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Lower classes quicker to show compassion in the face of suffering
Emotional differences between the rich and poor, as depicted in such Charles Dickens classics as "A Christmas Carol" and "A Tale of Two Cities," may have a scientific basis. Researchers have found that people in the lower socio-economic classes are more physiologically attuned to suffering, and quicker to express compassion than their more affluent counterparts.
What makes patients complex? Ask their primary care physicians
Being able to define and measure patient complexity has important implications for how care is organized, how physicians and health care systems are paid, and how resources are allocated. Researchers have found that primary care physicians define patient complexity using a broader range of factors – including mental health, social factors and financial issues – ...
Brain function: A new way to measure the burden of aging across nations
Cognitive function may be a better indicator of the impact of aging on an economy than age-distribution, with chronological age imposing less of a social and economic burden if the population is "functionally" younger, according to a new study.
Why locusts swarm: Protein associated with learning implicated in causing grasshoppers to swarm
New research has found that a protein associated with learning and memory plays an integral role in changing the behavior of locusts from that of harmless grasshoppers into swarming pests.
One trait has huge impact on whether alcohol makes you aggressive
Drinking enough alcohol to become intoxicated increases aggression significantly in people who have one particular personality trait, according to new research. But people without that trait don't get any more aggressive when drunk than they would when they're sober. That trait is the ability to consider the future consequences of current actions.
Babies remember even as they seem to forget
Fifteen years ago, textbooks on human development stated that babies of six months of age or younger had no sense of "object permanence" -- the psychological term that describes an infant's belief that an object still exists even when it is out of sight. That meant that if mom or dad wasn't in the same ...
Traumatic experiences may make you tough
Your parents were right: Hard experiences may indeed make you tough. Psychological scientists have found that, while going through many experiences like assault, hurricanes, and bereavement can be psychologically damaging, small amounts of trauma may help people develop resilience.
Chimpanzees in research: Statement on Institute of Medicine report by NIH Director Francis Collins
The following is a statement by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins on the Institute of Medicine report addressing the scientific need for the use of chimpanzees in research.
Less knowledge, more power: Uninformed can be vital to democracy, study finds
Uninformed individuals -- as in those with no prior knowledge or strong feelings on a situation's outcome -- can actually be vital to achieving a democratic consensus, according to new research. These individuals tend to side with and embolden the numerical majority and dilute the influence of powerful minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone ...
Report recommends stringent limits on use of chimpanzees in biomedical and behavioral research
Given that chimpanzees are so closely related to humans and share similar behavioral traits, the U.S. National Institutes of Health should allow their use as subjects in biomedical research only under stringent conditions, including the absence of any other suitable model and inability to ethically perform the research on people, says a new report from ...