Brain

Our romantic choices are not just based on feelings and emotions, but how rich we feel compared to others, a new study published in Frontiers in Psychology has found.

"We wanted a better understanding of the psychological importance of money in the development of romantic relationships because very little is known about this subject. That way people would have a better perspective of the relationships they are in," explained Professor Darius Chan from the Department of Psychology, at the University of Hong Kong.

Amsterdam, May 24, 2016 - Conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific claims refuting the facts around Zika virus vaccines could be putting vulnerable people at risk, according to a new study published in Vaccine. By analyzing social media in real time, researchers were able to identify conversations about Zika virus vaccines and pinpoint the conspiracy theories being discussed.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Parents struggling to find and afford therapy for their child with autism may eventually be able to provide that therapy themselves with the help of telehealth training.

Findings from a federally funded pilot study on telehealth training at Michigan State University show the online program successfully helped parents of children with autism improve their child's social communication using research-based intervention techniques. The results are published online in the international journal Autism and in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

BINGHAMTON, NY - Drinking during early to mid-adolescence can lead to vulnerability to chronic stress, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

A research team led by Linda Spear, distinguished professor of psychology at Binghamton University, gave alcohol to rats every other day, starting from early to mid-adolescence. When the team looked at the same rats in adulthood, they found that adult males didn't show hormonal stress adaptation, making them more vulnerable to chronic stress.

Well-known armored dinosaur Ankylosaurus is famous for a hard knobby layer of bone across its back and a football-sized club on its tail for wielding against meat-eating enemies.

It's prehistoric cousin, Pawpawsaurus campbelli, was not so lucky. Pawpawsaurus was an earlier version of armored dinosaurs but not as well equipped to fight off meat-eaters, according to a new study, said vertebrate paleontologist Louis Jacobs, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. Jacobs is co-author of a new analysis of Pawpawsaurus based on the first CT scans ever taken of the dinosaur's skull.

Excessive internet use contributes to the development of school burnout. School burnout, in turn, may lead to excessive internet use or digital addiction. Mind the Gap, a longitudinal research project funded by the Academy of Finland, has established a link between digital addiction and school burnout in both comprehensive school and upper secondary school students. The results of the Finnish study were published in May 2016 in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

A survey of more than 216,000 adolescents from all 50 states indicates the number of teens with marijuana-related problems is declining. Similarly, the rates of marijuana use by young people are falling despite the fact more U.S. states are legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana use and the number of adults using the drug has increased.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- It might sound like a riddle: What do you get when you combine one online contest, two patients, five dogs and 654 data scientists?

The answer: Hope for patients with epilepsy that their seizures can be reliably predicted, and perhaps prevented.

Women with severe depressive symptoms have a decreased chance of becoming pregnant, while the use of psychotropic medications does not appear to harm fertility, a study by researchers from the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine shows.

Contextual factors, such as the race of participants in an experiment or the geography of where the experiment was run, can reduce the likelihood of replicating psychological studies, a team of New York University researchers has found. Their work, which appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), analyzed papers examined by the Reproducibility Project in an effort to identify potential challenges to replicating scientific scholarship.

A new study from the University of Rochester suggests that human intelligence might have evolved in response to the demands of caring for infants.

Steven Piantadosi and Celeste Kidd, assistant professors in brain and cognitive sciences, developed a novel evolutionary model in which the development of high levels of intelligence may be driven by the demands of raising offspring. Their study is available online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' Early Edition.

In the aftermath of violent acts such as mass shootings, many people assume mental illness is the cause. After studying the 2011 case of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers are suggesting a new forensic term to classify non-psychotic behavior that leads to criminal acts of violence.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A new study from The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine found that smokers who received a text messaging intervention were more likely to abstain from smoking relative to controls. The paper is published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research mHealth and uHealth.

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Even before infants understand their first words, they have already begun to link language and thought. Listening to language boosts infant cognition. New evidence provides even greater insight into the crucial role of language exposure in infants' first months of life, according to Northwestern University research.

Children who suffer traumatic brain injuries can face a difficult road to recovery, requiring services such as physical therapy and mental health treatment for months or years to get their young lives back on track.

When those children come from low-income households with limited English proficiency, there can be significant barriers in getting them the care they need.