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(https://www.psypost.org/fasting-after-learning-might-sharpen-some-memories-but-blur-others-study-suggests/) Fasting after learning might sharpen some memories, but blur others, study suggests
Feb 27th 2025, 08:00

When you’re hungry after learning something, your brain might prioritize remembering some kinds of information over others. A small preliminary study published in (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074742725000152) Neurobiology of Learning and Memory found that fasting after learning boosted memory for general knowledge and facts, but at the expense of memories for specific details like where and when events occurred. This indicates that being in a fasted state could shift the brain’s focus during memory consolidation.
Scientists have long been interested in how memories are strengthened, a process known as consolidation. Sleep is widely recognized as a key time for this process. However, emerging research
suggests that other states, like being hungry, might also influence how our brains solidify new information. 
Previous studies in animals, and to some extent in humans, have hinted at a connection between fasting and memory. For example, research in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) showed that starvation could enhance memory consolidation while the flies were awake. While these earlier findings were intriguing, it was not clear if fasting specifically affected the consolidation process itself, or if it influenced other aspects of memory, such as the initial learning or the later remembering of information.
“I am a memory researcher with a primary interest in how sleep consolidates memory,” said study author Jan Born, the head of the Institute of Medical Psychology and the Behavioral Neurobiology department at the University of Tübingen.
“My interest in hunger derived from (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2997-y) a study in Drosophila (by Amita Seghal’s group) showing that fasting can enhance memory as well as sleep, although through different mechanisms. The study represents the first step in translating these findings in Drosophila to healthy humans.”        
To explore this question in humans, the researchers recruited healthy men for two separate experiments. In each experiment, participants took part in two conditions: one where they fasted, and another where they ate regular meals. To ensure a clear comparison, each participant experienced both the fasting and eating conditions at different times, with at least a four-week gap in between. This design allowed researchers to compare the effects of fasting versus eating within the same individuals.
Before the start of each condition, participants followed a regular diet for two days and avoided caffeine and alcohol. On the first day of each condition, participants arrived at the lab after having a standardized lunch and then began an 18.5-hour fasting period. The next morning, in a fasted state, they engaged in several memory tasks. 
In Experiment 1, these tasks included learning pairs of words, completing a visual memory test using abstract shapes, and performing a finger tapping exercise to assess motor skill memory. In Experiment 2, the visual shape task was replaced with a more complex ‘What-Where-When’ memory test, which examined memory for objects, locations, and times. The word pair task and finger tapping task remained the same in both experiments.
After these learning tasks, the critical consolidation period began. In the ‘satiated’ condition, participants received standardized meals throughout the next ten hours, including breakfast, lunch, and snacks. In the ‘fasting’ condition, they continued to fast for the same ten-hour period, only receiving water and fruit tea. In both conditions, participants received a standardized dinner after this ten-hour consolidation period. The researchers carefully standardized the meals to ensure they were not overly appealing, to minimize any potential positive reinforcement from eating. The meals were also tailored to each participant’s individual calorie needs based on their height, weight, age, and activity level.
To assess memory recall, participants returned to the lab either 24 or 48 hours later, depending on the experiment. In Experiment 1, recall was tested after 48 hours, and participants were in a satiated state, having eaten before the test. In Experiment 2, recall was tested earlier, after 24 hours, and participants were in a fasted state, mirroring their state during the initial learning phase. During the recall sessions, participants were tested on the same memory tasks they had learned earlier. Throughout the study, researchers monitored blood glucose levels and asked participants to rate their hunger to confirm that the fasting manipulation was effective. They also used questionnaires to assess mood, fatigue, and sleepiness to account for these factors in their analysis.
The results of the first experiment showed that fasting during the 10-hour consolidation period improved memory for word pairs. Participants in the fasting condition recalled more word pairs correctly and responded faster when recalling them compared to when they were in the satiated condition. However, fasting impaired spatial memory in the visual Deese-Roediger-McDermott task. Participants in the fasting condition were worse at remembering the locations of the shapes. Procedural memory, as tested by the finger tapping task, was not affected by fasting.
In the second experiment, the researchers found that fasting enhanced recognition memory in the “What-Where-When” task. Participants in the fasting condition were better at recognizing previously seen images and were faster at this recognition. However, fasting again showed a negative effect on episodic context memory. Participants in the fasting condition performed worse on remembering the temporal context (when an image was presented) and the combined spatial and temporal context (where and when an image was presented). Similar to the first experiment, fasting had no impact on procedural memory in the finger tapping task.
These findings suggest that fasting has a selective impact on memory consolidation in humans. It appears to enhance the consolidation of semantic-like memories, which are more about general knowledge and recognition of items. This type of memory is thought to rely more on brain areas in the cortex, the outer layer of the brain. Conversely, fasting seems to weaken the consolidation of episodic context memories, which are more detailed and contextual and depend more on the hippocampus. 
The researchers speculate that when we are hungry, our brains might prioritize solidifying basic, factual information while perhaps suppressing the encoding of detailed contextual information. They suggest that hunger might reduce interference from the hippocampus, which normally plays a strong role in episodic memory, allowing for more efficient consolidation of semantic-like representations in the cortex. But further research is needed to confirm and expand on these findings. 
“This is basic research and, in my view, it is too early to infer any application from these findings,” Born told PsyPost. “Perhaps, one should be aware that (slight) starvation might be a condition to enhance (certain kinds of) memory.”
As an initial study in humans inspired by research in fruit flies, it opens up many avenues for future research. Future studies could use brain imaging to examine which brain networks are most active during memory consolidation in fasted and fed states. It would also be important to investigate the underlying biological mechanisms. For example, researchers could explore the role of hunger-related hormones and metabolic signals, such as neuropeptide Y, orexin, ghrelin, leptin, glucagon-like peptide 1, and blood glucose levels, to understand how they mediate the effects of fasting on memory consolidation. Understanding these mechanisms could provide new insights into how our nutritional state influences memory and brain function.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2025.108034) The effect of fasting on human memory consolidation,” was authored by Xuefeng Yang, Xiu Miao, Franziska Schweiggart, Sophia Großmann, Karsten Rauss, Manfred Hallschmid, Jan Born, and Nicolas D. Lutz.

(https://www.psypost.org/scientists-discover-that-brain-region-acts-like-an-anxiety-meter-scaling-activity-to-match-threat-level/) Scientists discover that brain region acts like an “anxiety meter,” scaling activity to match threat level
Feb 27th 2025, 06:00

Scientists have discovered that a specific area of the brain, called the ventral hippocampus, functions like an “anxiety meter.” This brain region increases its activity in proportion to the level of anxiety experienced. Using a specially designed maze for mice, the scientists showed in new research published in (https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/01/27/JNEUROSCI.1128-24.2025) The Journal of Neuroscience that as the animals encountered increasingly anxiety-provoking situations, the activity of neurons in their ventral hippocampus rose accordingly. 
Anxiety is a fundamental emotion that helps animals and humans survive by preparing them to face danger. It’s a natural response to threats, prompting vigilance and action. However, when anxiety becomes excessive or persistent, it can lead to significant problems, such as chronic anxiety disorders. These conditions affect millions worldwide and can severely impact quality of life. While some treatments for anxiety exist, they are not always effective for everyone, highlighting the urgent need to better understand the brain mechanisms behind anxiety.
“Anxiety is a deeply personal yet broadly experienced state. While some level of anxiety is normal and even beneficial, excessive or persistent anxiety can be debilitating, making everyday life challenging,” said study author (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlo-cerquetella/) Carlo Cerquetella, a postdoctoral researcher in (https://physiologie.unibe.ch/~ciocchi/group/) Stéphane Ciocchi’s Lab at the University of Bern.
“Society often downplays anxiety as mere overthinking or nervousness, but for those affected, it can be overwhelming, affecting decision-making, social interactions and overall well-being. Despite its prevalence, we still don’t fully understand how anxiety is processed in the brain. This is why I am passionate about uncovering how anxiety is encoded and how different situations are represented at the neural level – knowledge that could pave the way for better treatments and interventions.”
Previous research has indicated that several brain areas, including the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus, play roles in processing emotions. However, it remained unclear how the brain represents and responds to different levels of anxiety, rather than just anxiety itself. The researchers suspected that the hippocampus, a brain structure known for its role in learning and memory, might be involved in this process. The hippocampus helps us make sense of our surroundings by comparing new information with past experiences. Within the hippocampus, the ventral part has been particularly linked to processing threats and anxiety. 
They hypothesized that this ventral hippocampus could be the key to understanding how the brain scales its response to varying levels of anxiety. Existing methods for studying anxiety in animals, like the elevated plus maze, often involve situations where anxiety levels are somewhat fixed and difficult to precisely control or quantify. To overcome these limitations, the researchers developed a new, adaptable maze that could create a range of anxiety-inducing scenarios within a controlled environment.
This maze could be configured in six different ways to create varying levels of anxiety. In the “no anxiety” setting, the maze was fully enclosed with walls, and at ground level, so the mice could not see any heights. In the “very low anxiety” setting, one half of the maze was opened up, exposing the mice to a height of 20 centimeters. The “low anxiety” setting increased the height to 70 centimeters, and the “moderate anxiety” setting raised it further to 120 centimeters. The “high anxiety” setting kept the 120-centimeter height but also narrowed the width of the open part of the maze. 
Finally, the “very high anxiety” setting elevated the maze to 170 centimeters, maintaining the narrower width. Small food rewards were placed at the end of the open part of the maze to encourage the mice to explore. An automatic door at the beginning of the maze allowed for breaks between trials and created a safe starting area.
The study involved male mice aged 4 to 6 months. Some mice underwent a procedure to make specific neurons in their ventral hippocampus sensitive to light. This technique, called optogenetics, allows researchers to temporarily control neuron activity using light. These mice had tiny optical fibers implanted in their ventral hippocampus. Another group of mice had electrodes implanted in the same brain region to record the electrical activity of individual neurons. 
During experiments, the mice were placed in the adjustable maze, and their behavior was recorded. For the optogenetics experiments, light was shone into the ventral hippocampus of some mice as they moved from the closed to the open part of the maze, temporarily reducing the activity of those neurons. For the electrophysiology experiments, the activity of neurons in the ventral hippocampus was recorded as the mice navigated the different anxiety levels in the maze.
The researchers measured how the mice behaved in each anxiety setting, specifically looking at the number of times they ventured into the open part of the maze and the amount of time they spent there. They found that as the anxiety level of the maze increased, the mice completed fewer trials and spent less time in the open area. This confirmed that the maze was indeed successfully inducing different levels of anxiety in the mice.
Importantly, when the researchers used light to reduce the activity of neurons in the ventral hippocampus, they observed that the mice showed less anxiety-related behavior. These mice were more likely to enter the open parts of the maze and spend more time there, even in the high anxiety settings. 
Reducing ventral hippocampus activity disrupted the normal scaling of anxiety. Normally, as anxiety levels increased, the mice’s behavior changed accordingly. But when the ventral hippocampus was inhibited, this scaling effect was weakened; the mice’s behavior did not change as much across the different anxiety levels. This suggested that the ventral hippocampus is essential for properly perceiving and responding to different levels of anxiety.
“I was genuinely surprised by the entire study’s results, and this is what had the biggest impact in driving and pushing my work forward,” Cerquetella told PsyPost. “However, if I had to highlight one specific finding, it would be the optogenetic part. The strength of the optogenetic inhibition of hippocampal cells in altering the animal’s anxiety state, especially in the most anxiogenic context, was remarkable. It truly underscored the powerful role of the hippocampus in anxiety regulation.”
By recording the activity of individual neurons in the ventral hippocampus, the researchers discovered that the overall activity of this brain region increased progressively as the anxiety levels in the maze went up. This scaling activity was observed specifically in the open, anxiety-inducing parts of the maze, but not in the safe, closed part. This increase in activity was not simply due to the mice moving more or differently in the maze.
Further analysis revealed two key mechanisms at the single neuron level contributing to this scaling. First, some neurons showed “tuning,” meaning their firing rate increased in a graded manner as anxiety levels rose. Second, there was “neuronal recruitment.” At each increasing level of anxiety, new neurons became active in the ventral hippocampus, and these neurons remained active at even higher anxiety levels. Both of these processes – enhanced tuning of existing neurons and the recruitment of new neurons – contributed to the overall scaling of activity in the ventral hippocampus as anxiety increased.
To ensure that these changes in ventral hippocampus activity were specifically related to anxiety and not just to the novelty of the maze configurations, the researchers tested a “novel” maze setting. In this setting, the open part of the maze was changed to look and feel different, but the height and openness remained similar to the “no anxiety” control. They found that while the mice explored this novel section, it did not cause the same increase in ventral hippocampus activity as the anxiety-inducing maze configurations. This suggested that the changes they observed were primarily driven by anxiety, not just general novelty.
Finally, the researchers used a computer algorithm, called a linear classifier, to see if they could predict the anxiety level based on the recorded neuron activity in the ventral hippocampus. The classifier was able to accurately identify the anxiety level from the neural activity, further supporting the idea that the ventral hippocampus encodes information about anxiety levels in a scalable way. When the classifier was trained to distinguish only between the lowest and highest anxiety levels, it still showed a gradual scaling in its predictions for the intermediate anxiety levels, reinforcing the concept of the ventral hippocampus as an “anxiety meter.”
“Our study highlights the crucial role of the hippocampus in representing different intensities of anxiety,” Cerquetella explained. “Rather than simply signaling the presence or absence of an anxiogenic situation, the hippocampus also provides insight into how intense the anxiety-inducing experience is.”
The researchers acknowledge that this study was conducted in mice, and it remains to be seen if the same mechanisms are at play in humans. “A major caveat of this study is the challenge of translating findings from rodents to humans, as well as the fact that we used only one experimental setup,” Cerquetella noted. “The choice to focus on one model was due to time and resource limitations.” 
“Regarding the translational aspect, it is inherently difficult to fully interpret what an animal feels and how it perceives an anxiogenic situation in a human framework. However, anxiety is a highly conserved state among all mammals.” 
“Moreover, the hippocampus, which plays a central role in representing anxiety and anxiety-related behavior, is functionally conserved across rodents and humans,” Cerquetella said. “This suggests that similar circuit mechanisms may underlie both normal and pathological emotional behaviors, such as anxiety.”
Understanding this mechanism could offer new avenues for developing more effective treatments for anxiety disorders and other conditions. 
“My long-term goal is to further investigate the neural circuits underlying anxiety and other mood-related disorders, such as depression,” Cerquetella said. “These conditions affect countless individuals and can be deeply debilitating. Understanding how they are encoded in the brain is crucial for developing better treatments and finding ways to help people cope more effectively with these devastating diseases.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1128-24.2025) Scaling of ventral hippocampal activity during anxiety,” was authored by Carlo Cerquetella Camille Gontier, Thomas Forro, Jean-Pascal Pfister, and Stéphane Ciocchi.

(https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-linked-to-weight-gain-in-long-term-study/) Antidepressants linked to weight gain in long-term study
Feb 26th 2025, 18:00

A new study from Spain has found a connection between the use of antidepressant medications and weight gain. Researchers tracking individuals over several years discovered that those taking antidepressants experienced, on average, a two percent increase in their body weight. This finding, published in (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1464898) Frontiers in Psychiatry, highlights the importance of considering weight management as part of depression treatment and monitoring.
Experts have long known that depression is a widespread mental health issue, affecting millions of people around the globe. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of individuals struggle with depression, a condition that can significantly impact daily life and overall well-being. For many, antidepressant medications are a primary form of treatment, often used in combination with therapy. In fact, antidepressants are among the most frequently prescribed medications worldwide, with usage rates increasing over the past few decades. In Spain, like in other developed nations, a significant portion of the adult population uses these medications to manage their depressive symptoms.
While antidepressants can be effective in alleviating the symptoms of depression, they are not without potential side effects. These medications can cause a range of unwanted effects, from sleep disturbances and dizziness to digestive problems and changes in weight. Weight gain, in particular, is a notable concern, as it can lead individuals to stop taking their medication, even if it is helping their depression. This is especially concerning because obesity, a condition affecting a large portion of the global population, carries its own serious health risks. 
Interestingly, there’s a complex relationship between obesity and depression. Research suggests that obesity can increase the risk of developing depression, and conversely, depression can increase the risk of becoming obese. Scientists believe shared biological factors might contribute to this link.
One potential factor linking depression and obesity is the use of antidepressants themselves. While some antidepressants are more likely to cause weight gain than others, and some may even lead to weight loss, much of the existing research on this side effect has focused on short-term medication use, typically over weeks or months. There has been a lack of research examining the long-term effects of antidepressant use on weight over many years in real-world settings. 
Some prior studies in other countries have started to explore this gap, suggesting that longer-term antidepressant use is associated with increased weight gain. However, these studies often looked at overall antidepressant use without considering different patterns of use over time, such as starting and stopping medication. Therefore, this new study aimed to investigate how different patterns of antidepressant use over a six-year period relate to changes in weight and the risk of becoming obese in a group of Spanish adults.
To conduct their investigation, the research team used data from an ongoing study in Spain called the Girona Heart Registry study, which is tracking the health of people in the Girona province to understand heart disease risk factors. For this specific analysis, the researchers focused on over 3,000 adults who participated in the study’s third phase starting in 2005. These individuals were followed up approximately six years later. 
At the beginning of the study and at the follow-up visit, trained nurses measured the participants’ height and weight using standardized procedures. This allowed the researchers to calculate each person’s body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight, and to determine who was considered obese, defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher.
At both the initial visit and the follow-up visit, participants were asked about their medication use. Specifically, they were asked to list all medications they were taking. Researchers then categorized these medications, identifying those classified as antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other types. 
By looking at medication use at both time points, the researchers were able to categorize participants into four groups based on their antidepressant use over the six-year period: those who never used antidepressants, those who used antidepressants at the start but stopped by the follow-up, those who started using antidepressants after the initial visit and were using them at follow-up, and those who used antidepressants at both the initial and follow-up visits.
In addition to medication and weight measurements, the researchers collected information on other factors that could influence weight and health. This included demographic information like age and sex, as well as lifestyle factors such as education level, marital status, smoking habits, diet quality measured using a Mediterranean diet score, and physical activity levels. They also collected data on pre-existing conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as the use of antipsychotic medications, as these could also affect weight. 
The researchers also assessed depressive symptoms at the follow-up visit using a standard questionnaire. They also linked participant data to electronic health records to identify any diagnoses of depression made by doctors during the follow-up period. This allowed them to account for depression itself as a factor that might influence weight changes, separate from the effects of antidepressants.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that all patterns of antidepressant use were associated with greater weight gain compared to those who never used these medications. Specifically, individuals who started antidepressants during the study period, those who continued using them throughout, and even those who started and then stopped, all experienced a greater percentage increase in their body weight over the six years compared to those who never used antidepressants. 
“All individuals taking antidepressants had a higher likelihood of gaining weight and developing obesity. This risk is even greater for those who use these medications continuously,” explained Camille Lassale, a researcher at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).
On average, this weight gain amounted to approximately a two percent increase in body weight beyond what was seen in non-users, even after accounting for factors like age, sex, lifestyle, pre-existing conditions, and depressive symptoms. Interestingly, the association between antidepressants and weight gain appeared to be more pronounced in certain subgroups of people, specifically women, individuals younger than 55 years old, and those who were at a healthy weight at the beginning of the study. Among participants who were not obese at the start, those who were using antidepressants repeatedly over the six years had a higher risk of becoming obese by the follow-up.
Gabriela Lugon, a researcher at Hospital del Mar and a resident physician in the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Teaching Unit at Hospital del Mar, Pompeu Fabra University, and the Barcelona Public Health Agency, said that the findings highlight the importance of considering the link between antidepressants and weight gain when prescribing these medications and the need for regular weight monitoring.
“We cannot simply prescribe antidepressants for their positive effects without also considering this side effect,” Lugon said. For this reason, the study’s authors emphasize the need to monitor weight changes in individuals receiving antidepressant treatment, along with other indicators of cardiometabolic health.
Víctor Pérez, head of the Psychiatry Department at Hospital del Mar, emphasized that antidepressants are highly effective for treating some of the most common mental illnesses. However, “their effect on weight is not universal, although certain medications, such as mirtazapine and paroxetine, can cause significant weight gain.” He also warned that “due to the risk of patients discontinuing treatment because of weight gain, we must consider alternative therapeutic strategies to complement pharmacological treatment.”
The researchers acknowledged some limitations to their study. Medication use was based on self-report at only two time points, which might not perfectly capture medication use over the entire six-year period. Additionally, the study looked at antidepressant use in general, rather than examining the effects of specific types of antidepressants, which could have different impacts on weight. The study was also observational, meaning it cannot definitively prove that antidepressants directly cause weight gain, only that there is an association. Other unmeasured factors could potentially be influencing the results.
For future research, the scientists suggested that studies should investigate the effects of specific antidepressant medications on weight, as different drugs may have varying effects. They also recommended combining data from long-term studies like theirs with electronic health records to gather even larger amounts of data and follow people for longer periods. Future studies should also consider the use of other psychiatric medications besides antidepressants and focus on understanding the effects in younger populations, given the early onset of depression for many.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1464898) Trajectories of antidepressant use and 6-year change in body weight: a prospective population-based cohort study,” was Camille Lassale, Gabriela Lugon, Álvaro Hernáez, Philipp Frank, Jaume Marrugat, Rafael Ramos, Josep Garre-Olmo, and Roberto Elosua.

(https://www.psypost.org/even-a-little-exercise-could-significantly-lower-dementia-risk/) Even a little exercise could significantly lower dementia risk
Feb 26th 2025, 16:00

New research offers encouraging news for individuals concerned about dementia: even small amounts of physical activity may substantially reduce the risk of developing this devastating condition. A study published in the (https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(24)00879-X/abstract) Journal of the American Medical Directors Association has found that engaging in a minimal amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week is linked to a significantly lower chance of dementia, even for older adults who are already frail. The findings suggest that incorporating just a few minutes of movement into one’s weekly routine can have a powerful protective effect on brain health.
Dementia is a growing global health challenge, affecting millions of people and their families. It is a leading cause of death, and currently, there is no cure. Dementia is not a single disease, but rather a group of conditions that affect cognitive abilities like memory, thinking, and problem-solving, to the point where it interferes with daily life. Scientists are working hard to understand how to prevent or delay dementia, and one promising area of investigation is physical activity.
Previous studies have indicated that being physically active can be beneficial for brain health and may lower dementia risk. However, it has been unclear exactly how much physical activity is needed to see these benefits, particularly for older adults who may find it difficult to be very active due to age-related frailty or other health issues. Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to health problems, often seen in older adults, and is itself linked to a higher risk of dementia.
Researchers wanted to determine the minimum amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity needed to reduce dementia risk and to see if this benefit held true even for frail older adults. Understanding this “minimum dose” could help encourage more people, especially those who are less active or frail, to incorporate some movement into their lives for brain health benefits.
To investigate this question, researchers used data from a large study called the UK Biobank. This extensive project has collected health information from over 500,000 people in the United Kingdom, aged 40 to 69 at the time they joined the study between 2006 and 2010. The participants provided detailed information about their lifestyle, health, and underwent physical measurements.
A subset of these participants, over 100,000 individuals, agreed to wear a special device called an accelerometer on their wrist for up to seven days between 2013 and 2015. This device is like a sophisticated step counter, but it measures movement very precisely, allowing researchers to determine the intensity and duration of physical activity. The accelerometer data provided objective measurements of how much moderate to vigorous physical activity each person engaged in. Moderate to vigorous physical activity is defined as activity that raises your heart rate and makes you breathe harder, such as brisk walking, cycling, or dancing.
The researchers carefully analyzed the data from nearly 90,000 participants who had valid accelerometer data and did not have dementia at the start of the study. They excluded individuals with insufficient accelerometer wear time, those already diagnosed with dementia, and those with certain missing information or conditions like stroke or Parkinson’s disease. For each participant, they calculated the average weekly minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity based on the accelerometer data. They also assessed frailty using a standard set of criteria, including grip strength, walking speed, weight loss, exhaustion, and self-reported physical activity.
Participants were categorized as robust, prefrail, or frail based on the number of these criteria they met. To determine who developed dementia, the researchers tracked participants’ health records through linked hospital data up to November 2021. They looked for diagnoses of all-cause dementia, using established medical codes to identify cases.
The study’s findings revealed a clear link between even small amounts of physical activity and a reduced risk of dementia. Compared to individuals who engaged in no moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, those who achieved as little as 35 minutes per week had a remarkable 41% lower risk of developing dementia over the study period.
This benefit increased with more activity. Participants engaging in 35 to 69.9 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week had a 60% lower dementia risk. Those with 70 to 139.9 minutes per week showed a 63% reduction, and those who engaged in 140 minutes or more per week had a 69% lower risk. This pattern suggests a dose-response relationship, meaning that more physical activity is associated with greater protection against dementia.
“Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity, even as little as five minutes per day, can reduce dementia risk in older adults,” said study lead author Amal Wanigatunga, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Epidemiology. Wanigatunga is also a core faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health and has a joint appointment at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “This adds to a growing body of evidence that some exercise is better than nothing, especially with regard to an aging-related disorder that affects the brain that currently has no cure.”
Importantly, the researchers found that these benefits of physical activity were evident regardless of an individual’s frailty status. While frailty itself increased the risk of dementia, physical activity still provided a protective effect for frail, prefrail, and robust older adults alike. This indicates that even frail older adults, who may be less inclined to be active, can still gain significant brain health benefits from incorporating even small amounts of movement into their weekly routine.
“This suggests that even frail or nearly frail older adults might be able to reduce their dementia risk through low-dose exercise,” Wanigatunga said
While these findings are promising, it is important to consider the study’s limitations. The UK Biobank participants are primarily from the United Kingdom and may not fully represent the broader population. Like all observational studies, this research cannot definitively prove that physical activity directly causes the reduction in dementia risk; there could be other unmeasured factors that contribute to the observed association.
Also, frailty was measured on average four years before physical activity was measured, so participants’ frailty status might have changed over time. It is also possible that individuals who were already in the very early stages of dementia might have been less active, leading to a reverse causation issue, although the researchers conducted analyses to minimize this possibility. Finally, accelerometers measure the quantity and intensity of movement but do not capture the specific types of activities performed, which could provide additional insights.
Future research could build upon these findings by conducting intervention studies to specifically test whether increasing physical activity, even in small increments, can directly reduce dementia risk in diverse populations, including frail older adults. It would also be valuable to investigate what types of physical activity are most effective for dementia prevention and to explore the biological mechanisms through which physical activity exerts its protective effects on the brain.
Despite these limitations, this study provides hopeful evidence that even a little moderate to vigorous physical activity can be beneficial for brain health and significantly lower the risk of dementia, even for frail older adults. This message is particularly important for promoting public health strategies that encourage physical activity at all levels of ability to help combat the growing burden of dementia.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2024.105456) Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity at any Dose Reduces All-Cause Dementia Risk Regardless of Frailty Status,” was authored by Amal A. Wanigatunga, Yiwen Dong, Mu Jin, Andrew Leroux, Erjia Cui, Xinkai Zhou, Angela Zhao, Jennifer A. Schrack, Karen Bandeen-Roche, Jeremy D. Walston, Qian-Li Xue, Martin A. Lindquist, and Ciprian M. Crainiceanu.

(https://www.psypost.org/mass-shootings-lead-to-years-of-increased-alcohol-sales-in-communities/) Mass shootings lead to years of increased alcohol sales in communities
Feb 26th 2025, 14:00

In the aftermath of mass shootings, affected communities turn to alcohol in significant and lasting ways, a new study published in (https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/1/pgae570/7950995) PNAS Nexus finds. Alcohol sales increase for at least two years in areas where mass shootings occur, suggesting a long-term behavioral response to trauma.
Mass shootings are among the most devastating acts of violence. While the immediate toll is clear – lives lost and survivors struggling with trauma – the broader impact on communities is often harder to measure.
Studies have shown that people who experience disasters or traumatic events are more likely to increase their alcohol consumption, as a coping mechanism for stress. Given the well-documented emotional and psychological impact of mass shootings, a research team led by Nicholas Buttrick from the University of Wisconsin-Madison wanted to examine whether entire communities respond to these events with increased alcohol purchases.
Buttrick and colleagues analyzed real-world consumer behavior by examining 13 years’ worth of data on alcohol sales across the United States, covering purchases from over 35,000 retailers, including grocery stores and drugstores. This dataset accounted for more than half of all alcohol sales in the country, making it one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind.
They then obtained records of all mass shootings in the U.S. from 2006 to 2019, using a database maintained by USA TODAY/Associated Press/Northeastern University.
Statistical models were implemented to compare alcohol sales before and after mass shootings in affected areas. They also examined whether alcohol sales differed depending on whether the shooting happened in a public place (such as a school, workplace, or mall) or a private residence.
The researchers discovered that alcohol sales rose in communities after a mass shooting, and this increase persisted for at least two years. On average, alcohol sales rose by about 3.5%, which amounts to more than $22,000 in additional weekly alcohol sales per affected community.
However, not all mass shootings had the same effect. The increase in alcohol purchases was much stronger when the mass shooting occurred in a public place. In those cases, alcohol sales jumped by over $42,000 per week on average – a 5.5% increase for the next two years. In contrast, mass shootings that took place in private homes did not lead to any increase in alcohol sales.
The study’s authors suggest reasons for their findings: “the vicarious trauma caused by a mass shooting is therefore carried, at least in part, by the event’s public nature, as such a public event may confirm that one’s community is no longer a protective, safe place to live. When a mass killing occurs in private, it may not implicate the community in the same way. Not all mass death carries the same traumatic power.”
Notably, the study has some limitations. Since analysis of alcohol sales were limited to grocery and drugstores, they could not account for purchases from independent liquor stores, bars, or restaurants. Thus, the true increase in alcohol consumption could be even higher than reported.
The study, “(https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/1/pgae570/7950995) Mass shootings durably increase the sale of alcohol in American communities,” was authored by Nicholas Buttrick, Shiyu Yang, and Sosuke Okada.

(https://www.psypost.org/we-cheat-ourselves-to-feel-smarter-and-healthier-study-finds/) We cheat ourselves to feel smarter and healthier, study finds
Feb 26th 2025, 12:00

Imagine you are trying to eat healthier and diligently logging your meals into a calorie tracking application. Or perhaps you are tackling a brain teaser puzzle online, aiming to sharpen your mind. In these situations, no one is checking up on you, and there are no prizes or punishments from an external source.
Yet, a new study published in the (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/732915) Journal of the Association for Consumer Research reveals that people are still likely to cheat, even when the only reward is the internal feeling of being healthier or smarter. This research shows that individuals deceive themselves into believing they are genuinely improving, even when their progress is built on dishonesty.
Sara Loughran Dommer, a marketing professor at Penn State University, spearheaded this research because she was curious about a particular type of everyday dishonesty. We know that people sometimes cheat to get ahead in business or to gain material possessions. For example, some shoppers buy clothes, wear them once, and then return them for a full refund. Others misuse discount codes or lie to get money back from companies. However, Dommer noticed that people also seem to cheat in situations where the benefits are not about money or possessions, but about how they see themselves.
“I was curious as to why people (including myself!) cheat at crossword puzzles, Wordle, etc,” Dommer explained. “Cheating for better grades, awards, and money makes sense; we want these extrinsic rewards. But why do we need to complete the crossword puzzle? My intuition said, we must get some sort of benefit from it (e.g., we feel smarter). But then I thought, how could we possibly reap any kind of benefit if we know that we cheated? I shouldn’t feel smarter because I needed to cheat to complete it. That piqued my interest.”
To explore this phenomenon, Dommer designed a series of four studies. In each study, participants were given tasks where they had the opportunity to cheat to potentially boost their self-image in some way.
The first study focused on calorie counting and involved 379 undergraduate students from a large public university. These students participated in lab studies and received extra credit for their time. The study was designed with two groups. One group received detailed calorie information for hypothetical meals they were asked to imagine consuming over three days. The other group did not receive this specific calorie information.
All participants were then shown a list of five calorie options, similar to what a calorie tracking application might provide, and asked to log the calorie intake for each meal across three days. The idea was that those without precise calorie information might be more tempted to cheat by selecting lower calorie options, even if those options were not entirely accurate. To ensure fairness, the calorie options presented were carefully chosen so that the average of the five options always matched the specific calorie count given to the group with detailed information. The researchers measured the total number of calories participants logged over the three days.
The second study shifted to the realm of intelligence and used an intelligence quotient test. Two hundred and four participants were recruited online through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a platform for online tasks, and received a small payment for their participation. Again, there were two groups: a ‘cheating’ group and a ‘control’ group. All participants took a ten-question intelligence quotient test consisting of multiple-choice questions.
Those in the ‘cheating’ group were given an extra instruction: the correct answer to each question would be highlighted immediately after they answered. This allowed them to easily see the right answers as they went along, and effectively cheat by inflating their score if they chose to simply look at the highlighted answers. The ‘control’ group did not receive this answer highlighting.
After the test, both groups were shown their actual score. Then, they were asked to predict how they would perform on a second intelligence quotient test, where no answer highlighting would be provided for either group. The researchers compared the actual scores on the first test and the predicted scores for the second test between the two groups.
The third study continued to investigate intelligence, but this time using anagrams, which are word puzzles where letters are scrambled. Two hundred participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk participated for a small payment. Similar to the previous studies, there was a ‘cheating’ group and a ‘control’ group. Both groups were given nine anagrams to solve within a three-minute time limit.
The ‘control’ group typed their answers into boxes on the screen. After three minutes, the correct answers were displayed, and the number of correctly solved anagrams was automatically recorded. The ‘cheating’ group, however, did not have answer boxes. They were instructed to solve the anagrams using paper and pencil until the page automatically advanced after three minutes.
On the next page, the correct answers were provided, and participants in the ‘cheating’ group were asked to self-report how many anagrams they had solved correctly. This setup provided an opportunity to cheat by overstating their performance. After the anagram task, all participants were asked to rate how much their performance was due to their intelligence versus the difficulty of the task, and also how much they agreed that anagram solving is an accurate test of intelligence.
The final, fourth study broadened the focus to financial literacy. Two hundred and thirty-three participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk were recruited and paid for their participation. This study used a more complex design, with four groups in total. The design combined the ‘cheating’ versus ‘control’ condition with another factor: whether participants were made to feel uncertain about their financial knowledge before taking a financial literacy test.
To create uncertainty, some participants read a statement highlighting that many people overestimate their financial knowledge. All participants then took a ten-question true or false financial literacy test. In the ‘cheating’ condition, the correct answer to each question appeared on screen after a few seconds, again offering the chance to inflate their score by simply looking at the answer. The ‘control’ group did not receive these answers. After the test, participants rated their own financial literacy by indicating how well terms like “financially intelligent” and “financially smart” described them.
Across all four studies, Dommer uncovered a consistent pattern. In the calorie counting study, participants who did not have specific calorie information logged fewer calories than those who had detailed information. This suggests they were indeed choosing lower calorie options, even when less accurate, to feel healthier.
In the intelligence quotient test study, those in the ‘cheating’ group scored significantly higher on the test compared to the ‘control’ group, as expected. Importantly, the ‘cheating’ group also predicted they would do better on a second intelligence quotient test, even though they knew they would not have access to answers on the second test.
Statistical analysis showed that their inflated performance on the first test directly influenced their optimistic predictions for future performance. This indicates they were deceiving themselves into believing their initial, cheated score reflected their true ability.
“All the evidence of diagnostic self-deception surprised me,” Dommer told PsyPost. “I figured something like this had to be going on, but any time people are blind to their behaviors I am surprised by it. For instance, in Study 2, where those who cheated predicted they would score higher on a subsequent IQ test (compared to the control group) even when they knew they wouldn’t have the answers — crazy!”
Similarly, in the anagram study, participants in the ‘cheating’ group claimed to have solved more anagrams than the ‘control’ group actually did solve. Furthermore, the ‘cheating’ group attributed their performance more to their own intelligence and less to the task’s difficulty, compared to the ‘control’ group. They also rated anagrams as a more valid measure of intelligence. Again, statistical analysis demonstrated that their inflated anagram performance drove these self-serving beliefs about their intelligence and the task’s validity.
The financial literacy study added another layer of understanding. As in the other studies, participants in the ‘cheating’ condition scored higher on the financial literacy test. However, when participants were made to feel uncertain about their financial knowledge beforehand, the effect of cheating was weaker.
Interestingly, those who were made uncertain and could cheat actually performed slightly worse than those who could cheat but were not made uncertain, suggesting that priming uncertainty reduced their motivation to cheat. Participants in the ‘cheating’ condition generally rated themselves as more financially literate.
While the uncertainty prime did not significantly reduce this boost in self-perceived financial literacy, the overall pattern suggested that feeling uncertain made people less likely to enhance their self-perception through cheating. Statistical analysis further supported the idea that cheating on the financial literacy test led to enhanced performance, which in turn boosted their self-perception of being financially literate, especially when they were not made to feel uncertain.
“It is one thing to cheat a crossword puzzle and feel smarter,” Dommer said. “I doubt that is doing much harm. But these illusory self-beliefs can still be harmful, especially when assessing your financial or physical health. When a person engages in diagnostic self-deception, they may underuse products and services designed to help them. This is why it’s important to be aware of illusory beliefs and strive to seek accurate self-assessments.”
These studies, while insightful, do have some limitations. “Most of my studies look at ‘cheating’ in the aggregate,” Dommer noted. “For instance, the average score for those given answers is higher than the average score for those without answers. So, I cannot definitely say whether people cheated or not.”
“Still, the data tells a story. In Study 2, participants completed 10 questions from an IQ test. In the control condition (where they did not have the answers), no one scored a perfect (10/10). The max score was 9, scored by only 5% of participants in this group. In the cheating condition (where they had access to the answers), 43% scored 10/10 and 29% scored 9/10.”
Looking ahead, researchers could explore who is most prone to this type of self-deceptive cheating. For instance, individuals who are already inclined to see themselves in a positive light might be more likely to cheat to reinforce that positive self-view. Future studies could also investigate factors that might reduce this kind of cheating, such as promoting mindfulness, encouraging self-affirmation, or even increasing mental workload.
The study, “(https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/732915) Acting Immorally to Self-Enhance: The Role of Diagnostic Self-Deception,” was authored by Sara Loughran Dommer.

(https://www.psypost.org/new-study-sheds-light-on-the-hidden-attention-struggle-behind-phobias/) New study sheds light on the hidden attention struggle behind phobias
Feb 26th 2025, 10:00

An eye-tracking study found that individuals suffering from phobias show delayed disengagement and slower decision times compared to those without phobias when responding to images. This indicates that phobic individuals exhibit poorer attentional control mechanisms and difficulty inhibiting irrelevant information. The paper was published in (https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13414-024-02968-6) Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.
A phobia is an intense, irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. People with phobias go to great lengths to avoid what they fear, even if it poses no real danger. Common phobias include arachnophobia (fear of spiders), acrophobia (fear of heights), and claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces). Social phobia (social anxiety disorder) is the fear of being judged or embarrassed in social situations. Symptoms may include panic, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing when exposed to the feared object or situation.
Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder, along with generalized anxiety disorder. The dominant emotions associated with these disorders are fear and anxiety, which are critical for identifying and reacting to potential threats. However, individuals with these disorders experience these emotions disproportionately to the actual danger posed by the threat. Studies have shown that individuals with phobias tend to pay much more attention to potential threats and may have difficulties disengaging their attention, a phenomenon known as attention bias.
Study author Christina Saalwirth and her colleagues aimed to investigate the attention bias of individuals with phobias. They conducted an experiment using eye-tracking devices. Their hypothesis was that individuals with phobias would exhibit slower eye movements (i.e., slower saccadic latencies) when a displayed picture contained elements similar to those in a picture perceived as threatening due to a phobia. They expected this effect (slower saccadic latencies) to be weaker than the response toward pictures showing real threat objects, but more pronounced than the response toward neutral images.
They also anticipated that participants would be slower to stop looking at pictures of mice, dogs, snakes, spiders, pointed objects, and dentists (i.e., the most common objects related to specific phobias), regardless of whether they had a phobia. The study authors expected that phobic individuals would be slower when making decisions during experimental tasks compared to non-phobic individuals.
To recruit participants, the study authors distributed an online questionnaire aimed at individuals who either had no phobias or clearly exhibited phobic tendencies. They recruited 33 individuals with a phobia (the phobic group) and 33 non-phobic participants. The groups were matched by age and gender, with 21 women in each group. The average age of participants was 28–29 years. The phobic group was further divided based on the type of phobia—fear of mice, dogs, snakes, spiders, pointed objects, or dentists.
In the experiment, the study authors presented a set of images arranged in circles on a display. Participants were instructed to initially focus on a picture in the center of the screen, then search for a target picture in an outer circle consisting of six images. They were required to indicate, via a button press, whether the object in the target picture was oriented to the left or right. The target pictures were related to the participants’ phobias, and participants were also asked to rate how much fear or disgust the images induced in them.
Eye-tracking devices recorded the participants’ gaze during the experiment, and a specialized device recorded their responses to the images.
The results showed that individuals with phobias experienced delayed disengagement regardless of whether the central image was related to their fear or not. In other words, they took longer to shift their gaze from the central image. They were also slower to decide whether the target image was oriented to the left or right when it was related to what they perceived as a threat. These findings indicate that phobic individuals tend to exhibit poorer attentional control mechanisms and difficulties inhibiting irrelevant information.
“Individuals with specific phobia exhibit a pronounced delay in disengagement, reflected in slower saccadic latencies, regardless of whether the stimulus is threat-related or neutral. Furthermore, when viewing a threat-related picture, these phobic individuals took longer to respond to a simple task, such as determining a target’s left or right orientation,” the study authors concluded.
This study sheds light on the attentional bias of individuals with phobias. However, it should be noted that the participants in the experiment were aware of the threatening objects they would encounter. Results might differ if participants were exposed to unexpected threatening stimuli.
The paper, “(https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13414-024-02968-6) Eye Tracking Analysis of Attentional Disengagement in Phobic and Non-Phobic Individuals,” was authored by Christina Saalwirth, Maximilian Stefani, Marian Sauter, and Wolfgang Mack.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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