For decades, education researchers have warned about “summer slide,” where students forget some of what they learned over the previous school year during summer vacation. [Read more…]
Recent Research Questions Summer Learning Loss
September 5, 2024 By
What We Know About Coffee and Parkinson’s Disease
August 19, 2024 By
Across the globe, more than 10 million people suffer from Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder that leads to unintended and uncontrollable movements such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.
Scientists are working to better understand the mechanisms involved in Parkinson’s disease. At a basic level, they know that the disease occurs when nerve cells in the basal ganglia, an area of the brain that controls movement, become impaired or die. Most researchers believe a mix of genetic and environmental factors trigger the disease. [Read more…]
The Psychological Impacts of Donor Conception
August 4, 2024 By
Researchers estimate that there are upwards of 1 million Americans who were conceived using donor egg or sperm. Anonymous donation, in which the donor’s identity is not available to the donor-conceived person, is common in the U.S. and Canada, while many European countries require the donor’s identity be disclosed when the donor-conceived person turns 18.
How Heat Waves Affect Your Brain
August 3, 2024 By
As heat waves roll across the U.S. in the summer, heat-related illnesses are a serious threat to Americans. Although we often hear about the dangers of overheating and dehydration, heat waves lead to even broader consequences for the people coping with them. A “heat dome” covered the East Coast and southern U.S. last month, and has now shifted to California. [Read more…]
The Best Ways to Manage Anger
August 2, 2024 By
According to a worldwide Gallup poll of more than 147,000 people living in 142countries, nearly one-quarter of people feel angry on a regular basis, and that number has remained flat for the past three years.
Anger is one of the basic human emotions. Like other emotions, it is accompanied by physiological and biological changes in the body including increased heart rate and blood pressure, and higher levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Research Confirms That Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health
June 21, 2024 By
The data are clear: Americans are experiencing unprecedented levels of loneliness. In a new poll last month by the American Psychiatric Association, 30 percent of adults reported feelings of loneliness at least once a week over the past year; 10 percent said they felt lonely every day. [Read more…]
How Marijuana Legalization Is Affecting Use
June 19, 2024 By
Over the past several decades, marijuana legalization has accelerated across the United States. Cannabis is now legal for recreational use in 24 states and Washington, D.C., as well as for medical use in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Now that it’s more widely available, researchers are asking how legalization is affecting cannabis use. [Read more…]
How to Cultivate a Sense of Purpose
June 17, 2024 By
The evidence clearly shows that having a sense of purpose—no matter what that is—is good for us. Research shows that having a sense of purpose leads to better health outcomes for older adults, improves our daily mood and physical well-being, and is even associated with increased financial earnings.
Now researchers are delving more into how having a sense of purpose plays out in the lives of individual people. [Read more…]
What Fitness Exercises Treat Depression the Best?
May 17, 2024 By
Chances are that someone you love has experienced depression. Approximately 8 percent of U.S. adults – some 21 million people – have a major depressive disorder each year. For people under age 18, depression is the most common cause of hospitalization. [Read more…]
The Power of Touch
May 3, 2024 By
Touch is ubiquitous throughout our lives. As newborns, it’s the first sense to develop and it provides much of our initial knowledge of the world. As we grow, we experience touch in a myriad of forms: cuddling, hugging, kissing, massage, and even petting a stuffed animal. [Read more…]
Is Mild Cognitive Impairment Severely Underdiagnosed?
May 2, 2024 By
Mild cognitive impairment—lapses such as missing appointments, losing things, and having trouble finding the words to describe something—affects millions of older adults across the United States. Yet because it’s so common in later life, many people ignore or brush aside the condition. [Read more…]
Is Your Sleep Tracker Disrupting Your Sleep?
May 1, 2024 By
About 10% of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with an insomnia disorder, and another 20% experience occasional insomnia symptoms. There are a myriad of causes: stress, a schedule that disrupts your body’s natural sleep rhythm, poor sleep habits, mental health disorders, and other medical conditions such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. [Read more…]
