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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/depressed-individuals-who-feel-stigmatized-are-more-likely-to-contemplate-suicide/" 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;">Depressed individuals who feel stigmatized are more likely to contemplate suicide</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 29th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A longitudinal study of depressed individuals in China found that those experiencing more severe personal stigma were more likely to contemplate suicide. Their suicidal thoughts also tended to be more severe. The research was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.036"><em>Journal of Affective Disorders</em></a>.</p>
<p>Suicide is the act of intentionally taking one’s own life. It typically occurs as a result of overwhelming emotional pain, mental illness, or a sense of hopelessness. Annually, over 700,000 people worldwide die by suicide.</p>
<p>An important precursor to suicide is suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation refers to thoughts about ending one’s life, which can range from fleeting, distressing thoughts to detailed planning. Not everyone who experiences suicidal ideation will attempt suicide, but it is a serious warning sign that should not be ignored. People experiencing suicidal ideation often feel trapped, worthless, or believe that others would be better off without them.</p>
<p>Risk factors for suicide include depression (major depressive disorder), substance abuse, trauma, social isolation, and access to means such as firearms or toxic substances. Protective factors—such as strong personal relationships, access to mental health care, and a sense of purpose—can help reduce the risk.</p>
<p>Study author Yanzhi Li and her colleagues aimed to explore the longitudinal associations between stigma and suicidal ideation among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). People suffering from depression often face stigma. Some findings suggest that, for many individuals, stigma can feel worse than the depression itself.</p>
<p>Stigma, in this context, refers to negative attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes that lead people to judge, dismiss, or avoid individuals with depression. This stigma can prevent people from seeking help, worsen feelings of shame or isolation, and contribute to misunderstanding of the condition.</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed data from patients with major depressive disorder in the Depression Cohort in China (DCC) study. The DCC is an ongoing longitudinal study of patients with MDD and individuals with subthreshold depressive symptoms. It was launched in Shenzhen, China in 2019. While 1,484 patients were enrolled at baseline, only 466 remained in the study by week 72.</p>
<p>This analysis focused on 1,123 patients for whom data on both stigma and suicidal ideation were available. Their average age was 28 years, and 29% were men. Among other measures, participants completed assessments of depression-related stigma (using the Depression Stigma Scale) and suicidal ideation (using the Chinese version of the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation).</p>
<p>Results showed that 28% of participants had suicidal ideation at the start of the study, but this figure decreased to 7% by week 72. Individuals who reported stronger experiences of depression-related stigma were more likely to have suicidal ideation, and their suicidal thoughts tended to be more severe.</p>
<p>“In this longitudinal study in patients with MDD [major depressive disorder], more severe personal stigma and perceived stigma were associated with a higher likelihood of suicidal ideation and more severe suicidal ideation. These findings suggest that reducing personal stigma and perceived stigma may help prevent suicidal behavior among patients with MDD.”, study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the factors associated with suicidal ideation in depression. However, it should be noted that the study data exclusively came from self-reports leaving room for reporting bias to affect the results.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.036">Longitudinal association between stigma and suicidal ideation among patients with major depressive disorder,</a>” was authored by Yanzhi Li, Yan Chen, Yifeng Liu, Yingchen Jiang, Hao Zhao, Wanxin Wang, Yuhua Liao, Huimin Zhang, Lan Guo, Beifang Fan, Angela T.H. Kwan, Roger S. McIntyre, Ciyong Lu, and Xue Han.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/fascinating-new-research-reveals-how-sexual-desire-shapes-long-term-partner-preferences/" 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;">Fascinating new research reveals how sexual desire shapes long-term partner preferences</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 29th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>People often say they want long-term partners who are kind, dependable, and emotionally supportive. But despite those intentions, many still place a surprising amount of importance on physical attractiveness—even when seeking committed relationships. A new study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104791" target="_blank">Journal of Experimental Social Psychology</a></em> sheds light on this apparent contradiction by identifying a key psychological driver behind these preferences: sexual desire.</p>
<p>Researchers found that people were more likely to prioritize physical attractiveness in a long-term partner when they experienced heightened sexual desire. The link held across gender and individual differences and appeared to be driven by both a person’s general level of sexual desire and whether that desire was activated in the moment.</p>
<p>The findings add a new layer to decades of research in evolutionary psychology, which has long suggested that people prefer attractive partners because beauty signals traits such as fertility and genetic fitness. But while those theories explain the long-term evolutionary advantages of mating with attractive partners, they rarely address what triggers people to seek out those traits in real-time. The current research fills that gap by showing how fluctuations in sexual desire can shift people’s romantic priorities.</p>
<p>The study was led by psychologist <a href="https://www.sierradpeters.com/" target="_blank">Sierra D. Peters</a> and colleagues at Rhodes College. The researchers were interested in moving beyond static explanations of mate preferences, which often rely on broad sex differences or cultural trends. They wanted to explore the moment-to-moment motivations that shape how people evaluate potential partners—particularly in the context of long-term relationships.</p>
<p>“I have always been interested in the traits people desire in romantic partners and why,” explained Peters, an assistant professor of psychology. “There is a lot of research showing people want attractive long-term partners (especially men), but the why has not been as widely studied. At an ultimate level, attractiveness signals desirable qualities like health, fertility, and reproductive potential.” </p>
<p>“However, I was interested in what takes place at a very proximate affective and motivational level that leads people to select attractive partners — what do they <em>feel</em> that <em>drives</em> them to choose attractive partners.”</p>
<p>In the first of three studies, the researchers surveyed 554 adults on their romantic preferences using a budgeting task. Participants were asked to allocate a limited number of points to different qualities they might want in an ideal spouse, including attractiveness, creativity, liveliness, commitment, and social status. They also completed measures of sexual desire and sociosexuality, a personality trait that reflects a person’s openness to casual sex.</p>
<p>As expected, men were more likely than women to prioritize physical attractiveness in a long-term partner. But importantly, the researchers found that much of this sex difference could be explained by differences in sexual desire. Men reported higher levels of sexual desire than women on average, and those with stronger sexual desire—regardless of gender—tended to assign more value to physical attractiveness. This pattern held even after controlling for sociosexuality and relationship status, suggesting that sexual desire plays a central role in shaping people’s partner preferences.</p>
<p>To test whether activating sexual desire could change people’s priorities in the moment, the second study used an experimental design. Over 1,000 undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to recall and write about a time they experienced strong sexual attraction or, in a control condition, a time they felt happy and excited. Afterward, participants completed the same budgeting task used in the first study.</p>
<p>Those primed with sexual desire allocated significantly more points to physical attractiveness in a long-term partner compared to those in the control group. This effect was found in both men and women. </p>
<p>Interestingly, women in the control group did not prioritize attractiveness above chance levels, but once sexual desire was activated, their preferences closely resembled those of men. The researchers also confirmed that the priming task successfully elevated participants’ current feelings of sexual desire, suggesting that the changes in mate preferences were not due to unrelated mood effects.</p>
<p>“When people feel sexual desire—whether it be chronically or acutely activated in a given moment—they place a priority on the physical attractiveness of potential romantic partners,” Peters told PsyPost. “This is the case in both men and women. This means that in situations or at times that women are feeling more sexual desire than they typically do, their preference for attractiveness will more closely resemble men’s, on average.”</p>
<p>In the third and final study, the researchers tried the opposite approach. Instead of activating sexual desire, they attempted to suppress its relevance by asking 469 participants to imagine that their long-term partner would not be a sexual partner. They were told to assume that sex outside the relationship was culturally accepted and emotionally harmless. Under these conditions, participants again completed the budgeting task.</p>
<p>As predicted, removing the relevance of sexual desire led to a drop in how much participants prioritized physical attractiveness. Compared to a control group, participants in the “sex-removed” condition allocated fewer points to attractiveness and more to other traits such as status and commitment. The results suggest that when sexual desire is not part of the equation, people place less emphasis on beauty in their ideal long-term partners.</p>
<p>Together, the three studies show that sexual desire—both chronic and situational—can influence how much value people place on physical attractiveness in long-term relationships. This influence appears to operate across genders and individual personality differences, highlighting the role of sexual motivation in shaping romantic decision-making.</p>
<p>“This research is among the first to demonstrate that partner preferences can vary dynamically across situations; in this case, with how much sexual desire a person is feeling in the moment,” Peters explained. “These findings contrast with traditional evolutionary perspectives that often depict such preferences as relatively invariant across situations.”</p>
<p>There are limitations to the research. The studies relied on self-reported preferences using hypothetical scenarios, which may not perfectly reflect how people choose partners in real life. People’s responses could also be influenced by social norms or personal biases. The researchers acknowledge that sexual desire is likely only one of several forces shaping mate preferences. Cultural expectations, social learning, and other psychological motivations may also contribute to how people evaluate potential partners.</p>
<p>Future studies could explore how preferences for attractiveness change over time in actual relationships and whether other motivations, such as parenting or emotional bonding, similarly shape partner selection. The researchers also noted the potential for using implicit measures to study partner preferences, which could bypass some of the limitations of self-report data.</p>
<p>Looking forwards, “I would like to examine the situational variability of other partner preferences and the affective and motivational mechanisms that drive them,” Peters said.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104791" target="_blank">The evolved psychology of mate preferences: Sexual desire underlies the prioritization of attractiveness in long-term partners</a>,” was authored by Sierra D. Peters, Jon K. Maner, and Andrea L. Meltzer.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/surprising-alzheimers-breakthrough-sugar-in-neurons-might-be-the-missing-link/" 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;">Surprising Alzheimer’s breakthrough: Sugar in neurons might be the missing link</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 29th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study has identified an unexpected contributor to Alzheimer’s disease: glycogen, a complex sugar stored inside brain cells. While traditionally associated with muscles and the liver, glycogen appears to accumulate abnormally in neurons affected by Alzheimer’s and other tau-related disorders. Scientists found that this buildup may worsen neurodegeneration by disrupting how cells manage energy and oxidative stress. Their findings, published in <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-025-01314-w" target="_blank">Nature Metabolism</a></em>, suggest that breaking down glycogen could help protect neurons and offer a promising new direction for treating or preventing dementia.</p>
<p>Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological condition that impairs memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most common cause of dementia, especially among older adults. The disease is marked by two key biological abnormalities in the brain: plaques made of amyloid-beta protein and tangles made of another protein called tau. These protein accumulations disrupt normal cell function, leading to inflammation, cell death, and brain shrinkage over time.</p>
<p>Despite extensive research, effective treatments for Alzheimer’s remain elusive. Most drug development has focused on clearing amyloid or tau from the brain, with limited success. Many researchers now believe that other factors, such as energy metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative stress, may play a role in determining who develops the disease and how quickly it progresses.</p>
<p>“Alzheimer’s disease, first identified over a century ago, remains one of the most challenging neurodegenerative conditions. Despite decades of research and numerous clinical trials aimed at targeting these aggregates, success has been limited,” said study author Pankaj Kapahi, a professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.</p>
<p>“Surprisingly, many people with these protein buildups show little or no cognitive decline, and not everyone with hereditary risk factors develops the disease. This has led scientists to suspect that other overlooked factors may contribute to the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s.”</p>
<p>“Recent research has started to shine a light on the role of environmental and lifestyle factors—particularly diet—in shaping brain health. That question sparked our curiosity: could a rich diet influence the development of Alzheimer’s?”</p>
<p>Glycogen is the storage form of glucose, a sugar that serves as a vital source of energy. The liver and muscles contain most of the body’s glycogen, which is broken down when energy demands increase. The brain, though highly energy-dependent, contains only small amounts of glycogen, mainly in support cells called astrocytes. Neurons—the primary information-processing cells of the brain—have long been thought to store very little glycogen and to rely mainly on a continuous glucose supply from the bloodstream.</p>
<p>However, recent studies have hinted that neurons might store more glycogen than previously thought, especially in disease states. The Buck Institute researchers were interested in whether abnormal glycogen metabolism might be a hidden driver of Alzheimer’s and related tauopathies, and whether correcting it could slow or prevent the disease.</p>
<p>The research team used both fruit fly models and human stem cell-derived neurons to study tauopathies—diseases characterized by tau protein accumulation. In the fly experiments, they used genetic tools to overexpress human tau protein, including a mutant version linked to frontotemporal dementia. These flies developed signs of neurodegeneration, such as shortened lifespan, brain cell death, and structural damage.</p>
<p>The researchers compared flies fed a normal, protein-rich diet to those fed a low-protein, calorie-restricted diet, known to extend lifespan in many species. They also tested the effects of drugs and genetic changes that promote glycogen breakdown. In parallel, they studied neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), including cells with two different tau mutations associated with dementia. These human neurons were grown in the lab and analyzed using fluorescent markers to assess glycogen accumulation, oxidative stress, and related metabolic activity.</p>
<p>The researchers found that tau-expressing neurons—both in flies and in human-derived cells—accumulated large amounts of glycogen. This buildup appeared to be linked to the tau protein itself, which physically interacted with glycogen and prevented its breakdown. The result was a toxic cycle: tau caused glycogen to build up, and the glycogen buildup made the tau accumulation worse.</p>
<p>When the researchers restored activity of an enzyme called glycogen phosphorylase (GlyP), which initiates glycogen breakdown, the effects were striking. In both flies and human neurons, breaking down glycogen reduced oxidative stress, lowered tau burden, and prevented cell death. It also extended the lifespan of tau-expressing flies by nearly 70 percent.</p>
<p>Rather than fueling energy production through glycolysis, the glycogen-derived glucose was diverted into the pentose phosphate pathway. This pathway produces antioxidant molecules like NADPH and glutathione, which protect cells from damage caused by reactive oxygen species. The researchers confirmed that oxidative stress levels dropped sharply in cells with active glycogen breakdown. Blocking this pathway erased the protective effects.</p>
<p>The team also found that dietary restriction increased glycogen phosphorylase activity through a well-known signaling mechanism involving cyclic AMP and protein kinase A. Treating flies with a drug that mimics this pathway had similar effects to calorie restriction, reducing cell death and extending lifespan. This may help explain why drugs used to treat diabetes and promote weight loss—such as GLP-1 agonists—show early signs of benefit in Alzheimer’s trials.</p>
<p>“Sugar metabolism in neurons is different from what was previously believed,” Kapahi told PsyPost. “We found that stored sugars in brain cells can help reduce reactive oxygen species—harmful byproducts of normal metabolism. However, when these sugars accumulate too much, they can bind to toxic protein buildups and make the condition worse. We identified a pathway that breaks down this sugar buildup in neurons.”</p>
<p>Proteomic and metabolomic analyses supported these findings. The researchers identified dozens of metabolic and mitochondrial genes affected by diet, tau, and glycogen metabolism. Importantly, they found similar changes in brain tissue from Alzheimer’s patients, including upregulation of enzymes involved in glycogen metabolism.</p>
<p>“Using a fruit fly model, our team uncovered a powerful link between a rich diet and the progression of Alzheimer’s-like symptoms,” Kapahi explained. “Under the leadership of postdoctoral researcher Dr. Sudipta Bar, we made a fascinating discovery: neurons in Alzheimer’s patients accumulate an unusual amount of glycogen—a complex sugar molecule not typically found in large quantities in healthy brain cells. Because of its complex structure, glycogen can attach to toxic proteins and may accelerate their aggregation.”</p>
<p>“Even more intriguing, Dr. Bar found that neurons metabolize glycogen differently than other organs, hinting at a unique metabolic vulnerability in the brain. He also identified key upstream proteins and signaling pathways that may be harnessed to prevent or reverse this harmful process. This unexpected connection between diet, sugar metabolism, and protein aggregation opens exciting new avenues for Alzheimer’s research and potential therapies.”</p>
<p>Although the results are promising, the study has several limitations. Most of the experiments were conducted in fruit flies or lab-grown neurons, which do not fully replicate the complexity of the human brain. While human data were used for comparison, more work is needed to confirm whether glycogen metabolism plays the same role in living patients.</p>
<p>It is also unclear whether glycogen accumulation is a cause or a consequence of neurodegeneration, or whether it occurs early enough in the disease process to serve as a useful therapeutic target. Long-term studies in animal models and clinical trials will be needed to explore whether enhancing glycogen breakdown can slow cognitive decline or improve brain health.</p>
<p>The researchers plan to continue exploring how glycogen interacts with tau and other proteins, and whether certain diets or medications can modify this process. “Our long-term goal is to develop therapeutic strategies based on our findings,” Kapahi said. “In addition, we aim to explore the many questions this study has raised, such as: How does glycogen breakdown help rescue disease pathology? Which metabolic pathways are altered by glycogen breakdown? And how does glycogen bind to toxic proteins?”</p>
<p>“We would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of Prof. Lisa Ellerby, Prof. Birgit Schilling, and Prof. Tara Tracy from the Buck Institute, as well as Prof. Nicholas Seyfried from Emory University, along with their lab members, for their support and collaboration in this study.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01314-w" target="_blank">Neuronal glycogen breakdown mitigates tauopathy via pentose-phosphate-pathway-mediated oxidative stress reduction</a>,” was authored by Sudipta Bar, Kenneth A. Wilson, Tyler A. U. Hilsabeck, Sydney Alderfer, Eric B. Dammer, Jordan B. Burton, Samah Shah, Anja Holtz, Enrique M. Carrera, Jennifer N. Beck, Jackson H. Chen, Grant Kauwe, Fatemeh Seifar, Ananth Shantaraman, Tara E. Tracy, Nicholas T. Seyfried, Birgit Schilling, Lisa M. Ellerby, and Pankaj Kapahi.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/lucid-dreamers-report-reduced-fear-after-confronting-phobias-in-their-sleep/" 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;">Lucid dreamers report reduced fear after confronting phobias in their sleep</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 28th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>New research suggests that lucid dreaming may help people reduce their fears by allowing them to face phobia-related situations in a safe, dream-based environment. In a study published in <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2022-80667-001?doi=1"><em>Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice</em></a>, participants who encountered the object of their fear in a lucid dream often reported less fear after waking up—especially when the fear had been intense beforehand.</p>
<p>Lucid dreams are a type of dream in which the sleeper becomes aware they are dreaming. Unlike typical dreams, lucid dreams often allow the person to consciously observe or even control what happens during the dream. This heightened awareness makes it possible for some people to confront challenging emotions or experiences in a vivid, immersive way without any physical risk.</p>
<p>Although lucid dreaming has long fascinated scientists and the public alike, research into its therapeutic applications is still emerging. Earlier studies have shown that lucid dreaming can help people improve motor skills, relieve nightmares, and reduce pain. In this study, researchers wanted to explore whether facing one’s fears during a lucid dream could help reduce fear in waking life.</p>
<p>The study was conducted by Zhanna Zhunusova, Michael Raduga, and Andrey Shashkov at <a href="https://remspace.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">REMspace</a> and the Phase Research Center in Novorossiysk, Russia. The researchers focused on how the intensity of fear before and during a lucid dream influenced how people felt after the experience. Their main question was whether encountering a fear in a lucid dream could change how frightening it felt after waking up—and whether that effect depended on how scared someone felt beforehand.</p>
<p>To test this idea, the researchers recruited 76 people with prior experience in lucid dreaming through online channels. Each participant was asked to intentionally face a personal fear while lucid dreaming. After the dream, they completed a report describing what happened, how scared they felt in the dream, and how their level of fear had changed—if at all—after waking up.</p>
<p>The researchers filtered the reports to ensure that only detailed, valid accounts were analyzed. In the final analysis, they included 55 reports in which participants had clearly described their experiences and evaluated their levels of fear before, during, and after the lucid dream.</p>
<p>A little over half of the participants (51 percent) said they felt less fear after the lucid dream. The remaining 49 percent said their fear stayed the same. None of the participants reported an increase in fear after confronting their fear in a dream.</p>
<p>The researchers found that people who were more afraid to begin with were more likely to feel better after the dream. Among those who reported strong fear before entering the dream, 62 percent said their fear had gone down afterward. In contrast, only 25 percent of those who started with mild or average fear reported a decrease in fear after the dream. This difference was statistically significant.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the level of fear participants felt while they were actually in the dream did not seem to affect the outcome. Whether they had intense fear or barely any fear during the lucid dream, their level of improvement afterward stayed the same. That finding suggests that the act of encountering a fear in a dream—regardless of how scary it felt at the time—might be enough to shift the way someone feels about that fear in waking life.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked at whether factors like gender, level of lucid dreaming experience, and the method used to enter the lucid dream played a role in the results. None of these factors showed any meaningful connection to the change in fear after the dream. Similarly, the way the dream ended—whether by waking up naturally, on purpose, or due to outside disturbances—did not appear to influence the outcome.</p>
<p>The researchers drew connections between their findings and existing psychological treatments for anxiety and phobias. In particular, they noted similarities with exposure therapy, a method used in cognitive behavioral therapy where people confront their fears in a gradual and safe way. Lucid dreaming, they argue, may offer a unique way to simulate these experiences in a controlled, internal environment. It may also align with elements of gestalt therapy, which emphasizes awareness and facing one’s emotions directly.</p>
<p>They also speculated about possible links between lucid dreaming and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a therapy often used to treat trauma. Because lucid dreams occur during rapid eye movement sleep and involve vivid emotional experiences, they may share some of the same neural mechanisms as this form of therapy. These similarities could help explain why confronting fear in a dream might lead to lasting emotional shifts.</p>
<p>No participants in the study reported increased fear after the experiment, which the researchers view as a promising sign for the safety of this approach. Lucid dreams allow for immersive simulations of frightening scenarios without the risk of physical harm, which may make them well-suited for therapeutic uses in the future.</p>
<p>The study does come with some limitations. Since all reports were submitted online, the researchers had to rely on self-reported experiences, which cannot be independently verified. They could not objectively measure how intense the dreams were or whether participants truly faced the specific fears they described. The sample size was also relatively small, and most of the participants had prior experience with lucid dreaming, which may not reflect the general population.</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the findings point to intriguing possibilities. The researchers suggest that future studies should explore whether talking to the object of one’s fear in a lucid dream could lead to even greater benefits. They also recommend testing whether simply having a lucid dream—without confronting any fear—could reduce anxiety. Additional research might also examine the connections between lucid dreaming and established therapy techniques, such as those involving imagery or eye movements.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cns0000331" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Overcoming Phobias by Lucid Dreaming</a>,” was authored by Zhanna Zhunusova, Michael Raduga, and Andrey Shashkov.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/is-trauma-really-carried-in-our-dna-the-scientific-story-is-more-complicated/" 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;">Is trauma really carried in our DNA? The scientific story is more complicated</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 28th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>As war continues to rage in Gaza and Ukraine, there is <a href="https://atmos.earth/how-gazas-future-children-will-inherit-the-trauma-of-genocide/">concern</a> about how the related trauma might be <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/generations-hurt-children-grandchildren-war-survivors-fear-ripple-effe-rcna21236">transmitted to future generations</a> of people in those regions.</p>
<p>More generally, interest in the idea of transgenerational trauma has recently surged. For example, earlier this year, National Geographic magazine asked <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGBiEyIPtR9/?igsh=Z2pueHR4bjE1ejI%3D">whether genes carry past family trauma</a>.</p>
<p>But while this might be a catchy question, it’s also slightly misleading. Because while trauma can ripple across generations, shaped by how our bodies respond to their environments, its effects aren’t hard-coded in our genes.</p>
<h2>Plastic minds and bodies</h2>
<p>At the heart of this process is what’s known as phenotypic plasticity.</p>
<p>This is the capacity for organisms to produce different outcomes from the same genes, depending on their environment. These outcomes, called phenotypes, can include stress sensitivity and body shape.</p>
<p>One way different phenotypes can arise from the same genes is via epigenetics: small chemical changes to the DNA molecule that make particular genes more or less active. Think of these like a director’s notes on a script. These notes guide the cell on which lines to emphasise or soften, without changing the script itself.</p>
<p>But epigenetics is just one way this plasticity is expressed.</p>
<p>Understanding how trauma is passed across generations means looking beyond genes and cells to the environments that shape and influence them.</p>
<p>Human development is sculpted by lived experience, from caregiving and community to stress, safety and belonging.</p>
<p>These factors interact to produce lasting – but not always fixed – effects. By focusing on how they interact, rather than on single causes, we can better understand why trauma echoes across generations. This also helps us identify how that cycle might be disrupted.</p>
<h2>Widespread in nature</h2>
<p>Phenotypic plasticity is widespread in nature.</p>
<p>In honeybees, genetically identical larvae become queens or workers depending on <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.96.10.5575">what they eat while developing</a>. In three-spined stickleback fish, early exposure to predators reshapes their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10682-010-9454-6">stress physiology and body shape</a>, making them harder for predators to grasp.</p>
<p>These aren’t genetic differences – they’re environmental effects on development.</p>
<p>In humans, early-life conditions similarly shape development. A child raised in an unsafe setting may develop heightened vigilance or stress sensitivity – traits that help in danger but can persist as anxiety or chronic stress in times of safety. This is known as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17456916221078318">environmental mismatch</a>.</p>
<p>Across generations, plasticity becomes more complicated. In some of my <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2024.0062">past research</a>, I studied how diet in one generation of fruit flies shaped health, reproduction and longevity in their offspring and grand offspring.</p>
<p>The results varied depending on diet, generation and trait. Traits that appeared to be useful in one generation weren’t always so in the next. This highlights how difficult transgenerational effects are to predict – precisely because of this plasticity.</p>
<h2>Too narrow an explanation</h2>
<p>Epigenetics often reflect environmental exposures – such as stress, trauma, nutrition or caregiving. But they’re not necessarily permanent “scars”. Many are dynamic and can shift with changing environments – especially early in life.</p>
<p>Studies show that epigenetic <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-020-01264-x">patterns linked to early childhood adversity</a> vary depending on later environments such as family stability and social support. This suggests the biological imprint of early stress is shaped by what happens next.</p>
<p>It’s tempting to treat epigenetics as the key to explaining inherited trauma – but that’s too narrow. Trauma can influence the next generation through altered hormones, immune function or in utero conditions – all of which shape brain development and stress reactivity.</p>
<p>Genetic variation also plays a major role. It doesn’t encode trauma itself, but it shapes traits such as sensitivity to threat or emotional regulation. These traits aren’t chosen – they arise from a web of biological and social influences beyond our control.</p>
<p>But how they unfold, and whether they’re amplified or softened, depends on the systems that surround us.</p>
<h2>Connection to culture</h2>
<p>Connection to culture plays an important role too.</p>
<p>In Aotearoa New Zealand, <a href="https://files.vine.org.nz/issues-papers/NZFVC-Issues-Paper-15-historical-trauma_0.pdf?utm_">Māori-led initiatives</a> that centre land, language and whakapapa (ancestral lineage) have shown promise in restoring wellbeing after generations of colonisation-related trauma.</p>
<p>For Holocaust survivors and descendants, connection to cultural identity through ritual and shared narrative <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203776209-15/treatment-prevention-long-term-effects-intergenerational-transmission-victimization-yael-danieli">can reduce the psychological burden</a> of transmitted trauma.</p>
<p>But not all trauma is collective or institutional. Interventions such as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10567-024-00503-5">trauma-informed parenting</a> and early relational therapies have been shown to improve outcomes in the next generation.</p>
<p>These psychological supports affect biology. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.596919/full">Feeling safe in our relationships</a>, having stable routines and a sense of meaning can reduce stress hormones, modulate immune function, and buffer against long-term disease risk.</p>
<p>In this way, culture, caregiving and connection are all biological interventions. When they soften the effects of earlier stress, they may help interrupt its transmission.</p>
<h2>Reframing inherited vulnerability</h2>
<p>This matters, because it changes how we understand inherited vulnerability.</p>
<p>Rather than a permanent wound passed down through DNA, the effects of trauma are better understood as changeable responses shaped by context.</p>
<p>Thanks to plasticity, our biology is always in conversation with the environment – and when we change the context, we can change the outcome.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/259057/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/trauma-is-carried-in-your-dna-but-science-reveals-a-more-complicated-story-259057">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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