Psychology Headlines Around the World
From Social Psychology Network

• High Sensitivity to Stress Isn't Always Bad for Children
  posted on February 08, 2010 - 07:58:08 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  Children who are especially reactive to stress are more vulnerable to adversity and have more behavior and health problems than their peers. But a new longitudinal study suggests that highly reactive children are also more likely to do well when they're raised in supportive environments. The study, by scientists at the University of British Columbia, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley, appears...
  
  
  
  
  
• Neurons for Peace: Take the Pledge, Brain Scientists
  posted on February 08, 2010 - 07:57:46 am
  
  

  Source: New Scientist - Latest Headlines

  It's time for neuroscience to catch up with other professions and pledge not to support aggressive war and torture, says Curtis Bell.
  
  
  
  
  
• Potential Evolutionary Role for Same-Sex Attraction
  posted on February 08, 2010 - 07:57:18 am
  
  

  Source: ScienceDaily

  Male homosexuality doesn't make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view. One possible explanation is what evolutionary psychologists call the "kin selection hypothesis." What that means is that homosexuality may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives.
  
  
  
  
  
• Novel Helps Overweight Girls Lose Weight, Gain Self-Esteem
  posted on February 08, 2010 - 07:57:08 am
  
  

  Source: USA Today - Top Stories

  A Duke University study found that Rescue Lake, which features an overweight protagonist, inspired girls ages 9 to 13 to get ...
  
  
  
  
  
• APA Says Pentagon and Congress Should Quickly End Gay Military Ban
  posted on February 07, 2010 - 04:34:17 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  The American Psychological Association urged both the Pentagon and Congress to move swiftly to end the restrictions on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, noting that there are decades of scientific research demonstrating no threat to military readiness or morale. "While we were heartened by the congressional testimony of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, we believe that a year to study the matter and another...
  
  
  
  
  
• Vegetative State Patient Says "Yes" and "No" Via Brain Scan
  posted on February 04, 2010 - 02:11:20 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  Researchers in the UK and Belgium who scanned the brains of patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state while they were asked to perform mental tasks found that some of them were able to control brain activity in a way that suggested signs of awareness and cognition, and in one case, the patient was even able to communicate "yes" and "no" via the brain scan...
  
  
  
  
  
• Cutting-Edge Robotic Exoskeleton Allows Wheelchair-Bound to Walk
  posted on February 04, 2010 - 02:11:17 am
  
  

  Source: ABC News - Health

  ReWalk is a robotic device that, when worn by wheelchair users with lower-limb disabilities, enables them to walk again. The device made by Argo Medical, an Israeli company, is currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States. "GMA" anchor George Stephanopoulos tried the suit and reports on how it's changing paraplegics' lives.
  
  
  
  
  
• "Elevation" Leads to Altruistic Behavior
  posted on February 04, 2010 - 02:11:12 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  Seeing someone perform a virtuous deed (especially if they are helping another person), makes us feel good, often eliciting a warm, fuzzy feeling in our chest. This positive, uplifting emotion, known as "elevation," might make us feel great, but is it enough to get us to go out and perform good acts ourselves? According to new findings reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the answer may be...
  
  
  
  
  
• Brain Dopamine Receptor Density Correlates with Social Status
  posted on February 04, 2010 - 02:11:02 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  People have typically viewed the benefits that accrue with social status primarily from the perspective of external rewards. A new paper in the February 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier suggests that there are internal rewards as well. Dr. Martinez and colleagues found that increased social status and increased social support correlated with the density of dopamine D2/D3 receptors in the striatum, a region of the brain...
  
  
  
  
  
• Many Physicians Ignore Established Criteria to Diagnose Depression
  posted on February 03, 2010 - 08:16:02 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  A new study led by Mark Zimmerman, MD, of Rhode Island Hospital indicates that a majority of non-psychiatrist physicians and a substantial minority of psychiatrists reported that they often do not use the criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) when diagnosing major depressive disorder (MDD) in patients. The study appears online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry....
  
  
  
  
  
• Suicides by Mental Health Patients Preventable, Says Report
  posted on February 03, 2010 - 08:15:57 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  Preventing patients from leaving psychiatric wards without staff agreement could avoid up to 50 suicide deaths every year, say University of Manchester researchers. A new report by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness suggests that the ward environment may play a part in the level of patients leaving the ward, and that attempts should be made to optimise it. It also urges mental health...
  
  
  
  
  
• Poor Mental Functioning May Predict Stroke
  posted on February 02, 2010 - 06:51:07 am
  
  

  Source: MedicineNet.com

  Title: Poor Mental Functioning May Predict Stroke Category: Health News Created: 2/1/2010 4:10:00 PM Last Editorial Review: 2/2/2010.
  
  
  
  
  
• Lightning Bolts Leave Mental and Physical Scars
  posted on February 02, 2010 - 05:08:49 am
  
  

  Source: ABC News - Health

  After being struck by lightning Tuesday, 12-year-old Chelal Matos' death in Virginia's Spotsylvania County brought the tally of lightning-related fatalities to six this year, including a woman who was killed by an indirect lightning strike in California last month. Lightning is second only to floods as the deadliest natural threat, claiming about 58 lives each year, according to data from the National Weather Service. Yet the awesome electrical...
  
  
  
  
  
• Social Ladder Forms Early in Life
  posted on February 02, 2010 - 05:08:30 am
  
  

  Source: ABC News - Health

  Child development experts say the social pecking order can start at age 4 and is a natural inclination, but some groups estimate that 10 percent of all U.S. schools now use some kind of evidence-based, emotional learning program.
  
  
  
  
  
• People with Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Why the Mirror Lies
  posted on February 02, 2010 - 05:08:09 am
  
  

  Source: ScienceDaily

  Researchers have determined that the brains of people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a psychiatric condition that causes them, wrongly, to believe they appear disfigured and ugly, have abnormalities in processing visual input when it comes to examining their own face. Further, they found that the same systems of the brain are overactive in BDD and in obsessive-compulsive disorder, suggesting a link between the two.
  
  
  
  
  
• Antidepressants May Help Victims of Stroke
  posted on February 02, 2010 - 01:32:58 am
  
  

  Source: L.A. Times - Science

  Study shows that memory skills and cognitive functioning may improve in stroke patients who don't suffer from depression after treatment with the medication. Widely used antidepressants may help patients recover cognitive functions, such as memory skills, that are damaged following a stroke, according to research released Monday.
  
  
  
  
  
• Sit-ins Reignited the Civil Rights Movement 50 Years Ago
  posted on February 01, 2010 - 06:54:48 am
  
  

  Source: USA Today - Top Stories

  In 1960, tens of thousands of students across the South were using sit-ins to protest racial discrimination that had scarred ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why Tebow and Not Gay Dating Ad? CBS on Super Bowl Hotseat
  posted on February 01, 2010 - 06:54:40 am
  
  

  Source: Christian Science Monitor

  Gay groups are calling CBS homophobic for agreeing to air an antiabortion ad featuring Tim Tebow and not the ad for gay dating website ManCrunch. By changing its policy on advocacy ads, CBS invited the outrage.
  
  
  
  
  
• Understanding Facial Expressions After Botox Injections
  posted on February 01, 2010 - 06:54:36 am
  
  

  Source: Medical News Today

  Your facial expression may tell the world what you are thinking or feeling. But it also affects your ability to understand written language related to emotions, according to research that was presented to the Society for Personal and Social Psychology in Las Vegas, and will be published in the journal Psychological Science. The new study reported on 40 people who were treated with botulinum toxin, or Botox. Tiny applications of this powerful...
  
  
  
  
  
• Pope Condemns Britain's Gay Equality Laws
  posted on February 01, 2010 - 06:53:45 am
  
  

  Source: The Guardian

  Benedict XVI says legislation safeguarding rights of same-sex couples violates 'natural law' Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK later this year. In a letter addressed to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the pope praised Britain's "firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all". However, he criticised UK legislation for...