A team of researchers in Brazil has engineered an inexpensive, disposable sensor that can detect a key protein linked to mental health conditions using a drop of saliva. Published in the journal ACS Polymers Au, the device could one day offer a rapid, non-invasive tool to help in the diagnosis and monitoring of disorders like depression and schizophrenia. The results are available in under an hour, offering a significant departure from current lab-based methods.

Diagnosing and managing psychiatric disorders currently relies heavily on clinical interviews and patient-reported symptoms, which can be subjective. Scientists have been searching for objective biological markers, and a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, has emerged as a promising candidate. Lower-than-normal levels of BDNF, which supports the health and growth of neurons, have been consistently associated with conditions like major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

Existing methods for measuring BDNF typically involve blood draws and rely on complex, time-consuming laboratory procedures like the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. These techniques are often expensive and require specialized equipment and personnel, making them impractical for routine clinical use or for monitoring patient progress outside of a dedicated lab. The researchers sought to develop a fast, affordable, and non-invasive alternative that could be used at the point of care, motivated by the global increase in mental health conditions.

The foundation of the device is a small, flexible strip of polyester, similar to a piece of plastic film. Using a screen-printing technique, the scientists printed three electrodes onto this strip using carbon- and silver-based inks. This fabrication method is common in electronics and allows for inexpensive, mass production of the sensor strips.

To make the sensor specific to BDNF, the team modified the surface of the main working electrode in a multi-step process. First, they coated it with a layer of microscopic carbon spheres, which are synthesized from a simple glucose solution. This creates a large, textured surface area that is ideal for anchoring other molecules and enhances the sensor’s electrical sensitivity.

Next, they added a sequence of chemical layers that act as a sticky foundation for the biological components. Onto this foundation, they attached specialized proteins called antibodies. These anti-BDNF antibodies are engineered to recognize and bind exclusively to the BDNF protein, much like a key fits into a specific lock. A final chemical layer was added to block any remaining empty spots on the surface, which prevents other molecules in saliva from interfering with the measurement.

When a drop of saliva is applied to the sensor, any BDNF protein present is captured by the antibodies on the electrode. This binding event physically alters the electrode’s surface, creating a minute barrier that impedes the flow of electrons. The device then measures this change by sending a small electrical signal through the electrode and recording its resistance to that signal.

A greater amount of captured BDNF creates a larger barrier, resulting in a higher resistance, which can be precisely quantified. The entire process, from sample application to result, can be completed in about 35 minutes. The data is captured by a portable analyzer that can communicate wirelessly with a device like a smartphone, allowing for real-time analysis.

The research team demonstrated that their biosensor was remarkably sensitive. It could reliably detect BDNF across a vast concentration range, from incredibly minute amounts (as low as 10⁻²⁰ grams per milliliter) up to levels typically seen in healthy individuals.

This wide detection range is significant because it means the device could potentially identify the very low BDNF levels that may signal a disorder. It could also track the increase in BDNF levels as a patient responds positively to treatment, such as antidepressants, offering an objective measure of therapeutic success.

The sensor also proved to be highly selective. When tested against a variety of other substances commonly found in saliva, including glucose, uric acid, paracetamol, and even the spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the device did not produce a false signal. It responded specifically to BDNF, confirming the effectiveness of its design.

Furthermore, tests using human saliva samples that were supplemented with known quantities of the protein showed that the sensor could accurately measure BDNF levels even within this complex biological fluid. The researchers estimated the cost of the materials for a single disposable strip to be around $2.19, positioning it as a potentially accessible diagnostic tool.

The current study was a proof-of-concept and has certain limitations. The experiments were conducted with a limited number of saliva samples from a single volunteer, which were then modified in the lab to contain varying concentrations of the target protein.

The next essential step will be to test the biosensor with a large and diverse group of patients diagnosed with various psychiatric conditions to validate its accuracy and reliability in a real-world clinical setting. Such studies would be needed to establish clear thresholds for what constitutes healthy versus potentially pathological BDNF levels in saliva. The researchers also plan to secure a patent for their technology and refine the device for potential commercial production. Future work could also explore integrating sensors for other biomarkers onto the same strip, allowing for a more comprehensive health assessment from a single saliva sample.

The study, “Low-Cost, Disposable Biosensor for Detection of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Biomarker in Noninvasively Collected Saliva toward Diagnosis of Mental Disorders,” was authored by Nathalia O. Gomes, Marcelo L. Calegaro, Luiz Henrique C. Mattoso, Sergio A. S. Machado, Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr., and Paulo A. Raymundo-Pereira.

Researchers have developed a new method for training artificial intelligence that dramatically improves its speed and energy efficiency by mimicking the structured wiring of the human brain. The approach, detailed in the journal Neurocomputing, creates AI models that can match or even exceed the accuracy of conventional networks while using a small fraction of the computational resources.

The study was motivated by a growing challenge in the field of artificial intelligence: sustainability. Modern AI systems, such as the large language models that power generative AI, have become enormous. They are built with billions of connections, and training them can require vast amounts of electricity and cost tens of millions of dollars. As these models continue to expand, their financial and environmental costs are becoming a significant concern.

“Training many of today’s popular large AI models can consume over a million kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual use of more than a hundred US homes, and cost tens of millions of dollars,” said Roman Bauer, a senior lecturer at the University of Surrey and a supervisor on the project. “That simply isn’t sustainable at the rate AI continues to grow. Our work shows that intelligent systems can be built far more efficiently, cutting energy demands without sacrificing performance.”

To find a more efficient design, the research team looked to the human brain. While many artificial neural networks are “dense,” meaning every neuron in one layer is connected to every neuron in the next, the brain operates differently. Its connectivity is highly sparse and structured. For instance, in the visual system, neurons in the retina form localized and orderly connections to process information, creating what are known as topographical maps. This design is exceptionally efficient, avoiding the need for redundant wiring. The brain also refines its connections during development, pruning away unnecessary pathways to optimize its structure.

Inspired by these biological principles, the researchers developed a new framework called Topographical Sparse Mapping, or TSM. Instead of building a dense network, TSM configures the input layer of an artificial neural network with a sparse, structured pattern from the very beginning. Each input feature, such as a pixel in an image, is connected to only one neuron in the following layer in an organized, sequential manner. This method immediately reduces the number of connections, known as parameters, which the model must manage.

The team then developed an enhanced version of the framework, named Enhanced Topographical Sparse Mapping, or ETSM. This version introduces a second brain-inspired process. After the network trains for a short period, it undergoes a dynamic pruning stage. During this phase, the model identifies and removes the least important connections throughout its layers, based on their magnitude. This process is analogous to the synaptic pruning that occurs in the brain as it learns and matures, resulting in an even leaner and more refined network.

To evaluate their approach, the scientists built and trained a type of network known as a multilayer perceptron. They tested its ability to perform image classification tasks using several standard benchmark datasets, including MNIST, Fashion-MNIST, CIFAR-10, and CIFAR-100. This setup allowed for a direct comparison of the TSM and ETSM models against both conventional dense networks and other leading techniques designed to create sparse, efficient AI.

The results showed a remarkable balance of efficiency and performance. The ETSM model was able to achieve extreme levels of sparsity, in some cases removing up to 99 percent of the connections found in a standard network. Despite this massive reduction in complexity, the sparse models performed just as well as, and sometimes better than, their dense counterparts. For the more difficult CIFAR-100 dataset, the ETSM model achieved a 14 percent improvement in accuracy over the next best sparse method while using far fewer connections.

“The brain achieves remarkable efficiency through its structure, with each neuron forming connections that are spatially well-organised,” said Mohsen Kamelian Rad, a PhD student at the University of Surrey and the study’s lead author. “When we mirror this topographical design, we can train AI systems that learn faster, use less energy and perform just as accurately. It’s a new way of thinking about neural networks, built on the same biological principles that make natural intelligence so effective.”

The efficiency gains were substantial. Because the network starts with a sparse structure and does not require complex phases of adding back connections, it trains much more quickly. The researchers’ analysis of computational costs revealed that their method consumed less than one percent of the energy and used significantly less memory than a conventional dense model. This combination of speed, low energy use, and high accuracy sets it apart from many existing methods that often trade performance for efficiency.

A key part of the investigation was to confirm the importance of the orderly, topographical wiring. The team compared their models to networks that had a similar number of sparse connections but were arranged randomly. The results demonstrated that the brain-inspired topographical structure consistently produced more stable training and higher accuracy, indicating that the specific pattern of connectivity is a vital component of its success.

The researchers acknowledge that their current framework applies the topographical mapping only to the model’s input layer. A potential direction for future work is to extend this structured design to deeper layers within the network, which could lead to even greater gains in efficiency. The team is also exploring how the approach could be applied to other AI architectures, such as the large models used for natural language processing, where the efficiency improvements could have a profound impact.

The study, “Topographical sparse mapping: A neuro-inspired sparse training framework for deep learning models,” was authored by Mohsen Kamelian Rad, Ferrante Neri, Sotiris Moschoyiannis, and Roman Bauer.

A new study reveals the human brain’s remarkable ability to maintain communication between its two hemispheres even when the primary connection is almost entirely severed. Researchers discovered that a tiny fraction of remaining nerve fibers is sufficient to sustain near-normal levels of integrated brain function, a finding published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This observation challenges long-held ideas about how the brain is wired and suggests an immense potential for reorganization after injury.

The brain’s left and right hemispheres are linked by the corpus callosum, a massive bundle of about 200 million nerve fibers that acts as a superhighway for information. For decades, scientists have operated under the assumption that this structure has a map-like organization, where specific fibers connect corresponding regions in each hemisphere to perform specialized tasks. Based on this model, damage to a part of the corpus callosum should result in specific, predictable communication breakdowns between the brain halves.

To test this idea, researchers turned to a unique group of individuals known as split-brain patients. These patients have undergone a rare surgical procedure called a callosotomy, where the corpus callosum is intentionally cut to treat severe, otherwise untreatable epilepsy. This procedure provides a distinct opportunity to observe how the brain functions when its main inter-hemispheric pathway is disrupted. Because the surgery is no longer common, data from adult patients using modern neuroimaging techniques has been scarce, leaving a gap in understanding how this profound structural change affects the brain’s functional networks.

The international research team studied six adult patients who had undergone the callosotomy procedure. Four of the patients had a complete transection, meaning the entire corpus callosum was severed. Two other patients had partial transections. One had about 62 percent of the structure intact, while another, patient BT, had approximately 90 percent of his corpus callosum removed, leaving only a small segment of fibers, about one centimeter wide, at the very back of the structure.

To assess the functional consequences, the researchers first performed simple bedside behavioral tests. The four patients with complete cuts exhibited classic “disconnection syndromes,” where one hemisphere appeared unable to share information with the other. For example, they could not verbally name an object placed in their left hand without looking at it, because the sensation from the left hand is processed by the right hemisphere, while language is typically managed by the left. The two hemispheres were acting independently.

In contrast, both patients with partial cuts showed no signs of disconnection. Patient BT, despite having only a tiny bridge of fibers remaining, could perform these tasks successfully, indicating robust communication was occurring between his hemispheres.

To look directly at brain activity, the team used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. This technique measures changes in blood flow throughout the brain, allowing scientists to identify which regions are active and working together. When two regions show synchronized activity over time, they are considered to be functionally connected. The researchers compared the brain activity of the six patients to a benchmark dataset from 100 healthy adults.

In the four patients with a completely severed corpus callosum, the researchers saw a dramatic reduction in functional connectivity between the two hemispheres. The brain’s large-scale networks, which normally span both sides of the brain, appeared highly “lateralized,” meaning their activity was largely confined to either the left or the right hemisphere. It was as if each side of the brain was operating in its own bubble, with very little coordination between them.

The findings from the two partially separated patients were strikingly different. Their patterns of interhemispheric functional connectivity looked nearly identical to those of the healthy control group. Even in patient BT, the small remnant of posterior fibers was enough to support widespread, brain-wide functional integration. His brain networks for attention, sensory processing, and higher-order thought all showed normal levels of bilateral coordination. This result directly contradicts the classical model, which would have predicted that only the brain regions directly connected by those few remaining fibers, likely related to vision, would show preserved communication.

The researchers also analyzed the brain’s dynamic activity, looking at how moment-to-moment fluctuations are synchronized across the brain. In healthy individuals, the overall rhythm of activity in the left hemisphere is tightly coupled with the rhythm in the right hemisphere. In the patients with complete cuts, these rhythms were desynchronized, as if each hemisphere was marching to the beat of its own drum.

Yet again, the two patients with partial cuts showed a strong, healthy synchronization between their hemispheres, suggesting the small bundle of fibers was sufficient to coordinate the brain’s global dynamics. Patient BT’s brain had apparently reorganized its functional networks over the six years since his surgery to make optimal use of this minimal structural connection.

The study is limited by its small number of participants, a common challenge in research involving rare medical conditions. Because the callosotomy procedure is seldom performed today, finding adult patients for study is difficult. While the differences observed between the groups were pronounced, larger studies would be needed to fully characterize the range of outcomes and the ways in which brains reorganize over different timescales following surgery.

Future research could focus on tracking patients over many years to map the process of neural reorganization in greater detail. Such work may help uncover the principles that govern the brain’s plasticity and its ability to adapt to profound structural changes. The findings open new avenues for rehabilitation research, suggesting that therapies could aim to leverage even minimal remaining pathways to help restore function after brain injury. The results indicate that the relationship between the brain’s physical structure and its functional capacity is far more flexible and complex than previously understood.

The study, “Full interhemispheric integration sustained by a fraction of posterior callosal fibers,” was authored by Tyler Santander, Selin Bekir, Theresa Paul, Jessica M. Simonson, Valerie M. Wiemer, Henri Etel Skinner, Johanna L. Hopf, Anna Rada, Friedrich G. Woermann, Thilo Kalbhenn, Barry Giesbrecht, Christian G. Bien, Olaf Sporns, Michael S. Gazzaniga, Lukas J. Volz, and Michael B. Miller.

A new study suggests that revealing the political affiliations of a newsroom’s journalists can influence public trust and engagement. The research, published in Communication Research, found that people report higher trust in news outlets they perceive as politically balanced or those that provide no political information about their staff, compared to outlets dominated by one party.

The motivation for this research stems from the steady decline of public trust in the news media within the United States. Scholars and journalists alike have been exploring ways to rebuild this confidence, with a particular focus on the concept of journalistic transparency. The idea is that by being more open about how news is gathered and produced, outlets can signal their honesty and integrity to the public. This openness can serve as a mental shortcut, or heuristic, that helps people decide whether a source is credible.

The researchers wanted to test a specific and rarely examined form of transparency: disclosing the collective political leanings of the journalists working at a news outlet. They sought to understand if this information would help or hinder trust and whether people’s own political identities would shape their reactions.

To investigate this question, the researchers conducted a series of three online experiments. In each experiment, participants were shown a brief description of a news outlet. They were then randomly assigned to see different versions of a graphic that displayed the political composition of that outlet’s newsroom. After viewing the description and graphic, participants answered questions designed to measure their trust in the outlet, their intention to use it for news in the future, and their intention to actively avoid it.

The first experiment focused on political ideology. Participants were shown information about a real news program, The National Desk, and were assigned to one of four conditions. One group received no information about the journalists’ politics, serving as a control. A second group was told the newsroom was perfectly balanced with an equal number of liberal and conservative journalists. The third and fourth groups were told the newsroom had a large majority of either liberal journalists or conservative journalists.

The results showed that participants had significantly higher trust in the outlet when it was presented as balanced or when no political information was provided. Correspondingly, they reported a greater willingness to use these outlets and a lower intention to avoid them. There was no meaningful difference in trust between the balanced outlet and the one with no political information disclosed.

This initial experiment also revealed a powerful pattern related to partisanship. Democrats and Republicans both expressed much lower trust in the outlet that was dominated by the opposing ideology. For example, Democrats rated the conservative-majority newsroom as far less trustworthy, while Republicans felt the same way about the liberal-majority newsroom. This points to a strong “out-group bias,” where people are quick to distrust a source associated with a political group they oppose.

However, the study did not find evidence of an “in-group favoritism.” Democrats did not trust the liberal-majority outlet any more than the balanced or unaffiliated one, and Republicans showed a similar lack of preference for the conservative-majority outlet.

The second experiment extended these ideas by focusing on party affiliation rather than general ideology. The design was similar, but this time the breakdown included Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. A fifth condition was added to test perceptions of a newsroom with a majority of Independent journalists.

The findings from this experiment closely mirrored the first. People reported the most trust in the outlets that were politically balanced, had a majority of Independents, or provided no partisan information at all. The outlets with a clear Democratic or Republican majority were trusted significantly less. Again, the pattern of out-group dislike was strong among both Democrats and Republicans, with no accompanying favoritism for their own party’s newsroom.

The third and final experiment was designed to confirm that these effects were not tied to the specific name of the news program used in the first two studies. The researchers replicated the second experiment’s design but used a fictional news organization called the Independent News Network, a name pre-tested to be seen as neutral.

The results were consistent for a third time. This replication strengthens the conclusion that it is the information about the political composition of the newsroom, not a pre-existing perception of an outlet’s brand, that drives these judgments about trust. The studies also consistently showed that trust acted as the key mechanism. When people perceived an outlet as less trustworthy because of its partisan slant, that decrease in trust directly led to their intentions to avoid the outlet and not use it in the future.

The researchers note some limitations to their work. The studies presented a hypothetical situation, as news organizations do not typically publicize the partisan breakdown of their staff, which means the experiments may not perfectly reflect real-world behavior. The study also measured general perceptions of an outlet without providing participants with any specific news articles, and people’s reactions might change depending on the topic of the news.

Future research could explore whether these findings hold when applied to well-known media brands, which people already have strong opinions about. It could also examine how people react to specific news stories when they are aware of the political leanings of the newsroom that produced them.

The study, “In Diversity We Trust? Examining the Effect of Political Newsroom Diversity on Media Trust, Use, and Avoidance,” was authored by Eliana DuBosar, Jay D. Hmielowski, and Muhammad Ehab Rasul.

A new study published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts suggests that individuals with a combination of high narcissism and psychological insecurity are more likely to be “cultural omnivores,” consuming both highbrow and lowbrow art forms. This behavior appears to be a strategy to satisfy two distinct psychological needs: signaling social status and projecting a sense of personal integrity.

Narcissism is often understood as a personality trait characterized by a grandiose sense of self, a persistent need for admiration, and a focus on one’s own importance. While this may project an image of supreme confidence, psychological research has shown that narcissism can exist alongside deep-seated feelings of insecurity, such as low self-esteem or a sense that one is not living as their “true self.” It is this particular combination of traits that interested the researchers.

Traditionally, cultural taste was seen through the lens of social class. Sociologists argued that elites used their preference for “highbrow” culture, like classical music and fine art, to distinguish themselves from other social classes. In recent decades, however, this pattern has shifted. Observers have noted the rise of the “cultural omnivore,” an individual who appreciates both high-status cultural products and more popular, “lowbrow” forms like pop music or street art.

The study’s authors proposed that this modern trend might be explained not just by social class, but by specific personality dynamics. They hypothesized that people high in narcissism but low in self-security might use cultural consumption as a tool. Liking highbrow culture could serve their need to signal superior status, while an appreciation for lowbrow culture, often seen as more authentic, could help soothe their inner feelings of inauthenticity.

To investigate this idea, the researchers conducted two separate studies. In the first experiment, they surveyed 178 university students. Participants completed questionnaires designed to measure their levels of narcissism and self-esteem. They were then asked to rate how likely they would be to participate in a variety of cultural activities.

Some of these activities were classified as highbrow, including attending a classical symphony or visiting art galleries. Others were categorized as lowbrow, such as going to pop concerts or viewing graffiti and street art. The researchers analyzed the data to see if there was a connection between the participants’ personality scores and their cultural intentions.

The findings revealed a distinct pattern. For individuals who scored high on the narcissism scale, having lower self-esteem was associated with a stronger intention to participate in highbrow cultural activities. A similar relationship appeared for lowbrow culture. The participants with high narcissism and low self-esteem also expressed a greater interest in lowbrow activities.

This confirmed that the insecure narcissist profile was linked to being a cultural omnivore, showing an appetite for both ends of the cultural spectrum. The analysis also suggested that this behavior was connected to a general motivation for “distinction seeking,” or a desire to establish a unique and notable identity through their choices. This relationship held even when the researchers accounted for other factors, like a person’s openness to new experiences or their own perception of their social status.

The second study was designed to explore the specific motivations behind these dual preferences. The researchers wanted to confirm if status seeking was driving the interest in highbrow culture, while a need for integrity was behind the preference for lowbrow culture. This experiment involved 144 university students and used a slightly different approach.

Instead of measuring general self-esteem, the researchers measured a more specific form of insecurity known as self-alienation, which is the feeling of being out of touch with one’s true self. They also focused on a particular aspect of narcissism related to superiority and arrogance. Participants were then randomly assigned to read a biography of a fictional artist.

One version of the biography presented the artist as highbrow, noting that her paintings were exhibited in major museums around the world. The other version framed her as lowbrow, explaining that her work was given to family and friends before being discovered by an art dealer in her hometown. After reading one of the biographies, participants rated their interest in seeing the artist’s work. They also answered questions about their current motivations, including their desire to signal status and their need to project self-integrity.

The results of this experiment provided clearer support for the researchers’ hypothesis. Among participants who read about the highbrow artist, those with the insecure narcissist profile showed greater interest in her work. This increased interest was statistically linked to a heightened desire for status at that moment. Consuming high-status art appeared to satisfy their need to be seen as having high status.

For the participants who read about the lowbrow artist, a different motivation was at play. In this case, the insecure narcissist group’s interest in the art was connected to their desire to signal self-integrity. The perceived authenticity of the lowbrow artist seemed to offer a way for these individuals to bolster their own shaky sense of self. The two studies together paint a nuanced picture of how personality can shape cultural tastes.

This research provides a new psychological perspective on a phenomenon that has largely been studied through a sociological framework. It suggests that for some people, the choice of what art to consume is not merely a matter of taste but a complex strategy for managing their identity and internal insecurities.

The authors note that their findings are based on statistical associations, and future research could explore these mechanisms further. For instance, an experiment could temporarily change a person’s feelings of security to see if it directly affects their cultural preferences. Researchers could also examine whether this pattern of behavior extends to other domains, such as luxury consumption, social media use, or even charitable giving.

The study, “How Insecure Narcissists Become Cultural Omnivores: Consuming Highbrow Culture for Status Seeking and Lowbrow Culture for Integrity Signaling,” was authored by Hanna Shin and Nara Youn.

A single dose of testosterone can alter the fundamental learning processes men use to avoid harm, making them more sensitive to negative outcomes when their own well-being is on the line. The study, published in the journal Biological Psychology, reveals a nuanced role for the hormone, suggesting it fine-tunes self-preservation mechanisms, which in turn affects prosocial behavior.

Testosterone is associated with the pursuit of social status, but most studies have focused on behaviors related to acquiring rewards. Less understood is the hormone’s role in avoiding harm, a behavior that is equally significant for one’s standing in a group. Successfully avoiding harm to oneself signals strength and competence, while avoiding harm to others demonstrates moral character and builds a trustworthy reputation. Scientists hypothesized that testosterone might support both self-protective and prosocial harm avoidance, but that it might achieve this through distinct computational mechanisms in the brain.

To investigate this, the study team recruited 120 healthy male university students. In a double-blind procedure, participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single dose of testosterone gel or an identical-looking placebo gel applied to their shoulders. Three hours later, after the hormone had reached peak levels in the body, the participants began a learning task designed to measure how they learn to prevent harm to themselves and to a stranger.

In the task, participants repeatedly chose between two abstract symbols on a screen. One symbol had a high probability (75%) of avoiding a mild electric shock, while the other had a low probability (25%). In some blocks of trials, the potential shock was for the participant himself (the “Self” condition). In other blocks, the shock was for another participant, a confederate who they believed was in an adjacent room (the “Other” condition). Over 64 trials for each condition, participants had to learn through trial and error which symbol was the safer choice.

The researchers analyzed the results in two ways. First, they looked at the participants’ overall performance. They found that men in both the testosterone and placebo groups learned the task successfully. Participants generally made more correct choices for themselves than for others, but their learning curve was steeper when making decisions for another person, meaning they caught up more quickly. The testosterone group showed a small but distinct difference: the performance gap between making choices for themselves and for others persisted for more trials than it did in the placebo group.

To understand the learning processes behind these choices, the researchers used computational modeling. This approach, based on reinforcement learning theory, allows scientists to estimate the hidden mental variables that guide decisions. A key concept is the “prediction error,” which is the difference between an expected outcome and the actual outcome. Learning occurs when we use this error to update our expectations. The model estimated “learning rates,” which quantify how much weight a person gives to these prediction errors.

The researchers were particularly interested in whether learning rates differed for positive prediction errors (good news, like avoiding a shock) and negative prediction errors (bad news, like receiving a shock).

The modeling revealed that the most accurate description of participants’ behavior involved separate learning rates for good and bad news, and that these rates changed depending on who was at risk. In the placebo group, men showed a higher learning rate from negative outcomes when another person could be shocked, compared to when they themselves were at risk. This suggests a heightened sensitivity to causing harm to others.

The testosterone group, however, displayed a different pattern of learning. Specifically, when making decisions for themselves, men who received testosterone learned significantly more from negative outcomes and less from positive outcomes compared to the placebo group. Essentially, the hormone appeared to increase their sensitivity to the possibility of personal harm. When making choices for the other person, their learning rates were not significantly different from the placebo group.

The researchers also calculated a “prosocial learning index” by comparing the learning rate for others to the learning rate for self. This analysis showed that the testosterone group had a lower prosocial learning rate from negative outcomes compared to the placebo group. This change was not because they cared less about the other person; it was a consequence of their self-related learning from harm becoming so much stronger.

An additional finding involved trait anxiety. In the placebo group, men with higher anxiety learned more quickly from negative outcomes when another’s well-being was at stake, which aligns with the idea that anxiety increases sensitivity to threats. In the testosterone group, this relationship was reversed. Higher anxiety was associated with reduced learning from negative outcomes for others relative to oneself. This finding provides computational support for the idea that testosterone can have anxiety-reducing effects, altering how personality traits influence social decision-making.

The study does have some limitations that open paths for future inquiry. The research included only male participants, so the findings cannot be generalized to others. Replicating the results with a larger, preregistered study would increase confidence in the conclusions. Future experiments could also include a condition where participants believe their choices are being observed by others, which would provide a more direct test of the social status hypothesis in a harm-avoidance context.

The study, “Testosterone modulates harm-avoidance learning for the self and others through distinct computational mechanisms,” was authored by Shaoxiong Liu, Haohui Wang, Cheng-Ta Yang, and Honghong Tang.

A new study suggests that when mothers experience both depressive symptoms and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, their two-year-old children may face a heightened risk of developing their own depressive symptoms and attention difficulties. The combination of these maternal conditions appears to create a compounded challenge for early child development. The findings were published in the journal Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.

Researchers have long understood that a mother’s mental health can influence her child’s development. Conditions like depression and ADHD have been studied independently, with each showing links to certain challenges in parenting and child outcomes. However, these two conditions frequently occur together in individuals, creating a more complex set of difficulties. The combined impact of these co-occurring symptoms on very young children has not been well explored.

This gap in knowledge prompted the study led by Michal Levy and a team of researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. They wanted to understand how maternal depression and ADHD symptoms might jointly predict a child’s emotional and attentional development. The researchers focused on the period from pregnancy through the first two years of a child’s life. This early stage is a time of rapid brain growth and development, where a child is highly dependent on caregivers for emotional regulation and support, making it a particularly sensitive period.

To investigate this, the researchers conducted a longitudinal study, following a group of families over an extended period. The study began with 156 mothers and their children, who were recruited during the second trimester of pregnancy. Data was collected at three different times: during pregnancy, when the infants were three months old, and again when the children reached two years of age. This multi-wave approach allowed the researchers to track how symptoms and behaviors changed over time.

During the pregnancy assessment, mothers completed questionnaires to report on their symptoms of ADHD . They also reported on their own depressive symptoms at all three time points: during pregnancy, at three months postpartum, and at the two-year follow-up. When the children were two years old, their development was assessed in two ways. First, mothers filled out a standardized checklist to report on any depressive symptoms their child might be exhibiting, such as sadness, irritability, or loss of interest in play.

Second, the children’s ability to sustain attention was measured directly through a structured play session. Each two-year-old was brought into a lab setting and given a set of colorful blocks to play with independently for up to four minutes. An experimenter was present but did not interact with the child. These play sessions were video-recorded. Later, trained research assistants watched the recordings and coded the child’s level of focused attention in five-second intervals. High attention was marked by a steady gaze and active, engaged play with the blocks, while low attention was noted by off-task glances and passive handling of the toys.

The analysis of the data revealed a complex interplay between the two maternal conditions. The most significant developmental difficulties in children at age two were seen when mothers reported high levels of both ADHD symptoms and depressive symptoms. The findings showed that a mother’s depressive symptoms were associated with worse outcomes for her child, but primarily when her ADHD symptoms were also elevated.

Specifically, the researchers found that higher maternal depressive symptoms at three months after birth were associated with more depressive symptoms in their two-year-old children. However, this connection was only statistically significant for mothers who also had moderate to high levels of ADHD symptoms. For mothers with low levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, their level of depression did not show a significant link to their child’s depressive symptoms.

A similar pattern emerged when looking at the children’s focused attention. The study found that a mother’s depressive symptoms at three months were linked to lower focused attention in her two-year-old during the block-playing task. Again, this relationship was only present when the mother reported high levels of ADHD symptoms. The presence of both conditions in the mother appeared to create a dual risk factor that amplified the potential for challenges in the child.

The study also noted that depressive symptoms reported by mothers at three months postpartum were a stronger predictor of child outcomes than depressive symptoms reported during pregnancy. The authors suggest that this may point to the importance of the postnatal caregiving environment. After a child is born, disruptions in mother-child interactions caused by maternal mental health challenges may have a more direct effect on a child’s emerging emotional and attentional skills.

The researchers acknowledge some limitations in their work. The assessment of children’s depressive symptoms was based on reports from their mothers, which could be influenced by the mothers’ own mental state. Future research could benefit from including observations from other caregivers or clinicians to get a more comprehensive picture of the child’s emotional state.

Additionally, the study did not directly measure parenting behaviors. While it is likely that the combination of maternal depression and ADHD affects children through disruptions in parenting, such as inconsistent routines or reduced emotional availability, this study did not observe those mechanisms. Future studies could include observations of parent-child interactions to better understand how these maternal symptoms translate into behaviors that shape child development. Finally, maternal ADHD symptoms were only measured once, during pregnancy.

Despite these limitations, the research provides important insights into the compounded risks associated with co-occurring maternal mental health conditions. The findings suggest that the combination of maternal depression and ADHD symptoms may create a uniquely challenging environment for a young child. This highlights a need for more integrated approaches to maternal mental health screening and support, recognizing that addressing one condition without considering the other may not be enough to promote optimal child development.

The study, “The Interplay between Maternal Depression and ADHD Symptoms in Predicting Emotional and Attentional Functioning in Toddlerhood,” was authored by Michal Levy, Andrea Berger, Alisa Egotubov, Avigail Gordon-Hacker, Eyal Sheiner, and Noa Gueron-Sela.

A new study suggests that while a majority of young American adults worry about mass shootings, their shared fear does not unite them on the issue of gun control. Instead, for certain groups, higher levels of fear are linked to stronger opposition to firearm restrictions, a finding that complicates predictions about the nation’s future gun policy. The research was published in the journal Social Science Quarterly.

“This is a generation of people who live with significant fear and anxiety over mass violence,” said senior author Jillian Turanovic, associate professor of sociology. “But we found that those shared fears do not unite them in attitudes on gun policy. In fact, they polarize them.”

The researchers sought to investigate a common assumption about the generation of Americans aged 18 to 29. Often called the “massacre generation,” these emerging adults grew up in an era defined by high-profile school shootings and constant media coverage of mass violence. Given these formative experiences, many observers have predicted that as this generation gains political power, they will form a unified front in favor of stricter gun legislation. The research team wanted to examine if this belief held up to scrutiny, or if shared anxiety over mass violence might produce more complex and even contradictory outcomes.

To explore this question, the scientists conducted a survey of 1,674 emerging adults from all 50 states in May 2023. The survey was designed to measure participants’ attitudes toward gun control by asking their level of agreement with statements about firearm access, such as whether owning more guns enhances safety or if guns should be allowed on college campuses.

Separately, the survey assessed their fear of mass shootings by asking how much they worried about an attack occurring in different public settings, including schools, shopping malls, and large events. The researchers then used statistical analysis to determine the relationship between fear and gun policy sentiment, while also accounting for other factors like political affiliation, gender, race, education, and personal experiences with crime.

The study confirmed that fear of mass shootings is widespread among this age group, with more than 60 percent of respondents reporting that they worry a mass shooting will affect their lives. In general, the researchers found a modest connection between higher levels of fear and greater support for gun control policies. This overall trend, however, masked deep divisions within the generation.

When the researchers analyzed the data by political identity, a starkly different pattern emerged. For young adults who identified as Republicans or conservatives, experiencing greater fear of mass shootings was associated with less support for gun control. This finding suggests that for these individuals, the fear of violence may reinforce a belief in armed self-defense, often described as the “good guy with a gun” perspective, rather than a desire for more government regulation of firearms.

A similar polarizing effect was observed among young men. While men and women with low levels of fear had similar views on gun policy, the gap between them widened as fear increased. Among young men, higher levels of fear were connected to increased opposition to gun restrictions. This may reflect cultural ideas that link masculinity with the roles of protector and provider, where owning a firearm is seen as a tool for ensuring personal and family safety.

The researchers also looked at whether the relationship between fear and gun attitudes differed by region. They found an unexpected pattern in the Northeast. In contrast to other parts of the country where fear tended to increase support for gun control, in the Northeast, higher levels of fear were associated with a slight decrease in support for such policies. The authors speculate this could be because some of the nation’s strictest gun laws are already in place in the Northeast, and high-profile attacks in the region may lead some residents to question the effectiveness of these laws.

The study did not find that race, ethnicity, or educational attainment significantly altered the relationship between fear of mass shootings and views on gun control. This indicates that political ideology and gender may be more powerful drivers of gun policy attitudes within this generation, at least when it comes to responding to the threat of mass violence.

The authors note some limits to their work. The survey provides a snapshot in time and cannot establish whether fear directly causes a shift in policy attitudes or if pre-existing attitudes shape how individuals react to fear. Because the sample, while diverse, was not perfectly representative of all young adults in the U.S., the findings should be seen as exploratory.

Future research could track individuals over time to better understand how their views evolve, particularly after they experience a mass shooting event in their community. Additional studies could also examine a broader range of specific gun policies, such as waiting periods or red flag laws, to get a more detailed picture of young adults’ preferences.

Ultimately, the research indicates that the political future of gun legislation is not as straightforward as some might assume. The shared experience of growing up under the shadow of mass shootings does not automatically create a consensus on solutions. For policymakers and advocates, these findings suggest that addressing gun violence will require acknowledging the deep-seated ideological divides that persist even within America’s youngest generation of voters.

The study, “Fear of Mass Shootings and Gun Control Sentiment: A Study of Emerging Adults in Contemporary America,” was authored by Jillian J. Turanovic, Kristin M. Lloyd, and Antonia La Tosa.

A new study has demonstrated that a virtual reality game can successfully teach people a breathing technique to regulate their physiological stress responses. This training led to improved biological markers of stress regulation during a tense virtual experience, suggesting such games could be a practical way to practice stress management skills. The research was published in the journal Psychophysiology.

While physiological regulation strategies like paced breathing are known to be effective, they are typically learned and practiced in calm, controlled environments. This setting is very different from the high-stress situations where such techniques are most needed, which may make it difficult for people to apply their training in real life. The study authors proposed that virtual reality could offer a unique solution by providing an immersive platform to both teach a regulation skill and then immediately create a stressful context in which to practice it.

The project involved two separate studies. The first study was designed as a proof of concept to see if the approach was feasible. Researchers recruited healthy adult participants and first recorded their baseline heart rate, heart rate variability, and breathing rate while they sat quietly. Heart rate variability is a measure of the variation in time between consecutive heartbeats, with higher variability often indicating better physiological regulation and a greater capacity to cope with stress.

Following the baseline recording, participants put on a virtual reality headset and played a training game. In this game, they found themselves on a boat in a calm sea and were guided through a slow, paced breathing exercise. On-screen prompts instructed them to inhale for five seconds, hold for five seconds, and exhale for five seconds, with the goal of achieving a slow breathing rate of four breaths per minute. Immediately after this training, they were immersed in a stressful game set in a dark dungeon. The objective was to avoid being detected by a creature that could supposedly hear their heartbeats.

A biofeedback display, visible at all times, showed participants a simplified “stress score” based on their heart rate. A green light indicated they were safe, while amber and red lights signaled increasing danger of being discovered. To succeed, participants had to use the breathing technique they had just learned to keep their heart rate down.

The study found that participants were able to apply the breathing technique effectively. Their breathing rate during the stressful dungeon game was significantly lower than their initial resting rate, showing they were following the training. Although their heart rate naturally increased from the stress of the game, their heart rate variability also increased compared to their baseline levels. This suggested an enhanced state of physiological regulation, likely driven by the controlled breathing.

The second study was designed to more formally test the effectiveness of the training by comparing a trained group to an untrained control group. Both groups attended two sessions, separated by about a week. In the first session, all participants experienced an initial stressful virtual reality scenario involving an intruder in a house. This was done to establish a baseline measure of each person’s stress reactivity. After this initial stressor, only the training group played the boat game twice to learn the breathing technique.

When they returned for the second session, the training group received a refresher by playing the boat game two more times. Then, both the trained and untrained groups played the same stressful dungeon game from the first study. The results showed a clear effect of the training. During the dungeon game, the trained group had a significantly lower breathing rate and a significantly higher heart rate variability compared to the untrained control group.

When the researchers compared physiological responses across the two different stressors, they found a notable interaction. The trained group showed a significant improvement in their heart rate variability from the pre-training “intruder” stressor to the post-training “dungeon” stressor. This pattern of improvement was not observed in the control group, providing stronger evidence that the breathing training was responsible for the effect.

An unexpected observation was that participants in the trained group reported feeling subjectively more stressed than the control group. The authors speculate this could be related to a sense of performance anxiety, as the trained group was aware their application of the technique was being evaluated.

The researchers acknowledged some limitations in their work. The first study was affected by technical issues with the respiratory measurement equipment, which led to the loss of some data. Additionally, a minor coding error in the training game meant that the boat’s speed was incorrectly linked to heart rate, though the authors believe this was unlikely to have affected the learning of the breathing pattern.

Future research could explore the surprising finding that physiological regulation did not align with subjective feelings of stress. It may also examine whether skills learned in an unrealistic game scenario can be generalized to manage stress in real-world situations.

The study, “Using a virtual reality game to train biofeedback-based regulation under stress conditions,” was authored by Lucie Daniel-Watanabe, Benjamin Cook, Grace Leung, Marino Krstulović, Johanna Finnemann, Toby Woolley, Craig Powell, and Paul Fletcher.

A new study suggests that higher levels of psychopathic traits are associated with lower relationship satisfaction in romantic couples. The research indicates that a person’s perception of their partner’s traits is a particularly strong predictor of their own discontent within the relationship. The findings were published in the Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy.

The research team was motivated by the established connection between personality and the quality of romantic relationships. While traits like agreeableness and conscientiousness are known to support relationship satisfaction, maladaptive traits, such as those associated with psychopathy, are understood to be detrimental. Psychopathy is not a single trait but a combination of characteristics, including interpersonal manipulation, a callous lack of empathy, an erratic lifestyle, and antisocial tendencies.

Previous studies have shown that individuals with more pronounced psychopathic traits tend to prefer short-term relationships, are more likely to be unfaithful, and may engage in controlling or destructive behaviors. Yet, much of this research did not simultaneously account for the perspectives of both partners in a relationship. The researchers aimed to provide a more nuanced understanding by examining how both a person’s own traits and their partner’s traits, as viewed by themselves and by their partner, collectively influence relationship satisfaction.

To investigate these dynamics, the researchers recruited a sample of 85 heterosexual couples from the Netherlands. The participants were predominantly young adults, many of whom were students. Each member of the couple independently completed a series of online questionnaires. The surveys were designed to measure their own psychopathic traits, their perception of their partner’s psychopathic traits, and their overall satisfaction with their relationship.

For measuring psychopathic traits, the study used a well-established questionnaire that assesses three primary facets: Interpersonal Manipulation (e.g., being charming but deceptive), Callous Affect (e.g., lacking guilt or empathy), and Erratic Lifestyle (e.g., impulsivity and irresponsibility). A fourth facet, Antisocial Tendencies, was excluded from the final analysis due to statistical unreliability within this specific sample. Participants completed one version of this questionnaire about themselves and a modified version about their romantic partner.

The researchers used a specialized statistical technique called the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to analyze the data. This method is uniquely suited for studying couples because it can distinguish between two different kinds of influence. “Actor effects” refer to the association between an individual’s own characteristics and their own outcomes. For example, it can measure how your self-rated manipulativeness relates to your own relationship satisfaction. “Partner effects” describe the association between an individual’s characteristics and their partner’s outcomes, such as how your self-rated manipulativeness relates to your partner’s satisfaction.

Before conducting the main analysis, the researchers examined how partners’ ratings related to one another. They found very little “actual similarity,” meaning that a man’s level of psychopathic traits was not significantly related to his female partner’s level. However, they did find moderate “perceptual accuracy,” which means that how a person rated their partner was generally in line with how that partner rated themselves. There was also strong “perceptual similarity,” indicating that people tended to rate their partners in a way that was similar to how they rated themselves.

One notable preliminary finding was that both men and women tended to rate their partners as having lower levels of psychopathic traits than their partners reported for themselves. This could suggest a positive bias, where individuals maintain a more charitable view of their partner, or it may indicate that certain maladaptive traits are not easily observable to others in a relationship.

The central findings of the study emerged from the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. The most consistent result was a negative actor effect related to partner perception. When an individual rated their partner higher on psychopathic traits, that same individual reported lower satisfaction with the relationship. This connection was present for both men and women and held true across the total psychopathy score and its specific facets.

The study also identified other significant associations. For both men and women, rating oneself higher on Interpersonal Manipulation was linked to lower satisfaction in one’s own relationship. This suggests that a manipulative style may be unfulfilling even for the person exhibiting it.

A partner effect was observed for the trait of Callous Affect. When a person was perceived by their partner as being more callous, unemotional, and lacking in empathy, that partner reported lower relationship satisfaction. This highlights the direct interpersonal damage that a lack of emotional connection can inflict on a relationship.

In an unexpected turn, the analysis revealed one positive association. When women rated themselves as higher in Callous Affect, their male partners reported slightly higher levels of relationship satisfaction. The researchers propose that this could be related to gender stereotypes, where traits that might be labeled as callous in a clinical sense could be interpreted differently, perhaps as toughness or independence, in women by their male partners.

The study has some limitations that the authors acknowledge. The sample consisted of young, primarily student-based, heterosexual couples in relatively short-term relationships, which may not represent the dynamics in older, married, or more diverse couples. Because the study captured data at a single point in time, it cannot establish causality; it shows an association, not that psychopathic traits cause dissatisfaction. The sample size also meant the study was better equipped to detect medium-to-large effects, and smaller but still meaningful associations might have been missed.

Future research could build on these findings by studying larger and more diverse populations over a longer period. Following couples over time would help clarify how these personality dynamics affect relationship quality and stability as the relationship matures. A longitudinal approach could also determine if these traits predict relationship dissolution.

The study, “Psychopathic Traits and Relationship Satisfaction in Intimate Partners: A Dyadic Approach,” was authored by Frederica M. Martijn, Liam Cahill, Mieke Decuyper, and Katarzyna (Kasia) Uzieblo.

A new study proposes that horror films are appealing because they offer a controlled environment for our brains to practice predicting and managing uncertainty. This process of learning to master fear-inducing situations can be an inherently rewarding experience, according to the paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

The authors behind the paper, published in 2013, sought to address why people are drawn to entertainment that is designed to be frightening or disgusting. While some studies have shown psychological benefits from engaging with horror, many existing theories about its appeal seem to contradict one another. The authors aimed to provide a single, unifying framework that could explain how intentionally seeking out negative feelings like fear can result in positive psychological outcomes.

To do this, they applied a theory of brain function known as predictive processing. This framework suggests the brain operates as a prediction engine, constantly making forecasts about incoming sensory information from the world. When reality does not match the brain’s prediction, a “prediction error” occurs, which the brain then works to minimize by updating its internal models or by acting on the world to make it more predictable.

This does not mean humans always seek out calm and predictable situations. The theory suggests people are motivated to find optimal opportunities for learning, which often lie at the edge of their understanding. The brain is not just sensitive to the amount of prediction error, but to the rate at which that error is reduced over time. When we reduce uncertainty faster than we expected, it generates a positive feeling.

This search for the ideal rate of error reduction is what drives curiosity and play. We are naturally drawn to a “Goldilocks zone” of manageable uncertainty that is neither too boringly simple nor too chaotically complex. The researchers argue that horror entertainment is specifically engineered to place its audience within this zone.

According to the theory, horror films can be understood as a form of “affective technology,” designed to manipulate our predictive minds. Even though we know the monsters are not real, the brain processes the film as an improbable version of reality from which it can still learn. Many horror monsters tap into deep-seated, evolutionary fears of predators by featuring sharp teeth, claws, and stealthy, ambush-style behaviors.

The narrative structures of horror films are also built to play with our expectations. The slow build-up of suspense creates a state of high anticipation, and a “jump scare” works by suddenly violating our moment-to-moment predictions. The effectiveness of these techniques is heightened because they are not always predictable. Sometimes the suspense builds and nothing happens, which makes the audience’s response system even more alert.

At the same time, horror films often rely on familiar patterns and clichés, such as the “final girl” who survives to confront the villain. This combination of surprising events within a somewhat predictable structure provides the mix of uncertainty and resolvability that the predictive brain finds so engaging.

The authors propose that engaging with this controlled uncertainty has several benefits. One is that horror provides a low-stakes training ground for learning about high-stakes situations. This idea, known as morbid curiosity, suggests that we watch frightening content to gain information that could be useful for recognizing and avoiding real-world dangers. For example, the film Contagion saw a surge in popularity during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people sought to understand the potential realities of a global health crisis.

Another benefit is related to emotion regulation. By exposing ourselves to fear in a safe context, we can learn about our own psychological and physiological responses. The experience allows us to observe our own anxiety, increased heart rate, and other reactions as objects of attention, rather than just being swept away by them. This process can grant us a greater sense of awareness and control over our own emotional states, similar to the effects of mindfulness practices.

The theory also offers an explanation for why some people prone to anxiety might be drawn to horror. Anxiety can be associated with a feeling of uncertainty about one’s own internal bodily signals, a state known as noisy interoception. Watching a horror movie provides a clear, external source for feelings of fear and anxiety. For a short time, the rapid heartbeat and sweaty palms have an obvious and controllable cause: the monster on the screen, not some unknown internal turmoil.

The researchers note that this engagement is not always beneficial. For some individuals, particularly those with a history of trauma, horror media may serve to confirm negative beliefs about the world being a dangerous and threatening place. This can create a feedback loop where a person repeatedly seeks out horrifying content, reinforcing a sense of hopelessness or learned helplessness. Future work could examine when the engagement with scary media crosses from a healthy learning experience into a potentially pathological pattern.

The study, “Surfing uncertainty with screams: predictive processing, error dynamics and horror films,” was authored by Mark Miller, Ben White and Coltan Scrivner.

A new longitudinal study suggests that intimate partners mutually influence each other’s support for political parties over time. The research found that a shift in one person’s support for a party was predictive of a similar shift in their partner’s support the following year, a process that may contribute to political alignment within couples and broader societal polarization. The findings were published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin/em>.

Political preferences are often similar within families, particularly between parents and children. However, less is known about how political views might be shaped during adulthood, especially within the context of a long-term romantic relationship. Prior studies have shown that partners often hold similar political beliefs, but it has been difficult to determine if this is because people choose partners who already agree with them or if they gradually influence each other over the years.

The authors of the new study sought to examine if this similarity is a result of ongoing influence. They wanted to test whether a change in one partner’s political stance could predict a future change in the other’s. To do this, they used a large dataset from New Zealand, a country with a multi-party system. This setting allowed them to see if any influence was specific to one or two major parties or if it occurred across a wider ideological spectrum, including smaller parties focused on issues like environmentalism, indigenous rights, and libertarianism.

To conduct their investigation, the researchers analyzed data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a large-scale project that has tracked thousands of individuals over many years. Their analysis focused on 1,613 woman-man couples who participated in the study for up to 10 consecutive years. Participants annually rated their level of support for six different political parties on a scale from one (strongly oppose) to seven (strongly support).

The study employed a sophisticated statistical model designed for longitudinal data from couples. This technique allowed the researchers to separate two different aspects of a person’s political support. First, it identified each individual’s stable, long-term average level of support for a given party. Second, it isolated the small, year-to-year fluctuations or deviations from that personal average. This separation is important because it allows for a more precise test of influence over time.

The analysis then examined whether a fluctuation in one partner’s party support in a given year could predict a similar fluctuation in the other partner’s support in the subsequent year. This was done while accounting for the fact that couples already tend to have similar average levels of support.

The results showed a consistent pattern of mutual influence. For all six political parties examined, a temporary increase in one partner’s support for that party was associated with a subsequent increase in the other partner’s support one year later. This finding suggests that partners are not just politically similar from the start of their relationship but continue to shape one another’s specific party preferences over time.

This influence also appeared to be a two-way street. The researchers tested whether men had a stronger effect on women’s views or if the reverse was true. They found that the strength of influence was generally equal between partners. With only one exception, the effect of men on women’s party support was just as strong as the effect of women on men’s support.

The single exception involved the libertarian Association of Consumers and Taxpayers Party, where men’s changing support had a slightly stronger influence on women’s subsequent support than the other way around. For the other five parties, including the two largest and three other smaller parties, the influence was symmetrical. This challenges the idea that one partner, typically the man, is the primary driver of a couple’s political identity.

An additional analysis explored whether this dynamic of influence applied to a person’s general political orientation, which was measured on a scale from extremely liberal to extremely conservative. In this case, the pattern was different. While partners tended to be similar in their overall political orientation, changes in one partner’s self-rated orientation did not predict changes in the other’s over time. This suggests that the influence partners have on each other may be more about support for specific parties and their platforms than about shifting a person’s fundamental ideological identity.

The researchers acknowledge some limitations of their work. The study focused on established, long-term, cohabiting couples in New Zealand, so the findings may not apply to all types of relationships or to couples in other countries with different political systems. Because the couples were already in established relationships, the study also cannot entirely separate the effects of ongoing influence from the possibility that people initially select partners who are politically similar to them.

Future research could explore these dynamics in newer relationships to better understand the interplay between partner selection and later influence. Additional studies could also investigate the specific mechanisms of this influence, such as how political discussions, media consumption, or conflict avoidance might play a role in this process. Examining whether these shifts in expressed support translate to actual behaviors like voting is another important avenue for exploration.

The study, “The Interpersonal Transmission of Political Party Support in Intimate Relationships,” was authored by Sam Fluit, Nickola C. Overall, Danny Osborne, Matthew D. Hammond, and Chris G. Sibley.

A new study suggests that individuals who leave their religion tend to become more politically liberal, often adopting views similar to those who have never been religious. This research, published in the Journal of Personality, provides evidence that the lingering effects of a religious upbringing may not extend to a person’s overall political orientation. The findings indicate a potential boundary for a psychological phenomenon known as “religious residue.”

Researchers conducted this study to investigate a concept called religious residue. This is the idea that certain aspects of a person’s former religion, such as specific beliefs, behaviors, or moral attitudes, can persist even after they no longer identify with that faith. Previous work has shown that these lingering effects can be seen in areas like moral values and consumer habits, where formerly religious people, often called “religious dones,” continue to resemble currently religious individuals more than those who have never been religious.

The research team wanted to determine if this pattern of residue also applied to political orientation. Given the strong link between religiosity and political conservatism in many cultures, it was an open question what would happen to a person’s politics after leaving their faith. They considered three main possibilities. One was that religious residue would hold, meaning religious dones would remain relatively conservative.

Another possibility was that they would undergo a “religious departure,” shifting to a liberal orientation similar to the never-religious. A third option was “religious reactance,” where they might react against their past by becoming even more liberal than those who were never religious.

To explore these possibilities, the researchers analyzed data from eight different samples across three multi-part studies. The first part involved a series of six cross-sectional analyses, which provide a snapshot in time. These studies included a total of 7,089 adults from the United States, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong. Participants were asked to identify as currently religious, formerly religious, or never religious, and to rate their political orientation on a scale from conservative to liberal.

In five of these six samples, the results pointed toward a similar pattern. Individuals who had left their religion reported significantly more liberal political views than those who were currently religious. Their political orientation tended to align closely with that of individuals who had never been religious. When the researchers combined all six samples for a more powerful analysis, they found that religious dones were, on average, more politically liberal than both currently religious and never-religious individuals. This combined result offered some initial evidence for the religious reactance hypothesis.

To gain a clearer picture of how these changes unfold over time, the researchers next turned to longitudinal data, which tracks the same individuals over many years. The second study utilized data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, a project that followed a representative sample of 2,071 American adolescents into young adulthood. This allowed the researchers to compare the political attitudes of those who remained affiliated with a religion, those who left their religion at different points, and those who were never religious.

The findings from this longitudinal sample provided strong support for the religious departure hypothesis. Individuals who left their religion during their youth or young adulthood reported more liberal political attitudes than those who remained religious. However, their political views were not significantly different from the views of those who had never been religious. This study also failed to find evidence for “residual decay,” the idea that religious residue might fade slowly over time. Instead, the shift toward a more liberal orientation appeared to be a distinct change associated with leaving religion, regardless of how long ago the person had de-identified.

The third study aimed to build on these findings with another longitudinal dataset, the Family Foundations of Youth Development project. This study followed 1,857 adolescents and young adults and had the advantage of measuring both religious identification and political orientation at multiple time points. This design allowed the researchers to use advanced statistical models to examine the sequence of these changes. Specifically, they could test whether becoming more liberal preceded leaving religion, or if leaving religion preceded becoming more liberal.

The results of this final study confirmed the findings of the previous ones. Religious dones again reported more liberal political attitudes, similar to their never-religious peers. The more advanced analysis revealed that changes in religious identity tended to precede changes in political orientation. In other words, the data suggests that an individual’s departure from religion came first, and this was followed by a shift toward a more liberal political stance. The reverse relationship, where political orientation predicted a later change in religious identity, was not statistically significant in this sample.

The researchers acknowledge some limitations in their work. The studies relied on a single, broad question to measure political orientation, which may not capture the complexity of political beliefs on specific social or economic issues. While the longitudinal designs provide a strong basis for inference, the data is observational, and experimental methods would be needed to make definitive causal claims. The modest evidence for religious reactance was only present in the combined cross-sectional data and may have been influenced by the age of the participants or other sample-specific factors.

Future research could explore these dynamics using more detailed assessments of political ideology to see if religious residue appears in certain policy areas but not others. Examining the role of personality traits like dogmatism could also offer insight into why some individuals shift their political views so distinctly.

Despite these limitations, the collection of studies provides converging evidence that for many people, leaving religion is associated with a clear and significant move toward a more liberal political identity. This suggests that as secularization continues in many parts of the world, it may be accompanied by corresponding shifts in the political landscape.

The study, “Religious Dones Become More Politically Liberal After Leaving Religion,” was authored by Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Sam A. Hardy, Emily M. Taylor, and Phillip Schwadel.

A new long-term follow-up study has found that a significant majority of individuals treated for major depressive disorder with psilocybin-assisted therapy were still in remission from their depression five years later. The research, which tracked participants from an earlier clinical trial, suggests that the combination of the psychedelic substance with psychotherapy can lead to lasting improvements in mental health and overall well-being. The findings were published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies.

Psilocybin is the primary psychoactive compound found in certain species of mushrooms, often referred to as “magic mushrooms.” When ingested, it can produce profound alterations in perception, mood, and thought. In recent years, researchers have been investigating its potential as a therapeutic tool when administered in a controlled clinical setting alongside psychological support.

The rationale for this line of research stems from the limitations of existing treatments for major depressive disorder. While many people benefit from conventional antidepressants and psychotherapy, a substantial portion do not achieve lasting remission, and medications often come with undesirable side effects and require daily, long-term use.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy represents a different treatment model, one where a small number of high-intensity experiences might catalyze durable psychological changes. This new study was conducted to understand the longevity of the effects observed in an earlier, promising trial.

The research team, led by Alan Davis, an associate professor and director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at The Ohio State University, sought to determine if the initial antidepressant effects would hold up over a much longer period. Davis co-led the original 2021 trial at Johns Hopkins University, and this follow-up represents a collaborative effort between researchers at both institutions.

“We conducted this study to answer a critical question about the enduring effects of psilocybin therapy – namely, what happens after clinical trials end, and do participants experience enduring benefits from this treatment,” Davis told PsyPost.

The investigation was designed as a long-term extension of a clinical trial first published in 2021. That initial study involved 24 adults with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. The participants were divided into two groups: one that received the treatment immediately and another that was placed on a wait-list before receiving the same treatment.

The therapeutic protocol was intensive, involving approximately 13 hours of psychotherapy in addition to two separate sessions where participants received a dose of psilocybin. The original findings were significant, showing a large and rapid reduction in depression symptoms for the participants, with about half reporting a complete remission from their depression that lasted for up to one year.

For the new follow-up, conducted an average of five years after the original treatment, the researchers contacted all 24 of the initial participants. Of those, 18 enrolled and completed the follow-up assessments. This process involved a series of online questionnaires designed to measure symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as any functional impairment in their daily lives.

Participants also underwent a depression rating assessment administered by a clinician and took part in in-depth interviews. These interviews were intended to capture a more nuanced understanding of their experiences and life changes since the trial concluded, going beyond what numerical scores alone could convey.

The researchers found that 67% of the original participants were in remission from their depression. This percentage was slightly higher than the 58% who were in remission at the one-year follow-up point.

“We found that most people reported enduring benefits in their life since participating in psilocybin therapy,” Davis said. “Overall, many reported that even if depression came back, that it was more manageable, less tied to their identity, and that they found it was less interfering in their life.”

To ensure their analysis was robust, the scientists took a conservative approach when handling the data for the six individuals who did not participate in the long-term follow-up. They made the assumption that these participants had experienced a complete relapse and that their depression symptoms had returned to their pre-treatment levels.

“Even controlling for those baseline estimates from the people who didn’t participate in the long-term follow-up, we still see a very large and significant reduction in depression symptoms,” said Davis, who also holds faculty positions in internal medicine and psychology at Ohio State. “That was really exciting for us because this showed that the number of participants still in complete remission from their depression had gone up slightly.”

The study also revealed that these lasting improvements were not solely the product of the psilocybin therapy sessions from five years earlier. The reality of the participants’ lives was more complex. Through the interviews, the researchers learned that only three of the 18 follow-up participants had not received any other form of depression-related treatment in the intervening years. The others had engaged in various forms of support, including taking antidepressant medications, undergoing traditional psychotherapy, or trying other treatments like ketamine or psychedelics on their own.

However, the qualitative data provided important context for these decisions. Many participants described a fundamental shift in their relationship with depression after the trial. Before undergoing psilocybin-assisted therapy, they often felt their depression was a debilitating and all-encompassing condition that prevented them from engaging with life. After the treatment, even if symptoms sometimes returned, they perceived their depression as more situational and manageable.

Participants reported a greater capacity for positive emotions and enthusiasm. Davis explained that these shifts appeared to lead to important changes in how they related to their depressive experiences. This newfound perspective may have made other forms of therapy more effective or made navigating difficult periods less impairing.

“Five years later, most people continued to view this treatment as safe, meaningful, important, and something that catalyzed an ongoing betterment of their life,” said Davis, who co-led the 2021 trial at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s important for us to understand the details of what comes after treatment. I think this is a sign that regardless of what the outcomes are, their lives were improved because they participated in something like this.”

Some participants who had tried using psychedelics on their own reported that the experiences were not as helpful without the supportive framework provided by the clinical trial, reinforcing the idea that the therapeutic context is a vital component of the treatment’s success.

Regarding safety, 11 of the participants reported no negative effects since the trial. A few recalled feeling unprepared for the heightened emotional sensitivity they experienced after the treatment, while others noted that the process of weaning off their previous medications before the trial was difficult.

The researchers acknowledge several limitations of their work. The small sample size of the original trial means that the findings need to be interpreted with caution and require replication in larger studies. Because the study was a long-term follow-up without a continuing control group, it is not possible to definitively attribute all the observed benefits to the psilocybin-assisted therapy, especially since most participants sought other forms of treatment during the five-year period. It is also difficult to know how natural fluctuations in mood and life circumstances may have influenced the outcomes.

“I’d like for people to know that this treatment is not a magic bullet, and these findings support that notion,” Davis noted. “Not everyone was in remission, and some had depression that was ongoing and a major negative impact in their lives. Thankfully, this was not the case for the majority of folks in the study, but readers should know that this treatment does not work for everyone even under the most rigorous and clinically supported conditions.”

Future research should aim to include larger and more diverse groups of participants, including individuals with a high risk for suicide, who were excluded from this trial. Despite these limitations, this study provides a first look at the potential for psilocybin-assisted therapy to produce durable, long-term positive effects for people with major depressive disorder. The findings suggest the treatment may not be a simple cure but rather a catalyst that helps people re-engage with their lives and other therapeutic processes, ultimately leading to sustained improvements in functioning and well-being.

“Next steps are to continue evaluating the efficacy of psilocybin therapy among larger samples and in special populations,” Davis said. “Our work at OSU involves exploring this treatment for Veterans with PTSD, lung cancer patients with depression, gender and sexual minorities with PTSD, and adolescents with depression.”

The study, “Five-year outcomes of psilocybin-assisted therapy for Major Depressive Disorder,” was authored by Alan K. Davis, Nathan D. Sepeda, Adam W. Levin, Mary Cosimano, Hillary Shaub, Taylor Washington, Peter M. Gooch, Shoval Gilead, Skylar J. Gaughan, Stacey B. Armstrong, and Frederick S. Barrett.

A new study provides evidence that older adults who frequently engage with music may have a significantly lower risk of developing dementia. The research, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, indicates that consistently listening to music was associated with up to a 39 percent reduced risk, while regularly playing an instrument was linked to a 35 percent reduced risk. These findings suggest that music-related activities could be an accessible way to support cognitive health in later life.

Researchers were motivated to conduct this study because of the growing global health challenge posed by aging populations and the corresponding rise in dementia cases. As life expectancy increases, so does the prevalence of age-related conditions like cognitive decline. With no current cure for dementia, identifying lifestyle factors that might help prevent or delay its onset has become a major focus of scientific inquiry.

While some previous research pointed to potential cognitive benefits from music, many of those studies were limited. They often involved small groups of participants, included people who already had cognitive problems, or were susceptible to selection bias. This new study aimed to overcome these limitations by using a large, long-term dataset of older adults who were cognitively healthy at the beginning of the research period. The team also wanted to explore how education level might influence the relationship between music engagement and cognitive outcomes.

The investigation utilized data from a large-scale Australian study called ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) and its sub-study. The final analysis included 10,893 community-dwelling adults who were 70 years of age or older and did not have a dementia diagnosis when they enrolled. These participants were followed for a median of 4.7 years, with some observational follow-up extending beyond that period.

About three years into the study, participants answered questions about their social activities, including how often they listened to music or played a musical instrument. Their responses ranged from “never” to “always.” Researchers then tracked the participants’ cognitive health over subsequent years through annual assessments. Dementia diagnoses were made by an expert panel based on rigorous criteria, while a condition known as cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND), a less severe form of cognitive decline, was also identified.

The findings indicate a strong association between music engagement and a lower risk of dementia. Individuals who reported “always” listening to music had a 39 percent decreased risk of developing dementia compared to those who listened never, rarely, or sometimes. This group also showed a 17 percent decreased risk of developing CIND.

Regularly playing a musical instrument was also associated with positive outcomes. Those who played an instrument “often” or “always” had a 35 percent decreased dementia risk compared to those who played rarely or never. However, playing an instrument did not show a significant association with a reduced risk of CIND.

When researchers looked at individuals who engaged in both activities, they found a combined benefit. Participants who frequently listened to music and played an instrument had a 33 percent decreased risk of dementia. This group also showed a 22 percent decreased risk of CIND.

Beyond the risk of dementia or CIND, the study also examined changes in performance on specific cognitive tests over time. Consistently listening to music was associated with better scores in global cognition, which is a measure of overall thinking abilities, as well as in memory. Playing an instrument was not linked to significant changes in scores on these cognitive tests. Neither listening to nor playing music appeared to be associated with changes in participants’ self-reported quality of life or mental wellbeing.

The research team also explored whether a person’s level of education affected these associations. The results suggest that education may play a role, particularly for music listening. The association between listening to music and a lower dementia risk was most pronounced in individuals with 16 or more years of education. In this highly educated group, always listening to music was linked to a 63 percent reduced risk.

The findings were less consistent for those with 12 to 15 years of education, where no significant protective association was observed. The researchers note this particular result was unexpected and may warrant further investigation to understand potential underlying factors.

The study has several limitations that are important to consider. Because it is an observational study, it can only identify associations between music and cognitive health; it cannot establish that music engagement directly causes a reduction in dementia risk. It is possible that individuals with healthier brains are simply more likely to engage with music, a concept known as reverse causation. The study’s participants were also generally healthier than the average older adult population, which may limit how broadly the findings can be applied.

Additionally, the data on music engagement was self-reported, which could introduce inaccuracies. The survey did not collect details on the type of music, the duration of listening or playing sessions, or whether listening to the radio involved music or talk-based content. Such details could be important for understanding the mechanisms behind the observed associations.

Future research could build on these findings by examining longer-term outcomes and exploring which specific aspects of music engagement might be most beneficial. Studies involving more diverse populations could also help determine if these associations hold true across different groups. Ultimately, randomized controlled trials would be needed to determine if actively encouraging music engagement as an intervention can directly improve cognitive function and delay the onset of dementia in older adults.

The study, “What Is the Association Between Music-Related Leisure Activities and Dementia Risk? A Cohort Study,” was authored by Emma Jaffa, Zimu Wu, Alice Owen, Aung Azw Zaw Phyo, Robyn L. Woods, Suzanne G. Orchard, Trevor T.-J. Chong, Raj C. Shah, Anne Murray, and Joanne Ryan.

A new study suggests that popular large language models like ChatGPT can systematically breach established ethical guidelines for mental health care, even when specifically prompted to use accepted therapeutic techniques. The research, which will be presented at the AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society, provides evidence that these AI systems may pose risks to individuals who turn to them for mental health support.

The motivation for this research stems from the rapidly growing trend of people using publicly available AI chatbots for advice on mental health issues. While these systems can offer immediate and accessible conversational support, their alignment with the professional standards that govern human therapists has remained largely unexamined. Researchers from Brown University sought to bridge this gap by creating a systematic way to evaluate the ethical performance of these models in a therapeutic context. They collaborated with mental health practitioners to ensure their analysis was grounded in the real-world principles that guide safe and effective psychotherapy.

To conduct their investigation, the researchers first developed a comprehensive framework outlining 15 distinct ethical risks. This framework was informed by the ethical codes of professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, translating core therapeutic principles into measurable behaviors for an AI. The team then designed a series of simulated conversations between a user and a large language model, or LLM, which is an AI system trained on vast amounts of text to generate human-like conversation. In these simulations, the AI was instructed to act as a counselor employing evidence-based psychotherapeutic methods.

The simulated scenarios were designed to present the AI with common and challenging mental health situations. These included users expressing feelings of worthlessness, anxiety about social situations, and even statements that could indicate a crisis, such as thoughts of self-harm. By analyzing the AI’s responses across these varied prompts, the researchers could map its behavior directly onto their practitioner-informed framework of ethical risks. This allowed for a detailed assessment of when and how the models tended to deviate from professional standards.

The study’s findings indicate that the large language models frequently engaged in behaviors that would be considered ethical violations for a human therapist. One of the most significant areas of concern was in the handling of crisis situations. When a simulated user expressed thoughts of self-harm, the AI models often failed to respond appropriately. Instead of prioritizing safety and providing direct access to crisis resources, some models offered generic advice or conversational platitudes that did not address the severity of the situation.

Another pattern observed was the reinforcement of negative beliefs. In psychotherapy, a practitioner is trained to help a person identify and gently challenge distorted or unhelpful thought patterns, such as believing one is a complete failure after a single mistake. The study found that the AIs, in an attempt to be agreeable and supportive, would sometimes validate these negative self-assessments. This behavior can inadvertently strengthen a user’s harmful beliefs about themselves or their circumstances, which is counterproductive to therapeutic goals.

The research also points to the issue of what the authors term a “false sense of empathy.” While the AI models are proficient at generating text that sounds empathetic, this is a simulation of emotion, not a genuine understanding of the user’s experience. This can create a misleading dynamic where a user may form an attachment to the AI or develop a dependency based on this perceived empathy. Such a one-sided relationship lacks the authentic human connection and accountability that are foundational to effective therapy.

Beyond these specific examples, the broader framework developed by the researchers suggests other potential ethical pitfalls. These include issues of competence, where an AI might provide advice on a topic for which it has no genuine expertise or training, unlike a licensed therapist who must practice within their scope. Similarly, the nature of data privacy and confidentiality is fundamentally different with an AI. Conversations with a chatbot may be recorded and used for model training, a practice that is in direct conflict with the strict confidentiality standards of human-centered therapy.

The study suggests that these ethical violations are not necessarily flaws to be fixed with simple tweaks but may be inherent to the current architecture of large language models. These systems are designed to predict the next most probable word in a sequence, creating coherent and contextually relevant text. They do not possess a true understanding of psychological principles, ethical reasoning, or the potential real-world impact of their words. Their programming prioritizes a helpful and plausible response, which in a therapeutic setting can lead to behaviors that are ethically inappropriate.

The researchers acknowledge certain limitations to their work. The study relied on simulated interactions, which may not fully capture the complexity and unpredictability of conversations with real individuals seeking help. Additionally, the field of artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly, and newer versions of these models may behave differently than the ones tested. The specific prompts used by the research team also shape the AI’s responses, and different user inputs could yield different results.

For future research, the team calls for the development of new standards specifically designed for AI-based mental health tools. They suggest that the current ethical and legal frameworks for human therapists are not sufficient for governing these technologies. New guidelines would need to be created to address the unique challenges posed by AI, from data privacy and algorithmic bias to the management of user dependency and crisis situations.

In their paper, the researchers state, “we call on future work to create ethical, educational, and legal standards for LLM counselors—standards that are reflective of the quality and rigor of care required for human-facilitated psychotherapy.” The study ultimately contributes to a growing body of evidence suggesting that while AI may have a future role in mental health, its current application requires a cautious and well-regulated approach to ensure user safety and well-being.

The study, “How LLM Counselors Violate Ethical Standards in Mental Health Practice: A Practitioner-Informed Framework,” was authored by Zainab Iftikhar, Amy Xiao, Sean Ransom, Jeff Huang, and Harini Suresh.

A new large-scale study of European adults suggests that, on average, being religiously educated as a child is associated with slightly poorer self-rated health after the age of 50. The research, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, also indicates that this association is not uniform, varying significantly across different aspects of health and among different segments of the population.

Past research has produced a complex and sometimes contradictory picture regarding the connections between religiousness and health. Some studies indicate that religious involvement can offer health benefits, such as reduced suicide risk and fewer unhealthy behaviors. Other research points to negative associations, linking religious attendance with increased depression in some populations.

Most of this work has focused on religious practices in adulthood, leaving the long-term health associations of childhood religious experiences less understood. To address this gap, researchers set out to investigate how a religious upbringing might be linked to health outcomes decades later, taking into account the diverse life experiences that can shape a person’s well-being.

The researchers proposed several potential pathways through which a religious upbringing could influence long-term health. These include psychosocial mechanisms, where religion might foster positive emotions and coping strategies but could also lead to internal conflict or distress. Social and economic mechanisms might involve access to supportive communities and resources, while also potentially exposing individuals to group tensions.

Finally, behavioral mechanisms suggest religion may encourage healthier lifestyles, such as avoiding smoking or excessive drinking, which could have lasting positive effects on physical health. Given these varied and sometimes opposing potential influences, the researchers hypothesized that the link between a religious upbringing and late-life health would not be simple or consistent for everyone.

To explore these questions, the study utilized data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, a major cross-national project. The analysis included information from 10,346 adults aged 50 or older from ten European countries. Participants were asked a straightforward question about their childhood: “Were you religiously educated by your parents?” Their current health was assessed through self-ratings on a five-point scale from “poor” to “excellent.” The study also examined more specific health indicators, including physical health (chronic diseases and limitations in daily activities), mental health (symptoms of depression), and cognitive health (numeracy and orientation skills).

The researchers employed an advanced statistical method known as a causal forest approach. This machine learning technique is particularly well-suited for identifying complex and non-linear patterns in large datasets. Unlike traditional methods that often look for straightforward, linear relationships, the causal forest model can uncover how the association between a religious upbringing and health might change based on a wide array of other factors. The analysis accounted for 19 different variables, including early-life circumstances, late-life demographics like age and marital status, and current religious involvement.

The overall results indicated that, on average, having a religious upbringing was associated with poorer self-rated health in later life. The average effect was modest, representing a -0.10 point difference on the five-point health scale. The analysis showed that for a majority of individuals in the sample, the association was negative.

However, the model also identified a smaller portion of individuals for whom the association was positive, suggesting that for some, a religious upbringing was linked to better health outcomes. This variation highlights that an average finding does not tell the whole story.

When the researchers examined different domains of health, a more nuanced picture emerged. A religious upbringing was associated with poorer mental health, specifically a higher level of depressive symptoms. It was also linked to poorer cognitive health, as measured by lower numeracy, or mathematical ability.

In contrast, the same childhood experience was associated with better physical health, indicated by fewer limitations in activities of daily living, which include basic self-care tasks like bathing and dressing. This suggests that a religious childhood may have different, and even opposing, associations with the physical, mental, and cognitive aspects of a person’s well-being in later life.

The study provided further evidence that the link between a religious upbringing and poorer self-rated health was not the same for all people. The negative association appeared to be stronger for certain subgroups. For example, individuals who grew up with adverse family circumstances, such as a parent with mental health problems or a parent who drank heavily, showed a stronger negative link between their religious education and later health.

Late-life demographic factors also seemed to modify the association. The negative link was more pronounced among older individuals (aged 65 and above), females, those who were not married or partnered, and those with lower levels of education. These findings suggest that disadvantages or vulnerabilities experienced later in life may interact with early experiences to shape health outcomes.

The analysis also considered how adult religious practices related to the findings. The negative association between a religious upbringing and later health was stronger for individuals who reported praying in adulthood. It was also stronger for those who reported that they never attended a religious organization as an adult. This combination suggests a complex interplay between past experiences and present behaviors.

The study does have some limitations. The data on religious upbringing and other childhood circumstances were based on participants’ retrospective self-reports, which can be subject to memory biases. The study’s design is cross-sectional, meaning it captures a snapshot in time and cannot establish a direct causal link between a religious upbringing and health outcomes. It is possible that other unmeasured factors, such as parental socioeconomic status, could play a role in this relationship. The measure of religious upbringing was also broad and did not capture the intensity, type, or strictness of the education received.

Future research could build on these findings by using longitudinal data to track individuals over time, providing a clearer view of how early experiences unfold into later life health. More detailed measures of religious education could also help explain why the experience appears beneficial for some health domains but detrimental for others. Researchers also suggest that exploring the mechanisms, such as coping strategies or social support, would provide a more complete understanding.

The study, “Heterogeneous associations between early-life religious upbringing and late-life health: Evidence from a machine learning approach,” was authored by Xu Zong, Xiangjiao Meng, Karri Silventoinen, Matti Nelimarkka, and Pekka Martikainen.