For many people, forgetting your keys or having difficulty planning tasks may appear to be a typical part of aging. However, those gaps may be signs of something more serious: mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, which could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, because most people with MCI are unaware of it, they…
Category: Psychology
A recent study has found that 40% of people will choose ignorance over knowing how their actions will affect others, frequently as a justification for acting selfishly. “Examples of such willful ignorance abound in everyday life, such as when consumers ignore information about the problematic origins of the products they buy,” said lead author Linh…
Postpartum depression (PPD), a prevalent subtype of major depressive disorder, is more heritable than other psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and bipolar disorder, but the genetics of PPD are understudied in comparison. To address this, University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers led an international team of researchers in the largest-ever meta-analysis of genome-wide…
The 2004 movie The Machinist gives us a striking depiction, albeit a fictional one, of the psychological effects of chronic insomnia. When people don’t have enough sleep, their memory and concentration are impaired in the short term. They are also less able to regulate their emotions. If sleeping difficulties continue, longer-term psychological effects can include…
It’s normal for you to feel upset and for your friend to feel guilty when they make a mistake, such as forgetting a birthday, cancelling plans, or failing to complete their share of the work. It’s tempting to think that their remorse will grow as your anger rises if they make a mistake again. But…
According to a recent genetic study by UCL (University College London) researchers, sleeping less than five hours per night may increase the risk of developing depressive symptoms. Previously, poor sleep was thought to be a side effect of mental illness, but this study discovered that the relationship between sleep and mental disease is more nuanced.…
In comparison to adults without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), adults with ADHD have a nearly three-fold increased risk of developing dementia, a Rutgers study indicates. Michal Schnaider Beeri, head of the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center at Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI), coauthored the study, which was published in JAMA Network Open. It…
Negative body image during pregnancy has been shown to have serious consequences for both the mother and the child. A new study has now uncovered large variations in how pregnancy can affect women’s perceptions of their own bodies, including experiences of negative body image. Overall, average levels of body image dissatisfaction were found to be…
According to recent Cornell University research, people are more likely to punish members of their own circles more severely than they are to punish members of other groups for the same transgressions. In this phenomenon, morality is crucial. The researchers discovered that because morality is a social glue that ties a community together, breaking moral…