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
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…]
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…]
Do Trigger Warnings Work?
April 26, 2024 By
The term trigger warning was coined in the late 1990s on feminist Internet message boards, where it cautioned readers about graphic depictions of crimes, typically rape. The idea was to help emotionally prepare readers for difficult content and allow them to opt out and avoid the content altogether. [Read more…]
Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Your Brain
April 24, 2024 By
Thousands of people now speak to their smart devices to make their grocery lists. Students are more likely to type out notes in class than write them down. And we often type or dictate calendar reminders into our smartphones instead of writing them on a wall calendar. In short, people across the globe and in a wide variety of settings primarily use digital devices to record the things they want to remember. [Read more…]
The Mixed Evidence on Workplace Wellness Programs
April 23, 2024 By
In addition to traditional benefits, such as health care coverage and 401(k) plans, employers across the globe are increasingly offering programs designed to boost employees’ mental health—free massages, mindfulness classes, online wellness apps, and more. [Read more…]
What Happens In the Brain During PTSD?
April 19, 2024 By
An estimated one in 11 U.S. adults will experience post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in their lifetimes.
PTSD occurs when people have intense and disturbing thoughts and feelings related to a previous traumatic experience. These can arrive in the form of nightmares or flashbacks and often make them feel like they are reliving a terrifying event. PTSD affects a person’s ability to function in everyday life, and it can persist for years. [Read more…]
The Psychological Impacts of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy
December 8, 2023 By
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 2.6 million Americans identify as transgender, meaning their gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them at birth.
When transgender people seek medical therapy, they most commonly receive gender-affirming hormone therapy, which involves taking hormones to develop physical characteristics that better match their gender identity. Feminizing hormone therapy can trigger the development of breasts, help redistribute body fat to the hips and thighs, and lead to thinning of facial and body hair. Masculinizing hormone therapy can lead to a deeper voice, the redistribution of body fat away from hips and thighs, increased body and facial hair, increased muscle mass, and changes to the menstrual cycle.
