news 2024

Increasing serotonin can change how people learn from negative information, as well as improving how they respond to it, according to a new study published in the leading journal Nature Communications .

A new study finds sexual minorities still experience a greater burden of mental health and substance use conditions than heterosexual people despite legislative and policy advances and improvements in social attitudes in recent decades. Led by SFU health sciences assistant professor Travis Salway, the study, published in SSM - Population Health , found that inequalities in mental health and substance use conditions between sexual minority and heterosexual populations have not improved since 2003.

Datasets that are too small may lead researchers to overlook relationships between the brain and behavior, a new study finds. When designing machine learning models, researchers first train the models to recognize data patterns and then test their effectiveness. But if the datasets used to train and test aren't sufficiently large, models may appear to be less capable than they actually are, a new Yale study reports.

Datasets that are too small may lead researchers to overlook relationships between the brain and behavior, a new study finds. When designing machine learning models, researchers first train the models to recognize data patterns and then test their effectiveness. But if the datasets used to train and test aren't sufficiently large, models may appear to be less capable than they actually are, a new Yale study reports.

Many people who were hospitalised with COVID-19 continue to have cognitive and psychiatric problems even two to three years post-infection, according to a new study published in Lancet Psychiatry . Conducted by a group of researchers across the UK led by the University of Oxford and the University of Leicester, and published in Lancet Psychiatry , the research highlights the persistent and significant nature of these symptoms as well as the emergence of new symptoms years after COVID-19 was first present.

The processes in the brain and body through which physical exercise reduces depressive symptoms have been explored by UCL researchers. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is associated with disruptions to several brain and psychological processes, including impaired learning and memory.

We all know what it's like when the penny suddenly drops. Animals too experience such moments of insight. They could prove useful for research, according to Ekrem Dere. For generations, researchers have been pondering the question of how and where consciousness is formed in the brain. Professor Ekrem Dere from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, proposes a new approach to researching conscious cognitive information processing.

Researchers from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Autonomous University of Madrid have provided new evidence on the importance of narrative discourse for cognitive and linguistic development in childhood. The work, published in the journal Estudos da Linguagem , lays the groundwork for developing educational materials in Spanish-speaking classrooms.

Mindfulness training may lead participants to experience disembodiment and unity - so-called altered states of consciousness - according to a new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge. I've benefited a lot personally from meditation and mindfulness and I've also had many of these experiences.

Children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are at significantly higher risk of a number of mental health issues, including mood and anxiety disorders, a study from a team in the UK and the Czech Republic has found. We know that people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes can experience 'diabetes distress'. It's little wonder, then, that they are at risk of compounding mental health problems, spanning into their adult lives Benjamin Perry The findings highlight the urgent need for monitoring and support for the mental health of young people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

A new study has revealed compelling evidence that small improvements in daily lifestyle choices can lead to improvements in high school students mental health. PhD candidate Scarlett Smout from the Matilda Centre writes about the results. Judging by  recent headlines  and  policy ideas , you might think screen time is the only lifestyle behaviour influencing teen wellbeing.

Cambridge scientists have developed an artificially-intelligent tool capable of predicting in four cases out of five whether people with early signs of dementia will remain stable or develop Alzheimer's disease.

A study by MIT scientists supports "social good" as a cognitive approach to dealing with highly stressful events. Some people, especially those in public service, perform admirable feats: Think of health-care workers fighting to keep patients alive or first responders arriving at the scene of a car crash.

Smoking may be among the most important lifestyle factors affecting how quickly our cognitive skills decline as we age, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Communications , analysed data from 32,000 adults aged 50 or over from 14 European countries who responded to surveys over 10 years.

Two-thirds of people surveyed think that artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT have some degree of consciousness and can have subjective experiences such as feelings and memories, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT often display a conversational style when outputting content.

Scientists have identified a gene which, when missing or impaired, can cause obesity, behavioural problems and, in mothers, postnatal depression. The discovery, reported today in Cell , may have wider implications for the treatment of postnatal depression, with a study in mice suggesting that oxytocin may alleviate symptoms.

In Canada, the concept of allyship has emerged as a pivotal strategy for firms striving to meet their equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) goals. In a new study , Not all'allies are created equal: An intersectional examination of relational allyship for women of color at work,   Barnini Bhattacharyya , a professor at Ivey Business School, investigated the power dynamics of allyship as it relates to women of colour in the workplace.

New research, by our Department of Psychology, has found that negative social contact among people of differing societal or cultural groups can have a disproportionate negative effect on broad social cohesion within communities. The research, led by Professor Stefania Paolini, analyses 70 years of research into the psychological effects of intergroup social contact.

It's a potentially life-altering medical condition typically diagnosed in childhood. The good news is treatment works well if followed properly. The bad news is the treatment is hard to stick to. An interdisciplinary team of University of Waterloo researchers is trying to improve treatment adherence through use of a social robot that can educate and motivate children and their caregivers.

The risk of developing Parkinson's is at least twice as high in people with anxiety compared to those without, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in the British Journal of General Practice , investigated whether there was a link between people over the age of 50 who had recently developed anxiety and a later diagnosis of Parkinson's.