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PsyPost – Psychology News Daily Digest (Unofficial)

 

(https://www.psypost.org/researchers-uncover-a-hidden-cognitive-strength-associated-with-autistic-traits/) Researchers uncover a hidden cognitive strength associated with autistic traits
Jan 3rd 2025, 08:00

A recent study published in (https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012453) PLOS Computational Biology found that people with stronger autistic traits, particularly those with a preference for predictability, tend to exhibit unique curiosity-driven behaviors. These individuals showed persistence in tasks requiring sustained attention, often leading to superior learning outcomes.
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental condition that affects how individuals perceive and interact with the world. It is characterized by differences in communication, social interaction, and behavior patterns. Rather than being a singular condition, autism exists on a spectrum, meaning that individuals experience varying levels of intensity and expression of traits. While some may require significant support in daily life, others might navigate independently with unique strengths and challenges.
Autistic traits are characteristics commonly associated with autism but may also be present in varying degrees within the general population. These traits can include a preference for routines, heightened sensitivity to sensory input, and intense focus on specific topics of interest. While these traits can sometimes pose challenges, they also contribute to unique ways of thinking and problem-solving.
The new study aimed to explore how autistic traits influence curiosity-driven behaviors, particularly the way individuals explore their environments and engage in learning activities. Curiosity is a fundamental human drive that motivates exploration and discovery. It plays a critical role in how we acquire new skills and knowledge. However, previous research has largely overlooked how individual differences, such as autistic traits, shape these exploratory behaviors.
“Observing people’s curiosity and how they explore the world around them, I couldn’t help but notice big differences across people: while some love to learn and new challenges, others prefer to stick to familiar grounds,” said study author Francesco Poli ((https://bsky.app/profile/francescopoli.bsky.social) @francescopoli.bsky.social), a postdoctoral researcher in developmental cognitive science (https://www.astlelab.com/copy-of-meet-the-team) at the University of Cambridge.
“Wondering which personality aspects might explain these differences, I started thinking that one potential reason was autistic traits. I thus decided to systematically examine whether certain autistic traits can foster more effective ways of exploring and mastering new tasks, with the hope to expand our understanding of neurodiversity in learning.”
The researchers conducted their study with 70 participants, primarily university students, aged 17 to 35. These individuals engaged in an online game designed to measure exploratory and learning behaviors. In this game, participants interacted with cartoon animals on a screen, each of which followed a unique hiding pattern governed by probabilistic rules. Participants selected an animal, predicted its hiding spot, and received feedback about whether their prediction was correct. They could choose to persist with the same animal or switch to another at any point. This setup allowed the researchers to observe when and why participants chose to continue or abandon a task.
To examine how autistic traits influenced these decisions, participants completed the Adult Social Behavior Questionnaire, which evaluates dimensions of autistic traits such as insistence on sameness, reduced empathy, and sensory sensitivity. Both self-reports and parent-reports of autistic traits were collected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the participants’ profiles.
The researchers found differences in how participants with varying levels of autistic traits approached exploration and learning. Those with higher levels of “insistence on sameness,” a trait associated with a preference for predictability and resistance to change, demonstrated greater persistence in the task. They were less likely to abandon an activity early, even when learning progress was limited.
Over time, however, these participants increasingly relied on learning progress to guide their decisions, abandoning activities only when the learning potential diminished. This persistence proved advantageous, particularly in tasks involving complex or probabilistic patterns, where their approach led to superior performance.
“One surprising result was how participants with higher insistence on sameness showed a clear advantage when the task demanded sustained exploration, despite prior research suggesting that such insistence might be a disadvantage,” Poli told PsyPost. “This finding calls for a more balanced understanding of autistic traits — they can manifest as adaptive strengths in certain contexts, especially when individuals are let free to explore and engage in a task for as long as they want, instead of being instructed to carry out specific instructions.”
In contrast, participants with lower insistence on sameness scores were more likely to disengage from tasks offering minimal immediate learning opportunities. They tended to switch activities more frequently, focusing on avoiding prediction errors. While this strategy allowed them to navigate the task efficiently, it sometimes resulted in less in-depth engagement with specific activities.
When deciding what to explore next, participants across the spectrum showed a preference for novelty. However, their motivations differed. Those with higher insistence on sameness prioritized options offering greater learning potential, while those with lower scores favored options where they expected to make fewer errors. These differences in decision-making strategies highlight the diverse ways individuals approach learning and problem-solving.
“Rather than viewing autistic traits solely as impairments, our work highlights that these traits may also offer strengths: individuals with stronger autistic traits can be highly persistent and motivated to continue exploring, which can translate into better learning outcomes,” Poli said. “Recognizing these strengths can help educators, clinicians, and the general public foster more positive attitudes toward neurodiversity, allowing us to create learning environments that build on and celebrate each person’s unique profile.”
While the study provides valuable insights, it also has limitations. For example, the sample consisted primarily of young, educated individuals. “We studied a mostly university student population, so our findings might not automatically generalize to younger or more diverse groups,” Poli noted. In addition, “not everyone who scored high on autistic traits would receive a formal autism diagnosis, so caution is needed in framing these findings in clinical contexts.”
Despite these limitations, the findings challenge deficit-based views of autism, emphasizing the value of diverse learning strategies. Future research could investigate how these findings translate to real-world learning environments.
“In the long run, I want to further explore how individual traits interact with different types of learning environments across the lifespan, as well as the link between different learning abilities and the underlying brain mechanisms,” Poli told PsyPost. “Ultimately, I hope this work helps inform the design of personalized educational and therapeutic programs, ensuring that each person’s unique profile is not just accommodated but leveraged for success.”
“Our study underscores that ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to learning often fail to capture the ways in which different minds explore and grow. Celebrating neurodiversity means recognizing that people come equipped with varied modes of learning — and that these differences can be assets rather than deficits.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012453) Autistic traits foster effective curiosity-driven exploration,” was authored by Francesco Poli, Maran Koolen, Carlos A. Velázquez-Vargas, Jessica Ramos-Sanchez, Marlene Meyer, Rogier B. Mars, Nanda Rommelse, and Sabine Hunnius.

(https://www.psypost.org/sexual-boredom-outweighs-desire-in-predicting-womens-relationship-satisfaction/) Sexual boredom outweighs desire in predicting women’s relationship satisfaction
Jan 3rd 2025, 06:00

A recent study published in the (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2442958) Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy highlights the role of sexual boredom in shaping sexual and relationship satisfaction among women in long-term monogamous relationships. The research reveals that sexual boredom serves as a key factor mediating the relationship between sexual desire—both for a partner and for others—and satisfaction. Interestingly, the study found that experiencing desire for attractive non-partners does not necessarily undermine sexual or relationship satisfaction unless accompanied by sexual boredom.
Long-term relationships often experience shifts in sexual dynamics, making it important to understand the factors that influence satisfaction. Previous research has shown that sexual boredom is linked to diminished satisfaction, yet its exact mechanisms remained unclear. The researchers aimed to clarify whether sexual boredom acts as a bridge between sexual desire and satisfaction, helping to explain how and why desire for a partner or for others affects overall well-being in romantic relationships. 
“As a clinician, I feel sexual desire issues are frequently related to boredom in sexual relationships,” said study author Leonor de Oliveira, a postdoctoral fellow at the (https://med.umn.edu/sexualhealth) Eli Coleman Institute for Sex and Gender Health at the University of Minnesota and author of (https://penguinlivros.pt/loja/arena/livro/e-normal/?srsltid=AfmBOoquX364liazDFaOSvLmO8JLtmXmv2v0-2KVfAGBXMWBMEB-BZPw) Is it Normal? When we Talk About Sexuality the Answer is Usually Yes.
There are many other clinicians and sex experts that acknowledge this, including Esther Perel, David Schnarch, and Dan Savage, to name a few. However, research falls short in providing answers and insight on the exact mechanisms at play. I wanted to solve that.
The study involved 1,155 Portuguese women in long-term monogamous relationships lasting at least a year. Most participants were heterosexual, with a smaller proportion identifying as lesbian, bisexual, or pansexual. They ranged in age from 18 to 66, with an average age of approximately 32 years. The participants were recruited online and asked to complete a series of validated questionnaires assessing their sexual boredom, sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction.
To measure sexual boredom, the researchers used the Portuguese adaptation of the Sexual Boredom Scale, which evaluates feelings of monotony and lack of stimulation in one’s sexual life. Sexual desire was assessed using the Sexual Desire Inventory-2, which distinguishes between partner-related and other-related desires. Sexual and relationship satisfaction were measured using the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale and the Global Measure of Relationship Satisfaction, respectively. 
Sexual boredom emerged as a stronger predictor of both sexual and relationship satisfaction than either partner-related or other-related sexual desire. Women with lower levels of sexual boredom reported higher satisfaction in these areas. Furthermore, the researchers observed that sexual boredom mediated the effects of sexual desire on satisfaction. In other words, higher sexual desire for a partner was associated with lower levels of sexual boredom, which, in turn, predicted greater sexual and relationship satisfaction.
“Our research shows that feeling bored with your sex life can be a big reason why people experience lower sexual and relationship satisfaction,” de Oliveira told PsyPost. “We found that sexual boredom acts as a kind of bridge, connecting low sexual desire to unhappiness in these areas. In fact, about one-third of how satisfied someone feels with their sex life, and just over a quarter of how happy they feel in their relationship, can be linked to this boredom.”
Another key finding was the nuanced role of sexual desire for attractive non-partners. Contrary to the common perception that such desires inherently undermine relationship satisfaction, the study found that these desires do not predict dissatisfaction unless accompanied by sexual boredom. When sexual boredom is low, desire for attractive others does not lead to dissatisfaction, suggesting that such desires may be a normal and even benign aspect of human experience in long-term relationships.
“In our study, we looked at two types of sexual desire: the desire someone feels for their partner and the desire they might feel for someone else they find attractive,” de Oliveira explained. “We found that feeling desire for your partner is linked to higher satisfaction in both your sex life and your relationship, especially when there’s little to no sexual boredom.” 
“On the other hand, feeling attracted to someone outside the relationship was linked to lower satisfaction, but only because of the role of sexual boredom—it didn’t have a direct effect by itself. This suggests that other factors we didn’t measure also influence how desire for a partner relates to satisfaction, but when it comes to attraction to others, sexual boredom is the main reason it impacts satisfaction.”
The research provides evidence that the presence or absence of sexual boredom can significantly alter the impact of desire on a relationship. But as with all research, there are caveats. The cross-sectional design makes it difficult to determine causation. Additionally, the sample was predominantly composed of young, educated women, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations.
“Our sample was non-probabilistic and consisted of volunteers who were relatively young and highly educated,” de Oliveira noted. “It is also possible that those who freely offer to answer questions about their sexuality are not very representative of the general population in their attitudes about sex.”
Future research could explore these dynamics in more diverse groups, including men, non-monogamous relationships, and older individuals. Longitudinal studies could also track how sexual boredom develops and fluctuates over time. 
“In my wildest dreams, I would solve everyone’s sexual boredom and prevent the over-pathologizing of people—women, as seen in this study, but not only—who present with lower sexual desire than their partners by explaining the exact mechanisms and circumstances in which sexual boredom operates,” de Oliveira said.
“I want to highlight that boredom in itself is not threatening. We all feel bored at times for one reason or another and sex is not an exception. Boredom signals that we might need to change something to feel more excitement and pleasure. Like in any other area of our lives, when we are bored, we seek novel or engaging stimuli. Very often this will mean that we need to have a vulnerable conversation with a partner about sex, which many people find challenging. Boredom is not the problem, but discussing our sexual preferences or needs with our partners might be.”
The study, “(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2442958) The Mediating Role of Sexual Boredom in Women’s Sexual Desire and Satisfaction,” was authored by Leonor de Oliveira, Pablo Vallejo-Medina, and Joana Carvalho.

(https://www.psypost.org/scientists-demonstrate-a-novel-sleep-based-technique-to-weaken-negative-memories/) Scientists demonstrate a novel sleep-based technique to weaken negative memories
Jan 2nd 2025, 16:00

In a recent study published in the (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2400678121) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers detailed a way to weaken the recall of negative memories by reactivating newer, positive memories during sleep. The technique, known as targeted memory reactivation, not only diminished the intensity of negative memories but also heightened the involuntary recall of positive memories. This process further increased participants’ positive emotional judgments after sleep. The findings suggest that memory manipulation during sleep could pave the way for innovative treatments for trauma and emotional distress.
Negative memories, particularly those that emerge involuntarily, can significantly impair mental health, disrupting daily life and cognitive functioning. Traditional methods of managing these memories, such as therapy or medication, often require effortful emotional engagement and may not always succeed in alleviating the emotional burden. Sleep plays a critical role in processing memories and offers a unique avenue for modifying how memories are stored and retrieved. Inspired by previous research showing that activating positive memories can improve emotional well-being, the researchers aimed to explore whether positive memories could be used to “interfere” with older, negative ones during sleep.
The study involved 37 participants, primarily college-aged adults, who underwent a multi-day experimental procedure. Participants began by forming associations between random spoken words and emotionally negative images, such as distressing or aversive scenes. These associations were established during a learning session on the first evening, followed by an overnight sleep to consolidate the memories.
On the second evening, participants learned new associations between a subset of the previously used words and emotionally positive images, creating “interfering” positive memories. Half of the original word-image pairs remained unchanged to serve as a control group. After this session, participants underwent another night of sleep, during which the researchers used targeted memory reactivation. This technique involved playing the audio cues (spoken words) linked to both the positive and negative memories while the participants were in a specific phase of sleep known as non-rapid eye movement sleep.
The researchers monitored participants’ brain activity using electroencephalography, which tracks electrical signals in the brain. This allowed them to ensure the participants remained in the correct sleep phase for memory reactivation. The auditory cues were presented at low volumes to subtly trigger memory recall without waking the participants.
The next morning, participants completed tasks to assess how well they recalled the negative and positive memories. They also provided emotional ratings for the words and images to determine how their emotional responses had shifted. Similar tests were repeated five days later to evaluate the durability of the effects.
The researchers found that the targeted reactivation of positive memories during sleep weakened participants’ ability to recall the associated negative memories. This effect was specific to the memories in the “interference” group—those for which both negative and positive associations had been created. Memories in the control group, which had no competing positive associations, were unaffected by the reactivation process.
Second, the reactivation technique increased the frequency of involuntary positive memory intrusions during the recall of negative memories. For example, participants were more likely to spontaneously think of positive images when prompted with words that had been linked to both positive and negative memories.
Additionally, participants exhibited a more positive emotional bias toward the reactivated cues. Their responses in tasks requiring quick judgments about the emotional valence of the words became more positive, suggesting that the reactivation process influenced not only memory recall but also emotional perception.
Brain activity during sleep provided further insights. The researchers observed increased theta-band activity—a type of brainwave associated with emotional memory processing—during the presentation of memory cues. This activity was particularly pronounced for positive memories, indicating that the reactivation process preferentially targeted the newer, positive associations.
While the results are promising, the study has several limitations. One key limitation is that the emotional memories used in the experiment were artificially created in a laboratory setting and may not fully capture the complexity of real-life traumatic experiences. The findings, therefore, need to be replicated in studies involving more naturalistic or autobiographical memories.
Additionally, the researchers focused on a specific phase of sleep and used carefully controlled cues. Future research could explore how other sleep phases, such as rapid eye movement sleep, might influence memory reactivation and emotional processing. The long-term effects of this technique also remain unclear—whether the weakening of negative memories persists over months or years is yet to be determined.
Finally, translating these findings into clinical applications will require careful consideration. For individuals with severe trauma, introducing positive memories for interference may not always be feasible, and the ethical implications of deliberately altering memories must be addressed.
“By demonstrating the memory and affect benefits of reactivating positive interfering memories, our study invites future research to harness the potential of sleep-based memory editing techniques in managing aversive memories and promoting psychological well-being,” the researchers concluded.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2400678121) Aversive memories can be weakened during human sleep via the reactivation of positive interfering memories,” was authored by Tao Xia, Danni Chen, Shengzi Zeng, Ziqing Yao, Jing Liu, Shaozheng Qin, Ken A. Paller, S. Gabriela Torres Platas, James W. Antony, and Xiaoqing Hu.

(https://www.psypost.org/honor-culture-linked-to-military-recruitment-and-identity-formation/) Honor culture linked to military recruitment and identity formation
Jan 2nd 2025, 14:00

New research published in the (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01461672241293553) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin highlights a connection between honor culture and military service in the United States. Across three studies, researchers uncovered that honor-oriented states consistently produce higher military enlistment rates than dignity-oriented states, honor norms are more deeply integrated into the identities of military personnel compared to civilians, and active-duty soldiers with strong ties to honor culture more deeply embrace a “warrior mindset.”
The researchers aimed to address a gap in understanding why individuals enlist in the military, particularly in a country reliant on voluntary service. While prior studies have explored socioeconomic, geographic, and familial factors in military enlistment, the potential role of cultural values—especially honor culture—had been largely overlooked.
“My primary area of research is on suicide and other mental health-related issues in honor cultures. Honor cultures treat as paramount the defense and maintenance of reputation, and, although they are found around the world, they tend to be located in southern and western U.S. states,” said study author (https://jarrodbock.wixsite.com/machlab) Jarrod E. Bock, a lecturer at the University of Wyoming.
“In recent work, I found that military veterans disproportionately live and have higher suicide rates in U.S. honor-oriented states compared to dignity-oriented states (primarily midwestern and northern states). Because mental health problems are a major issue among military personnel, I thought it was important to also examine how individuals come to join the military. Accordingly, this article is somewhat of a continuation of that work in that I was examining whether honor culture impels military service, not just where individuals choose to live post service.
“Additionally, the importance of honor in different types of military service is fairly well-known,” Bock continued. “For instance, for heroic actions, the highest award one can receive is the Medal of Honor. Many military institutions also incorporate notions of honor in their credos and mission statements. Thus, the connection between honor and military service was already somewhat understood, but there was a dearth of empirical research on this association. This is what my co-authors and I sought to test in our article.”
The research was divided into three interconnected studies, each exploring a different aspect of the honor-military link.
In Study 1, the researchers analyzed military enlistment data from the years 1999 to 2019 to investigate how honor culture influences statewide military enlistment rates. They categorized U.S. states as either honor-oriented or dignity-oriented using a cultural framework developed in prior research. Honor-oriented states, primarily in the South and West, are characterized by strong social norms emphasizing personal and family reputation, while dignity-oriented states in the Northeast and Midwest focus on intrinsic self-worth.
The findings showed that honor-oriented states had consistently higher military enlistment rates than dignity-oriented states, even after accounting for economic and demographic variables. This pattern was stable across the 20-year period, suggesting that the cultural dynamics of honor play a significant role in military enlistment. Importantly, the researchers noted that this trend persisted regardless of major national events like the post-9/11 surge in military recruitment, indicating that the link between honor culture and enlistment is not merely situational but deeply ingrained.
“The finding that most surprised me was that although honor-oriented states had higher enlistment rates than dignity-oriented states across all military branches, the strength of this effect slightly varied by military branch,” Bock told PsyPost. “Specifically, the honor-military enlistment effect was strongest for the Army and Air Force but weakest for the Navy. This might suggest that honor motivates certain types of military service over others.”
Study 2 shifted focus from statewide patterns to individual differences, comparing how strongly military personnel and civilians endorsed honor norms. The researchers recruited a nationally representative sample of 879 U.S. adults, including both military personnel (active-duty and veterans) and civilians. Participants completed surveys measuring their agreement with various honor-based values, such as the importance of defending personal and family reputation.
To explore how honor endorsement influenced hypothetical enlistment decisions, civilian participants were asked if they would volunteer to join the military in the event of an international conflict involving the United States. This allowed the researchers to examine whether honor values predicted willingness to serve in a military context.
Bock and his colleagues found that military personnel endorsed honor norms more strongly than civilians. This suggests that individuals with strong honor values are more likely to enlist or that these values are reinforced through military culture. Among civilians, those with higher honor endorsement were more likely to express willingness to enlist in response to international conflict, providing further evidence that honor norms motivate military service.
“Another finding that surprised me was that honor endorsement among civilians predicted willingness to enlist in a potential international conflict,” Bock said. “This somewhat suggests that there is a group of people waiting in the wings for the right time to enlist.”
Study 3 focused on how honor norms influenced the military identity of active-duty Army personnel. The researchers surveyed 304 enlisted soldiers, primarily in junior ranks, using a range of measures to assess their endorsement of honor norms and their identification with the military. To capture the concept of “warrior identity,” participants completed a detailed questionnaire examining multiple facets of military identity, including commitment to the military, the perception of one’s unit as family, and the degree to which military service was central to their sense of self.
The researchers analyzed the data to determine whether soldiers who strongly endorsed honor norms also exhibited stronger identification with the military. They controlled for variables such as age, rank, gender, and education to ensure that these factors did not confound the results.
The findings showed that soldiers who endorsed honor norms more strongly were more likely to exhibit a robust warrior identity. These individuals expressed greater commitment to the military, a deeper emotional connection to their unit, and a stronger sense of pride in their military role. However, honor endorsement did not significantly predict all aspects of military identity, such as the centrality of military service to their overall self-concept. Younger soldiers displayed a particularly strong link between honor values and warrior identity, suggesting that honor norms may be especially influential early in a military career.
“Collectively, our evidence suggests that honor cultures play a significant role in not only motivating military enlistment but also in the identities of military personnel,” Bock told PsyPost.
Despite its robust findings, the study has limitations. The research relied on cross-sectional designs, which limit the ability to determine causal relationships between honor culture and military service.
“Arguably, the biggest limitation of the present work is the inability to definitively assign direction of causality in the honor-military enlistment association,” Bock explained. “Across three studies, we provided evidence for our argument that the norms and values of honor cultures motivate military service and play an active role in military identity. However, it is possible that the relationships we observed between honor endorsement and military personnel in Studies 2 and 3 are the result of individuals adopting honor values once in the military, rather than these individuals endorsing honor values prior to their service. That both age and rank were negatively associated with honor endorsement (however modestly) among military personnel in Study 3 runs counter to this interpretation. Nevertheless, true longitudinal data are needed to clarify how honor norms affect enlistment.”
The study raises important questions about the long-term implications of honor culture for military personnel, including its potential link to mental health challenges and reluctance to seek help for issues like post-traumatic stress disorder.
“My long-term goal with this line of work is to better understand the early life, military- related, and post-military experiences that increase suicide risk, and how honor culture exacerbates these risks,” Bock said.
The study, “(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01461672241293553) To Honor and Defend: State- and Individual-Level Analyses of the Relationship Between the U.S. Culture of Honor and Military Service,” was authored by Jarrod E. Bock, Ryan P. Brown, Raymond P. Tucker, and Stephen D. Foster.

(https://www.psypost.org/can-animals-make-art-these-examples-from-nature-suggest-so/) Can animals make ‘art’? These examples from nature suggest so
Jan 2nd 2025, 12:00

According to Britannica, “(https://www.britannica.com/art/visual-arts) art” can be described as something “consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination” – whereas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art) Wikipedia defines it more narrowly as a human activity. But are humans the only species that makes art?
If we take art to be something that is beautiful and consciously created – and animals consciously create things that look like art – shouldn’t we accept these productions as art, too? As Edgar Degas (https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/blog/20-quotes-edgar-degas) put it, “art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. Indeed, we see beautiful creations all across the animal kingdom.
Some of these works, such as the bowerbird’s nest, are defined in the eyes of their animal beholders. Others have a largely functional purpose, such as mating or feeding, yet manifest in patterns and/or colours that make them beautiful to behold.
On that note, here are some of our favourite animal “artworks”.
Molluscs
Walking on the beach, you can’t help but notice the beautiful patterns on seashells scattered across the sand.
Molluscs such as sea and land snails have delicate bodies, so they need protection. They create (https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-94-015-9179-9_10?pdf=chapter+toc) their shells by layering a calcium carbonate secretion that hardens once it leaves their bodies.
On these (https://theconversation.com/the-golden-mean-a-great-discovery-or-natural-phenomenon-20570) spiral shells, you will find all manner of (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Pleuroploca_trapezium_%28Fasciolaria_trapezium%29_-_Museo_Civico_di_Storia_Naturale_Giacomo_Doria_-_Genoa%2C_Italy_-_DSC03269.JPG/637px-Pleuroploca_trapezium_%28Fasciolaria_trapezium%29_-_Museo_Civico_di_Storia_Naturale_Giacomo_Doria_-_Genoa%2C_Italy_-_DSC03269.JPG?20140702103814) stripes, swirls and oblique (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olividae_-_Oliva_porphyria.JPG) lines that resemble (https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/geometric-abstraction#) geometric abstraction in art.
(Image by (https://pixabay.com/users/ignartonosbg-21428489/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=6868104) hartono subagio from (https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=6868104) Pixabay)
Pufferfish
In 1995, some divers off the coast of Japan noticed intricate and beautiful circular patterns etched into the sea floor. These “(https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-mystery-of-underwater-crop-circles-explained) underwater crop circles” remained a mystery for more than a decade. In 2011, it was (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jfb.14506) finally discovered a pufferfish – in this case the white-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus) – was responsible.
Male pufferfish spend several days (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-30857-0) creating these circles by repeatedly swimming in and out while digging into the sand with their fins. The circles themselves have two uses. They help attract a mate – wherein the males that make the most beautiful circles are more likely to have success – while the centre of the circle functions as a nest for eggs.
Some of these circles have even been found (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jfb.14506) off the coast of Western Australia.

 
Bowerbirds
Bowerbirds are found across Australia and Papua New Guinea. While it’s unclear what their nests looked like before the plastic era, today they are often (https://blog.nature.org/2021/01/04/bowerbirds-meet-the-bird-worlds-kleptomaniac-love-architects/) dominated by blue plastic.
Satin bowerbirds males are satin blue in colour and tend to decorate their nests with mostly blue items.
The male birds scavenge and steal all things blue to take back to their nest, where the objects are scattered around two walls of carefully formed sticks bending towards each other.
Beauty is definitely in the eyes of the beholder, as researchers have found these nest decorations are (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-003-0583-6) linked to mating success for male bowerbirds.
Other bird nests
Apart from the bowerbird’s uniquely bedazzled nests, a range of other bird species make nests that are as beautiful as they are functional.
Hummingbirds, for instance, will often make nests with contrasting green and white moss and lichen, thought to be added (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328999928_Persistence_of_Transported_Lichen_at_a_Hummingbird_Nest_Site) for camouflage.
The Rufous hummingbird, found in the Americas, build nests using spider silk and lichen. (Credit: (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tony-v/27940376811/in/photolist-22Zq9Zc-63qxya-Hzdcr1-2oACNZx-HiwMao-JyZJAF-HiwP9U-bqUpv3-31f8E3-31aAUz-6p4nvx-2n93qPy-J84PKB-KkibX-2gfYLcp-KkjLC-qWyKni-8iJJfs-8iFv5c-8iJJQd-8iJJvC-5TbGec-bjSMRe-8iJHVs-qJvCPt-HQkZqb-JkgsgC-JE7dxN-kgFC12-6fR7Lz-tipmk-bLXffV-dRrWLi-6fSHdT-zchGHB-rP5AAS-7JmDXH-9AQrcX-JB1f2o-24f7mMY) Tony Varela Photography)
Meanwhile, male weaver birds build intricately woven nests to attract potential mates. These are made using twigs or plant material (whichever is readily available) and can contain more than (https://www.gardendesign.com/trees/weaver-bird-nests.html) 1,000 strands of grass.
Baya weaver birds, which live cross the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, construct sculptural beauties from plant fibres.
Whales
A humpback whale can eat (https://australiawhaleexperience.com.au/humpback-whale-diet/) up to one tonne of fish in a day. This includes shoaling fish such as herring and mackerel. Humans catch large amounts of these fish using nets. But how do whales catch them?
The answer is something called (https://marinesanctuary.org/blog/bubble-net-feeding-what-is-it/) bubble-net feeding. This cooperative activity requires two or more whales which dive deep below schools of fish and blow bubbles through their blowholes to stun and trap the fish closer to the surface. As one whale blows the bubbles, the other/s follow the fish to the surface in spiral patterns to keep them trapped.
The patterns made in this process are stunning. One photo of bubble-net feeding by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) even (https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/c/npoty) won the 2024 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition.

 
Sticklebacks
Great art is sometimes made with innovative materials.
The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a small fresh-water fish that develops a bright red throat during breeding season. But that’s not enough to attract a mate, so it also creates an underwater nest made from weeds held together by spiggin, a secretion that comes from the kidneys.
The stickleback’s (https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(19)31717-X/fulltext) spiggin is highly adhesive and sticks the weeds together, even in water. As many teenage boys know, you can’t leave the house without hair gel.

But the displays don’t stop there. Once the nest is ready, the male will try and lure females to it through a rather erratic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uikKXWWpjkU) courtship dance.
Beavers
While many artists make sculpture from natural materials such as stones or wood, beavers are arguably the experts at this.
Beavers make dams using trees they fell using their large front teeth, as well as other branches, mud and stone. These dams change the flow of streams, converting them into slow-moving lakes that provide the beavers protection from land-based predators.
Beyond helping themselves, the new lakes also create an ecosystem for lots of other animals, and can even help reduce (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-years-of-beaver-activity-reduces-impact-of-flooding) flooding in human habitats.
A beaver dam in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. ((https://www.flickr.com/photos/33247428@N08/50279442173) Flickr/Oregon State University, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) CC BY-SA)
Whether you agree animals make “art” or not, you can’t deny they make plenty of beautiful and functional works.
 
This article is republished from (https://theconversation.com) The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the (https://theconversation.com/can-animals-make-art-these-examples-from-nature-suggest-so-237126) original article.
 

(https://www.psypost.org/oxytocin-influences-moral-emotions-and-decisions-study-shows/) Oxytocin influences moral emotions and decisions, study shows
Jan 2nd 2025, 10:00

A recent study in (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-024-02590-w) Molecular Psychiatry found that using an oxytocin nasal spray can make people feel more guilt and shame and less willing to harm others, even if it could lead to benefits. The findings contrast oxytocin’s effects with vasopressin, another neuropeptide involved in social behavior, which did not show similar results. These outcomes underscore oxytocin’s potential in addressing social and moral behavior irregularities, including those observed in certain psychiatric conditions.
Oxytocin and vasopressin are hormones that play key roles in regulating social behavior and emotional responses in humans and animals. Often referred to as the “love hormone,” oxytocin is associated with bonding, trust, empathy, and prosocial behaviors like cooperation and generosity. It is released naturally during activities such as hugging, childbirth, and breastfeeding, helping to strengthen social connections.
Vasopressin, on the other hand, is often linked to aggression, territorial behavior, and responses to stress. While it also has prosocial effects in certain contexts, its role is more complex and can vary depending on gender and social environment.
Both hormones are produced in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that regulates essential functions, and they interact with brain systems that influence emotions, decision-making, and behavior. Researchers have long been interested in how these hormones affect not only social behaviors but also moral decision-making—choices about right and wrong that often involve empathy, guilt, and consideration for others.
Since oxytocin tends to enhance empathy and reduce aggression, and vasopressin can increase aggression in some scenarios, understanding their distinct effects on moral emotions could reveal important insights about the biological underpinnings of human morality.
“Moral behavior (such as moral emotions, reasoning and judgment) is arguably the most important contributor to stability within and across cultures, although to what extent it is distinct from social behavior per se is unclear,” said study author Keith Kendrick, a professor in the Clinical Hospital of the Chengdu Brain Science Institute at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.
“Both moral and social behavior are controlled by overlapping brain regions and individuals with disorders involving social behavior problems, such as autism, borderline personality disorder, psychopathy and obsessive compulsive disorder may also exhibit differences in moral behavior. On the other hand, prosocial and moral behaviors may be dissociable to some extent, involve different neurochemical systems and potentially different therapeutic targets. Our study aimed to address this question.”
To investigate, the researchers recruited 162 healthy adults, aged 18–26, who were randomly assigned to receive either oxytocin, vasopressin, or a placebo via nasal spray. Participants then completed two tasks. The first task assessed moral emotions using scenarios depicting harm to others, asking participants to rate their feelings of guilt, shame, and other emotions when imagining themselves as either the agent or victim of harm. The second task involved moral dilemmas requiring participants to decide whether they would endorse actions that directly harmed one person to save others.
The administration of oxytocin led to increases in feelings of guilt and shame when participants imagined themselves as agents causing deliberate harm. These effects were not observed with vasopressin or the placebo. Additionally, oxytocin reduced participants’ willingness to endorse actions involving direct harm, suggesting a stronger aversion to causing harm compared to the other groups. Importantly, these effects were specific to scenarios involving deliberate harm; oxytocin did not influence reactions to accidental harm.
“The fact that oxytocin only increased feelings of guilt and shame and unwillingness to endorse moral dilemmas in situations involving deliberate, but not accidental, harm to others was unexpectedly specific,” Kendrick told PsyPost.
The study also found that individuals with lower personal distress—an empathy-related trait—showed more pronounced effects from oxytocin. This suggests that oxytocin may primarily enhance moral emotions in people with lower baseline empathy, potentially broadening its therapeutic relevance. Interestingly, neither oxytocin nor vasopressin affected general arousal levels during the moral decision-making tasks, indicating that the observed changes were specific to moral emotions and judgments.
“Overall, the findings in our study support the view that prosocial and moral behaviors are dissociable in terms of the neurochemical systems involved,” Kendrick said. “While the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin can both facilitate prosocial behaviors, only oxytocin could also facilitate moral emotions (feelings of guilt and shame) and making moral judgements, but only in the specific context where other individuals were harmed deliberately. Thus, treatments which can improve prosocial behavior may only influence specific aspects of moral behavior or have no effects at all.”
While the findings are groundbreaking, the study has limitations. The researchers administered only single doses of the neuropeptides, leaving the long-term effects unexplored. Additionally, moral decisions were made in hypothetical scenarios rather than real-life situations, which could limit the applicability of the findings.
“The major limitation in this type of research is that it is only possible to assess moral emotions and decisions in individuals where they are asked to imagine specific scenarios, since clearly it would not be appropriate to observe their behavior under circumstances where they were facing real moral issues,” Kendrick noted.
Despite these limitations, the study highlights oxytocin’s potential in enhancing moral sensitivity and reducing harm-based decision-making, particularly in individuals with empathy deficits. The results open avenues for further research into oxytocin-based treatments for conditions characterized by atypical social and moral behaviors. Future studies could explore its real-world applications.
“The long-term aim of this line of research is to identify molecular targets for therapeutic interventions in individuals with low moral sensitivities and responsibilities leading to immoral actions,” Kendrick said.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02590-w) Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, decreases willingness to harm others by promoting moral emotions of guilt and shame,” was authored by Xiaoxiao Zheng, Jiayuan Wang, Xi Yang, Lei Xu, Benjamin Becker, Barbara J. Sahakian, Trevor W. Robbins, and Keith M. Kendrick.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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