, which refers to how specific sounds evoke physical sensations or abstract concepts. Specifically, they wondered if front-vowel numbers and back-vowel numbers might cue different flavor expectations. Front vowels are sounds produced with the tongue positioned forward in the mouth, often associated with lightness or sharpness, as seen in words like three or six.
Back vowels involve pulling the tongue back, evoking a sense of richness, depth, or heaviness, as seen in words like one or two. Spielmann noted that “written numbers with back vowel sounds (when the mouth is more rounded, such as 1, 2, 4) amplify this effect, and make the product seem more complex and richer.”
To test these ideas, Spielmann and Vega carried out four separate studies, beginning with an Implicit Association Test. This first study recruited 149 North American participants to measure their automatic, subconscious associations between brand names and taste. The participants sorted words into categories on a computer screen, matching brand names that either contained numbers or did not with either taste-related words or neutral words.
The researchers measured response latencies, which track how quickly a participant can accurately sort the categories. The authors found that participants were significantly faster at categorizing items when brand names with numbers were paired with taste-related words. This outcome suggests that people harbor an underlying implicit belief that food brands featuring numbers are tastier than those without them.
In their second study, the researchers analyzed professional wine evaluations to see if this pattern held up in a natural setting. They collected 695 wine tasting notes from a popular international wine magazine over a twelve-month period, looking at 56 wines with numbers in their names and 639 without. They recorded the expert scores, which served as a proxy for taste and quality, and conducted a textual analysis of the written reviews.
Wines with numerical brand names received statistically higher expert scores, averaging 93.84 out of 100 compared to 93.15 for non-numerical brands. A deeper qualitative analysis of a balanced subset of 112 tasting notes revealed that reviewers used more abstract and complex language when describing numerical wines. This provides evidence that numerical branding is associated with more elaborate and structural tasting experiences.
The third study tested whether the visual format of the number matters. The researchers presented 306 North American participants with a fictional potato chip package. The participants were randomly assigned to view the brand name with no number, a number written as a digit, or a number spelled out as a word. They then rated their expectations of the chips’ taste and complexity on a seven-point scale.
The findings indicate that written numbers produced the highest taste expectations, scoring an average of 5.42 out of 7, compared to 4.85 for the non-numerical brand. The digit format scored in between. The statistical analysis showed that this increase in expected taste was directly linked to heightened perceptions of complexity.
For the final study, Spielmann and Vega scraped 1,032 consumer wine ratings from Vivino, an online marketplace and community platform. They specifically looked for wines featuring numbers in their names to evaluate the impact of phonetic sounds on consumer ratings. They categorized the numbers based on their starting sounds, grouping numbers like three, five, six, seven, eight, and nine as front vowels.
The researchers found that wines with back-vowel numbers received significantly higher consumer ratings than those with front-vowel numbers. This effect was heavily dependent on the presentation format. For numbers written out as words, back-vowel names performed significantly better than front-vowel names, scoring 3.91 out of 5 compared to 3.79.
For numbers presented as simple digits, the phonetic differences had no impact on consumer ratings. This suggests that reading the word aloud in the mind activates these specific sensory associations, while seeing a simple digit does not trigger the same phonetic depth.
“Additionally, and with my colleague Diego Vega, it was interesting to see that across methods, an implicit test, quantitative studies, and also from a descriptive and qualitative perspective… the effects were consistent,” Spielmann said. “Consumers, both novice and experts, do react differently to numerical brands.”
Brand managers could potentially leverage these findings to boost perceived flavor intensity without altering their actual recipes. For example, a company launching a rich dessert might choose a written back-vowel number to maximize sensory expectations. However, Spielmann observed that many food and beverage companies miss this opportunity.
“What seemed more surprising was not the results as much as the use of numericals in brand names that clearly do not consider this sort of effect,” Spielmann explained. “While marketers are very careful about selecting a brand name or icon, ensuring that it is adapted to the product, corporate positioning, company ethos, this does not seem to be the case for number choices.”
She pointed out a common disconnect in the wine industry. “For example, many rich, heavy, broad, oaked wine brand names seem to have front vowel names in numerical format, which would tend to cue lightness and less complexity,” Spielmann said.
Readers should avoid assuming that adding a number to any product will automatically guarantee market success. The current research focuses heavily on hedonic items, specifically potato chips and wine, which are consumed primarily for pleasure. Products bought for functional or health-related reasons might not benefit from these same phonetic or numerical cues, as different psychological mechanisms govern those choices.
Still, the patterns observed in the market hint at a strong underlying trend. “It should be noted that the research was done using real data from either reputable wine magazines or a global wine review platform, suggesting that the research is representative of a market phenomenon,” Spielmann noted. “Not that many brands use numericals but when they do, it is often brands that have market success (7up, Four Seasons, Penfolds 407, etc.), suggesting that numericals are a powerful brand cue when harnessed properly.”
The studies also relied entirely on English-speaking samples and Western food categories. Phonetic symbolism and numerical superstitions vary widely across different cultures and languages. “However, the focus here was on the English language and the assumption that the numerical brand names would be interpreted in English and pronounced in English,” Spielmann said. “While English is the most spoken language in the world, the research results are thus mostly applicable to those who can speak it.”
Future research could explore how these numerical cues affect actual consumption experiences during physical taste tests. Scientists might also investigate whether a person’s individual numeracy skills alter this effect, as consumers who are highly proficient with numbers might process these brand names differently. Testing a wider variety of product types, including healthy food options, could provide a more complete picture of how numerical branding influences dietary choices.
The study, “The Tasty Side of Numbers: How Vowel Type Influences Taste Perceptions for Numerical Brand Names,” was authored by Nathalie Spielmann and Diego Vega.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/numbers-in-brand-names-make-consumers-expect-tastier-food/
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 08:20AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEEDTITLE: Your gut may help your brain decide what to remember
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
Signals traveling from the gut to the brain may help turn meals into lasting memories. Rats showed stronger memory activity after consuming nutritious foods, but not after drinking sweet liquids with little or no nutritional value. Blocking the vagus nerve erased this effect and made it harder for the animals to remember where food had been located. Over time, diets high in fat and sugar also weakened this memory system.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 08:20AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHOLOGY FEEDTITLE: Your gut may help your brain decide what to remember
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
Signals traveling from the gut to the brain may help turn meals into lasting memories. Rats showed stronger memory activity after consuming nutritious foods, but not after drinking sweet liquids with little or no nutritional value. Blocking the vagus nerve erased this effect and made it harder for the animals to remember where food had been located. Over time, diets high in fat and sugar also weakened this memory system.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 08:20AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your gut may help your brain decide what to remember
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
Signals traveling from the gut to the brain may help turn meals into lasting memories. Rats showed stronger memory activity after consuming nutritious foods, but not after drinking sweet liquids with little or no nutritional value. Blocking the vagus nerve erased this effect and made it harder for the animals to remember where food had been located. Over time, diets high in fat and sugar also weakened this memory system.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 08:20AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your gut may help your brain decide what to remember
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
Signals traveling from the gut to the brain may help turn meals into lasting memories. Rats showed stronger memory activity after consuming nutritious foods, but not after drinking sweet liquids with little or no nutritional value. Blocking the vagus nerve erased this effect and made it harder for the animals to remember where food had been located. Over time, diets high in fat and sugar also weakened this memory system.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260729010713.htm
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #GutBrainConnection #MemoryAndNutrition #VagusNerve #GutSignals #MemoryFormation #HealthyDietForMemory #NutritionInfluencesMemory #BrainHealth #FatSugarImpact #GutToBrainScience
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Higher aerobic fitness is linked to lower heart rates during acute stress
URL: https://www.psypost.org/higher-aerobic-fitness-is-linked-to-lower-heart-rates-during-acute-stress/
A study in Austria examined whether aerobic capacity modulates psychophysiological responses to stress. The researchers found that people with higher aerobic capacity had lower heart rates during experimental stress conditions. The paper was published in Psychophysiology.
When a person faces a challenge, a demand, or perceives a threat, they experience stress. The body reacts with a stress response, a set of reactions that quickly increase alertness, heart rate, breathing, and the availability of energy. This response prepares the body for increased physical effort typically needed to fight a threat or flee from it.
The stress response is driven mainly by the sympathetic nervous system and a system involving the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands. This system is called the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis releases the hormone cortisol, while the sympathetic nervous system stimulates the release of adrenaline. In the short term, this response can be useful because it prepares the body to confront danger or escape from it. Once the challenge has passed, the body returns to its normal state.
However, if the events that cause stress are intense, frequent, or never cease, so stress responses are initiated frequently or remain activated for too long, stress becomes chronic. Chronic stress can contribute to sleep difficulties, irritability, poor concentration, weakened immunity, cardiovascular problems, anxiety, depression, and various other health problems. People differ considerably in how strongly they react to the same event because stress depends partly on how a person perceives it and how able a person is to deal with the event. In some cases, a stressful day for one person can be a peaceful day for another.
Study author Peter Raidl and his colleagues hypothesized that physically fit individuals might be better able to cope with stress. More specifically, they hypothesized that physical fitness would be more relevant for coping with acute physical stressors than with psychosocial stressors. They conducted an experiment in which they tested whether physical fitness provides greater protection against stressors that include a physical component compared to stressors that are primarily social.
In this study, they operationalized physical fitness as aerobic fitness, assessed using a graded exercise test, and self-reported physical activity. Aerobic fitness is the ability of the heart, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles to supply and use oxygen efficiently during sustained physical activity. A graded exercise test is a treadmill or cycle test in which exercise intensity is gradually increased while heart rate, breathing, and sometimes oxygen consumption are measured.
Study participants were 59 healthy adults. Their average age was 27 years. Twenty-eight of them were women. They were required to maintain a regular sleep schedule for the time of the experiment, avoid traveling across multiple time zones in the weeks of testing, and refrain from intense exercise, supplement intake, or alcohol and other drugs for at least 24 hours before each experimental day. In addition, they were asked to abstain from caffeine and nicotine for 18 hours, and from eating, drinking caloric beverages, chewing gum, or brushing their teeth for 1 hour prior to testing.
Each participant took part in two experimental events on two different days at least a month apart. The experiments included completing a set of assessments at the start and then going through either the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). The TSST consisted of a 5-minute mock job interview, followed by a 5-minute mental arithmetic task (a task where participants perform mathematical calculations in their heads) performed in front of a committee. The purpose of the committee was to induce social stress. The committee comprised one male and one female interviewer, both dressed formally and instructed to maintain neutral facial expressions and body language. Interviews were conducted by an opposite-sex interviewer (also to increase stress).
The MAST combined elements of the TSST with having the participant dip their dominant hand in ice water multiple times (as a physical stressor). The participants held their hand in the water for 60 to 90 seconds each time and alternated this with a mental arithmetic task. After completing these tasks, participants completed follow-up assessments of their stress response. Study participants wore a heart rate monitor during the procedures.
Participants gave saliva samples at the start of the experiment, while they were anticipating stressors, and after each stress test protocol. At the beginning of each experimental day, participants completed an assessment of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms (DASS-21). They completed an assessment of anxiety before and after each stress test, and rated their stress level at each saliva sampling. Participants were initially given a 2-week physical activity diary, but due to low completion rates, the authors relied on a physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) to assess their activity levels. On a separate occasion, they completed the graded exercise test, allowing study authors to assess their aerobic capacity.
Results showed that participants with better aerobic fitness (higher peak oxygen uptake) tended to have a lower heart rate during both stress-induction situations. This association did not differ between TSST and MAST stress-induction procedures. No other outcome was associated with aerobic fitness.
“Aerobic fitness was linked to lower heart rate during the experimental sessions, indicating a modest cardiovascular advantage under acute stress. Contrary to our hypothesis, this effect did not differ between the two stress paradigms, suggesting that the influence of fitness was not specific to the type of stressor. Aerobic capacity, therefore, seems to reduce cardiovascular load during stressful situations in a general manner,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between physical fitness and stress response. However, it should be noted that the study used acute, laboratory-based stressors. Studies looking into coping with severe or chronic real-world sources of stress might yield different results.
The paper, “Does Aerobic Capacity Protect Against Stress? Insights From Two Stress-Induction Paradigms,” was authored by Peter Raidl, Anja Vogl, Aljoscha Dreisörner, Barbara Wessner, Urs M. Nater, and Robert Csapo.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/higher-aerobic-fitness-is-linked-to-lower-heart-rates-during-acute-stress/
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DATE: July 29, 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: Psychologists studied adult webcam interactions and found a surprising relationship dynamic
New research provides evidence that emotional intimacy and personal investment are strongly associated with commitment in online adult webcam relationships. The findings challenge the common assumption that these digitally mediated relationships are purely transactional exchanges based solely on financial payments. The new study was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Online adult webcam platforms, commonly known as cam sites, feature live and interactive video broadcasts. Unlike pre-recorded adult videos, camming allows viewers to communicate with performers in real time. This interactive element provides opportunities for personal conversations, companionship, and shared sexual experiences. Millions of people interact on these platforms every day, making them a major arena for modern digital socialization.
Because money is exchanged for access to these live broadcasts, these connections are heavily rooted in commerce. Viewers pay for a performer’s time, and performers rely on this income to support themselves financially. These arrangements often challenge conventional boundaries between commercial services and personal affection. Performers sometimes provide what is known as the girlfriend experience, purposefully cultivating encounters that feature casual conversation and companionship rather than just physical performances.
Rhonda N. Balzarini, an assistant professor of psychology at Texas State University and a research fellow at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, noticed a disconnect in how these platforms were often portrayed. She will be promoted to associate professor in September 2026. Balzarini explained that her team wanted to explore the reality of these digital connections.
“Digital intimacy is becoming an increasingly common part of people’s lives, yet we know surprisingly little about how these relationships actually function,” Balzarini said. “Camming platforms are one of the fastest-growing forms of online intimacy, with millions of people using them worldwide, but most research has focused on the sexual or commercial aspects of these interactions rather than the relationships that develop over time.”
To better understand how these digital bonds form and persist, the authors looked to a well-known psychological framework called the investment model of commitment processes. This framework suggests that people are more likely to stay in a relationship when they feel highly satisfied, have invested significant resources into the connection, and perceive that they have poor alternatives outside the relationship. In this context, resources can include time, money, and emotional energy.
“What fascinated us was that many cam models and members describe their interactions as extending beyond sex or financial exchange,” Balzarini noted. “Some report forming meaningful emotional connections, and even relationships that resemble romantic partnerships.”
This model relies on interdependence theory, a psychological concept suggesting that people evaluate relationships by weighing the perceived rewards against the perceived costs. When the rewards, such as pleasure, fulfillment, or emotional support, outweigh the costs, such as anxiety or financial expense, individuals tend to feel satisfied. They also compare their current situation to potential alternatives, such as dating someone else or being single.
Past studies have consistently supported this model in traditional romantic partnerships, friendships, and non-monogamous relationships. Very little is known about how these commitment processes operate in digital environments where interactions are paid for and physical contact is absent. Camming relationships present a specific dynamic because exclusivity is neither expected nor enforced by the platforms.
“As relationship scientists, we wanted to know whether the same psychological processes that keep traditional romantic relationships together also apply in this very different context,” Balzarini told PsyPost. “Are these relationships driven primarily by money and convenience, or do factors like satisfaction, investment, and intimacy also play a role?”
The researchers designed this study to see if the traditional investment model applies to online camming relationships. Because performers and viewers interact in a space where many other potential partners are readily available, the authors suspected that the perceived quality of alternatives might not matter as much as it does in exclusive relationships. Instead, they proposed that emotional intimacy might play a larger role in determining commitment.
To examine these dynamics, the researchers recruited participants from LiveJasmin, one of the most visited adult webcam platforms in the world. The study included two distinct groups of participants. The first group consisted of 544 paying members, the vast majority of whom were heterosexual men in their mid-forties. The second group consisted of 199 cam models, primarily heterosexual women in their early thirties.
The scientists recruited the paying members by displaying a brief pop-up advertisement that appeared after a user spent ten seconds on the website’s main directory. The cam models were invited to participate through an email newsletter distributed by the platform. The survey for members was offered in English, and the survey for models was translated into Romanian, Russian, and Spanish to accommodate the most common languages spoken by performers on the site.
Participants were not paired up as couples. They answered questions regarding the specific model or member they had interacted with for the longest period of time. Participants completed a digital survey that included brief, single-item questions derived from established psychological questionnaires. They rated their feelings on a seven-point scale, ranging from completely disagreeing to completely agreeing.
The survey asked participants to rate their relationship satisfaction, the amount of investment they had put into the connection, the quality of their alternative options, and their level of emotional intimacy. They were also asked to rate their current level of commitment to maintaining the relationship.
Finally, participants estimated future financial investments. Members were asked to project how much virtual currency, known on the platform as credits, they planned to spend on their preferred model in the coming month. Credits are purchased with real money and can be used for exclusive private shows or tipping.
In preliminary analyses, the researchers discovered that the paying members reported higher average levels of relationship satisfaction, investment, and intimacy than the cam models did. The members also rated their alternative options more highly than the models rated theirs. Despite these differences, the two groups reported equal levels of overall commitment to their connections.
“One of the biggest surprises was that many cam models, not just members, described their interactions as genuine relationships,” Balzarini said. “Public discussions often focus on members becoming emotionally attached, but our findings suggest that cam models also sometimes view these interactions as meaningful relationships rather than simply business transactions.”
The statistical analysis revealed that the quality of alternative partners did not significantly predict relationship commitment for either the models or the members. Even though participants had access to countless other people on the website, this availability did not weaken their dedication to their primary connection. The researchers found that dropping the concept of alternatives from their statistical model provided a better fit for the data.
Instead, the analysis showed that relationship satisfaction, personal investment, and emotional intimacy were all positively associated with commitment. When cam models and paying members reported higher levels of intimacy and satisfaction, they also tended to report stronger dedication to maintaining the relationship. For the paying members, the amount of resources they had already invested was a particularly strong predictor of their ongoing commitment.
“The effects were not trivial,” Balzarini explained. “They were actually quite large. Satisfaction, investment, and intimacy together explained about 68% of the differences in commitment among members and more than half of the differences in commitment among cam models, which is substantial for psychological research.”
She added that the researchers were surprised by how well the investment model applied to both groups. Among both members and cam models, greater satisfaction, investment, and intimacy were consistently associated with stronger commitment.
“The biggest takeaway is that these relationships are not simply transactional,” Balzarini said. “While financial exchange is certainly part of the interaction, emotional connection matters too. We found that intimacy was a key predictor of commitment, suggesting that many people aren’t just paying for content, they’re forming relationships that provide companionship, connection, and a sense of intimacy.”
This heightened commitment was also associated with future financial behavior. Through a statistical technique called path analysis, which tests relationships between multiple variables, the researchers found that members with higher levels of commitment intended to spend more money on their preferred model in the future. Similarly, highly committed models expected to receive greater financial investments from their preferred members.
Several limitations and potential misinterpretations should be considered when reviewing these findings. Balzarini warned against assuming that cam models become committed simply because they expect future financial investment.
“That is not what our study shows,” she said. “We found that for both members and cam models, greater satisfaction, investment, and intimacy were associated with greater commitment, and greater commitment was then associated with stronger expectations of future investment. In other words, anticipated future investment was associated with commitment, but our data do not tell us that it is the reason cam models become committed in the first place.”
The study utilized a cross-sectional design, meaning the researchers collected all the data at a single point in time. This approach makes it impossible to determine the direction of cause and effect. It remains unknown whether intimacy causes increased commitment or if committed individuals simply tend to develop deeper intimacy over time.
“More broadly, our study is correlational, so we cannot determine cause and effect,” Balzarini noted. “It is possible that greater commitment leads people to anticipate greater future investment, that anticipated investment strengthens commitment, or that both are influenced by other factors we did not measure.”
The researchers also pointed out that not every interaction on a camming platform develops into an emotionally meaningful relationship. Many participants described their interactions as casual rather than relational. The findings simply show that for a substantial subset of users who do form these relationships, commitment appears to be associated with many of the same factors that are important in other relationship contexts.
Another limitation involves the demographic makeup of the sample, which was primarily heterosexual and gender-conforming. Future studies would benefit from including a more diverse range of sexual orientations and gender identities to see if these patterns hold true across different communities. The study also relied entirely on self-reported data, which can sometimes be influenced by personal biases or poor memory.
“This study is really just a starting point,” Balzarini said. “One of our biggest priorities is conducting longitudinal research to understand how these relationships develop over time. Because our data were collected at a single point in time, we cannot determine how commitment evolves or whether satisfaction, investment, and intimacy change as these relationships grow or dissolve.”
Balzarini expressed a desire to study cam models and members who are actually interacting with one another. By recruiting matched pairs rather than independent samples of models and members, researchers could better understand how each person’s experiences influence the other. She also hopes to explore the broader impacts of these platforms.
“Another important next step is understanding how introducing digital intimacy into people’s lives affects well-being,” she said. “For example, we are interested in following individuals with no prior experience using camming platforms to examine how beginning to use these platforms influences mental health, relationship quality, loneliness, and well-being over time.”
Future studies might explore whether digitally mediated intimacy could complement therapeutic approaches for individuals with physical disabilities, social anxiety, or high rejection sensitivity. Balzarini is also interested in the potential implications for body image. Preliminary research suggests that positive interactions in these digital spaces may improve body image and body acceptance for some individuals.
“Ultimately, my broader goal is to understand how technology is reshaping intimacy,” Balzarini explained. “Rather than assuming digital relationships are inherently good or bad, I think the more important scientific question is identifying who benefits, under what circumstances, and why.”
She expressed gratitude to the members and cam models from LiveJasmin who volunteered their time to participate in the research. She noted that studies like this are only possible because people are willing to share honest accounts of their experiences.
“I also hope this study encourages people to approach digital intimacy with curiosity rather than assumptions,” Balzarini concluded. “Whether people ultimately view these relationships positively or negatively, understanding them through careful scientific research is far more informative than relying on stereotypes or preconceived notions.”
The study, “Beyond the Transaction: Commitment, Intimacy, and Investment in Online Camming Relationships,” was authored by Rhonda N. Balzarini, Taylor Himes, Faith Swanson, Brandi Reynolds, and Christopher R. Agnew.
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DATE: July 29, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: How culture shapes the psychological costs of narcissism
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-culture-shapes-the-psychological-costs-of-narcissism/
People who exhibit specific types of narcissistic traits experience different levels of personal well-being depending on the cultural values of the society they live in. While the tendency to seek admiration is consistently linked to greater happiness worldwide, a more hostile form of narcissism exacts a heavier psychological toll on individuals living in highly individualistic countries. These findings were recently published in the Journal of Personality.
Psychologists generally view grandiose narcissism not as a single trait but as a combination of two distinct behavioral strategies. The first strategy is narcissistic admiration. This involves a confident approach to boosting one’s own image, marked by charm, assertiveness, and a desire to be the center of attention.
The second strategy is narcissistic rivalry. This acts as a defensive mechanism aimed at protecting an inflated sense of self. People scoring high in narcissistic rivalry tend to perceive others as threats, leading them to act with hostility, sensitivity to criticism, and a tendency to put other people down.
Previous psychology research has established that these two dimensions have opposite relationships with emotional health in Western populations. Admiration tends to correlate with high self-esteem and happiness. Rivalry tends to correlate with depression and lower life satisfaction.
Wang Zheng and Zhiyu Liu, researchers at East China Normal University, wanted to understand if these psychological patterns hold true across a global spectrum. They focused specifically on the cultural concepts of individualism and collectivism.
Individualistic societies, such as those in North America and Western Europe, prioritize personal autonomy, self-expression, and individual achievement. Collectivistic societies, which are common in parts of Asia and South America, place a higher premium on group cohesion, relational obligations, and social harmony.
The researchers based their hypothesis on a psychological concept known as person-culture fit. This theory suggests that the psychological outcomes of a personality trait depend on how well that behavior aligns with prevailing cultural norms. Traits that fit the culture are socially rewarded, while traits that violate cultural expectations can cause social friction and emotional strain.
To test their ideas, the researchers analyzed data from a large study encompassing 51,070 participants across 57 distinct societies. The participants were originally surveyed as part of a separate international collaborative project exploring social attitudes and mental health during a recent global event.
In this survey, participants rated their agreement with statements designed to measure different facets of narcissism. To measure narcissistic admiration, they responded to items regarding a belief that their outstanding contributions deserve attention. To measure narcissistic rivalry, they answered items regarding a desire for their rivals to fail.
To assess overall well-being, the participants rated their life satisfaction and general happiness on a numerical scale. The researchers then mapped these individual responses onto country-wide datasets that quantified how individualistic or collectivistic each society is. They used two separate cultural indices to ensure their results were mathematically robust.
The researchers relied on statistical models to account for the layered nature of the data. They controlled for individual factors that could skew the results, such as age, gender, subjective social status, and whether the participant lived in an urban or rural area. They also adjusted for national differences in economic development and wealth inequality.
Zheng and Liu found that narcissistic admiration was positively associated with well-being across all 57 societies. This positive link did not change based on the cultural backdrop. Individuals who confidently sought admiration reported higher levels of happiness regardless of where they lived.
The universal nature of this positive association suggests that seeking competence, recognition, and self-enhancement might fulfill basic psychological needs. The researchers suggest that the pursuit of admiration functions as a socially adaptive strategy that helps people find meaning and build self-worth across any cultural setting.
In contrast, the researchers found that narcissistic rivalry was negatively associated with well-being. People with an antagonistic approach to protecting their egos generally reported lower levels of life satisfaction and happiness globally.
The intensity of this negative association shifted depending on the cultural context. In highly individualistic societies, the psychological cost of narcissistic rivalry was magnified. Individuals exhibiting aggressive self-protection in these cultures reported lower well-being compared to similar individuals in other countries.
The researchers theorize that individualistic cultures emphasize cooperative independence and mutual respect. When individuals in these societies act with hostility and devalue others, they likely experience increased interpersonal friction and social rejection, which ultimately harms their emotional health.
In more collectivistic societies, the negative association between narcissistic rivalry and well-being was considerably weaker. The researchers suggest that cultural norms in these regions might provide structural buffers that prevent narcissistic individuals from spiraling into distress.
Collectivistic cultures often restrict the outward expression of socially disruptive behaviors. A societal emphasis on family relationships and indirect communication might force individuals to manage their antagonism more quietly. This regulation might prevent interpersonal conflicts from escalating and irreparably damaging an individual’s emotional stability.
The findings offer practical insights for mental health professionals and organizational leaders working in multicultural environments. The results suggest that professionals should evaluate the broader social context when assessing narcissistic behaviors.
Not all forms of narcissism carry the exact same risks. Because the drive for admiration can support emotional resilience and ambition globally, professionals might avoid pathologizing basic self-confidence. Conversely, they might need to pay closer attention to antagonistic behaviors that pose unique risks in highly independent cultures.
The study has a few limitations that pave the way for future research. The cross-sectional design of the survey means the researchers measured all variables at a single point in time. This prevents them from determining whether narcissistic traits directly cause subsequent changes in personal well-being.
Additionally, the survey only measured well-being using two general statements about life satisfaction and happiness. Future analyses could incorporate a broader range of mental health indicators, such as a localized sense of purpose or a detailed measurement of psychological flourishing.
The researchers also noted that they assigned cultural scores based on the nation a person lived in. A national average might not accurately capture an individual participant’s personal alignment with societal expectations or the specific values of their local community.
The present analysis focused exclusively on grandiose narcissism. It remains unknown how cultural differences affect people with vulnerable narcissism. This alternate subtype is characterized by quiet self-doubt, emotional volatility, and deep-seated insecurities that might interact with social expectations in entirely different ways.
The study, “Narcissistic Admiration, Rivalry, and Well- Being: A Multilevel Study Across 57 Societies,” was authored by Wang Zheng and Zhiyu Liu.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-culture-shapes-the-psychological-costs-of-narcissism/
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DATE: July 29, 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: What if psychopathic behavior stems from a surprisingly basic physical glitch?
A recent review article suggests that psychopathy is related to dysfunction in the brain systems responsible for sensing and regulating the internal physical state of the body. The findings provide evidence that impaired bodily regulation may contribute to the hallmark emotional and behavioral traits of the disorder. This research was published in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior.
Philip Deming, a postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern University, and Clare Shaffer, a graduate student at Northeastern University who will soon transition to a postdoctoral role at Massachusetts General Hospital, wanted to approach the study of psychopathy from an evolutionary, body-centered perspective. The financial and emotional toll of the disorder motivated their research.
“We want to understand the brain mechanisms of psychopathy because the disorder has a terrible impact on society,” said Deming. “Psychopathic people often steal, cheat, exploit, and victimize other people, costing the US hundreds of billions of dollars each year and causing real suffering.”
Because current science lacks proper treatments for these behaviors, the researchers turned to the brain for answers. However, they noticed that past attempts to map psychopathy often started by looking at a specific behavioral symptom, like a lack of empathy, and then tried to find a matching brain signature.
“The trick is that we approached this question from a somewhat unusual starting point,” Deming explained. “In the past, scientists have started by looking at human behavior and studying how the brain enacts those behaviors. We see people experiencing emotions or empathizing with other people, so scientists would study how the brain ‘does’ emotion or empathy.”
Instead, Deming and Shaffer took a deductive route, starting with the brain’s fundamental evolutionary purpose.
“We started from the question: ‘What is a brain for?’” Deming said. “If you look at our evolutionary history, then the answer seems to be this: the brain is for regulating the internal organs of the body (the heart, lungs, gut, and so on).”
Evolutionary biology suggests that brains developed to anticipate and meet the metabolic needs of the body before those needs actually arise. This preventative, highly efficient regulatory process is known as allostasis. To coordinate the organs, the brain must constantly monitor the internal physical conditions of the organs, such as heart rate, digestion, and breathing. The brain’s ability to sense these internal physical states is called interoception.
“To coordinate the organs, the brain has to sense them. These processes are called allostasis and interoception, so we call this an ‘allostatic-interoceptive view’ of the brain,” Deming noted. “Once we take this view, new questions and new answers emerge about what might be happening in the brains of psychopathic people.”
These complementary functions rely on the allostatic-interoceptive system, which spans multiple brainstem regions, subcortical structures, and large-scale neural networks. Signals from the body travel up to the brain through two primary pathways. One pathway is the vagus nerve, which runs from the abdomen up the front of the neck. The other pathway is the spinal cord, which carries sensory information from various internal organs up into the brainstem.
Once these signals reach the brainstem, they are distributed to various subcortical and cortical regions. The brain continuously uses this incoming information to fine-tune ongoing cognitive processes and adjust bodily functions. This dynamic indicates that a person’s heartbeat or breathing pattern can directly influence how they perceive the world around them.
To explore this concept, the researchers synthesized existing evidence from a wide array of published neuroimaging studies on psychopathy. They examined data from structural imaging, which looks at the physical wiring of the brain, as well as functional imaging, which tracks blood flow and brain activity over time. The synthesis included meta-analyses, which are large mathematical reviews that combine data from dozens of previous brain scans.
“Psychopathy might be a disorder of sensing and regulating the body’s organ systems,” Deming said. “When we looked across 20-plus years’ worth of MRI studies, brain differences kept popping up within the ‘allostatic-interoceptive system.’ This is a widespread brain system that plays a central role in sensing and regulating the body.”
The authors reviewed studies involving community members as well as forensic populations, such as people in prisons. They specifically looked at fractional anisotropy, a metric used to measure the structural health of white matter tracts. White matter serves as the physical cabling that connects different brain regions, allowing them to communicate rapidly.
“In psychopathy, this system appears to have degraded white matter pathways,” Deming explained. “It also interacts with other brain networks differently. And it shows different patterns of activity when psychopathic people are focusing on a task like empathizing with another person.”
Specifically, the uncinate fasciculus and the cingulum show signs of degradation. These neural pathways link the emotional centers of the brain to the areas responsible for high-level decision-making and bodily regulation.
“The root problem might not be one of empathy or emotion but of something more fundamental,” Deming said. “The root problem might be in how the brain manages the heart, lungs, and other organs and prepares them to meet the demands of the current context.”
In addition to physical wiring differences, the scientists found evidence of altered functional connectivity. Functional connectivity refers to how well different areas of the brain activate together and share information during rest or active tasks. The data indicates that people with psychopathy show reduced communication between the cortex and deeper brain structures like the amygdala.
When the brain cannot properly share information between these areas, the resulting regulatory signals lack rich contextual details. The authors propose that this impairment leads to a highly context-insensitive way of regulating the body. During cognitively demanding tasks, people with psychopathy also display unusual patterns of brain activation.
Because of these altered patterns, people with psychopathy often show lower skin conductance and heart rate responses when anticipating a stressful event, such as a mild electric shock. They also tend to display abnormal hormonal regulation in response to social stressors. People with psychopathy frequently exhibit unusually high baseline levels of testosterone and oxytocin, alongside blunted cortisol responses during stressful situations.
The researchers suggest that these impoverished regulatory signals may hinder a person’s ability to allocate attention to important environmental cues. If the brain fails to properly integrate internal bodily signals with external sensory information, it struggles to identify what is actually important for survival. This failure might explain why people with psychopathy selectively focus on certain cues while entirely disregarding threats.
Taking this body-centered view also helps clarify decades of fragmented research. Historically, different scientists have proposed different core deficits for psychopathy, ranging from poor attention to a lack of fear.
“It was surprising to see how this theory might weave together previous theories about psychopathy,” Deming told PsyPost. “Scientists tend to think of these previous theories as being distant and disconnected from one another; they don’t predict or explain the same phenomena.”
Rather than seeing these older ideas as entirely separate, the researchers believe a focus on bodily regulation connects them.
“But I think most of those theories can be easily folded into our view, which says that the problem is in how the brain is sensing and regulating the body,” Deming continued. “This process is central to emotional experience, drives attention, and heavily involves the autonomic nervous system, all of which have been pointed to by prior theories as the central problem in psychopathy.”
It is important to recognize the potential misinterpretations and limitations of this theoretical framework. The model relies heavily on indirect spatial associations between past brain imaging results and known regulatory networks.
“The big caveat is that MRI findings in relation to psychopathy are all over the map,” Deming said. “Although we found some recurring findings in brain regions that are important for sensing and regulating the body, studies usually fail to replicate one another.”
Because of natural biological flexibility, a single behavioral trait might look completely different in the brain scans of two different individuals.
“One study will find lower activity in region A, while another study will find the opposite, higher activity in region A, along with lower activity in region B,” Deming explained. “Our field needs to grapple with these inconsistencies.”
To explain why previous brain imaging studies of psychopathy have been so inconsistent, Deming and Shaffer introduced two concepts.
“And while some scientists in the field point to methodological differences between studies, we proposed two new ideas in the field,” Deming said. “First, inconsistent findings could result from core dysfunction in the allostatic-interoceptive system.”
The regions managing bodily regulation sit at the very top of a neural processing hierarchy. A disruption at this high level can alter activity in many downstream sensory regions, creating the illusion of scattered, inconsistent brain abnormalities across different studies.
“This is a possibility, supported in part by a recent study from Dugré and De Brito, since this system can change activity throughout the brain depending on the current context of the body in the world,” Deming noted.
The scientists also introduced a concept called degeneracy, which is an organizing principle in biology meaning that different brain structures can achieve the exact same functional outcome.
“Second, and relatedly, brain function differs across contexts (this is called degeneracy),” he continued. “Basically, we probably shouldn’t expect findings to replicate when we’re averaging across people and across instances, and instead we should be studying individual brains regulating individual bodies in context.”
Moving forward, the scientists recommend shifting away from group-average studies and moving toward precision psychiatry. This approach involves deeply tracking individual patients across many different contexts to see how their specific brain and body interact.
“The next step is to more deeply probe how the brains of psychopathic people are sensing and regulating their bodies,” Deming said. “This is a process few studies have studied in a targeted way, and those studies mostly focused on how people perceive their heartbeat consciously.”
Researchers might test these regulatory mechanisms directly by safely manipulating a person’s internal physical signals. This could involve stimulating the vagus nerve or using ingestible vibrating capsules to alter sensations in the gut.
“But there are somewhat more hidden processes we should also be studying,” Deming explained. “For example, how do their brains integrate bodily signals with signals arriving to the eyes and ears? If we slightly alter what is happening in their heart and lungs, can we change how they process social information?”
Advancements in ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging will likely aid these future studies by allowing scientists to see incredibly small structures in the brainstem.
“We can also start using more powerful MRI scanners to better image the small brain structures that make up the allostatic-interoceptive system,” Deming added.
Currently, there is a severe lack of evidence-based treatments that target the biological roots of psychopathy. However, interventions that directly address internal sensing, such as specific biofeedback therapies, have shown some early promise. In biofeedback training, patients observe real-time monitors of their own heart rate or brain waves and practice volitionally controlling them.
Some past biofeedback studies have successfully trained individuals with psychopathy to regulate specific brain regions connected to the allostatic network. These early interventions appeared to reduce aggressive and impulsive behaviors. By combining detailed imaging with targeted biofeedback therapies, clinicians might eventually develop personalized treatments that train patients to better monitor and regulate their internal states.
The study, “Brain evidence of allostatic and interoceptive dysfunction in psychopathy,” was authored by Philip Deming and Clare Shaffer.
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DATE: July 28, 2026 at 10:00PM
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: Constant search for meaning is associated with higher workplace burnout, study suggests
A new study published in the Journal of Health Psychology suggests that searching for meaning in life without feeling a sense of existing purpose is associated with a higher risk of occupational burnout. The findings indicate that feeling a sense of meaning tends to protect against workplace exhaustion, but constantly seeking purpose is linked to negative mental health outcomes. These insights offer a more nuanced understanding of how internal psychological needs interact with workplace stress over time.
Occupational burnout is often discussed in terms of workload, stress, and organizational pressures, but a person’s individual sense of meaning might also play an important role. Burnout is a type of occupational stress syndrome that develops from chronic workplace pressure. It is typically defined by three main characteristics that tend to evolve together.
The first dimension of burnout is emotional exhaustion, which involves feeling completely drained, fatigued, and unable to meet work demands. The second characteristic is cynicism, which refers to feeling detached or negative about one’s job. This is often accompanied by a general feeling of inadequacy, where a person feels they are failing to accomplish their goals.
In the field of psychology, the concept of meaning in life is often split into two distinct parts that can operate independently. The first component is the presence of meaning, which refers to the degree to which a person feels their life currently has purpose, significance, and direction. The second component is the active search for meaning, which describes how actively a person is looking to find or increase that sense of purpose.
Previous psychological theories often assumed that these two processes compensate for one another. According to this idea, when people lose a sense of meaning, they naturally search for it more intensely. A person could theoretically have a high presence of meaning but still be searching for more, or they could have a low presence of meaning and actively try to fill that gap.
However, earlier findings from the CV19 Heroes Project suggested this dynamic is not so simple. During the first year of the pandemic, researchers found that frontline workers experienced a decline in their sense of meaning. Surprisingly, this loss was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in their search for meaning.
“We were interested in investigating this issue when we found that meaning in life doesn’t appear to follow a simple compensatory pattern,” said Rachel Sumner, a co-lead of the project at the University of Bristol. “We expected that when people lost a sense of meaning, they might respond by searching more intensely for it. Instead, earlier findings suggested that declines in meaning were not automatically accompanied by increases in searching. That prompted us to explore whether these two aspects of meaning might operate independently and have different relationships with burnout.”
To investigate this topic, researchers analyzed data from the CV19 Heroes Project, an ongoing longitudinal study tracking frontline workers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The initial sample included 1,239 participants surveyed between March and April 2020. Follow-up surveys were conducted annually in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
By tracking the same individuals over multiple years, the researchers could look at differences between different people as well as psychological changes within the exact same person. To the authors’ knowledge, this represents the longest longitudinal examination of the dynamics of meaning in life conducted to date. The findings show that a sense of meaning is not always stable and can fluctuate during periods of prolonged pressure.
The participant pool was composed largely of people working in the health and social care sectors. The initial baseline group was predominantly female, making up about 87 percent of the sample. The group was also mostly white, representing about 95 percent of the participants, and a majority reported having caregiving responsibilities outside of work.
To measure meaning in life, the researchers used a ten-question psychological survey that asks participants to rate their agreement with statements about their life’s purpose. Five questions assessed the perceived presence of meaning, such as whether the person understands their life’s meaning. The other five questions assessed the active search for meaning, such as whether the person is always looking for something that makes their life feel significant.
To evaluate burnout, the scientists used a nine-item survey that measures overall workplace strain. This specific questionnaire asks participants to rate the intensity of their recent experiences related to exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy over the past month. Participants completed these assessments at each of the four time points across the three-year period.
The data suggests that perceiving life to be meaningful is associated with lower levels of burnout overall. This protective pattern held true for both individual changes over time and comparisons between different participants. When a person reported higher levels of existing meaning, they tended to report less exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy.
The act of searching for meaning showed the opposite pattern. Higher levels of searching for purpose were consistently linked to higher overall burnout. This association was also seen across both within-person changes and between-person comparisons.
The researchers found a notable interaction between the two facets of meaning when looking at overall burnout and cynicism. Specifically, the negative association between searching for meaning and workplace strain was exacerbated for individuals who reported a low presence of meaning. People who were actively searching for purpose while simultaneously feeling that their life lacked meaning tended to experience the highest levels of cynicism and overall burnout.
“What stood out was that the combination of low meaning and high searching seemed particularly problematic for cynicism and overall burnout,” said Wijnand van Tilburg, a researcher at the University of Essex who led the analyses. “The findings suggest that it may not be enough to know whether someone is searching for meaning. Understanding whether that search occurs alongside a sense of meaning, or in its absence, appears to be crucial.”
For the dimensions of emotional exhaustion and feelings of inadequacy, the relationship was slightly different. Searching for meaning was associated with higher levels of exhaustion and inadequacy regardless of whether the person felt a high or low presence of meaning in their life. The constant pursuit of purpose might be inherently draining and linked to feelings of ineffectiveness, even for those who already feel their lives are relatively significant.
These findings challenge the assumption that searching for meaning is always beneficial. While some psychological theories portray the search for meaning as a positive and growth-promoting process, the results align more closely with the idea that searching reflects an unmet psychological need. In occupational settings marked by sustained pressure, searching for meaning might indicate that people are struggling to maintain a sense of purpose rather than successfully building it.
During the pandemic, frontline workers often linked their declining sense of purpose to changing levels of public and political support. These shifts can have serious implications for occupational well-being. Identifying exactly how a sense of purpose is supported in the workplace could help employers design better structural safety nets for their staff.
“Meaning appears to be an important psychological resource for frontline workers,” said Elaine Kinsella, a co-lead of the project at the University of Limerick. “Understanding how meaning is shaped and sustained may help us develop better ways to support people working in demanding occupations, particularly during periods of prolonged societal stress.”
One potential misinterpretation of this study is the assumption that searching for meaning directly causes burnout. The data shows a correlation between the two variables, but it is entirely possible that people begin searching for meaning as a coping mechanism because they are already experiencing early signs of burnout. Establishing the exact sequence of these psychological changes requires additional investigation.
The researchers also noted that they do not yet know exactly what drives changes in meaning over time. A person’s sense of purpose is likely influenced by a complex mix of personal circumstances, workplace experiences, and wider social contexts. While public and political discourse seemed to influence workers during the pandemic, the precise mechanisms involved remain unconfirmed.
The study also has several constraints regarding its participant sample. There was a significant drop-off in participant numbers over the three-year period, with only 286 individuals completing the final survey in 2023. It is possible that the most exhausted individuals left the project, which could mean the final data actually underestimates the true severity of workplace strain.
The demographic makeup of the participants also limits how broadly the findings can be applied. Because the sample was overwhelmingly white and female, the results might not accurately reflect the experiences of more diverse populations. People working in different occupational sectors outside of healthcare and social services might also exhibit different psychological patterns.
This research is part of a much broader program emerging from the CV19 Heroes Project. Future work will include analyses of frontline workers’ written accounts of their experiences throughout the pandemic, as well as investigations into Long Covid trajectories. The team also plans to develop new theoretical frameworks aimed at improving how psychologists understand burnout and its development over time.
The study, “The dynamics of meaning in life and their associations with burnout within- and between persons,” was authored by Rachel C. Sumner, Elaine L. Kinsella, and Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg.
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DATE: July 28, 2026 at 08:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Willpower is linked to eco-friendly habits, but short-term boosts in self-discipline fall short
Having strong willpower is linked to consistently engaging in eco-friendly habits, but short-term changes in a person’s self-discipline do not directly alter their environmental actions over time. These findings, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, suggest that society should prioritize easy-to-adopt systems rather than relying heavily on mental exertion to promote conservation.
Taking steps to lessen environmental damage requires a notable level of mental effort in daily life. Actions like carrying recyclables to a specific bin, waiting for public transit, or reducing household energy use often mean resisting an easier or more convenient option. Psychologists describe this ability to regulate internal reactions and suppress unwanted impulses as self-control.
Prior research has frequently connected this mental trait to eco-friendly choices. People who report high levels of self-control generally participate in more sustainable actions compared to their peers. This association makes sense fundamentally, as aligning routine choices with long-term ecological goals demands overriding the desire for immediate comfort.
Most early investigations into environmental habits and mental discipline relied entirely on measuring data at a single point in time. This approach meant researchers could see that the two concepts moved together, but they could not outline exactly how they chronologically related to each other. Because they only saw a single snapshot, it was unknown if self-discipline prompted better habits over the months or if sustainable choices magically trained a person’s willpower.
Xingbo Wang of Dali University in China and colleagues designed a project to track these psychological mechanisms over an extended timeframe. By assessing the exact same participants repeatedly, the research team hoped to parse out the relationship between personal discipline and environmental stewardship. They wanted to see if having high willpower genuinely predicts an eventual increase in green habits over the upcoming years.
Human personality traits primarily operate on two different levels. First, there are stable differences between distinct individuals, meaning some people simply possess more innate willpower than others. Second, there are temporary changes within a single person, meaning an individual might experience an unstable period of higher or lower focus depending on life circumstances. Wang and colleagues aimed to separate these two separate mechanisms via continuous observation.
To investigate chronological changes, the researchers recruited 221 high school students in China. They observed the adolescents across two different intervals separated by a strict one-year gap. The initial assessment tracked them during their tenth-grade year, and the second evaluation occurred during their eleventh-grade year.
In the classroom setting, the adolescents completed a series of standardized questionnaires regarding their lives. One psychological questionnaire evaluated their general self-control, asking them to rate how well they resisted temptation or whether they acted without thinking. Another evaluation asked how often they engaged in pro-environmental actions over the past twelve months, such as buying reusable containers or conserving natural resources actively.
The statistical models drawn from this data collection showed a notable and reliable pattern. The baseline self-control levels recorded during the first year predicted the severity of the environmental habits reported in the second year. The reverse trajectory did not emerge in the data at any point. Participating in eco-friendly actions during the first year did not predict improved self-discipline a year later.
To see if this pattern held up on a broader scale, the team initiated a massive second evaluation. They followed 1,286 university students over an even longer period. This collegiate group provided answers at three distinct points in time, with one-year intervals separating each data collection phase.
Inevitably, tracking thousands of students across multiple years comes with immense logistical hurdles. Some students were absent due to illness on the specific days the subsequent tests were administered. The researchers utilized established statistical techniques to account for this missing information gently, ensuring the final metrics represented the overall student body accurately.
This continuous tracking approach allowed the researchers to utilize a highly detailed analytical tool. The modeling allowed them to strictly separate stable personality traits from temporary internal mood shifts over the testing period. Essentially, they could isolate comparing two entirely different people from observing how one person changes over a matter of months.
When comparing the separate individuals against each other, the ultimate results aligned with the first test perfectly. Students who generally rated higher in self-control for the duration also reported routinely acting in more environmentally conscious ways. Willpower and green actions share an enduring positive association. High self-discipline points toward routinely taking steps to prioritize the planet.
The advanced calculations produced a highly nuanced discovery regarding brief personal changes over the testing window. If a specific student experienced a slight increase or decrease in their basic self-control capacity over the study, their eco-friendly habits did not shift in response. The recorded changes associated with temporary discipline variation were not statistically significant. A fleeting boost in mental discipline did not translate into a sudden burst of green behavior in these students.
These chronological observations hint that slight variation in individual self-control alone might be insufficient to prompt immediate behavioral adjustments. Adopting a sustainable lifestyle is a continuous process that involves gathering external knowledge, finding specific motivation, and navigating physical circumstances. If a person simply has a streak of extraordinary focus during a short timeframe, it will not automatically rewrite their ecological routines overnight.
Because brief internal shifts do not prompt immediate green actions, depending constantly on self-discipline might be a flawed strategy for organizing public policy. The research team noted that individuals with naturally lower internal restraint may face steep challenges in sustaining effortful environmental routines over several decades. Attempting to force people to try harder could prove fruitless in the long run.
To bypass this psychological hurdle, the authors propose utilizing strategies that drastically reduce the cognitive effort required to participate in conservation. One prominent policy method is known as a nudge, which alters an environment to encourage better choices without restricting options outright. Making recycling bins more prominent or setting default energy-saving modes on digital appliances are classic examples. By designing institutional systems that require minimal mental energy, organizers can bypass the need for intense public self-control.
There are a few limitations regarding the underlying methodology to mention. Both continuous parts of the project relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires filled out by the students. People sometimes subconsciously alter their answers to appear more favorable to researchers. This tendency can artificially inflate the statistical connection between socially desirable actions like recycling and behavioral restraint.
Subsequent investigations might incorporate objective scientific measurements rather than simply asking participants for personal estimates regarding their routines. Evaluators could track actual household utilities consumption or conduct field observations involving location tracking data. Behavioral performance exercises might also evaluate true physical self-control rather than strictly relying on subjective written surveys.
Finally, the research primarily observed high schoolers and exceptionally young adults living in China. These specific demographic groups undoubtedly possess developmental characteristics or societal priorities that differ drastically from older populations or citizens raised in varied cultural backgrounds. Applying these models to diverse international populations will be needed to verify the exact relationship between the mind and the changing climate.
The study, “Longitudinal associations between self-control and pro-environmental behaviors,” was authored by Xingbo Wang, Yanru Liu, Yalun Zhang, Zhenglian Su, Liyun Hua, Yajun Zhao, and Jingguang Li.
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DATE: July 28, 2026 at 08:34AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Top Court in Poland Rejects Recognizing EU Same-Sex Marriages
Source: DW- top stories
Poland's highest court on Tuesday overturned a law that would have led to the legal recognition of same-sex spouses who married in other EU member states and subsequently moved to Poland. The government in Warsaw had been moving to accommodate a ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union saying that majority-Catholic Poland, which does not permit same-sex marriage domestically, must at least recognize unions contracted elsewhere in...
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DATE: July 28, 2026 at 08:34AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Approval of U.S. Supreme Court Performance Drops to Record Low
Source: United Press International - Health News
Americans' approval of the job performance of the U.S. Supreme Court has dropped to a record low of 33%, a Gallup poll released Tuesday shows. The dip in approval in this year's poll was largely driven by Republicans, who approved of the court by a near-record high of 79% last year; that percentage has fallen to 58%—the lowest by Republicans since 56% in 2023. Approval ratings from Democrats (12%) and independents (35%) stayed nearly the same...
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