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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News Daily Digest (Unofficial)</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/neuroscience-study-identifies-role-of-melanin-concentrating-hormone-neurons-in-non-hunger-driven-eating/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Neuroscience study identifies role of melanin-concentrating hormone neurons in non-hunger-driven eating</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 17th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>Researchers have uncovered new insights into how a specific group of brain cells, melanin-concentrating hormone neurons, influence food-related behaviors. Published in the <em><a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/01/01/JNEUROSCI.1725-24.2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Neuroscience</a></em>, the study demonstrated that these neurons enhance the rewarding value of food consumption. Interestingly, their activation does not cause animals to eat more food overall, suggesting a separation between the mechanisms driving food reward and those driving food consumption.</p>
<p>Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons are a specialized group of brain cells located in regions such as the lateral hypothalamus and zona incerta. As their name suggests, these neurons produce the neuropeptide called melanin-concentrating hormone—a chemical messenger that helps regulate behaviors like eating, sleeping, and experiencing pleasure or reward. What makes MCH neurons particularly intriguing is that they send signals to many different parts of the brain.</p>
<p>Previous research has shown that altering the activity of these neurons can affect energy balance, with studies linking their activation to increased food consumption and weight gain in rodents. However, their exact role in non-hunger-driven, or non-homeostatic, feeding behaviors—such as eating for pleasure—remains unclear.</p>
<p>“I’ve always been interested in the reasons people (or animals) choose to do what they do, whether that be working, relaxing, eating, sleeping, etc,” said Katherine Furman, a PhD student at the Michigan Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>“When I learned of MCH neurons, which seem to have involvement in a lot of those behaviors, I was very interested in how this neuron population is able to have all of those roles. With this research, we’ve been able to take a set of neurons which seems to have many different functions, and narrow down a pretty specific role for just one subpopulation of those neurons. Getting at the ‘why do we do what we do’ question in this way has been very exciting for me.”</p>
<p>To investigate how MCH neurons contribute to food-related behaviors, the researchers focused on understanding their role in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region heavily involved in processing reward. To achieve this, they used genetically modified mice that allowed for precise control of MCH neurons. They employed optogenetics, a technique that uses light to activate or inhibit specific neurons, enabling them to directly study the effects of these neurons on behavior.</p>
<p>The study involved two key experimental setups. In the first, the researchers observed how optogenetic activation of MCH neurons affected food consumption in a controlled environment. Mice were housed in cages equipped with automated feeders that tracked how much food they consumed during periods of light-based activation.</p>
<p>The second setup involved an optogenetics-reinforced consumption assay, which gave mice the opportunity to choose between different combinations of food and neuron activation. For example, the mice could nose-poke to access a food pellet, optogenetic stimulation of the neurons, or a combination of both. This allowed the researchers to assess not just how much the mice ate but also how much they valued the reward associated with food.</p>
<p>The researchers found that optogenetic activation of MCH neurons in the nucleus accumbens did not lead to an increase in overall food consumption, challenging previous assumptions that these neurons directly drive feeding. Instead, the activation made food more rewarding when paired with stimulation, as the mice consistently chose ports that provided both food and neuron activation. This suggests that MCH neurons in the nucleus accumbens enhance the perceived value of food without necessarily promoting eating.</p>
<p>“I was surprised that we didn’t see an increase in feeding across our optogenetic activation experiments,” explained <a href="https://www.burgesslab.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christian Burgess</a>, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan and senior author of the study. “Much of the early work investigating the function of MCH peptide, and the neurons that release it, suggested that they had a strong role in promoting food intake.”</p>
<p>“A few more recent studies using newer tools, like optogenetics and chemogenetics, activated the whole population of MCH neurons and showed no increases in food intake, or even a decrease. My initial hypothesis was that the nucleus accumbens projection MCH neurons would drive strong baseline food intake, but that did not end up being the case.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, the researchers also found that stimulating these neurons had no impact on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, even though MCH neurons in other brain regions are known to increase this type of sleep. This highlights the idea that different projections of MCH neurons serve distinct functions, depending on where in the brain they are activated. For example, neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens specifically influenced reward-related behaviors without affecting sleep or basic feeding drives.</p>
<p>“This is important because it separates the behavioral role of those nucleus accumbens-projecting MCH neurons from the MCH neurons projecting elsewhere, which don’t serve the same role,” Furman told PsyPost. “Isolating a set of neurons that can attribute reward value to food has interesting implications for patients struggling with eating disorders or obesity. If pharmaceutical developers are able to use these findings to develop clinical treatments that help people regulate their food intake, this could help lead to better treatments.”</p>
<p>The study also uncovered differences in how male and female mice responded to the activation of MCH neurons. In particular, male mice exhibited more pronounced effects from MCH neuron activation compared to females.</p>
<p>“When looking at animals’ choices of which foods to eat, I was surprised when we analyzed the data separately for male and female mice: it appears as though there might be a different relationship between nucleus accumbens-projecting MCH neurons and food intake, based on the sex of the animal,” Furman explained. “This isn’t something we fully understand yet, and the next set of experiments I’m going to do are planning to investigate that a little bit more.”</p>
<p>While the study provides important insights, it also has limitations. “Optogenetics, the experimental technique we use to artificially activate MCH neurons in this study, is just that – an <i>artificial</i> type of activation,” Furman noted. “This technique is very useful experimentally, in order to see what happens when we strongly activate (or inhibit) a genetically defined population of neurons. But it may not do a good job of replicating what the natural activity pattern of these cells looks like.”</p>
<p>“It may be more like using a jackhammer to accomplish a task that really only needs a small twist from a screwdriver. So while this work certainly informs our understanding of what MCH neurons <i>can </i>do, it may not be a good representation of what they<i> do</i> do.”</p>
<p>One promising avenue for future research is exploring how MCH neurons interact with other brain regions and neurotransmitter systems. Although this study focused on their role in the nucleus accumbens, MCH neurons project widely throughout the brain, suggesting they may influence multiple systems.</p>
<p>“MCH neurons project broadly throughout the brain and have been implicated in many important behaviors, including feeding, sleep, reward, learning, and anxiety,” Burgess explained. “These neurons also release a number of neurotransmitters aside from MCH peptide. We aim to identify how MCH neurons regulate these disparate behaviors: through which efferent projections? Release of which transmitters? Which postsynaptic neurons? Using modern systems neuroscience approaches and creative behavioral paradigms we hope to be able to answer these questions in the lab.”</p>
<p>This line of research could lead to more effective treatments for disorders involving non-homeostatic feeding, such as obesity and eating disorders.</p>
<p>“My personal involvement with this work will come to an end when I graduate and defend my PhD dissertation,” Furman said. “So although I won’t be personally involved for much longer, I’d love to see this work lead to a better understanding of how the brain decides when to eat, and which foods we choose to engage with. We already know that there’s reasons to eat other than hunger; things like taste, desire, availability, and cravings. It’s this non-hunger-related type of eating that seems dysregulated in patients with eating disorders or obesity. So developing a better field-wide understanding of that phenomenon will be crucial in the coming years.”</p>
<p>“I will be graduating and defending my PhD this summer!” she added. “If anyone reading this is looking for a new hire in science writing and communication, with an expertise in neuroscience, they should reach out to me.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1725-24.2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melanin concentrating hormone projections to the nucleus accumbens enhance the reward value of food consumption and do not induce feeding or REM sleep</a>,” was authored by Katherine L. Furman, Lorelei Baron, Hannah C. Lyons, Timothy Cha, Jack R. Evans, Jayeeta Manna, Limei Zhu, Joanna Mattis, and Christian R. Burgess.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/adolescents-who-are-ghosted-online-may-face-higher-risks-of-self-harm/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Adolescents who are ghosted online may face higher risks of self-harm</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 17th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A study in China found that adolescents prone to non-suicidal self-injuries tend to experience ghosting online more frequently than their peers. The study’s authors proposed that being ghosted online increases social avoidance, which in turn exacerbates depressive symptoms. These depressive symptoms, in turn, increase the likelihood of adolescents engaging in non-suicidal self-injury. The research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2024.2386065"><em>Death Studies</em></a>.</p>
<p>Ghosting refers to the sudden and unexplained cessation of communication by one person in a relationship. This often leaves the other person confused and hurt. In modern times, ghosting has become common across various social contexts and relationships. For the individual doing the ghosting, it typically provides an escape from the discomfort of explaining their decision to end the relationship and avoids open conflict. However, for the person being ghosted, the lack of explanation or closure can cause significant emotional distress.</p>
<p>The experience of being ghosted can be especially impactful on adolescents. Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by profound cognitive, emotional, and social changes as individuals transition from childhood to adulthood. During this time, the neural structures responsible for complex emotion regulation—particularly the prefrontal brain regions—are still maturing. This makes adolescents especially vulnerable to environmental influences. Compared to adults, adolescents tend to have poorer emotional regulation and exhibit greater impulsivity.</p>
<p>Research has shown that some adolescents may respond to extreme emotional distress with non-suicidal self-injuries. These are deliberate, self-inflicted injuries to the body without suicidal intent. Adolescents often engage in self-injury as a way to cope with emotional distress or regulate intense feelings. Common methods include cutting, burning, or scratching the skin, though these actions are not intended to be life-threatening.</p>
<p>Study author Jiahui Ding and colleagues sought to investigate the relationship between the experience of being ghosted and non-suicidal self-injuries among adolescents. They also explored whether social avoidance and depression might mediate this relationship. Social avoidance refers to the deliberate act of withdrawing from or avoiding social interactions, often due to anxiety, fear of judgment, or discomfort in social situations.</p>
<p>The researchers hypothesized that adolescents who are ghosted more often would be more likely to develop social avoidance, experience more severe depressive symptoms, and engage in non-suicidal self-injuries. They also proposed that social avoidance and depression might mediate the relationship between being ghosted and self-injury.</p>
<p>The study included 887 senior high school students in China, with an average age of 16–17 years. Approximately 65% of participants were female. Participants completed an online survey via the platform Wenjuanxing, accessed through links provided by their teachers.</p>
<p>The survey asked participants to report how many times they had been ghosted in the past six months, with the term “ghosting” defined for clarity. It also asked about self-injury: “Have you intentionally hurt yourself in any of the following ways in the last six months: cutting or stabbing, burning, bruising or pinching, overdosing, pulling out hair, or others?” Additionally, participants completed assessments of social avoidance (a five-item scale, e.g., “I do not want to be with people at all” and “I always feel lonely”) and depression (a five-item scale, e.g., “I did not enjoy my life” and “I have felt myself unworthy”).</p>
<p>The results showed that participants who reported being ghosted more frequently in the past six months tended to have more severe depressive symptoms, stronger social avoidance tendencies, and a higher likelihood of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury.</p>
<p>The researchers tested a statistical model proposing that social avoidance and depression mediate the effects of being ghosted on non-suicidal self-injuries. The results indicated that such a sequence of relationships is plausible. According to the model, being ghosted increases social avoidance, which exacerbates depressive symptoms, thereby increasing the likelihood of non-suicidal self-injury.</p>
<p>“The study finds that frequent being ghosted experiences lead to an increase in depression, contributing to NSSI [non-suicidal self-injury]. Though social avoidance doesn’t directly connect to NSSI, it plays a role in this process by intensifying feelings and symptoms of depression. Despite certain limitations, these findings underline the importance of addressing being ghosted and its psychological impacts to mitigate the risk of NSSI among adolescents,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study examines the links between experiences of ghosting and self-injury. However, it should be noted that the design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. Statistical analyses of models proposing causal relationships between the examined factors can only suggest that such relationships are possible, not definitively certain. While being ghosted may lead to depression, social avoidance, and self-injury, it is also possible that existing patterns of depression, social avoidance, and self-injurious tendencies increase the likelihood of an adolescent being ghosted.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2024.2386065">Being ghosted online and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: The role of social avoidance and depression,</a>” was authored by Jiahui Ding, Weiyi Sun, Jie Liu, and Miao Chao.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/scientists-just-demonstrated-that-people-who-are-good-at-reading-have-different-brains/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Scientists just demonstrated that people who are good at reading have different brains</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 16th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>The number of people who read for fun appears to be steadily dropping. Fifty percent of UK adults say they don’t read regularly (up from 42% in 2015)<br>
and almost one in four young people aged 16-24 say they’ve never been readers, according to <a href="https://readingagency.org.uk/the-british-reader-is-in-decline-as-the-reading-agency-reveals-half-of-uk-adults-dont-read-regularly/">research by The Reading Agency</a>.</p>
<p>But what are the implications? Will people’s preference for video over text affect our brains or our evolution as a species? What kind of brain structure do good readers actually have? My <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39550055/">new study</a>, published in <em>Neuroimage</em>, has found out.</p>
<p>I analysed open-source data from more than 1,000 participants to discover that readers of varying abilities had distinct traits in brain anatomy.</p>
<p>The structure of two regions in the left hemisphere, which are crucial for language, were different in people who were good at reading.</p>
<p>One was the anterior part of the temporal lobe. The left temporal pole helps associate and categorise different types of meaningful information. To assemble the meaning of a word such as <em>leg</em>, this brain region associates the visual, sensory and motor information <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn2277">conveying how legs look, feel and move</a>.</p>
<p>The other was Heschl’s gyrus, a fold on the upper temporal lobe which hosts the auditory cortex (the cortex is the outermost layer of the brain). Better reading ability was linked to a larger anterior part of the temporal lobe in the left hemisphere compared to the right. It makes sense that having a larger brain area dedicated to meaning makes it easier to understand words and, therefore, to read.</p>
<p>What might seem less intuitive is that the auditory cortex would be related to reading. Isn’t reading mainly a visual skill? Not only. To pair letters with speech sounds, we first need to be aware of the sounds of the language. This <em>phonological awareness</em> is a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16389701/">well-established precursor</a> to children’s reading development.</p>
<p>A thinner left Heschl’s gyrus has previously been related to dyslexia, which <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25125610/">involves severe reading difficulties</a>. My research shows that this variation in cortical thickness does not draw a simple dividing line between people with or without dyslexia. Instead, it spans the larger population, in which a thicker auditory cortex correlates with more adept reading.</p>
<h2>Why size matters</h2>
<p>Is thicker always better? When it comes to cortical structure, no, not necessarily. We know the auditory cortex has more myelin in the left hemisphere of most people. Myelin is a fatty substance that acts as an insulator for nerve fibres. It increases neural communication speed and can also insulate columns of brain cells from each other. Neural columns <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3291116/">are believed to function</a> as small processing units.</p>
<p>Their increased isolation and rapid communication in the left hemisphere can be thought to enable the fast, categorical processing necessary for language. We need to know if a speaker uses the category <em>d</em> or <em>t</em> when saying <em>dear</em> or <em>tear</em> rather than detecting the exact point where the vocal folds start vibrating.</p>
<p>According to the “balloon model” of cortical growth, the larger amount of myelin squeezes out left-hemispheric cortical areas, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15513225/">making them flatter but more extended</a>. So while the left auditory cortex may be thicker in good readers, it is still thinner (but much more extended) than the corresponding right cortex.</p>
<p>This hypothesis was corroborated in the recent research. The left hemisphere had generally larger but thinner cortical areas with a higher degree of myelin.</p>
<p>So is thinner better, then? Again, the answer is no, not necessarily. Complex abilities that require integrating information tend to benefit from a thicker cortex. The anterior temporal lobe with its complex way of integrating information is indeed the thickest structure of all cortical areas. An underlying mechanism might be the existence of more overlapping, interacting neurons which <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15513225/">process information more holistically</a>.</p>
<p>Phonology is a highly complex skill, where different sound and motor features are integrated into speech sounds. It appears to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29223785/">correlate with a thicker cortex</a> in an area near the left Heschl’s gyrus. While it is unclear to what extent phonology is processed in Heschl’s gyrus, the fact that phoneticians often have multiple left Heschl’s gyri <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/11/4213">suggests it is linked to speech sounds</a>.</p>
<p>Clearly, brain structure can tell us a lot about reading skills. Importantly, though, the brain is malleable — it changes when we learn a new skill or practice an already acquired one.</p>
<p>For instance, young adults who studied language intensively increased their <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22750568/">cortical thickness in language areas</a>. Similarly, reading is likely to shape the structure of the left Heschl’s gyrus and temporal pole. So, if you want to keep your Heschl’s thick and thriving, pick up a good book and start reading.</p>
<p>Finally, it’s worth considering what might happen to us as a species if skills like reading become less prioritised. Our capacity to interpret the world around us and understand the minds of others would surely diminish. In other words, that cosy moment with a book in your armchair isn’t just personal – it’s a service to humanity.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/244786/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
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<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/people-who-are-good-at-reading-have-different-brains-244786">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/transgender-athletes-rights-was-opposed-by-those-who-viewed-female-athletes-as-undeserving-study-finds/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Transgender athletes’ rights was opposed by those who viewed female athletes as undeserving, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 16th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2024-0016"><em>Sociology of Sport </em></a>suggests that the rhetoric of the “save women’s sports” movement may reflect ideological motivations rather than a genuine commitment to advancing opportunities for female athletes. Using data collected between 2018 and 2019, researchers found that opposition to transgender athletes’ rights are associated with beliefs about women’s physical appearance, negative attitudes toward female athletes, and homophobic views.</p>
<p>The researchers were motivated to conducted the new study by the growing public debate over transgender rights in sports, particularly as the issue has become increasingly politicized. Sports often reflect and shape broader cultural values, and examining public opinion on sports-related issues provides insight into societal attitudes about gender, identity, and fairness.</p>
<p>“As sport sociologists, we scrutinize how sports continually both reflect and contribute to broader aspects of society in a variety of different ways. Correspondingly, public opinions about sports-related issues that tap cultural values offer insight into how people are processing those issues and related values,” explained study author Chris Knoester, a professor of sociology at Ohio State University and chair of research for the <a href="https://sportsandsociety.osu.edu/">OSU Sports and Society Initiative</a>.</p>
<p>“Understanding the factors that shape public opinions can push leaders to make changes or create policies that are responsive to people’s beliefs and how they come to them. Altogether, studying public opinions about trans* (e.g., transgender, intersex, nonbinary) athlete rights allows for improved understandings of the extent to which and reasons for why members of the public criticize or advocate for trans* people in sports and society, want to see changes in sport and society policies and interactions, and are recognizing meanings and values associated with sex, gender, and sexuality in sports and society.”</p>
<p>“Although recognition of these processes led to the design of the <a href="https://nsass.org/">National Sports and Society Survey,</a> a number of years ago, we were further motivated to conduct research on trans* athlete rights in sports in the wake of the disproportionate targeting of trans* people in sports and society for criticism and abuse in recent years, related policy initiatives that <a href="https://translegislation.com/learn">mostly sought to restrict trans* rights</a> but also sometimes sought to expand them, increased understandings and debates about the meanings of sex, gender, and sexuality in sports and society, the politicization of these issues, and <a href="https://thesocietypages.org/specials/sex-discrimination-in-sports-and-society-why-transgender-athletes-matter/">apparent corresponding changes in public opinions</a> about trans* athlete rights, especially.”</p>
<p>“One specific motivating interest, and perhaps outcome of this research, is a better understanding of factors undergirding and driving the purported ‘Save Women’s Sports Movement,'” added co-author Kirsten Hextrum, an assistant professor at Oregon State University and author of <a href="https://amzn.to/4fUPCDz"><em>Special Admission: How College Athletic Recruitment Favors White Suburban Athletes</em></a>.</p>
<p>“We were, and remain curious about, whether this political movement supports equitable policies and outcomes for girls and women’s sports. Based on our broader public opinion research, we see relationships between anti-trans* views and orthodox gender beliefs in sport—beliefs that may lead to policies that restrict and contain girls and women’s sports into subordinate athletic opportunities. In these ways, our research indicates these movements may not be in the best interest of girls and women’s athletic opportunities.”</p>
<p>The study utilized data from the National Sports and Society Survey (NSASS), conducted between 2018 and 2019. The NSASS collected responses from a large national sample of 3,993 adults in the United States. Participants were drawn from the American Population Panel, a pool managed by the Center for Human Resource Research, which invited individuals aged 21–65 to participate in exchange for compensation. The survey asked respondents to share their opinions on a range of topics related to sports, gender, and sexuality.</p>
<p>The researchers were particularly interested in whether opposition to transgender athletes’ rights and support for sex testing in sports among U.S. adults stemmed from genuine support for women’s sports or was more influenced by adherence to traditional gender norms, idealized views of women’s physical appearances, and homophobic attitudes.</p>
<p>“Given the timing of the National Sports and Society Survey, we looked for empirical evidence related to these questions with data pre-dating President Biden’s executive order about the meaning of sex discrimination and how it pertains to sex categorizations, gender identities, and sexual orientations, the first state-level ban on trans* athletes in 2020, and the recent politicization of anti-trans* sentiments,” Knoester said.</p>
<p>“In our analysis, we also accounted for effects related to beliefs about inherent male athletic supremacy, self-identified conservatism, political party affiliations, and other ideological, social structure, and social group affiliation—all relevant factors <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ssj/41/1/article-p12.xml">identified in previous research</a>.”</p>
<p>The researchers found that respondents who viewed female athletes as less deserving of attention, support, and media coverage were more likely to oppose transgender inclusion in sports. For example, individuals who disagreed with statements like “Women’s sports deserve the same amount of media coverage as men’s sports” were significantly less likely to support transgender athletes’ rights.</p>
<p>The researchers also found that adherence to traditional standards of femininity—such as prioritizing thinness and attractiveness—was a strong predictor of opposition to transgender athlete inclusion. For instance, respondents who endorsed the idea that women should be thin or that women’s muscles were less attractive were less supportive of transgender athletes competing in alignment with their gender identity.</p>
<p>Similarly, those who agreed with statements like “Female athletes will never be as good as male athletes” were more likely to oppose allowing transgender athletes to compete according to their gender identity and to support sex testing.</p>
<p>Negative attitudes toward homosexuality were another powerful predictor of opposition to transgender athletes’ rights. Participants who expressed homophobic views, such as agreeing with statements like “I would be disappointed if I found out my child was homosexual,” were significantly more likely to support sex testing and oppose transgender inclusion.</p>
<p>According to the researchers, the findings suggest that opposition to transgender inclusion often reflects efforts to uphold traditional gender norms and maintain the existing gender order rather than a genuine commitment to advancing women’s sports.</p>
<p>“We found that public opinions about trans* athletes’ rights—including perceptions of the need for sex testing in sports—are tied to beliefs about wanting to support, promote, and watch girls and women playing sports, traditional views of women’s idealized physical appearances, and homophobia,” Knoester told PsyPost.</p>
<p>“Apparently, U.S. adults have been more likely to develop their more negative attitudes about trans* athlete rights based on more strongly held views that female athletes are undeserving of being supported, watched, and promoted—not because of stronger inclinations to endorse, support, and become immersed in female sport activities. In fact, more negative attitudes toward trans* athlete rights also seem to stem from more traditional views of women’s idealized physical appearances and homophobia.”</p>
<p>“Overall, our research suggests that purporting to save women’s sports is more of a (gender) ideological project and political strategy than a concerned and concerted effort to support, promote, and enable further watching of girls and women playing sports.”</p>
<p>While the study offers important insights, there are some caveats to consider. The reliance on self-reported data from a non-randomly selected sample means the findings may not fully capture the diversity of public opinion in the United States. Additionally, the survey collected data at a single point in time, limiting the ability to evaluate how opinions may have shifted in response to recent social and political developments.</p>
<p>As Knoester noted, “our study relied upon survey responses from people who volunteered to participate in the study and were not randomly selected. Relatedly, respondents were not representative of the U.S., demographically. They were also not given an opportunity to explain the nuances of their beliefs and offer in-depth responses. Moreover, since the survey responses stemmed from one point in time, we were unable to assess changes in people’s views and more rigorously test assumptions about causal flow.”</p>
<p>“Future research should work to address these study limitations. In fact, we are currently working to analyze follow-up survey information provided by nearly half of the original respondents that will allow us to assess changes in public opinions about trans* athlete rights over the past six years.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2024-0016">Saving Women’s Sports? The Ideological Underpinnings of U.S. Public Opinions About Trans* Athlete Rights and Sex Testing, Before Widespread Politicization</a>,” was published January 9, 2025.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/large-language-models-outperform-experts-in-predicting-neuroscience-discoveries/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Large language models outperform experts in predicting neuroscience discoveries</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 16th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Large language models surpass human experts in predicting neuroscience results, according to a study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02046-9"><em>Nature Human Behaviour</em></a>.</p>
<p>Scientific research is increasingly challenging due to the immense growth in published literature. Integrating noisy and voluminous findings to predict outcomes often exceeds human capacity. This investigation was motivated by the growing role of artificial intelligence in tasks such as protein folding and drug discovery, raising the question of whether LLMs could similarly enhance fields like neuroscience.</p>
<p>Xiaoliang Luo and colleagues developed BrainBench, a benchmark designed to test whether LLMs could predict the results of neuroscience studies more accurately than human experts. BrainBench included 200 test cases based on neuroscience research abstracts. Each test case consisted of two versions of the same abstract: one was the original, and the other had a modified result that changed the study’s conclusion but kept the rest of the abstract coherent. Participants—both LLMs and human experts—were tasked with identifying which version was correct.</p>
<p>The study involved 171 human participants, all neuroscience experts with an average of 10 years of experience, including doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and academic staff. On the computational side, general-purpose LLMs were tested alongside BrainGPT, a specialized model fine-tuned with over 1.3 billion tokens from neuroscience literature. BrainBench covered five major subfields of neuroscience (behavioral/cognitive, cellular/molecular, systems/circuits, neurobiology of disease, and development/plasticity/repair), to ensure a comprehensive assessment.</p>
<p>To evaluate LLMs, the researchers used a metric called “perplexity,” which measures how well the models predict text sequences, while human accuracy was measured based on correct answers. The researchers also ensured the test items were not present in the LLMs’ training data, eliminating concerns about memorization.</p>
<p>LLMs significantly outperformed human experts in predicting neuroscience study outcomes. On average, LLMs achieved 81.4% accuracy, compared to 63.4% for human participants. BrainGPT, the model fine-tuned with neuroscience knowledge, performed even better, improving accuracy by 3% over general-purpose LLMs. This specialized training allowed BrainGPT to excel across all five neuroscience subfields included in the benchmark.</p>
<p>One key advantage of the LLMs was their ability to integrate information from the entire abstract, including the background and methods, rather than relying on isolated details. When tested with only the results section, their accuracy dropped, demonstrating the importance of contextual understanding. Human experts, by contrast, struggled to achieve the same level of integration. Additionally, both humans and LLMs showed higher accuracy when they were confident in their predictions, but LLMs displayed better alignment between confidence and correctness.</p>
<p>Importantly, the study confirmed that LLMs’ success was not due to memorization but rather their ability to recognize patterns in neuroscience research, highlighting their potential to assist in scientific discovery.</p>
<p>The authors acknowledge that BrainBench, while innovative, is labor-intensive to create. Moreover, there is a risk that reliance on LLM predictions could discourage researchers from pursuing studies that contradict AI predictions, potentially stifling innovation.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02046-9">Large language models surpass human experts in predicting neuroscience results</a>,” was authored by Xiaoliang Luo, Akilles Rechardt, Guangzhi Sun, Kevin K. Nejad, Felipe Yáñez, and colleagues.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/genetics-not-shared-environments-drives-parent-child-similarities-in-cognitive-ability/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Genetics, not shared environments, drives parent-child similarities in cognitive ability</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 16th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>How much of your cognitive ability is shaped by your genetic inheritance compared to the environment you grow up in? A new study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2024.100980"><em>Research in Social Stratification and Mobility</em></a> suggests that the transmission of cognitive ability from parents to children is primarily driven by genetics, with little influence from shared environmental factors like family resources. The findings challenge traditional assumptions in social mobility research that often attribute these correlations primarily to socio-economic status.</p>
<p>The intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities has long been a subject of interest because of its implications for social mobility and educational outcomes. Past research has shown that children often mirror their parents’ cognitive abilities, but it has been unclear whether this is due to shared genetics, shared environments, or a combination of both.</p>
<p>“We were interested in this topic because cognitive ability is a crucial factor in social mobility and life outcomes, yet its transmission between generations is rarely studied using comprehensive models that combine both twin and family data,” said study author <a href="https://twolfram.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tobias Wolfram</a>, a behavioral geneticist affiliated with Bielefeld University.</p>
<p>“The German TwinLife study provided an exciting opportunity to do this, particularly because it included different age cohorts ranging from early childhood to young adulthood. This allowed us to examine how the mechanisms of transmission might change over time, which is especially interesting given the well-known ‘Wilson effect’ – the observation that environmental influences on intelligence are stronger in childhood while genetic influences become more prominent with age.”</p>
<p>The German TwinLife survey is a large, longitudinal study designed to explore the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping various life outcomes, including cognitive abilities, educational attainment, and social mobility. The survey focuses on same-sex twin pairs and their biological families, enabling researchers to separate the effects of genetic inheritance from those of shared family environments. For example, monozygotic twins, who share 100% of their genetic material, can be compared with dizygotic twins, who share about 50% of their genetic material, to estimate the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors.</p>
<p>By incorporating multiple family members—including parents and siblings—across four birth cohorts, the survey spans an extensive developmental range, from early childhood (ages 5–6) to young adulthood (ages 21–25). This breadth allows researchers to examine how genetic and environmental influences evolve over the life course.</p>
<p>Cognitive abilities were measured using standardized tests tailored to different age groups. For children aged 9 and younger, the researchers used the Culture Fair Test 1-R, while the Culture Fair Test 20-R was applied to individuals aged 10 and older. These tests are widely used for assessing cognitive ability in a way that minimizes cultural and educational biases.</p>
<p>The data collection spanned multiple waves, capturing changes over time and enabling a dynamic analysis of developmental processes. Other data, such as demographic information, socioeconomic status, and family relationships, were also included, providing a rich context for interpreting the findings.</p>
<p>In their new study, Wolfram and his colleagues utilized a nuclear twin family design, an advanced statistical framework that incorporates data from twins, their parents, and sometimes siblings. This model goes beyond traditional twin study designs by explicitly including intergenerational data, enabling researchers to examine how traits are transmitted across generations. The nuclear twin family design also addressed potential confounding factors, such as assortative mating—a phenomenon where individuals with similar traits, such as intelligence, are more likely to pair and have children.</p>
<p>The results provided evidence that the intergenerational transmission of cognitive ability is driven primarily by genetic inheritance rather than shared environmental factors. Across all age groups examined, the researchers found minimal evidence that parental cognitive ability significantly influenced children’s cognitive development through environmental mechanisms. Instead, the observed similarities in cognitive abilities between parents and children were largely attributed to shared genetic factors.</p>
<p>The researchers also failed to find evidence for passive gene-environment correlations. These correlations occur when parents pass on genetic predispositions to their children while simultaneously creating environments that align with those predispositions—for instance, high-ability parents fostering intellectually enriching environments. Despite being theoretically expected, the study found no significant evidence for these correlations. This suggests that the family environment does not mediate the relationship between parental and offspring cognitive abilities.</p>
<p>Even in the youngest cohort, where environmental effects are typically most pronounced, the study found no significant evidence that parental cognitive ability shaped offspring abilities through these pathways.</p>
<p>“Perhaps the most surprising finding was how little impact parental cognitive ability had on children’s cognitive development through environmental pathways, even in young children aged 5-6,” Wolfram told PsyPost. “This was unexpected because we know that environmental factors in general have a stronger influence on cognitive ability in early childhood. While we found substantial environmental effects shared between siblings in young children, these effects weren’t related to parental cognitive ability. This raises interesting questions about what drives these early environmental effects.”</p>
<p>“The key takeaway is that the similarity in cognitive ability between parents and children appears to be driven primarily by shared genes rather than shared environment. While we often assume that parents influence their children’s cognitive development through factors like education style, resources, and parenting, our study finds little evidence for environmental transmission that occurs through parental cognitive ability specifically.”</p>
<p>However, the researchers emphasized that this does not imply that parents play no role in their children’s development. “This doesn’t mean parents don’t matter—our model can only detect environmental influences that are linked to parents’ cognitive ability and that affect all siblings similarly,” Wolfram explained. “There could be other important parental influences that operate through different pathways or affect children differently.”</p>
<p>For example, parents might influence their children’s development through unique, individualized interactions that are not captured by models focusing on shared family environments. A parent’s encouragement of a child’s specific interests or their response to a child’s emotional needs could shape the child’s learning and development in ways that differ between siblings.</p>
<p>Additionally, non-shared environmental factors, such as differences in peer groups, extracurricular activities, or even random life events, can play a significant role in cognitive development. These influences, while potentially shaped by parental decisions, would not necessarily correlate directly with parental cognitive ability and therefore fall outside the scope of this study’s analysis.</p>
<p>“While we can distinguish between genetic and environmental transmission at a broad level, we can’t identify specific genes or particular environmental factors that might be important,” Wolfram noted.</p>
<p>Another limitation relates to the assumptions their statistical model makes regarding assortative mating. “The model assumes that people directly choose partners based on their observed cognitive ability, but in reality, partner selection might happen indirectly through other related characteristics or through more complex patterns,” Wolfram explained. “This assumption about assortative mating could affect our estimates of how cognitive ability is transmitted across generations as <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.06.21.600029v2">a new preprint by Sunde et al.</a> shows in the case of educational attainment.”</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the study makes a significant contribution to social mobility research by emphasizing the dominant role of genetic pathways in the intergenerational transmission of cognitive ability. The findings indicate that the influence of the family environment in this transmission process is limited, highlighting the importance of accounting for genetic confounding when interpreting parent-offspring similarities in cognitive ability.</p>
<p>“Our long-term goal is to better understand the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors in cognitive development,” Wolfram told PsyPost. “We hope to extend this research by incorporating more sophisticated models of assortative mating and by examining how specific measured environments might moderate genetic effects.”</p>
<p>“While our findings strongly support the importance of genetic factors in cognitive ability, it’s crucial to remember that genes are not destiny,” he added. “Environmental factors still play a role, and understanding their interaction with genetic predispositions remains an important area for future research.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2024.100980">Disentangling genetic and social pathways of the intergenerational transmission of cognitive ability – A nuclear twin family study</a>,” was authored by Tobias Wolfram, Mirko Ruks, and Frank M. Spinath.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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