DATE: April 28, 2025 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Long-term obesity patterns linked to brain aging and cognitive decline

URL: https://www.psypost.org/long-term-obesity-patterns-linked-to-brain-aging-and-cognitive-decline/

A new study published in Nature Mental Health has found that different patterns of body weight over time are tied to distinct differences in brain structure, brain function, and cognitive abilities in adults. People whose obesity levels increased or stayed high over many years showed more brain abnormalities and lower cognitive performance, while those who lost weight or maintained low body fat levels had fewer signs of brain changes.

Although obesity has been connected to changes in the brain and cognition, most earlier research used only snapshots in time. Scientists were unsure whether the effects of obesity on the brain depend on how a person’s weight changes over the years. They also wanted to know if long-term patterns of obesity have different effects compared to short-term weight changes. To address these gaps, the team analyzed long-term health data and a wide range of body fat measurements, rather than relying only on body mass index, which cannot distinguish fat from muscle or show fat distribution.

“As we grow older, many of us start to wonder whether we can take control of our health to lead a better quality of life. The metabolic system plays a crucial role in overall health, including brain health. This sparked my interest in exploring how modifiable factors like obesity can influence brain function, and whether managing these factors proactively could help preserve cognitive health as we age,” explained study author Anqi Qui, a professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).

The study drew on data from the UK Biobank, a large research project that has followed over 500,000 people in the United Kingdom since 2006. For this analysis, the researchers focused on 50,538 participants who had detailed obesity measurements taken at two or three different time points across an average of nine years. These measurements included body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and fat percentages in different body regions. Brain scans and cognitive tests were also available for a subset of participants. After applying strict quality controls, about 24,000 participants were included in the brain imaging analysis and over 22,000 in the cognitive testing.

The team used advanced statistical techniques to identify five distinct patterns of obesity over time. About 25% of participants belonged to a “low-stable” group whose body fat stayed low across the years. Around 48% were in a “moderate-stable” group with stable but moderate obesity levels, while about 14% remained at high obesity levels (“high-stable”). Smaller groups either showed “increasing” obesity (about 8%) or “decreasing” obesity (about 6%).

When the researchers compared these groups, they found striking differences in brain structure. Participants who maintained low obesity levels showed the healthiest brain profiles. Those in the decreasing group, who lost weight over time, had minimal brain changes, with only small areas of thinning in the middle temporal and parahippocampal regions. In contrast, the increasing and stable obesity groups showed progressively greater thinning across the cortex, shrinkage in deep brain structures like the thalamus and putamen, and disruptions in brain network connectivity.

The most severe changes were seen in the high-stable group. These participants showed widespread thinning across almost the entire brain, reduced volumes in multiple subcortical areas, and disrupted communication across several brain networks, including those involved in movement, emotion regulation, and sensory processing. These patterns resembled brain changes typically associated with accelerated aging.

“I was surprised to find that a high level of obesity sustained over the long term may accelerate brain aging,” Qiu told PsyPost. “This highlights how chronic metabolic stress can have lasting impacts on brain health, beyond what we typically expect from physical health outcomes alone.”

Cognitive differences mirrored these brain findings. Compared to the low-stable group, individuals in the moderate-stable, increasing, and high-stable groups performed worse on tests of reasoning, working memory, and visuomotor speed. For example, people with consistently high obesity levels were slower at matching symbols to digits and performed worse on working memory tasks. Interestingly, some groups with higher obesity levels performed slightly better on visual memory tests, possibly reflecting different brain adaptations.

Mediation analyses suggested that changes in brain structure and function partially explained the links between obesity trajectories and cognitive performance. In particular, thinning of the cortex, reduced volumes in key brain regions like the thalamus and nucleus accumbens, and weakened network connections helped account for slower processing speeds and poorer memory in participants with higher or increasing obesity levels.

These findings provide evidence that “maintaining a healthy weight over the long term can have positive effects on brain health,” Qiu said. “Our findings suggest that managing body weight isn’t just important for physical health—it may also support better brain function as we age.”

The study had several strengths, including its large sample size, use of multiple body fat measurements, and comprehensive brain imaging and cognitive testing. However, there were also limitations. Most participants were middle-aged or older and of European descent, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to younger or more diverse populations. The study also relied on single brain imaging sessions rather than repeated scans over time, making it harder to track brain changes directly. In addition, only a few time points of obesity measurements were available, meaning that more complex patterns of weight change, such as repeated cycles of gain and loss, could not be fully captured.

“There are a few important limitations to consider,” Qiu said. “First, since the study is observational, we cannot draw conclusions about causality. Second, our findings are based on specific population cohorts, so further studies in more diverse groups are needed to confirm the generalizability of the results.”

Future research could expand these findings by examining more diverse populations, including younger adults, and by tracking both brain and body composition changes over longer periods. Studies could also explore whether interventions that promote weight loss or weight stability might help preserve brain health and cognitive function as people age.

“We aim to further investigate which specific regions of body fat have the greatest impact on brain health during aging,” Qiu explained. “Understanding these relationships in more detail could help identify targeted strategies to preserve cognitive function and promote healthy brain aging.”

The study, “Long-term obesity impacts brain morphology, functional connectivity and cognition in adults,” was authored by Die Zhang, Chenye Shen, Nanguang Chen, Chaoqiang Liu, Jun Hu, Kui Kai Lau, Zhibo Wen, and Anqi Qiu.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/long-term-obesity-patterns-linked-to-brain-aging-and-cognitive-decline/

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DATE: April 27, 2025 at 06:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Cannabis use linked to binge eating among young adult women, new research finds

URL: https://www.psypost.org/cannabis-use-linked-to-binge-eating-among-young-adult-women-new-research-finds/

Young women who use cannabis may be more likely to engage in binge eating, according to a new study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. Researchers found that among emerging adults, cannabis use was associated with higher rates of binge eating in women but not in men, even after accounting for depressive symptoms.

Cannabis is one of the most commonly used psychoactive substances in the world, and its use has risen sharply, especially among young adults. In the United States, about one in three individuals aged 18 to 25 report using cannabis in the past year. At the same time, binge eating—characterized by consuming large quantities of food while feeling a loss of control—is a growing public health concern, often tied to emotional distress and mental health challenges. Prior studies have suggested that cannabis use and binge eating may be linked, but large-scale research focusing on young adults has been limited.

The researchers set out to investigate whether cannabis use was associated with binge eating behaviors among emerging adults, and whether this connection was influenced by depressive symptoms. They were particularly interested in examining whether these patterns differed between men and women, given previous evidence that women may be more sensitive to the effects of cannabis and are more likely to experience disordered eating.

The study used data from 1,568 emerging adults, with an average age of 22, who participated in the Eating and Activity over Time (EAT) 2010–2018 study. Participants completed surveys between 2017 and 2018 that assessed their cannabis use, binge eating behaviors, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, body mass index, and demographic characteristics such as age, race, and socioeconomic status. The researchers analyzed the data separately for men and women to identify potential gender differences.

Cannabis use was fairly common in the sample: 33% of men and 27% of women reported using cannabis at least once in the past year. When it came to binge eating, the researchers found striking differences between cannabis users and non-users among women. About 24% of female cannabis users reported binge eating in the past year, compared to only 13% of female non-users. Among men, binge eating rates were lower overall and did not differ significantly between cannabis users and non-users.

Even after adjusting for factors like depressive symptoms, body mass index, alcohol use, and demographics, the association between cannabis use and binge eating remained strong among women. In contrast, no significant relationship was found among men after these adjustments. This suggests that cannabis use may be linked to binge eating in women independent of depressive symptoms, highlighting a potential direct connection between the two behaviors.

The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that the effects of cannabis use may differ between men and women. One possible explanation for the link is that cannabis can alter appetite and increase cravings for high-calorie foods. This phenomenon, often referred to as “the munchies,” is well documented. Cannabis use has been shown to heighten the sensory appeal of food, making eating more pleasurable and potentially encouraging overeating or binge eating behaviors. Women, who already face higher rates of disordered eating and greater societal pressures regarding body image, may be particularly vulnerable to these effects.

Psychological factors may also play a role. Both cannabis use and binge eating are sometimes used as coping mechanisms for managing negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, or stress. Women with higher emotional sensitivity may be more likely to use cannabis or food to temporarily escape distressing feelings. However, while depressive symptoms were associated with both behaviors in this study, the link between cannabis use and binge eating in women persisted even after accounting for depression, suggesting that other mechanisms may be at play.

The study has some limitations. Because the data were collected at a single point in time, it is not possible to determine the direction of the relationship between cannabis use and binge eating. It is unclear whether cannabis use leads to binge eating, whether individuals who binge eat are more likely to use cannabis, or whether both behaviors share common underlying causes. Longitudinal studies that track changes over time would be necessary to untangle these possibilities.

Another limitation is that cannabis use was measured in a relatively broad way, without differentiating between frequency, quantity, or method of consumption. Future research could explore whether heavier or more frequent cannabis use carries a greater risk for binge eating. It would also be valuable to examine whether different types of cannabis products, such as those higher in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) versus cannabidiol (CBD), have different impacts on eating behavior.

The researchers suggest that their findings could have important clinical implications. As cannabis legalization continues to expand, understanding how cannabis use may interact with mental health and eating behaviors is essential. Clinicians working with young women who use cannabis might want to assess for binge eating behaviors, and interventions targeting substance use or disordered eating could benefit from addressing both issues together.

The study, “Cannabis use and binge eating among young adults: The role of depressive symptoms,” was authored by Roni Elran-Barak, Sharon Sznitman, Marla E. Eisenberg, Lydia Zhang, Melanie M. Wall, and Dianne Neumark-Sztainer.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/cannabis-use-linked-to-binge-eating-among-young-adult-women-new-research-finds/

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DATE: April 27, 2025 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: People intuitively associate religiosity with goodness and atheism with wrongdoing

URL: https://www.psypost.org/people-intuitively-associate-religiosity-with-goodness-and-atheism-with-wrongdoing/

Two experiments, one conducted in the United States and the other in New Zealand, found that people tend to have an intuitive moral bias linking religiosity with virtue and prosocial behavior. Similarly, they associated atheism with transgressive behavior. The research was published in Scientific Reports.

Moral bias refers to the tendency for moral values or judgments to influence reasoning, perception, or decision-making in a non-objective way. It can cause people to evaluate information, actions, or individuals more favorably or unfavorably based on whether they align with their own moral beliefs. This bias often leads to the selective acceptance of evidence that supports one’s values while dismissing or distorting conflicting information.

Moral bias plays a role in political, religious, and ethical debates, where facts are interpreted through a moral lens. It can also affect scientific reasoning, legal judgments, and policy decisions. For example, a person might reject valid research simply because its conclusions feel morally uncomfortable. Moral bias is often unconscious and can subtly shape how people frame problems or perceive fairness.

One frequently studied example of moral bias is the implicit belief that atheists are inherently immoral, while religious individuals are moral. A previous study found that moral bias against atheists is real and global in scope, but it remained unclear how personal religiosity influences the degree of this bias.

Study author Alex Dayer and his colleagues aimed to explore whether religious belief is intuitively linked with extreme prosociality. They also sought to replicate previous findings suggesting a connection between atheism and serious transgressive behavior. Additionally, they investigated whether individual differences in belief in God influenced conjunction fallacy rates when participants evaluated situations involving helping behavior. A conjunction fallacy occurs when people mistakenly believe that the probability of two events occurring together is higher than the probability of one of the events alone.

The researchers conducted two studies.

In the first study, participants were 744 workers recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Forty-four percent were female. Participants were paid $0.60 for their participation. They rated their belief in God and responded to two short vignettes. One vignette described a person who was a serial murderer, while the other described a person who was a serial helper, offering food and clothes to the homeless.

For each vignette, participants indicated which of two statements they found more probable: either that the person was a teacher or that the person was a teacher who believes in God (or does not believe in God). Participants were randomly assigned to conditions where the second option specified either belief or disbelief in God. Since teachers who do or do not believe in God are subsets of all teachers, the first option (“the individual is a teacher”) is always objectively more probable. This setup tested for the conjunction fallacy.

The second study used the same design but included 600 participants from New Zealand, recruited via Prolific. Fifty-two percent were female, and participants received $1 for their participation.

In the first study, results showed that when the serial helper was described as religious, 60% of participants selected that option. When the helper was described as an atheist, only 4% selected it. This suggests a strong moral bias linking religious people with prosocial behavior.

When the person in the vignette was a serial murderer, 64% of participants selected the conjunction option when it indicated he was an atheist, compared to only 18% when he was described as religious. This finding supports the idea that participants held an implicit moral bias against atheists. Religious participants showed higher conjunction fallacy rates when the conjunction option identified the person as an atheist.

The second study in New Zealand replicated the main findings, although the differences were smaller. For the serial helper, 49% selected the religious conjunction option, compared to 5% who selected the atheist option. For the serial murderer vignette, 45% chose the atheist conjunction option, while 27% chose the religious conjunction option.

“We found evidence that religionists are conceptualized as morally good to a greater extent than are atheists conceptualized as morally bad, with comparable patterns observed in a predominantly religious society, the United States, and in a predominantly secular society, New Zealand. Notwithstanding the aforementioned moderation of these effects by individual differences in religiosity, even relatively nonreligious participants evidenced these biases in both societies, suggesting that the conceptual associations are pervasive,” the study authors concluded.

The study sheds light on the moral bias about religiosity. However, while the studies were conducted in two different countries, both the U.S. and New Zealand are English-speaking countries sharing similar cultures and cultural routes. Studies in other cultures might not yield identical results.

The paper, “Intuitive moral bias favors the religiously faithful,” was authored by Alex Dayer, Chanuwas Aswamenakul, Matthew A.Turner, Scott Nicolay, Emily Wang, Katherine Shurik, and Colin Holbrook.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/people-intuitively-associate-religiosity-with-goodness-and-atheism-with-wrongdoing/

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DATE: April 27, 2025 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Study links organic food consumption to better cognitive function in older adults

URL: https://www.psypost.org/study-links-organic-food-consumption-to-better-cognitive-function-in-older-adults/

Older adults who eat more organic food tend to have better cognitive performance, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Nutrition. The researchers also found that organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment among women, but not among men.

Mild cognitive impairment refers to a noticeable decline in memory and thinking skills that is greater than expected for a person’s age but does not interfere significantly with daily life. It is often viewed as a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. Research shows that between 10 and 20 percent of individuals with mild cognitive impairment progress to dementia each year, and about half make this transition within five years.

Since there are currently no effective treatments to reverse or stop this progression, strategies aimed at preventing cognitive decline have gained increasing attention. Lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, and cognitive training have shown promise, but findings remain mixed.

Diet is believed to influence brain health in part through anti-inflammatory effects of certain nutrients and by promoting a healthier gut microbiome, which may communicate with the brain through what is known as the brain–gut axis. Organic foods, grown without most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, have been suggested to contain higher levels of beneficial nutrients like polyphenols, magnesium, and essential fatty acids. However, few studies have directly examined whether organic food consumption influences cognitive health in aging adults.

In light of these gaps, researchers from Southern Medical University in China set out to examine the relationship between organic food intake and cognitive function. They used data from two large surveys: the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of older Americans, and its sub-study, the Health Care and Nutrition Study. Participants completed questionnaires about their food consumption and underwent cognitive assessments.

The researchers analyzed data from 6,077 adults for a cross-sectional analysis and 4,882 adults for a longitudinal analysis over a median follow-up of 3.7 years. Participants were considered organic food consumers if they reported eating any certified organic foods over the past year, based on United States Department of Agriculture standards. Organic foods were grouped into animal-based products, such as milk, eggs, and meat, and plant-based products, including fruits and vegetables. The researchers also calculated a dietary diversity score based on the number of different organic foods consumed.

Cognitive function was assessed using a telephone-based test that measured memory, attention, and processing speed. Higher scores indicated better cognitive abilities. Participants were also classified as having normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia based on their test performance. The researchers controlled for a wide range of factors that could influence cognition, such as age, sex, race, education, wealth, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, depression, diabetes, hypertension, other chronic diseases, total energy intake, and overall diet quality.

Across the entire sample, older adults who consumed organic food had significantly higher cognitive scores than those who did not. This association was observed for both men and women. Consumption of both organic animal products and organic plant foods was independently linked to better cognitive function. Each additional type of organic food consumed was also associated with slightly better cognitive performance.

When examining changes over time, the researchers found that organic food consumption was associated with a lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment — but only among women. Women who ate organic foods had about a 20 percent lower risk of mild cognitive impairment compared to women who did not, even after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. Eating organic animal products was associated with a 27 percent lower risk, while eating organic plant foods was associated with a 20 percent lower risk.

In contrast, no significant relationship between organic food consumption and mild cognitive impairment risk was found among men. Analyses suggested that organic meat, fruits, and vegetables were particularly important for reducing risk among women.

The researchers offered some potential explanations for the findings. Organic foods tend to have lower levels of potentially harmful substances, such as pesticide residues and heavy metals, and higher concentrations of protective nutrients like polyphenols, vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients are believed to support cognitive health by reducing inflammation, promoting beneficial gut bacteria, and directly protecting brain cells from oxidative stress.

Despite the strengths of the study, including its large sample size and detailed adjustment for potential confounders, the researchers acknowledged several limitations. The measure of organic food consumption relied on self-report and did not capture the frequency or quantity of organic foods eaten. Occasional and regular organic food consumers were grouped together, which may have led to an overestimation or underestimation of the associations. Additionally, although the researchers adjusted for many factors, residual confounding cannot be ruled out, and the observational design means that no conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect.

The study’s authors noted that more research is needed, especially long-term randomized controlled trials that directly compare the effects of organic and conventional diets on cognitive outcomes. They also emphasized the importance of considering sex differences in future studies of diet and brain health.

The study, “Organic food consumption is positively associated with cognitive function among middle‑aged and older adults: cross‑sectional and longitudinal analyses,” was authored by Shiyu Li, Haowen Chen, Ruxun Zhao, Tingyu Wang, and Jufeng Ye.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/study-links-organic-food-consumption-to-better-cognitive-function-in-older-adults/

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DATE: April 27, 2025 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Violent offenders more likely to perceive ambiguous faces as angry, study shows

URL: https://www.psypost.org/violent-offenders-more-likely-to-perceive-ambiguous-faces-as-angry-study-shows/

A study conducted in Germany on male imprisoned violent offenders found no evidence that their fear processing is impaired. However, violent offenders, particularly those with pronounced aggression, were more likely to categorize certain highly ambiguous faces as angry compared to healthy controls. The research was published in Psychological Medicine.

Violent offenders are individuals who commit acts of physical aggression that cause or intend to cause harm to others, such as assault, homicide, or sexual violence. Psychologically, they tend to exhibit higher levels of impulsivity, making them more prone to act without considering consequences. Many struggle with emotional regulation, finding it difficult to manage anger, frustration, or fear. Some also display antisocial traits, including a lack of empathy, disregard for the rights of others, and manipulativeness.

Some violent offenders have histories of childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect, which can contribute to aggressive behavior later in life. Substance abuse is also common and can lower inhibitions or heighten aggression. While not all violent offenders have mental illnesses, certain disorders, such as borderline personality disorder or, in rare cases, schizophrenia, may increase the risk of violent behavior under specific conditions. Social and environmental factors—such as poverty, exposure to peer violence, or a lack of positive role models—often interact with psychological traits in the development of violent behavior.

Previous research has suggested that violent offenders may have impaired processing of fear, meaning it may be harder for them to experience fear themselves and to perceive it in others. To explore this possibility, study author Timo Stein and his colleagues conducted four experiments measuring how participants cognitively processed fearful and angry facial expressions, comparing their responses to neutral or other types of emotional expressions.

The study included 65 male imprisoned violent offenders and 60 age-matched control participants. The offenders, all convicted of violent crimes, were recruited from cooperating German correctional facilities. Among them, 21 individuals had sufficiently high scores on a psychopathy assessment to be classified as psychopathic.

Participants completed four cognitive tasks: two visual search tasks, one ambivalence task, and one morphing task. In the visual search tasks, participants were shown arrays of eight faces—seven identical distractors and one target face. In task one, the target differed by gender and emotional expression (happy, fearful, or neutral) or was tinted red. In task two, the design was the same except that red-tinted faces were excluded.

The ambivalence task used morphs blending angry, happy, and fearful expressions at different intensities. Participants had to identify the predominant emotion by pressing the corresponding button. In the morphing task, participants viewed a gradual transition from a neutral expression to a full emotional expression (happy, angry, fearful, or sad) and pressed a button as soon as they recognized any emotional change.

Analysis of participants’ responses across tasks found no evidence that violent offenders cognitively processed fear differently than healthy individuals. Similarly, individuals with high levels of aggression or psychopathy did not show a specific bias toward perceiving angry faces more readily.

However, in the ambivalence task, which required participants to explicitly identify the perceived emotion in highly ambiguous faces (those blending 50% happy and 50% angry expressions), violent offenders were significantly more likely than controls to categorize them as angry. This tendency was particularly pronounced in violent offenders who scored higher on measures of aggression.

However, in the ambivalence task, the task that required participants to explicitly identify the emotion they perceive, and when viewing highly ambiguous pictures (50% happy, 50% angry), violent offenders were more likely than controls to categorize them as angry. This was more pronounced in violent offenders with higher aggression levels.

“In conclusion, across four experiments we found no evidence for perceptual deficits for emotion (including fear) in psychopathy, but a cognitive bias for anger linked to aggression. These results challenge the view that psychopathy arises from altered emotion processing and support the idea that a hostile attribution bias may underlie aggressive behavior,” the  study authors concluded.

The study contributes to the scientific knowledge about visual perception and processing specificities of violent offenders. However, it should be noted that the study was conducted on a very small group of violent offenders who were all male. Results on female offenders might differ.

The paper, “Perception of emotional facial expressions in aggression and psychopathy,” was authored by Timo Stein, Nina Gehrer, Aiste Jusyte, Jonathan Scheeff, and Michael Schönenberg.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/violent-offenders-more-likely-to-perceive-ambiguous-faces-as-angry-study-shows/

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DATE: April 26, 2025 at 07:35AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORG

TITLE: When the Brain Lacks Fuel, Exercise Still Protects Memory

URL: http://www.socialpsychology.org/client/redirect.php?from=rss_feed&id=185679&url=https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMibkFVX3lxTE5ZUXg3OUwxcEtXb21SUmpZZ2l2TVEydEpKSXUxMHNWMlJVOW0yMm1veHZGYUp0bjFpakV1UnVPR3dCTUh6TlhPSG9hYVVLWjd6ZFhjNnh2WXdqY1BWWWVkR016ZHFoSTVyYVBQTVFn?oc=5

Source: Google News - Health

New research suggests that exercise may protect brain function even when the body can't produce ketones, a vital energy source for cognition. When liver function is impaired and ketone levels drop, memory and learning typically suffer—but physical activity can still counteract those effects. This finding means that exercise may trigger alternative brain-supporting mechanisms beyond just energy supply, offering a powerful tool for preserving...

URL: http://www.socialpsychology.org/client/redirect.php?from=rss_feed&id=185679&url=https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMibkFVX3lxTE5ZUXg3OUwxcEtXb21SUmpZZ2l2TVEydEpKSXUxMHNWMlJVOW0yMm1veHZGYUp0bjFpakV1UnVPR3dCTUh6TlhPSG9hYVVLWjd6ZFhjNnh2WXdqY1BWWWVkR016ZHFoSTVyYVBQTVFn?oc=5

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DATE: April 26, 2025 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Neuroscientists show children’s brains function differently during book reading and screen time

URL: https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-show-childrens-brains-function-differently-during-book-reading-and-screen-time/

A new study published in Developmental Science has found that preschool children’s brain activity differs when they are read to from a book compared to when they view and listen to stories on a screen. Using a neuroimaging technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy, the researchers observed greater activation in the right hemisphere of the brain during live book reading, particularly in regions involved in social understanding, while screen time produced more balanced activity across both hemispheres.

Reading to young children plays an important role in supporting language development and brain growth. Book reading offers opportunities for children to hear rich language, learn the structure of stories, build vocabulary, and engage in social interaction with caregivers. In contrast, growing concerns have emerged about the effects of screen time, as many studies link high screen exposure to language delays and weaker connections in brain areas important for literacy.

While past research has demonstrated broad differences between book reading and screen media in children’s outcomes, fewer studies have directly compared what happens in the brain during these two activities. The researchers aimed to fill this gap by measuring brain activity during live reading and screen-based storytelling in preschoolers.

The study involved 28 typically developing children between the ages of 3 and 6 years old. All participants came from predominantly English-speaking households, although some were multilingual. The children listened to two different stories: one presented during a live book reading session, and the other delivered as an audio recording paired with images on a screen. In the book reading condition, a live experimenter sat beside the child, reading aloud from a printed book.

In the screen time condition, the child viewed the story on a computer while hearing a recorded voice. Both stories were carefully matched for length, vocabulary, and content. Brain activity was recorded throughout using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which measures changes in blood oxygenation linked to neural activity.

The researchers focused on specific brain regions involved in language, narrative understanding, and social cognition, including the inferior and middle frontal gyri, the superior and middle temporal gyri, and the temporal parietal junction. The team analyzed differences in activation across left and right hemispheres during each condition.

Results showed that live book reading produced greater activation in the right temporal parietal junction, a brain area associated with social processes like joint attention and understanding others’ thoughts. Activation in this area was significant during the book reading condition but not during the screen time condition. Across the broader regions of interest, brain responses during book reading were stronger in the right hemisphere than in the left, suggesting a right-lateralized pattern. In contrast, brain responses during screen time were relatively even across both hemispheres, showing no strong lateralization.

The findings suggest that live book reading may engage preschool children in more socially oriented cognitive processes compared to solitary screen time. Book reading may encourage children to focus on the reader’s emotions, intentions, and shared attention toward the book, all of which involve right-hemisphere brain networks. In contrast, screen-based storytelling might involve more isolated language processing, relying less on social engagement.

While these patterns are consistent with previous research showing that book reading benefits language and social development, the study also highlights important nuances. For example, the right-lateralized response during live reading might reflect children’s sensitivity to the human voice, facial expressions, and social interaction, even if the reading interaction itself was somewhat scripted and controlled in this study.

As with any study, there are limitations. The relatively small sample size, particularly when accounting for missing data in some brain channels, limits the strength of the conclusions. Many of the children also came from highly educated and high-income households, so the findings may not generalize to more diverse populations.

The researchers also noted that the structured nature of the book reading task—designed to minimize variation across participants—reduced the natural, conversational aspects of typical reading interactions between parents and children. Future studies could examine brain activity during more naturalistic reading sessions that include back-and-forth conversation and emotional expression.

In addition, although the study showed different patterns of brain activation between book reading and screen time, it did not directly measure children’s language learning outcomes. Future research could explore whether these neural differences are linked to improvements in vocabulary, comprehension, or later academic skills.

Despite these limitations, the study adds important new evidence to the understanding of how different early experiences shape brain function. It reinforces previous findings that social interaction during language exposure matters for young children’s brain development. Live, shared activities like book reading seem to recruit brain systems involved in understanding others and processing complex social cues, which could give children a stronger foundation for later communication and learning.

The results also suggest that screen-based media might not activate the same social brain systems, especially when the child is passively viewing without a live social partner. While not all screen time is equal, and some interactive or educational media may still be beneficial, the findings support recommendations that live social interaction remains important during early childhood.

The study, “Do Children’s Brains Function Differently During Book Reading and Screen Time? A fNIRS Study,” was authored by Meredith Pecukonis, Meryem Yücel, Henry Lee, Cory Knox, David A. Boas, and Helen Tager-Flusberg.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-show-childrens-brains-function-differently-during-book-reading-and-screen-time/

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DATE: April 26, 2025 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: New study suggests entertainment is key to populist political success

URL: https://www.psypost.org/new-study-suggests-entertainment-is-key-to-populist-political-success/

A new study published in the British Journal of Psychology suggests that people are more likely to support populist politicians when they find them entertaining. Across four studies involving United States participants, researchers found that the extent to which people viewed a leader as exciting, engaging, or attention-grabbing predicted their support—more strongly for populist leaders like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders than for non-populist figures like Joe Biden or Mitt Romney. The findings offer new insights into how emotional experiences and personal style shape political preferences.

The researchers aimed to better understand why populist leaders have gained substantial support across many countries. Previous research had largely focused on negative emotions, such as fear or anger, as drivers of populist support. However, the researchers proposed that positive feelings—particularly the enjoyment of an entertaining political style—might also play an important role. They suggested that populist leaders, by portraying society as a struggle between the “corrupt elites” and the “noble people,” create emotionally charged narratives that are more gripping and emotionally intense than conventional political messages.

“Common explanations of populist support mostly focus on factors that ‘push’ people away from mainstream politics, such as feelings of anger, anxiety, and insecurity,” said study author Jan-Willem van Prooijen, an associate professor at VU Amsterdam, senior researcher at the NSCR, and Endowed Professor of Radicalization, Extremism, and Conspiracy Thinking at Maastricht University.

“But I believe that is only part of the story. Often a vote for a populist candidate is more than just a protest vote: Many voters are genuinely excited about populist leaders. What makes populist leaders so appealing? This research sought to find out to what extent being considered entertaining matters in populist support.”

To investigate this idea, the researchers conducted four preregistered studies with 1,802 participants based in the United States. Study 1 compared Trump and Biden voters, asking participants to rate how entertaining they found the leader they supported and how much they continued to support that leader. Study 2a and Study 2b shifted the focus to comparisons within political parties. In Study 2a, Republican voters rated both Donald Trump and Mitt Romney, while in Study 2b, Democratic voters rated Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Finally, Study 3 used an experimental design where participants were randomly assigned to read either a populist or a non-populist speech written by an unknown fictional politician. This approach allowed the researchers to isolate the effect of a populist style without the influence of prior knowledge about real-world political figures.

Across all four studies, entertainment appraisals consistently predicted greater political support, and this effect was stronger for populist figures. In Study 1, participants who found Trump more entertaining were more likely to support him, compared to Biden voters, whose support was less dependent on entertainment appraisals. Study 2a found the same pattern among Republicans: Trump’s support was more closely tied to entertainment than Romney’s. In Study 2b, the pattern held for Sanders compared to Biden, although the difference was smaller.

Study 3 provided the most direct evidence. Participants who read the populist speech found it more entertaining and reported stronger support for the fictional politician. Those in the non-populist condition still showed a link between entertainment and support, but the relationship was weaker. Importantly, participants exposed to the populist speech also reported more intense emotions, suggesting that emotional intensity—not just positive or negative feelings—plays a role in the appeal of populist rhetoric.

“In the first few studies, we compared existing and well-known politicians, both between parties (Trump vs. Biden) but also within parties (e.g., Trump vs. Romney). These are all well-known figures that everyone has an opinion about,” van Prooijen told PsyPost.

“What surprised me, however, is that we found these effects even when participants were exposed to an AI-generated populist or non-populist speech. So even for an unknown political figure, people are more likely to base their support on how entertaining they found a single speech when the speech was populist (blaming societal problems on corrupt elites that try to oppress the people) than non-populist (emphasizing a need to work together to solve societal problems).”

Another key finding was that general populist attitudes—such as distrust of elites and strong identification with “ordinary people”—predicted support for populist leaders through the pathway of entertainment. In other words, people who already held populist views tended to find populist leaders more entertaining, which in turn made them more likely to support them. This mediation effect did not appear for non-populist leaders.

“All politicians benefit to some extent from being considered entertaining by the public, but populist politicians benefit more from this than non-populist politicians,” van Prooijen explained. “This suggests that populism is a form of ‘popcorn politics’: Supporters of populist candidates are more strongly inclined to base their choice on superficial traits that might be considered entertaining, and which might distract from the actual contents of the proposed policies.”

The research was preregistered, meaning the researchers publicly documented their study designs, hypotheses, and analysis plans before collecting data. Preregistration is important because it helps prevent selective reporting and increases the credibility of the findings by making it clear that the analyses were planned in advance rather than chosen after seeing the results.

But, as with all research, there are still some limitations. Most participants were based in the United States, and the politicians tested were primarily American. Populist movements vary across countries, sometimes blending left-wing and right-wing ideas in ways that do not fit neatly into a U.S. political framework. Future research could explore whether the same entertainment-driven effects are present in other political systems, such as in Europe, Latin America, or Asia.

“So far, we have only examined these effects in the United States, but populist movements differ enormously in various regions of the world,” van Prooijen noted. “Moreover, we have not extensively distinguished between left- versus right-wing populist leaders. One of our studies tentatively suggested that these effects may be more pronounced for right-wing populism, but more research is needed to examine that possibility.”

“This line of research fits in a broader research goal to better understand the emotional underpinnings of populism. Researchers have often stressed that emotions are important, but then only focus on negative emotions such as anger and fear. Positive emotions also matter; for instance, populist rhetoric may give citizens hope for a better future. And, our findings suggest that the intensity of emotional experiences may actually be more closely associated with populism than the positive or negative valence of emotions per se. All of these issues are important to examine further in future research.”

The researchers emphasized that their work highlights the importance of considering positive and emotionally intense experiences when studying political preferences. Populist leaders often present simple solutions to complex problems, attack establishment figures, and portray themselves as champions of the people—all ingredients that make their messages more compelling and emotionally resonant.

“One of the things that have struck me for years is that populist leaders around the world often tend to be somewhat eccentric, attention-grabbing individuals who stir up the established order by seeking conflict,” van Prooijen explained. “This research suggest that these features, that some citizens might find entertaining, have an electoral function.”

The study, “Popcorn politics: Entertainment appraisals predict support for populist leaders,” was authored by Jan-Willem van Prooijen, Julia Kipperman, Yuxuan Li, Yifan Mo, and Paul Nachtwey.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/new-study-suggests-entertainment-is-key-to-populist-political-success/

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DATE: April 26, 2025 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Obese women tend to have more severe sexual disorder symptoms

URL: https://www.psypost.org/obese-women-tend-to-have-more-severe-sexual-disorder-symptoms/

A study of overweight and obese women of reproductive age in Poland found that they tend to experience more severe symptoms of sexual dysfunctions and sexual preference disorders compared to their normal-weight peers. Women with more severe sexuality-related disorders also tended to report a lower quality of life. The research was published in Psychiatria Polska.

Sexuality-related disorders include a range of conditions that affect sexual function, desire, and preference, causing distress or difficulties in intimate relationships. Sexual dysfunctions refer to problems occurring during any phase of the sexual response cycle—desire, arousal, orgasm, or resolution. In women, these include disorders such as female sexual interest/arousal disorder, genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder, and female orgasmic disorder.

In contrast, sexual preference disorders, often referred to in clinical settings as paraphilic disorders, involve atypical sexual interests that may cause harm or distress. Examples include fetishistic disorder, voyeuristic disorder, and sexual masochism disorder, although these conditions are rarer among women. Such conditions are only classified as disorders when they cause significant distress or impair functioning. Cultural, psychological, and relational factors play an important role in how these disorders manifest in women.

Study author Anna Fuksiewicz and her colleagues aimed to explore the frequency and severity of sexuality-related disorders in overweight and obese women, and to compare these findings to those in normal-weight women. They note that previous studies have found that 67% of individuals with excessive body weight report a reduced quality of sex life—a statistic that includes women.

The study included 95 women between 18 and 40 years of age. Among them, 51 had normal weight, 32 were classified as obese, and 12 were overweight. The average age of overweight and obese women was 25–26 years, while the average age of the normal-weight participants was 23 years.

Participants completed several assessments, including measures of eating attitudes (the Eating Attitude Test), beliefs about food (the Eating Beliefs Questionnaire), anxiety and depression symptoms (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), alcohol use (the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), sexuality-related disorder symptoms (the Sexological Questionnaire), quality of life (the SF-36 Quality of Life Questionnaire), and difficulties in emotion regulation (the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale).

The results showed that overweight and obese women tended to have worse scores across most measures. They exhibited less healthy eating habits, more severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, more severe symptoms of sexuality-related disorders, worse overall emotion regulation (though not on every subscale), and more maladaptive beliefs about food. Their quality of life was also worse compared to their normal-weight peers.

Women with more severe sexuality-related disorder symptoms were more likely to report a lower quality of life and higher levels of depression and anxiety. These factors were the strongest predictors of quality of life.

“Overweight or obese women show a higher occurrence of symptoms of sexuality-related disorders (especially sexual dysfunctions and sexual preference disorders) than women with a normal body weight. These symptoms are associated with difficulties in other areas of functioning and constitute a significant predictor of the quality of life,” the study authors concluded.

The study sheds light on the links between body mass status and sexual functioning. However, it should be noted that the study was conducted on a relatively small group of reproductive age women. Results on larger groups might not be identical. Additionally, the design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results.

The paper, “Symptoms of sexuality-related disorders in the group of overweight and obese women,” was authored by Anna Fuksiewicz, Barbara Kostecka, Emilia Kot, Aleksandra Jodko-Modlińska, and Katarzyna Kucharska.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/obese-women-tend-to-have-more-severe-sexual-disorder-symptoms/

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