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Psychology News

These research articles involve many aspects of psychology such as cognitive psychology, depression studies, mental health, stress, happiness and neuropsychology, Scroll below for more specific categories.

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The happiest introverts may be extraverts

Introverts who alter their behavior to act more extraverted are happier and report improvements in overall well-being.

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New algorithm can distinguish cyberbullies from normal Twitter users with 90% accuracy

A new deep learning system is 90% accurate in identifying cyberbullies on the popular social media site Twitter.

Don’t make major decisions on an empty stomach

Hunger significantly alters a person's decision-making ability, making them more impatient and more likely to settle for a small reward now than wait for a bigger reward in the future.

Violent video games blamed more often for school shootings by white perpetrators

Video games are often blamed as a cause of mass shootings, especially if the perpetrator is white. When it comes to perpetrators of other racial backgrounds, people are more likely to assume they are involved in violent criminal activities. Blaming gaming for school shootings perpetrated by white people, and thereby providing an unfounded excuse for their actions, is a sign of a larger racial issue. Similar excuses aren't extended to people of other racial backgrounds. Instead, they are viewed as more culpable for their crimes.

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Childhood behavior linked to taking acetaminophen (paracetamol) in pregnancy

Study finds an association between acetaminophen use during mid-to-late pregnancy and increased risk of hyperactivity, attention problems, and other behavioral deficits in young children. Boys appear to be more susceptible to the adverse effects acetaminophen use during pregnancy. However, the negative effects only seem to persist during the early years of life.

Scientists identify gene as master regulator in schizophrenia

TCF4 may serve as a master regulator of a gene network dysregulated in schizophrenia at the early stages of neurodevelopment.

Acute cerebellar inflammation and hyperexcitability induces ‘depression-like’ behavior

Acute inflammation of the anterior cerebellum resulted in depression-like symptoms in rodent models. Suppressing microglia helped reduce hyperexcitability and symptoms of depression.

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Distractions distort what’s real

Distractions may change our perceptions of reality, making us believe we witnessed something different from what we really saw.

Dietary supplement may help with schizophrenia

The dietary supplement sarcosine taken in combination with antipsychotic medications may be beneficial for the treatment of schizophrenia.

How emotion affects action

Researchers have identified a comprehensive circuit mechanism that governs how emotional states can influence movement through connections in the basal ganglia. The mechanism represents a way in which emotional states relate to changes in action control in depression, anxiety, and OCD.

Study locates brain areas for understanding metaphors in healthy and schizophrenic people

Patients with schizophrenia show increased brain activity in central areas of the brain, but lower activity in the temporal sulcus when hearing metaphors.

Bad to the bone or just bad behavior?

How we perceive moral goodness or moral badness, as either biological and innate traits or potentially changeable, can guide whether we are willing to be lenient over other peoples' transgressions.