Nicotine addiction usually begins during the critical teenage years, and pediatric health-care professionals can play a prominent role in promoting a tobacco-free lifestyle among children and adolescents, as described in a new article.

Researchers are breaking new ground in the ongoing project of identifying and defining those diseases most likely to affect an aged population. New research deals with the little-understood but serious condition hippocampal sclerosis.

An international team of researchers is developing a new way of conducting psychological and social research. Instead of bringing people into laboratories the team has launched an iPhone/iPad app that people can download for free in English, French and Dutch.

How do you measure charisma? Much has been written in business management textbooks and self-help guides about the role that personal charisma plays in leadership. But according to a newly published study, until recently no one was able to describe and measure charisma in a systematic way.

A new study overturns a decades-old theory about the nature of attention and demonstrates that even brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve one’s ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods.

Drinking excess alcohol while pregnant can harm an unborn baby, often causing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or even death. FAS is the leading cause of congenital mental retardation in the Western world, resulting in severe behavioral problems and stunted growth. However, despite its harmful effects, alcohol consumption during pregnancy is common. Researchers now show that a simple experimental system — the fruit fly — can be used to study how alcohol causes damage during development.

A new study has found evidence suggesting that a variation of a specific gene may play a role in late-onset Alzheimer’s, the disease which accounts for over 90 percent of Alzheimer’s cases. This innovative study has combined genetics and brain imaging to determine who may be at risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms appear.

Wait, am I seeing things? A new study proves that persons who partake in smoking the natural herb cannabis developed psychotic disorders an average 2.7 years earlier than people who did not use the illegal substance. Meanwhile, alcohol is not associated with early onset of mental disorders, but studies could not rule out the influence of cigarette smoking in association with psychosis…

When people think unpleasant events are over, they remember them as being less painful or annoying than when they expect them to happen again, pointing to the power of expectation to help people brace for the worst, according to new studies.

In the autumn of 2005 the Church of Sweden decided to introduce a special blessing for same-sex unions. The decision was conditional on the Church making a distinction between genuine homosexuality and promiscuous homosexuality, associated with sin and profanity…