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UrduResearchers tracked the brain’s dopamine reward system and found – for the first time – this system flexibly retunes toward the most important goal when faced with multiple competing needs.
Tag: BEHAVIOR
Eureka Baby! Groundbreaking Study Uncovers Origin of ‘Conscious Awareness’
Fundamental questions of agency – acting with purpose – have perplexed some of the greatest minds in history including Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Now, human babies provide groundbreaking insight into the origins of agency.
[VIDEO] Dogs With Less Complex Facial Markings Found to Be More Expressive in their Communication with Humans
New study explores the relationship between a canine’s facial appearance and how expressive they appear to be when communicating with their human companions.
“Second-Guessing” Is a Hard-Wired Behavior, Study Suggests
Have you ever made a decision that, in hindsight, seemed irrational? A new study with mice, which could have implications for people, suggests that some decisions are, to a certain extent, beyond their control. Rather, the mice are hard-wired to make them.
Viewers Actually ‘Binge-Watch’ TV with a lot of Self-Control
If viewers sometimes feel guilty about binge-watching television programing, they really shouldn’t. Though its name implies impulsive behavior, binge-watching TV is a common activity planned out by viewers, suggests new research from the University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Management and School of Global Policy and Strategy.
Obstetricians more emotionally stable than most
Swedish obstetricians and gynecologists are noticeably more emotionally stable and conscientious compared to the majority of the Swedish population.
Early crop plants were more easily ‘tamed’
Plants are capable of responding to people and have behaviors comparable to tameness, according to authors of new research that calls for a reappraisal of the process of plant domestication, based on almost a decade of observations and experiments.
Copy-cat? Youth with Few Friends Conform to Stay in a Friend’s ‘Good Graces’
What gives one friend influence over another? Considerable attention has focused on who influences whom; much less is known about why one partner is prone to be influenced by the other. A study tested the hypothesis that within a friend dyad, having fewer friends than one’s partner increases susceptibility to influence, because it reduces dissimilarity and promotes compatibility. Results showed that partners with fewer friends were influenced by children with more friends. In each case, the partner with fewer friends became more similar to the partner with more friends. Academic engagement was the only domain where partners with fewer friends also influenced partners with more friends.
World Mental Health Day: Child psychology expert available for interviews
World Mental Health Day takes place on October 10 and comes at a time when mental health is reaching a breaking point, says Virginia Tech child psychology expert Rosanna Breaux. “We need to start thinking about mental health just like we…
Rare Human Gene Variant in ADHD, Autism Exposes Fundamental Sex Differences
Key differences in male and female mice brains provide new insights into how sex determines the mechanisms by which distinct synapses monitor and regulate dopamine signaling. The impact of sex differences is particularly pronounced when the mice express a human genetic variant found in boys with either ADHD or autism. Behavioral generalizations across the sexes may limit diagnosis of mental illness, especially if one sex translates alterations into outward signs such as hyperactivity and aggression vs. more internal manifestations such as learning, memory and mood, even when the same molecular pathology is at work.
Health Risks of COVID-19 Spurred More Smokers to Quit
Being a smoker makes it more likely for a person to have severe COVID-19 symptoms, require hospitalization or die, which may explain a sharp decrease in smoking behavior among the Danish population during the pandemic, according to new research.
JMIR Biomedical Engineering | Using Machine Learning to Reduce Treatment Burden
JMIR Publications recently published “Reducing Treatment Burden Among People With Chronic Conditions Using Machine Learning: Viewpoint” in JMIR Biomedical Engineering which reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated multiple challenges within the health care system and is unique to those living with chronic conditions.
New Pediatric Obesity Program Makes Treatment More Accessible
A UC San Diego clinical trial finds new Guided Self-Help program is effective in treating pediatric obesity and improving family attendance rates.
Study Suggests Menthol Cigarettes Increase Youth Smoking, Nicotine Addiction
Menthol cigarettes increase youth smoking and nicotine addiction report researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.
Graphic Warnings on Cigarette Labels Led Smokers to Hide Packs
Graphic warning labels led smokers to hide their packs but not change other smoking behaviors according to report by University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science researchers.
1 million Youth Became Daily Tobacco Users, Most Used JUUL E-cigarettes
More than 1 million United States youth became new daily tobacco users within two years, most were vaping e-cigarettes daily, report UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science researchers.
New research shows most people are honest — except for a few
About three-quarters of people were consistently honest, telling between zero and two lies per day. By contrast, a small subset of people averaged more than six lies per day and accounted for a sizable proportion of the lies, says researcher Timothy Levine, Ph.D.
Cat’s Meow: Robotic Pet Boosts Mood, Behavior and Cognition in Adults with Dementia
Researchers tested the effectiveness of affordable, interactive robotic pet cats to improve mood, behavior and cognition in older adults with mild to moderate dementia.
People only pay attention to new information when they want to
A new paper in the Journal of the European Economic Association, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that we tend to listen to people who tell us things we’d like to believe and ignore people who tell us things we’d prefer not to be true.
‘Octo Girl’ Takes a Deep Dive to Discover How Diverse Octopus Species Coexist
A first in situ, long-term study explored how the common octopus, a medium-sized octopus widely distributed in tropical and temperate seas worldwide and the Atlantic longarm octopus, a small species of octopus found in the Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere, coexist by examining their foraging habits and tactics, diet, behaviors and when they are active or inactive. Results show that their very different behaviors and habits is exactly how these two species coexist in a shallow Florida lagoon- even at high densities.
Massive Study Links Nearly 600 Genomic Regions to Self-Regulating Behaviors
Researchers identified 579 locations in the human genome associated with a predisposition to self-regulation-related behaviors, such as addiction. With data from 1.5 million people of European descent, the effort is one of the largest genome-wide association studies to date.
Do Passengers Want Self-driving Cars to Behave More or Less Like Them?
Researchers asked participants about their personal driving behaviors such as speed, changing lanes, accelerating and decelerating and passing other vehicles. They also asked them the same questions about their expectations of a self-driving car performing these very same tasks. The objective of the study was to examine trust and distrust to see if there is a relationship between an individual’s driving behaviors and how they expect a self-driving car to behave.
Online Product Displays Can Shape Your Buying Behavior
One of the biggest marketing trends in the online shopping industry is personalization through curated product recommendations; however, it can change whether people buy a product they had been considering, according to new University of California San Diego research.
Graphic Warning Labels on Cigarette Packaging Changes Perceptions
A Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego clinical trial showed that graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging changes perceptions of smokers to recognize the negative consequences of tobacco and consider quitting.
Text-message ‘nudges’ can encourage holdouts to get COVID vaccination, study finds
New UCLA-led research indicates that simple text messages emphasizing the easy availability of COVID-19 vaccines successfully boosted the number of people who got the shot.
Misplaced Trust: When Trust in Science Fosters Pseudoscience
The Covid-19 pandemic and the politicization of health-prevention measures such as vaccination and mask-wearing have highlighted the need for people to accept and trust science.
Misplaced trust: When trust in science fosters pseudoscience
Trust in science makes people vulnerable to pseudoscience
Shedding light on the dark side of firm lobbying
News from the Journal of Marketing
Experiences, perpetration of identity-based bullying among adolescents
What The Study Did: Using survey responses from students in some Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, high schools, researchers investigated how experiences of bullying based on race/ethnicity/ national origin and other marginalized identities are associated with outcomes for health, mental health and violence…
Neuroscientists posit that brain region is a key locus of learning
Small and seemingly specialized, the brain’s locus coeruleus (LC) region has been stereotyped for its outsized export of the arousal-stimulating neuromodulator norepinephrine. In a new paper and with a new grant from the National Institutes of Health, an MIT neuroscience…
Four themes identified as contributors to diseases of despair in Pennsylvania
Hershey, Pa. — Financial instability, lack of infrastructure, a deteriorating sense of community and family fragmentation are key contributors to diseases of despair in Pennsylvania communities, according to Penn State College of Medicine and Highmark Health researchers. The researchers conducted…
Prosocial behavior improves student outcomes, reduces teacher stress and burnout
$4 million in grants will help MU researchers connect virtually with Missouri teachers through ECHO platform
Older people are worse at learning to self-help, but just as good learning to help others
Older adults may be slower to learn actions and behaviours that benefit themselves, but new research shows they are just as capable as younger people of learning behaviours that benefit others. Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford found…
Take two: Integrating neuronal perspectives for richer results
Every brain function, from standing up to deciding what to have for dinner, involves neurons interacting. Studies focused on neuronal interactions extend across domains in neuroscience, primarily using the approaches of spike count correlation or dimensionality reduction. Pioneering research from…
Daniel McNeil 2021 recipient of the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award in BEHSR
Alexandria, Va., USA – The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced Daniel McNeil, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA, as the 2021 recipient of the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award in Behavioral, Epidemiologic and Health Services Research. McNeil was recognized during…
Public trust in CDC, FDA, and Fauci holds steady, survey shows
But heavy users of conservative media have less confidence and are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories
Shoppers’ mobility habits: retailers overestimate car use
Retail traders often fear that reducing the amount of urban space made available for parking private vehicles would have a negative effect on their businesses. A survey conducted by researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) on two…
Improving access to mental health services in low-income communities
UH researcher: Communication, coordination, collaboration are key
When money’s tight, parents talk less to kids; could this explain the word gap?
Tackling income inequality could boost low-income children’s vocabulary, new study suggests
Angry politicians make angry voters, new study finds
Politicians may have good reason to turn to angry rhetoric, according to research led by political scientists from Colorado–the strategy seems to work, at least in the short term. In a new study, Carey Stapleton at the University of Colorado…
Teens with secure family relationships “pay it forward” with empathy for friends
Teens’ ability to empathize — to understand others’ perspectives and emotions, and to care for their wellbeing — is an important contributor to their relationships, including with friends. Prior research shows that teens who have more secure family relationships report…
ComCor study on SARS-CoV-2: where are French people catching the virus?
ComCor study on places of infection with SARS-CoV-2: where are French people catching the virus?
Geneticists outline plan to boost diversity, inclusion in their field
Action plan arose from discussions during virtual webinar series “Meiosis in Quarantine”
How Does The World Use Emojis?
Before Millennials were over laugh-cry emojis, they were the most used emojis across the world, according to researchers at USC.
UCLA research finds the US lags 79 other nations in preventing child immigration detention
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified calls to end the detention of migrant children, as cases surge among children held in crowded conditions; yet immigration detention’s threats to children’s fundamental rights did not begin with the current public health crisis. Unlike…
Trust me, I’m a chatbot
Göttingen University researchers investigate effect of non-human conversation partners in customer services
Banishing bandits: Other countries bear the cost
A new study reveals the strategies that stop bandits from illegally fishing in Australian waters–but warns there is a cost to the region’s poorer countries. Co-author Dr Brock Bergseth, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at…
‘Greta Thunberg Effect’ belies challenges for autistic community in going green
Autistic people need extra help in going green say researchers behind a new study which argues for a more inclusive environmental agenda. Climate action movements are gathering extraordinary pace due to international campaigners like Greta Thunberg, whose autism has been…