Brain

A genetic search that wound its way from patients to mouse models and back to patients has uncovered an unlikely gene critically involved in a common birth defect which causes mental retardation, motor delays and sometimes autism, providing a new mechanism and potentially improving treatment for the disorder.

TORONTO – Schools have the ability to drastically reduce cheating among their students – all they need to do is follow the relatively simple and inexpensive solutions suggested by research.

"We know when kids cheat, why kids cheat and how kids cheat," said Eric Anderman, a recognized expert on student cheating and professor of educational policy and leadership at Ohio State University.

TORONTO – A focus on psychological wealth rather than financial wealth can help people get through today's tough times, according to two of the world's leading psychological experts on happiness. More money makes people feel better about their lives, but it won't necessarily improve their quality of life, they said Saturday.

As teens head back to school, health teachers may want to revise their lesson plans. Temple researchers have found that kids who engage in heavy drinking will more than likely also engage in heavy smoking, and they say educators can help combat the trend by addressing both topics as one health risk.

"These are important findings because they emphasize the need for education and intervention programs that target the co-occurrence of these two health risks," said Brian Daly, assistant professor of public health in the College of Health Professions and Social Work.

TORONTO – Although you wouldn't want one to balance your checkbook, dogs can count.

They can also understand more than 150 words and intentionally deceive other dogs and people to get treats, according to psychologist and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of British Columbia. He spoke Saturday on the topic "How Dogs Think" at the American Psychological Association's 117th Annual Convention.

TORONTO – Childhood obesity has quadrupled in the last 40 years, which may mean today's children become the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than their parents, a leading obesity expert told the American Psychological Association on Saturday.

However, parents can help stave off this impending crisis if they help their children to eat better and exercise, according to Edward Abramson, PhD. Abramson, professor emeritus at California State University-Chico, teaches psychology and is author of the books "Body Intelligence" and "Emotional Eating."

TORONTO – U.S. prisons are too punitive and often fail to rehabilitate, but targeting prisoners' behavior, reducing prison populations and offering job skills could reduce prisoner aggression and prevent recidivism, a researcher told the American Psychological Association on Saturday.

"The current design of prison systems don't work," said criminal justice expert Joel Dvoskin, PhD, of the University of Arizona. "Overly punitive approaches used on violent, angry criminals only provide a breeding ground for more anger and more violence."

TORONTO – While most Americans think climate change is an important issue, they don't see it as an immediate threat, so getting people to "go green" requires policymakers, scientists and marketers to look at psychological barriers to change and what leads people to action, according to a task force of the American Psychological Association.

TORONTO – As more people live well into their 80s and 90s, it's reassuring to know that most people get happier as they age and exert more emotional control than younger adults, according to researchers who spoke at the 117th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.

"Life expectancy changed because people changed the way they lived," said Lauren Carstensen, PhD. "Now that we're here, we have to keep adapting. We are in the middle of a second revolution and it's up to us to make adulthood itself longer and healthier."

New UCLA research suggests that for seniors age 70 and older, socioeconomic status does not play a major role in the brain's continued ability to function. However, seniors who have never been married, and widowers, seem to perform more poorly as they age.

TORONTO – Teaching children how to be more resilient along with regular classroom instruction can improve children's outlook on life, curb depression and boost grades, according to a researcher who spoke at the American Psychological Association's convention Saturday.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Aug. 7, 2009 – Dr. Glen Weiss of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare this week announced two significant advances in treating lung cancer at an international cancer research conference.

Dr. Weiss, M.D., an Associate Investigator in TGen's Cancer and Cell Biology Division and Director of Thoracic Oncology at TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, made both announcements at the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Francisco.

Infants who excel at processing new information at 6 and 12-months-old, typically excel in intelligence and academic achievements as young adults in their 20's, according to a study directed by Case Western Reserve University Psychologist Joseph Fagan.

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, believe conventional vaccine strategies should not be the only avenue explored in the development of an effective AIDS vaccine. Based on studying simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) in African nonhuman primates, they propose an additional new approach to the AIDS vaccine research agenda in a commentary featured in the August issue of Nature Medicine.

Psychological research has shown merely seeing a smile (or a frown, for that matter) will activate the muscles in our face that make that expression, even if we are unaware of it. Now, according to a new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, simply reading certain words may also have the same effect.