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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 ...
Second-guessing one’s decisions leads to unhappiness, psychology researcher finds
You're in search of a new coffee maker, and the simple quest becomes, well, an ordeal. After doing copious amounts of research and reading dozens of consumer reviews, you finally make a purchase, only to wonder: "Was this the right choice? Could I do better? What is the return policy?"
Blood test might predict how well a depressed patient responds to antidepressants
Researchers are reporting what could become the first reliable method to predict whether an antidepressant will work on a depressed patient.
Unwanted online sexual exposures decline for youth, new research finds
A new study finds declines in two kinds of youth Internet sexual encounters of great concern to parents: Unwanted sexual solicitations and unwanted exposure to pornography. The researchers suspect that greater public awareness may have been, in part, what has helped.
What determines the capacity of short-term memory?
Short-term memory plays a crucial role in how our consciousness operates. Several years ago a hypothesis has been formulated, according to which capacity of short-term memory depends in a special way on two cycles of brain electric activity. Scientists have now demonstrated this experimentally for the first time.
Fungus-induced neurological disease: An underestimated risk for animals and humans?
The mold fungus Penicillium crustosum occurs relatively frequently in food and animal fodder stored in temperate conditions. This mold produces powerful neurotoxins, for example penitrem A, which causes symptoms that are difficult to distinguish from those of other neurological diseases. Penitrem A is capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier and new research has unveiled the ...
Brain’s failure to appreciate others may permit human atrocities
It may be that a person can become callous enough to commit human atrocities because of a failure in the part of the brain that's critical for social interaction. A new study suggests this function may disengage when people encounter others they consider disgusting.