#psychotherapy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #psychotherapy, aggregated by home.social.
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Defining AI Psychosis. Part 2: "Prolific AI Psychosis"
https://jeffs.blog/p/defining-ai-psychosis-part-2-prolific
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49628880
#HackerNews #AI #Psychosis #Psychotherapy #Prolific #AI #Mental #Health #Technology
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Defining AI Psychosis. Part 2: "Prolific AI Psychosis"
https://jeffs.blog/p/defining-ai-psychosis-part-2-prolific
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49628880
#HackerNews #AI #Psychosis #Psychotherapy #Prolific #AI #Mental #Health #Technology
-
Defining AI Psychosis. Part 2: "Prolific AI Psychosis"
https://jeffs.blog/p/defining-ai-psychosis-part-2-prolific
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49628880
#HackerNews #AI #Psychosis #Psychotherapy #Prolific #AI #Mental #Health #Technology
-
Defining AI Psychosis. Part 2: "Prolific AI Psychosis"
https://jeffs.blog/p/defining-ai-psychosis-part-2-prolific
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49628880
#HackerNews #AI #Psychosis #Psychotherapy #Prolific #AI #Mental #Health #Technology
-
Defining AI Psychosis. Part 2: "Prolific AI Psychosis"
https://jeffs.blog/p/defining-ai-psychosis-part-2-prolific
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49628880
#HackerNews #AI #Psychosis #Psychotherapy #Prolific #AI #Mental #Health #Technology
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DATE: September 9, 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: The brain’s fuel system rapidly recovers after you stop heavy drinking
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brains-fuel-system-rapidly-recovers-after-you-stop-heavy-drinking/
New research suggests that when people with alcohol use disorder stop drinking, their brains show a sudden, sharp drop in the ability to burn a secondary fuel source called acetate, before recovering just a few weeks later. The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, provides evidence that the brain’s metabolic adaptation to heavy alcohol consumption is highly reversible.
Alcohol use disorder is a medical condition characterized by an inability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. Chronic drinking alters the balance of chemical messengers in the brain, contributing to the intense physical and emotional symptoms that occur when a person tries to quit. However, alcohol also changes how the brain fuels itself.
The human brain usually runs on glucose, a simple sugar. But when a person drinks, the liver breaks down the alcohol into a chemical called acetate, which floods the bloodstream. A 2012 study showed that drinking alcohol leads the brain to rely less on glucose and instead take up this circulating acetate for energy. Specialized brain cells called astrocytes eagerly absorb the acetate, using it to power their operations and support nearby neurons.
“There are examples of the brain changing fuel sources, changing to one and changing away from another,” Graeme F. Mason, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging and psychiatry at the Yale Biomedical Imaging Institute at the Yale School of Medicine, told PsyPost. “One example is in starvation, when the brain reduces its reliance on sugar and increases its capacity to consume ketone bodies. Another is that in diabetes with hypoglycemia unawareness, the brain increases its capacity to consume things other than sugar.”
“Newer data also look like people with chronically high blood sugar are down-regulating their ability to transport glucose into the brain, which may be protecting the brain against having high sugar inside,” Mason continued. “Well, long ago, T.K. Li, the former director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, was talking with me about metabolism and highlighted that when people drink alcohol, it raises blood concentration of acetate.”
Because heavy drinkers are constantly exposed to this alternative fuel, their bodies adjust to the surplus. Previous research published in 2013 indicated that the brains of heavy drinkers develop an increased capacity to burn acetate compared to the brains of light drinkers. The brain essentially gets used to running on the breakdown products of alcohol.
“If somebody binges on the weekends, they have intermittently high blood acetate levels,” Mason explained. “And if somebody reaches a state at which they have difficulty not drinking, where they may want treatment, then their blood acetate levels are elevated almost constantly, even when they’re asleep. We have been wondering if there’s something in there that we might be able to use to help people stop drinking.”
Given these adaptations, scientists are exploring how this energy shift relates to the severe symptoms people experience during detoxification. When alcohol is removed, the sudden loss of acetate might shock the brain’s energy systems. Providing alternative brain fuels during detoxification might ease this transition. For instance, a 2021 clinical trial found that giving patients in alcohol detox a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet reduced withdrawal severity. This aligns with a study covered by PsyPost in 2026 noting that ketone supplements lowered alcohol cravings by providing the brain with a substitute energy source.
Building on this line of research, a team led by Chathura Kumaragamage of the University of Calgary and Mason investigated what happens to acetate metabolism in the brains of people with alcohol use disorder as they undergo detoxification and maintain sobriety. They wanted to see if the brain’s heightened ability to burn acetate would persist or normalize after drinking stopped.
“We found about 15 years ago that people who drink at risky levels are much more able to use the acetate in their blood, but that was a smallish study,” Mason said. “We really needed to test this finding to see if it was real, to see if we could reproduce it, or if it was just a fluke. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) gave us funds to test it in a new, larger group of people, and to extend the test to people who were seeking treatment.”
The researchers recruited four groups of participants. The sample included 13 light drinkers who consumed fewer than three standard drinks a week, and 15 heavy drinkers who drank at risky levels over the past six months. They also recruited six individuals in long-term recovery who had been abstinent for at least six months. Finally, they included a group of treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder who were undergoing medically supervised inpatient detoxification.
Of the treatment-seeking group, nine provided usable data at roughly one week of abstinence, and ten provided data at roughly one month of abstinence. Seven of these participants successfully completed scans at both time points, allowing the researchers to track their progress directly.
During the testing session, participants received an intravenous infusion of a specialized form of acetate containing a stable carbon isotope. This harmless carbon-13 isotope acts as a tracking tag. By taking frequent blood samples, the researchers could monitor how much acetate was in the bloodstream and how quickly the body was clearing it.
To see what was happening inside the head, the team used magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a non-invasive imaging technique that measures chemical signatures in the body. They focused the scanner on the occipital cortex at the back of the brain. They measured how quickly the tagged acetate was taken up by astrocytes and converted into neurotransmitters like glutamate and glutamine.
The researchers also calculated a metric called energy per cycle. This ratio compares the brain’s basic cellular energy consumption to the rate of chemical signaling between neurons. It provides a snapshot of whether the brain’s energy supply is keeping up with its communication demands.
Going into the study, the research team expected the newly abstinent group to show a massive capacity for acetate consumption, given their history of heavy alcohol use. Instead, the results went in the opposite direction. After one week of abstinence, the detoxification group showed a 64 percent lower rate of brain acetate oxidation compared to the heavy drinkers, and a 41 percent lower rate compared to those in long-term recovery.
“This latter group consumed way more alcohol than the risky drinkers, and so we assumed that the people seeking treatment would also use way more acetate,” Mason said. “To our surprise, we found that the people looking for treatment had a far lower capacity to consume acetate.”
“We think that this may happen because, just like with chronically elevated glucose leading to less capacity to transport glucose into the brain, the chronically elevated acetate may lead the brain to lower its transport capacity and protect itself,” Mason explained. “Acetate can do things like interact with the genome to change how DNA gets expressed, so there’s one reason that the brain might not want so much acetate around all the time.”
The blood tests confirmed this metabolic slowdown was happening across the whole body. The newly abstinent group had higher levels of acetate remaining in their blood during the infusion, indicating that their systems were clearing acetate unusually slowly.
The heavy drinking group, meanwhile, showed a 58 percent higher rate of brain acetate oxidation than the light drinking group. This confirmed the team’s 2013 findings, demonstrating that active heavy drinking increases the brain’s reliance on acetate.
“Maybe it is the intermittent acetate exposure of risky drinking can increase acetate consumption capacity, while chronic heavy acetate of dependence reduces the capacity to protect the brain,” Mason noted. “It is likely that the people who drink to the point of dependence have nearly constant elevations of acetate, and the brain resets so that it lets in a little bit, so that the brain, sitting behind its protective barrier, sees some acetate, but not as much as if it had not protected itself.”
The metabolic slump seen during early abstinence was strictly temporary. When the researchers tested the detoxification group again after one month of abstinence, their brain acetate consumption had increased by 43 percent. At this one-month mark, their acetate metabolism was nearly indistinguishable from that of the light drinkers, suggesting the brain rapidly readapts to functioning without alcohol.
“The good news is that after a month, this aspect of alcohol dependence has gone back close to normal,” Mason said. “There are other changes in the brain that can also normalize, given more time, like the volume loss (the brain shrinks with that heavy drinking and can return at least partway to normal).”
Despite the dramatic shifts in how quickly the brain burned acetate, the energy per cycle measurement was similar across all groups. This indicates that the fundamental balance between energy consumption and neurotransmitter cycling remained stable. Even as the type of fuel being burned shifted, the basic energetic health of the neuronal networks appeared intact.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. Sample sizes were small, particularly for the long-term recovery and one-week abstinence groups. This limited the researchers’ statistical power, making it difficult to assess how other variables, such as sex differences or tobacco use, might influence brain metabolism.
The categories of light and heavy drinking were based on self-reported histories, which can sometimes be imprecise compared to objective medical markers. Additionally, the acetate was administered directly into a vein during the scan. This differs from real-world drinking, where acetate is produced gradually by the liver.
Mason also warned against drawing incorrect conclusions about drinking alcohol for a quick energy boost. “I have encountered two misinterpretations: just because acetate can be consumed for energy does not mean that alcohol is helpful when you are tired,” he said. “The process of getting from alcohol to acetate creates oxygen free radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and acetaldehyde, which is a powerful carcinogen and toxin. So, don’t drink alcohol in search of energy.”
Similarly, he cautioned against using household vinegar as a home remedy for withdrawal. “The second misinterpretation is that people should drink vinegar to help them stay sober,” Mason added. “To get the amount of acetate your body provides from a couple of margaritas, you would need to drink about a quart of grocery store vinegar. That will damage the enamel on your teeth and is a huge acid load that is hard on the throat and stomach.”
The authors suggest that the depressed acetate metabolism during early withdrawal might be a protective mechanism that limits the brain’s exposure to high acetate levels, or it could simply reflect temporary cellular sluggishness as the brain adjusts to the sudden absence of alcohol. Exploring how other alternative energy sources might smooth this transition could lead to new dietary or medical therapies for alcohol withdrawal.
“One practical outcome is another piece of evidence that alcohol dependence as a physical condition, one that can benefit from medical interventions,” Mason said. “I know that it’s difficult to stop, but the benefits are great, and there are FDA-approved medications proven to help people stop or reduce their drinking. The NIAAA web site has something called the Treatment Navigator to help people find resources.”
The study, “Reversible alterations of brain acetate metabolism associated with alcohol consumption,” was authored by Chathura Kumaragamage, Lihong Jiang, Gustavo A. Angarita, Robin A. de Graaf, Elizabeth Guidone, Anastasia Coppoli, Kevin L. Behar, Barbara I. Gulanski, Brian Pittman, Stuart A. Weinzimer, Douglas L. Rothman, John H. Krystal, and Graeme F. Mason.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brains-fuel-system-rapidly-recovers-after-you-stop-heavy-drinking/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #AlcoholDetox #BrainMetabolism #AcetateEnergy #AlcoholUseDisorder #DetoxSupport #SobrietyJourney #NeuroscienceNews #KetoneVsAcetate #BrainRecovery #AlcoholResearch
-
DATE: September 9, 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: The brain’s fuel system rapidly recovers after you stop heavy drinking
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brains-fuel-system-rapidly-recovers-after-you-stop-heavy-drinking/
New research suggests that when people with alcohol use disorder stop drinking, their brains show a sudden, sharp drop in the ability to burn a secondary fuel source called acetate, before recovering just a few weeks later. The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, provides evidence that the brain’s metabolic adaptation to heavy alcohol consumption is highly reversible.
Alcohol use disorder is a medical condition characterized by an inability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. Chronic drinking alters the balance of chemical messengers in the brain, contributing to the intense physical and emotional symptoms that occur when a person tries to quit. However, alcohol also changes how the brain fuels itself.
The human brain usually runs on glucose, a simple sugar. But when a person drinks, the liver breaks down the alcohol into a chemical called acetate, which floods the bloodstream. A 2012 study showed that drinking alcohol leads the brain to rely less on glucose and instead take up this circulating acetate for energy. Specialized brain cells called astrocytes eagerly absorb the acetate, using it to power their operations and support nearby neurons.
“There are examples of the brain changing fuel sources, changing to one and changing away from another,” Graeme F. Mason, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging and psychiatry at the Yale Biomedical Imaging Institute at the Yale School of Medicine, told PsyPost. “One example is in starvation, when the brain reduces its reliance on sugar and increases its capacity to consume ketone bodies. Another is that in diabetes with hypoglycemia unawareness, the brain increases its capacity to consume things other than sugar.”
“Newer data also look like people with chronically high blood sugar are down-regulating their ability to transport glucose into the brain, which may be protecting the brain against having high sugar inside,” Mason continued. “Well, long ago, T.K. Li, the former director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, was talking with me about metabolism and highlighted that when people drink alcohol, it raises blood concentration of acetate.”
Because heavy drinkers are constantly exposed to this alternative fuel, their bodies adjust to the surplus. Previous research published in 2013 indicated that the brains of heavy drinkers develop an increased capacity to burn acetate compared to the brains of light drinkers. The brain essentially gets used to running on the breakdown products of alcohol.
“If somebody binges on the weekends, they have intermittently high blood acetate levels,” Mason explained. “And if somebody reaches a state at which they have difficulty not drinking, where they may want treatment, then their blood acetate levels are elevated almost constantly, even when they’re asleep. We have been wondering if there’s something in there that we might be able to use to help people stop drinking.”
Given these adaptations, scientists are exploring how this energy shift relates to the severe symptoms people experience during detoxification. When alcohol is removed, the sudden loss of acetate might shock the brain’s energy systems. Providing alternative brain fuels during detoxification might ease this transition. For instance, a 2021 clinical trial found that giving patients in alcohol detox a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet reduced withdrawal severity. This aligns with a study covered by PsyPost in 2026 noting that ketone supplements lowered alcohol cravings by providing the brain with a substitute energy source.
Building on this line of research, a team led by Chathura Kumaragamage of the University of Calgary and Mason investigated what happens to acetate metabolism in the brains of people with alcohol use disorder as they undergo detoxification and maintain sobriety. They wanted to see if the brain’s heightened ability to burn acetate would persist or normalize after drinking stopped.
“We found about 15 years ago that people who drink at risky levels are much more able to use the acetate in their blood, but that was a smallish study,” Mason said. “We really needed to test this finding to see if it was real, to see if we could reproduce it, or if it was just a fluke. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) gave us funds to test it in a new, larger group of people, and to extend the test to people who were seeking treatment.”
The researchers recruited four groups of participants. The sample included 13 light drinkers who consumed fewer than three standard drinks a week, and 15 heavy drinkers who drank at risky levels over the past six months. They also recruited six individuals in long-term recovery who had been abstinent for at least six months. Finally, they included a group of treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder who were undergoing medically supervised inpatient detoxification.
Of the treatment-seeking group, nine provided usable data at roughly one week of abstinence, and ten provided data at roughly one month of abstinence. Seven of these participants successfully completed scans at both time points, allowing the researchers to track their progress directly.
During the testing session, participants received an intravenous infusion of a specialized form of acetate containing a stable carbon isotope. This harmless carbon-13 isotope acts as a tracking tag. By taking frequent blood samples, the researchers could monitor how much acetate was in the bloodstream and how quickly the body was clearing it.
To see what was happening inside the head, the team used magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a non-invasive imaging technique that measures chemical signatures in the body. They focused the scanner on the occipital cortex at the back of the brain. They measured how quickly the tagged acetate was taken up by astrocytes and converted into neurotransmitters like glutamate and glutamine.
The researchers also calculated a metric called energy per cycle. This ratio compares the brain’s basic cellular energy consumption to the rate of chemical signaling between neurons. It provides a snapshot of whether the brain’s energy supply is keeping up with its communication demands.
Going into the study, the research team expected the newly abstinent group to show a massive capacity for acetate consumption, given their history of heavy alcohol use. Instead, the results went in the opposite direction. After one week of abstinence, the detoxification group showed a 64 percent lower rate of brain acetate oxidation compared to the heavy drinkers, and a 41 percent lower rate compared to those in long-term recovery.
“This latter group consumed way more alcohol than the risky drinkers, and so we assumed that the people seeking treatment would also use way more acetate,” Mason said. “To our surprise, we found that the people looking for treatment had a far lower capacity to consume acetate.”
“We think that this may happen because, just like with chronically elevated glucose leading to less capacity to transport glucose into the brain, the chronically elevated acetate may lead the brain to lower its transport capacity and protect itself,” Mason explained. “Acetate can do things like interact with the genome to change how DNA gets expressed, so there’s one reason that the brain might not want so much acetate around all the time.”
The blood tests confirmed this metabolic slowdown was happening across the whole body. The newly abstinent group had higher levels of acetate remaining in their blood during the infusion, indicating that their systems were clearing acetate unusually slowly.
The heavy drinking group, meanwhile, showed a 58 percent higher rate of brain acetate oxidation than the light drinking group. This confirmed the team’s 2013 findings, demonstrating that active heavy drinking increases the brain’s reliance on acetate.
“Maybe it is the intermittent acetate exposure of risky drinking can increase acetate consumption capacity, while chronic heavy acetate of dependence reduces the capacity to protect the brain,” Mason noted. “It is likely that the people who drink to the point of dependence have nearly constant elevations of acetate, and the brain resets so that it lets in a little bit, so that the brain, sitting behind its protective barrier, sees some acetate, but not as much as if it had not protected itself.”
The metabolic slump seen during early abstinence was strictly temporary. When the researchers tested the detoxification group again after one month of abstinence, their brain acetate consumption had increased by 43 percent. At this one-month mark, their acetate metabolism was nearly indistinguishable from that of the light drinkers, suggesting the brain rapidly readapts to functioning without alcohol.
“The good news is that after a month, this aspect of alcohol dependence has gone back close to normal,” Mason said. “There are other changes in the brain that can also normalize, given more time, like the volume loss (the brain shrinks with that heavy drinking and can return at least partway to normal).”
Despite the dramatic shifts in how quickly the brain burned acetate, the energy per cycle measurement was similar across all groups. This indicates that the fundamental balance between energy consumption and neurotransmitter cycling remained stable. Even as the type of fuel being burned shifted, the basic energetic health of the neuronal networks appeared intact.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. Sample sizes were small, particularly for the long-term recovery and one-week abstinence groups. This limited the researchers’ statistical power, making it difficult to assess how other variables, such as sex differences or tobacco use, might influence brain metabolism.
The categories of light and heavy drinking were based on self-reported histories, which can sometimes be imprecise compared to objective medical markers. Additionally, the acetate was administered directly into a vein during the scan. This differs from real-world drinking, where acetate is produced gradually by the liver.
Mason also warned against drawing incorrect conclusions about drinking alcohol for a quick energy boost. “I have encountered two misinterpretations: just because acetate can be consumed for energy does not mean that alcohol is helpful when you are tired,” he said. “The process of getting from alcohol to acetate creates oxygen free radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and acetaldehyde, which is a powerful carcinogen and toxin. So, don’t drink alcohol in search of energy.”
Similarly, he cautioned against using household vinegar as a home remedy for withdrawal. “The second misinterpretation is that people should drink vinegar to help them stay sober,” Mason added. “To get the amount of acetate your body provides from a couple of margaritas, you would need to drink about a quart of grocery store vinegar. That will damage the enamel on your teeth and is a huge acid load that is hard on the throat and stomach.”
The authors suggest that the depressed acetate metabolism during early withdrawal might be a protective mechanism that limits the brain’s exposure to high acetate levels, or it could simply reflect temporary cellular sluggishness as the brain adjusts to the sudden absence of alcohol. Exploring how other alternative energy sources might smooth this transition could lead to new dietary or medical therapies for alcohol withdrawal.
“One practical outcome is another piece of evidence that alcohol dependence as a physical condition, one that can benefit from medical interventions,” Mason said. “I know that it’s difficult to stop, but the benefits are great, and there are FDA-approved medications proven to help people stop or reduce their drinking. The NIAAA web site has something called the Treatment Navigator to help people find resources.”
The study, “Reversible alterations of brain acetate metabolism associated with alcohol consumption,” was authored by Chathura Kumaragamage, Lihong Jiang, Gustavo A. Angarita, Robin A. de Graaf, Elizabeth Guidone, Anastasia Coppoli, Kevin L. Behar, Barbara I. Gulanski, Brian Pittman, Stuart A. Weinzimer, Douglas L. Rothman, John H. Krystal, and Graeme F. Mason.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brains-fuel-system-rapidly-recovers-after-you-stop-heavy-drinking/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #AlcoholDetox #BrainMetabolism #AcetateEnergy #AlcoholUseDisorder #DetoxSupport #SobrietyJourney #NeuroscienceNews #KetoneVsAcetate #BrainRecovery #AlcoholResearch
-
DATE: September 9, 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: The brain’s fuel system rapidly recovers after you stop heavy drinking
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brains-fuel-system-rapidly-recovers-after-you-stop-heavy-drinking/
New research suggests that when people with alcohol use disorder stop drinking, their brains show a sudden, sharp drop in the ability to burn a secondary fuel source called acetate, before recovering just a few weeks later. The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, provides evidence that the brain’s metabolic adaptation to heavy alcohol consumption is highly reversible.
Alcohol use disorder is a medical condition characterized by an inability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. Chronic drinking alters the balance of chemical messengers in the brain, contributing to the intense physical and emotional symptoms that occur when a person tries to quit. However, alcohol also changes how the brain fuels itself.
The human brain usually runs on glucose, a simple sugar. But when a person drinks, the liver breaks down the alcohol into a chemical called acetate, which floods the bloodstream. A 2012 study showed that drinking alcohol leads the brain to rely less on glucose and instead take up this circulating acetate for energy. Specialized brain cells called astrocytes eagerly absorb the acetate, using it to power their operations and support nearby neurons.
“There are examples of the brain changing fuel sources, changing to one and changing away from another,” Graeme F. Mason, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging and psychiatry at the Yale Biomedical Imaging Institute at the Yale School of Medicine, told PsyPost. “One example is in starvation, when the brain reduces its reliance on sugar and increases its capacity to consume ketone bodies. Another is that in diabetes with hypoglycemia unawareness, the brain increases its capacity to consume things other than sugar.”
“Newer data also look like people with chronically high blood sugar are down-regulating their ability to transport glucose into the brain, which may be protecting the brain against having high sugar inside,” Mason continued. “Well, long ago, T.K. Li, the former director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, was talking with me about metabolism and highlighted that when people drink alcohol, it raises blood concentration of acetate.”
Because heavy drinkers are constantly exposed to this alternative fuel, their bodies adjust to the surplus. Previous research published in 2013 indicated that the brains of heavy drinkers develop an increased capacity to burn acetate compared to the brains of light drinkers. The brain essentially gets used to running on the breakdown products of alcohol.
“If somebody binges on the weekends, they have intermittently high blood acetate levels,” Mason explained. “And if somebody reaches a state at which they have difficulty not drinking, where they may want treatment, then their blood acetate levels are elevated almost constantly, even when they’re asleep. We have been wondering if there’s something in there that we might be able to use to help people stop drinking.”
Given these adaptations, scientists are exploring how this energy shift relates to the severe symptoms people experience during detoxification. When alcohol is removed, the sudden loss of acetate might shock the brain’s energy systems. Providing alternative brain fuels during detoxification might ease this transition. For instance, a 2021 clinical trial found that giving patients in alcohol detox a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet reduced withdrawal severity. This aligns with a study covered by PsyPost in 2026 noting that ketone supplements lowered alcohol cravings by providing the brain with a substitute energy source.
Building on this line of research, a team led by Chathura Kumaragamage of the University of Calgary and Mason investigated what happens to acetate metabolism in the brains of people with alcohol use disorder as they undergo detoxification and maintain sobriety. They wanted to see if the brain’s heightened ability to burn acetate would persist or normalize after drinking stopped.
“We found about 15 years ago that people who drink at risky levels are much more able to use the acetate in their blood, but that was a smallish study,” Mason said. “We really needed to test this finding to see if it was real, to see if we could reproduce it, or if it was just a fluke. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) gave us funds to test it in a new, larger group of people, and to extend the test to people who were seeking treatment.”
The researchers recruited four groups of participants. The sample included 13 light drinkers who consumed fewer than three standard drinks a week, and 15 heavy drinkers who drank at risky levels over the past six months. They also recruited six individuals in long-term recovery who had been abstinent for at least six months. Finally, they included a group of treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder who were undergoing medically supervised inpatient detoxification.
Of the treatment-seeking group, nine provided usable data at roughly one week of abstinence, and ten provided data at roughly one month of abstinence. Seven of these participants successfully completed scans at both time points, allowing the researchers to track their progress directly.
During the testing session, participants received an intravenous infusion of a specialized form of acetate containing a stable carbon isotope. This harmless carbon-13 isotope acts as a tracking tag. By taking frequent blood samples, the researchers could monitor how much acetate was in the bloodstream and how quickly the body was clearing it.
To see what was happening inside the head, the team used magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a non-invasive imaging technique that measures chemical signatures in the body. They focused the scanner on the occipital cortex at the back of the brain. They measured how quickly the tagged acetate was taken up by astrocytes and converted into neurotransmitters like glutamate and glutamine.
The researchers also calculated a metric called energy per cycle. This ratio compares the brain’s basic cellular energy consumption to the rate of chemical signaling between neurons. It provides a snapshot of whether the brain’s energy supply is keeping up with its communication demands.
Going into the study, the research team expected the newly abstinent group to show a massive capacity for acetate consumption, given their history of heavy alcohol use. Instead, the results went in the opposite direction. After one week of abstinence, the detoxification group showed a 64 percent lower rate of brain acetate oxidation compared to the heavy drinkers, and a 41 percent lower rate compared to those in long-term recovery.
“This latter group consumed way more alcohol than the risky drinkers, and so we assumed that the people seeking treatment would also use way more acetate,” Mason said. “To our surprise, we found that the people looking for treatment had a far lower capacity to consume acetate.”
“We think that this may happen because, just like with chronically elevated glucose leading to less capacity to transport glucose into the brain, the chronically elevated acetate may lead the brain to lower its transport capacity and protect itself,” Mason explained. “Acetate can do things like interact with the genome to change how DNA gets expressed, so there’s one reason that the brain might not want so much acetate around all the time.”
The blood tests confirmed this metabolic slowdown was happening across the whole body. The newly abstinent group had higher levels of acetate remaining in their blood during the infusion, indicating that their systems were clearing acetate unusually slowly.
The heavy drinking group, meanwhile, showed a 58 percent higher rate of brain acetate oxidation than the light drinking group. This confirmed the team’s 2013 findings, demonstrating that active heavy drinking increases the brain’s reliance on acetate.
“Maybe it is the intermittent acetate exposure of risky drinking can increase acetate consumption capacity, while chronic heavy acetate of dependence reduces the capacity to protect the brain,” Mason noted. “It is likely that the people who drink to the point of dependence have nearly constant elevations of acetate, and the brain resets so that it lets in a little bit, so that the brain, sitting behind its protective barrier, sees some acetate, but not as much as if it had not protected itself.”
The metabolic slump seen during early abstinence was strictly temporary. When the researchers tested the detoxification group again after one month of abstinence, their brain acetate consumption had increased by 43 percent. At this one-month mark, their acetate metabolism was nearly indistinguishable from that of the light drinkers, suggesting the brain rapidly readapts to functioning without alcohol.
“The good news is that after a month, this aspect of alcohol dependence has gone back close to normal,” Mason said. “There are other changes in the brain that can also normalize, given more time, like the volume loss (the brain shrinks with that heavy drinking and can return at least partway to normal).”
Despite the dramatic shifts in how quickly the brain burned acetate, the energy per cycle measurement was similar across all groups. This indicates that the fundamental balance between energy consumption and neurotransmitter cycling remained stable. Even as the type of fuel being burned shifted, the basic energetic health of the neuronal networks appeared intact.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. Sample sizes were small, particularly for the long-term recovery and one-week abstinence groups. This limited the researchers’ statistical power, making it difficult to assess how other variables, such as sex differences or tobacco use, might influence brain metabolism.
The categories of light and heavy drinking were based on self-reported histories, which can sometimes be imprecise compared to objective medical markers. Additionally, the acetate was administered directly into a vein during the scan. This differs from real-world drinking, where acetate is produced gradually by the liver.
Mason also warned against drawing incorrect conclusions about drinking alcohol for a quick energy boost. “I have encountered two misinterpretations: just because acetate can be consumed for energy does not mean that alcohol is helpful when you are tired,” he said. “The process of getting from alcohol to acetate creates oxygen free radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and acetaldehyde, which is a powerful carcinogen and toxin. So, don’t drink alcohol in search of energy.”
Similarly, he cautioned against using household vinegar as a home remedy for withdrawal. “The second misinterpretation is that people should drink vinegar to help them stay sober,” Mason added. “To get the amount of acetate your body provides from a couple of margaritas, you would need to drink about a quart of grocery store vinegar. That will damage the enamel on your teeth and is a huge acid load that is hard on the throat and stomach.”
The authors suggest that the depressed acetate metabolism during early withdrawal might be a protective mechanism that limits the brain’s exposure to high acetate levels, or it could simply reflect temporary cellular sluggishness as the brain adjusts to the sudden absence of alcohol. Exploring how other alternative energy sources might smooth this transition could lead to new dietary or medical therapies for alcohol withdrawal.
“One practical outcome is another piece of evidence that alcohol dependence as a physical condition, one that can benefit from medical interventions,” Mason said. “I know that it’s difficult to stop, but the benefits are great, and there are FDA-approved medications proven to help people stop or reduce their drinking. The NIAAA web site has something called the Treatment Navigator to help people find resources.”
The study, “Reversible alterations of brain acetate metabolism associated with alcohol consumption,” was authored by Chathura Kumaragamage, Lihong Jiang, Gustavo A. Angarita, Robin A. de Graaf, Elizabeth Guidone, Anastasia Coppoli, Kevin L. Behar, Barbara I. Gulanski, Brian Pittman, Stuart A. Weinzimer, Douglas L. Rothman, John H. Krystal, and Graeme F. Mason.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/the-brains-fuel-system-rapidly-recovers-after-you-stop-heavy-drinking/
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DATE: September 9, 2026 at 09:37AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
According to new 52-week topline data, COMP360 for the management of treatment-resistant depression has demonstrated rapid onset, substantial effect, and sustained durability through 1 year with just a few doses. https://t.co/gpTjrAoL6p
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Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
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DATE: September 9, 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 study reveals how depression twists our perception of fairness
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-social-status-and-depression-warp-our-sense-of-fairness/
People experiencing symptoms of depression often view social situations differently than others. A recent study found that individuals with depressive symptoms are more likely to perceive unfair financial offers as fair, but only if they consider themselves to have a high social standing. The research was published in the journal PLOS One.
Depression involves more than just a persistently low mood or a loss of interest in daily activities. It frequently brings about cognitive distortions, which are biased ways of thinking that negatively alter how a person perceives themselves and the world around them. These mental filters can change how someone evaluates risk, assesses their personal value, and judges the intentions of others in everyday social exchanges.
Researchers often use a behavioral economics task called the Ultimatum Game to study how people process fairness. In a typical version of this game, one person is given a sum of money and proposes how to divide it with a second person. The second person then decides whether to accept or reject the offer.
If the responder accepts the deal, both players keep their respective shares of the money. If they reject the offer, the money is forfeited, and neither player receives anything.
From a purely logical standpoint, a responder should accept any offer greater than zero, since walking away with a small amount of money is better than walking away with nothing. However, human behavior rarely follows strict economic logic.
Typically, people will reject highly uneven splits, such as an offer where the proposer keeps 90 percent of the money and offers only 10 percent to the responder. Participants are often willing to sacrifice their own financial gain to punish the other player for violating social norms of fairness.
This behavior, known as altruistic punishment, relies heavily on a person’s emotional state and their cognitive ability to recognize a situation as inequitable. Studies show that facing an unfair offer triggers negative emotions and activates brain regions associated with conflict and disgust.
Psychology researcher Yin Hanmo of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and a team of colleagues wanted to understand exactly how depression influences these decisions. Previous studies on depression and the Ultimatum Game have yielded conflicting results. Some research indicates that depressed individuals reject more offers due to heightened negative emotions, while other studies show they reject fewer offers.
The researchers suspected that a person’s subjective socioeconomic status might explain the discrepancy. Subjective socioeconomic status refers to how an individual views their own rank in society, regardless of their actual income or education level.
To test this idea, Hanmo and the research team recruited 274 university students in China and Malaysia. The participants completed a standardized questionnaire designed to measure the frequency of depressive symptoms over the past week, such as feeling sad, experiencing restless sleep, or struggling to get going.
The students also completed a widely used assessment to gauge their subjective socioeconomic status. They looked at an image of a 10-rung ladder representing where people stand in society. The top rungs represented people with the most money, most education, and best jobs. Participants selected the rung that best matched their own perceived position.
Next, the participants played a modified, paper-based version of the Ultimatum Game. They received a list of 18 proposed monetary splits from anonymous partners. Some of the offers were equal, splitting the money evenly down the middle, while other offers were highly skewed in favor of the proposer.
For each proposed split, the participants had to choose whether to accept or reject the deal. They also rated the perceived fairness of each offer on a scale from one to seven, with one being very unfair and seven being very fair.
The researchers found that depressive symptoms alone did not directly dictate how often a participant rejected an uneven offer. Instead, the effects of depression depended heavily on a participant’s self-reported social standing.
Among individuals who ranked themselves high on the social ladder, having higher levels of depression was associated with viewing unequal offers as more fair. Because these individuals perceived the bad deals as relatively fair, they were subsequently less likely to reject them.
This pattern did not appear among participants who placed themselves lower on the social ladder. For these individuals, experiencing depressive symptoms did not alter their perception of unequal offers. Consequently, their likelihood of rejecting a bad deal remained unchanged regardless of their depression levels.
The researchers suggest that differing baseline expectations may drive this divergence. People who feel they have a high social status generally expect to be treated equitably and with respect. When they face a highly unequal financial offer, the gap between their expectations and reality creates psychological friction.
The authors propose that individuals with both high social standing and depressive symptoms might subconsciously cope with this friction by rationalizing the bad offer. By mentally reframing the unequal split as acceptable, they can avoid the emotional distress of acknowledging unfair treatment. This cognitive reappraisal acts as a defense mechanism, reducing immediate discomfort but ultimately leading to skewed financial decisions.
In contrast, people who view themselves as lower on the social ladder may frequently encounter systemic disadvantages and social inequality. Because they do not expect strict equity in the same way, an unequal offer does not trigger the same intense psychological conflict. As a result, depression does not force them to artificially adjust their perception of fairness to cope with the situation.
The current study focused on university students experiencing varying levels of depressive symptoms, rather than patients clinically diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. Studies involving clinical populations have occasionally found that severe depression leads to higher rejection rates in the Ultimatum Game. The regulatory mental strategies that cause people to rationalize bad offers might break down as depressive symptoms become more severe, leaving patients overly sensitive to unfairness.
Additionally, the researchers measured subjective social standing rather than objective financial metrics like household income or accumulated wealth. Because university students typically share similar educational environments and do not yet have established careers, their sense of social status might function differently than it would in older adults in the workforce.
Future studies will need to test whether objective income levels produce similar effects on financial decision-making. Researchers also hope to measure participants’ baseline expectations of fairness directly to confirm whether expectation violations drive these behavioral shifts.
The study, “Subjective socioeconomic status moderates depression’s impact on fairness perception in the ultimatum game: A moderated mediation model,” was authored by Yin Hanmo, Rozainee Khairudin, Shi Yixin, Zhang Xi, Chen Xinyu, Syakirien Yusoff, and Nasrudin Subhi.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/how-social-status-and-depression-warp-our-sense-of-fairness/
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DATE: September 9, 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 find smartphone screenshots can cause a profound degree of “digital amnesia”
New research suggests that taking a screenshot of an image on your smartphone makes you less likely to remember it later, without providing any compensatory boost to your mental bandwidth. A series of experiments indicates that the simple act of capturing an image on a screen triggers a lasting inattention to that experience, leaving people with worse memory for what they just saw. These findings were published in Memory & Cognition.
Psychologists have been exploring how digital devices affect our ability to encode memories. A 2014 study found that taking photos of objects in a museum impaired people’s ability to remember details about those objects compared to simply viewing them. This phenomenon is known as the photo-taking impairment effect.
“The original study on the photo impairment effect intrigued us because it seemed to represent an interesting paradox: We photograph the events that we most want to remember, and yet photographing actually works against that goal,” Sophia P. Fabrizio, a doctoral candidate in cognitive psychology at Binghamton University, and Deanne L. Westerman, a professor of psychology and cognitive and brain sciences at the same institution, told PsyPost.
More recently, a 2025 study extended this memory impairment to modern digital behavior, showing that taking screenshots on a smartphone also hurts memory for visual art. “One idea was that taking photographs diverted attention away from the event being photographed,” the researchers explained. “We reasoned that screenshots are much less attentionally demanding (no need to move the eyes away from the subject, to point the camera, to frame the shot) which may have alleviated the impairment. Instead, we found that the memory impairment from screenshotting was actually larger than that of photographing.”
On a separate track, research into cognitive offloading has explored how we use devices as external memory banks. A 2019 study found that offloading information into a saved digital file can free up mental resources, boosting a person’s performance on subsequent, unrelated cognitive tasks. Cognitive offloading essentially proposes that when we know information is saved elsewhere, our brains dedicate less effort to remembering it.
Fabrizio, Westerman, and their colleagues sought to connect these lines of study. “The current study was a continuation of this line of work, asking whether there are any cognitive benefits that could be found, which might be expected if using the camera/phone as an external memory frees up cognitive resources that could be applied elsewhere,” they said. The team wanted to know if screenshotting acts as a form of automatic cognitive offloading. If taking a screenshot signals to the brain that an image is safely stored, the brain might disengage from remembering it.
This disengagement could free up cognitive resources, offering measurable mental benefits on other tasks that might offset the initial memory penalty. To test this idea, the researchers conducted seven separate experiments with undergraduate students.
In the first experiment, 33 participants used their own smartphones to look at 44 different pieces of visual art. An app instructed them to either simply view the art or take a screenshot of it. Afterward, the participants completed a brief coloring task as a distraction, followed by a memory test on a computer.
For the test, they were shown the original art piece alongside two very similar decoy images and had to identify the one they had seen. The participants recognized the viewed images at high rates, but their memory for the screenshotted images was substantially worse.
The second experiment, involving 69 students, replicated this setup but added a source memory test. After trying to identify the correct art piece, participants had to report whether they had originally viewed or screenshotted that specific image. A central feature of cognitive offloading is knowing where information is stored.
“An important idea behind taking photos and screenshots is that you know that you have them and can access them later if you want to review the experience,” the researchers said. “However, the results of our second experiment suggest that we may not even remember that we have that image saved on our devices. This makes the captured information potentially useless!”
Indeed, participants showed poor source memory for the screenshotted items. They correctly remembered whether an item was viewed or screenshotted for only 53.5 percent of the screenshotted art, compared to 71.3 percent for the viewed art. General item recognition also dropped, falling from 78 percent for viewed images to 69.5 percent for screenshotted ones. This indicates that screenshotting impairs memory for the broader context of an experience, not just the visual details.
The third experiment tested whether screenshotting frees up mental bandwidth for a different kind of task. The researchers divided 129 students into two groups. One group screenshotted 32 pieces of art, while the other group only viewed them. Immediately afterward, both groups were given one minute to solve difficult modular math problems.
If screenshotting offloads mental effort, the screenshot group should have had more cognitive resources available to solve the math problems. Instead, the researchers found no statistical difference in math performance between the two groups. When later tested on their memory of the art, the screenshot group again performed much worse than the viewing group.
In the fourth and fifth experiments, the scientists investigated whether screenshotting one set of images would boost memory for a second set of images. The idea was that offloading the first set might reduce mental clutter, making it easier to learn new information. In the fourth experiment, 126 participants either screenshotted a block of art and then viewed a second block, or simply viewed both blocks.
There was no difference in how well the two groups remembered the second block of art. The fifth experiment switched the memory test from multiple-choice recognition to a written recall test, using simple black-and-white drawings of everyday objects. The researchers found a tiny improvement in memory for the second block of images among the screenshotters, but only when the memory test was scored using very lenient criteria. Overall, the memory cost of screenshotting far outweighed any minor learning benefits.
The final two experiments aimed to see if changing participants’ expectations would encourage them to use screenshotting as a deliberate offloading strategy. In previous experiments, participants did not know their memory would be tested. In the sixth experiment, with 105 participants, half were told in advance that there would be a memory test. Knowing about the test did not change the results; memory was still worse for the screenshotted images.
The seventh experiment involved 179 students and took this a step further. Participants were falsely promised they could review their screenshots before the memory test. Half were told the test would happen at the end of the session, while the other half were told the test would happen in a month.
The researchers hypothesized that participants expecting a month-long delay would rely heavily on their screenshots, resulting in a larger memory drop. However, the memory deficit for screenshotted images was similar across both groups. This suggests that the memory impairment is not driven by a conscious, strategic choice to rely on the device.
Instead of a strategic offloading process, the findings point toward a general disengagement of attention. The physical act of taking a screenshot, or the mental categorization of the event as “captured,” seems to interrupt the brain’s natural encoding process. People tend to stop paying close attention to the details and the context of the image, leading to a profound degree of digital amnesia.
“We have actually been surprised by the size of the effect,” the researchers noted. “The effect sizes are generally in the medium to large range suggesting that the results are likely to be noticeable in everyday life.”
“This is especially surprising for screenshots, since this is a very well-practiced and simple task for our college undergraduates,” they added. “Participants in the study never have to look away from the art to capture it with the press of a couple buttons, and they are given as much time as they want to look at each art piece. This suggests that the effect may be operating unconsciously and automatically: Even when we tell people that there will be a test, they do not appear to be able to counteract the reduced attention that seems to occur when taking a photograph or screenshot.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. “This is also something that has primarily been investigated in healthy young adults enrolled in colleges and universities, examining memory in the lab with stimuli that are likely not personally meaningful or emotional,” the researchers explained. “This makes it difficult to draw conclusions with any certainty about whether this effect is present for young children or older adults in naturalistic settings where the captured information is deeply meaningful to the individual.”
“That being said, the fact that the effect is found when most everything else is controlled for, suggests that there is something about the act of taking a photograph or screenshot that may be cause for concern when it comes to our organic memory for information and experiences,” they said.
The experiments were conducted in a laboratory setting where participants were instructed to take screenshots and were not allowed to review them later. In everyday life, people often take screenshots specifically to review them later, such as saving a recipe or a map. “While this is likely the case for many of the photos and screenshots we take on a regular basis, if we capture experiences to create meaningful photo albums that get pulled out during family reunions, this is likely going to result in a net positive effect for autobiographical memory,” the researchers noted.
But for the thousands of screenshots that sit unreviewed in digital camera rolls, this research suggests they are likely forgotten by the organic memory system. “If some experience or information is really important to you, and you want to remember it without external aids, your best bet may be to put away your smartphone,” Fabrizio and Westerman advised. “Though digital calendars and reminders may be useful to ensure you make it to a doctor’s appointment, you’re probably better off leaving the photography to the professionals at the next wedding you attend.”
“We are planning to continue to investigate the photo-taking impairment effect in order to better understand when and why it occurs,” they said. “There are currently some contradictory findings in the literature in terms of the different factors that impact the presence and magnitude of the effect. This makes it difficult to reconcile all of the results in the field with any of the proposed accounts for the phenomenon.”
The study, “Digital amnesia: The aftermath of a screenshot,” was authored by Sophia P. Fabrizio, Rebecca Lurie, and Deanne L. Westerman.
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DATE: September 9, 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: Nostalgia for past loves can surprisingly boost current relationship satisfaction
Thinking fondly about a past romantic partner might seem like a recipe for dissatisfaction in a current relationship. However, a psychology study reveals that experiencing nostalgia for either an ex-partner or a current partner can actually boost how satisfied people feel in their present romance. The research, published in Emotion, highlights how reflecting on past loves shapes our present emotional bonds.
Nostalgia is an emotion defined by a sentimental longing for the past. It often involves reflecting on personally meaningful memories and the people who shared those moments. In relationship science, researchers often look at two specific types of longing. One is romantic nostalgia, which focuses on memories with a current partner. The other is ex-partner nostalgia, which involves reminiscing about a past love.
Previous studies have generally found that romantic nostalgia strengthens current relationships. Recalling happy memories with a present partner typically increases emotional connection. The effects of ex-partner nostalgia are less predictable. Some evidence suggests that longing for an ex harms current relationship quality, while other data indicates it might offer surprising emotional benefits.
Psychologist Soo Yeon Park, now at the University of Florida, and her colleagues wanted to test these conflicting ideas in a non-Western population. Most prior research on relationship nostalgia has focused on people in Western countries. In these cultures, people tend to build their identities around internal traits and maintain a consistent sense of self over time.
In Eastern cultures, people often maintain their sense of identity through social bonds and relationship harmony. Connecting past, present, and future selves in a coherent way relies heavily on these social ties. Because of these cultural differences, the researchers suspected that reminiscing about a dissolved relationship might threaten a person’s sense of relational stability.
Anchoring a person’s thoughts to a failed relationship could disrupt the emotional integration needed to sustain a current romance. The researchers hypothesized that ex-partner nostalgia would lower current relationship satisfaction among Eastern participants. They also wanted to explore whether the length of a person’s current relationship would change how they reacted to these nostalgic memories.
The research team recruited 172 unmarried Korean adults for the experiment. Every participant was currently in a romantic relationship. They also needed to have been in a past relationship that lasted at least three months, which is a common benchmark for a committed partnership.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers measured each person’s baseline levels of relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment. Satisfaction refers to how happy a person is with their partner on a day-to-day basis. It captures the immediate feelings of contentment within the partnership.
Commitment reflects a more future-oriented intention to stay in the relationship and invest in its long-term success. While the two concepts are related, they operate differently, especially in the early stages of dating. After providing these baseline measurements, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing tasks.
One group was asked to write about a highly nostalgic memory involving an important ex-partner. Another group wrote about a nostalgic event involving their current romantic partner. A control group simply wrote an objective account of what they did during the previous week.
This control group provided a neutral baseline to compare against the emotionally charged nostalgia tasks. After completing the writing exercises, the participants answered another round of questions about their relationship satisfaction and commitment. They also reported on the specific positive and negative emotions they felt during the task.
Contrary to the team’s initial expectations, the results showed that ex-partner nostalgia did not harm current relationship quality. Instead, participants in both the ex-partner and current-partner nostalgia groups reported increased relationship satisfaction after the writing task. The control group showed no such changes in satisfaction over the same timeframe.
The finding that ex-partner nostalgia boosts relationship satisfaction challenges the idea that longing for the past always undermines the present. The researchers noted that these results support the cross-cultural generalizability of nostalgia’s relational benefits. Even in an Eastern relational context, looking back on a former love seems to provide an emotional lift that bleeds into a person’s current romantic life.
When examining relationship commitment, the length of the participant’s current relationship played a major role. Among participants in relatively short relationships, reminiscing about a current partner actually decreased their relationship commitment. This drop in commitment did not occur for people in longer, more established relationships.
The researchers suspect this happens because commitment is less firmly established in new relationships. Early in a romance, a positive memory from the past might highlight the uncertainty of the couple’s future together. The nostalgia might serve as a reminder of a positively resolved past moment, making the unwritten future of a new relationship feel less secure.
The emotional profiles of the memories also revealed unexpected patterns. Participants who wrote about a current partner reported more negative and mixed emotions than those who wrote about an ex-partner. Even when recalling joyful moments, those reflecting on their current relationships experienced less positive emotion overall.
To understand this, the researchers pointed to emotion appraisal theory. This theory suggests that people’s reactions depend on how they interpret an event, rather than just the event itself. When reflecting on happy memories with a current partner, people might experience sadness if they interpret the memory as a time of better days that cannot be perfectly recreated.
Cultural backgrounds might also shape how people interpret these nostalgic memories. When recalling pleasant situations, people from collectivist cultures often focus on the social context and experience more mixed emotions. People from individualist cultures often credit themselves for happy memories and focus on how those events reflect their personal growth.
The study focuses entirely on dating individuals who are not married. Marriage often brings different levels of investment and security to a partnership. It is possible that married couples would not experience the same drop in commitment after reflecting on early relationship memories.
The experiment also relied on a guided writing task to induce nostalgia in a laboratory setting. This method might not capture the spontaneous ways people experience nostalgia in their daily lives. Everyday memories can often be triggered by momentary events or negative moods.
Recent work shows that daily nostalgic experiences often contain more negative elements than memories summoned on demand. These spontaneous reflections could influence a relationship quite differently than a deliberate writing exercise. Future research could expand on these findings by tracking spontaneous nostalgic thoughts over time using daily diaries.
Researchers might also benefit from examining how the amount of time since a past breakup changes the emotional impact of ex-partner nostalgia. Although the researchers did not have enough data to assess that variable, time is likely a major factor. A fresh breakup might evoke very different feelings than a distant memory of young love.
The study, “Revisiting Nostalgia for Current and Ex-Romantic Partners: Affective Profiles and the Moderating Effect of Relationship Duration,” was authored by Soo Yeon Park, Ye Ji Im, Hyun Moon, Sun W. Park, and Gregory D. Webster.
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DATE: September 9, 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: Nostalgia for past loves can surprisingly boost current relationship satisfaction
Thinking fondly about a past romantic partner might seem like a recipe for dissatisfaction in a current relationship. However, a psychology study reveals that experiencing nostalgia for either an ex-partner or a current partner can actually boost how satisfied people feel in their present romance. The research, published in Emotion, highlights how reflecting on past loves shapes our present emotional bonds.
Nostalgia is an emotion defined by a sentimental longing for the past. It often involves reflecting on personally meaningful memories and the people who shared those moments. In relationship science, researchers often look at two specific types of longing. One is romantic nostalgia, which focuses on memories with a current partner. The other is ex-partner nostalgia, which involves reminiscing about a past love.
Previous studies have generally found that romantic nostalgia strengthens current relationships. Recalling happy memories with a present partner typically increases emotional connection. The effects of ex-partner nostalgia are less predictable. Some evidence suggests that longing for an ex harms current relationship quality, while other data indicates it might offer surprising emotional benefits.
Psychologist Soo Yeon Park, now at the University of Florida, and her colleagues wanted to test these conflicting ideas in a non-Western population. Most prior research on relationship nostalgia has focused on people in Western countries. In these cultures, people tend to build their identities around internal traits and maintain a consistent sense of self over time.
In Eastern cultures, people often maintain their sense of identity through social bonds and relationship harmony. Connecting past, present, and future selves in a coherent way relies heavily on these social ties. Because of these cultural differences, the researchers suspected that reminiscing about a dissolved relationship might threaten a person’s sense of relational stability.
Anchoring a person’s thoughts to a failed relationship could disrupt the emotional integration needed to sustain a current romance. The researchers hypothesized that ex-partner nostalgia would lower current relationship satisfaction among Eastern participants. They also wanted to explore whether the length of a person’s current relationship would change how they reacted to these nostalgic memories.
The research team recruited 172 unmarried Korean adults for the experiment. Every participant was currently in a romantic relationship. They also needed to have been in a past relationship that lasted at least three months, which is a common benchmark for a committed partnership.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers measured each person’s baseline levels of relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment. Satisfaction refers to how happy a person is with their partner on a day-to-day basis. It captures the immediate feelings of contentment within the partnership.
Commitment reflects a more future-oriented intention to stay in the relationship and invest in its long-term success. While the two concepts are related, they operate differently, especially in the early stages of dating. After providing these baseline measurements, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing tasks.
One group was asked to write about a highly nostalgic memory involving an important ex-partner. Another group wrote about a nostalgic event involving their current romantic partner. A control group simply wrote an objective account of what they did during the previous week.
This control group provided a neutral baseline to compare against the emotionally charged nostalgia tasks. After completing the writing exercises, the participants answered another round of questions about their relationship satisfaction and commitment. They also reported on the specific positive and negative emotions they felt during the task.
Contrary to the team’s initial expectations, the results showed that ex-partner nostalgia did not harm current relationship quality. Instead, participants in both the ex-partner and current-partner nostalgia groups reported increased relationship satisfaction after the writing task. The control group showed no such changes in satisfaction over the same timeframe.
The finding that ex-partner nostalgia boosts relationship satisfaction challenges the idea that longing for the past always undermines the present. The researchers noted that these results support the cross-cultural generalizability of nostalgia’s relational benefits. Even in an Eastern relational context, looking back on a former love seems to provide an emotional lift that bleeds into a person’s current romantic life.
When examining relationship commitment, the length of the participant’s current relationship played a major role. Among participants in relatively short relationships, reminiscing about a current partner actually decreased their relationship commitment. This drop in commitment did not occur for people in longer, more established relationships.
The researchers suspect this happens because commitment is less firmly established in new relationships. Early in a romance, a positive memory from the past might highlight the uncertainty of the couple’s future together. The nostalgia might serve as a reminder of a positively resolved past moment, making the unwritten future of a new relationship feel less secure.
The emotional profiles of the memories also revealed unexpected patterns. Participants who wrote about a current partner reported more negative and mixed emotions than those who wrote about an ex-partner. Even when recalling joyful moments, those reflecting on their current relationships experienced less positive emotion overall.
To understand this, the researchers pointed to emotion appraisal theory. This theory suggests that people’s reactions depend on how they interpret an event, rather than just the event itself. When reflecting on happy memories with a current partner, people might experience sadness if they interpret the memory as a time of better days that cannot be perfectly recreated.
Cultural backgrounds might also shape how people interpret these nostalgic memories. When recalling pleasant situations, people from collectivist cultures often focus on the social context and experience more mixed emotions. People from individualist cultures often credit themselves for happy memories and focus on how those events reflect their personal growth.
The study focuses entirely on dating individuals who are not married. Marriage often brings different levels of investment and security to a partnership. It is possible that married couples would not experience the same drop in commitment after reflecting on early relationship memories.
The experiment also relied on a guided writing task to induce nostalgia in a laboratory setting. This method might not capture the spontaneous ways people experience nostalgia in their daily lives. Everyday memories can often be triggered by momentary events or negative moods.
Recent work shows that daily nostalgic experiences often contain more negative elements than memories summoned on demand. These spontaneous reflections could influence a relationship quite differently than a deliberate writing exercise. Future research could expand on these findings by tracking spontaneous nostalgic thoughts over time using daily diaries.
Researchers might also benefit from examining how the amount of time since a past breakup changes the emotional impact of ex-partner nostalgia. Although the researchers did not have enough data to assess that variable, time is likely a major factor. A fresh breakup might evoke very different feelings than a distant memory of young love.
The study, “Revisiting Nostalgia for Current and Ex-Romantic Partners: Affective Profiles and the Moderating Effect of Relationship Duration,” was authored by Soo Yeon Park, Ye Ji Im, Hyun Moon, Sun W. Park, and Gregory D. Webster.
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DATE: September 9, 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: Nostalgia for past loves can surprisingly boost current relationship satisfaction
Thinking fondly about a past romantic partner might seem like a recipe for dissatisfaction in a current relationship. However, a psychology study reveals that experiencing nostalgia for either an ex-partner or a current partner can actually boost how satisfied people feel in their present romance. The research, published in Emotion, highlights how reflecting on past loves shapes our present emotional bonds.
Nostalgia is an emotion defined by a sentimental longing for the past. It often involves reflecting on personally meaningful memories and the people who shared those moments. In relationship science, researchers often look at two specific types of longing. One is romantic nostalgia, which focuses on memories with a current partner. The other is ex-partner nostalgia, which involves reminiscing about a past love.
Previous studies have generally found that romantic nostalgia strengthens current relationships. Recalling happy memories with a present partner typically increases emotional connection. The effects of ex-partner nostalgia are less predictable. Some evidence suggests that longing for an ex harms current relationship quality, while other data indicates it might offer surprising emotional benefits.
Psychologist Soo Yeon Park, now at the University of Florida, and her colleagues wanted to test these conflicting ideas in a non-Western population. Most prior research on relationship nostalgia has focused on people in Western countries. In these cultures, people tend to build their identities around internal traits and maintain a consistent sense of self over time.
In Eastern cultures, people often maintain their sense of identity through social bonds and relationship harmony. Connecting past, present, and future selves in a coherent way relies heavily on these social ties. Because of these cultural differences, the researchers suspected that reminiscing about a dissolved relationship might threaten a person’s sense of relational stability.
Anchoring a person’s thoughts to a failed relationship could disrupt the emotional integration needed to sustain a current romance. The researchers hypothesized that ex-partner nostalgia would lower current relationship satisfaction among Eastern participants. They also wanted to explore whether the length of a person’s current relationship would change how they reacted to these nostalgic memories.
The research team recruited 172 unmarried Korean adults for the experiment. Every participant was currently in a romantic relationship. They also needed to have been in a past relationship that lasted at least three months, which is a common benchmark for a committed partnership.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers measured each person’s baseline levels of relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment. Satisfaction refers to how happy a person is with their partner on a day-to-day basis. It captures the immediate feelings of contentment within the partnership.
Commitment reflects a more future-oriented intention to stay in the relationship and invest in its long-term success. While the two concepts are related, they operate differently, especially in the early stages of dating. After providing these baseline measurements, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three writing tasks.
One group was asked to write about a highly nostalgic memory involving an important ex-partner. Another group wrote about a nostalgic event involving their current romantic partner. A control group simply wrote an objective account of what they did during the previous week.
This control group provided a neutral baseline to compare against the emotionally charged nostalgia tasks. After completing the writing exercises, the participants answered another round of questions about their relationship satisfaction and commitment. They also reported on the specific positive and negative emotions they felt during the task.
Contrary to the team’s initial expectations, the results showed that ex-partner nostalgia did not harm current relationship quality. Instead, participants in both the ex-partner and current-partner nostalgia groups reported increased relationship satisfaction after the writing task. The control group showed no such changes in satisfaction over the same timeframe.
The finding that ex-partner nostalgia boosts relationship satisfaction challenges the idea that longing for the past always undermines the present. The researchers noted that these results support the cross-cultural generalizability of nostalgia’s relational benefits. Even in an Eastern relational context, looking back on a former love seems to provide an emotional lift that bleeds into a person’s current romantic life.
When examining relationship commitment, the length of the participant’s current relationship played a major role. Among participants in relatively short relationships, reminiscing about a current partner actually decreased their relationship commitment. This drop in commitment did not occur for people in longer, more established relationships.
The researchers suspect this happens because commitment is less firmly established in new relationships. Early in a romance, a positive memory from the past might highlight the uncertainty of the couple’s future together. The nostalgia might serve as a reminder of a positively resolved past moment, making the unwritten future of a new relationship feel less secure.
The emotional profiles of the memories also revealed unexpected patterns. Participants who wrote about a current partner reported more negative and mixed emotions than those who wrote about an ex-partner. Even when recalling joyful moments, those reflecting on their current relationships experienced less positive emotion overall.
To understand this, the researchers pointed to emotion appraisal theory. This theory suggests that people’s reactions depend on how they interpret an event, rather than just the event itself. When reflecting on happy memories with a current partner, people might experience sadness if they interpret the memory as a time of better days that cannot be perfectly recreated.
Cultural backgrounds might also shape how people interpret these nostalgic memories. When recalling pleasant situations, people from collectivist cultures often focus on the social context and experience more mixed emotions. People from individualist cultures often credit themselves for happy memories and focus on how those events reflect their personal growth.
The study focuses entirely on dating individuals who are not married. Marriage often brings different levels of investment and security to a partnership. It is possible that married couples would not experience the same drop in commitment after reflecting on early relationship memories.
The experiment also relied on a guided writing task to induce nostalgia in a laboratory setting. This method might not capture the spontaneous ways people experience nostalgia in their daily lives. Everyday memories can often be triggered by momentary events or negative moods.
Recent work shows that daily nostalgic experiences often contain more negative elements than memories summoned on demand. These spontaneous reflections could influence a relationship quite differently than a deliberate writing exercise. Future research could expand on these findings by tracking spontaneous nostalgic thoughts over time using daily diaries.
Researchers might also benefit from examining how the amount of time since a past breakup changes the emotional impact of ex-partner nostalgia. Although the researchers did not have enough data to assess that variable, time is likely a major factor. A fresh breakup might evoke very different feelings than a distant memory of young love.
The study, “Revisiting Nostalgia for Current and Ex-Romantic Partners: Affective Profiles and the Moderating Effect of Relationship Duration,” was authored by Soo Yeon Park, Ye Ji Im, Hyun Moon, Sun W. Park, and Gregory D. Webster.
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DATE: September 9, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists thought “intensive parenting” was driving down birth rates. They found the exact opposite.
New research suggests that adopting highly demanding, child-centered parenting attitudes is associated with a stronger desire to have children. Rather than deterring people from starting or expanding families, subscribing to these ideals appears to go hand in hand with wanting to become a parent. The findings were published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Over the past few decades, a cultural shift has transformed how many people approach raising kids. This approach, known as intensive parenting, is a style where childrearing is viewed as an emotionally absorbing, labor-intensive, and financially demanding project. Parents are expected to place their children’s needs above their own and constantly provide stimulating activities to boost their social and cognitive development.
At the same time, birth rates have been steadily declining in many high-income nations. In Sweden, the total fertility rate dropped to an all-time low of 1.45 children per woman in 2023. Similar trends are visible across the Nordic region. For instance, a 2021 study of Finnish adults indicated that younger generations are increasingly preferring to remain childless.
“We have known for some years now that we are witnessing an unprecedented and unexplained decline in fertility,” study author Sunnee Billingsley, a professor of sociology at Stockholm University, told PsyPost. “Fewer people are entering parenthood and/or they are having fewer children overall. This is even the case in Sweden, where family policies have long been believed to hold fertility levels stable and at a high level in relation to other wealthy countries.”
Because traditional economic models suggest that rising costs reduce demand, some scholars have speculated that the heavy time and financial burdens of modern parenting are driving this fertility decline. The assumption is that people are either opting out of parenthood entirely or stopping at fewer children because they feel they cannot meet these high standards.
“When I thought about what has changed since 2010, when the fertility decline began, the shift in parenting culture caught my attention,” Billingsley said. “It seemed to me that the increased time, energy, financial, and emotional investment in children could lead to fertility decline.”
The research, led by Billingsley, aimed to test whether this assumption holds true using specific survey data. Measuring these beliefs can be complicated. For example, a 2022 study in the United States found that parents do not always adopt every aspect of the intensive parenting ideal, but rather combine different expectations in unique ways. The research team wanted to see how these varied, multidimensional attitudes directly related to individuals’ childbearing plans in a country known for strong social support.
To explore this, the researchers analyzed data from the 2021 Swedish Generations and Gender Survey. Their sample included 3,397 Swedish men and women. The women were aged 18 to 40, and the men were aged 18 to 45. The researchers excluded individuals who were currently pregnant or who reported that they were physically unable to have children.
Participants answered questions about their short-term and long-term childbearing plans. They indicated whether they intended to stay childfree, postpone parenthood, or stop having children if they were already parents. The survey also included six questions measuring intensive parenting attitudes. Participants rated their agreement with statements such as “children’s needs should come before their parents'” and “child rearing is the most demanding job in the world.”
Using a statistical technique, the researchers grouped participants into five categories based on their overall attitude profiles. These groups ranged from those who strongly endorsed intensive parenting to those who actively rejected it. The researchers then mapped these profiles against the participants’ fertility intentions.
In the study sample, 24.6 percent of childless respondents intended to remain childfree. The researchers originally expected that strong intensive parenting attitudes would increase this likelihood. Instead, the results pointed in the opposite direction.
People who held strong or moderate intensive parenting attitudes were actually between 20 and 26 absolute percentage points less likely to want to stay childfree compared to those who rejected intensive parenting ideas. Even respondents who held mixed or neutral views were less likely to want to remain childfree than the reject group.
A similar pattern emerged for parents deciding whether to expand their families. Among respondents who already had two or more children, 86.8 percent intended to stop having kids. However, those with strong intensive parenting attitudes were 14 percentage points less likely to intend to stop than the group that rejected these attitudes. This indicates that people with demanding parenting ideals were more open to having a third or higher-order child.
The researchers found no consistent link between these attitudes and the intention to simply delay having children. Childless women did not show statistically different intentions to postpone parenthood based on their attitude profiles. There was a slight indication that some men with strong attitudes were less likely to want to postpone, but the overall pattern did not clearly support the idea that intensive parenting drives people to put off starting a family.
Overall, the findings suggest that intensive parenting attitudes and the desire for children act as a package deal. Rather than scaring people away, embracing the heavy demands of modern parenting aligns with a commitment to family building. The authors note that this might reflect anticipatory socialization, a process where people who already want children naturally start absorbing the dominant parenting culture around them.
“We cannot assume that the widespread decline is due to people being resistant to parenting demands in today’s intensive parenting culture,” Billingsley explained.
“Intensive parenting norms are widespread and have made parenting more challenging,” she said. “It is very surprising that it does not seem to lead to resistance to enter parenthood. The way it seems to work is that people who are thinking about having a child also seem to be getting on board with what that requires nowadays. We call this the package deal. Those who reject the norms are also those who are seem to reject the idea of having children.”
Another explanation is that children provide a pathway for individuals to gain social esteem. If raising a successful child is viewed as a personal achievement and a reflection of good morals, people who highly value this intensive approach may be more motivated to have children to fulfill that social role.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relies on cross-sectional data, meaning the survey captured a single snapshot in time. This prevents the researchers from determining a strict sequence of events or verifying that attitudes directly cause specific family plans.
The survey also had a relatively low response rate. Although the researchers applied statistical weights to adjust for underrepresented groups, the findings might not perfectly capture the views of the entire population. Additionally, the questionnaire only included six items to measure intensive parenting, leaving out other dimensions of the ideology.
The Swedish context itself is another factor to consider, as the country offers robust institutional support for parents, including subsidized childcare and generous paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers. “Sweden is a unique case because of the relatively strong support families receive in the form of well-paid parental leave to fully cover infant care, job security, and a family-friendly social and work environment,” Billingsley noted.
“In addition, women have more support from their partners in the day-to-day business of childrearing compared to other non-Nordic contexts,” she added. “This means that men and women in Sweden may be uniquely able to adhere to intensive parenting norms and have a child than in other parts of the world. Whether the surprising relationship we uncovered in Sweden is generalizable is unknown. There is little research documenting patterns such as this elsewhere.”
Because these policies might buffer the potential negative impacts of intensive parenting, the relationship between these attitudes and fertility might look different in countries with weaker social safety nets. Future research will aim to address these gaps by expanding the scope of the data.
“The focus so far has been on childbearing plans in Sweden and we now have the data to look at whether these plans were realized and actual childbirth,” Billingsley said. “There is also new data allowing us to explore the intensive parenting and fertility intentions relationship across a range of countries in Europe, which will allow us to know whether the relationship is robust across different contexts.”
The study, “Are Intensive Parenting Attitudes a Deterrent to Childbearing?,” was authored by Sunnee Billingsley, Stefanie Mollborn, and Gerda Neyer.
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DATE: September 9, 2026 at 01:48PM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy May Have an Unexpected Mental Health Benefit
Source: Science Daily - Top Health
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
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DATE: September 8, 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: Cognitive biases and emotional triggers make AI-generated images highly deceptive
Emotionally charged AI-generated images may encourage social media users to respond before they critically assess whether the images are real, according to a study published in Computers in Human Behavior.
AI-generated images can now be produced quickly and cheaply, making it possible to create large amounts of realistic-looking material for social media. Some images are paired with emotional captions and distributed through networks of automated pages or content farms that seek attention, advertising revenue or user interaction.
Images may be particularly effective at attracting attention because they are processed quickly and can trigger emotional reactions before people examine details closely. A picture of an elderly couple, a neglected child or an apparently extraordinary achievement may prompt sympathy, anger or admiration. Those reactions can make users less likely to stop and ask whether the scene is authentic.
Márk Miskolczi of Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary analyzed public Facebook material collected between March 1 and May 1, 2025. The sample consisted of 146 AI-generated images and 8,922 user comments.
Miskolczi selected 12 public Facebook pages that regularly posted suspected AI-generated images. The pages covered themes such as nostalgia, rural life, elderly people, spirituality, everyday hardship and family relationships. Images were first examined using an eight-step manual system that looked for features such as distorted anatomy, unusual facial details, floating objects, impossible reflections, malformed writing and unnatural textures. Images were also checked with an online AI detector, and only those receiving an AI-probability score of at least 60% were included.
An initial database contained 11,547 comments. After comments believed to have been produced by automated accounts were removed, 9,082 remained. The researcher then excluded 160 comments considered incomplete or meaningless, leaving 8,922 comments for qualitative analysis. The comments were categorized, or coded, in stages to identify recurring topics, emotional responses and possible mental shortcuts involved in users’ reactions.
Five broad themes emerged in the images: emotion and nostalgia; empathy and compassion; extraordinary achievements and hobbies; birthdays and social problems; and religion and spirituality. The most common comment category was birthday wishes, with 1,980 comments (22.19%). Inspiring messages and encouragement accounted for 1,802 comments (20.20%). Religious content accounted for 1,490 comments (16.70%).
Many users responded as though the images represented real people or events. They expressed sympathy for older adults, shared memories of childhood, offered congratulations and posted religious blessings. The analysis suggested that several mental shortcuts, known as cognitive biases, may have contributed. Confirmation bias may lead people to accept images that fit their existing beliefs. Anchoring may make the first emotional reaction more influential than later inspection. Familiar themes may feel trustworthy, while large numbers of supportive comments may create the impression that the content has been socially verified.
The researcher found that images involving older people, nostalgic memories and apparent neglect often produced strong emotional reactions. Outrage-inducing content could also encourage comments while drawing attention away from visual inconsistencies. By contrast, some images involving inter-ethnic conflict or neglected birthdays attracted more skepticism or less engagement.
Miskolczi summarized: “This study examined how AI-generated images [AIGIs] on Facebook exploit users’ vulnerabilities, revealing their remarkable potential for digital deception… Emotional engagement was often accompanied by cognitive biases which together reduced users’ critical reflection.”
Some limitations are to be noted. The study was limited to public Facebook content, which may not reflect platform-specific or culturally embedded differences in how users on other networks engage with such images. Additionally, the manual frameworks used to detect AI images and automated comments have not yet been externally validated. Furthermore, the analysis inferred cognitive biases from the content of comments rather than measuring them directly in experiments. It also cannot establish exactly how many users genuinely believed the images were real, how many were responding ironically or whether the images changed their views or behavior.
The study, “The illusion of reality: How AI-generated images (AIGIs) are fooling social media users,” was authored by Márk Miskolczi.
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DATE: September 8, 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: Cognitive biases and emotional triggers make AI-generated images highly deceptive
Emotionally charged AI-generated images may encourage social media users to respond before they critically assess whether the images are real, according to a study published in Computers in Human Behavior.
AI-generated images can now be produced quickly and cheaply, making it possible to create large amounts of realistic-looking material for social media. Some images are paired with emotional captions and distributed through networks of automated pages or content farms that seek attention, advertising revenue or user interaction.
Images may be particularly effective at attracting attention because they are processed quickly and can trigger emotional reactions before people examine details closely. A picture of an elderly couple, a neglected child or an apparently extraordinary achievement may prompt sympathy, anger or admiration. Those reactions can make users less likely to stop and ask whether the scene is authentic.
Márk Miskolczi of Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary analyzed public Facebook material collected between March 1 and May 1, 2025. The sample consisted of 146 AI-generated images and 8,922 user comments.
Miskolczi selected 12 public Facebook pages that regularly posted suspected AI-generated images. The pages covered themes such as nostalgia, rural life, elderly people, spirituality, everyday hardship and family relationships. Images were first examined using an eight-step manual system that looked for features such as distorted anatomy, unusual facial details, floating objects, impossible reflections, malformed writing and unnatural textures. Images were also checked with an online AI detector, and only those receiving an AI-probability score of at least 60% were included.
An initial database contained 11,547 comments. After comments believed to have been produced by automated accounts were removed, 9,082 remained. The researcher then excluded 160 comments considered incomplete or meaningless, leaving 8,922 comments for qualitative analysis. The comments were categorized, or coded, in stages to identify recurring topics, emotional responses and possible mental shortcuts involved in users’ reactions.
Five broad themes emerged in the images: emotion and nostalgia; empathy and compassion; extraordinary achievements and hobbies; birthdays and social problems; and religion and spirituality. The most common comment category was birthday wishes, with 1,980 comments (22.19%). Inspiring messages and encouragement accounted for 1,802 comments (20.20%). Religious content accounted for 1,490 comments (16.70%).
Many users responded as though the images represented real people or events. They expressed sympathy for older adults, shared memories of childhood, offered congratulations and posted religious blessings. The analysis suggested that several mental shortcuts, known as cognitive biases, may have contributed. Confirmation bias may lead people to accept images that fit their existing beliefs. Anchoring may make the first emotional reaction more influential than later inspection. Familiar themes may feel trustworthy, while large numbers of supportive comments may create the impression that the content has been socially verified.
The researcher found that images involving older people, nostalgic memories and apparent neglect often produced strong emotional reactions. Outrage-inducing content could also encourage comments while drawing attention away from visual inconsistencies. By contrast, some images involving inter-ethnic conflict or neglected birthdays attracted more skepticism or less engagement.
Miskolczi summarized: “This study examined how AI-generated images [AIGIs] on Facebook exploit users’ vulnerabilities, revealing their remarkable potential for digital deception… Emotional engagement was often accompanied by cognitive biases which together reduced users’ critical reflection.”
Some limitations are to be noted. The study was limited to public Facebook content, which may not reflect platform-specific or culturally embedded differences in how users on other networks engage with such images. Additionally, the manual frameworks used to detect AI images and automated comments have not yet been externally validated. Furthermore, the analysis inferred cognitive biases from the content of comments rather than measuring them directly in experiments. It also cannot establish exactly how many users genuinely believed the images were real, how many were responding ironically or whether the images changed their views or behavior.
The study, “The illusion of reality: How AI-generated images (AIGIs) are fooling social media users,” was authored by Márk Miskolczi.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AIGIdeception #CognitiveBiases #EmotionalTriggers #FakeImages #SocialMediaSafety #DigitalManipulation #Misinformation #AIethics #AIgeneratedImages #CriticalMedia literacy
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DATE: September 8, 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: Cognitive biases and emotional triggers make AI-generated images highly deceptive
Emotionally charged AI-generated images may encourage social media users to respond before they critically assess whether the images are real, according to a study published in Computers in Human Behavior.
AI-generated images can now be produced quickly and cheaply, making it possible to create large amounts of realistic-looking material for social media. Some images are paired with emotional captions and distributed through networks of automated pages or content farms that seek attention, advertising revenue or user interaction.
Images may be particularly effective at attracting attention because they are processed quickly and can trigger emotional reactions before people examine details closely. A picture of an elderly couple, a neglected child or an apparently extraordinary achievement may prompt sympathy, anger or admiration. Those reactions can make users less likely to stop and ask whether the scene is authentic.
Márk Miskolczi of Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary analyzed public Facebook material collected between March 1 and May 1, 2025. The sample consisted of 146 AI-generated images and 8,922 user comments.
Miskolczi selected 12 public Facebook pages that regularly posted suspected AI-generated images. The pages covered themes such as nostalgia, rural life, elderly people, spirituality, everyday hardship and family relationships. Images were first examined using an eight-step manual system that looked for features such as distorted anatomy, unusual facial details, floating objects, impossible reflections, malformed writing and unnatural textures. Images were also checked with an online AI detector, and only those receiving an AI-probability score of at least 60% were included.
An initial database contained 11,547 comments. After comments believed to have been produced by automated accounts were removed, 9,082 remained. The researcher then excluded 160 comments considered incomplete or meaningless, leaving 8,922 comments for qualitative analysis. The comments were categorized, or coded, in stages to identify recurring topics, emotional responses and possible mental shortcuts involved in users’ reactions.
Five broad themes emerged in the images: emotion and nostalgia; empathy and compassion; extraordinary achievements and hobbies; birthdays and social problems; and religion and spirituality. The most common comment category was birthday wishes, with 1,980 comments (22.19%). Inspiring messages and encouragement accounted for 1,802 comments (20.20%). Religious content accounted for 1,490 comments (16.70%).
Many users responded as though the images represented real people or events. They expressed sympathy for older adults, shared memories of childhood, offered congratulations and posted religious blessings. The analysis suggested that several mental shortcuts, known as cognitive biases, may have contributed. Confirmation bias may lead people to accept images that fit their existing beliefs. Anchoring may make the first emotional reaction more influential than later inspection. Familiar themes may feel trustworthy, while large numbers of supportive comments may create the impression that the content has been socially verified.
The researcher found that images involving older people, nostalgic memories and apparent neglect often produced strong emotional reactions. Outrage-inducing content could also encourage comments while drawing attention away from visual inconsistencies. By contrast, some images involving inter-ethnic conflict or neglected birthdays attracted more skepticism or less engagement.
Miskolczi summarized: “This study examined how AI-generated images [AIGIs] on Facebook exploit users’ vulnerabilities, revealing their remarkable potential for digital deception… Emotional engagement was often accompanied by cognitive biases which together reduced users’ critical reflection.”
Some limitations are to be noted. The study was limited to public Facebook content, which may not reflect platform-specific or culturally embedded differences in how users on other networks engage with such images. Additionally, the manual frameworks used to detect AI images and automated comments have not yet been externally validated. Furthermore, the analysis inferred cognitive biases from the content of comments rather than measuring them directly in experiments. It also cannot establish exactly how many users genuinely believed the images were real, how many were responding ironically or whether the images changed their views or behavior.
The study, “The illusion of reality: How AI-generated images (AIGIs) are fooling social media users,” was authored by Márk Miskolczi.
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #AIGIdeception #CognitiveBiases #EmotionalTriggers #FakeImages #SocialMediaSafety #DigitalManipulation #Misinformation #AIethics #AIgeneratedImages #CriticalMedia literacy
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: Association of Health Care Journalists: MENTAL HEALTHTITLE: These new resources can help you vet digital mental health tools
If you’re a journalist covering mental health, you’re bound to come across some new digital tool claiming to combat anxiety or encourage healthier self-talk. But reporting on them — whether as a news article about a buzzy new product or in a roundup of resources in a service piece — can be tricky.
As I wrote for an article in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology magazine, studies suggest there are tens of thousands of mental health apps on the market, and their safety and efficacy range widely. A few apps have undergone randomized controlled trials and have received FDA authorization. Others make bold claims and can compromise patient safety and privacy. Some may pose relatively low risk, but they also aren’t a substitute for traditional mental health care.
How are consumers, mental health professionals and journalists supposed to keep up with the good, bad and in-between? One way is through two relatively new programs from professional psychological and psychiatric organizations. Here’s an overview:
The American Psychological Association’s Digital Badge Program
This system provides “independent, evidence-based evaluations of digital mental and behavioral health technologies,” the APA said. “Each evaluation is grounded in evidence, clinical insight, regulatory alignment, and user safety.” To search for various tools and see how they stack up, explore the program’s Digital Badge Solutions Library.
The American Psychiatric Association’s App Advisor
This is a series of questions you can go through when trying to decide whether an app is an appropriate choice for a certain person or situation. The goal, the APA says, is “to provide a hierarchical rating system with content-specific questions that guide a thoughtful approach to app selection.”
This process aims to help people “understand the key information that should be considered when choosing an app, and how this differs from selecting traditional therapeutic interventions.”
Media contacts
Journalists interested in learning more about either program or speaking with an expert in digital mental health can contact the organizations’ media departments:
•American Psychological Association: [email protected]
•
•American Psychiatric Association: Erin Connors, [email protected]
•
The post These new resources can help you vet digital mental health tools appeared first on Association of Health Care Journalists.
-------------------------------------------------
Learn more at https://healthjournalism.org/topic/mental-health/ .
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DigitalMentalHealthTools #MentalHealthApps #AppEvaluation #DigitalBadgeProgram #APA #AppAdvisor #MentalHealthTech #EvidenceBasedTech #PatientSafety #DigitalHealthNews
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: Association of Health Care Journalists: MENTAL HEALTHTITLE: These new resources can help you vet digital mental health tools
If you’re a journalist covering mental health, you’re bound to come across some new digital tool claiming to combat anxiety or encourage healthier self-talk. But reporting on them — whether as a news article about a buzzy new product or in a roundup of resources in a service piece — can be tricky.
As I wrote for an article in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology magazine, studies suggest there are tens of thousands of mental health apps on the market, and their safety and efficacy range widely. A few apps have undergone randomized controlled trials and have received FDA authorization. Others make bold claims and can compromise patient safety and privacy. Some may pose relatively low risk, but they also aren’t a substitute for traditional mental health care.
How are consumers, mental health professionals and journalists supposed to keep up with the good, bad and in-between? One way is through two relatively new programs from professional psychological and psychiatric organizations. Here’s an overview:
The American Psychological Association’s Digital Badge Program
This system provides “independent, evidence-based evaluations of digital mental and behavioral health technologies,” the APA said. “Each evaluation is grounded in evidence, clinical insight, regulatory alignment, and user safety.” To search for various tools and see how they stack up, explore the program’s Digital Badge Solutions Library.
The American Psychiatric Association’s App Advisor
This is a series of questions you can go through when trying to decide whether an app is an appropriate choice for a certain person or situation. The goal, the APA says, is “to provide a hierarchical rating system with content-specific questions that guide a thoughtful approach to app selection.”
This process aims to help people “understand the key information that should be considered when choosing an app, and how this differs from selecting traditional therapeutic interventions.”
Media contacts
Journalists interested in learning more about either program or speaking with an expert in digital mental health can contact the organizations’ media departments:
•American Psychological Association: [email protected]
•
•American Psychiatric Association: Erin Connors, [email protected]
•
The post These new resources can help you vet digital mental health tools appeared first on Association of Health Care Journalists.
-------------------------------------------------
Learn more at https://healthjournalism.org/topic/mental-health/ .
This robot is NOT affiliated with Association of Health Care Journalists and merely rebroadcasts from their site. Responses posted here are not monitored.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #DigitalMentalHealthTools #MentalHealthApps #AppEvaluation #DigitalBadgeProgram #APA #AppAdvisor #MentalHealthTech #EvidenceBasedTech #PatientSafety #DigitalHealthNews
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: Association of Health Care Journalists: MENTAL HEALTHTITLE: These new resources can help you vet digital mental health tools
If you’re a journalist covering mental health, you’re bound to come across some new digital tool claiming to combat anxiety or encourage healthier self-talk. But reporting on them — whether as a news article about a buzzy new product or in a roundup of resources in a service piece — can be tricky.
As I wrote for an article in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology magazine, studies suggest there are tens of thousands of mental health apps on the market, and their safety and efficacy range widely. A few apps have undergone randomized controlled trials and have received FDA authorization. Others make bold claims and can compromise patient safety and privacy. Some may pose relatively low risk, but they also aren’t a substitute for traditional mental health care.
How are consumers, mental health professionals and journalists supposed to keep up with the good, bad and in-between? One way is through two relatively new programs from professional psychological and psychiatric organizations. Here’s an overview:
The American Psychological Association’s Digital Badge Program
This system provides “independent, evidence-based evaluations of digital mental and behavioral health technologies,” the APA said. “Each evaluation is grounded in evidence, clinical insight, regulatory alignment, and user safety.” To search for various tools and see how they stack up, explore the program’s Digital Badge Solutions Library.
The American Psychiatric Association’s App Advisor
This is a series of questions you can go through when trying to decide whether an app is an appropriate choice for a certain person or situation. The goal, the APA says, is “to provide a hierarchical rating system with content-specific questions that guide a thoughtful approach to app selection.”
This process aims to help people “understand the key information that should be considered when choosing an app, and how this differs from selecting traditional therapeutic interventions.”
Media contacts
Journalists interested in learning more about either program or speaking with an expert in digital mental health can contact the organizations’ media departments:
•American Psychological Association: [email protected]
•
•American Psychiatric Association: Erin Connors, [email protected]
•
The post These new resources can help you vet digital mental health tools appeared first on Association of Health Care Journalists.
-------------------------------------------------
Learn more at https://healthjournalism.org/topic/mental-health/ .
This robot is NOT affiliated with Association of Health Care Journalists and merely rebroadcasts from their site. Responses posted here are not monitored.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #DigitalMentalHealthTools #MentalHealthApps #AppEvaluation #DigitalBadgeProgram #APA #AppAdvisor #MentalHealthTech #EvidenceBasedTech #PatientSafety #DigitalHealthNews
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 05:30PM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
🎙️ Something new is coming!
The Psych Consult: Second Opinion, hosted by Claire Brandon, MD, explores the intersection of psychiatry and other areas of medicine.
Launching September 21.
Stay tuned for conversations with experts across the collaborative care team! https://t.co/cvmMmjiILX
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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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #PsychConsult #SecondOpinion #PsychiatryMeetsMedicine #ClaireBrandonMD #CollaborativeCareTeam
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Scientists show that virtual reality illusions can physically cool down your real body
URL: https://www.psypost.org/virtual-reality-illusions-can-physically-cool-down-your-real-body/
Visually tricking the brain into thinking a person’s left hand has crossed over to the right side of their body can physically cool down their actual, unmoving left hand. These findings suggest that disrupting the mind’s spatial map of the body can trigger measurable physiological changes in the physical limbs. The small study was published in the journal Cortex.
The human brain constantly builds and updates a model of the body by combining visual, tactile, and spatial information. This internal framework is known as the body matrix. The body matrix organizes sensory inputs into a cohesive map divided into a left and a right space. The invisible boundary separating these two halves is called the body midline.
When visual or physical information conflicts with this internal map, the brain actively tries to resolve the mismatch. In some cases of brain injury, this spatial mapping breaks down, causing patients to neglect one side of their body or feel disconnected from their own limbs. Healthy individuals can also experience temporary shifts in body perception through multisensory illusions.
Past experiments using fake rubber hands or mirrors have shown that tricking the brain into adopting an artificial limb can cause the real, hidden limb to drop in temperature. Researchers Matteo Girondini, Valentina Saccone, Massimo Montanaro, and Alberto Gallace wanted to test if they could induce similar physiological changes by disrupting the body’s midline boundary in a virtual environment.
The research team recruited twenty-six adults, all but one of them right-handed, for a sensorimotor experiment. The participants wore a virtual reality headset and held a controller in their right hand. Their real left hand rested comfortably on a table in front of them out of sight.
Over a span of fifteen minutes, participants used their actual right hand to swing a virtual stick and push a virtual blue cube toward various targets. Every time the virtual stick collided with a cube, the controller in their right hand buzzed. This vibration provided synchronized physical and visual feedback to reinforce the illusion of interacting with the digital world.
Each participant completed the task twice on different days. In the congruent condition, the virtual hand holding the stick appeared as a standard right hand. In the incongruent condition, the virtual hand was visually replaced by a left hand. This created an illusion where the participant’s left hand appeared to be operating on the right side of their body space, perfectly mimicking the movements of their actual right hand.
The researchers tracked the temperature of the resting physical left hand using a non-contact thermal camera. They also monitored skin conductance, a measure of sweat gland activity that reflects changes in the nervous system. To trigger a skin conductance response, the researchers delivered mild, non-painful electrical stimulations to the back of the participant’s left hand midway through the virtual task.
Participants also completed a blindfolded pointing test before and after the virtual task. Without being able to see their hands, the participants used their right index finger to point to where they felt the fingers on their left hand were located. This allowed the researchers to measure proprioceptive drift, which is a shift in a person’s internal sense of their body’s physical location.
The researchers observed a drop in the skin temperature of the physical left hand during the incongruent condition. Tricking the brain into visualizing the left limb acting on the right side of the body space actively cooled the physical limb left behind on the table. By contrast, the temperature of the left hand increased during the congruent condition.
The overall frequency and intensity of the skin conductance responses did not differ between the two virtual setups. In the incongruent condition, the researchers found a positive correlation between temperature and skin conductance. Participants who experienced a larger drop in hand temperature also showed reduced skin conductance responses to the electrical stimulation. Warmer temperatures correlated with stronger nervous system responses.
The blindfolded pointing test revealed that participants felt their left middle finger had shifted slightly to the right after the training. This spatial drift occurred after both virtual conditions. The researchers suspect this happened because the participants were exclusively using and paying attention to the right side of their body during the entire exercise.
Subjective ratings of the virtual experience were similar across the board. Participants reported feeling an equal sense of control and embodiment over the virtual stick regardless of whether they were looking at a right or left virtual hand. The physiological cooling effect occurred without any conscious shift in how the participants perceived their bodies.
The study design includes a few limitations. The sample size was small, and the experiment only tested right-handed individuals using their dominant hand. The research team could not measure the temperature of the moving right hand during the task. This leaves it unknown whether the cooling effect is restricted to the stationary hand or if it extends to the actively engaged hand.
The current setup also makes it difficult to separate the effects of the visual illusion from the tactile vibrations. The physical feedback vibrating the right hand likely reinforced the bodily conflict, but its exact contribution to the temperature drop requires further testing.
Future research could explore whether applying magnetic or electrical stimulation to specific brain regions alters these temperature changes. This would help identify the exact neural circuits responsible for regulating body temperature during sensory conflicts.
Understanding how spatial perception affects bodily regulation could eventually inform virtual therapies for neurological conditions. For example, patients with complex regional pain syndrome often experience abnormal cooling in their affected limbs. Virtual reality exercises that manipulate the body’s midline boundary could offer a way to safely recalibrate these disturbed body maps and restore normal temperature regulation.
The study, “Shifting the body midline: The impact of visuomotor modulations in virtual reality on peripheral autonomic activity,” was authored by Matteo Girondini, Valentina Saccone, Massimo Montanaro, and Alberto Gallace.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/virtual-reality-illusions-can-physically-cool-down-your-real-body/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #VirtualReality #BodyMatrix #VisuomotorIllusion #Thermoregulation #Proprioception #CortexStudy #MultisensoryIntegration #SpatialPerception #Neuroscience #VRTherapy
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DATE: September 8, 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: Disrupting specific dopamine neurons in fruit flies erases long-term memories by ruining sleep
A study on common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) found that disrupting the resting, or basal, activity of a small group of dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) neurons belonging to the protocerebral anterior medial cluster of their brains impairs 24-hour long-term memory formation. It also results in sleep loss and sleep fragmentation, particularly at night. The paper was published in eLife.
When an experience occurs, long-lasting memories of it are not stored in the brain instantly. Instead, newly formed memories initially remain fragile and undergo a process known as memory consolidation, during which neural connections are gradually reorganized and stabilized.
Sleep appears to play an especially important role in this process. Sleep deprivation can disrupt both memory formation and the stabilization of memories after learning. One possible explanation for this is that the brain reactivates patterns of neural activity during sleep, effectively replaying recent experiences and strengthening the circuits that represent them. Yet the precise mechanisms connecting sleep and memory consolidation remain far from fully understood.
Study author Lin Yan and colleagues conducted a study in which they aimed to identify the neural mechanism that connects sleep with long-term memory consolidation. They focused on the interaction between two groups of neurons in the brain – the protocerebral anterior medial dopaminergic neurons and the dorsal paired medial neurons. More specifically, these researchers explored how the disruption of basal activity of a small subset of neurons in the protocerebral anterior medial region of the brain of a fruit fly affects the formation of long-term memories.
The study was conducted on male and female fruit flies. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an important model for investigating various neural mechanisms because its relatively small brain contains well-defined neural circuits. A particularly important structure of the fruit fly brain is the mushroom body, a multifunctional unit roughly analogous to the mammalian hippocampus, which performs functions that are in some respects comparable to those of memory-related structures in the mammalian brain.
In these flies, dopamine-producing neurons communicate with different parts of the mushroom body and can influence whether experiences are learned as rewarding or unpleasant, how memories develop after learning, and whether they are later forgotten. Some of these same dopaminergic circuits also regulate wakefulness and sleep, raising the possibility that the neural systems controlling when a fruit fly sleeps are directly intertwined with those determining which memories survive.
Study authors conducted a series of experiments in which they used genetically modified fruit flies with modifications that allowed researchers to selectively activate or silence specific neurons, particularly protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) dopaminergic neurons and dorsal paired medial (DPM) neurons. They used genetic variants that were sensitive to temperature. In one variant, raising the temperature to about 30 °C for 1 hour activated the targeted neurons. Another gene variant blocked their activity when the flies were kept at about 32 °C, generally for 2.5 hours.
They trained these flies to associate a specific odor with being given sucrose as a reward. Because this type of learning requires the flies to be motivated by hunger, they were starved prior to training. After the flies learned this association, during the period in which this memory should be consolidating, study authors activated or inhibited selected PAM and DPM neurons. Twenty-four hours later, their memory was tested by allowing them to choose between the odor that they were trained to associate with sucrose and another odor.
The results showed that disrupting the activity of a small subset of PAM dopaminergic neurons (called PAM-α1 neurons) could impair long-term memory consolidation. Brief activation of PAM-α1 neurons impaired long-term memory, while inhibition of some PAM-α1 populations also produced memory deficits. Inhibiting two DPM neurons during the consolidation period likewise impaired long-term memory. Additionally, the researchers identified that these sleep-memory integration signals are mediated primarily by a specific dopamine receptor, Dop1R1, expressed on the DPM neurons.
Study authors also examined how these disruptions affect the sleep of female fruit flies and found that they result in sleep loss and fragmentation, especially at night. Crucially, they found that this sleep disruption is highly dependent on the flies’ internal state; it predominantly occurred when the flies were subjected to starvation conditions. Interestingly, they found that if, after activating the PAM-α1 neurons in a way that causes sleep disruption, they gave these flies gaboxadol, a drug that promotes sleep, long-term memory consolidation would be restored. This finding supports the idea that the sleep disturbance contributed to the impairment of long-term memory consolidation.
The study results provide a new molecular and neural basis for the complex relationship between sleep and memory. However, the study was conducted on fruit flies, not on humans. While these flies and humans share some broad similarities in neural mechanisms, they are still widely different species. Results of a similar study on humans might be different.
The paper, “Brief disruption of activity in a subset of dopaminergic neurons during consolidation impairs long-term memory by fragmenting sleep,” was authored by Lin Yan, Litao Wu, Timothy D Wiggin, Xiaojuan Su, Wei Yan, Hailiang Li, Lei Li, Zhonghua Lu, Fang Guo, Zhiqiang Meng, Yuantao Li, Fan Li, Leslie C Griffith, and Chang Liu.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Drosophila #sleepandmemory #dopaminergicneurons #PAMalpha1 #DPMneurons #longtermmemory #sleepdeprivation #memoryconsolidation #neuroscience #eLife
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DATE: September 8, 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: Disrupting specific dopamine neurons in fruit flies erases long-term memories by ruining sleep
A study on common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) found that disrupting the resting, or basal, activity of a small group of dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) neurons belonging to the protocerebral anterior medial cluster of their brains impairs 24-hour long-term memory formation. It also results in sleep loss and sleep fragmentation, particularly at night. The paper was published in eLife.
When an experience occurs, long-lasting memories of it are not stored in the brain instantly. Instead, newly formed memories initially remain fragile and undergo a process known as memory consolidation, during which neural connections are gradually reorganized and stabilized.
Sleep appears to play an especially important role in this process. Sleep deprivation can disrupt both memory formation and the stabilization of memories after learning. One possible explanation for this is that the brain reactivates patterns of neural activity during sleep, effectively replaying recent experiences and strengthening the circuits that represent them. Yet the precise mechanisms connecting sleep and memory consolidation remain far from fully understood.
Study author Lin Yan and colleagues conducted a study in which they aimed to identify the neural mechanism that connects sleep with long-term memory consolidation. They focused on the interaction between two groups of neurons in the brain – the protocerebral anterior medial dopaminergic neurons and the dorsal paired medial neurons. More specifically, these researchers explored how the disruption of basal activity of a small subset of neurons in the protocerebral anterior medial region of the brain of a fruit fly affects the formation of long-term memories.
The study was conducted on male and female fruit flies. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an important model for investigating various neural mechanisms because its relatively small brain contains well-defined neural circuits. A particularly important structure of the fruit fly brain is the mushroom body, a multifunctional unit roughly analogous to the mammalian hippocampus, which performs functions that are in some respects comparable to those of memory-related structures in the mammalian brain.
In these flies, dopamine-producing neurons communicate with different parts of the mushroom body and can influence whether experiences are learned as rewarding or unpleasant, how memories develop after learning, and whether they are later forgotten. Some of these same dopaminergic circuits also regulate wakefulness and sleep, raising the possibility that the neural systems controlling when a fruit fly sleeps are directly intertwined with those determining which memories survive.
Study authors conducted a series of experiments in which they used genetically modified fruit flies with modifications that allowed researchers to selectively activate or silence specific neurons, particularly protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) dopaminergic neurons and dorsal paired medial (DPM) neurons. They used genetic variants that were sensitive to temperature. In one variant, raising the temperature to about 30 °C for 1 hour activated the targeted neurons. Another gene variant blocked their activity when the flies were kept at about 32 °C, generally for 2.5 hours.
They trained these flies to associate a specific odor with being given sucrose as a reward. Because this type of learning requires the flies to be motivated by hunger, they were starved prior to training. After the flies learned this association, during the period in which this memory should be consolidating, study authors activated or inhibited selected PAM and DPM neurons. Twenty-four hours later, their memory was tested by allowing them to choose between the odor that they were trained to associate with sucrose and another odor.
The results showed that disrupting the activity of a small subset of PAM dopaminergic neurons (called PAM-α1 neurons) could impair long-term memory consolidation. Brief activation of PAM-α1 neurons impaired long-term memory, while inhibition of some PAM-α1 populations also produced memory deficits. Inhibiting two DPM neurons during the consolidation period likewise impaired long-term memory. Additionally, the researchers identified that these sleep-memory integration signals are mediated primarily by a specific dopamine receptor, Dop1R1, expressed on the DPM neurons.
Study authors also examined how these disruptions affect the sleep of female fruit flies and found that they result in sleep loss and fragmentation, especially at night. Crucially, they found that this sleep disruption is highly dependent on the flies’ internal state; it predominantly occurred when the flies were subjected to starvation conditions. Interestingly, they found that if, after activating the PAM-α1 neurons in a way that causes sleep disruption, they gave these flies gaboxadol, a drug that promotes sleep, long-term memory consolidation would be restored. This finding supports the idea that the sleep disturbance contributed to the impairment of long-term memory consolidation.
The study results provide a new molecular and neural basis for the complex relationship between sleep and memory. However, the study was conducted on fruit flies, not on humans. While these flies and humans share some broad similarities in neural mechanisms, they are still widely different species. Results of a similar study on humans might be different.
The paper, “Brief disruption of activity in a subset of dopaminergic neurons during consolidation impairs long-term memory by fragmenting sleep,” was authored by Lin Yan, Litao Wu, Timothy D Wiggin, Xiaojuan Su, Wei Yan, Hailiang Li, Lei Li, Zhonghua Lu, Fang Guo, Zhiqiang Meng, Yuantao Li, Fan Li, Leslie C Griffith, and Chang Liu.
-------------------------------------------------
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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 #Drosophila #sleepandmemory #dopaminergicneurons #PAMalpha1 #DPMneurons #longtermmemory #sleepdeprivation #memoryconsolidation #neuroscience #eLife
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DATE: September 8, 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: Disrupting specific dopamine neurons in fruit flies erases long-term memories by ruining sleep
A study on common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) found that disrupting the resting, or basal, activity of a small group of dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) neurons belonging to the protocerebral anterior medial cluster of their brains impairs 24-hour long-term memory formation. It also results in sleep loss and sleep fragmentation, particularly at night. The paper was published in eLife.
When an experience occurs, long-lasting memories of it are not stored in the brain instantly. Instead, newly formed memories initially remain fragile and undergo a process known as memory consolidation, during which neural connections are gradually reorganized and stabilized.
Sleep appears to play an especially important role in this process. Sleep deprivation can disrupt both memory formation and the stabilization of memories after learning. One possible explanation for this is that the brain reactivates patterns of neural activity during sleep, effectively replaying recent experiences and strengthening the circuits that represent them. Yet the precise mechanisms connecting sleep and memory consolidation remain far from fully understood.
Study author Lin Yan and colleagues conducted a study in which they aimed to identify the neural mechanism that connects sleep with long-term memory consolidation. They focused on the interaction between two groups of neurons in the brain – the protocerebral anterior medial dopaminergic neurons and the dorsal paired medial neurons. More specifically, these researchers explored how the disruption of basal activity of a small subset of neurons in the protocerebral anterior medial region of the brain of a fruit fly affects the formation of long-term memories.
The study was conducted on male and female fruit flies. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an important model for investigating various neural mechanisms because its relatively small brain contains well-defined neural circuits. A particularly important structure of the fruit fly brain is the mushroom body, a multifunctional unit roughly analogous to the mammalian hippocampus, which performs functions that are in some respects comparable to those of memory-related structures in the mammalian brain.
In these flies, dopamine-producing neurons communicate with different parts of the mushroom body and can influence whether experiences are learned as rewarding or unpleasant, how memories develop after learning, and whether they are later forgotten. Some of these same dopaminergic circuits also regulate wakefulness and sleep, raising the possibility that the neural systems controlling when a fruit fly sleeps are directly intertwined with those determining which memories survive.
Study authors conducted a series of experiments in which they used genetically modified fruit flies with modifications that allowed researchers to selectively activate or silence specific neurons, particularly protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) dopaminergic neurons and dorsal paired medial (DPM) neurons. They used genetic variants that were sensitive to temperature. In one variant, raising the temperature to about 30 °C for 1 hour activated the targeted neurons. Another gene variant blocked their activity when the flies were kept at about 32 °C, generally for 2.5 hours.
They trained these flies to associate a specific odor with being given sucrose as a reward. Because this type of learning requires the flies to be motivated by hunger, they were starved prior to training. After the flies learned this association, during the period in which this memory should be consolidating, study authors activated or inhibited selected PAM and DPM neurons. Twenty-four hours later, their memory was tested by allowing them to choose between the odor that they were trained to associate with sucrose and another odor.
The results showed that disrupting the activity of a small subset of PAM dopaminergic neurons (called PAM-α1 neurons) could impair long-term memory consolidation. Brief activation of PAM-α1 neurons impaired long-term memory, while inhibition of some PAM-α1 populations also produced memory deficits. Inhibiting two DPM neurons during the consolidation period likewise impaired long-term memory. Additionally, the researchers identified that these sleep-memory integration signals are mediated primarily by a specific dopamine receptor, Dop1R1, expressed on the DPM neurons.
Study authors also examined how these disruptions affect the sleep of female fruit flies and found that they result in sleep loss and fragmentation, especially at night. Crucially, they found that this sleep disruption is highly dependent on the flies’ internal state; it predominantly occurred when the flies were subjected to starvation conditions. Interestingly, they found that if, after activating the PAM-α1 neurons in a way that causes sleep disruption, they gave these flies gaboxadol, a drug that promotes sleep, long-term memory consolidation would be restored. This finding supports the idea that the sleep disturbance contributed to the impairment of long-term memory consolidation.
The study results provide a new molecular and neural basis for the complex relationship between sleep and memory. However, the study was conducted on fruit flies, not on humans. While these flies and humans share some broad similarities in neural mechanisms, they are still widely different species. Results of a similar study on humans might be different.
The paper, “Brief disruption of activity in a subset of dopaminergic neurons during consolidation impairs long-term memory by fragmenting sleep,” was authored by Lin Yan, Litao Wu, Timothy D Wiggin, Xiaojuan Su, Wei Yan, Hailiang Li, Lei Li, Zhonghua Lu, Fang Guo, Zhiqiang Meng, Yuantao Li, Fan Li, Leslie C Griffith, and Chang Liu.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #Drosophila #sleepandmemory #dopaminergicneurons #PAMalpha1 #DPMneurons #longtermmemory #sleepdeprivation #memoryconsolidation #neuroscience #eLife
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DATE: September 8, 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: Problematic dating app and pornography use are linked to a weaker sense of meaning in romantic love
People who struggle with compulsive use of online dating apps and pornography tend to view romantic love as less existentially meaningful and more as a practical arrangement. A recent study published in BMC Psychology suggests that addiction-like engagement with these digital platforms is linked to a fractured philosophical understanding of romance. The research provides evidence that problematic users are more likely to fall in love quickly and frequently but often lack a deep sense of purpose in their romantic connections.
The study approaches romantic love from an existential perspective. In this view, love is not just a biological drive or a social contract but a fundamental part of human existence that gives life depth and meaning. People who see love through an existential lens often view their romantic relationships as highly meaningful and worthy of personal sacrifice.
Online dating and pornography consumption are incredibly common, and for many people, they are harmless activities. But for some, engagement with these platforms becomes problematic. Problematic use happens when a behavior becomes compulsive, feels out of the person’s control, and starts interfering with their daily life and mood.
Frequent exposure to the specific environments of dating apps and pornography websites might shape how people think about romance. For example, dating apps often encourage users to evaluate potential partners based on superficial traits in a matter of seconds. A 2026 study found that online pornography use is tied to both dating app use and higher levels of emotional detachment.
“It began with something fairly ordinary,” lead researcher Reza Shabahang, a research associate in psychology in the College of Human Sciences and Culture at Flinders University, told PsyPost. “Dating apps have quietly become one of the main ways people meet, and yet a lot of the conversation around them, in research and outside it, was about how much people use them and how that use affects mood, self-esteem or body image.”
The researchers suspected that the negative experiences common to these platforms might alter a user’s sense of meaning. Rejection, shallow conversations, and an endless stream of potential matches on dating apps might erode the idea of a single, meaningful romantic bond. Similarly, the focus on physical gratification over intimacy in pornography might encourage users to view love more practically rather than existentially.
“We kept noticing something else in how people talk about these platforms, a kind of weariness, a sense that the whole business of finding someone had started to feel hollow,” Shabahang explained. “That’s not really a question about well-being in the usual sense. It’s a question about meaning, about what people come to believe love is worth.”
“The literature on behavioral addiction had started to take dating apps seriously, but mostly as a pattern of behavior to be measured, not as something that might change a person’s outlook on love itself,” he added. “So the gap we wanted to address was an existential one, and the real-world problem behind it is that a great many people are now meeting one of their most fundamental needs through a channel we still understand quite poorly.”
To explore these existential questions, Shabahang and his colleagues at Flinders University and ELTE Eötvös Loránd University surveyed 664 adult internet users in Iran. The participants had an average age of 26 and used both dating apps and pornography websites. The researchers asked participants to complete several questionnaires measuring their digital habits and their attitudes toward love.
The surveys measured problematic dating app use and problematic pornography consumption, asking if participants felt restless without the platforms or tried and failed to cut back. The researchers also measured emotional promiscuity, also known as emophilia. This is the tendency to fall in love quickly, frequently, and with less selectivity. A study covered by PsyPost in 2024 indicated that higher levels of emophilia were associated with having had more romantic relationships and being unfaithful more often.
Participants also answered questions about their existential reflection on love, rating how often they contemplate the philosophy and purpose of romance. They rated the perceived meaningfulness of love, indicating whether they felt love imparts a sense of meaning to their existence. The researchers also assessed pragmatic views of love, which treat romance as a practical arrangement dependent on things like financial stability. Finally, the team measured mindful social media use, assessing whether participants stay aware and intentional while scrolling.
The results showed that problematic engagement with dating apps and pornography was negatively associated with deep, philosophical views of love. Higher levels of problematic dating app use were linked to less existential reflection on love and a lower sense of love’s overall meaningfulness. The researchers controlled for age, gender, education, relationship status, and sexual orientation, ensuring these basic demographic factors were not driving the results.
Problematic use of both platforms was positively associated with a pragmatic view of love and higher emotional promiscuity. In other words, individuals who compulsively swiped on dating apps or consumed pornography were more likely to view romance as a practical transaction and were prone to falling in love rapidly and repeatedly. The two problematic behaviors were also positively correlated with each other, meaning people who struggled to control their dating app use often struggled with their pornography consumption as well.
The researchers also found a strong negative association between mindful social media use and both problematic behaviors. People who reported being highly aware of their thoughts and actions while using social media were much less likely to use dating apps or pornography compulsively. Once mindful social media use was factored into the statistical model, problematic pornography consumption also showed a negative association with the perceived meaningfulness of love.
“The way you use these apps matters more than whether you use them,” Shabahang said. “Most people assume the danger lies in the amount, that if you’re on there too often or too long, something will go wrong. What we found points somewhere else.”
Instead, purposeful engagement appears to play a protective role. “Someone can spend a fair bit of time on dating apps and come away fine, if they know why they’re there and when to stop,” Shabahang explained. “The practical takeaway isn’t to delete the app. It’s to notice how you’re using it. Ask yourself what you came for, whether you’re getting it, and be willing to close the app when the answer is no.”
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2022, which found that greater perceived meaninglessness in life was associated with more frequent pornography use. It is worth noting, however, that the older study measured an overall lack of meaning in life, whereas the new study specifically examined existential meaning in the context of romantic love.
When interpreting the findings, the researchers urge readers to view the associations as a direction rather than destiny. “What we’re describing is a tendency, not a rule, and plenty of people in our data don’t fit the pattern at all,” Shabahang noted. “So nobody should read this and conclude that their own use has already done something to them.”
However, on a broader scale, these tendencies carry weight. “Effects of this size become quite significant once you consider how many people are involved,” he added. “When a platform has hundreds of millions of users, a modest shift in how a portion of them think about love and relationships is not a small thing socially.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. Because the study is cross-sectional, it only captures a snapshot in time, making it impossible to establish a firm chain of cause and effect. The research also looks at addiction-like patterns of use, rather than a formally recognized clinical disorder.
“It’s entirely possible that people who already feel disillusioned with love are the ones drawn into compulsive use, rather than the other way around, and the honest answer is that both are probably happening at once,” Shabahang explained. “We’re not saying dating apps are bad, or that using them will make you cynical about love. For many people these platforms work well and meet a genuine need.”
The study also relied on self-reported data from an Iranian sample. In Iran, dating apps and pornography websites are officially restricted and require workarounds to access. The cultural context regarding sexual modesty and religion is also distinct, which might influence how people report their habits. Still, the researchers suggest the psychological mechanisms at play likely apply to users in other parts of the world.
Moving forward, the team hopes to conduct longitudinal research to track changes over time. “After that, we’d like to look at prevalence, though as I said earlier that’s some way off and depends on the field settling on how to define and measure this in the first place,” Shabahang said. “We’re also interested in cross-cultural comparison, because how openly dating apps are used varies a great deal from one society to another, and we suspect the meaning people draw from them varies with it.”
Eventually, the researchers want to test whether simple prompts or design changes can effectively encourage mindful use. “That last question interests us most, because it’s the one with something practical at the end of it,” he added.
The study, “Romeo swipes Juliet left!? Problematic online dating app use and problematic pornography consumption are associated with a weaker sense of existential meaning in romantic love,” was authored by Reza Shabahang, Zsolt Demetrovics, Mehdi Akbari, Gaëlle Ouvrein, and Ágnes Zsila.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ExistentialLove #DatingAppAddiction #PornographyUse #RomanticMeaning #Emophilia #MindfulScrolling #LoveAndMeaning #DigitalDating #RelationshipExistentialism #ProtectiveUse
-
DATE: September 8, 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: Problematic dating app and pornography use are linked to a weaker sense of meaning in romantic love
People who struggle with compulsive use of online dating apps and pornography tend to view romantic love as less existentially meaningful and more as a practical arrangement. A recent study published in BMC Psychology suggests that addiction-like engagement with these digital platforms is linked to a fractured philosophical understanding of romance. The research provides evidence that problematic users are more likely to fall in love quickly and frequently but often lack a deep sense of purpose in their romantic connections.
The study approaches romantic love from an existential perspective. In this view, love is not just a biological drive or a social contract but a fundamental part of human existence that gives life depth and meaning. People who see love through an existential lens often view their romantic relationships as highly meaningful and worthy of personal sacrifice.
Online dating and pornography consumption are incredibly common, and for many people, they are harmless activities. But for some, engagement with these platforms becomes problematic. Problematic use happens when a behavior becomes compulsive, feels out of the person’s control, and starts interfering with their daily life and mood.
Frequent exposure to the specific environments of dating apps and pornography websites might shape how people think about romance. For example, dating apps often encourage users to evaluate potential partners based on superficial traits in a matter of seconds. A 2026 study found that online pornography use is tied to both dating app use and higher levels of emotional detachment.
“It began with something fairly ordinary,” lead researcher Reza Shabahang, a research associate in psychology in the College of Human Sciences and Culture at Flinders University, told PsyPost. “Dating apps have quietly become one of the main ways people meet, and yet a lot of the conversation around them, in research and outside it, was about how much people use them and how that use affects mood, self-esteem or body image.”
The researchers suspected that the negative experiences common to these platforms might alter a user’s sense of meaning. Rejection, shallow conversations, and an endless stream of potential matches on dating apps might erode the idea of a single, meaningful romantic bond. Similarly, the focus on physical gratification over intimacy in pornography might encourage users to view love more practically rather than existentially.
“We kept noticing something else in how people talk about these platforms, a kind of weariness, a sense that the whole business of finding someone had started to feel hollow,” Shabahang explained. “That’s not really a question about well-being in the usual sense. It’s a question about meaning, about what people come to believe love is worth.”
“The literature on behavioral addiction had started to take dating apps seriously, but mostly as a pattern of behavior to be measured, not as something that might change a person’s outlook on love itself,” he added. “So the gap we wanted to address was an existential one, and the real-world problem behind it is that a great many people are now meeting one of their most fundamental needs through a channel we still understand quite poorly.”
To explore these existential questions, Shabahang and his colleagues at Flinders University and ELTE Eötvös Loránd University surveyed 664 adult internet users in Iran. The participants had an average age of 26 and used both dating apps and pornography websites. The researchers asked participants to complete several questionnaires measuring their digital habits and their attitudes toward love.
The surveys measured problematic dating app use and problematic pornography consumption, asking if participants felt restless without the platforms or tried and failed to cut back. The researchers also measured emotional promiscuity, also known as emophilia. This is the tendency to fall in love quickly, frequently, and with less selectivity. A study covered by PsyPost in 2024 indicated that higher levels of emophilia were associated with having had more romantic relationships and being unfaithful more often.
Participants also answered questions about their existential reflection on love, rating how often they contemplate the philosophy and purpose of romance. They rated the perceived meaningfulness of love, indicating whether they felt love imparts a sense of meaning to their existence. The researchers also assessed pragmatic views of love, which treat romance as a practical arrangement dependent on things like financial stability. Finally, the team measured mindful social media use, assessing whether participants stay aware and intentional while scrolling.
The results showed that problematic engagement with dating apps and pornography was negatively associated with deep, philosophical views of love. Higher levels of problematic dating app use were linked to less existential reflection on love and a lower sense of love’s overall meaningfulness. The researchers controlled for age, gender, education, relationship status, and sexual orientation, ensuring these basic demographic factors were not driving the results.
Problematic use of both platforms was positively associated with a pragmatic view of love and higher emotional promiscuity. In other words, individuals who compulsively swiped on dating apps or consumed pornography were more likely to view romance as a practical transaction and were prone to falling in love rapidly and repeatedly. The two problematic behaviors were also positively correlated with each other, meaning people who struggled to control their dating app use often struggled with their pornography consumption as well.
The researchers also found a strong negative association between mindful social media use and both problematic behaviors. People who reported being highly aware of their thoughts and actions while using social media were much less likely to use dating apps or pornography compulsively. Once mindful social media use was factored into the statistical model, problematic pornography consumption also showed a negative association with the perceived meaningfulness of love.
“The way you use these apps matters more than whether you use them,” Shabahang said. “Most people assume the danger lies in the amount, that if you’re on there too often or too long, something will go wrong. What we found points somewhere else.”
Instead, purposeful engagement appears to play a protective role. “Someone can spend a fair bit of time on dating apps and come away fine, if they know why they’re there and when to stop,” Shabahang explained. “The practical takeaway isn’t to delete the app. It’s to notice how you’re using it. Ask yourself what you came for, whether you’re getting it, and be willing to close the app when the answer is no.”
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2022, which found that greater perceived meaninglessness in life was associated with more frequent pornography use. It is worth noting, however, that the older study measured an overall lack of meaning in life, whereas the new study specifically examined existential meaning in the context of romantic love.
When interpreting the findings, the researchers urge readers to view the associations as a direction rather than destiny. “What we’re describing is a tendency, not a rule, and plenty of people in our data don’t fit the pattern at all,” Shabahang noted. “So nobody should read this and conclude that their own use has already done something to them.”
However, on a broader scale, these tendencies carry weight. “Effects of this size become quite significant once you consider how many people are involved,” he added. “When a platform has hundreds of millions of users, a modest shift in how a portion of them think about love and relationships is not a small thing socially.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. Because the study is cross-sectional, it only captures a snapshot in time, making it impossible to establish a firm chain of cause and effect. The research also looks at addiction-like patterns of use, rather than a formally recognized clinical disorder.
“It’s entirely possible that people who already feel disillusioned with love are the ones drawn into compulsive use, rather than the other way around, and the honest answer is that both are probably happening at once,” Shabahang explained. “We’re not saying dating apps are bad, or that using them will make you cynical about love. For many people these platforms work well and meet a genuine need.”
The study also relied on self-reported data from an Iranian sample. In Iran, dating apps and pornography websites are officially restricted and require workarounds to access. The cultural context regarding sexual modesty and religion is also distinct, which might influence how people report their habits. Still, the researchers suggest the psychological mechanisms at play likely apply to users in other parts of the world.
Moving forward, the team hopes to conduct longitudinal research to track changes over time. “After that, we’d like to look at prevalence, though as I said earlier that’s some way off and depends on the field settling on how to define and measure this in the first place,” Shabahang said. “We’re also interested in cross-cultural comparison, because how openly dating apps are used varies a great deal from one society to another, and we suspect the meaning people draw from them varies with it.”
Eventually, the researchers want to test whether simple prompts or design changes can effectively encourage mindful use. “That last question interests us most, because it’s the one with something practical at the end of it,” he added.
The study, “Romeo swipes Juliet left!? Problematic online dating app use and problematic pornography consumption are associated with a weaker sense of existential meaning in romantic love,” was authored by Reza Shabahang, Zsolt Demetrovics, Mehdi Akbari, Gaëlle Ouvrein, and Ágnes Zsila.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ExistentialLove #DatingAppAddiction #PornographyUse #RomanticMeaning #Emophilia #MindfulScrolling #LoveAndMeaning #DigitalDating #RelationshipExistentialism #ProtectiveUse
-
DATE: September 8, 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: Problematic dating app and pornography use are linked to a weaker sense of meaning in romantic love
People who struggle with compulsive use of online dating apps and pornography tend to view romantic love as less existentially meaningful and more as a practical arrangement. A recent study published in BMC Psychology suggests that addiction-like engagement with these digital platforms is linked to a fractured philosophical understanding of romance. The research provides evidence that problematic users are more likely to fall in love quickly and frequently but often lack a deep sense of purpose in their romantic connections.
The study approaches romantic love from an existential perspective. In this view, love is not just a biological drive or a social contract but a fundamental part of human existence that gives life depth and meaning. People who see love through an existential lens often view their romantic relationships as highly meaningful and worthy of personal sacrifice.
Online dating and pornography consumption are incredibly common, and for many people, they are harmless activities. But for some, engagement with these platforms becomes problematic. Problematic use happens when a behavior becomes compulsive, feels out of the person’s control, and starts interfering with their daily life and mood.
Frequent exposure to the specific environments of dating apps and pornography websites might shape how people think about romance. For example, dating apps often encourage users to evaluate potential partners based on superficial traits in a matter of seconds. A 2026 study found that online pornography use is tied to both dating app use and higher levels of emotional detachment.
“It began with something fairly ordinary,” lead researcher Reza Shabahang, a research associate in psychology in the College of Human Sciences and Culture at Flinders University, told PsyPost. “Dating apps have quietly become one of the main ways people meet, and yet a lot of the conversation around them, in research and outside it, was about how much people use them and how that use affects mood, self-esteem or body image.”
The researchers suspected that the negative experiences common to these platforms might alter a user’s sense of meaning. Rejection, shallow conversations, and an endless stream of potential matches on dating apps might erode the idea of a single, meaningful romantic bond. Similarly, the focus on physical gratification over intimacy in pornography might encourage users to view love more practically rather than existentially.
“We kept noticing something else in how people talk about these platforms, a kind of weariness, a sense that the whole business of finding someone had started to feel hollow,” Shabahang explained. “That’s not really a question about well-being in the usual sense. It’s a question about meaning, about what people come to believe love is worth.”
“The literature on behavioral addiction had started to take dating apps seriously, but mostly as a pattern of behavior to be measured, not as something that might change a person’s outlook on love itself,” he added. “So the gap we wanted to address was an existential one, and the real-world problem behind it is that a great many people are now meeting one of their most fundamental needs through a channel we still understand quite poorly.”
To explore these existential questions, Shabahang and his colleagues at Flinders University and ELTE Eötvös Loránd University surveyed 664 adult internet users in Iran. The participants had an average age of 26 and used both dating apps and pornography websites. The researchers asked participants to complete several questionnaires measuring their digital habits and their attitudes toward love.
The surveys measured problematic dating app use and problematic pornography consumption, asking if participants felt restless without the platforms or tried and failed to cut back. The researchers also measured emotional promiscuity, also known as emophilia. This is the tendency to fall in love quickly, frequently, and with less selectivity. A study covered by PsyPost in 2024 indicated that higher levels of emophilia were associated with having had more romantic relationships and being unfaithful more often.
Participants also answered questions about their existential reflection on love, rating how often they contemplate the philosophy and purpose of romance. They rated the perceived meaningfulness of love, indicating whether they felt love imparts a sense of meaning to their existence. The researchers also assessed pragmatic views of love, which treat romance as a practical arrangement dependent on things like financial stability. Finally, the team measured mindful social media use, assessing whether participants stay aware and intentional while scrolling.
The results showed that problematic engagement with dating apps and pornography was negatively associated with deep, philosophical views of love. Higher levels of problematic dating app use were linked to less existential reflection on love and a lower sense of love’s overall meaningfulness. The researchers controlled for age, gender, education, relationship status, and sexual orientation, ensuring these basic demographic factors were not driving the results.
Problematic use of both platforms was positively associated with a pragmatic view of love and higher emotional promiscuity. In other words, individuals who compulsively swiped on dating apps or consumed pornography were more likely to view romance as a practical transaction and were prone to falling in love rapidly and repeatedly. The two problematic behaviors were also positively correlated with each other, meaning people who struggled to control their dating app use often struggled with their pornography consumption as well.
The researchers also found a strong negative association between mindful social media use and both problematic behaviors. People who reported being highly aware of their thoughts and actions while using social media were much less likely to use dating apps or pornography compulsively. Once mindful social media use was factored into the statistical model, problematic pornography consumption also showed a negative association with the perceived meaningfulness of love.
“The way you use these apps matters more than whether you use them,” Shabahang said. “Most people assume the danger lies in the amount, that if you’re on there too often or too long, something will go wrong. What we found points somewhere else.”
Instead, purposeful engagement appears to play a protective role. “Someone can spend a fair bit of time on dating apps and come away fine, if they know why they’re there and when to stop,” Shabahang explained. “The practical takeaway isn’t to delete the app. It’s to notice how you’re using it. Ask yourself what you came for, whether you’re getting it, and be willing to close the app when the answer is no.”
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2022, which found that greater perceived meaninglessness in life was associated with more frequent pornography use. It is worth noting, however, that the older study measured an overall lack of meaning in life, whereas the new study specifically examined existential meaning in the context of romantic love.
When interpreting the findings, the researchers urge readers to view the associations as a direction rather than destiny. “What we’re describing is a tendency, not a rule, and plenty of people in our data don’t fit the pattern at all,” Shabahang noted. “So nobody should read this and conclude that their own use has already done something to them.”
However, on a broader scale, these tendencies carry weight. “Effects of this size become quite significant once you consider how many people are involved,” he added. “When a platform has hundreds of millions of users, a modest shift in how a portion of them think about love and relationships is not a small thing socially.”
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. Because the study is cross-sectional, it only captures a snapshot in time, making it impossible to establish a firm chain of cause and effect. The research also looks at addiction-like patterns of use, rather than a formally recognized clinical disorder.
“It’s entirely possible that people who already feel disillusioned with love are the ones drawn into compulsive use, rather than the other way around, and the honest answer is that both are probably happening at once,” Shabahang explained. “We’re not saying dating apps are bad, or that using them will make you cynical about love. For many people these platforms work well and meet a genuine need.”
The study also relied on self-reported data from an Iranian sample. In Iran, dating apps and pornography websites are officially restricted and require workarounds to access. The cultural context regarding sexual modesty and religion is also distinct, which might influence how people report their habits. Still, the researchers suggest the psychological mechanisms at play likely apply to users in other parts of the world.
Moving forward, the team hopes to conduct longitudinal research to track changes over time. “After that, we’d like to look at prevalence, though as I said earlier that’s some way off and depends on the field settling on how to define and measure this in the first place,” Shabahang said. “We’re also interested in cross-cultural comparison, because how openly dating apps are used varies a great deal from one society to another, and we suspect the meaning people draw from them varies with it.”
Eventually, the researchers want to test whether simple prompts or design changes can effectively encourage mindful use. “That last question interests us most, because it’s the one with something practical at the end of it,” he added.
The study, “Romeo swipes Juliet left!? Problematic online dating app use and problematic pornography consumption are associated with a weaker sense of existential meaning in romantic love,” was authored by Reza Shabahang, Zsolt Demetrovics, Mehdi Akbari, Gaëlle Ouvrein, and Ágnes Zsila.
-------------------------------------------------
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 #ExistentialLove #DatingAppAddiction #PornographyUse #RomanticMeaning #Emophilia #MindfulScrolling #LoveAndMeaning #DigitalDating #RelationshipExistentialism #ProtectiveUse
-
DATE: September 8, 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: Antidepressants show wide variation in physical side effects
URL: https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-show-wide-variation-in-physical-side-effects/
Different antidepressants can have drastically different effects on a patient’s physical health, according to a recent review of medical research. Some medications cause substantial weight gain and increased blood pressure, while others lead to weight loss and lowered heart rates. The findings were published in The Lancet.
Millions of people rely on prescription medications to manage mental health conditions. Up to 17 percent of adults in Europe and North America currently take antidepressants. While these drugs are effective at treating mood disorders, they can also cause unintended bodily changes. These physical side effects are a common reason why people stop taking their prescribed treatments.
Medical guidelines recommend that doctors discuss potential physical changes with patients before starting a prescription. However, it can be difficult for physicians to provide precise comparisons between specific drugs.
Toby Pillinger and Atheeshaan Arumuham of King’s College London led the research team to address this knowledge gap. They worked alongside other international experts, including Orestis Efthimiou of the University of Bern, Oliver D. Howes of King’s College London, and Andrea Cipriani of the University of Oxford. The team wanted to determine exactly how different medications compare in terms of physical side effects. They also wanted to see if factors like age or starting weight influenced these bodily reactions.
To answer these questions, the researchers conducted a network meta-analysis. This type of statistical study pools data from multiple independent trials. It allows researchers to compare treatments that might never have been tested directly against each other in the same room. By linking trials through a common comparator, researchers can estimate how two different drugs would perform head-to-head.
The team gathered data from 151 randomized controlled trials and 17 government regulatory reports. The resulting large study included 58,534 participants. The researchers evaluated 30 different antidepressants prescribed for acute psychiatric treatment, which typically lasted about eight weeks.
The analysis revealed major differences in how these drugs affect body weight. People taking agomelatine experienced the most weight loss, losing an average of about 2.4 kilograms compared to those taking a placebo, an inactive control pill. On the other end of the spectrum, maprotiline and amitriptyline caused the most weight gain, adding up to 1.8 kilograms on average. This created a roughly four-kilogram gap between the highest and lowest weight-altering medications.
The researchers estimated that almost half of the people taking maprotiline or amitriptyline would gain a noticeable amount of weight. Medications that caused the most weight gain were generally those known to block specific histamine and serotonin receptors, which act as chemical docking stations in the brain. Over time, extra weight can elevate a person’s risk for metabolic issues and joint stress.
Cardiovascular changes also varied widely depending on the specific medication. Nortriptyline increased patients’ heart rates by an average of nearly 14 beats per minute. By contrast, fluvoxamine lowered heart rates by about eight beats per minute. This difference amounts to a 21-beat-per-minute gap between the two drugs.
Blood pressure effects showed a similar split among the evaluated medications. Amitriptyline raised systolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats, by almost five millimeters of mercury. Nortriptyline lowered the same metric by over six millimeters of mercury. The researchers noted that these cardiovascular shifts could influence a patient’s long-term risk for heart disease, especially if the changes persist over several years.
The medications that increased blood pressure were largely serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, or tricyclic antidepressants. These drug classes share a mechanism that affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline. This chemical messenger plays a well-documented role in blood pressure regulation.
The researchers also tracked metabolic markers like cholesterol and blood sugar. Paroxetine, duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, and venlafaxine were associated with measurable increases in total cholesterol. Duloxetine was also linked to increased blood glucose levels. These metabolic increases occurred even though the medications themselves generally caused patients to lose body weight.
Some medications also affected liver function tests. Duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, and levomilnacipran caused increases in the concentration of certain liver enzymes. These enzymes are proteins that help the organ filter blood and break down medications. While these enzyme elevations were substantial enough to measure, the researchers noted that the amounts were not high enough to pose an immediate medical threat to most patients.
The team did not find that any of the evaluated antidepressants altered heart rhythm intervals to a problematic degree. The medications also did not have a strong effect on sodium levels, potassium levels, or kidney function markers during the trial periods.
In a separate analysis, the researchers examined how patient characteristics influenced these side effects. They used a statistical technique called meta-regression to look for trends across the different study populations. They found that groups of patients with higher starting body weights experienced larger medication-induced increases in blood pressure and liver enzymes. Populations with a higher average age saw larger medication-induced increases in blood sugar.
Finally, the team wanted to know if experiencing physical side effects was linked to mental health improvements. In patients with severe psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, past research has shown a correlation between metabolic disturbances and improved symptoms. To test this concept in depression, the researchers looked specifically at trials involving patients with major depressive disorder.
The researchers compared the change in depressive symptoms against changes in weight, cholesterol, and blood sugar across the studies. They did not find a correlation between improved mental health and metabolic side effects. This suggests that patients do not need to experience physical changes to get the mental health benefits of the medication.
A primary limitation of this research is the short duration of the included trials. Most studies lasted only eight weeks, meaning the long-term physical effects of these medications remain unconfirmed by this specific analysis. Some cardiovascular shifts might fade over time, while other metabolic changes could worsen over a period of years.
The trials also mostly included younger, relatively healthy individuals taking only one medication. This focus might obscure side effects that occur more frequently in older adults or people taking multiple drugs at once. Real-world observational data suggests that certain antidepressants might increase the risk of low sodium or heart rhythm problems in older populations. The researchers suggest that doctors should consider both clinical trial data and real-world observations when prescribing medications to older or medically vulnerable patients.
The study, “The effects of antidepressants on cardiometabolic and other physiological parameters: a systematic review and network meta-analysis,” was authored by Toby Pillinger, Atheeshaan Arumuham, Robert A McCutcheon, Enrico D’Ambrosio, Georgios Basdanis, Marco Branco, Richard Carr, Valeria Finelli, Toshi A Furukawa, Siobhan Gee, Adrian Heald, Sameer Jauhar, Zihan Ma, Valentina Mancini, Calum Moulton, Georgia Salanti, David M Taylor, Anneka Tomlinson, Allan H Young, Orestis Efthimiou, Oliver D Howes, and Andrea Cipriani.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-show-wide-variation-in-physical-side-effects/
-------------------------------------------------
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 #Antidepressants #SideEffects #Cardiometabolic #DepressionTreatment #WeightChange #BloodPressure #Cholesterol #MetabolicHealth #NetworkMetaAnalysis #TheLancet
-
DATE: September 8, 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: Antidepressants show wide variation in physical side effects
URL: https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-show-wide-variation-in-physical-side-effects/
Different antidepressants can have drastically different effects on a patient’s physical health, according to a recent review of medical research. Some medications cause substantial weight gain and increased blood pressure, while others lead to weight loss and lowered heart rates. The findings were published in The Lancet.
Millions of people rely on prescription medications to manage mental health conditions. Up to 17 percent of adults in Europe and North America currently take antidepressants. While these drugs are effective at treating mood disorders, they can also cause unintended bodily changes. These physical side effects are a common reason why people stop taking their prescribed treatments.
Medical guidelines recommend that doctors discuss potential physical changes with patients before starting a prescription. However, it can be difficult for physicians to provide precise comparisons between specific drugs.
Toby Pillinger and Atheeshaan Arumuham of King’s College London led the research team to address this knowledge gap. They worked alongside other international experts, including Orestis Efthimiou of the University of Bern, Oliver D. Howes of King’s College London, and Andrea Cipriani of the University of Oxford. The team wanted to determine exactly how different medications compare in terms of physical side effects. They also wanted to see if factors like age or starting weight influenced these bodily reactions.
To answer these questions, the researchers conducted a network meta-analysis. This type of statistical study pools data from multiple independent trials. It allows researchers to compare treatments that might never have been tested directly against each other in the same room. By linking trials through a common comparator, researchers can estimate how two different drugs would perform head-to-head.
The team gathered data from 151 randomized controlled trials and 17 government regulatory reports. The resulting large study included 58,534 participants. The researchers evaluated 30 different antidepressants prescribed for acute psychiatric treatment, which typically lasted about eight weeks.
The analysis revealed major differences in how these drugs affect body weight. People taking agomelatine experienced the most weight loss, losing an average of about 2.4 kilograms compared to those taking a placebo, an inactive control pill. On the other end of the spectrum, maprotiline and amitriptyline caused the most weight gain, adding up to 1.8 kilograms on average. This created a roughly four-kilogram gap between the highest and lowest weight-altering medications.
The researchers estimated that almost half of the people taking maprotiline or amitriptyline would gain a noticeable amount of weight. Medications that caused the most weight gain were generally those known to block specific histamine and serotonin receptors, which act as chemical docking stations in the brain. Over time, extra weight can elevate a person’s risk for metabolic issues and joint stress.
Cardiovascular changes also varied widely depending on the specific medication. Nortriptyline increased patients’ heart rates by an average of nearly 14 beats per minute. By contrast, fluvoxamine lowered heart rates by about eight beats per minute. This difference amounts to a 21-beat-per-minute gap between the two drugs.
Blood pressure effects showed a similar split among the evaluated medications. Amitriptyline raised systolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats, by almost five millimeters of mercury. Nortriptyline lowered the same metric by over six millimeters of mercury. The researchers noted that these cardiovascular shifts could influence a patient’s long-term risk for heart disease, especially if the changes persist over several years.
The medications that increased blood pressure were largely serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, or tricyclic antidepressants. These drug classes share a mechanism that affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline. This chemical messenger plays a well-documented role in blood pressure regulation.
The researchers also tracked metabolic markers like cholesterol and blood sugar. Paroxetine, duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, and venlafaxine were associated with measurable increases in total cholesterol. Duloxetine was also linked to increased blood glucose levels. These metabolic increases occurred even though the medications themselves generally caused patients to lose body weight.
Some medications also affected liver function tests. Duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, and levomilnacipran caused increases in the concentration of certain liver enzymes. These enzymes are proteins that help the organ filter blood and break down medications. While these enzyme elevations were substantial enough to measure, the researchers noted that the amounts were not high enough to pose an immediate medical threat to most patients.
The team did not find that any of the evaluated antidepressants altered heart rhythm intervals to a problematic degree. The medications also did not have a strong effect on sodium levels, potassium levels, or kidney function markers during the trial periods.
In a separate analysis, the researchers examined how patient characteristics influenced these side effects. They used a statistical technique called meta-regression to look for trends across the different study populations. They found that groups of patients with higher starting body weights experienced larger medication-induced increases in blood pressure and liver enzymes. Populations with a higher average age saw larger medication-induced increases in blood sugar.
Finally, the team wanted to know if experiencing physical side effects was linked to mental health improvements. In patients with severe psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, past research has shown a correlation between metabolic disturbances and improved symptoms. To test this concept in depression, the researchers looked specifically at trials involving patients with major depressive disorder.
The researchers compared the change in depressive symptoms against changes in weight, cholesterol, and blood sugar across the studies. They did not find a correlation between improved mental health and metabolic side effects. This suggests that patients do not need to experience physical changes to get the mental health benefits of the medication.
A primary limitation of this research is the short duration of the included trials. Most studies lasted only eight weeks, meaning the long-term physical effects of these medications remain unconfirmed by this specific analysis. Some cardiovascular shifts might fade over time, while other metabolic changes could worsen over a period of years.
The trials also mostly included younger, relatively healthy individuals taking only one medication. This focus might obscure side effects that occur more frequently in older adults or people taking multiple drugs at once. Real-world observational data suggests that certain antidepressants might increase the risk of low sodium or heart rhythm problems in older populations. The researchers suggest that doctors should consider both clinical trial data and real-world observations when prescribing medications to older or medically vulnerable patients.
The study, “The effects of antidepressants on cardiometabolic and other physiological parameters: a systematic review and network meta-analysis,” was authored by Toby Pillinger, Atheeshaan Arumuham, Robert A McCutcheon, Enrico D’Ambrosio, Georgios Basdanis, Marco Branco, Richard Carr, Valeria Finelli, Toshi A Furukawa, Siobhan Gee, Adrian Heald, Sameer Jauhar, Zihan Ma, Valentina Mancini, Calum Moulton, Georgia Salanti, David M Taylor, Anneka Tomlinson, Allan H Young, Orestis Efthimiou, Oliver D Howes, and Andrea Cipriani.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-show-wide-variation-in-physical-side-effects/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Antidepressants #SideEffects #Cardiometabolic #DepressionTreatment #WeightChange #BloodPressure #Cholesterol #MetabolicHealth #NetworkMetaAnalysis #TheLancet
-
DATE: September 8, 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: Antidepressants show wide variation in physical side effects
URL: https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-show-wide-variation-in-physical-side-effects/
Different antidepressants can have drastically different effects on a patient’s physical health, according to a recent review of medical research. Some medications cause substantial weight gain and increased blood pressure, while others lead to weight loss and lowered heart rates. The findings were published in The Lancet.
Millions of people rely on prescription medications to manage mental health conditions. Up to 17 percent of adults in Europe and North America currently take antidepressants. While these drugs are effective at treating mood disorders, they can also cause unintended bodily changes. These physical side effects are a common reason why people stop taking their prescribed treatments.
Medical guidelines recommend that doctors discuss potential physical changes with patients before starting a prescription. However, it can be difficult for physicians to provide precise comparisons between specific drugs.
Toby Pillinger and Atheeshaan Arumuham of King’s College London led the research team to address this knowledge gap. They worked alongside other international experts, including Orestis Efthimiou of the University of Bern, Oliver D. Howes of King’s College London, and Andrea Cipriani of the University of Oxford. The team wanted to determine exactly how different medications compare in terms of physical side effects. They also wanted to see if factors like age or starting weight influenced these bodily reactions.
To answer these questions, the researchers conducted a network meta-analysis. This type of statistical study pools data from multiple independent trials. It allows researchers to compare treatments that might never have been tested directly against each other in the same room. By linking trials through a common comparator, researchers can estimate how two different drugs would perform head-to-head.
The team gathered data from 151 randomized controlled trials and 17 government regulatory reports. The resulting large study included 58,534 participants. The researchers evaluated 30 different antidepressants prescribed for acute psychiatric treatment, which typically lasted about eight weeks.
The analysis revealed major differences in how these drugs affect body weight. People taking agomelatine experienced the most weight loss, losing an average of about 2.4 kilograms compared to those taking a placebo, an inactive control pill. On the other end of the spectrum, maprotiline and amitriptyline caused the most weight gain, adding up to 1.8 kilograms on average. This created a roughly four-kilogram gap between the highest and lowest weight-altering medications.
The researchers estimated that almost half of the people taking maprotiline or amitriptyline would gain a noticeable amount of weight. Medications that caused the most weight gain were generally those known to block specific histamine and serotonin receptors, which act as chemical docking stations in the brain. Over time, extra weight can elevate a person’s risk for metabolic issues and joint stress.
Cardiovascular changes also varied widely depending on the specific medication. Nortriptyline increased patients’ heart rates by an average of nearly 14 beats per minute. By contrast, fluvoxamine lowered heart rates by about eight beats per minute. This difference amounts to a 21-beat-per-minute gap between the two drugs.
Blood pressure effects showed a similar split among the evaluated medications. Amitriptyline raised systolic blood pressure, which measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats, by almost five millimeters of mercury. Nortriptyline lowered the same metric by over six millimeters of mercury. The researchers noted that these cardiovascular shifts could influence a patient’s long-term risk for heart disease, especially if the changes persist over several years.
The medications that increased blood pressure were largely serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, or tricyclic antidepressants. These drug classes share a mechanism that affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline. This chemical messenger plays a well-documented role in blood pressure regulation.
The researchers also tracked metabolic markers like cholesterol and blood sugar. Paroxetine, duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, and venlafaxine were associated with measurable increases in total cholesterol. Duloxetine was also linked to increased blood glucose levels. These metabolic increases occurred even though the medications themselves generally caused patients to lose body weight.
Some medications also affected liver function tests. Duloxetine, desvenlafaxine, and levomilnacipran caused increases in the concentration of certain liver enzymes. These enzymes are proteins that help the organ filter blood and break down medications. While these enzyme elevations were substantial enough to measure, the researchers noted that the amounts were not high enough to pose an immediate medical threat to most patients.
The team did not find that any of the evaluated antidepressants altered heart rhythm intervals to a problematic degree. The medications also did not have a strong effect on sodium levels, potassium levels, or kidney function markers during the trial periods.
In a separate analysis, the researchers examined how patient characteristics influenced these side effects. They used a statistical technique called meta-regression to look for trends across the different study populations. They found that groups of patients with higher starting body weights experienced larger medication-induced increases in blood pressure and liver enzymes. Populations with a higher average age saw larger medication-induced increases in blood sugar.
Finally, the team wanted to know if experiencing physical side effects was linked to mental health improvements. In patients with severe psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, past research has shown a correlation between metabolic disturbances and improved symptoms. To test this concept in depression, the researchers looked specifically at trials involving patients with major depressive disorder.
The researchers compared the change in depressive symptoms against changes in weight, cholesterol, and blood sugar across the studies. They did not find a correlation between improved mental health and metabolic side effects. This suggests that patients do not need to experience physical changes to get the mental health benefits of the medication.
A primary limitation of this research is the short duration of the included trials. Most studies lasted only eight weeks, meaning the long-term physical effects of these medications remain unconfirmed by this specific analysis. Some cardiovascular shifts might fade over time, while other metabolic changes could worsen over a period of years.
The trials also mostly included younger, relatively healthy individuals taking only one medication. This focus might obscure side effects that occur more frequently in older adults or people taking multiple drugs at once. Real-world observational data suggests that certain antidepressants might increase the risk of low sodium or heart rhythm problems in older populations. The researchers suggest that doctors should consider both clinical trial data and real-world observations when prescribing medications to older or medically vulnerable patients.
The study, “The effects of antidepressants on cardiometabolic and other physiological parameters: a systematic review and network meta-analysis,” was authored by Toby Pillinger, Atheeshaan Arumuham, Robert A McCutcheon, Enrico D’Ambrosio, Georgios Basdanis, Marco Branco, Richard Carr, Valeria Finelli, Toshi A Furukawa, Siobhan Gee, Adrian Heald, Sameer Jauhar, Zihan Ma, Valentina Mancini, Calum Moulton, Georgia Salanti, David M Taylor, Anneka Tomlinson, Allan H Young, Orestis Efthimiou, Oliver D Howes, and Andrea Cipriani.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-show-wide-variation-in-physical-side-effects/
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Antidepressants #SideEffects #Cardiometabolic #DepressionTreatment #WeightChange #BloodPressure #Cholesterol #MetabolicHealth #NetworkMetaAnalysis #TheLancet
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 10:01AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
🚨The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Definium Therapeutics for DT120 (lysergide) orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) for the treatment of major depressive disorder. https://t.co/915rDjMOoZ
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 08:59AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy may have an unexpected mental health benefit
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 08:59AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy may have an unexpected mental health benefit
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Ozempic #Wegovy #Semaglutide #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealthMatters #GLP1 #MoodStability #PsychiatricHealth #Inflammation #DiabetesAndWeightLoss
-
DATE: September 8, 2026 at 08:59AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY PSYCHIATIRY FEEDTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy may have an unexpected mental health benefit
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
-------------------------------------------------
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Ozempic #Wegovy #Semaglutide #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealthMatters #GLP1 #MoodStability #PsychiatricHealth #Inflammation #DiabetesAndWeightLoss
-
DATE: September 8, 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: People with narcissistic traits generate more original and malicious ideas for revenge, study finds
People who have previously used their imagination to harm others or who possess highly narcissistic traits tend to generate more original and malicious ideas for revenge. These findings indicate that past actions and personality shape how individuals apply their problem-solving skills during interpersonal conflicts. The research was published in The Journal of Intelligence.
Creativity is typically viewed as a positive force in society, driving art, science, and innovation. But creativity also has a dark side, known as malevolent creativity. This involves the application of original ideas to purposely harm, deceive, or manipulate others. It is essentially creative problem-solving with malicious intent, evident in everything from everyday pranks to complex criminal activities.
To understand why some people use their imagination for harm, psychologists often refer to a framework called the AMORAL model. This model suggests that dark creativity results from a combination of personal traits, such as a natural propensity for creativity or certain personality types, and environmental factors, such as a provoking situation.
Among personality types, the dark triad traits are particularly relevant. These include psychopathy (a lack of empathy and high impulsivity), Machiavellianism (a tendency to be strategic and manipulative), and narcissism (a sense of grandiosity, egocentrism, and a strong need for admiration). People high in narcissism tend to be especially reactive to social slights or threats to their ego. A 2021 meta-analysis found that among these dark traits, narcissism has the most consistent relationship with self-reported general creativity.
“Society generally views creativity as a good thing, but some people use their creativity to harm others,” Natalie Ceballos, a professor of psychology at Texas State University, told PsyPost. “I’m interested in the individual and environmental factors that might influence someone to steer their creativity toward antisocial ends.”
The current research, conducted by Ceballos alongside cognitive neuroscientist Carmen E. Westerberg and pre-med student Ruby N. Sweet, aimed to untangle how a person’s history of malicious behavior influences their current ability to devise revenge plots, above and beyond their everyday problem-solving skills and personality.
“We aimed to determine what factors are most relevant for understanding when creative people may use their skills for nefarious purposes,” Ceballos said. “Studies have shown that the dark triad personality traits predict malevolently creative ideology, but how other factors like history of creative malevolence or reaction to acute provocation might interact with dark triad traits is an area that requires further research.”
The research team recruited 248 undergraduate students for an online survey. The participants were predominantly young women, with an average age of 20. First, the students answered questions about their demographics and rated their own potential for everyday creative problem-solving on a simple five-point scale.
Next, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their past malevolent creativity. They rated how often they had engaged in behaviors like fabricating lies to simplify a problem, thinking up ways to take revenge, or playing tricks on others. They also completed a standard personality test to measure their levels of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
To measure malicious ideation in real time, the researchers used a task built around a hypothetical conflict. Participants read a vignette in which a neighbor asked for help with apartment renovations and promised to pay them. In the scenario, the participant does the work, but the neighbor later denies that any agreement took place and refuses to pay. The participants were instructed to type out as many original ideas as possible to get back at the neighbor.
“Some of the participants’ ideas were malevolent but not very creative, like simply physically assaulting the neighbor,” Ceballos noted. “Other ideas, like seeding the neighbor’s lawn with invasive plants, were more original and showed an appreciation for the long game.”
After generating their ideas, the students rated how provoked they would feel if the situation happened in real life. Two independent raters then evaluated the participants’ responses. They calculated a fluency index, which was the total number of malicious ideas generated. They also calculated a malevolence index, counting ideas that were rated as at least slightly harmful, and a composite score, which only counted ideas that were both harmful and highly original.
The researchers found that different personal factors predicted different types of creative output. A participant’s self-perception of their everyday problem-solving skills predicted their fluency index. People who viewed themselves as good at solving regular problems came up with a larger quantity of revenge ideas, regardless of how original or harmful those ideas actually were.
When it came to the quality of the revenge ideas, personality and past behavior played a larger role. High levels of narcissism and a history of past malevolent behavior predicted both the malevolence index and the overall composite score. This means that individuals who were highly narcissistic or who had a habit of playing tricks and seeking revenge in the past generated ideas that were more harmful and more unique.
Interestingly, past malevolent behavior contributed to the generation of harmful and original ideas independently of everyday problem-solving skills and narcissistic traits. While feeling provoked by the scenario correlated with generating darker ideas, the level of provocation did not uniquely predict the task outcomes once past behavior and personality were factored into the statistical models. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism also did not emerge as unique predictors in the final analyses.
“We were a bit surprised that provocation level didn’t have a larger effect on malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “In our study, it appears that past behaviors and personality traits were more closely tied to malevolently creative ideation.”
The findings align with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that dark personality traits and a history of malicious actions relate to generating novel ways to harm others. They also fit with a 2021 study covered by PsyPost indicating that narcissism helps explain variations in malevolent creativity, though the new study specifically measured idea generation in real time rather than just relying on general behavioral tendencies.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on a cross-sectional design, meaning the data was collected at a single point in time. Because of this, the researchers cannot determine cause and effect. It is not possible to say that past malicious behavior directly causes a person to generate better revenge ideas today, only that the two are associated.
The participant pool also consisted mostly of female college students in the United States. The results might not generalize to older adults, men, or people from different cultural backgrounds, especially since dark personality traits often vary across age and gender. Additionally, the study relied on self-reports for past bad behavior, which can be skewed if participants want to present themselves in a positive light.
The measure for everyday creativity was also based on a single question, which might not capture the full scope of a person’s creative abilities.
“What leads a person to use their creative abilities to harm others? I think the take-home message is that a complex mixture of personality, lived experiences, and current circumstances all come together to create a perfect storm of malevolent creativity,” Ceballos explained. “Our study included only a small subset of the factors that might contribute to malevolent creativity. A lot of open questions remain for future work, but our results suggest that it’s not a simple explanation.”
For instance, future studies could track people over time to see if a habit of malicious creativity builds on itself through positive reinforcement, eventually creating an automatic cognitive strategy for dealing with conflict.
“My collaborators and I have backgrounds in neuroscience, so our natural next step involves the exploration of potential neurophysiological correlates of malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “We’re particularly interested in how different kinds of acute and chronic stress, and even factors like sleep quality, might influence malevolent creativity and which therapeutic strategies might help to reduce negative outcomes.”
The study, “Self-Reports of Past Malevolent Behavior and Narcissism as Predictors of Malevolent Creativity on a Real-World Ideation Task,” was authored by Natalie A. Ceballos, Ruby N. Sweet, and Carmen E. Westerberg.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MalevolentCreativity #Narcissism #DarkTriad #RevengeIdeas #CreativeProblemSolving #PsychologyResearch #AMORALModel #DarkPersonalityTraits #MalevolentBehavior #IdeationTask
-
DATE: September 8, 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: People with narcissistic traits generate more original and malicious ideas for revenge, study finds
People who have previously used their imagination to harm others or who possess highly narcissistic traits tend to generate more original and malicious ideas for revenge. These findings indicate that past actions and personality shape how individuals apply their problem-solving skills during interpersonal conflicts. The research was published in The Journal of Intelligence.
Creativity is typically viewed as a positive force in society, driving art, science, and innovation. But creativity also has a dark side, known as malevolent creativity. This involves the application of original ideas to purposely harm, deceive, or manipulate others. It is essentially creative problem-solving with malicious intent, evident in everything from everyday pranks to complex criminal activities.
To understand why some people use their imagination for harm, psychologists often refer to a framework called the AMORAL model. This model suggests that dark creativity results from a combination of personal traits, such as a natural propensity for creativity or certain personality types, and environmental factors, such as a provoking situation.
Among personality types, the dark triad traits are particularly relevant. These include psychopathy (a lack of empathy and high impulsivity), Machiavellianism (a tendency to be strategic and manipulative), and narcissism (a sense of grandiosity, egocentrism, and a strong need for admiration). People high in narcissism tend to be especially reactive to social slights or threats to their ego. A 2021 meta-analysis found that among these dark traits, narcissism has the most consistent relationship with self-reported general creativity.
“Society generally views creativity as a good thing, but some people use their creativity to harm others,” Natalie Ceballos, a professor of psychology at Texas State University, told PsyPost. “I’m interested in the individual and environmental factors that might influence someone to steer their creativity toward antisocial ends.”
The current research, conducted by Ceballos alongside cognitive neuroscientist Carmen E. Westerberg and pre-med student Ruby N. Sweet, aimed to untangle how a person’s history of malicious behavior influences their current ability to devise revenge plots, above and beyond their everyday problem-solving skills and personality.
“We aimed to determine what factors are most relevant for understanding when creative people may use their skills for nefarious purposes,” Ceballos said. “Studies have shown that the dark triad personality traits predict malevolently creative ideology, but how other factors like history of creative malevolence or reaction to acute provocation might interact with dark triad traits is an area that requires further research.”
The research team recruited 248 undergraduate students for an online survey. The participants were predominantly young women, with an average age of 20. First, the students answered questions about their demographics and rated their own potential for everyday creative problem-solving on a simple five-point scale.
Next, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their past malevolent creativity. They rated how often they had engaged in behaviors like fabricating lies to simplify a problem, thinking up ways to take revenge, or playing tricks on others. They also completed a standard personality test to measure their levels of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
To measure malicious ideation in real time, the researchers used a task built around a hypothetical conflict. Participants read a vignette in which a neighbor asked for help with apartment renovations and promised to pay them. In the scenario, the participant does the work, but the neighbor later denies that any agreement took place and refuses to pay. The participants were instructed to type out as many original ideas as possible to get back at the neighbor.
“Some of the participants’ ideas were malevolent but not very creative, like simply physically assaulting the neighbor,” Ceballos noted. “Other ideas, like seeding the neighbor’s lawn with invasive plants, were more original and showed an appreciation for the long game.”
After generating their ideas, the students rated how provoked they would feel if the situation happened in real life. Two independent raters then evaluated the participants’ responses. They calculated a fluency index, which was the total number of malicious ideas generated. They also calculated a malevolence index, counting ideas that were rated as at least slightly harmful, and a composite score, which only counted ideas that were both harmful and highly original.
The researchers found that different personal factors predicted different types of creative output. A participant’s self-perception of their everyday problem-solving skills predicted their fluency index. People who viewed themselves as good at solving regular problems came up with a larger quantity of revenge ideas, regardless of how original or harmful those ideas actually were.
When it came to the quality of the revenge ideas, personality and past behavior played a larger role. High levels of narcissism and a history of past malevolent behavior predicted both the malevolence index and the overall composite score. This means that individuals who were highly narcissistic or who had a habit of playing tricks and seeking revenge in the past generated ideas that were more harmful and more unique.
Interestingly, past malevolent behavior contributed to the generation of harmful and original ideas independently of everyday problem-solving skills and narcissistic traits. While feeling provoked by the scenario correlated with generating darker ideas, the level of provocation did not uniquely predict the task outcomes once past behavior and personality were factored into the statistical models. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism also did not emerge as unique predictors in the final analyses.
“We were a bit surprised that provocation level didn’t have a larger effect on malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “In our study, it appears that past behaviors and personality traits were more closely tied to malevolently creative ideation.”
The findings align with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that dark personality traits and a history of malicious actions relate to generating novel ways to harm others. They also fit with a 2021 study covered by PsyPost indicating that narcissism helps explain variations in malevolent creativity, though the new study specifically measured idea generation in real time rather than just relying on general behavioral tendencies.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on a cross-sectional design, meaning the data was collected at a single point in time. Because of this, the researchers cannot determine cause and effect. It is not possible to say that past malicious behavior directly causes a person to generate better revenge ideas today, only that the two are associated.
The participant pool also consisted mostly of female college students in the United States. The results might not generalize to older adults, men, or people from different cultural backgrounds, especially since dark personality traits often vary across age and gender. Additionally, the study relied on self-reports for past bad behavior, which can be skewed if participants want to present themselves in a positive light.
The measure for everyday creativity was also based on a single question, which might not capture the full scope of a person’s creative abilities.
“What leads a person to use their creative abilities to harm others? I think the take-home message is that a complex mixture of personality, lived experiences, and current circumstances all come together to create a perfect storm of malevolent creativity,” Ceballos explained. “Our study included only a small subset of the factors that might contribute to malevolent creativity. A lot of open questions remain for future work, but our results suggest that it’s not a simple explanation.”
For instance, future studies could track people over time to see if a habit of malicious creativity builds on itself through positive reinforcement, eventually creating an automatic cognitive strategy for dealing with conflict.
“My collaborators and I have backgrounds in neuroscience, so our natural next step involves the exploration of potential neurophysiological correlates of malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “We’re particularly interested in how different kinds of acute and chronic stress, and even factors like sleep quality, might influence malevolent creativity and which therapeutic strategies might help to reduce negative outcomes.”
The study, “Self-Reports of Past Malevolent Behavior and Narcissism as Predictors of Malevolent Creativity on a Real-World Ideation Task,” was authored by Natalie A. Ceballos, Ruby N. Sweet, and Carmen E. Westerberg.
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DATE: September 8, 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: People with narcissistic traits generate more original and malicious ideas for revenge, study finds
People who have previously used their imagination to harm others or who possess highly narcissistic traits tend to generate more original and malicious ideas for revenge. These findings indicate that past actions and personality shape how individuals apply their problem-solving skills during interpersonal conflicts. The research was published in The Journal of Intelligence.
Creativity is typically viewed as a positive force in society, driving art, science, and innovation. But creativity also has a dark side, known as malevolent creativity. This involves the application of original ideas to purposely harm, deceive, or manipulate others. It is essentially creative problem-solving with malicious intent, evident in everything from everyday pranks to complex criminal activities.
To understand why some people use their imagination for harm, psychologists often refer to a framework called the AMORAL model. This model suggests that dark creativity results from a combination of personal traits, such as a natural propensity for creativity or certain personality types, and environmental factors, such as a provoking situation.
Among personality types, the dark triad traits are particularly relevant. These include psychopathy (a lack of empathy and high impulsivity), Machiavellianism (a tendency to be strategic and manipulative), and narcissism (a sense of grandiosity, egocentrism, and a strong need for admiration). People high in narcissism tend to be especially reactive to social slights or threats to their ego. A 2021 meta-analysis found that among these dark traits, narcissism has the most consistent relationship with self-reported general creativity.
“Society generally views creativity as a good thing, but some people use their creativity to harm others,” Natalie Ceballos, a professor of psychology at Texas State University, told PsyPost. “I’m interested in the individual and environmental factors that might influence someone to steer their creativity toward antisocial ends.”
The current research, conducted by Ceballos alongside cognitive neuroscientist Carmen E. Westerberg and pre-med student Ruby N. Sweet, aimed to untangle how a person’s history of malicious behavior influences their current ability to devise revenge plots, above and beyond their everyday problem-solving skills and personality.
“We aimed to determine what factors are most relevant for understanding when creative people may use their skills for nefarious purposes,” Ceballos said. “Studies have shown that the dark triad personality traits predict malevolently creative ideology, but how other factors like history of creative malevolence or reaction to acute provocation might interact with dark triad traits is an area that requires further research.”
The research team recruited 248 undergraduate students for an online survey. The participants were predominantly young women, with an average age of 20. First, the students answered questions about their demographics and rated their own potential for everyday creative problem-solving on a simple five-point scale.
Next, participants completed a questionnaire assessing their past malevolent creativity. They rated how often they had engaged in behaviors like fabricating lies to simplify a problem, thinking up ways to take revenge, or playing tricks on others. They also completed a standard personality test to measure their levels of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
To measure malicious ideation in real time, the researchers used a task built around a hypothetical conflict. Participants read a vignette in which a neighbor asked for help with apartment renovations and promised to pay them. In the scenario, the participant does the work, but the neighbor later denies that any agreement took place and refuses to pay. The participants were instructed to type out as many original ideas as possible to get back at the neighbor.
“Some of the participants’ ideas were malevolent but not very creative, like simply physically assaulting the neighbor,” Ceballos noted. “Other ideas, like seeding the neighbor’s lawn with invasive plants, were more original and showed an appreciation for the long game.”
After generating their ideas, the students rated how provoked they would feel if the situation happened in real life. Two independent raters then evaluated the participants’ responses. They calculated a fluency index, which was the total number of malicious ideas generated. They also calculated a malevolence index, counting ideas that were rated as at least slightly harmful, and a composite score, which only counted ideas that were both harmful and highly original.
The researchers found that different personal factors predicted different types of creative output. A participant’s self-perception of their everyday problem-solving skills predicted their fluency index. People who viewed themselves as good at solving regular problems came up with a larger quantity of revenge ideas, regardless of how original or harmful those ideas actually were.
When it came to the quality of the revenge ideas, personality and past behavior played a larger role. High levels of narcissism and a history of past malevolent behavior predicted both the malevolence index and the overall composite score. This means that individuals who were highly narcissistic or who had a habit of playing tricks and seeking revenge in the past generated ideas that were more harmful and more unique.
Interestingly, past malevolent behavior contributed to the generation of harmful and original ideas independently of everyday problem-solving skills and narcissistic traits. While feeling provoked by the scenario correlated with generating darker ideas, the level of provocation did not uniquely predict the task outcomes once past behavior and personality were factored into the statistical models. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism also did not emerge as unique predictors in the final analyses.
“We were a bit surprised that provocation level didn’t have a larger effect on malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “In our study, it appears that past behaviors and personality traits were more closely tied to malevolently creative ideation.”
The findings align with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that dark personality traits and a history of malicious actions relate to generating novel ways to harm others. They also fit with a 2021 study covered by PsyPost indicating that narcissism helps explain variations in malevolent creativity, though the new study specifically measured idea generation in real time rather than just relying on general behavioral tendencies.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on a cross-sectional design, meaning the data was collected at a single point in time. Because of this, the researchers cannot determine cause and effect. It is not possible to say that past malicious behavior directly causes a person to generate better revenge ideas today, only that the two are associated.
The participant pool also consisted mostly of female college students in the United States. The results might not generalize to older adults, men, or people from different cultural backgrounds, especially since dark personality traits often vary across age and gender. Additionally, the study relied on self-reports for past bad behavior, which can be skewed if participants want to present themselves in a positive light.
The measure for everyday creativity was also based on a single question, which might not capture the full scope of a person’s creative abilities.
“What leads a person to use their creative abilities to harm others? I think the take-home message is that a complex mixture of personality, lived experiences, and current circumstances all come together to create a perfect storm of malevolent creativity,” Ceballos explained. “Our study included only a small subset of the factors that might contribute to malevolent creativity. A lot of open questions remain for future work, but our results suggest that it’s not a simple explanation.”
For instance, future studies could track people over time to see if a habit of malicious creativity builds on itself through positive reinforcement, eventually creating an automatic cognitive strategy for dealing with conflict.
“My collaborators and I have backgrounds in neuroscience, so our natural next step involves the exploration of potential neurophysiological correlates of malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “We’re particularly interested in how different kinds of acute and chronic stress, and even factors like sleep quality, might influence malevolent creativity and which therapeutic strategies might help to reduce negative outcomes.”
The study, “Self-Reports of Past Malevolent Behavior and Narcissism as Predictors of Malevolent Creativity on a Real-World Ideation Task,” was authored by Natalie A. Ceballos, Ruby N. Sweet, and Carmen E. Westerberg.
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 08:59AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy may have an unexpected mental health benefit
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 08:59AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy may have an unexpected mental health benefit
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 09:40AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your personality may be more genetic than scientists realized
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201554.htm
More than 1,200 genetic variants have been linked to the Big Five personality traits, and many of the same variants are also associated with health, longevity, careers, income, and everyday habits. The findings reveal a surprisingly wide genetic connection between personality and life outcomes while showing that environment still plays a powerful role.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201554.htm
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 08:59AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Ozempic and Wegovy may have an unexpected mental health benefit
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use was linked to a 21% lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization. Researchers think effects on inflammation and brain-related biological pathways could help stabilize mood, though other GLP-1 drugs did not show the same association.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260907201601.htm
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #Ozempic #Wegovy #Semaglutide #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealthBenefits #Glp1 #MoodStabilization #Inflammation #PsychiatricHospitalization #DiabetesAndWeightLoss
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 04:58AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Scientists say love follows hidden mathematical rules
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170140.htm
Could math help explain why some relationships survive life’s inevitable stresses while others slowly fall apart? Researchers have spent decades developing mathematical models that treat romantic feelings as changing systems, revealing patterns in attraction, emotional reactions, conflict, and recovery.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170140.htm
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DATE: September 7, 2026 at 04:58AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Scientists say love follows hidden mathematical rules
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170140.htm
Could math help explain why some relationships survive life’s inevitable stresses while others slowly fall apart? Researchers have spent decades developing mathematical models that treat romantic feelings as changing systems, revealing patterns in attraction, emotional reactions, conflict, and recovery.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170140.htm
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-
DATE: September 7, 2026 at 04:58AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Scientists say love follows hidden mathematical rules
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170140.htm
Could math help explain why some relationships survive life’s inevitable stresses while others slowly fall apart? Researchers have spent decades developing mathematical models that treat romantic feelings as changing systems, revealing patterns in attraction, emotional reactions, conflict, and recovery.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170140.htm
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 03:37AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Early statin use linked to 15% lower dementia risk
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901070520.htm
Starting statins soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may do more than protect the heart. In a nationwide Danish study of more than 132,000 people, those who began statin treatment within a year of diagnosis had a 15% lower relative risk of developing dementia over 10 years compared with those who did not start statins.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901070520.htm
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DATE: September 8, 2026 at 03:37AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Early statin use linked to 15% lower dementia risk
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901070520.htm
Starting statins soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may do more than protect the heart. In a nationwide Danish study of more than 132,000 people, those who began statin treatment within a year of diagnosis had a 15% lower relative risk of developing dementia over 10 years compared with those who did not start statins.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901070520.htm
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-
DATE: September 8, 2026 at 03:37AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Early statin use linked to 15% lower dementia risk
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901070520.htm
Starting statins soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may do more than protect the heart. In a nationwide Danish study of more than 132,000 people, those who began statin treatment within a year of diagnosis had a 15% lower relative risk of developing dementia over 10 years compared with those who did not start statins.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260901070520.htm
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