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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/vitamin-k-deficiency-linked-to-reduced-neurogenesis-and-cognitive-decline-in-mouse-model/" 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;">Vitamin K deficiency linked to reduced neurogenesis and cognitive decline in mouse model</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 29th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A study on mice found that a low intake of vitamin K reduces its concentration in brain tissue and impairs cognitive functions related to learning and memory. The researchers also observed reduced production of new neurons in the hippocampus and elevated neural inflammation. The findings were published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022316625000306?via%3Dihub"><em>The Journal of Nutrition.</em></a></p>
<p>Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin essential for blood clotting. It activates proteins that enable blood to coagulate properly. Without adequate vitamin K, even minor injuries can result in excessive bleeding. Vitamin K also contributes to bone health by regulating calcium deposition and supporting bone mineralization.</p>
<p>There are two main forms of this vitamin: vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), found primarily in leafy green vegetables, and vitamin K2 (menaquinone), which includes several subtypes produced by gut bacteria and found in fermented foods and animal products. The predominant form of vitamin K in the brain is menaquinone-4, a subtype of vitamin K2. Adequate intake of vitamin K has also been linked to a lower risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.</p>
<p>Study author Tong Zheng and his colleagues noted that previous research found higher concentrations of menaquinone-4 in the brains of deceased individuals who had better cognitive function prior to death. Other studies have associated greater brain levels of menaquinone-4 with fewer symptoms of dementia. With this background, the researchers aimed to investigate how vitamin K deficiency might affect cognitive function in mice.</p>
<p>The study involved sixty 9-month-old C57BL/6 mice, a widely used inbred laboratory strain known for its genetic consistency and sensitivity to dietary and metabolic changes. These characteristics make it a suitable model for nutritional neuroscience research.</p>
<p>The mice were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received a control diet containing the recommended amount of vitamin K1 (1 mg/kg), while the other group received a diet low in vitamin K (80 μg/kg). Both diets were based on a vitamin K-deficient basal mix and did not include menadione, a synthetic precursor of vitamin K that is sometimes used in animal feed but is not permitted in human diets due to safety concerns.</p>
<p>The mice were kept on these diets for six months. After this period, a subset of the animals underwent two behavioral tests: the Morris water maze (to assess spatial learning and memory) and the novel object recognition test (to measure recognition memory). Two weeks after the behavioral assessments, the mice were euthanized, and their brain tissues were analyzed for vitamin K content and markers of neurogenesis in the hippocampus.</p>
<p>The researchers reported that more mice died in the low vitamin K group than in the control group, particularly males, and some displayed signs of visual impairment. Behavioral testing revealed that mice fed the vitamin-K-deficient diet had poorer recognition memory and required more time to learn the spatial task in the water maze, indicating cognitive deficits.</p>
<p>Examination of the hippocampus showed that the low vitamin K group had significantly fewer proliferating cells and immature neurons compared to the control group, suggesting reduced neurogenesis. Additionally, these mice exhibited increased signs of neuroinflammation, including changes in microglial morphology, indicating a shift toward a more activated, inflammatory state. Brain tissue analysis confirmed that menaquinone-4 concentrations were significantly lower in the vitamin-K-deficient group.</p>
<p>“Our data indicate that low vitamin K intake reduced menaquinone-4 concentrations in brain tissues and impaired learning- and memory-related cognitive function. This impairment may be related to the observed reduced hippocampal neurogenesis and elevated neural inflammation,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the effects vitamin K deficiency has on cognitive functioning and brain physiology. However, it should be noted that this was a study on mice, not on humans. While mice and humans share many physiological similarities, they are still very different species. Effects on humans might not be identical.</p>
<p>The paper “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.01.023">Low Vitamin K Intake Impairs Cognition, Neurogenesis, and Elevates Neuroinflammation in C57BL/6 Mice</a>” was authored by Tong Zheng, Shannon Marschall, Jasper Weinberg, Xueyan Fu, Andrew Tarr, Barbara Shukitt-Hale, and Sarah L Booth.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-study-helps-explain-rising-trump-support-among-minority-voters/" 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;">New study helps explain rising Trump support among minority voters</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 29th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>People who support strong, rule-breaking political leaders are often assumed to be exclusively aligned with the political right. But a new study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251327217"><em>Psychological Science</em></a> challenges that assumption by revealing that ethnic minorities, regardless of political affiliation, tend to favor strong leaders more than left-leaning Whites. This preference was linked to levels of generalized trust, with groups expressing lower trust in others more likely to support authoritative leadership.</p>
<p>The findings complicate long-standing ideas about what drives political preferences for dominant or authoritarian figures, such as former U.S. President Donald Trump. While support for strong leaders has been widely associated with conservatism, the new evidence suggests that ethnicity and trust in others also play a key role.</p>
<p>For decades, political psychology research has focused on how individual personality traits and ideological values shape people’s views on leadership. A consistent narrative has been that people on the political right are more likely to desire leaders who are forceful, uncompromising, and even willing to break rules to achieve their goals. Much of this research has roots in mid-20th century work, including the influential studies of authoritarian personality types.</p>
<p>But those earlier studies were based almost entirely on White samples. As minority populations continue to grow in countries like the United States, a deeper understanding of how ethnic background influences leadership preferences has become increasingly important. Recent political trends—such as rising support for Donald Trump among Latino and Black voters—suggest that the traditional picture may be incomplete.</p>
<p>The researchers behind the new study set out to examine whether generalized trust—people’s broad belief about whether others can be relied on—might explain why certain groups are drawn to strong leaders. They hypothesized that groups with lower levels of trust would be more likely to support leaders who promise control, order, and punishment of wrongdoers, even if that comes at the expense of democratic norms.</p>
<p>“I was born in the Netherlands to parents of Indian origin, and spent much of my formative years in Japan and in Texas. As an adult, I have been at institutions of higher learning in different regions of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands,” said study author <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZTmmUUUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Krishnan Nair</a>, a postdoctoral research associate with the Illinois Strategic Organizations Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.</p>
<p>“The experiences I have had interacting with people from varying ethnic, religious, political, and linguistic backgrounds have fueled my interest in better understanding differences in attitudes and values between different groups. This project is a reflection of that.”</p>
<p>To test whether the link between conservatism and strong-leader preference holds across different ethnic groups, the researchers conducted six studies using a combination of representative national surveys, online samples, and experiments. Altogether, they analyzed data from more than 34,000 people living in the United States and 13 Western European countries. Participants were asked about their political preferences, trust in others, and attitudes toward strong leadership.</p>
<p>In the first study, the team analyzed data from over 4,200 Americans who participated in the 2016 American National Election Studies survey. Participants were asked whether they agreed with the idea that “having a strong leader in government is good even if the leader bends the rules.” Ethnic minorities—Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans—were more likely than White Americans to support strong leadership. Among White participants, Democrats were especially likely to oppose strong leaders. In fact, White Democrats were the group most averse to strong leaders across all demographics.</p>
<p>The second study, based on the World Values Survey, replicated these findings in a separate U.S. sample. Again, ethnic minorities showed stronger support for authoritarian-style leadership than White respondents, and left-leaning Whites stood out as particularly opposed.</p>
<p>A third study extended the results to a European context, using data from over 24,000 people across 13 countries. Ethnic minorities in Europe, including those of Middle Eastern, African, and Asian descent, also expressed more support for strong leaders than White Europeans. Left-wing White Europeans had the weakest preference for such leadership.</p>
<p>In all three studies, the researchers found that generalized trust played a key role in shaping leadership preferences. People who reported trusting others were less likely to support strong leaders, regardless of ethnicity or political ideology. White individuals, especially White Democrats and left-wing Europeans, tended to score higher on measures of generalized trust than ethnic minorities or right-wing individuals. Mediation analyses showed that differences in trust helped explain the gap in strong-leader preference between these groups.</p>
<p>“Our findings suggest that the preference for strong, dominant leaders in Western countries is not restricted to the political right,” Nair told PsyPost. “Notably, minorities across ethnic/racial and political backgrounds in the United States and Western Europe are closer to right-wing Whites in their preference for strong leaders than they are to left-wing Whites. This means that left-wing Whites are relatively unique in their weaker preference for strong leaders than other groups.”</p>
<p>To test whether trust was a causal factor, the team conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, which included 903 individuals, participants read a fictional scenario designed to increase their trust in others. In the second experiment, involving 891 participants, individuals observed cooperative behavior in a simulated group task.</p>
<p>In both cases, the manipulation increased trust and reduced support for strong leadership—particularly among groups that typically showed a stronger preference for authoritarian leaders. For example, when trust was experimentally raised, differences in leadership preference between White Democrats and other groups became statistically insignificant.</p>
<p>These findings suggest that experiences of disadvantage and perceived social threat may reduce generalized trust, making strong leadership more appealing. Ethnic minorities in Western countries often face economic inequality, discrimination, and social exclusion—factors linked to lower trust in others. At the same time, many right-leaning individuals hold a more pessimistic view of human nature, which may also foster support for forceful, rule-breaking leaders.</p>
<p>“These findings may provide one potential explanation for an emerging puzzle in modern politics,” Nair said. “While many view Donald Trump’s rhetoric as racially insensitive, ethnic minority support for the Republican Party has grown during the Trump era. Our findings provide preliminary support for the notion that greater strong leader preference among minorities may have contributed to this phenomenon. ”</p>
<p>Although they used large and diverse samples, some of the data came from previously collected surveys not designed for their specific research questions. In addition, the experiments used hypothetical scenarios and may not fully capture how people behave in real-world political decisions. The researchers call for more work to explore other potential factors—such as personality traits, moral values, or perceptions of government effectiveness—that may contribute to group differences in leadership preferences.</p>
<p>“We mostly relied on self-reported measures of strong leader preference, which can be subject to social desirability bias,” Nair noted. “See for example, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09567976241274738" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this paper</a> my co-authors and I published recently, which failed to find a political divide in racial discrimination (unlike prior survey-based work) when using a research design that addresses social desirability bias.”</p>
<p>These findings have implications beyond politics. Leadership preferences may also shape how people evaluate potential employers and workplace environments.</p>
<p>“Much has been written in support of having a relatively flat organizational structure in the workplace,” Nair explained. “I want to examine whether the preference for flat organizations is weaker among ethnic minority job seekers than among (left-wing) White job seekers, consistent with the pattern of strong leader preference we uncovered in the present work.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251327217">The Ethnic and Political Divide in the Preference for Strong Leaders</a>,” was authored by Krishnan Nair, Marlon Mooijman, and Maryam Kouchaki.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/poor-sleep-can-bring-out-the-dark-side-of-personality-at-work-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;">Poor sleep can bring out the ‘dark side’ of personality at work, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 29th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>New research highlights a link between how well employees sleep and the expression of darker personality traits in the workplace. The study, published in the <em><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/job.2885" target="_blank">Journal of Organizational Behavior</a></em>, found that on days when workers reported poorer sleep, they were more likely to show higher levels of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. These effects were partly explained by their ability—or inability—to tolerate distress, pointing to sleep as an overlooked factor influencing toxic behavior at work.</p>
<p>The so-called “dark triad” of personality—narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—has long been associated with counterproductive behaviors and harmful dynamics in the workplace. However, most research has treated these traits as stable and enduring characteristics. The current study instead focused on short-term fluctuations—what the researchers call “dark triad states”—and explored how everyday factors like sleep quality and quantity might influence these temporary expressions of darker tendencies.</p>
<p>“This interest originated from the realization that we all possess dark personality traits to some extent, with individuals in powerful organizational roles often scoring particularly high on these dark traits,” said study author <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evy-Kuijpers/research" target="_blank">Evy Kuijpers</a>, a postdoctoral researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.</p>
<p>“While identifying these characteristics is important, it’s just as crucial to understand that they’re not fixed and can fluctuate in everyday work life. Recognizing that certain factors can trigger these dark expressions led us to explore why and when they occur, with the hope that this understanding could eventually help prevent them from developing into more persistent patterns of behavior.”</p>
<p>The researchers conducted a 10-day experience sampling study with 103 working adults from Belgium and Argentina. Participants were asked to complete two surveys each day—one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. In the morning survey, participants rated the quality and duration of their sleep the night before. In the afternoon, they reported how they felt throughout the day, including their levels of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and distress tolerance.</p>
<p>To measure dark triad states, the researchers used an adapted version of the “Dirty Dozen” scale, which includes brief descriptions of dark personality traits framed as daily self-perceptions (e.g., “Today, I used deceit or lied to get my way”). They also included a single-item measure of distress tolerance, which reflects the extent to which individuals felt capable of handling emotional discomfort that day.</p>
<p>Overall, the researchers collected 786 complete daily records from the participants. Their analysis revealed that both sleep quality and quantity were negatively related to daily expressions of the dark triad. In other words, when individuals reported sleeping poorly or getting fewer hours of rest than usual, they were more likely to express manipulative, self-centered, or emotionally detached behaviors at work.</p>
<p>Each of the dark triad components—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—was significantly affected by sleep. For instance, poorer sleep predicted higher levels of psychopathy (such as a lack of remorse) and Machiavellianism (like using others for personal gain), as well as narcissism (desiring admiration). These associations remained significant even after controlling for individual differences, indicating that it wasn’t just that some people are more prone to these traits than others, but that individuals tended to show more of these traits on days when they had worse sleep.</p>
<p>“We were somewhat surprised by how consistently sleep perception—especially sleep quality—predicted changes in dark triad states across individuals,” Kuijpers told PsyPost. “It’s also notable that even small day-to-day variations in sleep can meaningfully influence behavior.”</p>
<p>The researchers also tested whether the relationship between sleep and dark triad states was mediated by distress tolerance—the ability to withstand emotional discomfort. As predicted, the researchers found that poor sleep undermined participants’ distress tolerance, which in turn made them more likely to exhibit dark triad behaviors. For example, after a night of poor sleep, individuals reported feeling less able to cope with stress and frustration, which then increased the likelihood that they would act in manipulative or antisocial ways during the day.</p>
<p>This mediation effect was statistically significant for both sleep quality and sleep duration. However, sleep quality had a somewhat stronger effect, suggesting that how restful someone’s sleep feels may be more important for self-regulation than the exact number of hours they slept.</p>
<p>To explore whether these relationships might go in both directions, the researchers also tested whether expressing dark traits during the day affected sleep the following night. There was some evidence of reverse effects, particularly for Machiavellianism, which was unexpectedly associated with better sleep. However, these effects were small, and the amount of variation in sleep explained by dark triad states was minimal—less than 2%—suggesting that sleep is more likely to influence dark personality states than the other way around.</p>
<p>“This study looked at how sleep affects people’s tendency to show darker behaviors at work, like being manipulative or self-centered,” Kuijpers said. “We found that when people sleep poorly — both in quality and quantity — they’re more likely to act this way, partly because they struggle more with handling stress. These findings highlight the importance of good sleep for helping employees manage their emotions and avoid harmful behavior at work.”</p>
<p>The authors argue that these findings have important practical implications. Because dark triad behaviors can damage workplace relationships, reduce job performance, and contribute to a toxic environment, understanding their triggers can help employers develop strategies to reduce their occurrence. Given that sleep is both modifiable and strongly tied to workplace functioning, organizations might consider promoting healthy sleep habits among employees as a way to foster a more positive work culture.</p>
<p>For example, limiting long working hours, encouraging breaks, offering flexible schedules, and providing education about sleep hygiene could all contribute to better sleep quality. Some companies may even consider designated rest spaces or nap policies to help employees recharge during the day—especially if doing so helps reduce harmful behaviors and improves team dynamics.</p>
<p>The study also contributes to a growing body of research calling for a more dynamic view of personality. Rather than assuming that dark personality traits are fixed and unchangeable, the findings suggest that situational factors like sleep can play a significant role in shaping how these traits are expressed on a day-to-day basis. Over time, repeated patterns of poor sleep and low distress tolerance could potentially lead to more stable personality changes, highlighting the importance of early intervention.</p>
<p>But the authors acknowledge some limitations. While they measured sleep and dark triad states at different times of day, the mediator—distress tolerance—was assessed at the same time as the outcome variable, which limits the ability to draw firm conclusions about causality. All measures were self-reported, which may introduce bias. The study also relied on a relatively simple daily measure of dark traits, and future research may benefit from more detailed or behavior-based assessments.</p>
<p>“While our study shows a link between sleep and dark behaviors at work, it relies on people’s own reports (i.e., subjective assessment of sleep) which may not always be reflective of their actual sleep quality/quantity,” Kuijpers noted. “Using more precise sleep tracking devices may help confirm and expand these findings.”</p>
<p>“Our long-term goal is to deepen our understanding of the factors that trigger dark personality states at work, given that these traits can cause significant harm to both individuals and organizations. Specifically, we aim to identify additional situational and physiological triggers of dark triad states in order to develop targeted strategies that can mitigate their negative effects. Ultimately, we strive to foster healthier work environments where employees are better equipped to manage and control their darker impulses.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2885" target="_blank">Rise of the Dark Side: How Sleep Perception Triggers Dark Triad States at Work</a>,” was authored by Evy Kuijpers, Jasmine Vergauwe, Sam Vanderperre, Olivier Mairesse, and Joeri Hofmans.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-discover-specific-brain-cells-that-enable-intelligent-behavior/" 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;">Neuroscientists discover specific brain cells that enable intelligent behavior</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 28th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>For decades, neuroscientists have developed mathematical frameworks to explain how brain activity drives behaviour in predictable, repetitive scenarios, such as while playing a game. These algorithms have not only described brain cell activity <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627320304682">with remarkable precision</a> but also helped develop artificial intelligence with superhuman achievements in specific tasks, such as playing Atari or Go.</p>
<p>Yet these frameworks fall short of capturing the essence of human and animal behaviour: our extraordinary ability to generalise, infer and adapt. Our study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08145-x">published in Nature</a> late last year, provides insights into how brain cells in mice enable this more complex, intelligent behaviour.</p>
<p>Unlike machines, humans and animals can flexibly navigate new challenges. Every day, we solve new problems by generalising from our knowledge or drawing from our experiences. We cook new recipes, meet new people, take a new path – and we can imagine the aftermath of entirely novel choices.</p>
<p>It was in the mid-20th century that psychologist Edward Tolman described <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1949-00103-001">the concept of “cognitive maps”</a>. These are internal, mental representations of the world that organise our experiences and allow us to predict what we’ll see next.</p>
<p>Starting in the 1970s, researchers identified <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0006899371903581">a beautiful system of specialised cells</a> in the hippocampus (the brain’s memory centre) and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03721">entorhinal cortex</a> (an area that deals with memory, navigation, and time perception) in rodents that form a literal map of our environments.</p>
<p>These include “place cells”, which fire at specific locations, and “grid cells” that create a spatial framework. Together, these and a host of other neurons encode distances, goals and locations, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-rats-in-a-maze-can-teach-us-about-our-sense-of-direction-40779">forming a precise mental map</a> of the physical world and where we are within it.</p>
<p>And now our attention has turned to other areas of cognition beyond finding our way around generalisation, inference, imagination, social cognition and memory. The same areas of the brain that help us navigate in space are also involved in these functions.</p>
<h2>Cells for generalising?</h2>
<p>We wanted to know if there are cells that organise the knowledge of our behaviour, rather than the outside world, and how they work. Specifically, what are the algorithms that underlie the activity of brain cells as we generalise from past experience? How do we rustle up that new pasta dish?</p>
<p>And we did find such cells. There are neurons that tell us “where we are” in a sequence of behaviour (we haven’t named the cells).</p>
<p>To uncover the brain cells, networks and algorithms that perform these roles, we studied mice, training the animals to complete a task. The task had a sequence of actions with a repeating structure. Mice moved through four locations, or “goals”, containing a water reward (A, B, C and D) in loops.</p>
<p>When we moved the location of the goals, the mice were able to infer what came next in the sequence – even when they had never experienced that exact scenario before.</p>
<p>When mice reached goal D in a new location for the first time, they immediately knew to return to goal A. This wasn’t memory, because they’d never encountered it. Instead, it shows that the mice understood the general structure of the task and tracked their position within it.</p>
<p>The mice had electrodes implanted into the brain, which allowed us to capture neural activity during the task. We found that specific cells in the cortex (the outermost layer of the brain) collectively mapped the animal’s goal progress. For example, one cell could fire when the animal was 70% of the way to its goal, regardless of where the goal was or how far away.</p>
<p>Some cells tracked progress towards immediate subgoals – like chopping vegetables in our cooking analogy – while others mapped progress towards the overall goal, such as finishing the meal.</p>
<p>Together, these goal progress cells created a system that gave our location in behavioural space rather than a physical space. Crucially, the system is flexible and can be updated if the task changes. This encoding allows the brain to predict the upcoming sequence of actions without relying on simple associative memories.</p>
<h2>Common experiences</h2>
<p>Why should the brain bother to learn general structural representations of tasks? Why not create a new representation for each one? For generalisation to be worthwhile, the tasks we complete must contain regularities that can be exploited — and they do.</p>
<p>The behaviour we compose to reach our goals is replete with repetition. Generalisation allows knowledge to extend beyond individual instances. Throughout life, we encounter a highly structured distribution of tasks. And each day we solve new problems by generalising from past experiences.</p>
<p>A previous encounter with making bolognese can inform a new ragu recipe, because the same general steps apply to both (such as starting with frying onions and adding fresh herbs at the end). We propose that the goal-progress cells in the cortex serve as the building blocks – internal frameworks that organise abstract relationships between events, actions and outcomes. While we’ve only shown this in mice, it is plausible that the same thing happens in the human brain.</p>
<p>By documenting these cellular networks and the algorithms that underlie them, we are building new bridges between human and animal neuroscience, and between biological and artificial intelligence. And pasta.</p>
<p><em>Special thanks to Alison Cranage for her support in writing this article.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/254233/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/how-we-discovered-specific-brain-cells-that-enable-intelligent-behaviour-254233">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/encountering-romantic-temptation-nudges-men-and-women-toward-different-types-of-purchases/" 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;">Encountering romantic temptation nudges men and women toward different types of purchases</a>
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<p><p>When people in relationships are faced with romantic temptation from someone other than their partner, it can trigger a subtle shift in their spending habits. A new study published in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-024-07068-0"><em>Current Psychology</em></a> found that men in this situation tend to favor experiences—like going to concerts or dining out—while women are more likely to choose tangible goods such as electronics or home decor. The researchers argue this is a way for people to enhance their image as a desirable partner, reaffirming their value within their existing relationship.</p>
<p>Romantic relationships often influence how people spend their money, from gift-giving to shared activities. Past research has shown that people use consumption not only to express love but also to maintain relationship harmony. But what happens when someone in a committed relationship feels attracted to another person? Such feelings can threaten the perceived integrity of the relationship and cause inner conflict. To resolve this tension, the researchers theorized that people might try to reaffirm their worth as a partner through specific types of purchases.</p>
<p>This idea stems from cognitive dissonance theory, which suggests that when people behave in ways that contradict their values—like feeling attracted to someone else while in a relationship—they are motivated to reduce the discomfort by reaffirming their self-image. In this context, the researchers predicted that men and women would try to project qualities traditionally valued in long-term partners: emotional warmth for men and practical support for women. These qualities, they suggested, could be communicated through consumption patterns.</p>
<p>The study included six separate investigations, each designed to test whether romantic alternatives influence preferences for different types of purchases among people in relationships. Across all studies, the participants were heterosexual individuals who identified as being in a romantic relationship.</p>
<p>In the first pilot study, researchers asked 150 participants to choose between a concert ticket (experiential) and a Bluetooth speaker (material) and then rate how much each purchase would make them seem emotionally warm or practically supportive. The results showed that men felt experiences made them seem more emotionally warm, while women felt material goods better reflected practical warmth.</p>
<p>In Study 1a, 201 nonsingle participants were randomly assigned to imagine meeting either an attractive person (romantic alternative condition) or viewing apartments (control condition). Afterward, they chose between redeeming a gift voucher for an experience or a material good. Men in the romantic alternative condition preferred experiential purchases, while women preferred material ones.</p>
<p>Study 1b used the same setup but altered the framing of a Bluetooth speaker to emphasize either its experiential or material qualities. This design confirmed the pattern: romantic alternatives nudged men toward experiential consumption and women toward material goods.</p>
<p>In Study 2, the researchers introduced a group of single participants to examine whether the observed pattern was about attracting a new partner or maintaining an existing one. Only those in relationships showed shifts in purchase preferences when exposed to romantic alternatives, suggesting that the behavior was not about attracting someone new but reaffirming commitment.</p>
<p>Study 3 tested whether the romantic alternative scenario induced guilt and ruled out the possibility that participants were simply interested in forming new relationships. As expected, people in the romantic alternative condition reported higher levels of guilt about their current partner, especially among those who altered their spending patterns.</p>
<p>Finally, in Study 4, the researchers directly measured self-enhancement by asking participants to rate how good a partner they felt like after encountering a romantic alternative. As predicted, romantic temptation increased feelings of self-enhancement, and this in turn predicted whether participants chose an experience or a material good—again, depending on their gender.</p>
<p>Across all six studies, the findings were consistent. When people in relationships were reminded of a romantic alternative—whether by imagining an attractive date or seeing photos of desirable others—they felt more inclined to enhance their self-image. This self-enhancement was gender-specific in its expression.</p>
<p>Men were more likely to choose experiential purchases. Experiences like concerts, travel, or dining out carry emotional value and are often shared, making them effective for signaling warmth and emotional intimacy—traits that men may want to emphasize when reaffirming their desirability as partners.</p>
<p>Women, in contrast, leaned toward material purchases. Tangible goods are often durable, practical, and can reflect resourcefulness—qualities that women may seek to highlight to convey their value in a relationship. These differences align with broader social roles, where men are often expected to demonstrate emotional availability and women are expected to provide practical support.</p>
<p>Importantly, these patterns only emerged among participants in relationships, not singles. This finding strengthens the argument that the consumption shifts were part of a self-enhancement strategy related to relationship maintenance rather than mate attraction.</p>
<p>The researchers also found that the desire for a romantic alternative created psychological discomfort, particularly guilt. This guilt appeared to activate a need for self-affirmation, which then influenced purchasing behavior. Participants didn’t just want to distract themselves; they wanted to feel better about who they were as partners.</p>
<p>While the studies offered evidence for the link between romantic alternatives and consumption patterns, there are limitations to consider. First, the romantic alternatives were created through imagined scenarios rather than real-life situations. While effective in producing measurable effects, it’s unclear whether people would behave the same way in real-life encounters.</p>
<p>Another limitation is that the studies only included heterosexual participants and used gender as a binary variable. Future research could explore how people of diverse sexual orientations or gender identities respond to romantic alternatives and whether similar patterns hold.</p>
<p>Additionally, the study was conducted in China, where cultural norms about gender roles and relationships may differ from those in other parts of the world. The findings may not generalize to all populations. Social and economic changes, such as the increasing number of dual-income households, may also influence the way men and women engage in self-enhancement through consumption.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-07068-0">I am better when I am bad: effects of romantic alternatives on nonsingle men’s versus women’s experiential and material purchases</a>,” was authored by Ting Xu and Rui Chen.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/biomarkers-in-spinal-fluid-may-flag-frontotemporal-dementia-before-symptoms-emerge/" 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;">Biomarkers in spinal fluid may flag frontotemporal dementia before symptoms emerge</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 28th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study has revealed a set of proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid that could help identify frontotemporal dementia (FTD) before symptoms appear and track its progression. The findings, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-025-00878-2"><em>Nature Aging</em></a>, come from scientists who analyzed over 4,000 proteins in people with inherited forms of FTD. The research points to disrupted gene expression and damaged brain connections as key features of the disease, offering potential new targets for diagnosis and treatment.</p>
<p>Frontotemporal dementia is a progressive brain disorder that primarily affects the frontal and temporal lobes, which are involved in behavior, personality, language, and movement. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, which typically begins with memory loss, FTD often starts with changes in behavior, decision-making, or speech.</p>
<p>People with FTD may become socially inappropriate, emotionally detached, or struggle to speak and understand language. In some cases, the condition also causes movement problems similar to those seen in Parkinson’s disease. FTD can be caused by inherited genetic mutations, although it also occurs in people without a family history. There are currently no approved treatments to stop or slow the disease.</p>
<p>“FTD is the most common cause of dementia in people under 60, and it can have devastating effects on personality, behavior, language, and movement,” said study author Rowan Saloner, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco.</p>
<p>“Despite its severity, FTD still has no approved treatments and lacks reliable biomarkers for diagnosis or monitoring. We focused on studying inherited forms of FTD, where we can determine the underlying brain pathology with high confidence even before symptoms begin. This provides a powerful model for discovering early biological changes in the brain by measuring molecules in cerebrospinal fluid.”</p>
<p>The study included 116 adults who carried mutations in one of three genes known to cause FTD—<em>C9orf72</em>, <em>GRN</em>, and <em>MAPT</em>. These participants were compared to 39 of their relatives who did not carry the mutations. Because these individuals came from the same families, they shared similar genetic backgrounds apart from the disease-causing mutations.</p>
<p>Cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected from all participants through a spinal tap. Researchers then used a highly sensitive technique known as aptamer-based proteomics to measure the levels of over 4,000 proteins in each sample. To make sense of this large dataset, they used a method called network analysis, grouping proteins into “modules” based on how their levels rose and fell together. This approach identified 31 distinct modules of co-expressed proteins, each representing a different biological process.</p>
<p>Several modules showed strong relationships with disease severity and progression. One key finding was that proteins involved in RNA splicing—the process by which genetic information is edited before being used to make proteins—were abnormally elevated in people with FTD, especially those with <em>C9orf72</em> and <em>GRN</em> mutations. These changes were seen even before symptoms began in some individuals.</p>
<p>“We were struck by how early some of these protein changes appeared in FTD mutation carriers,” Saloner told PsyPost. “For example, certain proteins involved in RNA metabolism and synaptic ion transport were dysregulated in people who carried a disease-causing mutation but were still cognitively normal. Some spinal fluid protein signatures could even predict future cognitive decline in these cognitively normal individuals. This suggests that detectable molecular changes may begin years before clinical onset and could be used to track progression or even guide future preventive treatments.”</p>
<p>Other modules that stood out were related to the brain’s structural support system, known as the extracellular matrix, and to proteins involved in synaptic signaling and autophagy—the cellular process for clearing damaged components.</p>
<p>The researchers found that these protein modules were not only associated with current disease status but also with how quickly participants’ cognitive function declined over time. For example, lower levels of synaptic proteins predicted faster cognitive deterioration, while higher levels of RNA splicing proteins were linked to worse outcomes. This suggests that these proteins are not just markers of disease but may be part of the underlying mechanisms driving FTD.</p>
<p>To confirm that these findings were not limited to their initial sample, the team tested the same protein modules in two independent groups. One group included patients with a related neurodegenerative disease called progressive supranuclear palsy, and the other included people diagnosed with FTD, Alzheimer’s disease, or neither. Despite differences in disease type and the tools used to measure proteins, many of the same modules appeared in these new samples. This supports the idea that the protein changes seen in genetic FTD are relevant to broader groups of patients.</p>
<p>One particularly promising protein was NPTX2, a known marker of synaptic function. Its levels in cerebrospinal fluid strongly predicted cognitive decline—more so than any other individual protein in the study. Other proteins that stood out were involved in maintaining the structure and plasticity of brain cells or regulating gene expression from within the cell’s nucleus.</p>
<p>“By analyzing spinal fluid from people with genetic forms of FTD, we identified specific patterns of protein changes related to RNA processing, immune response, and synaptic health that were strongly associated with disease severity,” Saloner told PsyPost. “These protein ‘signatures’ help us understand in real time what’s going wrong in the brains of patients with FTD and could become the foundation for future biomarkers. Importantly, many of the same patterns were seen in people with sporadic (non-inherited) forms of FTD, suggesting our findings are relevant to a large portion of those affected by the disease.”</p>
<p>Despite its strengths, the study has some limitations. Collecting cerebrospinal fluid through a spinal tap is invasive and not suitable for large-scale screening. “To address this, we are actively screening blood samples, which are less invasive to collect, for biomarkers that perform similarly to those observed in spinal fluid,” Saloner said.</p>
<p>Another limitation is that the study primarily focused on genetic forms of FTD, which account for about 20 to 30 percent of cases. “We are actively working to identify protein changes that are specific to brain pathologies that uniquely cause sporadic forms of FTD,” Saloner added.</p>
<p>“Our ultimate goal is to develop reliable biomarkers that can identify different forms of FTD, track disease progression, and assess response to therapy. These tools are essential for designing better clinical trials and for moving toward precision medicine in neurodegenerative disease.”</p>
<p>“Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, which now has reliable fluid biomarkers and emerging treatments, FTD has neither,” Saloner noted. “Making progress toward biomarkers—especially ones that reflect the underlying biology of the disease—is a critical step toward changing clinical care for patients with FTD while also providing information about shared versus unique features across all neurodegenerative diseases.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-00878-2">Large-scale network analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid proteome identifies molecular signatures of frontotemporal lobar degeneration</a>,” was authored by Rowan Saloner, Adam M. Staffaroni, Eric B. Dammer, Erik C. B. Johnson, Emily W. Paolillo, Amy Wise, Hilary W. Heuer, Leah K. Forsberg, Argentina Lario-Lago, Julia D. Webb, Jacob W. Vogel, Alexander F. Santillo, Oskar Hansson, Joel H. Kramer, Bruce L. Miller, Jingyao Li, Joseph Loureiro, Rajeev Sivasankaran, Kathleen A. Worringer, Nicholas T. Seyfried, Jennifer S. Yokoyama, Salvatore Spina, Lea T. Grinberg, and William W. Seeley, on behalf of the ALLFTD Consortium.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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