Going to school helps children learn how to read and solve math problems, but it also appears to upgrade the fundamental operating system of their brains. A new analysis suggests that the structured environment of formal education leads to improvements in executive functions, which are the cognitive skills required to control behavior and achieve goals. These findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

To understand why this research matters, one must first understand what executive functions are. Psychologists use this term to describe a specific set of mental abilities that allow people to manage their thoughts and actions. These skills act like an air traffic control system for the brain. They help a person pay attention, switch focus between tasks, and remember instructions.

There are three main components to this system. The first is working memory, which is the ability to hold information in your mind and use it over a short period. The second is inhibitory control. This is the ability to ignore distractions and resist the urge to do something impulsive. The third is cognitive flexibility. This allows a person to shift their thinking when the rules change or when a new problem arises.

Researchers have known for a long time that these skills get better as children get older. A seven-year-old is almost always better at sitting still and following directions than a four-year-old. The difficult question for scientists has been determining what causes this change. It is hard to tell if children improve simply because their brains are biologically maturing or if the experience of going to school actually speeds up the process.

This is the question that Jamie Donenfeld and her colleagues sought to answer. Donenfeld is a researcher at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She worked alongside Mahita Mudundi, Erik Blaser, and Zsuzsa Kaldy, who are also affiliated with the Department of Psychology at the same university. The team wanted to isolate the specific impact of the classroom environment from the natural effects of aging.

To do this, the researchers relied on a clever quirk of the educational system known as the school entry cutoff date. In many school districts, a child must turn five by a specific date, such as September 1, to enter kindergarten. This creates a natural experiment.

Consider two children who are practically the same age. One was born on August 31, and the other was born on September 2. The child born in August enters kindergarten. The child born in September must wait another year. By comparing these two groups, scientists can look at children who are virtually identical in biological maturity but have vastly different experiences with formal schooling.

The research team did not conduct a single new experiment with a specific group of children. Instead, they performed a meta-analysis. This is a statistical method that allows scientists to combine the results of many previous studies to find a common trend. They searched through databases for studies published between 1995 and 2023.

They started with over 400 potential studies. They screened these records to find ones that met strict criteria. The studies had to compare children of similar ages who had different levels of schooling. They also had to use objective measures of executive function.

The team ultimately identified 12 studies that fit all their requirements. These studies included data from approximately 1,611 children. The participants ranged in age from about four and a half to nine years old. The studies covered various locations, including the United States, Germany, Israel, and Scotland.

By pooling the data from these different sources, the researchers calculated a standardized mean difference. This number represents the size of the “schooling effect.” The analysis revealed a small but consistent positive effect. The data showed that attending school does improve a child’s executive functions.

The improvement was not massive, but it was reliable. The researchers described the effect as modest. It suggests that the experience of school provides a unique boost to cognitive development that goes beyond just getting older.

The researchers also conducted a secondary analysis using the longitudinal studies in their set. These were studies that followed children over time. They compared two types of groups. The first group consisted of children who did not advance a grade level during the study period, such as those remaining in preschool. This group provided a baseline for how much executive function improves due to natural maturation alone.

The second group consisted of children who completed a grade, such as first grade, during the same timeframe. This group represented the combined effect of biological maturation plus the experience of schooling.

The results showed a clear difference. The children who experienced a year of schooling showed greater gains in executive functions than those who only grew a year older. The estimated effect size for the schooling group was higher than for the maturation-only group. This supports the idea that the classroom environment acts as a training ground for the brain.

It is important to consider why school has this effect. The authors argue that formal education places heavy demands on a child. Students must sit still for extended periods. They must listen to instructions from teachers. They have to wait their turn to speak. They must remember rules and complete tasks even when they are tired or bored.

This daily routine serves as an intense practice session for inhibitory control and working memory. The state of Massachusetts, for example, requires 900 hours of structured learning time per year. That is a massive amount of practice.

The authors compared this to commercial “brain training” games. Many companies sell video games that claim to improve cognitive skills. However, research has largely shown that these games do not work very well. Players get better at the specific game, but the skills do not transfer to real life.

The researchers suggest that school succeeds where these games fail because of the intensity and duration of the experience. A few hours of gaming cannot compare to hundreds of hours of managing one’s behavior in a social classroom setting. The context of school is immersive. It requires children to use their executive functions in real-world situations to achieve social and academic goals.

There are limitations to this study that should be noted. The number of studies included in the final analysis was relatively small. Finding research that strictly followed the cutoff-date design is difficult. This means the total pool of participants was not as large as it is in some medical meta-analyses.

The studies also used a wide variety of tasks to measure executive functions. Some used memory games involving numbers. Others used tasks where children had to sort cards by changing rules. Some tested inhibitory control by asking children to touch their toes when told to touch their head.

This variety makes it harder to compare results perfectly across different papers. The educational systems in the different countries also vary. Kindergarten in Switzerland might focus more on play than kindergarten in the United States. This could influence how much “training” the children actually receive.

The authors also noted that they could not examine specific transitions in detail. It is possible that the jump from preschool to kindergarten has a bigger impact than the move from first to second grade. The current data did not allow them to break down the results by specific grade levels with high precision.

Future research is needed to understand which parts of schooling are the most effective. It might be the structured curriculum. It might be the social interaction with peers. It might be the relationship with the teacher. Understanding the specific mechanisms could help educators design classrooms that better support cognitive development.

The researchers also point out that the tests used in these studies are laboratory tasks. They are artificial by nature. Future studies should try to measure how children use these skills in real-world scenarios. We need to know if better scores on a memory test translate to better behavior on the playground or at home.

The study, “School changes minds: A meta-analysis shows that schooling modestly improves children’s executive functions,” was authored by Jamie Donenfeld, Mahita Mudundi, Erik Blaser, and Zsuzsa Kaldy.

Recent analysis of federal health data suggests that the recreational use of LSD is associated with a lower likelihood of alcohol use disorder. This finding stands in contrast to the use of other psychedelic substances, which did not show a similar protective link in the past year. The results were published recently in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

Alcohol use disorder affects millions of adults and stands as one of the most persistent public health challenges in the United States. The condition involves a pattern of alcohol consumption that leads to clinically detectable distress or impairment. Individuals with this disorder often find themselves unable to control their intake despite knowing it causes physical or social harm. Standard treatments exist, but relapse rates remain high. Consequently, medical researchers are exploring alternative therapeutic avenues.

In recent years, attention has shifted toward the potential utility of psychedelic compounds. Substances such as psilocybin and MDMA have shown promise in controlled clinical trials for treating various psychiatric conditions. However, there is a substantial distinction between administering a drug in a hospital with trained therapists and taking a drug recreationally. James M. Zech, a researcher at Florida State University, sought to investigate this difference. Zech collaborated with Jérémie Richard from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Grant M. Jones from Harvard University.

The team aimed to determine if the therapeutic signals seen in small clinical trials would appear in the general population. They utilized data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This government project recruits a representative group of American citizens to answer detailed questions about their lifestyle and health. The researchers pooled data collected from 2021 through 2023. The final dataset included responses from 139,524 adults.

To ensure accuracy, the investigators did not simply look at who used drugs and who drank alcohol. They employed statistical models designed to account for confounding factors. They adjusted their calculations for variables such as age, biological sex, income, and education level. They also controlled for the use of other substances, including tobacco and cannabis. This process helped them isolate the specific relationship between psychedelics and alcohol problems.

The researchers assessed whether participants met the diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder within the past year. They also looked at the severity of the disorder by counting the number of symptoms reported. These symptoms range from experiencing cravings to neglecting responsibilities due to drinking.

The analysis revealed a distinct association regarding lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD. Adults who reported using LSD in the past year were significantly less likely to meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder. The adjusted odds ratio indicated a 30 percent reduction in likelihood compared to non-users. Among those who did have the disorder, LSD users reported approximately 15 percent fewer symptoms.

The study did not find the same pattern for other popular substances. The researchers analyzed the use of MDMA and ketamine over the same twelve-month period. Neither of these drugs showed a statistical association with the presence or absence of alcohol use disorder. This suggests that the potential protective effect observed with LSD might be specific to that compound or the context in which it is typically used.

A more complex picture emerged when the team examined lifetime usage histories. The survey asked participants if they had ever used certain drugs, even if they had not done so recently. Individuals who had used psilocybin or MDMA at any point in their lives were actually more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder in the past year. In contrast, lifetime use of DMT was linked to a lower probability of having the disorder.

These contradictory findings highlight the difficulty of interpreting observational data. The researchers propose several theories to explain why lifetime psilocybin use might track with higher alcohol problems while past-year LSD use tracks with lower ones. It is possible that individuals with existing substance use issues are more inclined to experiment with psilocybin.

Another possibility involves the nature of the psychedelic experience itself. While clinical trials optimize the setting to ensure a positive outcome, recreational use carries risks. The authors note that unsupervised trips can sometimes be distressing or psychologically destabilizing. If a person has a negative experience, they might increase their alcohol consumption as a way to cope with the resulting stress.

Conversely, the potential benefits of LSD could stem from psychological shifts often reported by users. Previous studies indicate that psychedelics can alter personality traits. Users often report increased “openness” and decreased “neuroticism” after a profound experience. If LSD facilitates such changes more reliably in naturalistic settings, it could theoretically reduce the psychological drivers of heavy drinking.

These results contribute to a growing body of literature that often points in different directions. For example, a survey of Canadian adults previously found that people self-reported large reductions in alcohol use after taking psychedelics. In that study, respondents specifically cited psilocybin as the most effective agent for change. The discrepancy between that survey and the current findings underscores the difference between self-perception and objective diagnostic criteria.

Clinical research has also provided evidence for the efficacy of psilocybin, provided it is administered professionally. A small trial conducted in Denmark tested a single high dose of psilocybin on patients with severe alcohol use disorder. In that experiment, patients received psychological support before and after the session. The clinicians observed a reduction in heavy drinking days and cravings.

The contrast between the clinical success of psilocybin and the negative association found in the general population data is noteworthy. It suggests that the element of therapy and professional guidance may be essential for achieving therapeutic outcomes. Without the safety net of a clinical setting, the risks of using these powerful substances may outweigh the benefits for some individuals.

There are some limitations to the current study that affect how the results should be viewed. The analysis is cross-sectional, meaning it captures a snapshot in time rather than following people forward. As a result, the researchers cannot prove that LSD causes a reduction in drinking. It is equally possible that people who choose to use LSD simply have different lifestyle patterns that protect them from alcohol addiction.

The study also faced constraints regarding the data available. The federal survey only asked about past-year use for a subset of drugs. For psilocybin, the survey only asked about lifetime use. This prevented the researchers from seeing if recent psilocybin use might have shown a positive benefit similar to LSD. Additionally, the data relies on self-reporting. Participants may not always be truthful about their involvement with illegal substances or the extent of their alcohol consumption.

The researchers emphasize the need for longitudinal studies in the future. Tracking individuals over many years would clarify the order of events. It would show whether psychedelic use typically precedes a change in drinking behavior. The authors also suggest that future research should measure the dosage and frequency of use. Understanding whether a person took a substance once or heavily and repeatedly is necessary to fully understand the risks and benefits.

The study, “The Relationship Between Psychedelic Use and Alcohol Use Disorder in a Nationally Representative Sample,” was authored by James M. Zech, Jérémie Richard, and Grant M. Jones.

Top-down, commanding leadership is frequently viewed with skepticism in the modern business world. Management experts typically champion collaborative environments where employees feel free to share ideas without fear of retribution. A new study challenges the universality of this view. The findings suggest that in family-owned businesses, a strict, authoritarian leadership style can actually boost innovation.

This positive effect is particularly strong when family members feel a deep emotional connection to the company and when the business operates in an emerging economy. The research was published in the Journal of Small Business Management.

Family businesses face a unique set of challenges compared to their non-family counterparts. They must balance professional goals with personal relationships. Previous research into how these firms innovate has produced conflicting results. Some observers argue that family firms are too conservative and risk-averse to innovate effectively. Others contend that their long-term focus allows them to be more efficient with resources.

Chelsea Sherlock from Mississippi State University led the research team. Her co-authors included David R. Marshall, Clay Dibrell, and Eric Clinton. The team sought to resolve existing debates by looking at leadership styles. They specifically examined authoritarian leadership. This style is characterized by a leader who exerts absolute control over decisions and demands unquestioning obedience from subordinates.

In a general corporate setting, such heavy-handed management often crushes creativity. Employees may feel stifled or resentful. Sherlock and her colleagues proposed that family firms operate under a different psychological contract. In these organizations, the leader is often a matriarch or patriarch. Their authority is derived not just from a job title but from their position within the family unit.

The researchers hypothesized that this unique context changes how leadership impacts innovation. Innovation requires the rapid mobilization of resources. It often demands quick, decisive action. An authoritarian leader can cut through bureaucratic red tape. They can allocate funds and personnel without engaging in lengthy debates. The team believed this efficiency could drive new product development and service improvements.

To test this theory, the researchers utilized data from the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Project (STEP). This is a global survey of family business leaders. The final sample included 1,267 family firms from 56 different countries. The businesses were small to medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees. The study covered a diverse range of nations, separating them into emerging economies and advanced economies.

The survey asked CEOs to rate their firm’s innovativeness. Questions focused on their emphasis on research and development and their history of introducing new product lines. They also rated the level of authoritarian leadership within the firm. These questions assessed how much the leader retained decision-making authority and expected strict compliance.

A third key variable was emotional attachment. The researchers measured how strongly family members identified with the business. This concept reflects a sense of psychological ownership. In firms with high emotional attachment, the business is not just a source of income. It is a central part of the family’s identity and legacy.

The analysis revealed a positive relationship between authoritarian leadership and firm innovativeness. Contrary to popular management theories that favor flat hierarchies, the data showed that strict family leaders often drove their companies to be more innovative. The researchers suggest this is because authoritarian leaders in family firms are deeply committed to the business’s survival. They possess the power to force the organization to adapt and evolve.

This relationship was not uniform across all companies. The study found that emotional attachment played a vital moderating role. The positive effect of authoritarian leadership was significantly stronger in firms where the family felt a deep emotional bond.

When family members are emotionally invested, they are more likely to trust the leader’s intentions. They view the leader’s strict commands as necessary for protecting the family legacy. This trust reduces resistance. Family employees interpret top-down directives as focused decision-making rather than oppression. This alignment allows the firm to move quickly and cohesively toward innovative goals.

Conversely, in firms where emotional attachment was low, the benefits of authoritarian leadership were less apparent. Without that emotional buffer, strict control is more likely to breed resentment. If the family does not care deeply about the business, they may view an authoritarian leader as a tyrant rather than a guardian. This friction can stall progress and hinder the creative process.

The researchers also investigated how the economic environment influenced these dynamics. They distinguished between advanced economies, such as Germany and the United States, and emerging economies, such as Brazil and China. Emerging economies often lack robust institutional support structures. In these environments, the rule of law may be weaker, and resources may be scarcer.

The study found a specific “three-way interaction” between leadership, emotion, and economy. The combination of authoritarian leadership and high emotional attachment was most effective for innovation in emerging economies. In these unpredictable markets, a strong hand at the helm is often necessary to navigate external chaos.

In an emerging economy, a family firm cannot always rely on external institutions for stability. They must rely on themselves. A strict leader provides direction. When that leadership is backed by a family united by strong emotional ties, the firm becomes a resilient, innovative unit. The family accepts the hierarchy because it ensures their collective survival and prosperity.

The results were different for firms in advanced economies with low emotional attachment. In countries with stable markets and strong institutions, the need for a “strongman” leader is less pronounced. If a family in an advanced economy lacks an emotional connection to the business, an authoritarian leader may actually hurt innovation. The rigidity of the leadership style conflicts with the cultural norms of autonomy common in these regions.

These findings suggest that there is no “one size fits all” approach to leading a family business. The effectiveness of a leadership style depends heavily on the internal culture of the family and the external economic reality. What works for a tight-knit family business in an emerging market might fail for a disconnected family firm in a developed nation.

Sherlock and her team noted several caveats to their work. The study relied on cross-sectional data. This means it captured a snapshot of these firms at a single point in time. It is impossible to definitively prove that authoritarian leadership caused the innovation. It is possible that innovative firms simply tend to adopt stricter leadership structures to manage their growth.

Additionally, the data relied on self-reports from CEOs. While this is common in management research, it introduces the possibility of bias. Leaders may perceive themselves or their firms more favorably than an objective observer would. The study also focused on small and medium-sized firms. The dynamics in massive, publicly traded family conglomerates could be entirely different.

The authors recommend that future research look at these relationships over time. A longitudinal study could track how changes in leadership style affect innovation rates in subsequent years. They also suggest exploring other leadership styles, such as servant leadership or participative leadership, to see how they interact with family dynamics.

This research offers a practical message for family business owners. It indicates that consolidating power is not inherently bad for business growth. However, this authority must be exercised in a way that resonates with the family. Leaders who wish to drive innovation through strict control must ensure they also cultivate the family’s emotional bond to the firm. Without that emotional buy-in, the strategy is likely to fail.

The study, “The bright side of authoritarian leadership in family firms: An emotional attachment perspective on innovativeness,” was authored by Chelsea Sherlock, David R. Marshall, Clay Dibrell, and Eric Clinton.

The underlying causes of sexual difficulties may differ between men and women who experience symptoms of eating disorders, according to new research. While depression appears to be the primary driver of sexual challenges among women with these symptoms, eating disorder behaviors themselves play a more direct role for men. These findings were published in the International Journal of Sexual Health.

Sexual functioning is a fundamental aspect of human health and quality of life. It encompasses desire, arousal, and the ability to achieve orgasm. Problems in these areas can lead to lower psychological well-being and relationship dissatisfaction.

Previous research has established a clear link between eating disorders and sexual dysfunction. Individuals struggling with disordered eating often report higher rates of sexual dissatisfaction and physiological difficulties. This connection makes intuitive sense given that eating disorders involve severe disturbances in body image and physical health.

Hormonal imbalances caused by malnutrition can physically impede sexual response. Simultaneously, psychological factors such as body shame and anxiety about appearance can create mental barriers to intimacy. However, the exact nature of this relationship remains a subject of scientific inquiry.

A complicating factor is the presence of other mental health conditions. Anxiety and depression are highly common among people with eating disorders. These conditions are also well-known causes of sexual dysfunction on their own.

It has been difficult for researchers to determine if sexual problems are caused specifically by the eating disorder or by co-occurring depression and anxiety. Additionally, the vast majority of research on this topic has focused on women. There is a lack of data regarding how these dynamics play out in men.

To address these gaps, a team of researchers led by Maegan B. Nation undertook a comprehensive investigation. Nation is affiliated with the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The team aimed to disentangle the effects of eating pathology from the effects of general distress.

The researchers sought to understand if eating disorder symptoms predict sexual problems when the influence of anxiety and depression is mathematically removed. They also aimed to compare these patterns across genders. This approach allows for a more precise understanding of which symptoms should be targeted in treatment.

The study recruited a large sample of undergraduate students from two public universities in the United States. The final analysis included 1,488 cisgender women and 646 cisgender men. Cisgender refers to individuals whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

Participants completed a series of online questionnaires. To assess eating disorder symptoms, the researchers used the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire. This tool measures behaviors such as dietary restraint and concerns regarding body shape and weight.

To evaluate sexual health, the team utilized the Medical Outcomes Study Sexual Functioning Scale. This measure asks participants to rate the severity of various problems. These issues include a lack of sexual interest, difficulty becoming aroused, inability to relax during sex, and difficulty reaching orgasm.

The researchers also administered a standard assessment for anxiety and depression. This allowed them to control for these variables in their statistical models. By doing so, they could isolate the unique contribution of eating disorder symptoms to sexual functioning.

The results revealed distinct patterns for men and women. Among the female participants, sexual functioning problems were quite common. Approximately 73 percent of women reported some level of difficulty.

The most frequent complaints among women were difficulty reaching orgasm and an inability to relax and enjoy sex. When the researchers ran their statistical models, they found an association between eating disorder symptoms and sexual problems.

However, once the researchers adjusted for anxiety and depression, the picture changed. For women, the direct link between eating disorder symptoms and sexual dysfunction became very weak. The effect sizes were small enough that they might not be clinically meaningful.

Instead, depression symptoms emerged as the stronger predictor of sexual difficulties in women. This suggests that the sexual problems often seen in women with disordered eating may actually be a byproduct of depressive symptoms. The eating disorder itself may not be the primary culprit for the sexual dysfunction.

The findings for men told a different story. About half of the male participants reported sexual functioning problems. The most common issues for men were a lack of sexual interest and an inability to relax.

For men, eating disorder symptoms continued to predict sexual dysfunction even after controlling for anxiety and depression. While the effect was small, it remained statistically relevant. This implies that for men, there is a unique pathway between disordered eating and sexual health that is independent of general mood.

The authors propose several explanations for this gender disparity. One possibility involves the drive for muscularity. Men with body image issues often strive for a hyper-muscular physique rather than thinness.

This specific drive might influence sexual self-esteem and functioning in ways that differ from the drive for thinness typically seen in women. It is also possible that men experience unique sociocultural pressures regarding sexual performance and body image. These pressures could interact with eating pathology to disrupt sexual function.

The results for women align with existing theories about the heavy impact of depression on libido and arousal. It reinforces the idea that treating depression could alleviate sexual side effects in women with eating disorders.

For men, the results suggest that clinicians should look specifically at eating behaviors and body image cognitions. Addressing depression alone might not fully resolve sexual issues for male patients.

The study also examined sexual attraction as a variable. The researchers found that sexual orientation was linked to different levels of functioning. Men who reported attraction to the same gender or multiple genders reported higher levels of sexual problems compared to heterosexual men.

Conversely, women who were exclusively attracted to women reported fewer sexual functioning problems than those attracted to men. This adds nuance to the understanding of how sexual orientation interacts with sexual health.

There are limitations to this study that warrant consideration. The sample consisted of undergraduate students rather than a clinical population. People with diagnosed, severe eating disorders might show different patterns.

The study was also cross-sectional. This means the data represents a single snapshot in time. Researchers cannot definitively say that one factor causes another, only that they are related.

It is possible that the relationship is bidirectional. Sexual problems could contribute to body dissatisfaction, or vice versa. Longitudinal research, which follows participants over time, would be needed to establish causality.

The researchers also noted that the study focused on cisgender individuals. The experiences of transgender and gender-diverse individuals were not analyzed due to sample size constraints. Given that gender-diverse people often face higher rates of eating disorders, this is an area for future investigation.

Despite these limitations, the study offers new insights. It challenges the assumption that the relationship between eating disorders and sex is the same for everyone. It highlights the importance of considering gender when assessing and treating these co-occurring issues.

Maegan Nation and her colleagues suggest that screening for sexual functioning problems should be a routine part of mental health care. For women, this might involve a closer look at depressive symptoms. For men, it might require a specific focus on body image and eating behaviors.

Future research should aim to replicate these findings in clinical settings. Studies involving older adults or community samples would also be beneficial. Understanding the mechanisms behind these associations could lead to more effective interventions.

This research underscores the complexity of human sexuality and its relationship to mental health. It serves as a reminder that broad assumptions often fail to capture individual experiences. By breaking down these associations by gender and accounting for mood disorders, scientists can develop more targeted treatments.

The study, “Sexual Functioning and Eating Disorder Symptoms: Examining the Role of Gender and Internalizing Symptoms in an Undergraduate Population,” was authored by Maegan B. Nation, Shane W. Kraus, Melanie Garcia, Nicholas C. Borgogna, and Kara A. Christensen Pacella.

Spending the morning hours in dim indoor lighting may cause healthy individuals to exhibit biological changes typically seen in people with depression. A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research indicates that a lack of bright light before noon can disrupt sleep cycles and hormonal rhythms. These physiological shifts suggest that dimly lit environments could increase a person’s vulnerability to mood disorders.

The human body relies on environmental cues to regulate its internal clock. This system is known as the circadian rhythm. It dictates when we feel alert and when we feel ready for sleep. The most powerful of these cues is light. When sunlight enters the eye, it signals a region of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This brain region then coordinates hormone production and body temperature. In a natural setting, humans would experience bright light in the morning and darkness at night.

Modern life has altered this natural pattern. Many people spend the vast majority of their waking hours inside buildings. The artificial light in these spaces is often far less intense than natural daylight.

Jan de Zeeuw, Dieter Kunz, and their colleagues at St. Hedwig Hospital and Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin have spent years investigating this phenomenon. They describe this lifestyle as “Living in Biological Darkness.” Their previous research found that urban residents spend approximately half of their daytime hours in light levels lower than 25 lux. For comparison, a cloudy day outside might measure over 1,000 lux.

The researchers wanted to understand the specific consequences of this low-light lifestyle. They were particularly interested in how it affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This system controls the release of cortisol. Cortisol is often called the stress hormone. In a healthy person, cortisol levels peak early in the morning to help wake the body. These levels then gradually decline throughout the day and reach their lowest point in the evening. This rhythm allows the body to wind down for sleep.

In patients diagnosed with depression, this rhythm often malfunctions. Their cortisol levels frequently remain elevated throughout the day and into the evening. Another biological marker of depression involves specific changes in sleep architecture. Sleep is composed of different stages, including rapid eye movement, or REM, and deep slow-wave sleep.

Depressed patients often experience a shift in deep sleep from the beginning of the night to later cycles. The researchers aimed to see if dim light alone could induce these depression-like symptoms in healthy volunteers.

The study recruited twenty healthy young adults to participate in a controlled experiment. The group consisted of ten men and ten women with an average age of about twenty-four. To ensure accuracy, the participants maintained a consistent sleep schedule for a week before the testing began. The researchers monitored their adherence using wrist-worn activity trackers.

The participants were randomly divided into two groups. The experiment focused on the morning hours between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM. For five days, one group spent these hours in a room with low-intensity incandescent lighting. This light measured 55 lux and had a warm, yellowish color temperature. This environment simulated a dimly lit living room or a workspace with poor lighting.

The second group spent the same morning hours in a room with higher-intensity fluorescent lighting. This light measured 800 lux and had a cooler, bluish tone. This intensity mimics a brightly lit office or classroom. It served as a control condition. During the afternoons and evenings, participants left the laboratory and went about their normal lives. They returned to the lab for specific testing sessions.

The research team used several methods to track biological changes. They collected urine and saliva samples to measure hormone concentrations. They focused on cortisol and melatonin. They also utilized polysomnography to record sleep patterns. This involves placing sensors on the head to measure brain waves during the night. The team also assessed the participants’ mood and reaction times using standard psychological tests.

The findings revealed distinct differences between the two groups. The participants exposed to the dim incandescent light showed a disruption in their cortisol rhythms. Their cortisol levels were elevated in the late afternoon and evening. This elevation occurred at a time when the hormone should ideally be decreasing. The statistical analysis showed that this increase was not a random fluctuation. The result mirrors the blunted circadian rhythm often observed in depressive illnesses.

Sleep patterns in the dim light group also deteriorated. After repetitive exposure to low morning light, these individuals slept for a shorter duration. On average, their total sleep time decreased by about twenty-five minutes. The internal structure of their sleep changed as well. Deep sleep is characterized by slow-wave activity in the brain. Typically, the bulk of this restorative sleep occurs in the first few cycles of the night.

In the dim light group, this slow-wave activity shifted. It decreased in the earlier part of the night and appeared more frequently in later sleep cycles. This delay in deep sleep is a known characteristic of sleep architecture in patients with depression. The participants in this group also reported feeling subjectively worse. They rated themselves as sleepier and sadder after days of low light exposure compared to the bright light group.

The group exposed to the brighter fluorescent light did not show these negative markers. Their cortisol levels followed a more standard daily curve. Their deep sleep remained anchored in the early part of the night. The researchers did note one specific change in this group. The bright light appeared to increase the amount of REM sleep they experienced toward the end of the night.

The study suggests that light intensity affects more than just vision. It serves as a biological signal that keeps the body’s systems synchronized. The “master clock” in the brain requires sufficient light input to function correctly. This input comes largely from specialized cells in the retina that are sensitive to blue light. Incandescent bulbs, like those used for the dim group, emit very little blue light. Fluorescent bulbs emit more of these wavelengths.

When the brain does not receive a strong morning light signal, the circadian system may weaken. This weakening can lead to a misalignment of internal rhythms. The researchers note that the suprachiasmatic nucleus has direct neural pathways to the adrenal glands. This connection explains how light—or the lack of it—can directly influence cortisol production.

The authors propose that the observed changes could represent a “vulnerability” to depression. The participants were healthy and did not develop clinical depression during the short study. However, their bodies began to mimic the physiological state of a depressed person. The combination of high evening cortisol and disrupted sleep creates a physical environment where mood disorders might more easily take root.

The researchers stated, “In healthy subjects repetitive exposure to low-intensity lighting during pre-midday hours was associated with increased cortisol levels over the day and delayed slow-wave-activity within nighttime sleep, changes known to occur in patients with depressive illnesses.”

They continued by noting the implications of these sleep changes. “Insomnia-like changes in sleep architecture shown here may pave the avenue to more vulnerability to depression and contribute to the understanding of pathophysiology in depressive illnesses.”

There are limitations to this study that should be considered. The sample size was relatively small, with only ten people in each group. A larger pool of participants would provide more robust data. The design compared two different groups of people rather than testing the same people under both conditions. This introduces the possibility that individual differences influenced the results.

Additionally, the researchers could not control the light exposure participants received after leaving the lab at noon. While they wore activity monitors, these devices cannot always perfectly track light intake. However, previous studies by the same team suggest that urban residents generally encounter low light levels throughout the day. It is plausible that the participants did not receive significant bright light in the afternoons to counteract the morning dimness.

Future research should investigate these effects over longer periods. A study lasting weeks or months could determine if these biological changes eventually lead to psychological symptoms. It would also be beneficial to test different light sources, such as LED lighting, which is now common. Understanding the specific wavelengths of light that best support the circadian rhythm is an ongoing area of scientific inquiry.

The findings carry practical implications for building design and public health. They suggest that the standard lighting found in many homes and offices may be insufficient for biological health. Increasing light levels during the morning could serve as a simple preventative measure. This might involve using brighter artificial lights or designing spaces that admit more daylight.

The concept of “Living in Biological Darkness” highlights a mismatch between human biology and the modern environment. Our bodies evolved to expect bright mornings. Depriving the brain of this signal appears to set off a chain reaction of hormonal and neurological disruptions. While a few days of dim light may not cause immediate harm, chronic exposure could erode mental resilience.

Jan de Zeeuw and his co-authors argue that it is time to reconsider how we light our indoor spaces. They suggest that integrating bright light into schools, workplaces, and nursing homes could improve overall health. By mimicking the natural rising of the sun, we may be able to stabilize our internal rhythms. This stabilization could protect against the physiological precursors of depression.

The study, “Living in biological darkness III: Effects of low-level pre-midday lighting on markers of depression in healthy subjects,” was authored by Jan de Zeeuw, Claudia Nowozin, Martin Haberecht, Sven Hädel, Frederik Bes, and Dieter Kunz.

Recent experimental findings suggest that d-amphetamine, a potent central nervous system stimulant, can override learned sexual inhibitions in male rats. The research demonstrates that the drug causes animals to pursue sexual partners they had previously learned to avoid due to negative reinforcement. These results, which highlight a disruption in the brain’s reward and inhibition circuitry, were published in the journal Psychopharmacology.

To understand the specific nature of this study, one must first look at how animals learn to navigate sexual environments. In the wild, animals must determine when it is appropriate to engage in mating behavior and when it is not. A male rat that attempts to mate with a female that is not sexually receptive will be rejected.

Over time, the animal learns to associate certain cues, such as scents or locations, with this rejection. This learning process is known as conditioned sexual inhibition. It serves an evolutionary purpose by preventing the male from wasting energy on mating attempts that will not result in reproduction.

Researchers have long sought to understand how recreational drugs alter this specific type of decision-making. While it is well documented that stimulants can physically enable or enhance sexual behavior, less is understood about how they affect the psychological choice to engage in sex when an individual knows they should not. Previous work has established that alcohol can dismantle this learned inhibition. The current research aimed to see if d-amphetamine, a drug with a very different chemical mechanism, would produce a similar result.

The research team was led by Katuschia Germé from the Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology at Concordia University in Montreal. The team also included Dhillon Persad, Justine Petit-Robinson, Shimon Amir, and James G. Pfaus. They designed an experiment to create a strong mental association in the subjects. They used male Long-Evans rats as the subjects for the experiment.

The researchers began by training the rats over the course of twenty sessions. This training took place in specific testing chambers. During these sessions, the males were exposed to two different types of female rats. Some females were sexually receptive and carried no added scent. Other females were not sexually receptive and were scented with an almond extract.

The male rats quickly learned the difference. They associated the neutral, unscented females with sexual reward. Conversely, they associated the almond scent with rejection and a lack of reward. After the training phase, the males would reliably ignore females that smelled like almond, even if those females were actually receptive. The almond smell had become a “stop” signal. This state represents the conditioned sexual inhibition that the study sought to investigate.

Once this inhibition was established, the researchers moved to the testing phase. They divided the rats into groups and administered varying doses of d-amphetamine. Some rats received a saline solution which served as a control group with no drug effect. Others received doses of 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

The researchers then placed the male rats in a large open arena. This environment was different from the training cages to ensure the rats were reacting to the females and not the room itself. Two sexually receptive females were placed in the arena with the male. One female was unscented. The other female was scented with the almond extract.

Under normal circumstances, a trained rat would ignore the almond-scented female. This is exactly what the researchers observed in the group given the saline solution. These sober rats directed their attention almost exclusively toward the unscented female. They adhered to their training and avoided the scent associated with past rejection.

The behavior of the rats treated with d-amphetamine was distinct. Regardless of the dose administered, the drug-treated rats copulated with both the unscented and the almond-scented females. The drug had completely eroded the learned inhibition. The almond scent, which previously acted as a deterrent, no longer stopped the males from initiating copulation.

It is important to note that the drug did not simply make the rats hyperactive or indiscriminate due to confusion. The researchers tracked the total amount of sexual activity. They found that while the choice of partner changed, the overall mechanics of the sexual behavior remained competent. The drug did not create a chaotic frenzy. It specifically removed the psychological barrier that had been built during training.

Following the behavioral tests, the researchers investigated what was happening inside the brains of these animals. They utilized a technique that stains for the Fos protein. This protein is produced within neurons shortly after they have been active. By counting the cells containing Fos, scientists can create a map of which brain regions were working during a specific event.

To do this, the researchers re-exposed the rats to the almond odor while they were under the influence of the drug or saline. They did not include females in this phase. This allowed the team to see how the brain processed the cue of the almond scent in isolation.

The analysis revealed distinct patterns of brain activation. In the rats that received saline, the almond odor triggered activity in the piriform cortex. This is a region of the brain involved in processing the sense of smell. However, these sober rats showed lower activity in the medial preoptic area. This area is critical for male sexual behavior. This pattern suggests that the sober brain registered the smell and dampened the sexual control center in response.

The rats treated with d-amphetamine showed a reversal of this pattern. When exposed to the almond scent, these rats displayed increased activity in the nucleus accumbens. The nucleus accumbens is a central component of the brain’s reward system. It is heavily involved in processing motivation and pleasure.

The drug also increased activity in the ventral tegmental area. This region produces dopamine and sends it to the nucleus accumbens. The presence of the drug appeared to hijack the processing of the inhibitory cue. Instead of the almond smell triggering a “stop” signal, the drug caused the brain to treat the smell as a neutral or potentially positive stimulus.

The researchers noted that the activation in the nucleus accumbens was particularly telling. This region lights up in response to rewards. By chemically stimulating this area with d-amphetamine, the drug may have overridden the negative memory associated with the almond scent. The cue for rejection was seemingly transformed into a cue for potential reward.

The team also observed changes in the amygdala. This part of the brain is often associated with emotional processing and fear. The drug-treated rats showed different activity levels in the central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala compared to the control group. This suggests that the drug alters the emotional weight of the memory.

These findings align with previous research conducted by this laboratory regarding alcohol. In prior studies, the researchers found that alcohol also disrupted conditioned sexual inhibition. The fact that two very different drugs—one a depressant and one a stimulant—produce the same behavioral outcome suggests they may act on a shared neural pathway.

The authors propose that this shared pathway likely involves the mesolimbic dopamine system. This is the circuit connecting the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens. Both alcohol and amphetamines are known to increase dopamine release in this system. This surge in dopamine appears to be strong enough to wash out the learned signals that tell an individual to stop or refrain from a behavior.

There are limitations to how these findings can be interpreted. The study was conducted on rats, and animal models do not perfectly replicate human psychology. The complexity of human sexual decision-making involves social and cultural factors that cannot be simulated in a rodent model. Additionally, the study looked at acute administration of the drug. The effects of chronic, long-term use might result in different behavioral adaptations.

The researchers also point out that while the inhibition was broken, the drug did not strictly enhance sexual performance. In fact, at the highest doses, some rats failed to reach ejaculation despite engaging in the behavior. This distinction separates the concept of sexual arousal from sexual execution. The drug increased the drive to engage but did not necessarily improve the physical conclusion of the act.

Future research will likely focus on pinpointing the exact chemical interactions within the amygdala and nucleus accumbens. Understanding the precise receptors involved could shed light on how addiction affects risk assessment. If a drug can chemically overwrite a learned warning signal, it explains why individuals under the influence often engage in risky behaviors they would logically avoid when sober.

The study provides a neurobiological framework for understanding drug-induced disinhibition. It suggests that drugs like d-amphetamine do not merely lower inhibitions in a vague sense. Rather, they actively reconfigure how the brain perceives specific cues. A stimulus that once meant “danger” or “rejection” is reprocessed through the reward system. This chemical deception allows the behavior to proceed unchecked.

The study, “Disruptive effects of d-amphetamine on conditioned sexual inhibition in the male rat,” was authored by Katuschia Germé, Dhillon Persad, Justine Petit-Robinson, Shimon Amir, and James G. Pfaus.

The integration of artificial intelligence into mental health care has accelerated rapidly, with more than half of psychologists now utilizing these tools to assist with their daily professional duties. While practitioners are increasingly adopting this technology to manage administrative burdens, they remain highly cautious regarding the potential threats it poses to patient privacy and safety, according to the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Practitioner Pulse Survey.

The American Psychological Association represents the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. Its leadership monitors the evolving landscape of mental health practice to understand how professionals navigate changes in technology and patient needs.

In recent years, the field has faced a dual challenge of high demand for services and increasing bureaucratic requirements from insurance providers. These pressures have created an environment where digital tools promise relief from time-consuming paperwork.

However, the introduction of automated systems into sensitive therapeutic environments raises ethical questions regarding confidentiality and the human element of care. To gauge how these tensions are playing out in real-world offices, the association commissioned its annual inquiry into the state of the profession.

The 2025 Practitioner Pulse Survey targeted doctoral-level psychologists who held active licenses to practice in at least one U.S. state. To ensure the results accurately reflected the profession, the research team utilized a probability-based random sampling method. They generated a list of more than 126,000 licensed psychologists using state board data and randomly selected 30,000 individuals to receive invitations.

This approach allowed the researchers to minimize selection bias. Ultimately, 1,742 psychologists completed the survey, providing a snapshot of the workforce. The respondents were primarily female and White, which aligns with historical demographic trends in the field. The majority worked full-time, with private practice being the most common setting.

The survey results revealed a sharp increase in the adoption of artificial intelligence compared to the previous year. In 2024, only 29% of psychologists reported using AI tools. By 2025, that figure had climbed to 56%. The frequency of use also intensified. Nearly three out of 10 psychologists reported using these tools on at least a monthly basis. This represents a substantial shift from 2024, when only about one in 10 reported such frequent usage.

Detailed analysis of the data shows that psychologists are primarily using these tools to handle logistics rather than patient care. Among those who utilized AI, more than half used it to assist with writing emails and other materials. About one-third used it to generate content or summarize clinical notes. These functions address the administrative workload that often detracts from face-to-face time with clients.

Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, the CEO of the association, commented on this trend.

“Psychologists are drawn to this field because they’re passionate about improving peoples’ lives, but they can lose hours each day on paperwork and managing the often byzantine requirements of insurance companies,” said Evans. “Leveraging safe and ethical AI tools can increase psychologists’ efficiency, allowing them to reach more people and better serve them.”

Despite the utility of these tools for office management, the survey highlighted deep reservations about their safety. An overwhelming 92% of psychologists cited concerns regarding the use of AI in their field. The most prevalent worry, cited by 67% of respondents, was the potential for data breaches. This is a particularly acute issue in mental health care, where maintaining the confidentiality of patient disclosures is foundational to the therapeutic relationship.

Other concerns focused on the reliability and social impact of the technology. Unanticipated social harms were cited by 64% of respondents. Biases in the input and output of AI models worried 63% of the psychologists surveyed. There is a documented risk that AI models trained on unrepresentative data may perpetuate stereotypes or offer unequal quality of care to marginalized groups.

Additionally, 60% of practitioners expressed concern over inaccurate output or “hallucinations.” This term refers to the tendency of generative AI models to confidently present false or fabricated information as fact. In a clinical setting, such errors could lead to misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment plans if not caught by a human supervisor.

“Artificial intelligence can help ease some of the pressures that psychologists are facing—for instance, by increasing efficiency and improving access to care—but human oversight remains essential,” said Evans. “Patients need to know they can trust their provider to identify and mitigate risks or biases that arise from using these technologies in their treatment.”

The survey data suggests that psychologists are heeding this need for oversight by keeping AI largely separate from direct clinical tasks. Only 8% of those who used the technology employed it to assist with clinical diagnosis. Furthermore, only 5% utilized chatbot assistance for direct patient interaction. This indicates that while practitioners are willing to delegate paperwork to algorithms, they are hesitant to trust them with the nuances of human psychology.

This hesitation correlates with fears about the future of the profession. The survey found that 38% of psychologists worried that AI might eventually make some of their job duties obsolete. However, the current low rates of clinical adoption suggest that the core functions of therapy remain firmly in human hands for the time being.

The context for this technological shift is a workforce that remains under immense pressure. The survey explored factors beyond technology, painting a picture of a profession straining to meet demand. Nearly half of all psychologists reported that they had no openings for new patients.

Simultaneously, practitioners observed that the mental health crisis has not abated. About 45% of respondents indicated that the severity of their patients’ symptoms is increasing. This rising acuity requires more intensive care and energy from providers, further limiting the number of patients they can effectively treat.

Economic factors also complicate the landscape. The survey revealed that fewer than two-thirds of psychologists accept some form of insurance. Respondents pointed to insufficient reimbursement rates as a primary driver for this decision. They also cited struggles with pre-authorization requirements and audits. These administrative hurdles consume time that could otherwise be spent on treatment.

The association has issued recommendations for psychologists considering the use of AI to ensure ethical practice. They advise obtaining informed consent from patients by clearly communicating how AI tools are used. Practitioners are encouraged to evaluate tools for potential biases that could worsen health disparities.

Compliance with data privacy laws is another priority. The recommendations urge psychologists to understand exactly how patient data is used, stored, or shared by the third-party companies that provide AI services. This due diligence is intended to protect the sanctity of the doctor-patient privilege in a digital age.

The methodology of the 2025 survey differed slightly from previous years to improve accuracy. In prior iterations, the survey screened out ineligible participants. In 2025, the instrument included a section for those who did not meet the criteria, allowing the organization to gather internal data on who was receiving the invites.

The response rate for the survey was 6.6%. While this may appear low to a layperson, it is a typical rate for this type of professional survey and provided a robust sample size for analysis. The demographic breakdown of the sample showed slight shifts toward a younger workforce. The 2025 sample had the highest proportion of early-career practitioners in the history of the survey.

This influx of younger psychologists may influence the adoption rates of new technologies. Early-career professionals are often more accustomed to integrating digital solutions into their workflows. However, the high levels of concern across the board suggest that skepticism of AI is not limited to older generations of practitioners.

The findings from the 2025 Practitioner Pulse Survey illustrate a profession at a crossroads. Psychologists are actively seeking ways to manage an unsustainable workload. AI offers a potential solution to the administrative bottleneck. Yet, the ethical mandates of the profession demand a cautious approach.

The data indicates that while the tools are entering the office, they have not yet entered the therapy room in a meaningful way. Practitioners are balancing the need for efficiency with the imperative to do no harm. As the technology evolves, the field will likely continue to grapple with how to harness the benefits of automation without compromising the human connection that defines psychological care.

A new study suggests that the brain uses distinct neural pathways to process different aspects of personal well-being. The research indicates that evaluating family relationships activates specific memory-related brain regions, while assessing how one handles stress engages areas responsible for cognitive control. These findings were published recently in the journal Emotion.

Psychologists and neuroscientists have struggled to define exactly what constitutes a sense of well-being. Historically, many experts viewed well-being as a single, general concept. It was often equated simply with happiness or life satisfaction. This approach assumes that feeling good about life is a uniform experience. However, more recent scholarship argues that well-being is multidimensional. It is likely composed of various distinct facets that contribute to overall mental health.

To understand how we can improve mental health, it is necessary to identify the mechanisms behind these different components. A team of researchers set out to map the brain activity associated with specific types of life satisfaction. The study was conducted by Kayla H. Green, Suzanne van de Groep, Renske van der Cruijsen, Esther A. H. Warnert, and Eveline A. Crone. These scientists are affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam and Radboud University in the Netherlands.

The researchers based their work on the idea that young adults face unique challenges in the modern world. They utilized a measurement tool called the Multidimensional Well-being in Youth Scale. This scale was previously developed in collaboration with panels of young people. It divides well-being into five specific domains.

The first domain is family relationships. The second is the ability to deal with stress. The third domain covers self-confidence. The fourth involves having impact, purpose, and meaning in life. The final domain is the feeling of being loved, appreciated, and respected. The researchers hypothesized that the brain would respond differently depending on which of these domains a person was considering.

To test this hypothesis, the team recruited 34 young adults. The participants ranged in age from 20 to 25 years old. This age group is often referred to as emerging adulthood. It is a period characterized by identity exploration and significant life changes. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to observe brain activity. This technology tracks blood flow to different parts of the brain to determine which areas are working hardest at any given moment.

While inside the MRI scanner, the participants completed a specific self-evaluation task. They viewed a series of sentences related to the five domains of well-being. For example, a statement might ask them to evaluate if they accept themselves for who they are. The participants rated how much the statement applied to them on a scale of one to four.

The task did not stop at a simple evaluation of the present. After rating their current feelings, the participants answered a follow-up question. They rated the extent to which they wanted that specific aspect of their life to change in the future. This allowed the researchers to measure both current satisfaction and the desire for personal growth.

In addition to the brain scans, the participants completed standardized surveys outside of the scanner. One survey measured symptoms of depression. Another survey assessed symptoms of burnout. The researchers also asked about feelings of uncertainty regarding the future. These measures helped the team connect the immediate brain responses to the participants’ broader mental health.

The behavioral results from the study showed clear patterns in how young adults view their lives. The participants gave the lowest positivity ratings to the domain of dealing with stress. This suggests that managing stress is a primary struggle for this demographic. Consequently, the participants reported the highest desire for future change in this same domain.

The researchers analyzed the relationship between these ratings and the mental health surveys. They found that higher positivity ratings in all five domains were associated with fewer burnout symptoms. This means that feeling good about any area of life may offer some protection against burnout.

A different pattern emerged regarding the desire for change. Participants who reported more burnout symptoms expressed a stronger desire to change how they felt about having an impact. They also wanted to change their levels of self-confidence and their feelings of being loved. This suggests that burnout is not just about exhaustion. It is also linked to a desire to alter one’s sense of purpose and social connection.

Depressive symptoms showed a broad association with the desire for change. Higher levels of depression were linked to a wish for future changes in almost every domain. The only exception was self-confidence. This implies that young adults with depressive symptoms are generally unsatisfied with their external circumstances and relationships.

The brain imaging data revealed that the mind does indeed separate these domains. When participants evaluated sentences about positive family relationships, a specific region called the precuneus became highly active. The precuneus is located in the parietal lobe of the brain. It is known to play a role in thinking about oneself and recalling personal memories.

This finding aligns with previous research on social cognition. Thinking about family likely requires accessing autobiographical memories. It involves reflecting on one’s history with close relatives. The activity in the precuneus suggests that family well-being is deeply rooted in memory and self-referential thought.

A completely different neural pattern appeared when participants thought about dealing with stress. For these items, the researchers observed increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This region is located near the front of the brain. It is widely recognized as a center for executive function.

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex helps regulate emotions and manage cognitive control. Its involvement suggests that thinking about stress is an active cognitive process. It is not just a passive feeling. Instead, it requires the brain to engage in appraisal and regulation. This makes sense given that the participants also expressed the greatest desire to change how they handle stress.

The study did not find distinct, unique neural patterns for the other three domains. Self-confidence, having impact, and feeling loved did not activate specific regions to the exclusion of others. They likely rely on more general networks that overlap with other types of thinking.

However, the distinction between family and stress is notable. It provides physical evidence that well-being is not a single state of mind. The brain recruits different resources depending on whether a person is focusing on their social roots or their emotional management.

The researchers also noted a general pattern involving the medial prefrontal cortex. This area was active during the instruction phase of the task. It was also active when participants considered their desire for future changes. This region is often associated with thinking about the future and self-improvement.

There are limitations to this study that should be considered. The final sample size included only 34 participants. This is a relatively small number for an fMRI study. Small groups can make it difficult to detect subtle effects or generalize the findings to the entire population.

The researchers also noted that the number of trials for each condition was limited. Participants only saw a few sentences for each of the five domains. A higher number of trials would provide more data points for analysis. This would increase the statistical reliability of the results.

Additionally, the study design was correlational. This means the researchers can see that certain brain patterns and survey answers go together. However, they cannot say for certain that one causes the other. For instance, it is not clear if desiring change leads to burnout, or if burnout leads to a desire for change.

Future research could address these issues by recruiting larger and more diverse groups of people. It would be beneficial to include individuals from different cultural backgrounds. Different cultures may prioritize family or stress management differently. This could lead to different patterns of brain activity.

Longitudinal studies would also be a logical next step. Following participants over several years would allow scientists to see how these brain patterns develop. It is possible that the neural correlates of well-being shift as young adults mature into their thirties and forties.

Despite these caveats, the study offers a new perspective on mental health. It supports the idea that well-being is a multifaceted construct. By treating well-being as a collection of specific domains, clinicians may be better able to help patients.

The study, “Neural Correlates of Well-Being in Young Adults,” was authored by Kayla H. Green, Suzanne van de Groep, Renske van der Cruijsen, Esther A. H. Warnert, and Eveline A. Crone.

Federal legislators in the United States actively curate their digital footprints to project a specific professional identity. A new analysis reveals that these officials frequently remove social media posts that mention their private lives or name specific colleagues. But they tend to preserve posts that criticize policies or opponents. The research was published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

The digital age has transformed how elected officials communicate with voters. Social media platforms allow politicians to broadcast their views instantly. However, this speed also blurs the traditional boundaries between public performance and private thought.

Sociologist Erving Goffman described this dynamic as impression management. This concept suggests that individuals constantly perform to control how others perceive them. They attempt to keep their visible “front-stage” behavior consistent with a desired public image.

In the political arena, maintaining a consistent image is essential for securing votes and support. A single misstep on a platform like X, formerly known as Twitter, can damage a reputation instantly. Researchers wanted to understand how this pressure influences what politicians choose to hide. They sought to identify which specific characteristics prompt a legislator to hit the delete button.

The study was led by Siyuan Ma from the Department of Communication at the University of Macau. Ma worked alongside Junyi Han from the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien in Germany and Wanrong Li from the University of Macau. They aimed to quantify the effort legislators put into managing their online impressions. They also wanted to see if the deletion of content followed a predictable pattern based on political strategy.

To investigate this, the team collected a massive dataset covering the 116th United States Congress. This session ran from January 2019 to September 2020. The researchers utilized a tool called Politwoops to retrieve data on deleted posts. This third-party platform archives tweets removed by public officials to ensure transparency. The dataset included nearly 30,000 deleted tweets and over 800,000 publicly available tweets from the same timeframe.

The researchers analyzed a random sample of these messages to ensure accuracy. Human coders reviewed the content to categorize the topics discussed. They looked for specific variables such as mentions of private life or policy statements. They also tracked mentions of other politicians and instances of criticism. This allowed the team to compare the content of deleted messages against those that remained online.

The timing of deletions offered early insights into political behavior. The data showed a sharp rise in the number of deleted tweets beginning in late 2019. This increase coincided with the start of the presidential impeachment inquiry. The high-stakes environment likely prompted legislators to be more cautious about their digital history.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic also shifted online behavior. As the health crisis unfolded, the total volume of tweets from legislators increased dramatically. Despite the higher volume of posts, the proportion of deleted messages remained elevated. This suggests that during periods of national crisis, the pressure to manage one’s public image intensifies.

When the researchers examined the content of the tweets, distinct patterns emerged. One of the strongest predictors for deletion was the mention of private life. Legislators were statistically more likely to remove posts about their families, hobbies, or vacations. This contradicts some political theories that suggest showing a “human side” helps build connections with voters.

Instead, the findings point toward a strategy of strict professionalism. By scrubbing personal details, politicians appear to be focusing the public’s attention on their official duties. They seem to use the platform as a space for serious legislative work rather than social intimacy. The data indicates that looking professional is prioritized over looking relatable.

Another major trigger for deletion was the mention of specific colleagues. Tweets that named other politicians were frequently removed from the public record. This behavior may be a strategic move to minimize liability. Mentioning a colleague who later becomes involved in a scandal can be damaging by association. Deleting these mentions keeps a legislator’s timeline clean of potential future embarrassments.

In contrast, the study found that criticism is rarely deleted. Legislators were likely to keep tweets that attacked opposing policies or ideologies visible. This suggests that being critical is viewed as a standard and acceptable part of a politician’s role. It signals to voters that the official is actively fighting for their interests.

The study also evaluated the accuracy of the information shared by these officials. Popular narratives often suggest that social media is flooded with false information from all sides. However, the analysis showed that legislators rarely posted demonstrably false claims. This adherence to factual information was consistent across both deleted and public tweets.

Party loyalty acted as a powerful constraint on behavior. The researchers found almost no instances of legislators posting content that violated their party’s stance. This was true even among the deleted tweets. The lack of dissent suggests an intense pressure to maintain a united front. Deviating from the party line appears to be a risk that few elected officials are willing to take.

The status of the legislator also influenced their deletion habits. The study compared members of the House of Representatives with members of the Senate. The results showed that Representatives were more likely to delete tweets than Senators. This difference likely stems from the varying political pressures they face.

Senators serve six-year terms and represent entire states. They typically have greater name recognition and more secure political resources. This security may give them the confidence to leave their statements on the public record. They feel less need to constantly micromanage their online presence.

Representatives, however, face re-election every two years. They often represent smaller, more volatile districts where a small shift in opinion can cost them their seat. This constant campaign mode creates a higher sensitivity to public perception. Consequently, they appear to scrub their social media accounts more aggressively to avoid potential controversies.

The findings illustrate that social media management is not random. It is a calculated extension of a politician’s broader communication strategy. The platform is used to construct an image that is professional, critical of opponents, and fiercely loyal to the party. The removal of personal content serves to harden this professional shell.

There are limitations to the study that the authors acknowledge. The analysis relied on a random sample rather than the full set of nearly one million tweets. While statistically valid, this approach might miss rare but important deviations in behavior. Funding constraints prevented the use of more expensive analysis methods on the full dataset.

The study also did not account for the specific political geography of each legislator. Factors such as gerrymandering could influence how safe a politician feels in their seat. A representative in a heavily gerrymandered district might behave differently than one in a swing district. The current study did not measure how these external pressures impact deletion rates.

Future research could address these gaps by using advanced technology. The authors propose using machine learning algorithms to classify the entire dataset of tweets. This would allow for a more granular analysis of political behavior on a massive scale. It would also help researchers understand if these patterns hold true over longer periods.

Understanding these behaviors is important for the voting public. The curated nature of social media means that voters are seeing a filtered version of their representatives. The emphasis on criticism and the removal of personal nuance contributes to a polarized online environment. By recognizing these strategies, citizens can better evaluate the digital performance of the people they elect.

The study, “More criticisms, less mention of politicians, and rare party violations: A comparison of deleted tweets and publicly available tweets of U.S. legislators,” was authored by Siyuan Ma, Junyi Han, and Wanrong Li.

Adolescents and young adults who consume pre-workout dietary supplements may be sacrificing essential rest for their fitness goals. A recent analysis indicates that individuals in this age group who use these performance-enhancing products are more likely to report sleeping fewer than five hours per night. These findings were published recently in the journal Sleep Epidemiology.

The pressure to achieve an ideal physique or enhance athletic performance drives many young people toward dietary aids. Pre-workout supplements, often sold as powders or drinks, are designed to deliver an acute boost in energy and endurance. These products have gained popularity in fitness communities and on social media platforms.

Despite their widespread use, the potential side effects of these multi-ingredient formulations are not always clear to consumers. The primary active ingredient in most pre-workout blends is caffeine, often in concentrations far exceeding that of a standard cup of coffee or soda. While caffeine is a known performance enhancer, its stimulant properties can linger in the body for many hours.

Kyle T. Ganson, an assistant professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, led the investigation into how these products affect sleep. Ganson and his colleagues sought to address a gap in current public health knowledge regarding the specific relationship between these supplements and sleep duration in younger populations.

The researchers drew data from the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors. This large-scale survey collects information on the physical, mental, and social well-being of young people across Canada. The team focused on a specific wave of data collected in late 2022.

The analysis included 912 participants ranging in age from 16 to 30 years old. The researchers recruited these individuals through advertisements on popular social media platforms, specifically Instagram and Snapchat. This recruitment method allowed the team to reach a broad demographic of digital natives who are often the target audience for fitness supplement marketing.

Participants answered questions regarding their use of appearance- and performance-enhancing substances over the previous twelve months. They specifically indicated whether they had used pre-workout drinks or powders. Additionally, the survey asked participants to report their average nightly sleep duration over the preceding two weeks.

To ensure the results were robust, the researchers accounted for various factors that might influence sleep independently of supplement use. They adjusted their statistical models for variables such as age, gender, and exercise habits. They also controlled for symptoms of depression and anxiety, as mental health struggles frequently disrupt sleep patterns.

The results showed a clear distinction between users and non-users of these supplements. Approximately 22 percent of the participants reported using pre-workout products in the past year. Those who did were substantially more likely to report very short sleep durations.

Specifically, the study found that pre-workout users were more than 2.5 times as likely to sleep five hours or less per night compared to those who did not use the supplements. This comparison used eight hours of sleep as the healthy baseline. The association remained strong even after the researchers adjusted for the sociodemographic and mental health variables.

The researchers did not find a statistically significant link between pre-workout use and sleeping six or seven hours compared to eight. The strongest signal in the data was specifically for the most severe category of sleep deprivation. This suggests that the supplements may be contributing to extreme sleep deficits rather than minor reductions in rest.

Biology offers a clear explanation for this phenomenon. Caffeine functions by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a chemical that accumulates throughout the day and promotes sleepiness; by blocking it, caffeine induces a state of alertness.

This mechanism helps during a workout but becomes a liability when trying to rest. Ganson highlights the dosage as a primary concern.

“These products commonly contain large doses of caffeine, anywhere between 90 to over 350 mg of caffeine, more than a can of Coke, which has roughly 35 mg, and a cup of coffee with about 100 mg,” said Ganson. “Our results suggest that pre-workout use may contribute to inadequate sleep, which is critical for healthy development, mental well-being, and academic functioning.”

Beyond simple wakefulness, caffeine also delays the body’s internal release of melatonin. This hormone signals to the body that it is time to sleep. Disrupting this rhythm can make it difficult to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

Additionally, high doses of stimulants activate the sympathetic nervous system. This biological response increases heart rate and blood pressure. A body in this heightened state of physiological arousal is ill-equipped for the relaxation necessary for deep sleep.

The timing of consumption plays a major role in these effects. Young adults often exercise in the afternoon or evening after school or work. Consuming a high-stimulant beverage at this time means the caffeine is likely still active in their system when they attempt to go to bed.

This sleep disruption is particularly concerning for the age group studied. Adolescents generally require between 8 and 10 hours of sleep for optimal development. Young adults typically need between 7 and 9 hours.

Chronic sleep deprivation in this developmental window is linked to a host of negative outcomes. These include impaired cognitive function, emotional instability, and compromised physical health. The authors note that the very products used to improve health and fitness might be undermining recovery and overall well-being.

“Pre-workout supplements, which often contain high levels of caffeine and stimulant-like ingredients, have become increasingly popular among teenagers and young adults seeking to improve exercise performance and boost energy,” said Ganson. “However, the study’s findings point to potential risks to the well-being of young people who use these supplements.”

The study does have limitations that readers should consider. The data is cross-sectional, meaning it captures a snapshot in time rather than tracking individuals over years. As a result, the researchers cannot definitively prove that the supplements caused the sleep loss.

It is possible that the relationship works in the opposite direction. Individuals who are chronically tired due to poor sleep habits may turn to pre-workout supplements to power through their exercise routines. This could create a cycle of dependency and fatigue.

Furthermore, the study relied on self-reported data. Participants had to recall their sleep habits and supplement use, which introduces the possibility of memory errors. The survey also did not ask about the specific dosage or timing of the supplement intake.

Despite these limitations, the authors argue the association is strong enough to warrant attention from healthcare providers. They suggest that pediatricians and social workers should ask young patients about their supplement use. Open conversations could help identify potential causes of insomnia or fatigue.

Harm reduction strategies could allow young people to exercise safely without compromising their rest. The most effective approach involves timing. Experts generally recommend avoiding high doses of caffeine 12 to 14 hours before bedtime to ensure the substance is fully metabolized.

“Young people often view pre-workout supplements as harmless fitness products,” Ganson noted. “But these findings underscore the importance of educating them and their families about how these supplements can disrupt sleep and potentially affect overall health.”

Future research will need to examine the nuances of this relationship. Longitudinal studies could track users over time to establish a clearer causal link. Researchers also hope to investigate how specific ingredients beyond caffeine might interact to affect sleep quality.

The study, “Use of pre-workout dietary supplements is associated with lower sleep duration among adolescents and young adults,” was authored by Kyle T. Ganson, Alexander Testa, and Jason M. Nagata.

Recent research suggests that biological rhythms may exert a subtle yet powerful influence on male consumer behavior. A study published in Psychopharmacology has found that men in committed relationships exhibit a reduced desire to purchase status-signaling goods when their female partners are in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle. This shift in preference appears to be driven by an unconscious evolutionary mechanism that prioritizes relationship maintenance over the attraction of new mates.

To understand these findings, it is necessary to examine the evolutionary roots of consumerism. Evolutionary psychologists posit that spending money is rarely just about acquiring goods. In many instances, it serves as a signal to others in the social group. Specifically, “conspicuous consumption” involves purchasing lavish items to display wealth and social standing.

This behavior is often compared to the peacock’s tail. Just as the bird displays its feathers to attract a mate, men may purchase luxury cars or expensive watches to signal their resourcefulness to potential partners. This is generally considered a strategy for attracting short-term mates. However, this strategy requires a significant investment of resources.

For men in committed relationships, there is a theoretical trade-off between attracting new partners and maintaining their current bond. This is described by sexual selection and parental investment theories. When a female partner is capable of conceiving, the reproductive stakes are at their highest.

During this fertile window, it may be maladaptive for a male to focus his energy on signaling to other women. Doing so could risk his current relationship. Instead, evolutionary logic suggests he should focus on “mate retention.” This involves guarding the relationship and ensuring his investment in potential offspring is secure.

The researchers hypothesized that this shift in focus would manifest in consumer choices. They predicted that men would be less inclined to buy flashier items when their partners were ovulating. To test this, they also looked at the role of oxytocin.

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide produced in the hypothalamus. It is often referred to as the “hormone of love” because of its role in social bonding and trust. It facilitates attachment between couples and between parents and children.

The research team included Honghong Tang, Hongyu Fu, Song Su, Luqiong Tong, Yina Ma, and Chao Liu. They are affiliated primarily with Beijing Normal University in China. Their investigation sought to determine if oxytocin reinforces the evolutionary drive to stop signaling status during a partner’s ovulation.

The investigation began with a preliminary pilot study to categorize consumer products. The team needed to distinguish between items that signal status and items that are merely functional. They presented a list of goods to a group of 110 participants.

These participants rated items based on dimensions such as social status, wealth, and novelty. Based on these ratings, the researchers selected specific “status products” and “functional products.” Status products included items that clearly projected wealth and prestige. Functional products were items of equal utility but without the social signaling component.

The first major experiment, titled Study 1a, involved 373 male participants. All these men were in committed heterosexual relationships. The study was conducted online.

Participants were asked to rate their attitude toward various status and functional products. They indicated how much they liked each item and how likely they were to buy it. Following this task, the men provided detailed information about their partners’ menstrual cycles.

The researchers categorized the men based on whether their partner was in the menstrual, ovulatory, or luteal phase. The results revealed a distinct pattern. Men whose partners were in the ovulatory phase expressed less interest in status products compared to men in the other groups.

This reduction in preference was specific to status items. The men’s interest in functional products remained stable regardless of their partner’s cycle phase. This suggests the effect is not a general loss of interest in shopping. Rather, it is a specific withdrawal from status signaling.

To ensure this effect was specific to men, the researchers conducted Study 1b. They recruited 416 women who were also in committed relationships. These participants performed the same rating tasks for the same products.

The women provided data on their own menstrual cycles. The analysis showed no variation in their preference for status products across the month. The researchers concluded that the fluctuation in status consumption is a male-specific phenomenon within the context of heterosexual relationships.

The team then designed Study 2 to investigate the causal role of oxytocin. They recruited 60 healthy heterosexual couples. These couples attended laboratory sessions together.

The experiment used a double-blind, placebo-controlled design. The couples visited the lab twice. One visit was scheduled during the woman’s ovulatory phase, and the other during the menstrual phase.

During these visits, the male participants were given a nasal spray. In one session, the spray contained oxytocin. In the other session, it contained a saline solution. Neither the participants nor the experimenters knew which spray was being administered.

After receiving the treatment, the men rated their preferences for the status and functional products. The researchers also measured the men’s “intuitive inclination.” This trait refers to how much a person relies on gut feelings versus calculated reasoning in decision-making.

The results from the placebo condition replicated the findings from the first study. Men liked status products less when their partners were ovulating. However, the administration of oxytocin amplified this effect.

When men received oxytocin during their partner’s fertile window, their desire for status products dropped even further. This suggests that oxytocin heightens a man’s sensitivity to his partner’s reproductive cues. It appears to reinforce the biological imperative to focus on the current relationship.

The study found that this effect was not uniform across all men. It was most pronounced in men who scored high on intuitive inclination. For men who rely heavily on intuition, oxytocin acted as a strong modulator of their consumer preferences.

The authors interpret these findings through the lens of mate-guarding. When a partner is fertile, the male’s biological priority shifts. He unconsciously moves away from behaviors that attract outside attention.

Instead, he focuses inward on the dyadic bond. Status consumption is effectively a broadcast signal to the mating market. Turning off this signal during ovulation serves to protect the exclusivity of the current pair bond.

There are some limitations to this research that warrant mention. The study relied on participants reporting their “possibility to buy” rather than observing actual spending. People’s stated intentions do not always align with their real-world financial behavior.

Additionally, the mechanism by which men detect ovulation is not fully understood. The study assumes men perceive these cues unconsciously. While previous literature suggests men can detect changes in scent or behavior, the current study did not explicitly test for this detection.

The study focused solely on couples in committed relationships. It remains to be seen how single men might respond to similar hormonal or environmental cues. It is possible that the presence of a committed partner is required to trigger this specific suppression of status seeking.

Future research could address these gaps by analyzing real-world consumer data. Comparing purchasing patterns of single men versus committed men would also provide greater clarity. Additionally, measuring oxytocin levels naturally occurring in the blood could validate the findings from the nasal spray experiment.

Despite these caveats, the research offers a new perspective on the biological underpinnings of economic behavior. It challenges the view of consumption as a purely social or rational choice. Instead, it highlights the role of ancient reproductive strategies in modern shopping aisles.

The findings indicate that marketing strategies might affect consumers differently depending on their biological context. Men in relationships may be less responsive to status-based advertising at certain times of the month. Conversely, campaigns focusing on relationship solidity might be more effective during those same windows.

This study adds to a growing body of work linking physiology to psychology. It demonstrates that the drive to reproduce and protect offspring continues to shape human behavior in subtle ways. Even the decision to buy a luxury watch may be influenced by the invisible tick of a partner’s biological clock.

The study, “Modulation of strategic status signaling: oxytocin changes men’s fluctuations of status products preferences in their female partners’ menstrual cycle,” was authored by Honghong Tang, Hongyu Fu, Song Su, Luqiong Tong, Yina Ma, and Chao Liu.

New research suggests that adolescents with high levels of social anxiety rely heavily on unhelpful mental habits to manage their daily stress. These young people do not necessarily lack positive coping skills, but they appear to lean disproportionately on negative strategies like excessive worry. This specific pattern of behavior holds true regardless of the teenager’s age or gender. The findings were published in the Journal of Early Adolescence.

Adolescence represents a distinct developmental window marked by profound changes in social functioning. Young people begin to encounter interpersonal stressors, such as peer conflict or exclusion, with greater frequency than in childhood. This transition is often accompanied by an increase in anxiety symptoms. For youth who are particularly anxious, the normative challenges of middle school can feel overwhelming. Mental health experts recognize that the way a person regulates their emotions in response to stress is a major predictor of their overall psychological health.

Researchers have previously established that anxious youth often experience more intense negative emotions after difficult events. Prior studies also suggested these youth are less successful at regulating those emotions compared to their non-anxious peers. However, past research frequently grouped different types of anxiety together. This approach potentially obscured important nuances. Different forms of anxiety likely have unique causes and distinct developmental paths.

A team of researchers from the University of Toledo sought to address this gap in understanding. The investigators were Caley R. Lane, Julianne M. Griffith, and Benjamin L. Hankin. They aimed to determine if social anxiety specifically predicted how adolescents managed their feelings in real-time. They hypothesized that the fear of negative evaluation, which is central to social anxiety, would trigger specific emotional responses to daily interpersonal stressors.

The study distinguished between two broad categories of emotion regulation. The first category includes adaptive strategies. These are generally helpful behaviors such as problem solving or seeking social support. The second category includes maladaptive strategies. These are unhelpful responses such as rumination and worry. Rumination involves repetitively fixating on distress without finding a solution. Worry involves repetitive negative thinking about the future.

To capture these behaviors in a natural setting, the researchers utilized a technique known as the experience sampling method. This approach allows scientists to collect data on a person’s experiences as they happen in the real world. This offers an advantage over laboratory studies, which may not reflect how people act in their daily lives.

The study included 146 adolescents recruited from a midwestern city in the United States. The participants ranged in age from 10 to 14 years old. Approximately half of the group identified as girls. The racial composition was predominantly white, though it included participants from multiracial, Asian, Black, and Latine backgrounds.

Participating adolescents carried a smartphone equipped with a specific application for nine days. During this period, the participants received alerts to complete surveys three to four times a day. These alerts occurred at semi-random times on weekends and during after-school hours on weekdays. This schedule minimized interference with academic activities.

On each survey, the adolescents reported the worst mood they had experienced in the previous hour. They identified what kind of event triggered that mood. The researchers categorized these events as either interpersonal stressors, such as arguments with friends, or non-interpersonal stressors, such as academic pressure. The participants then rated how much they used various coping strategies in response to that specific event.

The results of the analysis showed a clear pattern regarding social anxiety symptoms. Adolescents with higher levels of social anxiety were more likely to use maladaptive regulation strategies when facing interpersonal stress. Specifically, these youth engaged in higher levels of repetitive negative thinking.

The researchers also examined whether social anxiety influenced the use of positive strategies. The data indicated that social anxiety symptoms did not predict the use of adaptive regulation. Highly socially anxious adolescents were just as likely to use problem solving or support seeking as their less anxious peers. This suggests a specific deficit in restraining negative thoughts rather than a lack of positive skills.

To ensure these findings were specific to social anxiety, the researchers analyzed symptoms of physical anxiety. Physical anxiety involves somatic sensations like trembling or tension. The study found no statistical association between physical anxiety symptoms and the use of maladaptive emotion regulation. This indicates that the tendency to respond to stress with unhelpful cognitive habits is a unique feature of social anxiety symptoms in this context.

The study further broke down the maladaptive strategies into specific components. The analysis revealed that the association was driven largely by worry rather than rumination. Socially anxious youth were statistically more likely to engage in repetitive thoughts about future negative outcomes. This aligns with the nature of social anxiety, which involves anticipating humiliation or rejection.

The researchers also looked at whether the type of stressor mattered. They found that social anxiety predicted maladaptive regulation in response to both interpersonal and non-interpersonal stress. This suggests that for socially anxious youth, the tendency to worry extends beyond social situations to general life challenges.

The team explored whether age or gender influenced these relationships. Previous research has shown that girls often report more interpersonal stress and social anxiety than boys. Additionally, sensitivity to social feedback tends to increase as children get older. However, the current study found no evidence that age or gender altered the results. The link between social anxiety and maladaptive coping appears consistent across early adolescence for both boys and girls.

These findings have practical implications for how mental health professionals support anxious youth. Interventions often focus on teaching new coping skills. However, this study suggests that socially anxious adolescents may already possess these adaptive skills. They simply engage in maladaptive worry alongside them. Effective treatment might need to prioritize reducing repetitive negative thinking patterns.

There are several caveats to consider regarding this research. The sample was drawn primarily from white families with relatively high incomes. The results may not fully generalize to adolescents from diverse racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. Future research needs to examine these processes in more diverse populations.

The study relied entirely on self-reported data. While experience sampling reduces recall bias, it still depends on the participant’s perception. Shared method variance can sometimes inflate associations between variables. Additionally, the researchers did not survey students during school hours. This means many peer interactions that occur in the classroom or hallway were likely missed.

The researchers also noted that the study focused on a specific set of regulation strategies. Adolescents may use other techniques, such as suppression or cognitive reappraisal, which were not measured here. Future investigations could broaden the scope of strategies assessed.

Finally, the study looked at between-person differences. It compared kids with high anxiety to kids with low anxiety. Future work should investigate within-person variations. It would be useful to know if a specific teenager uses more maladaptive strategies on days when they feel more anxious than usual.

Despite these limitations, the research offers a clearer picture of the internal world of socially anxious teens. It highlights the specific burden of worry that these young people carry. By pinpointing the reliance on maladaptive strategies, the study identifies a precise target for intervention. Helping adolescents break the cycle of worry may be a key step in preventing social anxiety from escalating into more severe psychopathology.

The study, “Youth Social Anxiety and Daily-Life Emotion Regulation in Response to Interpersonal Stress,” was authored by Caley R. Lane, Julianne M. Griffith, and Benjamin L. Hankin.

A new scientific review challenges the popular assumption that highly intelligent people possess a naturally heightened capacity for feeling the emotions of others. The analysis suggests that individuals with high intellectual potential often utilize a distinct form of empathy that relies heavily on cognitive processing rather than automatic emotional reactions. Published in the journal Intelligence, the paper proposes that these individuals may intellectualize feelings to maintain composure in intense situations.

The research team set out to clarify the relationship between high intelligence and socio-emotional skills. General society often views people with high intellectual potential as hypersensitive or “hyper-empathic.” This stereotype suggests that a high intelligence quotient, or IQ, comes packaged with an innate ability to deeply feel the pain and joy of those around them.

This belief has historical roots in psychological theories that linked intellectual giftedness with emotional overexcitability. The researchers wanted to determine if this reputation holds up against current neuroscientific and psychological evidence.

The review was conducted by Nathalie Lavenne-Collot, Pascale Planche, and Laurence Vaivre-Douret. They represent institutions including the Université Paris Cité and INSERM in France. The authors sought to move beyond simple generalizations. They aimed to understand how high intelligence interacts with the specific brain mechanisms that govern how humans connect with one another.

To achieve this, the investigators performed a systematic review of existing literature. They searched major scientific databases for studies linking high intellectual potential with various components of empathy. The team did not simply look for a “yes” or “no” regarding whether smart people are empathetic. Instead, they broke empathy down into its constituent parts to see how each functioned in this population. They examined emotional detection, motivation, regulation, and cognitive understanding.

A primary distinction made in the review is the difference between emotional empathy and cognitive empathy. Emotional empathy is the automatic, visceral reaction to another person’s state. It is the phenomenon of flinching when someone else gets hurt or tearing up when seeing a crying face. The review found that individuals with high intellectual potential do not necessarily exhibit higher levels of this automatic emotional contagion. Their immediate physical resonance with the feelings of others appears to be average compared to the general population.

However, the findings regarding cognitive empathy were quite different. Cognitive empathy involves the intellectual ability to understand and identify what another person is thinking or feeling. The researchers found that highly intelligent individuals often excel in this area. They possess advanced capabilities in “Theory of Mind,” which is the psychological term for understanding that others have beliefs and desires different from one’s own. Their strong verbal and reasoning skills allow them to decode social situations with high precision.

The reviewers detailed how these individuals process emotional data. While they may not feel a rush of emotion, they are often superior at emotion recognition. They can identify subtle changes in facial expressions, vocal tones, and body language more faster and accurately than average. This ability likely stems from their general cognitive speed and heightened attention to detail. The brain networks responsible for processing visual and auditory information are highly efficient in this population.

A central finding of the article involves the regulation of emotions. The authors describe a mechanism where cognitive control overrides emotional reactivity. Individuals with high intellectual potential typically possess strong executive functions. This includes inhibitory control, which is the ability to suppress impulsive responses. The review suggests that these individuals often use this strength to dampen their own emotional reactions. When they encounter a charged situation, they may unconsciously inhibit their feelings to analyze the event objectively.

This creates a specific empathic profile characterized by a dominance of cognitive empathy over emotional empathy. The person understands the situation perfectly but remains affectively detached. The authors note that this “intellectualization” of empathy can be an adaptive strategy.

It allows the individual to function effectively in high-stress environments where getting swept up in emotion would be counterproductive. However, this imbalance can also create social friction. It may lead others to perceive them as cold or distant, even when they are fully engaged in understanding the problem.

The study also explored the motivational aspects of empathy. The researchers investigated what drives these individuals to engage in prosocial behavior. They found that for this population, empathy is often linked to a sensitivity to justice. Their motivation to help often stems from an abstract moral reasoning rather than a personal emotional connection. They may be deeply disturbed by a violation of fairness or an ethical breach. This sense of justice can be intense. Yet, it is frequently directed toward systemic issues or principles rather than specific individuals.

The authors discussed the developmental trajectory of these traits. They highlighted the concept of developmental asynchrony. This occurs when a child’s cognitive abilities develop much faster than their emotional coping mechanisms. A highly intelligent child might cognitively understand complex adult emotions but lack the regulatory tools to manage them. This gap can lead to the “intellectualization” strategy observed in adults. The child learns to rely on their strong thinking brain to manage the confusing signals from their developing emotional brain.

The review also addressed the overlap between high intelligence and other neurodivergent profiles. The researchers noted that the profile of high cognitive empathy and low emotional empathy can superficially resemble traits seen in autism spectrum disorder. However, they clarify a key difference.

In autism, challenges often arise from a difficulty in reading social cues or understanding another’s perspective. In contrast, highly intelligent individuals often read the cues perfectly but regulate their emotional response so tightly that they appear unresponsive.

This distinction is essential for clinicians and educators. Misinterpreting this regulatory strategy as a deficit could lead to incorrect interventions. The high-potential individual does not need help understanding the social world. They may instead need support in learning how to access and express their emotions without feeling overwhelmed. The dominance of the cognitive system is a strength, but it should not come at the cost of the ability to connect authentically with others.

The authors also touched upon the role of sensory sensitivity. While the stereotype suggests these individuals are hypersensitive to all stimuli, the evidence is mixed. They do not consistently show higher physiological reactivity to stress. Instead, they may show a “negativity bias.” This is a tendency to focus on negative or threatening information. For a high-functioning brain, a negative emotion or a social threat is a problem to be solved. This intense focus can mimic anxiety but is rooted in an analytical drive to resolve discrepancies in the environment.

The review emphasizes that this profile is not static. Empathy is influenced by context and motivation. A highly intelligent person might appear detached in a boring or repetitive social situation. Yet, the same person might show profound engagement when the interaction is intellectually stimulating or aligned with their values. Their empathic response is flexible and modulated by how much they value the interaction.

The authors provide several caveats to their conclusions. They warn against treating individuals with high intellectual potential as a monolith. Great diversity exists within this group. Some may have co-occurring conditions like ADHD or anxiety that alter their empathic profile. Additionally, the definition of high potential varies across studies, with different IQ thresholds used. This inconsistency makes it difficult to draw universal conclusions.

Future research directions were also identified. The authors argue that scientists need to move beyond simple laboratory questionnaires. Self-report surveys are prone to bias, especially with subjects who are good at analyzing what the test is asking.

Future studies should use ecologically valid methods that mimic real-world social interactions. Observing how these individuals navigate complex, dynamic social environments would provide a clearer picture of their empathic functioning. Physiological measures, such as heart rate variability or brain imaging during social tasks, could also help verify the “inhibition” hypothesis.

The study, “Empathy in subjects with high intellectual potential (HIP): Rethinking stereotypes through a multidimensional and developmental review,” was authored by Nathalie Lavenne-Collot, Pascale Planche, and Laurence Vaivre-Douret.

A new sociological analysis suggests that American parents who advocate for teacher-led prayer in public schools also tend to favor specific types of security measures to prevent school shootings. These parents are more likely to support arming teachers and installing metal detectors compared to parents who oppose school-sponsored prayer. The research appears in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion .

Following the tragedy of a school shooting, public discourse in the United States often fractures into two distinct camps regarding prevention. One side typically advocates for structural or policy-based changes. These often include banning specific types of firearms or expanding mental health screenings. The opposing side frequently focuses on infrastructural interventions. These proposals usually involve increasing the number of armed personnel in schools or hardening the physical security of the buildings.

Simultaneously, a subset of American political and religious leadership often frames these events not as a failure of policy, but as a spiritual failing. This narrative suggests that the removal of religious observance from public education has left a moral vacuum. Proponents of this view argue that this vacuum invites chaos and violence.

Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead conducted this research to investigate the relationship between these two seemingly distinct debates. Perry is a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma, and Whitehead is a sociologist at Indiana University Indianapolis. They sought to determine if a parent’s desire for religion in schools predicts their preferred method for stopping gun violence.

The researchers drew upon the theoretical framework of Christian nationalism. This ideology posits that American civic life should be fused with a specific expression of Christianity. Previous scholarship indicates that adherents to this worldview often perceive a need to defend their social order against encroaching chaos.

Within this framework, violence is not always viewed negatively. Instead, it can be seen as a tool for maintaining order. The concept of “righteous violence” suggests that the appropriate response to a “bad guy with a gun” is a “good guy with a gun.” Perry and Whitehead hypothesized that parents who want to return prayer to classrooms would also support solutions that introduce more firearms into the hands of authority figures.

To test this theory, the authors analyzed data from the American Trends Panel. This survey was fielded by the Pew Research Center in the fall of 2022. The sample included over 3,400 parents of children under the age of 18. The survey is nationally representative, meaning it accurately reflects the broader population of American parents.

The survey asked parents to evaluate the potential effectiveness of various strategies to prevent school shootings. One category of solutions was structural. This included banning assault-style weapons and improving mental health screening. The second category was infrastructural and gun-centric. This included allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns, stationing police or armed security in schools, and installing metal detectors.

Parents also answered questions regarding their views on prayer in public education. They chose between three options. The first option was that teachers should not be allowed to lead students in prayer. The second was that teachers should be allowed to lead Christian prayers, provided other religions are also included. The third was that teachers should be allowed to lead Christian prayers even if other religions are excluded.

The analysis revealed a clear pattern regarding infrastructural solutions. Parents who supported teacher-led Christian prayer were more likely to believe that arming school personnel would be effective. This held true regardless of whether they wanted exclusive Christian prayer or inclusive prayer. These parents also expressed greater support for installing metal detectors and stationing police in schools.

The researchers found that the specific type of prayer support did not matter as much as the general desire for prayer. Parents who favored “inclusive” prayer held views on school safety that were statistically indistinguishable from those who favored “exclusive” Christian prayer. The primary dividing line was between parents who wanted some form of teacher-led prayer and those who rejected it entirely.

The study did not find a strong statistical link between support for prayer and opposition to structural policies like weapon bans. Initially, it appeared that prayer supporters were less likely to support bans. However, once the researchers accounted for political conservatism, that association largely disappeared. This indicates that opposition to gun bans is driven more by political ideology than by views on school prayer.

The researchers observed that political ideology interacts with these views in specific ways. Among parents who identified as conservative, support for armed security measures was consistently high. This was true regardless of their stance on prayer.

In contrast, parents who identified as liberal showed more variation. Liberal parents who opposed school prayer were very skeptical of armed security. However, liberal parents who supported school prayer were more open to these gun-centric measures. This suggests that for some on the political left, religious views may bridge the gap toward more conservative security policies.

The authors argue these findings illustrate a worldview where spiritual and physical defenses are intertwined. For parents who see school shootings as a result of moral decay, policy fixes like background checks may seem insufficient. Instead, they appear to favor a dual approach. This approach combines the spiritual protection of prayer with the physical protection of armed authority figures.

This perspective aligns with the rhetoric often used by politicians who champion Christian nationalist ideals. The study quotes several leaders who explicitly connect the absence of prayer to the presence of violence. For example, the authors cite North Carolina politician Mark Robinson. Robinson suggested that if a prayer vigil had occurred before a shooting rather than after, the violence might not have happened.

The preference for metal detectors among this group is also notable. The researchers suggest this fits a narrative of external threat. Metal detectors operate on the assumption that danger comes from the outside. They are designed to catch “bad guys” at the door. This differs from mental health screenings, which imply that the danger might be internal or systemic.

There are limitations to this study. The data used is cross-sectional. This means it captures a snapshot of public opinion at a single moment in time. Consequently, the researchers cannot definitively prove that wanting prayer causes a person to want armed teachers. It is possible that a third, unmeasured factor drives both opinions.

Additionally, the survey did not ask parents directly why they preferred certain solutions. The researchers inferred the connection to “righteous violence” based on previous sociological theory. Future research could benefit from asking participants to explain the reasoning behind their policy preferences in their own words.

The authors also note that while the study focused on Christian prayer, the dynamics could be different for other religious groups. The current data did not allow for a robust analysis of parents from non-Christian backgrounds. Exploring how Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu parents view these trade-offs represents a potential avenue for future inquiry.

Despite these caveats, the research provides a new lens for understanding the stalemate in American gun politics. It suggests that for a large segment of the population, the debate is not merely about the Second Amendment or school safety statistics. It is also about a deeper cultural and theological understanding of order, protection, and the role of religion in public life.

The authors conclude that proposals to arm teachers are part of a broader cultural narrative. This narrative perceives school shootings as a symptom of a godless society. In this view, reintroducing prayer is seen as a necessary step to restore moral order. Arming teachers is seen as the necessary physical enforcement of that order.

The study, “Gun Problem or God Problem? Support for Teacher-Led Prayer in Public School and Solutions for School Shootings,” was authored by Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead.

A new study suggests that women whose most distressing traumatic experiences occurred during childhood respond differently to biological stress than men or women traumatized later in life. The research indicates that these women exhibit a muted hormonal response to stressful situations, a pattern not observed in male participants. These results were published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Trauma impacts a vast number of people globally. Women, however, are disproportionately affected by the psychological aftermath of these events. Statistics show that women are roughly twice as likely as men to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, during their lifetimes. Research indicates that this disparity cannot be explained simply by the amount of trauma women face.

Scientists have historically struggled to pinpoint the biological reasons for this gap. One major hurdle has been the tendency of biomedical research to focus primarily on male physiology. This practice effectively treats women as “small men,” ignoring the unique hormonal and biological environments of the female body. Consequently, the mechanisms that link trauma to physical health outcomes in women remain poorly understood.

The body responds to stress through a system known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This system releases cortisol, often called the stress hormone, to help the body manage threats. In a healthy response, cortisol levels spike when a person faces a challenge and then return to baseline.

In some individuals with a history of trauma, this system functions distinctively. Instead of rising to meet a challenge, cortisol levels may remain low. This phenomenon is known as “blunted” cortisol reactivity. This muted response is associated with various negative health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and autoimmune disorders.

Researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine sought to clarify how sex interacts with this stress response. The team included experts from the departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Theoretical and Behavioral Foundations, and Sociology. They aimed to determine if the timing or type of trauma influences cortisol patterns differently in men and women.

The study also investigated the role of subjective perception. The researchers wanted to know if the event a person considers their “worst” trauma matters more than simply tallying a list of bad experiences. This approach recognizes that the impact of a traumatic event can vary widely from person to person.

To test these ideas, the team recruited 59 adults from the Detroit area. The group consisted of 37 women and 22 men. All participants had a history of trauma exposure. The researchers screened the participants to exclude those with medical conditions or medication regimens that might artificially alter hormone levels.

The participants underwent a standardized laboratory procedure called the Trier Social Stress Test. This test is designed to induce moderate psychosocial stress in a controlled environment. First, participants had to perform a mock job interview in front of a panel of “behavior experts.”

The participants were told that these experts were evaluating their performance. Following the interview, the participants were asked to complete a surprise mental arithmetic task. Throughout the 90-minute session, the researchers collected saliva samples at five specific time points. These samples allowed the team to measure the total amount of cortisol released and the change in levels over time.

Participants also completed detailed questionnaires regarding their history. They used the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire to report which events they had experienced. Crucially, they were asked to identify the single “most stressful or upsetting event” of their lives. This was labeled the “index event.”

The researchers categorized these index events based on when they happened. They distinguished between traumas that occurred during childhood, defined as before age 18, and those that happened in adulthood. They also classified the events by type. Interpersonal traumas included events like physical or sexual assault. Non-interpersonal traumas included events like car accidents or natural disasters.

The analysis revealed distinct biological patterns based on sex. In the male group, the timing of the trauma did not predict cortisol patterns. Men who identified childhood trauma as their worst experience showed similar stress responses to those who identified adult trauma.

For women, the results were distinct. Women who identified a childhood event as their most stressful life experience showed a blunted cortisol response. Their bodies did not produce the expected rise in stress hormones during the mock interview and math task. This effect was substantial.

It is important to note that this association was specific to the subjective “index event.” Women who had objectively experienced childhood trauma but identified an adult event as their most stressful did not show this blunted response. This suggests that the subjective impact of early-life trauma is a key factor in how the female stress system functions.

The study did not find a similar link regarding the type of trauma. Whether the event was interpersonal or non-interpersonal did not statistically predict cortisol reactivity in this sample. The findings point specifically to the combination of female sex and the subjective severity of childhood trauma.

The authors discuss several biological reasons for these findings. Childhood is a period of high neural plasticity. The brain is developing rapidly and is highly sensitive to environmental inputs. Trauma during this window may embed a predisposition for altered stress responses.

Hormones likely play a mediating role. Estrogen is known to dampen cortisol reactivity. This effect can be protective in healthy individuals, preventing the body from overreacting to minor stressors. However, in women with trauma histories, this natural dampening might combine with trauma-related dysregulation. The result could be a stress response that is too low to be effective.

These findings have implications for how researchers and clinicians approach trauma. The “biological embedding” of childhood trauma appears to manifest differently depending on sex. This challenges the utility of research models that do not separate data by sex.

The results also support the importance of asking patients about their own perceptions of their history. Simply knowing that a person experienced a specific event is not enough. Knowing which event the patient perceives as the most impactful provides greater insight into their physiological status.

There are limitations to this study that affect how the results should be interpreted. The sample size was relatively small. This was particularly true for the male group, which included only 22 participants. A larger sample might reveal patterns in men that were not detected here.

The study also relied on retrospective self-reports. Participants had to recall events and rate their severity from memory. This method can be influenced by a person’s current emotional state. Additionally, the participants were relatively young, with an average age of 25. It is not known if these cortisol patterns persist or change as women enter middle age or menopause.

The study design was cross-sectional rather than longitudinal. This means it captured a snapshot in time. It cannot definitively prove that the childhood trauma caused the blunted cortisol. It only establishes a strong association between the two in women.

Future research is needed to confirm these findings in larger, more diverse groups. The authors suggest that future studies should account for cumulative lifetime stress. Women often carry a higher burden of chronic daily stress, which could also influence hormonal baselines.

Understanding these mechanisms could eventually lead to better treatments. Current therapies for PTSD often involve exposure to traumatic memories. Some research suggests that cortisol helps the brain process and extinguish fear memories.

If women with childhood trauma have low cortisol availability, they might benefit from treatments timed to coincide with their natural daily cortisol peaks. Alternatively, they might be candidates for pharmacological interventions that temporarily boost cortisol during therapy. Unraveling the specific pathways of dysregulation is the first step toward such personalized medicine.

The authors note that despite decades of study, the biological pathways linking trauma and disease remain elusive. Accounting for sex differences offers a promising route to resolving this quandary. By acknowledging that women are not simply “small men,” medical science can move toward more equitable and effective mental health care.

The study, “Not small men: Sex-specific determinants of cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress following trauma,” was authored by Liza Hinchey, Francesca Pernice, Holly Feen-Calligan, Shannon Chavez-Korell, David Merolla, and Arash Javanbakht.

Decisions that balance immediate comfort against long-term benefits are a fundamental part of daily life. Whether choosing to exercise, study for an exam, or have a difficult conversation, individuals constantly weigh the present against the future. A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that anxiety often short-circuits this process. The researchers found that while information about future outcomes helps most people make better choices, those with high levels of anxiety struggle to look past their immediate emotional discomfort.

Psychologists refer to the ability to guide behavior based on anticipated outcomes as sensitivity to future consequences. This mental calculation allows a person to endure temporary unpleasantness to achieve a valued goal. When this system functions well, it acts as a compass for personal success and well-being. When it fails, individuals may fall into patterns of avoidance. They might choose short-term relief that ultimately worsens their problems or prevents them from moving forward in life.

The researchers, Xinyao Ma and John E. Roberts of the University at Buffalo, initiated this investigation to address a gap in existing psychological literature. Past research on this topic largely relied on artificial assessments involving money. Tests like the Iowa Gambling Task measure how well people learn to avoid financial losses over time. These monetary tasks are effective for studying conditions characterized by impulsivity, such as substance abuse or conduct disorders.

Ma and Roberts argued that financial games fail to capture the reality of internalizing disorders like depression and anxiety. For someone suffering from anxiety, the primary motivator is often not the acquisition of a reward but the reduction of distress. The researchers posited that existing tools lacked ecological validity, meaning they did not resemble the real-world emotional dilemmas people face. They sought to understand if the tendency to prioritize immediate emotional relief over long-term stability is a defining feature of these mental health conditions.

To test this, the authors developed a novel assessment called the Scenario Task. They recruited 504 adults through an online research platform to participate in the experiment. The study utilized a between-subjects design, meaning participants were randomly assigned to one of two different groups.

The researchers presented both groups with fourteen hypothetical scenarios that required a decision. These scenarios involved everyday situations across various domains, such as work, relationships, and household chores. Each situation presented an “approach-avoidance” conflict. The participant had to decide whether to engage in a behavior that might be difficult or boring in the moment but beneficial later, or to avoid the behavior.

The experimental manipulation was subtle but central to the study’s design. The first group read scenarios that included specific information about the potential long-term consequences of the decision. The second group, serving as the control, read the same scenarios but without the future-oriented information. Instead, they received irrelevant background details. The researchers then asked participants to rate the likelihood that they would engage in the approach behavior.

The overall results showed that the manipulation worked as intended. Participants who received information about long-term consequences were generally more likely to choose the beneficial approach behavior than those in the control group. This confirms that for the average person, clearly understanding what is at stake in the future helps motivate action in the present.

The team then used linear regression analyses to determine how specific mental health symptoms and personality traits influenced this decision-making process. This is where the distinctions between anxiety and depression became apparent.

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder proved to be a strong moderator of decision-making. Individuals with low levels of anxiety responded strongly to the information about future consequences. When they learned that an action would help them in the long run, they were much more likely to do it. However, this effect diminished significantly for individuals with high levels of anxiety.

The data indicated that highly anxious participants were relatively insensitive to future consequences. Even when the study explicitly presented the long-term benefits of an action, these individuals remained fixated on the immediate difficulty. This aligns with clinical theories suggesting that anxiety functions through negative reinforcement. Anxious individuals learn to avoid situations that trigger distress, which provides immediate relief but prevents them from experiencing positive future outcomes.

The study found similar patterns regarding social anxiety. People who fear social scrutiny also showed a reduced sensitivity to future benefits. They appeared to prioritize the avoidance of immediate social discomfort over the potential for building relationships or resolving conflicts.

The researchers also examined a trait known as behavioral activation. This concept refers to a person’s tendency to remain engaged in goal-directed behavior despite obstacles. The findings indicated that people with high behavioral activation were very responsive to future consequences. They utilized the information to guide their choices effectively. Conversely, those with low behavioral activation struggled to use the future as a guide, appearing stuck in their current emotional state.

A similar trend appeared for the trait of perseverance. Individuals who described themselves as able to persist through boring or difficult tasks showed greater sensitivity to future outcomes. Those who identified as “non-perseverant” were less influenced by the long-term view. This suggests that the inability to stick with a task is linked to a failure to keep the end goal in mind.

The results regarding depression were more nuanced than the researchers expected. The team hypothesized that depression would universally blunt sensitivity to the future. However, the total score on the depression screening tool did not exhibit a statistically significant interaction with the experimental condition. This means that depression, as a broad category, did not predict how people used the consequence information.

However, when the researchers broke depression down into specific symptoms, they found clear associations. Symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, feelings of failure, and a lack of interest were significant moderators. Individuals suffering from these specific cognitive and motivational aspects of depression were less able to use future consequences to guide their actions. This suggests that the “brain fog” and low self-worth associated with depression may be the specific drivers of poor decision-making, rather than the low mood itself.

The study yielded null results for two other personality traits: anhedonia and non-planfulness. Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure. The researchers expected that people who cannot enjoy things would not care about future rewards. The data did not support this. The authors speculate that the measure they used assessed anhedonia as a permanent trait, whereas a person’s current state of mind might matter more in the moment of decision.

Similarly, “non-planfulness,” or the tendency to act impulsively, did not affect the results. This was surprising, as impulsivity is defined by a lack of future planning. The authors suggest that impulsive individuals might lack the self-awareness to report accurately on how they make decisions.

Ma and Roberts noted some limitations to their work. The sample population was drawn from a research volunteer registry that is disproportionately white, female, and older. A significant portion of the participants were retired. Older adults may view future consequences differently than younger adults who are still building their lives. This demographic skew limits how well the findings might apply to the general population.

Additionally, the study relied on self-reported intentions in hypothetical scenarios. While the Scenario Task is designed to be realistic, it is not the same as observing real behavior. It is easier for a participant to say they would have a difficult conversation than to actually have it.

Despite these caveats, the findings offer directions for future research and treatment. The study highlights that insensitivity to future consequences is not just a trait of “impulsive” disorders but is central to anxiety as well. This suggests that anxiety treatments should focus not only on reducing fear but also on training individuals to consciously weigh long-term outcomes.

The researchers propose that interventions could use variants of the Scenario Task to help patients practice this skill. By repeatedly exposing individuals to the link between present actions and future rewards, therapists might help them break the cycle of avoidance. Future studies will need to determine if these laboratory findings translate to clinical settings and if improving this sensitivity leads to symptom reduction.

The study, “An experimental investigation of individual differences in sensitivity to future consequences: Depression, anxiety, and personality,” was authored by Xinyao Ma and John E. Roberts.

New research published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy sheds light on a complicated relationship between physical fitness and compulsive sexual behaviors. The study suggests that while regular exercise generally reduces the likelihood of problematic pornography use, it may simultaneously intensify the risks for a specific subset of users. These findings offer a nuanced view of how healthy lifestyle habits interact with psychological coping mechanisms.

To understand why people develop compulsive behaviors, psychologists often look to Self-Determination Theory. This framework posits that all humans share three basic psychological needs. We require autonomy, or the feeling that we are in control of our own actions. We need competence, which is the sense of mastery and effectiveness in our tasks. Finally, we need relatedness, or the experience of meaningful connection with others.

When these needs are blocked or frustrated, individuals experience a decline in mental well-being. This state is known as basic psychological need frustration. People often react to this frustration by seeking external comforts or escapes. For some, this manifests as the consumption of pornography to manage negative emotions.

Researchers have previously identified that using pornography as a coping mechanism is a strong predictor of problematic use. This goes beyond casual viewing. Problematic pornography use involves a loss of control and continued consumption despite negative consequences. It shares similarities with other behavioral addictions.

The question remains regarding how positive lifestyle factors influence this dynamic. Physical exercise is widely regarded as a beneficial intervention for various addictions. It typically boosts mood and reduces stress. However, its specific interaction with the psychological drivers of pornography use has remained unclear.

A team of researchers sought to map these pathways. The group included Ying Zhang, Xiaoliu Jiang, Yuexin Jin, and Lijun Chen from Fuzhou University and Nankai University in China. They collaborated with Zhihua Huang from Fuzhou University and Beáta Bőthe from the University of Montreal in Canada. They hypothesized that exercise would act as a moderator. They believed it might change how frustrated psychological needs translate into compulsive behaviors.

The researchers recruited 600 Chinese adults for the study. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 68. The sample consisted of 39.83% women. All participants had viewed pornography within the past six months.

The study defined pornography for participants as “content inducing sexual thoughts with explicit depictions of genital-involved sexual activities.” The researchers administered a series of standardized questionnaires. These measures assessed the participants’ levels of basic psychological need frustration. They also measured motivations for using pornography, such as boredom avoidance or stress reduction.

To assess the severity of the behavior, the team used the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale. This tool evaluates symptoms like withdrawal, relapse, and conflict with daily life. Participants also reported their physical exercise habits. The researchers defined regular exercise based on national health guidelines. This required moderate-intensity activity more than three times a week for at least 30 minutes per session.

The team employed statistical models to analyze the data. They looked for mediation effects, which explain how one variable influences another. They also looked for moderation effects, which explain when or for whom an effect occurs. Additionally, they utilized a technique called network analysis. This method visualizes the complex web of relationships between different psychological variables. It treats variables as “nodes” and the connections between them as “edges.”

The study confirmed that frustrated psychological needs are a significant driver of problematic use. When individuals feel their needs for autonomy, competence, or relatedness are thwarted, they are more likely to use pornography to cope. This coping motivation then acts as a bridge leading to problematic behavior.

The most distinct findings appeared when the researchers added exercise into the equation. They discovered two divergent pathways. The first pathway highlighted the protective nature of physical activity.

For individuals who did not exercise regularly, frustration with “relatedness”—feeling lonely or excluded—was strongly linked to using pornography to avoid boredom. This suggests that lonely individuals often turn to pornography to fill a social void or pass time. However, for regular exercisers, this link was much weaker.

The network analysis revealed that exercise disrupted the connection between loneliness and boredom avoidance. The researchers interpret this as a compensatory effect. Exercise environments often provide social interactions. Team sports or fitness classes foster connections. Even solo exercise can reduce boredom proneness. Consequently, exercisers were less likely to soothe their loneliness with pornography.

The second pathway revealed a counterintuitive and potential risk factor. The researchers examined the link between using pornography for stress reduction and the development of problematic use. For those who exercised regularly, this specific connection was stronger than for non-exercisers.

This means that if a regular exerciser chooses to use pornography specifically to relieve stress, they are more susceptible to developing problematic habits. The researchers offer a physiological explanation for this unexpected result. Exercise releases endorphins and dopamine, creating a sense of pleasure and stress relief. Pornography consumption triggers similar neurochemical rewards.

The authors suggest a mechanism of cross-sensitization. Individuals who exercise regularly may have a heightened sensitivity to these reward pathways. They might overestimate the stress-relieving benefits of pornography because their brains are primed for that type of release. When they use pornography for stress relief, the reinforcement is intense. This accelerates the cycle toward compulsive use.

These results paint a complex picture of healthy behaviors. Exercise serves as a buffer against boredom-driven usage. It helps satisfy social needs that might otherwise be displaced onto digital sexual consumption. In this sense, it acts as a protective shield for mental health.

Yet, the study indicates that exercise is not a universal panacea. It alters the reward sensitivity of the individual. For exercisers, the danger lies specifically in stress management. If they come to rely on pornography as a quick fix for high stress, the behavior can become rigid and problematic more quickly than it might for others.

The authors note that these insights could refine therapeutic interventions. Mental health practitioners often recommend exercise to clients struggling with compulsive behaviors. This advice remains valid but requires nuance.

Clinicians might need to help clients distinguish between healthy stress relief and maladaptive coping. For clients who exercise heavily, it may be important to monitor their motivations for pornography use closely. They should be aware that their brain’s reward system acts efficiently, which can be a double-edged sword.

The study does have some limitations. The research used a cross-sectional design. This means it captured a snapshot of data at a single point in time. While the statistical models suggest directions of influence, they cannot definitively prove cause and effect. It is possible that people with problematic pornography use are simply less likely to exercise.

The data relied on self-reports. Participants answered questions about their own behaviors and feelings. This introduces the potential for bias, as people may not always assess themselves accurately. Additionally, the sample was recruited online and was predominantly young and well-educated. This demographic profile may not represent the general population perfectly.

The researchers emphasize the need for longitudinal studies. Tracking individuals over time would clarify whether exercise directly causes changes in how people cope with frustration. Future research could also explore the physiological mechanisms more directly. Measuring dopamine responses in exercisers versus non-exercisers could validate the cross-sensitization theory.

Despite these caveats, the research provides a detailed map of how lifestyle and psychology intersect. It challenges the assumption that positive habits always work in isolation. Instead, it shows that physical activity changes the internal landscape. It closes some doors to unhealthy behavior while potentially opening others, depending on the individual’s motivation.

The study, “The Moderating Role of Regular Exercise on the Relationship Between Basic Psychological Need Frustration and Problematic Pornography Use: Two Pathways Corroborated by Two Complementary Methods,” was authored by Ying Zhang, Xiaoliu Jiang, Yuexin Jin, Beáta Bőthe, Zhihua Huang, and Lijun Chen.

Recent clinical research indicates that semaglutide may effectively reverse weight gain and blood sugar issues caused by certain antipsychotic medications. A randomized trial demonstrated that patients taking this drug experienced weight loss and improved metabolic health compared to those receiving a placebo. These findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

People diagnosed with schizophrenia face a reduced life expectancy compared to the general population. This gap is estimated to be approximately fifteen years. The primary driver of this early mortality is not the psychiatric condition itself but rather cardiovascular disease. High rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes are common in this group. These physical health issues stem from a combination of lifestyle factors and genetic predispositions.

A major contributing factor to poor physical health is the treatment for the mental illness itself. Antipsychotic medications are essential for managing the symptoms of schizophrenia. However, they frequently cause severe side effects related to metabolism. Patients often experience rapid weight gain and disruptions in how their bodies process glucose.

Two specific medications, clozapine and olanzapine, are known to carry the highest risk for these metabolic problems. These drugs are classified as second-generation antipsychotics. Despite these risks, they remain vital tools for psychiatrists. Clozapine is often the only effective option for patients who do not respond to other treatments.

Doctors face a difficult dilemma when treating these patients. Switching a patient off clozapine to improve their physical health can lead to a relapse of psychosis. Consequently, physicians often attempt to manage the side effects with additional medications. Common strategies include prescribing metformin or topiramate to control weight and blood sugar.

Unfortunately, these add-on treatments often provide only limited benefits. Patients might lose a small amount of weight, but it is rarely enough to reverse the risk of diabetes or heart disease. There is a pressing need for therapies that can powerfully counteract metabolic side effects without interfering with psychiatric care. This need drove the current research effort.

The study was led by Marie R. Sass from the Mental Health Center Copenhagen in Denmark. She worked alongside a large team of researchers from Danish institutions and the Zucker Hillside Hospital in New York. They sought to determine if newer diabetes drugs could offer a better solution. Specifically, they investigated a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1RAs.

Semaglutide is a well-known medication in this class. It mimics a hormone that regulates appetite and insulin secretion. Regulatory bodies have approved it for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. The researchers hypothesized that it could protect patients with schizophrenia from the metabolic damage caused by their antipsychotic regimen.

The research team designed a rigorous experiment to test this theory. They conducted a multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial. This design is considered the gold standard for medical research. It minimizes bias by ensuring neither the doctors nor the patients know who is receiving the real drug.

The trial included 73 adult participants. All participants had been diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Each participant had started treatment with either clozapine or olanzapine within the previous five years. This criterion focused the study on the early stages of metabolic disruption.

The researchers screened these individuals for signs of blood sugar problems. Participants had to show evidence of prediabetes or early-stage diabetes to qualify. They were then randomly assigned to two groups. One group received a weekly injection of semaglutide, while the other received a placebo injection.

The trial lasted for 26 weeks. During this time, the researchers gradually increased the dose of semaglutide to a target of 1 milligram. This is a standard dose for diabetes management. The team monitored the participants closely for changes in health markers and side effects.

The primary goal was to measure changes in hemoglobin A1c levels. Hemoglobin A1c is a blood test that reflects average blood sugar levels over the past three months. It provides a more stable picture of metabolic health than a single daily glucose test. The researchers also tracked body weight and waist circumference.

The results showed a distinct advantage for the group receiving the medication. Semaglutide reduced hemoglobin A1c levels compared to the placebo. The magnitude of the improvement was clinically significant. This suggests a substantial reduction in the risk of developing full-blown diabetes.

The data revealed that 43 percent of the individuals treated with semaglutide achieved what doctors call “low-risk” blood sugar levels. In comparison, only 3 percent of the placebo group reached this healthy range. This stark difference highlights the drug’s efficacy. It effectively normalized glucose metabolism for nearly half of the treated patients.

Weight loss results were equally distinct. After adjusting for the effects of the placebo, the semaglutide group lost an average of 9.2 kilograms, or about 20 pounds. This physical change was accompanied by a reduction in waist size. The average reduction in waist circumference was approximately 7 centimeters.

The study also examined body composition in greater detail. The researchers found that the weight loss was primarily due to a reduction in fat mass. This is a positive outcome, as muscle loss can be a concern with rapid weight reduction. The reduction in total body fat suggests a genuine improvement in physical health.

Safety was a primary concern throughout the trial. The researchers needed to ensure that semaglutide would not interfere with the antipsychotic medications. They found that psychiatric symptoms did not worsen in the group taking semaglutide. Hospitalization rates for psychiatric reasons were low and similar in both groups.

Physical side effects were consistent with what is known about GLP-1 receptor agonists. The most common complaints were gastrointestinal issues. Nausea, vomiting, and constipation were reported more frequently in the semaglutide group. These side effects are typical for this class of drugs and often subside over time.

One participant in the semaglutide group died of sudden cardiac death shortly after the trial concluded. An autopsy was performed to investigate the cause. The medical examiners determined that the death was not related to the semaglutide treatment. Serious adverse events were otherwise balanced between the two groups.

The researchers also looked at secondary outcomes unrelated to weight. One finding involved nicotine use. Smoking rates are historically very high among people with schizophrenia. The study data suggested that semaglutide might reduce nicotine dependence.

Participants who smoked and took semaglutide had lower scores on a test measuring nicotine dependence compared to the placebo group. This aligns with emerging theories that GLP-1 drugs may influence reward pathways in the brain. It raises the possibility that these drugs could help treat addiction. However, the researchers noted this was an exploratory finding.

There were limitations to what the study could determine regarding other organs. The team did not see significant changes in liver function or cholesterol levels. This might be because the participants were relatively young and their metabolic problems were in the early stages. It is also possible that the 1 milligram dose was not high enough to alter lipid profiles significantly.

The dose used in this study is lower than the 2.4 milligram dose often prescribed specifically for weight loss in the general population. The researchers suggest that higher doses might yield even greater benefits. Longer trials would be necessary to confirm this. The 26-week duration was relatively short in the context of lifelong chronic illness.

The demographics of the study population also present a limitation. The majority of participants were White. This limits the ability to generalize the findings to other racial and ethnic groups who may have different metabolic risk profiles. Future studies will need to be more inclusive to ensure the treatment is effective for everyone.

Another challenge mentioned is the cost and accessibility of these medications. GLP-1 receptor agonists are currently expensive. This presents a barrier for many patients with severe mental illness who rely on public health systems. The authors argue that preventing diabetes and heart disease could save money in the long run.

The study, “Semaglutide and Early-Stage Metabolic Abnormalities in Individuals With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was authored by Marie R. Sass, Mette Kruse Klausen,Christine R. Schwarz, Line Rasmussen, Malte E. B. Giver, Malthe Hviid, Christoffer Schilling, Alexandra Zamorski,Andreas Jensen, Maria Gefke, Heidi Storgaard, Peter S. Oturai, Andreas Kjaer, Bolette Hartmann, Jens J. Holst, Claus T. Ekstrøm, Maj Vinberg,Christoph U. Correll, Tina Vilsbøll, and Anders Fink-Jensen.