Everyday experience and psychology research both indicate that paying close attention to one thing can keep you from noticing something else. However, a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that attention does not have a fixed capacity — and that it can be improved by directed mental training, such as meditation.
Researchers have found a better way to predict self-injurious behavior by using a test that does not rely on the individual to articulate their thoughts, but instead assesses their implicit attitudes towards self-injury. This procedure addresses a major challenge in the identification of people who engage in self-injurious behavior, because such individuals are often intentionally uncommunicative in order to avoid unwanted treatment as well as unable to articulate their feelings.
When we have a conversation with someone, we not only hear what they say, we see what they say. Eyes can smolder or twinkle. Gazes can be direct or shifty. “Reading” these facial expressions gives context and meaning to the words we hear.
Saccharides – the natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables and nuts – are definitely good for your body, and it seems that they are good for your brain as well.
The baby brothers and sisters of autistic children do not seek emotional cues from adults, or respond to them, as often as other toddlers do, suggests new research from the University of California, San Diego.
Researchers in Illinois and Singapore have found that the aging brain reflects cultural differences in the way that it processes visual information. This study appears this month in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience. This paper and another published by the same group in 2006 are the first to demonstrate that culture can alter the brain?s perceptive mechanisms.
The American Cancer Society and the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC) are awarding $1.5 million in research grants to researchers at ten institutions for studies aimed at reducing suffering for seriously ill patients and their family caregivers. The studies will be conducted over the next two years.
A new study examining the overall and gender-related effects of laparoscopic gastric banding surgery (LGBS) on insulin resistance, body composition, and metabolic risk markers six months after surgery has found significant improvements in insulin resistance. The improvements occurred despite continuing obesity.
Previously-published research has given credence to the notion that psychotherapy extends the lives of people with cancer. In fact, one in four cancer patients believe that science supports the idea that participating in group therapy will extend their lives.
Sizeable literature has shown that as we grow into adulthood, our memory accuracy improves. However, psychologists Charles Brainerd and Valerie Reyna of Cornell University believe that adults may have less acurate memories than children under certain circumstances.