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(https://www.psypost.org/scientists-identify-specific-cognitive-skill-linked-to-longer-life-in-older-adults/) Scientists identify specific cognitive skill linked to longer life in older adults
Mar 27th 2025, 10:00

A new study published in (https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241311923) Psychological Science finds that not all aspects of intelligence are equally tied to how long people live. While it has long been known that smarter individuals tend to live longer, researchers using data from the Berlin Aging Study found that one specific ability—verbal fluency—stood out. People who could quickly name animals or words beginning with a specific letter tended to live significantly longer than those who struggled with these tasks. In fact, higher scores on these tasks predicted nearly a nine-year difference in median survival time.
The study was designed to address a longstanding question in aging research: Do different types of cognitive abilities relate differently to how long a person lives? Past studies showed that general intelligence is linked to survival, but they often relied on a single snapshot of cognitive performance, rather than tracking changes over time. Researchers have also debated whether it is a person’s average level of ability or their rate of cognitive decline that better predicts longevity.
To better understand these relationships, the authors behind the new study analyzed long-term data from very old adults, aiming to compare various mental abilities side by side while also tracking how they changed over time.
“The association between cognitive performance and mortality has long been known in the scientific literature. Lately, evidence has also accumulated in favor of an association between change in cognitive performance (as opposed to merely one-time estimation of general performance) and survival,” said study author (https://www.unige.ch/fapse/mad/equipe/ghisletta) Paolo Ghisletta, a full professor of psychology at the University of Geneva.
“This latter question requires longitudinal data and mortality status follow-up updates, both of which were rare half a century ago, but have become more easily available in recent years. My colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany, have very rich data on cognitive performance assessed over up to 18 years, as many as 14 times, available for a sample of individuals, initially aged between 70 and 104 years.”
“Moreover, they obtained reliable mortality status on all participants. Lastly, a sophisticated statistical model, that simultaneously analyzes how people change on cognitive performance and how both their level of performance and change therein relate to mortality, has become robust and easy to use. We simply had to put all the pieces together to arrive at our final results.”
Ghisletta and his colleagues used data from 516 adults who participated in the Berlin Aging Study. These individuals were between 70 and 103 years old at the start of the study, with an average age of about 85. All participants had passed away by the time of analysis, allowing researchers to precisely examine the link between their cognitive performance and the timing of their deaths.
The participants completed nine different mental tasks that assessed four broad abilities: perceptual speed, episodic memory, verbal fluency, and verbal knowledge. Additionally, researchers calculated a general intelligence score based on performance across all tasks. The team used a sophisticated method called a joint multivariate longitudinal survival model, which allowed them to simultaneously examine how each person’s cognitive abilities changed over time and how those changes were related to the person’s survival. This method is especially powerful because it takes into account that people who decline faster may be more likely to die sooner, which can skew results if not properly addressed.
The most striking result was that only verbal fluency—specifically, the ability to quickly list animals and words beginning with the letter “s”—predicted how long participants lived. People who performed better on these tasks tended to live longer, regardless of how they performed on other tasks like memory or vocabulary. The effect was sizable. On average, participants who could name many animals or words lived up to nine years longer than those who struggled with these tasks. To put it simply, naming more animals in 90 seconds was associated with living longer.
“At the population level, intelligence predicts survival, in that people capable of greater performance survive longer,” Ghisletta told PsyPost. “Moreover, we all naturally decline, at different rates, in cognition. The rate of this decline also predicts survival, in that those who decline more and at a faster pace survive less. Verbal fluency, the capacity to generate words from well-learned categories appears to hold a prominent association with survival among different cognitive abilities.”
“However, although tempting, it is ill-advised to infer from a population-level finding to a single individual, because we do not know how such an individual would fare with respect to the population on which the finding was based. It is thus erroneous to conclude that ‘Ah, you cannot recall another type of fruit, so you must be on your terminal slope!'”
Importantly, it wasn’t just general intelligence or other types of cognitive ability that mattered. When all nine tasks and the general intelligence score were considered together in the same model, only the fluency tasks added unique predictive value. This suggests that verbal fluency is not just a proxy for being generally smart. It may reflect something distinct about brain health or how cognitive systems are aging.
“I expected that another cognitive task would relate as strongly as did verbal fluency, namely perceptual speed,” Ghisletta explained. “Such tasks require scanning and comparing simple stimuli, such as figures, letters, and numbers, to match them according to some template. Typically, most individuals manage these tasks, but do so at different speed. These tasks are timed, so that in the end, a successful performance consists of many, correct matches within a very short period (60 to 90 seconds).”
“Much research concluded that such tasks are among the most sensitive in detecting differences among people in their cognitive decline, so I expected that this greater sensitivity, compared to other cognitive tasks, would also relate to shorter survival. Yet, perceptual speed tasks were inferior to verbal fluency tasks in that regard.”
There are several possible reasons why verbal fluency might be such a strong predictor of survival. Unlike many intelligence tests that measure a single skill, verbal fluency draws on multiple brain functions at once. It involves memory, vocabulary, attention, and the ability to quickly switch between mental categories. This makes it especially sensitive to changes in brain health. Previous studies have shown that verbal fluency is often one of the first abilities to decline in conditions like dementia or Parkinson’s disease. The task also relies heavily on the prefrontal cortex, a brain area that is especially vulnerable to aging and disease.
Another reason verbal fluency may outperform other cognitive measures is because of the way it links to both fluid and crystallized abilities. Fluid intelligence refers to the ability to think quickly and solve new problems, while crystallized intelligence reflects accumulated knowledge. Verbal fluency appears to tap into both. This dual nature may make it especially informative when evaluating overall brain health in older adults.
The study also underscores the benefits of using joint statistical models over traditional two-stage approaches. In older research, cognitive decline and survival were often analyzed in separate steps, which can introduce bias. The joint approach used here allowed the researchers to simultaneously model how people’s abilities changed over time and how those changes related to their risk of death, offering a more accurate picture.
There were some limitations to the study. The sample was not fully representative of the general German population, as it was intentionally stratified by age and sex, and focused on very old adults. All participants were from Berlin, and most were born between 1887 and 1922. It remains unclear whether similar results would be found in younger people or in more diverse populations.
“Any study has to admit caveats, simply because it is impossible to test every form of an association and further hope that this remains stable across time, in different cultures, and varying social contexts,” Ghisletta noted. “Although our sample has been conceived with the greatest care at study inception (in 1989), it has particular features, which surely limit our capacity to generalize to any group of 70-plus year-old individuals.”
“More importantly, the study lacked solid evidence about mechanisms that may relate to both decline in cognition and shortened survival. Multiple scientific hypotheses have been phrased, some relating to biological indicators of senescence, others to neuroscientific evidence cerebral structures and functioning, all of which were not available in this study.”
Nonetheless, the findings provide evidence that verbal fluency may offer a window into a person’s overall cognitive and biological resilience. Future research could examine whether interventions that improve or maintain verbal fluency in older adults might also impact health or longevity. The researchers also hope their methods can be applied to other datasets to confirm whether verbal fluency consistently outperforms other measures of cognitive ability in predicting how long people live.
“Ideally, studies as ours are followed up by other, more powerful studies capable of investigating more directly possible mechanisms relating intelligence to longevity,” Ghisletta said.
“Studies as ours are possible thanks to collaborative efforts by many specialists from different fields who are motivated to share their knowledge and experience. It would be impossible to carry out such a large and long study without a solid scientific infrastructure responsible for collecting, organizing, and hosting the data and colleagues who complement each other’s expertise and perspectives.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241311923) Verbal Fluency Selectively Predicts Survival in Old and Very Old Age,” was authored by Paolo Ghisletta, Stephen Aichele, Denis Gerstorf, Angela Carollo, and Ulman Lindenberger.

(https://www.psypost.org/narcissists-show-heightened-physiological-arousal-when-talking-about-themselves/) Narcissists show heightened physiological arousal when talking about themselves
Mar 27th 2025, 08:00

A series of three experiments found that individuals with pronounced narcissistic traits tend to show heightened skin conductance when talking about themselves—especially when describing experiences of being admired by others. The research was published in the (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2025.112527) International Journal of Psychophysiology.
Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and a strong need for admiration. People high in narcissism often believe they are superior to others and tend to lack empathy. While a certain level of self-confidence is normal and even healthy, narcissism can become problematic when it leads to manipulation or a disregard for others’ feelings.
There are two main types of narcissism: grandiose narcissism, marked by arrogance and dominance, and vulnerable narcissism, characterized by insecurity and defensiveness. Narcissistic traits can be present in psychologically healthy individuals, but in extreme cases, they may form part of a narcissistic personality disorder.
Study author Emmi Koskinen and her colleagues note that individuals high in narcissism often show a strong dependence on social approval and a deep need to be loved and admired. As such, when they meet someone new and must talk about themselves, their autonomic nervous system may respond with heightened physiological arousal. These first encounters offer an opportunity to gain validation—but also carry the risk of social rejection.
To explore this, the researchers conducted a series of three experiments involving 44 healthy university students, paired into 22 same-sex dyads. Participants were selected based on their narcissism scores to represent either high or low levels of narcissistic traits.
Each experiment involved a different conversational scenario:

Experiment 1: Participants spent five minutes getting acquainted in a free-form conversation.
Experiment 2: Participants discussed emotional life experiences—specifically happy events and losses. Each topic was discussed for ten minutes, with participants alternating roles: one spoke while the other listened, then they switched.
Experiment 3: Participants shared four personal stories without a time limit. Topics included: the best nature experience, the worst movie, a time they felt admired, and a time they felt ashamed.

After each experiment, participants rated their emotional state using Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) scales, measuring valence (positive vs. negative emotions), arousal (level of excitement), and dominance (sense of control). Meanwhile, researchers collected physiological data using skin conductance sensors and electrocardiogram (ECG) devices.
The results from Experiment 1 did not support the researchers’ initial hypothesis: individuals high in narcissism did not show significantly higher arousal while getting acquainted.
However, in Experiment 2, those with higher narcissism scores exhibited significantly higher skin conductance while telling emotional stories—suggesting greater physiological arousal during self-disclosure, regardless of whether the story was positive or negative.
In Experiment 3, the effect became more specific. Participants with high narcissistic traits again showed elevated physiological arousal while disclosing personal information. Notably, skin conductance was particularly heightened when they recounted moments of being admired by others. This effect was most pronounced when the story was shared with another participant who was also high in narcissism.
“We found a persistent pattern of grandiose narcissists’ elevated physiological arousal during self-disclosure in naturalistic conversation. This heightened arousal can be attributed to the dual nature of self-disclosure, presenting both a potential self-threat and an opportunity for self-enhancement and validation. Unexpectedly, our results reveal that among the more narcissistic participants, elevated physiological arousal is associated with narratives of admiration rather than shameful events. This implies a reaction to the possibility of gaining validation rather than to potential self-threats,” the study authors concluded.
This study makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of how narcissistic traits shape emotional and physiological responses during interpersonal interactions. However, the small, homogenous sample—composed solely of university students—limits the generalizability of the findings. Future studies involving more diverse populations are needed to confirm and expand upon these results.
The paper, “‘(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2025.112527) Wired up about self’ – narcissistic traits predict elevated physiological arousal during self-disclosure in conversation”, was authored by E. Koskinen, P. Henttonen, V. Harjunen, E. Krusemark, J. Salmi, J. Tuominen, M. Wuolio, and A. Perakyla.

(https://www.psypost.org/emotional-arousal-can-cause-memories-to-blur-together-especially-in-anxious-individuals/) Emotional arousal can cause memories to blur together—especially in anxious individuals
Mar 27th 2025, 06:00

New research from psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles has found that when we repeatedly experience very similar events, our memories of those events can start to blur together—especially if one of them is emotionally charged. This memory “blending” effect was strongest in individuals with higher anxiety and in those who showed stronger physical reactions to emotional events. The study, published in (https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13415-024-01229-1) Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, offers new insight into how emotional experiences can shape our memories.
Most everyday experiences share many features with each other: your morning commute might look nearly identical from one day to the next, with only subtle differences—like the color of a passing car or the person sitting across from you. Because our brains must keep track of all these similar experiences, they are constantly working to reduce confusion. One strategy the brain seems to use is exaggerating small differences between memories, a phenomenon known as “memory repulsion.” But until now, scientists didn’t know how this process might be affected by emotion, or how it might work differently in people prone to anxiety.
“Our brains are remarkable at storing memories, but they face a major challenge: many of our experiences are very similar. Think about parking at work — if you’ve parked in the same lot hundreds of times, how does your brain keep today’s parking spot from getting mixed up with all the others? The real miracle of memory, then, isn’t just remembering. It’s remembering the right thing at the right time,” said study author (https://clewettlab.psych.ucla.edu/) David Clewett, assistant Professor at UCLA.
“One way our brains solve this problem is by slightly exaggerating differences between similar memories, a phenomenon known as ‘memory repulsion.’ If two experiences overlap just enough to create interference, our brain subtly distorts them to make them feel more distinct.
“For example, if I parked next to a light red car yesterday and a dark red car today, my brain might make the light car seem even lighter and the dark car even darker. While this creates small inaccuracies, it also helps prevent confusion, ensuring that I remember today’s parking spot correctly.”
“Building on this work, we were interested in how this repulsion process affects emotional memories. Imagine that the dark red car actually damaged your vehicle when they pulled into the parking spot. Is this upsetting event pushed farther away from similar, uneventful memories? This could be useful, particularly for emotional well-being. If our memories blurred together too
much, you might be emotionally triggered by all red cars in the future, which isn’t helpful.”
“Although this example describes something relatively mundane, blurring emotional memories could make it difficult to distinguish between dangerous and safe situations. This could cause fear to spill over into other memories, leading to the development or persistence of emotion disorders.”
The researchers designed an experiment in which participants studied pairs of objects and faces. Sixty-six people participated in the study. Participants were shown pairs of faces associated with different images of everyday objects like blenders or sofas. For each object, there were two versions that were similar in color. For some participants, the two versions were very similar in color, like two shades of red close to each other. For others, the colors were less similar, like a light blue and a darker blue. This color difference was designed to change how much the two memories would interfere with each other – very similar colors should cause more interference.
To bring emotion into the picture, sometimes a loud, startling burst of white noise was played just before participants saw one of the object-face pairs. This noise was designed to create a sense of arousal and mild aversion. The other object-face pairs were preceded by a neutral tone. The researchers used pupil dilation – the widening of the pupils of the eyes – as a measure of how aroused participants were by the sounds.
“People respond in different ways to upsetting things,” explained co-author (https://erinmorrow.squarespace.com/) Erin Morrow, a PhD student in cognitive neuroscience. “One way to measure this difference is by looking at pupil responses to startling noises, like bursts of white noise. Some people might show a larger pupil response, while others might show a smaller response. This is a good way to quantify physiological reactivity, or how distressing individuals found these irritating sounds to be.”
After each round of learning these object-face pairs, participants were tested on their memory. They were shown one of the objects in grayscale and had to use a color wheel to select the color they remembered seeing. This test helped the researchers see if participants’ memories for the colors of the objects had shifted or distorted over time. Participants were also tested on their ability to remember which face was paired with each object. This associative memory test helped measure how much the similar memories were interfering with each other. Finally, participants filled out questionnaires to measure their levels of anxiety and depression.
As expected, the researchers found that people learned to associate the faces with the objects over the course of the experiment, and their color memory for the objects also improved. The loud noise bursts did reliably cause pupil dilation, showing that they did induce physiological arousal in the participants.
However, the results regarding memory distortion were unexpected. Instead of finding memory repulsion – where the remembered colors would be pushed further apart – the researchers found memory attraction. This means that when the object colors were very similar, people tended to remember the colors as being even more alike than they actually were. This effect was stronger for the group who saw very similar colors compared to the group who saw less similar colors.
“Based on prior research, we originally thought that overlapping memories would be pushed away from each other over the course of learning,” Morrow told PsyPost. “This was based on the idea that moderately similar memories stand to benefit the most from separation. However, we actually found the opposite: after repeated opportunities to learn the overlapping events, their memories tended to blend together rather than separate.”
Intriguingly, the amount of arousal a person experienced, as measured by their pupil dilation during the learning phase, was linked to this memory attraction. People who showed greater pupil dilation in response to the sounds were more likely to show memory attraction for the very similar colored objects.
“We found that people who were more physiologically reactive were more likely to remember very similar events as being blurred together,” Morrow explained. “When there was greater blurring between memories, people also tended to confuse other relevant information. This happened after people had been exposed to both events several times.”
Furthermore, the researchers found that people who reported higher levels of trait anxiety – meaning they are generally more anxious people – showed greater memory attraction specifically when one of the similar memories was associated with the aversive sound. This suggests that anxiety might make people more prone to blending together memories, especially when negative emotions are involved.
“We also found that people who reported being more anxious were more likely to experience memory blurring between an upsetting event and a similar, ordinary event,” Morrow said. “Again, this was evident after people had been repeatedly exposed to both events.”
“Whether these memory distortions are helpful or harmful may depend on one’s goals. If you have no reason to keep memories very distinctive and it would be more useful to generalize across situations, then blurring them together might actually make sense! For example, if this memory distortion helps you learn to avoid a situation that looks a lot like a dangerous one, it could help keep you safe in the future. In short, our memories are malleable, and that may not always be a bad thing.”
The researchers noted some limitations of their study. They used simple images of objects and basic colors, which is different from the complex and rich experiences we have in everyday life. It’s important to see if these findings hold up in more realistic scenarios. Also, the memory distortions developed gradually over repeated exposures, suggesting that this blending process takes time. Future research could explore if making it more important for people to distinguish between the similar memories would change the results, perhaps leading to memory repulsion instead of attraction.
“We might be more likely to see memory repulsion if we made it useful to keep these memories separate from one another,” Morrow noted. “Goals matter. We only had time to test participants’ memory for one event at a time. If we had tested memory for the overlapping events simultaneously, people might be more motivated to learn their subtle differences and to exaggerate those differences in their memory.”
The long-term goal is to understand how emotional states reshape memory in everyday life and in mental health.
“Memory distortions might seem undesirable, but they’re a small price to pay for a well-functioning memory system,” Clewett explained. “Our past research has explored how the brain exaggerates differences in sensory details (e.g., colors) to keep similar memories from interfering with each other. But memory doesn’t just stretch details—it also stretches time.”
“In our ongoing work, we’re investigating how the brain subtly warps our sense of time to fit the structure of our experiences. For example, when we move from one location to another, our memories naturally separate those events. But our findings suggest that the brain also goes one step further—it can exaggerate the time gap between them, making them feel like they happened farther apart in time than they actually did.”
“By bending time in this way, the brain isn’t distorting reality for no reason,” Clewett continued. “It is allowing us to remember distinct episodes that can serve us better in the future. Beyond everyday memory function, we’re also interested in studying how different types of memory distortions, especially under emotional circumstances, relate to mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-024-01229-1) Distortion of overlapping memories relates to arousal and anxiety,” was published online on October 8, 2024.

(https://www.psypost.org/ozempic-may-reduce-alcohol-craving-and-consumption-new-study-finds/) Ozempic may reduce alcohol craving and consumption, new study finds
Mar 26th 2025, 18:00

A new clinical trial suggests that semaglutide — the active ingredient in the widely used drugs Ozempic and Wegovy — may help reduce alcohol consumption and cravings in people with alcohol use disorder. In the study, published in (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2829811) JAMA Psychiatry, participants who received low doses of semaglutide weekly showed reduced alcohol intake, fewer heavy drinking days, and lower craving levels compared to those who received a placebo. The results offer early evidence that semaglutide could play a role in treating alcohol use disorder and support further investigation in larger studies.
Semaglutide is a type of medication originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes. It works by mimicking a natural hormone in the body called glucagon-like peptide-1, which helps regulate blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. More recently, semaglutide has gained popularity under brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy for its strong effects on weight loss. As more people have used these drugs, some began reporting an unexpected side effect: a reduced desire to drink alcohol. This anecdotal evidence, along with earlier animal studies showing that drugs like semaglutide could reduce alcohol consumption, prompted researchers to formally test the drug’s effects in people with alcohol use disorder.
Alcohol use disorder is a serious and widespread condition that affects millions of people in the United States and around the world. It can lead to a wide range of health problems, including liver disease, heart issues, certain cancers, and early death. Despite its impact, only a small percentage of people with alcohol use disorder ever receive medical treatment. One reason is the limited number of approved medications for this condition. New options that are effective and easy to use could help close this treatment gap. Since semaglutide is already widely prescribed for other conditions, researchers wanted to explore whether it might also help people drink less — even if they weren’t actively trying to quit.
To test this idea, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine conducted a phase 2 clinical trial involving 48 adults who met diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder but were not currently seeking treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either semaglutide or a placebo through weekly injections over a 10-week period. The study was designed to reflect real-world use, focusing on people who were still drinking regularly but not pursuing formal help. The team used a combination of laboratory and outpatient methods to measure alcohol use, craving, and other outcomes over time.
The participants completed two key lab sessions, one before and one after treatment, in which they could choose to consume alcohol in a controlled setting. They were given access to their preferred drinks and allowed to drink freely within a time limit, while researchers measured how much they consumed and tracked their breath alcohol levels. Outside of the lab, participants attended weekly clinic visits where they reported how much they drank, how often they had heavy drinking days, and how strong their alcohol cravings were. The research team also monitored weight, blood pressure, and side effects.
The results showed that semaglutide led to noticeable changes in alcohol-related behavior. In the laboratory sessions, people who received semaglutide drank less and reached lower peak breath alcohol concentrations compared to those in the placebo group. These effects were most pronounced at the 0.5 mg weekly dose, with the drug showing a medium to large impact on how much alcohol participants consumed in that setting.
Outside of the lab, semaglutide was associated with fewer drinks per drinking day and a greater reduction in the number of heavy drinking days over time. Heavy drinking was defined as four or more drinks in a day for women, or five or more for men. Participants who received the drug were more likely to have weeks with no heavy drinking days at all, especially during the second month of the study. They also reported lower cravings for alcohol, suggesting that the drug might reduce both the desire and the tendency to drink heavily. However, semaglutide did not significantly change the number of total drinking days or the average number of drinks consumed per calendar day.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that among participants who smoked cigarettes, those in the semaglutide group reported a steeper drop in daily cigarette use compared to those on placebo. While this analysis included only a small number of people, it hints at broader effects semaglutide might have on addictive behaviors.
Importantly, the medication was well tolerated. Most side effects were mild and consistent with known effects of semaglutide, such as nausea. There were no serious adverse events or dangerous interactions with alcohol. As expected from earlier research, participants who received semaglutide also experienced modest weight loss over the course of the study.
The findings are in line with another recent study. A large population study using Swedish health records found that people with alcohol use disorder who were prescribed semaglutide (https://www.psypost.org/semaglutide-and-liraglutide-linked-to-lower-alcohol-related-hospitalization-risk/) had a significantly lower risk of hospitalization due to their drinking, with reductions surpassing those seen with approved alcohol use disorder medications like naltrexone.
But despite these promising findings, the new study has several limitations. It was relatively small, with only 48 participants, and lasted just 10 weeks. The researchers also used low doses of semaglutide to ensure safety, which means the full potential effects of higher doses remain unknown. In addition, participants had moderate levels of alcohol use and were not actively trying to quit, so the results might not apply to those with more severe alcohol problems or people in treatment settings.
The authors of the study say that larger and longer trials are needed to confirm the benefits and safety of semaglutide for treating alcohol use disorder. Future studies should include people with a wider range of alcohol use patterns and look at higher doses of the medication to see whether stronger effects can be achieved. It will also be important to determine whether semaglutide can support long-term changes in alcohol use and whether it can help people stay sober if they are trying to quit.
The study, “(https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2829811) Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was authored by Christian S. Hendershot, Michael P. Bremmer, Michael B. Paladino, Georgios Kostantinis, Thomas A. Gilmore, Neil R. Sullivan, Amanda C. Tow, Sarah S. Dermody, Mark A. Prince, Robyn Jordan, Sherry A. McKee, Paul J. Fletcher, Eric D. Claus, and Klara R. Klein.

(https://www.psypost.org/new-study-playing-beat-saber-vr-game-enhances-mental-function-in-sedentary-students/) New study: Playing “Beat Saber” VR game enhances mental function in sedentary students
Mar 26th 2025, 16:00

Playing virtual reality video games could sharpen cognitive skills, according to a new study published in (https://doi.org/10.3390/life14121651) Life. Researchers found that sedentary female university students who played an interactive virtual reality game showed improved cognitive performance compared to those who remained inactive.
For many university students, hours spent sitting in lecture halls and studying can lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which has been linked to various health concerns.
Previous research has shown that physical activity can improve cognitive performance, but many students struggle to find the time or motivation to exercise. This is particularly true for female students, who often face additional barriers to staying active, such as cultural expectations.
With the rise of technology, researchers have been investigating whether video games can offer an alternative way to stay active while also providing cognitive benefits. Active video games, also known as “exergames,” require players to move their bodies to interact with the game. Unlike traditional exercise, these games can be more engaging and enjoyable, potentially increasing adherence to physical activity.
Led by Mshari Alghadier from Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia, the research team explored how playing an active video game using virtual reality could influence cognitive function in young women who do not engage in regular physical activity.
Researchers recruited 44 sedentary female university students, with an average age of 21 years, who were randomly divided into two groups. The virtual reality group (24 students) played Beat Saber, a rhythm-based VR game that involves hitting moving blocks with virtual sabers, for 20 minutes. The control group (20 students) remained seated quietly for the same period.
Before and after the session, all participants completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a standard cognitive test. Additionally, researchers used an ActivPAL accelerometer to measure physical activity levels.
The results were clear: participants who played the VR game showed significant improvements in cognitive performance. Their MoCA scores increased from an average of 22.3 to 23.4, with the greatest gains in areas related to naming, abstraction, and orientation.
In contrast, the control group showed no significant changes in their cognitive test scores.
Notably, the VR game also reached moderate-to-vigorous levels of physical activity, with an average intensity of 4.98 METs (a standard measure of energy expenditure). This suggests that VR-based games could serve as a viable form of exercise, helping inactive students stay both physically and mentally fit.
Alghadier and colleagues concluded, “A lack of adherence is a major barrier in encouraging an active lifestyle among this age group as they transition into adulthood and experience rapid lifestyle changes…. This study provides evidence that virtual reality games enable moderate to vigorous physical activity in female university students, thus facilitating physical activity participation and meeting the recommendations of national and international guidelines.”
While the results are promising, the study had some limitations. For instance, it was conducted over a short time frame, so it remains unclear whether long-term use of VR active video games would provide sustained cognitive benefits.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.3390/life14121651) Active Video Games Using Virtual Reality Influence Cognitive Performance in Sedentary Female University Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was authored by Mshari Alghadier, Taif Alharbi, Nada Almasoud, and Abdulaziz A. Alshalawi.

(https://www.psypost.org/teens-in-poverty-use-social-media-more-but-dont-suffer-more-because-of-it-study-suggests/) Teens in poverty use social media more—but don’t suffer more because of it, study suggests
Mar 26th 2025, 14:18

New research published in (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108541) Computers in Human Behavior sheds light on how material deprivation influences teenagers’ access to and use of social media, and whether it changes the impact of social media on their emotional well-being. The study found that while teens from deprived households reported lower overall life satisfaction and spent slightly more time on social media, deprivation did not appear to worsen the link between social media use and life satisfaction. In other words, teens experiencing poverty did not seem to suffer more from time spent online compared to their more affluent peers.
The research was motivated by a growing concern over how social media affects adolescents’ well-being. Most studies in this area have treated teenagers as a single, uniform group, overlooking how individual differences—such as socioeconomic background—might shape these effects. Since social media is increasingly embedded in daily life, and teenagers are spending more time on platforms than ever before, it’s important to ask whether some young people are more vulnerable to its harms or more likely to benefit from its potential support. The authors of the study proposed that material deprivation, a measure of whether families can afford basic necessities, could be a key factor influencing how social media relates to adolescent life satisfaction.
“The discussion on the relationship between social media and adolescent wellbeing often overlooks the experiences of adolescents from deprived households. I wanted to address this gap by leveraging existing data to contribute empirical evidence to the debate,” said study author (https://www.uu.nl/staff/SKurten) Sebastian Kurten, an assistant professor at Utrecht University.
The researchers analyzed ten years of data collected between 2009 and 2019 from the “Understanding Society” study, which tracks tens of thousands of households across the United Kingdom. This specific analysis included 23,155 adolescents aged 10 to 21, generating nearly 80,000 measurement points. These participants responded to surveys about their social media access and use, while their parents answered questions about the family’s financial situation.
The researchers used established indexes to determine whether families experienced material deprivation. For younger adolescents, this included things like not being able to afford school trips or warm winter coats. For older teens, it included items such as the inability to pay household bills or afford basic furniture.
The team used statistical modeling to sort participants into different deprivation categories and then looked at how these related to social media access, time spent on social media, and self-reported life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was measured annually through age-appropriate survey questions. For social media, they asked whether the adolescent had access to social media platforms and how many hours they typically spent using them on a school day.
The results showed that teens from deprived households were less likely to have access to social media, especially at younger ages. For example, by age 11, 76% of non-deprived adolescents had a social media account, compared to 69% of deprived teens. But by age 18, this gap disappeared—nearly all adolescents, regardless of background, had joined social media. Interestingly, among those with access, teens from deprived households reported spending slightly more time on social media than their wealthier peers.
Across the entire group, spending more time on social media was associated with slightly lower life satisfaction. However, this connection was modest and consistent regardless of socioeconomic background. Deprivation was strongly linked to lower life satisfaction overall, but it did not appear to make the effect of social media use any worse. Even when the researchers used sophisticated longitudinal modeling to track changes within individuals over time, they found no evidence that deprivation influenced how social media use affected life satisfaction in the long term.
The study also tested whether having access to social media—rather than the amount of time spent—was related to emotional well-being. Again, results were mixed. In one analysis, teens from deprived households who had social media access were slightly more likely to report lower life satisfaction, but this finding was weak and not consistent across all models. And in the long-term analysis, there was no sign that deprivation shaped how social media access influenced well-being.
“Poverty poses a significant threat to the wellbeing and development of adolescents,” Kurten told PsyPost. “While there is intense debate about the impact of social media on adolescent mental health, structural issues such as poverty and material deprivation are often overlooked. These factors create lasting disadvantages for adolescents and deserve more attention in public discourse.”
While the research provides some reassurance that social media does not appear to be especially harmful for adolescents growing up in poverty, the authors caution against drawing overly broad conclusions. One limitation is that the study relied on self-reported data about social media use, which may be prone to error. Teenagers may overestimate or underestimate how much time they spend online, and the survey did not distinguish between different types of social media activity.
“We used representative panel data from the UK collected several years ago, but at the time, social media use was assessed with a simple 1-to-5 scale rather than more nuanced measures,” Kurten noted. “Fortunately, research has since advanced, and newer studies use more sophisticated assessments. However, the general trends observed in our data align with findings from studies that employ these improved measures.”
Despite these limitations, the researchers argue that their findings challenge some common assumptions. While it’s often suggested that social media use might be especially harmful for deprived youth, this study did not support that idea. Instead, the authors suggest that material deprivation itself is a more consistent predictor of lower well-being than social media use. This points to the need for policies that address poverty directly, rather than focusing narrowly on social media as a cause of distress.
“My long-term goal is to provide more comprehensive evidence on how structural adversities, such as material deprivation, affect adolescent wellbeing,” Kurten said. “I want to make sure that their perspectives also get heard in the public debate.”
“I would be glad to see the public debate shift from focusing solely on what social media does to children to addressing the far greater impact of poverty. My research highlights that material deprivation is a structural issue with serious consequences for adolescent wellbeing. We need to intensify our efforts to lift children out of poverty and ensure they have the resources to thrive.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108541) Deprivation’s role in adolescent social media use and its links to life satisfaction,” was authored by Sebastian Kurten, Sakshi Ghai, Candice Odgers, Rogier A. Kievit, and Amy Orben.

(https://www.psypost.org/verbal-aggression-in-adult-relationships-linked-to-fathers-behavior-and-adolescent-friendships-20-year-study-finds/) Verbal aggression in adult relationships linked to fathers’ behavior and adolescent friendships, 20-year study finds
Mar 26th 2025, 12:00

A 20-year longitudinal study has found that verbal aggression in adult romantic relationships is best predicted by the level of verbal aggression participants’ fathers directed toward their mothers, as well as by intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence. The research was published in (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001670) Development and Psychopathology.
Verbal aggression is a form of communication that includes insults, yelling, threats, or hostile language intended to hurt or control others. It can occur in all types of interpersonal relationships, including families, friendships, workplaces, and romantic partnerships. Verbal aggression often leads to emotional distress and damaged relationships. While it does not involve physical harm, it can be just as detrimental to mental health, contributing to anxiety, low self-esteem, and emotional trauma.
Individuals who experience or witness frequent verbal aggression—particularly during childhood or adolescence—may be more likely to exhibit it in their own relationships later in life. Previous research has shown that verbal aggression and hostile marital conflict in one’s family of origin can predict future romantic conflict.
Study author Joseph P. Allen and his colleagues conducted a 20-year longitudinal study to deepen scientific understanding of the roots of adult romantic conflict by examining the impact of verbal aggression between participants’ parents and intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence.
They hypothesized that verbal aggression between participants’ parents would predict the participants’ own verbal aggression in their future romantic relationships. They also believed that intense conflicts within adolescent friendships would further contribute to this prediction.
The study included 154 seventh and eighth graders from a larger longitudinal project, all of whom had available data on verbal aggression between their parents. These participants were followed from age 13 to 33. Of the total, 69 were female. Participants were drawn from both suburban and urban populations in the Southeastern United States.
Researchers collected data on verbal aggression between participants’ parents (mother and father ratings of each other, taken when participants were aged 13–17), verbal aggression in the participants’ romantic relationships (assessed between ages 24–33), intense conflicts in close friendships during adolescence (ages 13–17), physical aggression between parents, parental verbal and physical aggression directed toward the adolescent, and various other relevant factors.
Results showed that participants who reported higher levels of verbal aggression in their adult romantic relationships were more likely to have grown up in homes where fathers displayed higher levels of verbal aggression toward mothers. These individuals also tended to report more intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence.
Interestingly, those who reported greater verbal aggression in their adult relationships were also more likely to come from higher-income families and from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds. Additionally, they tended to have spent less of their childhood living with both parents—often coming from single-parent households.
Further analysis revealed that the father’s verbal aggression toward the mother predicted verbal aggression in the participant’s adult romantic relationships only among those who also experienced intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence.
“Results indicate the critical importance of exposure to aggression and conflict within key horizontal relationships in adolescence,” the study authors concluded.
The study makes an important contribution to the scientific understanding of the links between verbal aggression in adulthood and childhood experiences. However, it should be noted that the study data was all self-reported leaving room for reporting bias to affect the results.
The paper, “(https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001670) Unique roles of adolescents’ friends and fathers in predicting verbal aggression in future adult romantic relationships,” was authored by Joseph P. Allen, Meghan A. Costello, Corey Pettit, Natasha A. Bailey, and Jessica A. Stern.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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