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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/sleep-problems-top-list-of-predictors-for-teen-mental-illness-ai-powered-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;">Sleep problems top list of predictors for teen mental illness, AI-powered study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 15th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>An analysis of data from over 11,000 adolescent participants in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study found that sleep disturbances may be the most influential predictor of future psychopathology. Sleep issues were more predictive than adverse childhood experiences and family mental health history. Neuroimaging data did not improve the ability to forecast mental health risks. The findings were published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03560-7"><em>Nature Medicine</em></a>.</p>
<p>As science and technology have rapidly advanced over the past century, medicine has found ways to cure or manage many once-deadly diseases. Conditions such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, typhoid fever, measles, and polio—which previously claimed millions of lives—are now treatable or nearly eradicated thanks to medical and pharmaceutical breakthroughs.</p>
<p>As a result, attention has increasingly shifted to medical conditions that remain difficult to treat. Mental health disorders are among the most prominent in this category. Despite some progress in treatment, many individuals continue to struggle with chronic mental health conditions that show limited response to current interventions.</p>
<p>Prevention has emerged as a promising strategy. Identifying individuals at risk before symptoms become severe could enable early support and reduce long-term impacts. This has led scientists to seek reliable methods for predicting who is most likely to develop psychiatric disorders.</p>
<p>In the new study, lead author Elliot D. Hill and his colleagues developed machine learning models to predict mental health risk based on psychosocial and neurobiological data.</p>
<p>The researchers used data from over 11,000 participants in the ABCD study, a large longitudinal project in the United States. Participants were between 9 and 15 years old at the time of assessment, and approximately 48% were female. They were followed for one to three years after enrollment.</p>
<p>Participants completed various psychosocial assessments and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers trained several machine learning models to predict future psychiatric risk based on the collected data.</p>
<p>A model trained on participants’ current symptoms was highly accurate in predicting which adolescents would transition into a high-risk category for psychiatric illness within the following year. Another model that relied solely on potential underlying causes—such as sleep problems, family dynamics, and adversity—performed slightly less well but still achieved respectable accuracy, even without symptom data.</p>
<p>Sleep disturbances emerged as the strongest predictor of increased psychiatric risk, surpassing other established factors such as adverse childhood experiences and family mental health history. Adding MRI data to the models did not improve predictive performance.</p>
<p>“These findings suggest that artificial intelligence models trained on readily available psychosocial questionnaires can effectively predict future psychiatric risk while highlighting potential targets for intervention. This is a promising step toward artificial intelligence-based mental health screening for clinical decision support systems,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study enhances scientific understanding of mental health risk factors and how early risk might be estimated. However, it is important to note that the findings are based on statistical associations. The study’s design does not permit conclusions about causality.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03560-7">Prediction of mental health risk in adolescents</a>,” was authored by Elliot D. Hill, Pratik Kashyap, Elizabeth Raffanello, Yun Wang, Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi, Matthew Engelhard, and Jonathan Posner.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/scientists-uncover-surprisingly-consistent-pattern-of-scholarly-curiosity-throughout-history/" 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 uncover surprisingly consistent pattern of scholarly curiosity throughout history</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 15th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-025-05340-z" target="_blank">Scientometrics</a></em> provides evidence that human curiosity—especially the kind that drives scholarly inquiry—follows a remarkably consistent pattern across time and place. By analyzing the recorded interests of thousands of scholars born before 1700, researchers found that intellectual curiosity tends to cluster around three broad domains: the human, the natural, and the abstract. These clusters appear in similar proportions across vastly different regions and historical eras, indicating a possibly universal structure in the way people pursue knowledge.</p>
<p>To explore the nature of human curiosity, the researchers turned to the past. Today’s scholars are influenced by many modern constraints, from the structure of universities to the rising costs of conducting research. To get a clearer picture of pure curiosity—less shaped by institutions or professional incentives—the authors focused on historical figures. They used the Cultura 1.0 database, which compiles data from online catalogs and Wikidata, and restricted their analysis to scholars born before the year 1700.</p>
<p>This time frame was chosen deliberately. Before the rise of modern universities and the professionalization of science, research was more accessible and less regulated. Scholars could often explore multiple fields without facing the same economic or institutional pressures that shape research today. By examining the recorded occupations and areas of expertise of these historical figures, the researchers hoped to uncover broader patterns in how intellectual interests are structured.</p>
<p>“We were interested in the historical development of science,” said study author <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/hugomercier/" target="_blank">Hugo Mercier</a>, a research director at the Institut Jean Nicod.</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed a dataset of 13,556 scholars. Among them, 2,317 individuals were considered “polymaths”—those with at least two distinct scholarly interests. These polymaths formed the core sample for constructing a network of scholarly interests. Each interest (such as mathematician, philosopher, or geographer) was treated as a node, and connections between them were based on how often they co-occurred within individual scholars. This network approach allowed the researchers to explore which combinations of interests occurred more frequently than would be expected by chance.</p>
<p>To avoid letting the dominance of European scholars skew the findings, the researchers created a “Global Network” by combining all non-European polymaths with a randomly sampled, equally sized subset of European polymaths. They also created separate networks for European and non-European scholars, and compared all of them using a statistical measure known as the Weighted Jaccard similarity. This metric allowed them to assess how similar the structures of scholarly interests were between regions.</p>
<p>The results showed that patterns of co-occurring interests were remarkably consistent across regions. Whether in Europe, the Middle East, or East Asia, certain interests tended to go hand in hand. Philosophy and mathematics, for instance, often appeared together—a pairing found not only in Western scholars like Pascal and Copernicus, but also in figures from other cultures such as Al-Khwarizmi in the Islamic world and Xu Yue in China. Other recurring pairings included astronomy with mathematics and theology with history.</p>
<p>When the researchers clustered the interests, three broad domains emerged. The Human Domain included fields like philosophy, theology, and history. The Natural Domain encompassed zoology, botany, and geography. The Abstract Domain featured interests such as mathematics, astronomy, and musicology. Most scholars were affiliated with one or more of these domains, and these affiliations appeared with striking regularity across different world regions.</p>
<p>Although there were some regional differences—such as a notable emphasis on natural sciences in early modern Europe—the overall proportions of interest in the three domains remained relatively stable. These differences were greater than what would be expected by chance, but the variation was modest. For example, in most regions, around a third of scholars were interested in each domain, with slight shifts depending on the century and location.</p>
<p>Mercier was surprised “how little variation across time and space we find in scholars’ interests: for instance, the share of scholars interested in what we call the ‘abstract domain’ (mathematics, astronomy, physics, etc.) is surprisingly similar in every area and every time period we looked at.”</p>
<p>To test whether the structure of curiosity had changed over time, the researchers also examined how these patterns evolved across different historical periods. Once again, they found remarkable consistency. The share of scholars in each domain remained relatively steady across centuries, with no strong evidence of long-term historical drift toward or away from any single domain.</p>
<p>The findings suggest that the way scholars distribute their intellectual curiosity may be rooted in something more fundamental than cultural norms or historical trends. One possibility is that these domains of knowledge correspond to basic cognitive preferences. Some individuals may be naturally drawn to abstract reasoning and seek out mathematics or philosophy. Others may prefer observational or classification-based thinking, leading them to fields like zoology or botany. Still others may be intrigued by human narratives and moral inquiry, gravitating toward history and theology.</p>
<p>Although practical constraints may explain some of the overlap between interests—such as how skills in geography could also aid botanical exploration—this does not fully account for the strength of certain pairings. For example, the recurring link between philosophy and mathematics may reflect shared mental dispositions rather than practical necessity.</p>
<p>The researchers also propose that the structure of scholarly interests could reflect an interaction between personal cognitive styles and environmental opportunities. In places or times when natural exploration was particularly feasible—such as in 17th-century Netherlands during the age of exploration—scholars may have had more incentive to pursue the natural sciences. But this tendency did not erase interest in other domains, suggesting that all three domains have persistent appeal.</p>
<p>“There appears to be universal patterns in the kind of things that people find interesting: everywhere, someone interested in mathematics is more likely to also be interested in astronomy than in history, for instance,” Mercier told PsyPost. “Moreover, it also seems that the share of people interested in different domains of inquiry–social sciences, natural sciences, etc.–is broadly similar across societies and time periods, at least until the enlightenment. ”</p>
<p>Despite the robustness of their findings, the study does have limitations. The dataset, though large, is incomplete and likely biased. Much of the data comes from records maintained or curated by contemporary Western institutions, and the categories of scholarly interests—like astronomer or theologian—may not be defined consistently across time or cultures. Many regions, especially outside Europe and the Middle East, are underrepresented due to limited historical records. Women are especially underrepresented, with only 144 included in the dataset compared to over 13,000 men.</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the researchers argue that the overall patterns observed in the data are unlikely to be accidental. The consistent co-occurrence of specific interests across centuries and continents suggests the existence of an underlying architecture to human curiosity—one that is structured and perhaps rooted in stable psychological or cognitive differences among individuals.</p>
<p>Future research could build on this work by incorporating more refined data sources, such as digitized texts and treatises, to get a more detailed picture of what historical scholars were actually interested in. Studies could also focus on better documenting the intellectual contributions of women and non-Western scholars. The long-term goal is to “better understand the motivations of scholars and scientists, and whether they change with time and cultural context,” Mercier said.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-025-05340-z" target="_blank">The structure and evolution of scholarly interests from antiquity to the eighteenth century</a>,” was authored by <a href="https://charlesdedampierre.github.io/" target="_blank">Charles de Dampierre</a> and Hugo Mercier.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/single-dose-psilocybin-therapy-shows-promise-for-reducing-alcohol-consumption/" 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;">Single-dose psilocybin therapy shows promise for reducing alcohol consumption</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 15th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251319457" target="_blank">Journal of Psychopharmacology</a></em> suggests that a single high dose of psilocybin, combined with psychological support, can lead to reductions in alcohol use among people with severe alcohol use disorder. In this small open-label study, all participants completed the treatment, and most showed notable decreases in heavy drinking, alcohol cravings, and increased confidence in their ability to abstain. These effects were observed even though there were wide differences in how individuals processed the drug.</p>
<p>Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain species of mushrooms. It has gained increasing scientific interest in recent years for its potential to treat mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. The compound affects serotonin receptors in the brain and can cause profound alterations in perception, self-awareness, and emotion. Most research exploring its therapeutic potential in alcohol use disorder has involved multiple doses, but the authors of this study wanted to know whether a single dose might also produce meaningful changes.</p>
<p>“I was intrigued by the early pilot studies on alcohol use disorder and nicotine dependence showing that just a few doses of psilocybin could have immediate and long-lasting effects,” explained study author <a href="https://alkoholforskning.dk/psilocybin/" target="_blank">Mathias Ebbesen Jensen</a>, a postdoctoral researcher at the Neuropsychiatric Laboratory at Psychiatric Center Copenhagen.</p>
<p>“At that time, I did clinical research with GLP-1 receptor agonist for alcohol use disorder, which was a more traditional pharmacological approach. Psilocybin contrasted this in many ways by showing long-lasting benefits way beyond the drugs presence in the organism. I was also very inspired by the work of William Miller, who is perhaps best known for developing Motivational Interviewing, a counselling style widely used in addiction, who had this concept of sudden change he called quantum change. </p>
<p>“Quantum change contrasted the gradual change and was characterized by a sudden and spontaneous transformative experiences that would change one’s attitude and behavior in a benevolent and long-lasting way,” Jensen explained. “The phenomenology of quantum change experiences bear a striking resemblance with the psilocybin-induced experiences, and I thought, perhaps we can occasion quantum changes with psilocybin and thereby radically change their drinking behavior.”</p>
<p>The research team designed an open-label, single-group trial involving ten adults seeking treatment for alcohol use disorder. Eight men and two women participated, with a median age of 44 years. All had severe alcohol use disorder, as confirmed by diagnostic criteria and self-report questionnaires. Importantly, many of the participants had never received treatment before, and only half had prior experience with psychedelics.</p>
<p>The treatment protocol included five sessions: two preparatory therapy meetings before the psilocybin session, one high-dose psilocybin session (25 milligrams), and two integration sessions afterward. The therapy incorporated elements of motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, and guided imagery. These approaches were chosen to help participants prepare for and reflect on the psychological effects of the psychedelic experience.</p>
<p>On dosing day, participants arrived at the clinic after a light meal and underwent medical screening. They ingested a capsule containing 25 milligrams of psilocybin and listened to a curated six-hour music program while reclining in a comfortable room with two trained therapists present. The therapists provided support but mostly kept interaction minimal unless participants needed reassurance or guidance. Subjective drug intensity was assessed every 20 minutes during the session. After the effects wore off, participants completed several questionnaires to assess the quality and emotional tone of the experience.</p>
<p>Blood samples were collected at multiple time points to measure the concentration of psilocin—the active form of psilocybin—in the bloodstream. These measurements allowed the researchers to track how quickly and how strongly each participant absorbed and metabolized the drug. The results showed substantial differences across participants, with peak blood concentrations ranging from 14 to 59 micrograms per liter, and times to reach peak levels ranging from just over an hour to nearly five hours.</p>
<p>Despite this variation, all participants reported intense psychedelic effects. Most achieved the highest possible subjective intensity score, and many described their experience using terms consistent with mystical-type experiences. These included feelings of unity, transcendence of time and space, and a deep sense of meaning. On average, the peak effects occurred around 1.3 hours after ingestion and lasted for approximately six hours.</p>
<p>All ten participants completed the full course of treatment. No serious side effects were reported. Mild and short-lasting side effects such as anxiety, headache, and fatigue were common in the first day but resolved without medical intervention. Blood pressure and heart rate increased slightly after dosing but remained within safe ranges. These findings suggest that the treatment was feasible and well-tolerated.</p>
<p>The researchers measured changes in drinking behavior using a well-established method that tracks alcohol use over time. Twelve weeks after the psilocybin session, participants had reduced their number of heavy drinking days by an average of 37.5 percentage points. The number of drinks consumed per day also dropped significantly, with a median reduction of about 3.4 drinks. </p>
<p>“This was the first study to assess the safety and efficacy of just a single psilocybin dose for patients with alcohol use disorder,” Jensen told PsyPost. “It was also the first study to assess blood samples during the psychedelic session to see how the blood concentrations of the drug behaved over time and whether this was important in relation to the effects. We found that a single dose of psilocybin with few psychotherapy sessions before and after was safe and significantly reduced heavy drinking for at least 12 weeks.” </p>
<p>Craving scores decreased markedly just one week after treatment and remained lower at weeks four and twelve. At the same time, participants reported feeling more confident in their ability to resist alcohol use, and this sense of self-efficacy remained elevated throughout the follow-up period.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the researchers found that participants who reported more intense mystical-type experiences during their psilocybin session were more likely to show sustained reductions in drinking. However, the actual concentration of psilocin in the blood was not linked to treatment outcomes. This suggests that the psychological nature of the experience, rather than the exact dose absorbed, may play a key role in promoting change. In particular, participants who met criteria for a “complete mystical experience” were more likely to be classified as treatment responders.</p>
<p>“In many ways, I was surprised that the total amount of drug exposure did not relate to a better treatment outcome e.g., the peak concentration of psilocin (the active metabolite of psilocybin) was not associated with efficacy,” Jensen said. “Participants with peak concentrations below the average, still had very profound and intense experiences that predicted a better treatment response. </p>
<p>“There is probably a threshold for entering a therapeutic altered state of consciousness, which is perhaps quite individual and depends on several non-pharmacological factors. We could speculate that a person who has personality traits of high openness to experiences and suggestibility would need a lower blood psilocin concentration than others. Obviously much more research is needed.”</p>
<p>Although the study showed positive results, it had several limitations. The small sample size—just ten people—means that the findings cannot be generalized to the broader population. The open-label design, where both participants and researchers knew what treatment was being given, leaves room for expectation effects to influence outcomes. </p>
<p>The absence of a control group also makes it impossible to determine whether the observed changes were due to the psilocybin, the therapeutic support, or other factors. Additionally, since the study was conducted in Denmark and relied on self-referred individuals, the sample may not reflect the diversity of people with alcohol use problems.</p>
<p>“The readers should be cautious when interpreting these results,” Jensen said. “We only included ten participants, of which only two were women, and everybody knew they were going to get psilocybin i.e., there was no control group. It is likely that the effects we observed are inflated by high expectations. The results need to be replicated in larger placebo-controlled trials.”</p>
<p>The research team is now working on a more robust trial to confirm these findings. “We are currently investigating the same single-dose approach in a randomized placebo-controlled trial, which will be completed in this fall 2025,” Jensen explained. “Here we are also assessing psilocybin’s effects on the neurobiology measured both with brain imaging techniques and blood markers of neuroplasticity.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251319457" target="_blank">Single-dose psilocybin therapy for alcohol use disorder: Pharmacokinetics, feasibility, safety and efficacy in an open-label study</a>,” was authored by Mathias Ebbesen Jensen, Dea Siggaard Stenbæk, Catharina Dragsted Messell, Emil Deleuran Poulsen, Tibor V. Varga, Patrick McDonald Fisher, Marie Katrine Klose Nielsen, Sys Stybe Johansen, Nora D. Volkow, Gitte Moos Knudsen, and Anders Fink-Jensen.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/low-carb-diets-linked-to-reduced-depression-symptoms-but-theres-a-catch/" 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;">Low-carb diets linked to reduced depression symptoms — but there’s a catch</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 14th 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.03.013" target="_blank">Journal of Psychiatric Research</a></em> suggests that not all low-carbohydrate diets affect mental health the same way. Adults who followed a low-carbohydrate diet that emphasized plant-based proteins, unsaturated fats, and fewer refined carbohydrates were significantly less likely to experience symptoms of depression. On the other hand, low-carb diets high in animal protein and saturated fats showed no such benefits. These findings point to the importance of food quality, not just quantity, in shaping mood and mental health.</p>
<p>Carbohydrates are a major source of energy in the human diet, but their role in mental health has been debated. Low-carbohydrate diets—often adopted for weight loss or metabolic health—reduce carbohydrate intake and compensate with higher protein and fat intake. While some studies have found that these diets improve symptoms of depression, others have reported no clear link or even suggested possible risks. One factor that may explain these conflicting results is that researchers have not always distinguished between high-quality and low-quality sources of nutrients.</p>
<p>To address this gap, researchers in China conducted a large cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a representative health survey of U.S. adults. They wanted to determine whether the type of low-carbohydrate diet someone follows—healthy or unhealthy—affects the likelihood of experiencing depression symptoms.</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed data from 28,791 U.S. adults aged 20 and older who participated in NHANES between 2005 and 2018. Participants were excluded if they had incomplete dietary data, implausible calorie intake, missing depression assessments, or missing background information such as education or health history. The final sample included a wide range of demographic groups, with information collected through interviews, physical exams, and two-day dietary recalls.</p>
<p>To evaluate how closely participants followed low-carbohydrate diets, the researchers created three types of dietary scores. The overall low-carbohydrate diet score (OLCD) was based on the total intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. A higher score meant lower carbohydrate intake and higher intake of fats and proteins. </p>
<p>They also created two specific variations: the healthy low-carbohydrate diet score (HLCD) and the unhealthy low-carbohydrate diet score (ULCD). The HLCD emphasized plant-based proteins, unsaturated fats, and minimal low-quality carbohydrates like refined grains and added sugars. In contrast, the ULCD emphasized animal proteins, saturated fats, and reduced intake of healthy carbohydrates like fruits, legumes, and whole grains.</p>
<p>Depression symptoms were assessed using a widely accepted questionnaire known as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). This tool asks participants about feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and other mood-related experiences over the past two weeks. A total score of 10 or more is considered to indicate significant symptoms of depression.</p>
<p>To understand the relationship between diet and depression, the researchers used statistical models that adjusted for a variety of factors, including age, sex, race, education, body weight, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and existing health conditions like diabetes or heart disease. They also tested whether replacing certain foods with healthier alternatives would impact depression risk.</p>
<p>The results showed that individuals with higher HLCD scores—those who ate fewer refined carbs and more plant-based proteins and healthy fats—had significantly lower odds of experiencing depressive symptoms. Specifically, people in the highest category of the HLCD were about 30% less likely to report depression symptoms compared to those in the lowest category. In contrast, people with higher ULCD scores showed no meaningful difference in depression risk compared to those with low scores.</p>
<p>The overall low-carbohydrate diet score (OLCD) also showed a weak association with lower depression symptoms, but the effect was less consistent and disappeared at the highest levels. The dose-response analysis suggested that moderate adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet was more beneficial than extreme restriction. When low-quality carbohydrates were replaced with plant-based or even animal-based proteins, participants were less likely to report depression symptoms, highlighting the potential role of nutrient substitutions.</p>
<p>The study also explored whether specific groups might benefit more from healthier low-carb diets. Results remained consistent across subgroups based on age, gender, race, marital status, and lifestyle factors like exercise or smoking. Sensitivity analyses that accounted for antidepressant use also supported the main findings.</p>
<p>One possible explanation for the link between healthy low-carb diets and reduced depression symptoms involves inflammation and oxidative stress. Diets high in added sugars and saturated fats can increase inflammation in the body, which has been linked to depression. In contrast, diets rich in nutrients like B vitamins, folate, and tryptophan—found in many plant-based foods—may support brain function by aiding neurotransmitter production, including serotonin. These dietary patterns may also improve gut health, metabolic function, and sleep, all of which influence mood.</p>
<p>Another key takeaway from the study is that not all low-carbohydrate diets are equal. A diet low in carbohydrates but high in processed meats, saturated fats, and lacking in plant-based foods may not support mental health. Simply reducing carbohydrate intake, without considering the source and quality of the remaining nutrients, is unlikely to provide psychological benefits.</p>
<p>Despite its strengths—including a large, nationally representative sample and a nuanced analysis of dietary patterns—the study has limitations. Because it was cross-sectional, it cannot prove cause and effect. It’s possible that people with depression eat differently because of their symptoms, rather than diet causing those symptoms. Dietary intake was self-reported and only measured over two days, which may not capture long-term habits. There may also be errors in how foods were categorized, despite efforts to minimize subjectivity.</p>
<p>Future research should follow participants over time to confirm whether these dietary patterns can prevent depression or reduce symptoms in people who are already struggling. Clinical trials that test specific dietary interventions, using more accurate tracking methods, would help clarify the underlying mechanisms and strengthen the evidence base.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.03.013" target="_blank">Low-carbohydrate diet macronutrient quality and depression symptoms among US adults</a>,” was authored by Chengxiang Hu, Beibei Han, Yue He, Rong Huang, Xiaoting Fan, Jia Lan, Yanan Ma, and Lina Jin.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-discover-biological-mechanism-that-helps-the-brain-ignore-irrelevant-information/" 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 biological mechanism that helps the brain ignore irrelevant information</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 14th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01745-w" target="_blank">Nature Neuroscience</a></em> sheds light on how the brain filters out distractions during memory formation. The study reveals that a type of synaptic plasticity—long-term changes in inhibitory connections between neurons—helps the brain suppress irrelevant sensory input during memory replay, a process believed to support long-term learning. This filtering mechanism allows the hippocampus to focus on the general structure of past experiences, rather than the noisy or unpredictable details.</p>
<p>The researchers wanted to understand how the brain distinguishes between useful and irrelevant information when storing memories. While it is well established that the hippocampus replays neural activity to consolidate memories, what actually gets replayed—and how the brain decides what to keep or discard—remains unclear. This study aimed to uncover the neural rules that shape the content of these replay events, particularly how distractions are suppressed while core patterns are preserved.</p>
<p>To investigate this, the research team used a combination of computational models and experimental methods in mice. First, they built three types of models—a basic spiking network, a detailed biophysical model of hippocampal neurons, and an abstract mathematical model. Each model simulated memory replay in the hippocampus, focusing on an area called CA3, which is known for generating sharp-wave ripples—brief bursts of brain activity linked to memory consolidation. These models were trained on sequences of experiences containing both relevant spatial patterns and irrelevant, randomly placed cues.</p>
<p>In each simulation, the models learned to represent the environment using a Hebbian learning rule. This rule strengthens connections between neurons that activate together, and in this study, it was applied not only to excitatory synapses but also to inhibitory ones—a departure from most previous models. </p>
<p>The team found that including inhibitory plasticity allowed the network to suppress the activity of neurons tuned to unpredictable, non-generalizable stimuli, while still reinforcing patterns that reflected stable aspects of the environment. In contrast, networks without inhibitory plasticity replayed noisy and disorganized sequences that did not resemble meaningful memories.</p>
<p>To test the predictions of their models in real brains, the researchers conducted optogenetic experiments in mice. They implanted tiny optical fibers and injected viruses to target specific neurons in the hippocampus with light-sensitive proteins. By pairing random sensory cues with artificial stimulation of a sparse group of neurons, they effectively created artificial “distractor cells.” These neurons became active during irrelevant stimuli. </p>
<p>Later, during periods of rest when memory replay typically occurs, the researchers measured whether these neurons were suppressed. As predicted, neurons artificially linked to unpredictable stimuli showed reduced activation during memory replay, consistent with the idea that the brain learns to inhibit irrelevant representations.</p>
<p>The experimental data also confirmed that this suppression was linked to increased inhibitory input onto these neurons. Cells that responded to random cues received stronger inhibitory signals than place cells, which are known to represent consistent features like spatial location. This supports the idea that inhibitory synapses adapt based on experience and help shape the content of memory replay in a way that supports generalization.</p>
<p>In both simulations and biological experiments, when inhibitory plasticity was removed or disrupted, the brain’s ability to distinguish signal from noise broke down. Replay became cluttered with irrelevant information, and the networks failed to maintain clean, structured representations. This suggests that inhibitory learning is not only important for filtering distractions but also essential for the formation of coherent memories.</p>
<p>The study also introduced a simplified model that abstracted real-world learning into a sequence of observations with both consistent patterns and random distractions. In this model, excitatory learning alone could not filter out noise. But when inhibition was allowed to adapt based on the timing of neural activity, the network learned to suppress unpredictable inputs over time. The more often a distractor occurred in different contexts, the more inhibition it accumulated, eventually blocking it from being replayed. This mechanism aligns with the idea that memory consolidation prioritizes generalizable information—patterns that remain stable across multiple experiences.</p>
<p>While the study provides strong support for the role of inhibitory plasticity in memory consolidation, it also has limitations. The researchers used relatively simple environments and focused on a specific hippocampal circuit. In real life, experiences are far more complex, and many different brain areas are involved in processing and storing memories. </p>
<p>Additionally, the study treated inhibitory neurons as a uniform group, while in reality, there are many subtypes with different roles. Future research could explore how different types of inhibitory neurons contribute to memory selection and whether this mechanism applies in other brain regions or during sleep.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01745-w" target="_blank">Inhibitory plasticity supports replay generalization in the hippocampus</a>,” was authored by Zhenrui Liao, Satoshi Terada, Ivan Georgiev Raikov, Darian Hadjiabadi, Miklos Szoboszlay, Ivan Soltes, and Attila Losonczy.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/problematic-porn-use-remains-stable-over-time-and-is-strongly-linked-to-mental-distress-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;">Problematic porn use remains stable over time and is strongly linked to mental distress, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 14th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new longitudinal study has found that problematic pornography use tends to remain stable over time and is strongly associated with psychological distress such as anxiety and depression. The findings, published in the journal <em>Addictive Behaviors</em>, suggest that while some people may experience short-term relief from distress through pornography use, long-term patterns of dysregulation are tied to more persistent psychological difficulties.</p>
<p>Pornography is widely used in the United States and globally, but for some individuals, it can become problematic. People who experience problematic pornography use often report difficulty controlling their use and suffer negative consequences in their personal, professional, or emotional lives. The condition has recently gained clinical recognition under the diagnostic label of Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder in the World Health Organization’s latest classification system. Despite this recognition, little research has explored how problematic pornography use develops and changes over time, especially in relation to mental health symptoms.</p>
<p>Robin Engelhardt of Bundeswehr University, the lead author, was motivated by “the necessity to scientifically catch up in this field. Previous studies depicted comparatively high prevalence rates of problematic pornography use and associations with psychological distress.”</p>
<p>The researchers conducted a one-year, three-wave longitudinal study of over 4,300 U.S. adults. They wanted to examine how problematic pornography use and psychological distress influence each other over time and whether these patterns are stable or fluctuate. Their work builds on previous research that identified a link between pornography dysregulation and psychological distress but could not determine whether one causes the other.</p>
<p>Participants were recruited through a national polling company and included a combination of a general population sample and an oversample of sports bettors to increase statistical power. The final sample included 4,363 individuals between the ages of 18 and 96, with an average age of 50 and a gender distribution of roughly equal numbers of men and women. The study took place over three timepoints: March-April 2022, September-October 2022, and March-April 2023.</p>
<p>To assess problematic pornography use, the researchers used the Brief Pornography Screen, a five-item questionnaire designed to measure symptoms of dysregulation, such as difficulty resisting urges or using pornography in ways that cause distress. A score of 4 or higher on this measure was considered a potential indicator of problematic use. Psychological distress was measured through widely used tools for assessing anxiety and depression: the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The researchers combined responses from both scales into a single composite reflecting overall distress.</p>
<p>The study found that problematic pornography use was highly consistent across time. Correlations between timepoints were strong, and most participants remained in the same clinical category—either below or above the threshold for potential problematic use—throughout the year. About 67% of participants consistently scored below the clinical threshold, while 14% consistently scored above it. Only a small proportion moved between categories, indicating either recovery or the development of problematic use.</p>
<p>Psychological distress was also stable across timepoints, and the researchers found a strong positive association between pornography dysregulation and distress at the level of individuals. That is, people who tended to score higher on pornography problems also tended to report more distress, and vice versa. This suggests a stable, trait-like relationship between the two.</p>
<p>Interestingly, when the researchers examined how changes in one variable might predict changes in the other over time, the results were more nuanced. They found small, negative within-person effects: when an individual experienced an increase in pornography dysregulation at one time point, they were slightly less likely to report increased psychological distress six months later. The reverse was also true. This pattern was unexpected, as many theories in psychology predict that distress and problematic behaviors reinforce one another over time.</p>
<p>The researchers offered a few potential explanations for this finding. One possibility is that pornography use may provide temporary relief from emotional distress, functioning as a short-term coping strategy. People experiencing anxiety or depression may turn to pornography for distraction or mood regulation, which could lead to a slight reduction in distress in the short run. However, over time, this pattern may backfire, leading to a worsening of dysregulation and deepening of psychological problems.</p>
<p>Another interpretation centers on the effects of depression itself. Depression can dampen a person’s general motivation and reduce interest in activities, including sexual ones. This might result in lower pornography use during depressive episodes, even among people with a history of dysregulation. In this way, depression could inhibit some of the behavioral patterns associated with problematic pornography use, at least temporarily.</p>
<p>Despite these small short-term effects, the dominant pattern was one of a strong and consistent link between problematic use and psychological distress across individuals. This means that, in general, people who have more difficulty regulating their pornography use are also more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression. These findings echo previous research and align with the idea that both problematic pornography use and psychological distress can reinforce each other in the long term, even if their moment-to-moment dynamics are more complex.</p>
<p>The findings provide evidence of “a trait-like connection between problematic pornography use and psychological distress,” Engelhardt told PsyPost. “They appear to be the same construct — problematic pornography use appears a part of psychological distress and psychological distress a part of problematic pornography use. However, cross-sectional studies may not depict this underlying strong time-consistent association due to small time-dependent inhibition effects that let the association appear smaller.”</p>
<p>The study has several important strengths, including its large sample size, use of validated measurement tools, and robust statistical modeling techniques that distinguish between stable traits and temporary fluctuations. However, the authors caution that the findings are based on self-report data, which can be influenced by social desirability or memory biases. Additionally, the study focused on dysregulation rather than the frequency of pornography use, which could be an important factor in understanding how and why pornography affects mental health.</p>
<p>Future research, the authors suggest, should investigate these dynamics in clinical populations and over longer periods. They also recommend using more fine-grained, daily tracking methods to examine short-term interactions between distress and pornography use in real-world settings. Experimental studies could also help clarify whether reducing pornography use leads to improved mental health outcomes.</p>
<p>The study, “Problematic pornography use and psychological distress: A longitudinal study in a large US sample,” Robin Engelhardt, Rahel Geppert, Joshua B. Grubbs, Timo von Oertzen, Dominik Trommer, Jürgen Maes, and Shane W. Kraus.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/christian-nationalists-tend-to-imagine-god-as-benevolent-angry-over-sins-and-engaged/" 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;">Christian nationalists tend to imagine God as benevolent, angry over sins, and engaged</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 14th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Recent research found that U.S. Christians who believe that God is benevolent, angry, and engaged tend to express stronger religious nationalism. In turn, stronger religious nationalism was associated with greater conspiracy mentality and higher levels of xenophobia. The paper was published in <em><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pops.13087">Political Psychology</a>.</em></p>
<p>Religious views often play a significant role in shaping national identity. They influence cultural traditions, values, and historical narratives. In many countries, dominant religions are deeply intertwined with national symbols, holidays, and public life. In some nations, such as Iran or Israel, religion is a foundational component of the state itself. In others, like the United States or India, religious diversity coexists with strong national identities, though tensions may arise when one faith is perceived as more representative than others.</p>
<p>National identity can be reinforced by shared religious practices, which create a sense of belonging and continuity among citizens. However, when national identity becomes too closely linked to a single religion, it can marginalize religious minorities and fuel exclusion or conflict. Secular states attempt to separate religion from national identity, promoting citizenship based on civic values rather than faith. Still, even in secular societies, religious history often remains a powerful undercurrent in how people understand their national identity.</p>
<p>Sometimes, individuals combine their religious beliefs with their views on the nation-state. This gives rise to the ideology of religious nationalism. Religious nationalism occurs when people merge traditional religious beliefs in divine law and religious authority with the modern concept of the nation-state. This ideology moralizes political issues using religious principles and supports policies and leaders who promote one’s religious identity.</p>
<p>Religious nationalism “promotes the narrative that one’s nation is drifting away from its religious roots and needs its citizens to adhere to and promote this worldview. This narrative can further paint one’s religious followers as victims of a global conspiracy to obstruct one’s religion,” the study authors explain.</p>
<p>Study author Joseph A. Wagoner and his colleagues sought to explore whether religious nationalism is associated with the way people imagine God. They focused on four potential images of God: benevolent, authoritarian, engaged, and angry over sin. They conducted two studies, both examining the relationship between these images of God and religious nationalism.</p>
<p>In the first study, they analyzed data from the Baylor Religion Survey to investigate whether different images of God are associated with religious nationalism among U.S. Christians. Data came from two waves of the survey, involving 1,619 respondents in the first wave and 1,648 in the second.</p>
<p>The second study had a similar aim. Participants included 300 Christians from the United States and 299 from Italy, all recruited via Prolific. They completed an online survey that also asked about their attitudes toward government and political issues specific to their country.</p>
<p>Results from the first study showed that endorsement of all four images of God was associated with greater religious nationalism. However, the association was stronger—moderate in magnitude—for beliefs in a benevolent, engaged, or sin-angry God. The association between religious nationalism and belief in an authoritarian God was weaker.</p>
<p>In the second study, results from the U.S. sample indicated that beliefs in a benevolent God and a God angered by sin were associated with stronger religious nationalism. In turn, stronger religious nationalism predicted higher levels of conspiracy mentality and xenophobia.</p>
<p>In the Italian sample, beliefs in a benevolent, engaged, and angry God were all associated with higher levels of religious nationalism. Individuals with stronger religious nationalist beliefs were more likely to express negative attitudes toward their government and to endorse separatism, populist views, conspiracy theories, and xenophobia.</p>
<p>“Overall, we provide evidence that images of God uniquely predict religious nationalism across numerous contexts and that stronger religious nationalism relates to various contemporary sociopolitical outcomes,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the links between religious nationalism and how individuals imagine God. However, it should be noted that the study’s design does not allow for causal conclusions to be drawn from the results.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13087">Different images of God predict religious nationalism among Christians,”</a> was authored by Joseph A. Wagoner, Moussa Diarra, Barbara Barbieri, and Matteo Antonini.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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