Women generally favor warmer temperatures, while men prefer it cooler. Why? A new study says it’s about more than just comfort—room temperature actually affects the two gender’s cognitive abilities differently. Researchers from the USC Marshal School of Business conducted an experiment with 542 students: 60% were male and 40% were…
Exposure to traffic-related air pollution can contribute to anxiety in children. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center studied brain MRIs from 145 children with an average age of 12 years old. They looked specifically at levels of the metabolite Myo-Inositol, or MI: as increases…
Music can help kids excel in complex subjects like math and physics. Many kids are intimidated by these subjects in school. But music can help them better understand difficult equations and theories, according to researchers from the Athena Research Center’s Institute for Language and Speech Processing. For example, students used…
Narcissists are self-absorbed, they believe they’re superior to others, and they can be incredibly hard to handle. A new study reveals another frustrating quality: they aren’t deterred from asking someone out even if the individual is in a relationship. This study conducted four experiments to understand “mate poaching”: the first…
Listening to music and practicing mindfulness can aid stroke recovery. Researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and East Anglia recruited 72 participants who had suffered from a stroke and divided them into three groups. One group listened to music, another to audiobooks, and the final group to music as…
A machine learning algorithm was used to analyze children’s speech and identify depression and/or anxiety with 80% accuracy. Three features proved to indicate these illnesses: low pitch, repeated speech inflections and subject, and a higher pitch when surprised. Kids came up with a three-minute story on the spot, of which…
Steroid use could increase the risk of cocaine use and addiction among teens. This, from researchers at the University of Puerto Rico who studied female rats. The team first exposed half of the rats to nandrolone, a performance-enhancing steroid commonly used by teens. After ten days, they split all of…
Every single year, millions of Americans suffer with a mental illness. By definition, a mental illness is a disorder that negatively affects a person’s thoughts, feelings, mood, and/or behavior. Examples include depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Each individual has a unique experience, as far as which symptoms they…
Yoga has been scientifically-proven to reduce stress, improve mood, and alleviate symptoms of anxiety. A new study from Washington State University says it can also boost body positivity. Researchers studied 376 people who attended a yoga exercise class for 16 weeks. Over this 16-week period, the participants answered questionnaires designed…
Most youth football helmets lack sufficient front padding. This, from the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab, which rated every youth football helmet on the market. Only seven of these helmets received a perfect score for effectively reducing head acceleration during impact. Those with lower ratings typically had front padding that was…
Millions of people in the US alone suffer with specific phobias, or severe irrational fears of a given thing, place, or circumstance. While there is effective treatment out there, of which often centers around cognitive behavioral therapy, not all phobia suffers find relief. Researchers from Wurzburg University Hospital and the…
Cognitive decline is a major concern for older adults. But those who continue to socialize and challenge their brains don’t have to worry as much. Researchers from the University of Alberta analyzed data from 882 older adults to identify factors for maintaining a healthy mind in old age. They found…
