news 2017

Stanford psychology scholars applied indulgent labeling â?- flavorful, exciting descriptions usually used for decadent foods â?- to vegetables. Their study found that more diners chose vegetables with these indulgent descriptions. Wouldn't you choose â''sweet sizzlinâ'' green beans and crispy shallotsâ?- over basic green beans' According to new research from Stanford scholars, yes, indeed.

New research by Stanford psychologists analyzes cultural effects on giving. They find that people are willing to offer more money to others who display similar emotional expressions and that those expressions are even more powerful factors than race or sex. How can culture influence giving? Some scholars have argued that people are more likely to share with others who are similar in terms of race or sex, but the evidence for this is mixed.

The human brain works in rhythms and cycles. These patterns occur at predictable frequencies that depend on what a person is doing and on what part of the brain is active during the behavior. Similarly, there are rhythms and patterns out in the world, and for the last 20 years, scientists have been perplexed by the brain's ability to 'entrain,' or match up, with these patterns.

A new study reveals that mindfulness training, but not relaxation training, benefits college athletes' attention. Practice engagement and program adherence are key. It's no secret that performance excellence in sports requires dedicated practice and physical training. Much less is known about mental training to deal with the psychological pressures of competitive athletics, the mental game .

Living in a city could significantly increase young people's vulnerability to psychotic experiences, according to a new study from King's College London and Duke University. Published today in Schizophrenia Bulletin , the study found that British adolescents raised in major cities in England and Wales were over 40 per cent more likely to report psychotic experiences (e.g.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Personalized ads now follow us around the web, their content drawn from tracking our online activity. The ad industry has suggested we're OK with it - that we see benefits roughly equal to perceived risks. A study by University of Illinois advertising professor Chang-Dae Ham says otherwise, suggesting the industry may want to reconsider its approach.

One in three UK adults of working age are likely to be experiencing a mental health problem. So how do we identify those most in need of help and provide support before it results in long-term sickness absence or even so-called 'presenteeism', where people turn up for work but may not be able to function as effectively? Researchers at the University of Nottingham are using Mental Health Awareness Week to shine a light on the issue of mental health in the workplace - and to launch a new study aimed at finding out whether an international initiative to tackle it is actually making a difference.

ANN ARBOR'New research suggests that simply telling a young man that an energy drink has been added to his alcoholic beverage can make him feel more intoxicated, daring and sexually self-confident. The study, co-authored by University of Michigan professor Aradhna Krishna and published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, is believed to be the first to examine the effect of marketing on consumer beliefs related to alcohol mixed with energy drinks.

UCLA study shows that slow-moving meditation practice works just as well as talk therapy, and better than medication Leigh Hopper If you've ever had insomnia, you know worrying about sleep makes it even harder to fall asleep. For the 30 percent of breast cancer survivors who have insomnia, sleepless nights can lead to depression, fatigue and a heightened risk of disease.

School-aged children can be taught to better their mental health through intervention programmes delivered at school, suggests a new study carried out in east London and led by an academic at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). The study, published in the journal PLOS one , investigated whether a new psychological programme, which was integrated into the school curriculum could promote resilience - the ability to recover after setbacks - and prevent depression in 11-12 year old girls.

Study reveals link between chronic childhood illness and later life mental health problems A new study into the effects of chronic physical illness in children on their life-long mental health has found that such experiences appear to increase the chances of them having depression and anxiety in adulthood.

An analysis just published online has broken new ground by finding gender differences in both symptoms and diagnoses of depression appearing at age 12. The analysis, based on existing studies that looked at more than 3.5 million people in more than 90 countries, confirmed that depression affects far more females than males.

Language has such a powerful effect, it can influence the way in which we experience time, according to a new study. Professor Panos Athanasopoulos, a linguist from Lancaster University and Professor Emanuel Bylund, a linguist from Stellenbosch University and Stockholm University, have discovered that people who speak two languages fluently think about time differently depending on the language context in which they are estimating the duration of events.

People who have a severe fear of the dentist are more likely to have tooth decay or missing teeth, according to a new study from King's College London. The study, published today in the British Dental Journal , compared the oral health of people with and without dental phobia. The results showed that people with dental phobia are more likely to have one or more decayed teeth, as well as missing teeth.

Researchers have uncovered the first scientific evidence of a 'higher' state of consciousness. In the study, neuroscientists observed a sustained increase in the diversity of brain signals of people under the influence of psychedelic drugs, compared with when they were in a normal 'awake and aware' state.

First evidence for higher state of consciousness found Scientific evidence of a 'higher' state of consciousness has been found in a study led by the University of Sussex. Neuroscientists observed a sustained increase in neural signal diversity - a measure of the complexity of brain activity - of people under the influence of psychedelic drugs, compared with when they were in a normal waking state.

Firstly, they gauged the tendency of participants (440 Belgian French-speaking or Dutch-speaking non-Muslims ) to help - by contributing a hypothetical sum of money - a fictional person bearing either a Christian (and traditionally 'Belgian') or Muslim first name.

AUSTIN, Texas - Recognizing threats is an essential function of the human mind - think "fight or flight" - one that is aided by past negative experiences. But when older memories are coupled with stress, individuals are likely to perceive danger in harmless circumstances, according to a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Acute psychosocial stress leads to increased empathy and prosocial behavior. An international team of researchers led by Claus Lamm from the University of Vienna investigated the effects of stress on neural mechanisms and tested the relationship between empathy and prosocial behavior in a new experiment.

When we visit a friend or go to the beach, our brain stores a short-term memory of the experience in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. Those memories are later 'consolidated' - that is, transferred to another part of the brain for longer-term storage. A new MIT study of the neural circuits that underlie this process reveals, for the first time, that memories are actually formed simultaneously in the hippocampus and the long-term storage location in the brain's cortex.