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Psychologists in the UK have developed the first ever mind reading questionnaire designed to assess how well people understand what others are truly thinking. The researchers from the University of Bath, Cardiff and London developed the new questionnaire and in doing so determined that women are much better at understanding what others may be thinking. [More]

A new study published in the journal, PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) looked at how childhood self-control forecasts the pace of midlife aging and preparedness for old age. “We studied whether as adults, children who exercise better self-control age more slowly, and are more prepared to manage the health, financial, and social demands of later life,” study author Leah Richmond-Rakerd told us. “We also investigated whether self-control in adulthood – not just childhood – is important for aging.” Prior studies have shown that people with better self-control live longer lives. Richmond-Rakerd and the team predicted that people with better self-control would also age more healthily, in midlife. [More]

Researchers examined 190 young adults and followed them for ten years. They were directly tested on their response to alcohol vs. placebo beverage in initial testing sessions and then they returned five and ten years later to a laboratory in Chicago to undergo identical re-examination testing. “We flew people in from all over the country (and the world!) to come back for their returning sessions,” study author Andrea King told us. “We also conducted regular follow-up interviews semi-annually in that period. I am grateful the participants were so connected to the study, as 99% of those still living continued to participate over the decade.” [More]

Teenagers who are unhappy with how they look have a significantly heightened risk of depression by adulthood. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, researchers found the increased risk of depression ranged from 50 per cent to 285 per cent, with boys being more likely to experience severe depression than their female peers. [More]

Did you know that adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep per day and that adolescents need eight to ten hours? According to statistics from the Institute of Medicine, American adults and teens aren’t getting enough sleep. How does lack of sleep or sleep deprivation affect our brain’s reward system? An average of 50-70 million American adults have a sleep disorder. The most common sleep disorder is insomnia. Approximately 30 per cent of American adults say they have experienced short term insomnia while 10 per cent say they experience chronic insomnia. A new study published in eNeuro looked at sleep-deprivation and rewards using mice and cocaine. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics looked at kindergarten readiness, later health, and social costs. “We used kindergarten readiness measures to forecast later academic, psychological, and health risks by end of high school,” study author Linda Pagani told us. “We wanted long term evidence of the importance of ensuring that all children are ready to learn at the time of school entry was crucial to support the idea of that prevention for all kinds of social problems have their origins in early childhood.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Nature Communications looked at social cues and the b [More]

Doing good deeds and being kind to others can be good for health and wellbeing. Research published by the American Psychological Association found pro-social behavior like acts of kindness and helping others could be beneficial, but not all good deeds could provide equal benefits. [More]

ADHD-like behavior caused by lack of sleep may be beneficial for entrepreneurial activity. For some people, bad sleep can result in feelings of hyperactivity the following day, along with impulsive behavior and shifting attention spans. These behaviours all resemble those of ADHD. Now a new study suggests this could lend itself to entrepreneurial behavior. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research looked at tactics for drawing youth to vaping. The study consisted of two parts. First, researchers gathered a substantial amount of evidence about why youth are drawn into vaping. Then, the researchers took all of these reasons that youth cite for taking up e-cigarettes and used it as a framework to see if e-cigarette advertisements tap into any of them. [More]