http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/04/27/ecstasy-autism-therapy/#.WQetHvR97rc MDMA is unique among psychedelics for its ability to help people connect and communicate with others, two common problems for those with autism. Early research with MDMA — before federal officials banned it in 1985, citing its abuse as a recreational drug — showed that people who took theContinue Reading
Active prefrontal brain function appears to protect against PTSD after child abuse http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-prefrontal-brain-function-ptsd-child.html Shared from Google News & Weather Increased activation of the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that regulates complex cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning, appears to protect against post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individuals who sufferedContinue Reading
No association found between MMR vaccine and autism, even among children at higher risk https://t.co/XQZfwdAeNT – PsyPost.org (@PsyPost) April 16, 2017 Anjali Jain, M.D., of the Lewin Group, Falls Church, Va., and colleagues examined ASD occurrence by MMR vaccine status in a large sample of U.S. children who have olderContinue Reading
http://bigthink.com/articles/the-dawn-of-a-new-era-in-ptsd-science In the study, researchers gave 76 healthy adult subjects either doxycycline or a placebo, then sat them in front of a computer screen that randomly flashed two colors, red and blue. The appearance of one color was associated with a 50% risk of receiving a painful electric shock. AfterContinue Reading
Do People With Mental Illness Really Die 25 Years Younger? @gabehoward29 investigates. . .https://t.co/a3Mk3MFUHH — PsychCentral (@PsychCentral) April 9, 2017 t’s unreasonable to believe that everyone with mental illness will die 25 years younger – just as it’s unreasonable to believe that everyone in America is missing part of aContinue Reading
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316698.php Results: The mean total number of comorbidities was higher among those with PTSD (17.7; SD, 6.1) than in trauma-exposed controls (14.1; SD, 5.2; P < 0.001). For 24 of 171 assessed clinical outcomes, morbidity was greater in the PTSD group, including for conditions of the gastrointestinal, hepatic, cardiovascular, andContinue Reading
Prayer leads people who believe in a benevolent God to read less hostility in others’ eyes, study finds https://t.co/p1MchTjebd — PsyPost.org (@PsyPost) April 5, 2017 We conducted these studies in the Netherlands, a quite secularized country where Christians do not have much political power. Christians in the Netherlands are mostlyContinue Reading
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-anti-vaccine-narrative-just-gets-darker/ The anti-vaccine movement is an excellent example. You cannot address the harm of this movement without understanding pseudoscience, denialism, conspiracy thinking, and motivated reasoning. It is common for scientists naïve of pseudoscience to approach all such issues with the assumption that they are due mostly to a deficit ofContinue Reading
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html?_r=1 To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals – alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature thatContinue Reading
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-truth-about-exercise-addiction/201704/cold-and-flu-season-being-lonely-makes-you-feel-worse Loneliness is no trivial experience. Feeling disconnected from others has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality, premature aging, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, depression, impaired cognitive functioning and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s, stress, anxiety, anger, and a diminished ability to control one’s impulses and outbursts. As ifContinue Reading
