Mental Health
Your body’s state may shape whether your best ideas are verbal or visual
Not all creativity may draw on the same bodily state. In a study that tracked students’ hearts for five days, calmer physiological states went with more original drawings but less…
Brain connectivity patterns map onto sensory processing styles in autistic youth
Machine learning analysis reveals that different sensory experiences in autistic children correspond to unique patterns of brain connectivity. The research highlights how distinct…
Does loving horror make you psychologically tougher in a crisis? Not in war-torn Lebanon, study finds
When danger is real and constant, fictional frights may lose their protective edge. Among Lebanese students facing war and economic crisis, horror fandom was unrelated to resilien…
Women’s attention to beauty isn’t limited to the sex they’re attracted to, eye-tracking study finds
When viewing pairs of faces, men linger selectively on attractive faces matching their sexual orientation, while women look longer at attractive faces of either sex, according to …
Researchers identify female-specific and male-specific genetic risks for anxiety
A massive genetic analysis reveals that while men and women share much of the underlying risk for anxiety, they also possess distinct genetic pathways. These biological difference…
People who score higher on intelligence tests tend to rate their own attractiveness slightly lower
How good-looking do you think you are? In two studies, optimistic, emotionally stable, and college-educated adults tended to rate their looks higher, while those scoring higher on…
Cut benefits to fund work support for young people, says Neet review author Alan Milburn
Exclusive: Former health secretary says upfront investment in support is needed ‘if we are going to end the Neet crisis’Ministers should cut welfare spending to fund more employme…
A single dose of psilocybin eased depression within days, but its edge over placebo faded within a year
A single dose of psilocybin eased depression within days in a small Swedish trial, outperforming an active placebo for more than three months on patients’ self-ratings. By one yea…
Fun, fancy dress and drinking on the train to Leeds | Brief letters
Memorable train journeys | Taking note of happiness | Deposing Trump | Lib Dem laughs | Turnip lanternsI enjoyed Zoe Williams’ description of her train journey to Liverpool (Yes, …
Does medical transition help young transgender people’s mental health? A Finnish study sparks a battle over the answer
A nationwide Finnish study tracked 2,083 young people referred for gender care for as long as 25 years. Specialist psychiatric care rates rose among those who later transitioned m…
4.48 Psychosis review – a dazzling, harrowing opera worthy of Sarah Kane’s furious writing
Linbury theatre, LondonSix fearless singers and the Chroma Ensemble, conducted with arresting immediacy by Naomi Woo, rise to the challenge of the brutal musical onslaughts and an…
Exclusive breastfeeding for six months linked to fewer ADHD symptoms in children
A large-scale study suggests that infants who exclusively receive breast milk for their first six months may show fewer symptoms of ADHD in early childhood, even when accounting f…
Genes linked to educational attainment are also tied to fewer behavior problems in kids, mainly through cognitive pathways
Genetic variants linked to how far people go in school are also tied to fewer attention problems and stress-related physical complaints in youth. A study of Dutch families suggest…
Brain iron levels in children with ADHD may depend on when they start medication
Children with ADHD who begin taking stimulant medications at a younger age may develop higher brain iron levels than those starting later. A new study explores how treatment timin…
Intelligence tests are a weaker predictor of job performance than long believed, large study finds
A new synthesis of data from over 109,000 workers suggests that general intelligence tests are less than half as predictive of overall job performance as historical benchmarks cla…
Psychopathy is the strongest predictor of frequent and malicious gossip among dark personality traits
New research into the Dark Tetrad of personality indicates that psychopathy is the strongest predictor of both frequent and malicious gossip, while Machiavellianism is uniquely li…
Mothers and fathers may pass along different kinds of sexism to their kids, new research suggests
Fathers higher in hostile sexism tended to have children who agreed more with hostile statements about women, while mothers higher in benevolent sexism tended to have children who…
Two styles of meditation eased depressive symptoms in a four-week trial, possibly through different routes
Not all meditation may work the same way. In a trial of 147 adults, focused-attention and self-inquiry meditation produced similar drops in depressive symptoms, but exploratory an…
Weaker inputs to a key emotion hub are linked to more depressive symptoms in healthy young adults
Young adults with weaker incoming connections to the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, a small region that helps regulate emotion, tended to report more depressive symptoms, ac…
Unhealthy daily habits cluster together to predict adolescent anxiety and depression
A large study reveals that unhealthy habits like excessive screen time and poor diet tend to group together in teenagers. These behavioral clusters strongly predict the future ons…
Learning to read may shape how adults reason about what others believe
Can learning to read change how we think about other people’s minds? Among 76 Turkish women, reading fluency was the strongest predictor of performance on a test of reasoning abou…
Weak handgrip strength linked to higher risk of depression over time
A massive new review of medical data reveals that lower handgrip strength is linked to a higher risk of developing depression over time, suggesting physical strength may serve as …
Scientists identify DNA regions tied to binge eating, including one near a well-known obesity gene
Binge eating and anorexia are genetically linked to opposite ends of the body weight spectrum, but a study of more than 1.2 million people found both share genetic ties to depress…
How public opinion on transgender bathroom access shifted between 2016 and 2022
Public opinion on transgender bathroom access has grown more conservative since 2016. A new study reveals how Americans weigh competing arguments about safety and discrimination, …