Psychology

I remember in grade school, as the box of crayons expanded into the hundreds, a cool new color of pink was invented, called Tickle Me Pink – well, probably just the name was invented.  Maybe Crayola had more insight into science than I thought.   Wohr and colleagues tickled some rats and found that tickling induces hippocampal cell proliferation in rats emitting appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations. Coincidentally that’s the name of this published paper.  Even rats have affect, which was measured in ultrasonic vocalizations.  When they liked tickling their…

The effects of amphetamines on gene expression in zebrafish have been discovered. This new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, provides clues to the genetics that underlie susceptibility to addiction by describing the nad zebrafish mutant, which does not feel the rewarding effects of the drugs. The team used the mutagenic chemical ENU to generate hundreds of mutant zebrafish. From these, they bred a line that did not respond to amphetamine administration (despite the presence of the drug in the fish's brain) but that appeared to be normal in all other…

A University of Exeter research team recently tested squirrels' ability to learn to choose between two pots of food after watching another squirrel remove a nut from one of the pots. One group was rewarded for choosing the same pot as the previous squirrel, the second group was rewarded for targeting the other pot. Those that were rewarded for choosing food from the other pot learned more quickly than those that were rewarded for choosing the same pot. This suggests that grey squirrels learn more quickly to recognize the absence of food. The study was repeated, but instead of observing…

An exercise performed in class one fall afternoon to demonstrate the helplessness of the terminally ill has left me with much to ponder.  If I knew in advance that death was near, what five things had been most important to me in life, and which of them could I do without?   We were asked to write each of these on individual note cards.  I listed the following things of greatest importance to me, and in no particular order, they were: Spirituality (not religion) My nuclear family Honesty Wisdom Sanctity of life It was surprising and revelatory that my values could be…

I'll set the scene... You return to the office after a satisfying lunch, sluggishly move the mouse to break the hypnotic effect of the screen saver, and come face-to-face with a far too full email inbox. Like a skilled field medic you start the triage process. An exclamation point catches your eye but the email is quickly discarded after it is decided that while it may be important to someone, that someone is not you. Next, you scan the list of names but there is none from your wife and only one from your boss, he has a daughter selling girl scout cookies. Then you just move email to email…

Depressed people may prefer the dark but it won't be a good thing for their cognitive abilities, say researchers writing in Environmental Health. They  used weather data from NASA satellites to measure sunlight exposure across the United States and linked this information to the prevalence of cognitive impairment in depressed people.   Shia Kent, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, led the team of US researchers who used cross-sectional data from 14,474 people in the NIH-NINDS-funded REGARDS study, a longitudinal study investigating stroke incidence and risk factors, to…

Feeling stressed?  The scent of a lemon or any other fragrant plants will help you feel better, say scientists in Japan who report the first scientific evidence that inhaling certain fragrances alters gene activity(!) and blood chemistry in ways that can reduce stress levels. Their study appears in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. People have inhaled the scent of certain plants since ancient times to help reduce stress, fight inflammation and depression, and induce sleep.   Aromatherapy, the use of fragrant plant oils to improve mood and health, is a popular form of…

Ever say someone's actions were 'in their genes'?   That's not only a simplification, according to a group of University of Iowa scientists, scientists who have debated nature versus nurture for centuries are guilty of 'intellectual laziness.' They support evolution but not the idea that genes are a one-way path to specific traits and behaviors. Instead, they argue that development involves a complex system in which genes and environmental factors constantly interact. "You can't break it down and say there's a gene for being jealous, there's a gene for being depressed, there's a gene for…

According to a recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 27 percent of Americans say economic concerns are keeping them awake at night. But it may not be just stress.  According to the poll, 47 percent of the sleepless are very likely to use caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea and sodas during the day to compensate for their sleepiness and the use of artificial stimulants and insomnia are correlated. The majority of people who have difficulty sleeping report using those substances.  “Stress and anxiety can definitely impact sleep,” says Sunil Mathews, M.D., medical director…

British young men aren't regarded as all that even-tempered in the best of circumstances; England, Wales and Scotland are the top three most violent developed countries.   Among those, young men who stay at home with their parents are more violent than those who live independently, according to new research at Queen Mary, University of London. The new study indicates that men still living at home in their early twenties have fewer responsibilities and more disposable income ... and they spend it on alcohol.  These young men make up only 4 percent of the UK's male population but they…