Research

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Researchers have analyzed data from more than 40,000 people in the UK, and found that changes in fruit and vegetable consumption are correlated with changes in mental well-being. February 5, 2019—A key feature of this work is that the study was able to follow the same individuals over time. The study also controlled for alternative...

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Older people who have less slow-wave sleep have higher levels of the brain protein tau. Elevated tau is a sign of Alzheimer’s disease and has been linked to brain damage and cognitive decline. January 9, 2019, St. Louis, MO—Poor sleep is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. People with the disease tend to wake up tired,...

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You may be familiar with the saying, “You are what you eat,” but did you know the food you eat could impact your memory? January 28, 2019, AMES, IA—Auriel Willette, assistant professor, and his team of researchers in Iowa State University’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition discovered a satiety hormone that, at higher...

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The FDA’s approval of Spravato (esketamine) offers hope to millions living with hard-to-treat depression. March 5, 2019—The FDA has approved Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato for treatment-resistant depression. The drug represents the first new major pharmaceutical advancement in the treatment of depression since Prozac was introduced in the late 1980s. “This is potentially a game changer...

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In a sweeping new study, Indiana University psychologists have found that a series of self-guided, internet-based therapy platforms effectively reduce depression.   December 11, 2018—The work, which reviewed 21 pre-existing studies with a total of 4,781 participants, was published in the November issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The study was led by...

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Seeing pictures of food with calorie information not only makes food less appetizing but it also appears to change the way your brain responds to the food.   December 20, 2018—Seeing pictures of food with calorie information not only makes food less appetizing but it also appears to change the way your brain responds to...

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The human brain needs to suppress obvious ideas in order to reach the most creative ones. These obvious associations are present in both convergent and divergent thinking.   December 10, 2018, London, England—The human brain needs to suppress obvious ideas in order to reach the most creative ones, according to scientists at Queen Mary University...

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New research finds that higher levels of vitamin D are associated with better exercise capacity.   October 30, 2018, Richmond, VA—Vitamin D levels in the blood are linked to cardiorespiratory fitness, according to a study published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a publication of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). “Our study...

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Faces that are seen as competent are also perceived as more masculine, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.   December 7, 2018—”Our research sheds light on the pernicious gender bias in how we perceive others—we judge masculine looking people as competent, a judgment that can affect...

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Investigators identify, assess underlying mechanisms that may explain diet’s 25 percent reduction in cardiovascular risk for American women   December 7, 2018, BOSTON, MA—A new study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers insights from a cohort study of women in the...

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Respondents believe music stimulates sleep, blocks internal, external sleep disruptors   November 14, 2018—Many individuals use music in the hope that it fights sleep difficulties, according to a study published November 14 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tabitha Trahan of the University of Sheffield, UK, and colleagues. As described by the authors, this...

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Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that better cardiorespiratory fitness leads to longer life, with no limit to the benefit of aerobic fitness.   Researchers retrospectively studied 122,007 patients who underwent exercise treadmill testing at Cleveland Clinic between Jan. 1, 1991, and Dec. 31, 2014, to measure all-cause mortality relating to the benefits of exercise and...

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Researchers have found that alcohol hijacks a conserved memory pathway in the brain and changes which versions of genes are made, forming the cravings that fuel addiction.   October 25, 2018, Providence, RI—A new study in flies finds that alcohol hijacks this memory formation pathway and changes the proteins expressed in the neurons, forming cravings....

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If we breathe through the nose rather than the mouth after trying to learn a set of smells, we remember them better.   October 22, 2018, Stockholm, Sweden—The way we breathe may affect how well our memories are consolidated (i.e. reinforced and stabilised). If we breathe through the nose rather than the mouth after trying...

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New research shows probiotics, often thought of as “good bacteria”, may help in treating bipolar disorder by reducing gut inflammation.   December 13, 2018, Brentwood, TN—About 3 million people in the US are diagnosed every year with bipolar disorder, a psychiatric condition characterized by dramatic shifts in mood from depression to mania. Currently, the standard...

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Lifting weights for less than an hour a week may reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent, according to a new Iowa State University study.   November 13, 2018, Ames, IA —”People may think they need to spend a lot of time lifting weights, but just two sets...

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A new study is the first to provide evidence that not getting enough sleep can make anger stronger and more pronounced in frustrating situations.   November 27, 2018, AMES, Iowa – Losing just a couple hours of sleep at night makes you angrier, especially in frustrating situations, according to new Iowa State University research. While...

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The first experimental study examining the use of multiple platforms shows a link between time spent on social media and increased depression and loneliness.   November 8, 2018, Philadelphia, PA—The link between the two has been talked about for years, but a causal connection had never been proven. For the first time, University of Pennsylvania...

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Researchers have made the surprising discovery that the number of calories people burn while at rest changes with the time of day.   November 8, 2018, Boston, MA—Researchers reporting in Current Biology on November 8 have made the surprising discovery that the number of calories people burn while at rest changes with the time of...

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Researchers believe an alternative approach to antidepressant and antipsychotic prescribing may be more cost effective and practical than genetic testing.   November 20, 2018 – Pharmacogenetic tests are marketed as an aid to psychiatrists in selecting the antidepressant or antipsychotic medication that will work best in individual patients, based on their genetic makeup. But for...