ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Study shows expression just as important as words in presidential debates Posted: 13 Jan 2015 12:39 PM PST New research through visual analysis and social media gives a good indication that voters pick up on nonverbal communications as much as a candidate's rhetoric.

Feeling cold is contagious, scientists find Posted: 13 Jan 2015 11:52 AM PST Just looking at somebody shivering is enough to make us feel cold, new research has found. Volunteers who watched videos of people putting their hands in cold water found their own body temperature drop significantly, investigators report.

Bilingualism changes children's beliefs Posted: 13 Jan 2015 10:19 AM PST Most young children are essentialists: They believe that human and animal characteristics are innate. That kind of reasoning can lead them to think that traits like native language and clothing preference are intrinsic rather than acquired. But a new study suggests that certain bilingual kids are more likely to understand that it's what one learns, rather than what one is born with, that makes up a person's psychological attributes.

Women who are told that men desire larger-body women are happier with their weight Posted: 13 Jan 2015 09:12 AM PST Telling women that men desire larger women who aren't model-thin made women feel better about their own weight in a series of new studies. Results of the three Independent studies suggest a woman's body image is strongly linked to her perception of what she thinks men prefer, said a social psychologist and lead researcher on the study. On average, heterosexual women believe that heterosexual men desire ultra-thin women.

New target identified for potential brain cancer therapies Posted: 13 Jan 2015 09:10 AM PST A new protein-protein interaction that could serve as a target for future therapies for the most common form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), has been identified by researchers. GBM is a devastating disease that originates from glia or their precursors within the central nervous system, and the prognosis for GBM patients is unfortunately poor, but this discovery offers new therapeutic potential.

World's oldest butchering tools gave evolutionary edge to human communication: Oldowan technology behind genesis of language and teaching Posted: 13 Jan 2015 09:10 AM PST Two and a half million years ago, our hominin ancestors in the African savanna crafted rocks into shards that could slice apart a dead gazelle, zebra or other game animal. Over the next 700,000 years, this butchering technology spread throughout the continent and, it turns out, came to be a major evolutionary force.

Can racial injustice be settled out of court? Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:16 AM PST With many calling for policy reform to improve race problems in the US criminal justice system, new research suggests that the issue is less political and more behavioral. Researchers recommend increased documentation, institutional diversity, and bias training in a new paper.

Stalking risk increases among college students Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:15 AM PST College students are at higher risk for stalking than the general public, but are less likely to report the crime to police, experts have determined. Stalking, defined as a repeated course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear, is a crime in all 50 states. This crime most commonly occurs between current or former intimate partners, with the highest rates of offenses between 18 to 24 years old.

What's that I smell? New 'poppers' are not what you think Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:11 AM PST While it is widely known that “huffing” -  inhaling organic solvents or propellants to achieve a “high” - is extremely dangerous, new products being sold as “poppers” and distributed throughout the US,  primarily to men who have sex with men (MSM), actually contain harmful solvents and propellants and pose the same health risks as huffing.

Not always cool to stay cool in negotiations, study finds Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:11 AM PST Repressing anger about important matters makes negotiators lose focus, a new study concludes. Suppressing anger about important points could, in fact, cause them to lose the focus of discussions, says the lead of the research.

Jewish Americans who attend synagogue enjoy better health, study finds Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:10 AM PST For Jewish Americans, going to synagogue makes a difference for health, according to a study of five large Jewish urban communities.

Teams better than individuals at intelligence analysis, research finds Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:10 AM PST When it comes to predicting important world events, teams do a better job than individuals, and laypeople can be trained to be effective forecasters even without access to classified records, according to new research.

Blocking hormone could eliminate stress-induced infertility Posted: 13 Jan 2015 06:06 AM PST Stress is known to interfere with reproduction, but a new study shows that the effects of chronic stress on fertility persist long after the stress is gone. This is because a hormone that suppresses fertility, GnIH, remains high even after stress hormone levels return to normal. In rats, they successfully blocked the hormone gene and restored normal reproductive behavior, suggesting therapeutic potential for stressed humans and animals in captive breeding programs.

Cocaine antidote closer than ever Posted: 13 Jan 2015 06:05 AM PST New insight has been gained into the mechanism behind a protein dopamine transporter that could help in the development of future medical treatment against cocaine addiction.

Development of psychosis: Gray matter loss and the inflamed brain Posted: 13 Jan 2015 06:04 AM PST The thickness of cortical brain tissue progressively reduces as individuals develop psychosis, according to researchers of a large, multi-site study of young adults at clinical high risk. Onset of psychosis typically occurs during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood, a period of time when the brain is also maturing, they note.

People prefer fair, but does the brain? Posted: 13 Jan 2015 06:04 AM PST Whether for oneself or for others, fairness is preferred by people, but the brain network changes depending on who is actually benefiting. "In previous studies," explains the lead investigator, "we found the same tendency to reject unfair offers regardless of whether the decision involved the subjects themselves or a third party. Brain imaging, however, suggested that the brain was working differently in the two situations."

Napping helps infants' memory development Posted: 13 Jan 2015 06:03 AM PST After studying over 200 young children, researchers have concluded that daytime naps of 30 minutes or more help infants to retain and remember new behaviors, adding that bedtime stories are invaluable for a child's development. Interestingly, the babies showed that they learn best when they are sleepy: "Until now people have presumed that the best time for infants to learn is when they are wide-awake, rather than when they are starting to feel tired, but our results show that activities occurring just before infants have a nap can be particularly valuable and well-remembered," researchers noted.

Positive factors in youth linked to better heart health later in life Posted: 12 Jan 2015 03:11 PM PST Children with favorable psychosocial experiences may have better cardiovascular health in adulthood, according to new research. Favorable socioeconomic status and self-regulatory behavior, meaning good aggression and impulse control, in youth were the strongest predictors of ideal cardiovascular health in adulthood.

Factors influencing mental illness in early adolescence Posted: 12 Jan 2015 03:09 PM PST Mental illness – particularly depression – is a rising problem with Malaysia’s youth. Two recent studies published in the shed light on the relationship between poor family dynamics and the development of mental illness.

First evidence of neuroinflammation in brains of chronic pain patients Posted: 12 Jan 2015 10:54 AM PST A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has found, for the first time, evidence of neuroinflammation in key regions of the brains of patients with chronic pain. By showing that levels of an inflammation-linked protein are elevated in regions known to be involved in pain transmission, the study paves the way for the exploration of potential new treatment strategies and possibly for biomarkers reflecting pain conditions.

Graffiti: Art or eyesore? Posted: 12 Jan 2015 08:07 AM PST Graffiti is slowly starting to be seen as an art form for the disenfranchised, yet you'd never know it by reading the news, a sociologist argues in a new study.