Everyone knows what it’s like to have a “good cry”, whether after a breakup or just after a really stressful day, shedding some tears can often make us feel better and help us put things in perspective. But why is crying beneficial? And is there such a thing as a “bad cry”? University of South…
Category: Psychology
Experienced Meditators Switch Off Daydreaming Brain Areas
Experienced meditators appear to switch off areas of the brain associated with daydreaming and psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Less daydreaming is associated with increased happiness levels, says Judson A. Brewer, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, who believes understanding how meditation works may aid investigations into a host of diseases: “Meditation…
Creative People Are More Likely To Cheat
Creative people are more likely to cheat than less creative people, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. And it may be because their talent increases their ability to rationalize their actions. Said lead researcher Francesca Gino, PhD, of Harvard University: “Greater creativity helps individuals solve difficult tasks across many domains, but creative…
Addicts Cravings Have Different Roots In Men And Women
When it comes to addiction, gender matters. A new brain imaging study by Yale School of Medicine researchers suggests stress robustly activates areas of the brain associated with craving in cocaine-dependent women, while drug cues activate similar brain regions in cocaine-dependent men. The study suggests men and women with cocaine dependence might benefit more from…
Toxoplasma Gondii Parasite Directly Alters Brain Chemistry
Research demonstrates infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK’s population, directly affects the production of dopamine. The findings, from a University of Leeds research group, are the first to demonstrate that a parasite found in the brain of mammals can affect dopamine levels. Although the work was…
Babies Can Tell Fairness From Unfairness by 15 Months
Babies as young as 15 months have a basic sense of fairness and know the difference between equal and unequal sharing, according to a new study. While previous studies reveal that 2-year-old children show a certain level of altruism by helping one another, and by 6 or 7, display a sense of fairness, researchers suspected…
Depression
Everyone occasionally feels blue or sad, but these feelings are usually fleeting and pass within a couple of days. When a person has a depressive disorder, it interferes with daily life, normal functioning, and causes pain for both the person with the disorder and those who care about him or her. Depression is a common…
Infantile Amnesia In Children
Previous research has verified that adults experience infantile amnesia, an inability to recall the earliest years of their lives. Now a new longitudinal study of 140 children ages 4 to 13 explores infantile amnesia in children. In the study, children were asked to recall their earliest memories. Younger children showed more change in recalling earliest…
What is Empathy?
Empathy is used to describe the capacity to understand what another person is experiencing from within the other person’s frame of reference, ie, the capacity to place oneself in another’s shoes. The English word is derived from the Ancient Greek word ἐμπάθεια (empatheia), “physical affection, passion, partiality” which comes from ἐν (en), “in, at” and…