ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News |
| Technology’s impact on worker well-being Posted: 28 Oct 2021 02:45 PM PDT In the traditional narrative of the evolving 21st century workplace, technological substitution of human employees is treated as a serious concern, while technological complementarity -- the use of automation and artificial intelligence to complement workers -- is viewed as a good thing. But a new study tells a more nuanced story, demonstrating that the integration of automation and AI in the workplace has mixed, even negative impacts, on worker wellbeing. |
| Brain monitoring suggests common link between electrical tremors and mental health disorders Posted: 28 Oct 2021 11:37 AM PDT A new review of current literature has found that irregular responses in the brain to challenging tasks and mistakes could be key to understanding common links between abnormal behaviors in a range of mental illness and cognitive disorders. |
| Feedback, goal-setting improve attention Posted: 28 Oct 2021 11:36 AM PDT For individuals to sustain their attention on a task over a long period of time, goal-setting is effective but receiving feedback produces a much stronger effect, according to a new study. |
| New research casts doubt on claims that people have ‘rose-tinted glasses’ Posted: 28 Oct 2021 09:04 AM PDT New research casts doubt on claims that people have 'rose-tinted glasses' and findings suggest governments should re-examine their use of 'optimism bias' in large-scale projects. |
| Nurses as parents exemplify link between poor sleep and daily stress Posted: 28 Oct 2021 09:03 AM PDT A new article details how nurses who also are parents might be more susceptible than other groups to daily stress aggravated by poor sleep. |
| Long-lived proteins in mitochondria of brain stabilize protein complexes Posted: 28 Oct 2021 09:03 AM PDT Scientists have taken a closer look at how mitochondria are maintained in nondividing cells, such as neurons, with the ultimate goal of developing a better understanding of how to prevent or treat age-related diseases. |
| Burning and tingling in your feet? You may have small fiber neuropathy Posted: 27 Oct 2021 02:26 PM PDT The number of people experiencing numbness, tingling and pain in their feet with no known cause has been increasing over the last two decades, according at a new study. Called small fiber neuropathy, the condition has different symptoms than large fiber neuropathy, which can cause weakness and balance issues. But in many cases people have both types of neuropathy. |
| ALS and dementia attacked by an RNA-hunting compound that recruits cell's own virus fighter Posted: 27 Oct 2021 12:07 PM PDT A potential drug targets RNA that cause C9 ALS and frontotemporal dementia. |
| For knee replacement patients, physical therapy reduces risk of chronic opioid use Posted: 27 Oct 2021 09:21 AM PDT Even low levels of physical therapy were associated with lower risk of chronic opioid use after total knee replacement. The team's analysis of over 67,000 patient records revealed that the longer a patient waits to start physical therapy, the greater the eventual odds of chronic opioid use. |
| Four commonly used medications reverse Alzheimer's disease in mice Posted: 27 Oct 2021 09:21 AM PDT Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in Western societies and it is estimated that 24 million people worldwide have this condition. Researchers have managed to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice by administering drugs currently used to treat hypertension and inflammation in humans. |
| Cat’s meow: Robotic pet boosts mood, behavior and cognition in adults with dementia Posted: 27 Oct 2021 09:20 AM PDT Researchers tested the effectiveness of affordable, interactive robotic pet cats to improve mood, behavior and cognition in older adults with mild to moderate dementia. Mood and behavioral symptoms were measured along with cognition using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Intervention with this robotic cat improved all mood scores over time, with significant improvements in mood and depression. More than half of the participants scored higher on the MMSE post-test than pretest, with slight to moderate improvement in attention/calculation, language, and registration. The robotic cats also provided participants with an alternative way to express themselves. |
| Brain connectivity is lower in adults with PTSD or a history of sexual abuse Posted: 27 Oct 2021 09:19 AM PDT A study has found that adults with maltreatment-related posttraumatic stress disorder or a history of sexual abuse have lower brain connectivity in the attention systems known as the ventral and dorsal attention network. These networks enable us to shift attention from external events to a specific task. The team also found that oxytocin, a hormone associated with social affiliation as well as stress response, increases brain connectivity in those systems. |
| Genetic risk of mental health conditions may influence where people choose to live, study suggests Posted: 27 Oct 2021 09:19 AM PDT Research on around 386,000 UK adults has found that a high genetic risk for schizophrenia and other mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder, anorexia and autism, is associated with living in and moving to urban areas. In contrast, people with low genetic risk of ADHD preferentially moved from rural/suburban environments to cities. |
| Cartography of the visual cortex: Charting a new course for the organization of visual space Posted: 26 Oct 2021 11:16 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered a surprisingly complex yet precisely ordered map of visual space in area V2 of the cortex. Challenging previously held beliefs, this novel organization redefines mapping of visual space and reveals a newfound flexibility not seen before. |
| Enhanced touch screens could help you 'feel' objects Posted: 26 Oct 2021 09:43 AM PDT The next time you buy a new couch, you may not ever have to leave your old one to get a feel for the texture of the new material. Researchers are working to better define how the finger interacts with a device with the hope of aiding in the further development of technology that goes beyond sensing and reacting to your touch. |
| Psychologists create body-maps of hallucinations Posted: 26 Oct 2021 09:42 AM PDT Psychologists have created body-maps of the sensations which arise during hallucinations in people experiencing psychosis. |
| How a natural disaster can bring couples closer Posted: 26 Oct 2021 09:42 AM PDT According to a study of couples in the Houston area before and after Hurricane Harvey, natural disasters can actually bring married couples closer together, at least temporarily. This surprised researchers because in previous studies looking at everyday stressors, couples typically experience 'stress spillover' in their relationships, which can decrease their satisfaction with their relationships. |
| Release of chemical dopamine in infant brains may help control early social development Posted: 26 Oct 2021 09:42 AM PDT Changing levels of the chemical dopamine, a chemical most associated with motivation, may help explain why stressful experiences during infancy can lead to lasting behavioral issues, a new study shows. |
| Brain circuitry for both positive and negative 'valence' affected by trauma Posted: 26 Oct 2021 06:43 AM PDT Research has revealed that the brain employs distinct circuitries that mediate positive, or rewarding, behaviors and negative, or aversive, ones. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has long been thought to arise from overactivity in the negative valence system, however a new study shows that people with PTSD also displayed a deficit in activation of positive valence processing soon after the trauma, suggesting it plays a role in resilience to PTSD. |
| Many new college students report pet separation anxiety Posted: 26 Oct 2021 05:54 AM PDT A survey of a sample of new first-year college students leaving pets at home and found that 75% experienced some level of pet separation anxiety -- with one in four reporting moderate to severe symptoms. The students who had higher anxiety tended to be those who treated their pets more like people, identifying them as friends, sleeping in the same room and generally spending a lot of time with them. Students who had dogs at home also tended to report more attachment to their pets -- and more separation anxiety -- than those with cats and other types of pets. |
| Dragging your feet? Lack of sleep affects your walk Posted: 26 Oct 2021 05:53 AM PDT New research finds periodically catching up on sleep can improve gait control for the chronically sleep-deprived. |
| Who needs a calculator when you’ve got pupils? How your eyes detect quantities Posted: 25 Oct 2021 07:17 AM PDT If you can count, it's thanks to your pupils. The holes in the center of your eyes can detect quantity, new research finds. |
| A good night’s sleep may mitigate infant obesity risks Posted: 22 Oct 2021 05:11 AM PDT New research suggests that newborns who sleep longer and wake up less throughout the night are less likely to be overweight in infancy. |
| Fat cells found to play a central role in cognitive decline and neurodegeneration Posted: 21 Oct 2021 02:51 PM PDT New findings show that fat cells control the systemic response to brain function, causing impairment in memory and cognition in mice. The activation of Na,K-ATPase oxidant amplification loop affects the expression of important protein markers in fat cells as well as in the hippocampus, which can worsen brain function and lead to neurodegeneration. |
| Lower airways are distinct in cystic fibrosis even at younger ages Posted: 21 Oct 2021 02:51 PM PDT In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that the lower airways in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) have a higher burden of infection, more inflammation and lower diversity of microorganisms, compared to children with other illnesses who also have lung issues. They noted a clear divergence in these bacterial communities in toddlers, which is typically before progressive lung disease takes hold in patients with CF. Their findings could help providers target specific pathogens earlier, treat them and potentially prevent more severe lung disease. |
| New study helps in finally breaking the 'silence' on the brain network Posted: 21 Oct 2021 09:10 AM PDT Scientists chemically suppress areas of the brain and then image brain activity to reveal how this triggers other complex operational networks. |
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