November 20, 2020
by Tina Arnoldi
New research in the September 2020 issue of Personality and Individual Differences lists 40 reasons people have trouble making friends. The most important factors included “Lack of time” and “Introversion”. I asked experts to share their thoughts on how people can overcome these barriers to making friends.
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November 17, 2020
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America looked at the brain and impulsiveness. “In this study we investigated how the locus coeruleus (LC), the main source of norepinephrine (NE) in the brain, regulates attention and impulsivity,” study author Andrea Bari told us. “These cognitive functions are essential in everyday life and found to be impaired to various degrees in several pathologies, most prominently in children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
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There is a theory called “loss aversion”. Not every one agrees with this theory or, necessarily, believes that loss aversion is entirely to blame when one feels the sting of loss. Put simply, humans pay more attention to “losses” than to “wins”. In fact, each of these responses affect both brain and body.There are facts as well as speculation on the origin of this phenomenon.
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November 13, 2020
by Tina Arnoldi
A new study in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice suggests that problems with sleep quality (and potentially quantity) predict forward-looking entrepreneurial intentions. Lack of sleep may result in shifting attention spans and hyperactivity - both behaviors of ADHD. The hypothesis is these behaviors are connected to an increase in entrepreneurial activity.
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November 10, 2020
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the BMJ Open looked at the need for recovery amongst emergency physicians in the UK and Ireland. “Our study is about using a tool called the Need for Recovery scale (NFR) to understand the physical and psychological impact of shift work in emergency departments in the UK and Ireland,” study author Laura Cottey told us.
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November 6, 2020
by Elizabeth Pratt
Americans living in a state that favours the losing candidate of the US Presidential election might experience a decline in their mental health.
A study from researchers at UC San Francisco and Duke University used data from 500 thousand people during the 2016 Presidential election to examine mental health indicators.
Americans who lived in states that favoured Hillary Clinton experienced an extra half-day of poor mental health on average during the month after the election.
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November 6, 2020
by Tina Arnoldi
Recently, Vermont’s Center for Cartoon Studies released “Let’s Talk About It: A Graphic Guide To Mental Health”, a 24-page comic book geared toward middle and high school students. Cara Bean, a cartoonist and art educator who collaborated on this project, shared her experience with this project.
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November 3, 2020
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry looked at maternal prenatal body mass index (BMI) and human fetal brain development. “Given knowledge that the physical well-being of a mother during pregnancy is important for the long-term brain health of her child, we sought to discover whether and how maternal body mass index may relate brain development in the womb,” senior study author, Dr. Moriah E. Thomason told us.
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November 2, 2020
by Kimberly Lucey
Millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain, a condition that has contributed to the opioid epidemic in the United States for the past three decades, costing the country billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives. Now, a groundbreaking new study is showing yoga, meditation, and other forms of mindfulness-based stress reductions may help patients manage that pain.
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October 31, 2020
by Elizabeth Pratt
The “love hormone” oxytocin can occasionally have anti-social effects depending on where in the brain it is created.
Oxytocin, a hormone that can regulate prosocial behaviors like trust, bonding and empathy has also been demonstrated to play a role in anti-social behaviors like envy, anxiety and reduction in cooperation.
How the hormone could have such opposing roles has long remained a mystery, but researchers from UC Davis have uncovered how this might happen.
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