Feature Channels: Psychology and Psychiatry

• share
• favorite_border

DALLAS – June 9, 2020 – Serotonin, a chemical known for its role in producing feelings of well-being and happiness in the brain, can reduce the ability of some intestinal pathogens to cause deadly infections, new research by UT Southwestern scientists suggests. The findings, publishing online today in Cell Host & Microbe, could offer a new way to fight infections for which few truly effective treatments currently exist.

• share
• favorite_border

To succeed in modern life, people need to accomplish challenging tasks effectively. Many successful entrepreneurs, businesspeople, students, athletes and more, tend to be more strategic – and hence, more effective – than others at meeting such challenges. A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that one important psychological factor behind their success may be a “strategic mindset”.

• share
• favorite_border

New research by psychologists at the University of York has looked at how irritating and highly-relatable moments of amnesia come about, and asks: when we forget is the memory entirely lost or has it instead become fuzzier over time?

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Americans experienced more depression and loneliness during the early COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by Indiana University, but those who kept frequent in-person social and sexual connections had better mental health outcomes.

• share
• favorite_border

A new paper published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society examines ventilation and medication strategies that can help avoid psychological trauma for severe COVID-19 survivors treated for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with mechanical ventilation.

• share
• favorite_border

The Chapman University National COVID-19 and Mental Health Survey provides an in-depth look at the experiences of 4,149 adults living in the United States.

• share
• favorite_border

Computer scientists have developed a way to measure staff comfort and concentration in flexible working spaces using artificial intelligence.

• share
• favorite_border

Commentary by Ludmila Nunes, PhD, of the Association for Psychological Science on some research on police and stereotyping, police officers’ aggressiveness, and the impact of psychological science on policing in the United States.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

A team at Stanford University used the OLCF’s Summit supercomputer to compare simulations of a G protein-coupled receptor with different molecules attached to gain an understanding of how to minimize or eliminate side effects in drugs that target these receptors.

• share
• favorite_border

“As the mother of a black child – having to talk to my 10-year-old son about ongoing racism is heartbreaking for me,” said Andrea N. Taylor, PhD, adult psychologist with UT Physicians and UTHealth.

• share
• favorite_border

The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) is proud to announce its 2020 International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) awardees.

• share
• favorite_border

In the first few weeks of the lockdown of New Zealand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, residents reported a slight increase in mental distress but higher levels of confidence in the government, science and the police, as well as greater.

• share
• favorite_border

Chronic stress is associated with the pathogenesis of psychological disorders such as depression. A study is the first to identify the role of a neuronal receptor that straddles the intersection between social stress, inflammation, and anxiety in rodent models of stress. Findings suggest the possibility of developing better medications to treat the consequences of chronic stress by limiting inflammatory signaling not just generally, which may not be beneficial in the long run, but to specific brain circuits.

• share
• favorite_border

AED commends the Kentucky Senate and House and Governor Andy Beshear for passing a Bill that established the Kentucky Eating Disorders Council with the goal of raising awareness, providing education, and improving access to care for all Kentuckians with eating disorders.

• share
• favorite_border

Commentary by Ludmila Nunes, PhD, of the Association for Psychological Science on existing body of knowledge on racism from the perspective of psychological science.

• share
• favorite_border

Turning to a tub of ice cream after a break-up may be a cliché, but there's some truth to eating in response to negative emotions. Eating serves many functions - survival, pleasure, comfort, as well as a response to stress.

• share
• favorite_border

A new survey conducted during the pandemic by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University found a more-than-threefold increase in the percentage of U.S. adults who reported symptoms of psychological distress—from 3.9 percent in 2018 to 13.6 percent in April 2020.