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A new study published in the European Journal of Cancer looked at the effect of behavioral graded activity on physical activity level, health-related quality of life, and symptom management in cancer patients and survivors. “In this paper, we screened the literature for studies which had the goal of increasing daily activity levels in cancer patients and survivors,” study author Astrid Larousse told us. “Unfortunately, most individuals face barriers to become a more physically active person.” [More]

A new study published in Scientific Reports looked at whether birdsongs can alleviate anxiety and paranoia in health participants. “The study is on the effects of environmental sounds on mental well-being,” study author Emil Stobbe told us. “Our physical environment can be categorized into natural and human-made (built/ urban) environments. Both of these surroundings contain auditory information that humans process in their daily life.” [More]

A new study published in PLOS Biology looked at recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. “It has been known for some time that our daily patterns of light exposure exert important influences on health and well-being by regulating our internal body clock, cycles of hormone release, night-time sleep and daytime alertness,” study author Timothy Brown told us. [More]

Two new studies published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry and BioRxiv focused on understanding how the frontal part of the cortex known as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) develops. “We were interested in studying this regions as it is important for higher order cognition (think problem solving, planning complex actitivies), regulating emotion and social behaviors, which are most advanced in humans and behaviors disrupted in most neuropsychiatric disorder,” studies author Kartik Pattabiraman told us. “Furthermore, the PFC is greatly expanded in primates and are further specialized i.e. unique connections and cellular properties in humans. For example, excitatory neurons in human PFC form more connections with other neurons than neurons in monkeys and other animals.” [More]

Mindfulness is a trait and a state. Some are more mindful than others and a person can be less or more mindful depending of a situation. Mindfulness is associated with improved wellbeing, emotional intelligence, and stress reduction. It also promotes compassion and moral behaviors. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience looked at how the neural representation in the medical prefrontal cortex reveals selfish motivation in white lies. “In this study, we specifically aimed to identify distinctive neural signatures of selfish and altruistic motivation for Pareto white lies,” study author Dr. Hackjin Kim told us, “particularly focusing on the distinctive functional roles of the subregions in the medial prefrontal cortex in social valuation based on the model recently proposed by our research team.” [More]

Self-guided online mental health programs sound promising for people who may not choose to see a therapist for varying reasons. But research coming out in the September 2021 issue of Internet Interventions shows the engagement with these programs is generally low. [More]

A new study published in Lancet Psychiatry looked at combining behavioral harm-reduction treatment and extended-release naltrexone for people experiencing homelessness and alcohol use disorder in the United States. “We tested whether combined medication and counseling harm-reduction treatment would help people experiencing homelessness and alcohol use disorder improve on alcohol and health outcomes,” study author Susan E. Collins told us. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics looked at behavioral ethics and the incidence of foodborne illness outbreaks. “The study is about understanding why foodborne illness outbreaks are a persistent problem, especially given the technologies we have for processing and preserving foods,” study author Harvey S. James Jr. told us. [More]

Medical providers are referring primary care patients to non-medical sources of support, often for mental health. “One of the popular activities in pilot studies is suggesting patients engage in activities that support the uptake of new hobbies. These activities relate to other leisure activities such as volunteering in that they provide distraction, novelty, cognitive stimulation, belongingness as well as enhancing coping skills and agency and (when engaged in as part of a group) provide social support.” [More]