<table style="border:1px solid #adadad; background-color: #F3F1EC; color: #666666; padding:8px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; line-height:16px; margin-bottom:6px;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/neuroscientists-make-fascinating-breakthrough-linking-disinhibited-brain-networks-to-depression/" 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 make fascinating breakthrough linking disinhibited brain networks to depression</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 6th 2025, 10:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61487-6" target="_blank">Nature Communications</a></em> offers rare insight into the brain activity of people experiencing major depressive disorder by directly recording electrical signals inside key regions of the prefrontal cortex. The researchers found that daily shifts in depression symptoms correspond to increased low-frequency communication between specific prefrontal areas and to an imbalance in brain activity between the left and right hemispheres. The findings support the view that depression involves disinhibited brain networks, where reduced control in the prefrontal cortex may lead to persistent rumination and impaired emotion regulation.</p>
<p>Major depression remains one of the most disabling mental health conditions worldwide. Many people do not respond to first-line treatments such as medication or therapy, and researchers have increasingly turned to brain-based interventions, including deep brain stimulation, to help those with severe, treatment-resistant depression. </p>
<p>A long-standing theory in neuroscience suggests that depression arises from disruptions in how inhibitory neurons regulate brain activity—especially in the prefrontal cortex, an area responsible for attention, decision-making, and emotional control. However, because direct recordings from the human brain are rarely possible, especially in psychiatric populations, this theory has been difficult to test.</p>
<p>“Major depressive disorder was labeled by the World Health Organization as the single largest contributor to global disability,” said study author <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-myers-358a3371/" target="_blank">John Myers</a>, a postdoctoral cognitive neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine and member of <a href="https://www.bcm.edu/research/faculty-labs/functional-and-cognitive-neurophysiology-laboratory" target="_blank">the Functional and Cognitive Neurophysiology laboratory</a> led by Sameer Sheth.</p>
<p>The prevalence of depression is palpable, and we all know someone close to us who has experienced an episode. Too many of us have also experienced these episodes firsthand. The frontline treatments for depression , such as pharmaceutical medications and psychological therapy, are ineffective for at least 30% of the people seeking help.”</p>
<p>In the current study, the researchers took advantage of a unique opportunity to study patients undergoing deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. As part of the surgical process, six patients were temporarily implanted with intracranial electrodes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex—three prefrontal regions thought to play important roles in mood regulation. These electrodes allowed the team to directly measure neural communication while patients rested quietly and reported their mood levels multiple times a day over a 10-day monitoring period.</p>
<p>“Our project is part of a BRAIN Initiative clinical trial (UH3 NS103549) where the goal is to alleviate treatment-resistant depression using deep brain stimulation,” Myers said. “We monitor patients for several days in the hospital following the initial implant, checking their depression levels and brain activity prior to activating the device.”</p>
<p>Participants completed a validated, computerized assessment of depression symptoms several times each day. These scores captured fluctuations in mood from hour to hour, producing a rich time series of psychological data. Neural recordings were collected during brief five-minute sessions in which participants fixated on a dot on a screen. The researchers then analyzed the electrical signals to examine how different prefrontal regions were communicating with one another, focusing on slow-wave activity in the delta frequency range (1–3 Hz), which previous research has linked to inhibitory brain processes.</p>
<p>The results showed that when participants reported more severe depression symptoms, the brain’s low-frequency signals—particularly between the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices—increased in strength and directionality. That is, these regions were not just more active, but also more engaged in sending and receiving signals to each other in a coordinated pattern. This was especially evident in the left hemisphere. At the same time, the anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in regulating emotional conflict, became more involved in these interactions during periods of higher symptom severity.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the researchers also discovered that symptom severity increased when communication patterns became imbalanced between the hemispheres. When the right hemisphere’s orbitofrontal and dorsolateral regions were more active than their left-sided counterparts, participants tended to feel worse. Conversely, stronger connections involving the left anterior cingulate cortex were more predictive of symptom severity. These patterns suggest that both hemispheres of the prefrontal cortex contribute to depression, but in distinct and complementary ways.</p>
<p>“Our focus was on three specific subregions of the prefrontal network, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex,” Myers told PsyPost. “We were surprised to find that so much of the information shared between those subregions correlated with depressive symptoms. Some activity patterns occurred when patients were feeling better, while others occurred when they were feeling worse.”</p>
<p>The researchers also examined the spectral power of local brain activity—that is, the intensity of oscillations within each region on their own. They found that higher power in the delta band within the right prefrontal cortex was associated with more severe depression, aligning with the connectivity findings. </p>
<p>In contrast, higher-frequency activity, especially in the gamma range (above 30 Hz), was often linked to improved mood. This supports the idea that depression is associated with a shift toward lower-frequency, less efficient brain communication, while recovery may involve restoration of higher-frequency signaling.</p>
<p>The findings provide direct evidence that depression symptoms are linked to dynamic changes in how prefrontal brain regions communicate with each other. Rather than being fixed, these networks appear to shift throughout the day as mood fluctuates. The data also support the broader theory that depression arises from a loss of inhibitory control in the brain. When inhibitory signals break down, prefrontal regions may over-communicate in an uncoordinated way, leading to the persistent negative thinking and poor emotion regulation that characterizes depression.</p>
<p>“The prefrontal cortex is crucial for higher order cognitive functions such as emotion regulation and attention control,” Myers said. “When this area is damaged, either through injury or psychological stress, we lose critical functionality. The existential toll of depression – that feeling of losing control during intrusive ruminations – is linked to disinhibition and dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex.”</p>
<p>This study stands out for its use of intracranial recordings, which provide a much more precise view of brain activity than traditional brain imaging techniques. The fine-grained temporal resolution allowed the researchers to link specific frequency bands of neural activity to moment-to-moment changes in mood. These insights may be especially helpful for designing future neuromodulation treatments, such as adaptive deep brain stimulation devices that respond to changes in brain state in real time.</p>
<p>However, the study also has some limitations. The sample size was small, involving only six participants, all of whom were undergoing an invasive medical procedure for severe, treatment-resistant depression. This means the findings may not generalize to people with milder forms of depression or to those who are not candidates for deep brain stimulation. The study was also limited to prefrontal regions of the brain, leaving out other important areas such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which are known to play roles in emotional processing.</p>
<p>“The opportunity to record brain activity intracranially in patients with depression is very rare, and deep brain stimulation is still being evaluated for its effectiveness,” Myers explained. “Thus, clinical trials of this nature often treat very few patients when compared to larger scale trials testing drugs on thousands of people. Although our sample size limitations are mitigated by repeated measures across several days, it is important to keep mind the difference in scale.”</p>
<p>Future research will likely explore how these patterns of brain communication change with treatment and whether they can be used to guide individualized neuromodulation therapies. The researchers also plan to investigate how the prefrontal cortex interacts with other brain regions across different psychiatric disorders, many of which involve problems with emotion regulation. By mapping out these brain networks in greater detail, scientists hope to identify reliable biomarkers of mood states and develop more effective interventions for those living with depression.</p>
<p>“Our next steps are to further explore the role of the prefrontal cortex in depression and other psychiatric disorders,” Myers said. “Diminished emotion regulation is common to most if not all of these disorders, and the prefrontal cortex seems to sit at the top of the hierarchy for that function.”</p>
<p>“Research like this is vital to the mental health of future societies, both here in the United States and across the Earth. The tiny seeds of knowledge we plant today will grow to nourish our children and children’s children. Knowledge empowers!”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61487-6" target="_blank">Intracranial directed connectivity links subregions of the prefrontal cortex to major depression</a>,” was authored by John Myers, Jiayang Xiao, Raissa K. Mathura, Ben Shofty, Victoria Gates, Joshua Adkinson, Anusha B. Allawala, Adrish Anand, Ron Gadot, Ricardo Najera, Hernan G. Rey, Sanjay J. Mathew, Kelly Bijanki, Garrett Banks, Andrew Watrous, Eleonora Bartoli, Sarah R. Heilbronner, Nicole Provenza, Wayne K. Goodman, Nader Pouratian, Benjamin Y. Hayden, and Sameer A. Sheth.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/most-americans-prefer-a-more-diverse-nation-than-the-one-they-currently-live-in/" 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;">Most Americans prefer a more diverse nation than the one they currently live in</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 6th 2025, 08:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/etho.70018" target="_blank">Ethos</a></em> challenges the perception that most Americans view growing diversity as a problem. In a nationally representative survey, researchers found that the vast majority of Americans—including many White Christians—prefer a country that is more ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse than it is today. Only a small fraction of respondents endorsed the idea of an ethnically or religiously homogenous society.</p>
<p>The research team, which included psychologists and sociologists from the University of Copenhagen, Yale University, and the University of Chicago, set out to examine how American citizens perceive and evaluate the country’s demographic makeup. The authors wanted to know whether Americans see a diverse population as a desirable feature of national identity, or if some prefer a more uniform society. At the heart of their investigation was a concept they called “ideal demography judgment,” or how people believe the country’s racial, ethnic, and religious composition should look at the national level.</p>
<p>“As a cultural psychologist, I am interested in similarities and differences across groups of people. Immigration, resulting in the mixing of different cultural groups, is one of the defining issues of our time,” said study author <a href="https://www.seamusapower.com/" target="_blank">Séamus A. Power</a>, an associate professor of cultural psychology at the University of Copenhagen, visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics, and author of the forthcoming book, “Inequality – The View From Manywheres.”</p>
<p>“Authoritarian leaders have been skillful in representing immigrants – particularly immigrants from the Global South – as subtractive, rather than additive, to societies in the Global North. We could see this most clearly during the first election of Donald Trump as President of the United States where immigration was a key divisive political issue between Democrats and conservatives.” </p>
<p>“On the one hand, right-wing media helped to amplify fears of immigration and fears of ‘the great replacement’ of white Christian Americans. On the other hand, left-wing media frequently highlighted the prominence of angry white Christian nationalists and their threat to American democracy. Yet, America has been multicultural since its beginning and continues to be a complex multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-religious society today.”</p>
<p>“Within this context, my colleagues and I were motivated to investigate to what degree do people in the United States value this multiculturalism and to what degree they value ethnonationalism,” Power explained. “We were curious to see, within a society seemed to be marked by extreme political polarization, what were people’s ideal demography judgments.”</p>
<p>The researchers administered an online survey in August 2021 to a sample of 986 American adults using Qualtrics. The sample was designed to reflect the broader U.S. population in terms of age, race, gender, religion, and political orientation. Participants were asked to estimate the actual racial and religious makeup of the country and then to describe what they considered to be an ideal distribution. These estimates and preferences were collected using percentage sliders for a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious groups.</p>
<p>The findings showed that Americans consistently underestimated the proportion of White and Protestant individuals in the country and overestimated the presence of smaller groups, such as Muslims, Hindus, and Native Americans. But more importantly, when participants were asked to describe their ideal version of America’s population, the majority chose a vision that was more diverse—not less—than reality.</p>
<p>Two-thirds of respondents indicated that they would prefer the United States to be more ethnically and racially diverse than it was in 2020. In fact, over 40 percent preferred a level of ethnic diversity that exceeds even the country’s most diverse counties. </p>
<p>Only about one percent of respondents favored a racially homogenous nation, and even within this small group, most did not identify the same racial group as ideal. Similarly, fewer than four percent of respondents favored a mono-religious society, and again, those who did were divided between various religious and non-religious identities.</p>
<p>These attitudes held even among members of dominant groups. While White Christians did express a slightly stronger preference for ingroup representation, they still, on average, supported a more diverse America than exists today. Nearly two-thirds of White Christian respondents supported a demographic vision more diverse than the current national average. Their preferences were lower than those of minority group members but still indicated broad acceptance of a pluralistic society.</p>
<p>Political orientation did play a modest role in demographic preferences and perceptions. People on the political extremes—both left and right—tended to be more accurate in estimating actual demographic proportions, while those identifying as politically neutral made the largest errors. But even among conservatives, ideal demographic preferences were generally inclusive.</p>
<p>“The overwhelming support for an ethnically, racially, and religiously more diverse United States was very interesting, but it was really surprising to see the degree to which this was evident,” Power told PsyPost. “Sure, all groups indicated they wanted more of their own group, when they presented their ideal demographic judgment, but none wanted a mono-ethnic or mono-religious United States.” </p>
<p>“A significant amount wanted even greater ethnic and racial diversity than the currently most diverse county (Hawaii) in the United States – that one really took me by surprise! It was also surprising to find that people who identified as being more extremely positioned on the political right or left were actually better at judging the current demographic composition of the United States.”</p>
<p>The researchers point out that this aligns with historical patterns of American pluralism. From James Madison’s early writings about the benefits of balancing “factions” in society, to modern multicultural policies that embrace racial, ethnic, and religious difference, the United States has long fostered space for identity-based diversity. While countries like France often emphasize cultural assimilation and downplay group identity in public life, the American model has typically done the opposite—recognizing and even celebrating diversity in public discourse, education, and law.</p>
<p>“The most important takeaway from our study is that multiculturalism, not ethnonationalism, is the foundation and desired future of the United States,” Power said.</p>
<p>That said, the researchers emphasized that the presence of even a small minority endorsing exclusionary ideals should not be dismissed.</p>
<p>“Although multiculturalism, not ethnonationalism, seems to be the dominant cultural model in the United States, some respondents indicated a desire for a mono-ethnic, mono-racial, and mono- religious composition of the United States,” Power noted. “Readers should be mindful that, when these small percentages as scaled up to the entire population of the United States, these extreme views can have significant impact on the community and national level in the United States.”</p>
<p>This study’s findings echo a 2024 study published in <em>Scientific Reports</em>, which found that <a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-americans-vastly-underestimate-public-support-for-diversity-and-inclusion/" target="_blank">Americans consistently underestimate how much others support diversity and inclusion</a>. That research, led by Naomi Isenberg and Markus Brauer, revealed a widespread pattern of “pluralistic ignorance”—a situation where people assume they’re in the minority for holding pro-diversity views, even when they’re not. </p>
<p>When participants in that study were informed about the actual high levels of public support for diversity, they became more likely to confront discrimination and adopt inclusive behaviors. The implication is that people are not only more accepting than they think others are—they may act less inclusively simply because they mistakenly believe they are alone in their beliefs.</p>
<p>Together, the two studies paint a consistent picture. Despite a noisy and sometimes hostile political discourse around race, religion, and immigration, most Americans appear to hold inclusive values about who belongs in their country. While a small percentage of the population may genuinely favor a homogenous national identity, the ideal held by the overwhelming majority includes a mosaic of racial and religious backgrounds.</p>
<p>As with all research, the study has limitations. While it employed a representative sample, the study relied on self-reported preferences in a survey format. These preferences may be shaped by social norms or perceived expectations. Some respondents may have provided more socially acceptable answers, even when given anonymity. </p>
<p>Additionally, the study did not explore preferences at local or community levels, where people’s views on diversity might vary more widely. Future research could compare national ideals with attitudes about diversity in neighborhoods, schools, or workplaces, and explore how different populations respond to tradeoffs between inclusion and social cohesion.</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the study offers a strong counterpoint to the perception that Americans are increasingly drawn to ethnonationalist ideals. While those voices are real and sometimes loud, they do not represent the majority. Instead, the findings suggest that a multicultural vision of America remains firmly woven into how most citizens think about their country’s future.</p>
<p>“My collaborators and I also hope this research is generative of new investigations into this topic,” Power said. “It is unclear, for instance, whether the patterns identified in this study are stable or change over time. A replication of this survey at a later time point would be revealing. We also do not know how our results compare to other Western liberal democracies. How, for example, do people in Ireland, Denmark, the U.K., Canada, and Australia, perceive the current demographic makeup of their nations and what are their ideal demography judgments for the future composition of their countries?”</p>
<p>“We also do not know what people have in mind when they make their judgments about the desired future composition of their nations. Qualitative inquiry would shed further light on the cultural and moral reasoning underlying these preferences for the future. I conceptualize this study as being part of a broader intellectual project which is concerned with investigating the scopes, limits, and possibilities for accommodating cultural diversity in Western liberal democracies.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/etho.70018" target="_blank">Is multiculturalism as American as apple pie? A survey of attitudes toward ethnic and religious diversity in the United States</a>,” was authored by Séamus A. Power, Crystal Shackleford, Friedolin Merhout, and Richard A. Shweder.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/common-cat-poop-parasite-hijacks-brain-chemistry-through-infected-neuron-vesicles/" 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;">Common “cat poop” parasite hijacks brain chemistry through infected neuron vesicles</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 6th 2025, 06:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012733" target="_blank">PLOS Pathogens</a></em> has uncovered how a common brain parasite, <em>Toxoplasma gondii</em>, can disrupt communication between brain cells by altering the content of extracellular vesicles released by neurons. The research shows that neurons infected with <em>Toxoplasma</em> cysts produce fewer extracellular vesicles—small packages used to send signals to other cells. These altered signals can trigger inflammation and disrupt how nearby support cells, called astrocytes, manage brain chemicals. The findings suggest that even a few infected neurons could throw off the brain’s balance in subtle but lasting ways.</p>
<p><em>Toxoplasma gondii</em> is a widespread single-celled parasite estimated to infect about one-third of the global population. In the United States, approximately 10 to 30 percent of people are believed to carry the parasite, typically without symptoms.</p>
<p><em>Toxoplasma</em> infection is usually contracted through undercooked meat or exposure to cat feces. Once inside the body, the parasite can travel to the brain and form dormant cysts inside neurons, where it can persist for the lifetime of the host. While the infection is usually silent in healthy individuals, it can cause serious illness in people with weakened immune systems. There is growing scientific interest in understanding how even dormant infections might influence brain function over time.</p>
<p>The research team, led by Emma H. Wilson at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, aimed to explore how <em>Toxoplasma</em> infection alters neural signaling at the molecular level. Previous work by the same lab had shown that infection leads to a decrease in the expression of GLT-1, a glutamate transporter found in astrocytes, which are support cells that regulate the brain’s chemical environment.</p>
<p>GLT-1 is responsible for clearing excess glutamate from synapses—a process critical to preventing overstimulation and excitotoxicity. Because neurons can influence astrocytes via small membrane-bound particles called extracellular vesicles, the researchers wanted to know whether infected neurons were releasing different vesicles, and if so, how these might affect astrocyte function.</p>
<p>“I have been researching <em>Toxoplasma</em> infection in the brain for over 20 years. It is a chronic infection that stimulates an immune response in the brain that is protective and rarely pathological,” explained Wilson, a professor of biomedical sciences. “In fact, the only time that people really get very sick from chronic toxoplasmosis is when they are severely immunocompromised.”</p>
<p>“I am very interested in understanding the mechanisms of an appropriate, yet strong, immune response in the brain. This particular study investigates the interactions between cells in the brain that we do not normally consider immune cells, but they talk all the time, and I thought it was important to determine if such communication was interrupted or altered due to infection.”</p>
<p>For their study, the researchers cultured neurons from mouse embryos in the lab and infected them with the <em>Toxoplasma</em> parasite. After allowing time for the cysts to form inside neurons, they collected the extracellular vesicles released by the infected cells. These vesicles were then analyzed using a combination of imaging, protein analysis, RNA sequencing, and mass spectrometry. In a separate set of experiments, the team exposed cultured astrocytes to these vesicles to examine how they responded at both the genetic and protein levels.</p>
<p>The study was led by Emily Tabaie in collaboration with other members of the Wilson Lab, with support from core facilities at UC Riverside and guidance from Wenwan Zhong of the Department of Chemistry, who assisted in the isolation of extracellular vesicles.</p>
<p>The researchers found that neurons infected with <em>Toxoplasma</em> produced fewer extracellular vesicles compared to uninfected neurons. This decrease was consistent across multiple measurements, including electron microscopy and a specialized ELISA assay that detects a surface protein common to vesicles. The reduction in vesicle production was not due to cell death, as most of the infected neurons remained healthy in culture, suggesting that the parasite was interfering with vesicle release.</p>
<p>The contents of the vesicles from infected neurons were markedly different. Using mass spectrometry, the researchers found that these vesicles contained altered levels of both host- and parasite-derived proteins. Several host proteins involved in inflammation, immune signaling, and structural support were increased, while others linked to neuron growth and synaptic communication were decreased.</p>
<p>In particular, the team detected nine parasite proteins—including GRA7, a known <em>Toxoplasma</em> effector protein—in vesicles from infected neurons. These proteins are usually secreted by the parasite to manipulate the host cell and were now being carried inside vesicles to other parts of the brain.</p>
<p>When these parasite-altered vesicles were introduced to astrocytes, the astrocytes absorbed them and responded with significant changes in gene expression. Many of the genes that were activated were involved in inflammation and immune defense.</p>
<p>The researchers also observed that the vesicles triggered a decrease in GLT-1 protein levels in the astrocytes, suggesting that this communication pathway could directly affect how well the brain clears excess glutamate. The vesicles did not change the gene expression of GLT-1 itself, pointing to possible post-translational modifications or other regulatory mechanisms.</p>
<p>Notably, the researchers saw that the vesicle-induced gene expression changes in astrocytes grown in the lab matched patterns observed in astrocytes from mice infected with <em>Toxoplasma</em>. This parallel suggests that the effects seen in vitro are likely to reflect real processes occurring in the living brain during infection.</p>
<p>The findings suggest that <em>Toxoplasma gondii</em> has developed a sophisticated way to influence its host’s brain function without relying on traditional immune responses. By changing the content of vesicles released by infected neurons, the parasite can indirectly alter the behavior of nearby astrocytes, potentially shifting the chemical environment of the brain in a way that favors its survival.</p>
<p>“You should not be concerned that a third of the world has this parasite in their brain because we are able to deal with it very well,” Wilson told PsyPost. “Our work suggests that this is partly through the ability of neurons to communicate to other cells in the brain that they are infected.”</p>
<p>One of the striking observations from the study was the presence of parasite proteins in the nuclei of astrocytes. This implies that materials carried by the vesicles may be able to reach the control centers of recipient cells and directly influence gene regulation. While the exact mechanisms by which these proteins affect host cells remain unknown, their presence in astrocyte nuclei adds another layer of complexity to the parasite’s impact on brain function.</p>
<p>“The mechanism of communication that we investigated between neurons and astrocytes was the secretion of extracellular vesicles, which are relatively tiny packages from cells,” Wilson said. “As an immunologist, we normally deal with strict rules about how cells pass on information with lots of checks and balances, so I was amazed that these small blobs of cell membrane could pass on so much information so effectively.”</p>
<p>“In addition, <em>Toxoplasma</em> is clever, as it injects proteins into cells that can alter cell mechanisms and change their behavior. We found some of these proteins in astrocytes after the addition of extracellular vesicles from infected neurons—so parasite proteins were transported to cells it has never been near thanks to this mechanism of cell-to-cell communication.”</p>
<p>The researchers noted that these effects occurred even though only about half of the neurons in their cultures were infected. This suggests that even a relatively small number of infected cells could have broad effects on the surrounding brain tissue.</p>
<p>Despite these findings, the researchers acknowledge some limitations. The experiments were conducted using mouse cells and brain tissue grown in a laboratory setting, which may not fully capture the complexity of a living brain. In addition, while the study identified changes in vesicle content and astrocyte responses, the long-term consequences of these changes for behavior or cognition remain unclear. The team did not explore whether these molecular shifts lead to symptoms or changes in brain activity in infected animals or humans.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, the researchers hope to investigate how this altered vesicle signaling contributes to the brain’s immune response and whether it might be possible to detect infection-specific vesicles in human blood samples. If so, extracellular vesicles could potentially serve as biomarkers for diagnosing brain infections or monitoring their effects over time. This would represent a major advance, since current diagnostic tools only detect antibodies and cannot determine whether parasites are active in the brain.</p>
<p>“I would like to determine how vital this communication is to generating a balanced and protective immune response in the brain by manipulating the parasite and the process in a natural infection,” Wilson said. “It also may be possible to determine the prevalence of <em>Toxoplasma</em> in the brain during human infection by using these EVs from infected neurons for diagnosis. There have been some suggestions that having a chronic <em>Toxoplasma</em> infection can alter human behavior—make us less risk-averse or make us more or less susceptible to other neurological disease.”</p>
<p>“These studies are limited because we really do not know the extent of parasite infection in the brain—we only know whether someone is infected or not. Diagnosis of the likely presence of parasites in the brain may help us to be more definitive about the ability of the parasite to alter the physiology and brain chemistry in humans.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012733" target="_blank">Toxoplasma gondii infection of neurons alters the production and content of extracellular vesicles directing astrocyte phenotype and contributing to the loss of GLT-1 in the infected brain</a>,” was authored by Emily Z. Tabaie, Ziting Gao, Nala Kachour, Arzu Ulu, Stacey Gomez, Zoe A. Figueroa, Kristina V. Bergersen, Wenwan Zhong, and Emma H. Wilson.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-study-links-celebrity-worship-to-narcissism-materialism-and-perceived-similarity/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New study links celebrity worship to narcissism, materialism, and perceived similarity</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 5th 2025, 16:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in the <em><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijop.70067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Journal of Psychology</a></em> has found that people who strongly admire celebrities tend to score higher in both materialistic values and narcissistic traits—particularly a more insecure and emotionally sensitive form of narcissism. The study also found that people who see themselves as similar to their favorite celebrity are more likely to have these attitudes. Among all the factors examined, feeling similar to a celebrity was one of the strongest predictors of celebrity worship.</p>
<p>Over the past two decades, psychologists have grown increasingly interested in the impact of celebrity culture, especially as social media has amplified people’s exposure to public figures. As platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube make it easier than ever to watch and follow the lives of celebrities, researchers have been examining how these one-sided relationships, known as parasocial interactions, might shape people’s self-image, emotional well-being, and social values.</p>
<p>One of the tools frequently used in this research is the Celebrity Attitude Scale, which evaluates how strongly a person is absorbed with a celebrity. This scale ranges from low levels of admiration—such as following a celebrity’s work for entertainment—to more intense and potentially problematic levels, such as obsessively thinking about the celebrity or even expressing willingness to do illegal things for them. The new study aimed to explore how this kind of admiration relates to narcissism and materialism, and whether people who feel a personal resemblance to their favorite celebrity are more likely to be affected.</p>
<p>To investigate these questions, the researchers recruited 215 undergraduate students from a university in the southeastern United States. Participants were mostly women, with a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Each student completed a battery of questionnaires that measured their attitudes toward celebrities, materialistic values, and narcissistic traits. They also answered newly created questions that assessed how similar they felt to their favorite celebrity in terms of personality, appearance, or lifestyle.</p>
<p>Celebrity worship was assessed with the Celebrity Attitude Scale, which includes subscales for social and entertainment interest, emotional attachment, and more extreme or obsessive thoughts and behaviors. Materialism was measured using a scale that examined how much value people place on owning things, how important possessions are to their identity, and whether they believe material goods make them happier. Narcissism was measured in two forms: grandiose narcissism (which is characterized by confidence, entitlement, and dominance) and vulnerable narcissism (which involves anxiety, hypersensitivity to criticism, and a preoccupation with self-image).</p>
<p>The results showed a consistent relationship between celebrity worship and materialism. People who scored higher on celebrity worship also tended to place greater importance on money, status, and possessions. This was especially true for those who reported more intense or obsessive admiration for celebrities. The researchers noted that this connection aligns with past findings and suggests that people may turn to both celebrity culture and materialism as ways to cope with emotional insecurity or low self-worth.</p>
<p>When it came to narcissism, the findings were more nuanced. Only the vulnerable form of narcissism was significantly related to celebrity worship. People with higher levels of emotional insecurity and self-focus were more likely to feel strongly connected to celebrities. Grandiose narcissism, which is associated with charm and assertiveness, did not show a significant relationship with celebrity admiration in this sample. This contrasts with some earlier studies but matches other recent work suggesting that vulnerable narcissism may be more relevant to parasocial attachments.</p>
<p>Both types of narcissism were linked to materialism, although in different ways. People with grandiose traits were more likely to value possessions for the status and prestige they bring, while those with vulnerable traits showed stronger associations with using material goods to feel happier or more secure. The researchers pointed out that although the motivations may differ, both forms of narcissism appear to contribute to a focus on acquiring possessions.</p>
<p>One of the most important findings from the study was the role of perceived similarity to celebrities. Participants who believed they were like their favorite celebrity—whether in appearance, behavior, or personality—were more likely to score higher on measures of celebrity worship. This connection held even when controlling for materialism and narcissism. In fact, perceived similarity emerged as one of the strongest predictors of celebrity worship overall. It also had a modest relationship with materialism, especially when participants believed their similarities were related to success or status.</p>
<p>These findings support earlier research suggesting that people often imitate celebrities they admire or believe they resemble. For instance, past studies have found that fans of performers like Elvis Presley not only adopted his style and values but also reported feeling deeply connected to his identity.</p>
<p>Other studies have shown that young people who watch more media content and compare themselves to celebrities are more likely to adopt materialistic values. The current study adds to this body of work by providing new evidence that feeling similar to a celebrity—either because of shared traits or through imitation—plays an important role in the development of parasocial bonds.</p>
<p>The study researchers statistical models to test whether different factors predicted celebrity worship and materialism when considered together. When all variables were included in the analysis, vulnerable narcissism and perceived similarity stood out as the only significant predictors of celebrity worship. For materialism, both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism predicted higher scores, with vulnerable narcissism having a stronger effect.</p>
<p>There are some limitations. The sample was drawn from a single university and was mostly composed of young women, which limits the generalizability of the results. Future research could include more diverse groups across age, gender, and cultural backgrounds. It would also be helpful to explore how accurate people’s perceptions of similarity to celebrities actually are, and whether those perceptions change over time as admiration deepens.</p>
<p>The researchers also suggested that future studies could investigate the direction of these relationships. It is not yet clear whether people are drawn to celebrities they already feel similar to, or if they begin to see themselves as similar after becoming emotionally attached. Another promising direction would be to examine collective narcissism—how people’s admiration for celebrities might reflect pride in a shared group identity, such as nationality, gender, or race.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.70067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Celebrity Worship and Materialism: A Focus on Narcissism and Perceived Similarity With a Celebrity</a>,” was authored by Caitlin Davis, Lawrence Locker Jr., and Joshua L. Williams.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/these-6-six-traits-are-the-essence-of-cool-according-to-new-psychology-research/" 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;">These 6 six traits are the essence of cool, according to new psychology research</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 5th 2025, 14:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>From Lagos to Cape Town, Santiago to Seoul, people want to be cool. “Cool” is a word we hear everywhere – in music, in fashion, on social media. We use it to describe certain types of people.</p>
<p>But what exactly makes someone cool? Is it just about being popular or trendy? Or is there something deeper going on?</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-xge0001799.pdf">study</a> I conducted with other marketing professors, we set out to answer a simple but surprisingly unexplored question. What are the personality traits and values that make someone seem cool – and do they differ across cultures?</p>
<p>We asked nearly 6,000 people from 12 countries to think of someone they personally knew who was “cool”, “not cool”, “good”, or “not good”. Then we asked them to describe that person’s traits and values using validated psychological measures. We used this data to examine how coolness differs from general likeability or morality.</p>
<p>The countries ranged from Australia to Turkey, the US to Germany, India to China, Nigeria to South Africa.</p>
<p>Our data showed that coolness is uniquely associated with the same six traits around the world: cool people tend to be extroverted, hedonistic, adventurous, open, powerful, and autonomous.</p>
<p>These findings help settle a long debate about what it means to be cool today.</p>
<h2>A brief history of cool</h2>
<p>Early <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Cool_Pose.html?id=bD-PkgpWErUC&redir_esc=y">writing</a> on <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/American_Cool.html?id=hD4jyqtHEQkC&redir_esc=y">coolness</a> <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo3536614.html">described</a> it as emotional restraint: being calm, composed and unbothered. This view, rooted in the metaphor of temperature and emotion, saw coolness as a sign of self-control and mastery.</p>
<p>Some of these scholars trace this form of cool to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade">slavery and segregation</a>, where emotional restraint was a survival strategy among enslaved Africans and their descendants, symbolising autonomy and dignity in the face of oppression. Others propose “cool” restraint existed long before slavery.</p>
<p>Regardless, jazz musicians in the 1940s first helped popularise this cool persona – relaxed, emotionally contained, and stylish – an image later embraced by youth and various countercultures. Corporations like Nike, Apple and MTV commercialised cool, turning a countercultural attitude into a more commercially friendly global aesthetic.</p>
<h2>This is what makes someone cool</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest that the meaning of cool has changed. It’s a way to identify and label people with a specific psychological profile.</p>
<p>Cool people are outgoing and social (extroverted). They seek pleasure and enjoyment (hedonistic). They take risks and try new things (adventurous). They are curious and open to new experiences (open). They have influence or charisma (powerful). And perhaps most of all, they do things their own way (autonomous).</p>
<p>This finding held remarkably steady across countries. Whether you’re in the US, South Korea, Spain or South Africa, people tend to think that cool individuals have this same “cool profile”.</p>
<p>We also found that even though coolness overlaps with being good or favourable, being cool and being good are not the same. Being kind, calm, traditional, secure and conscientious were more associated with being good than cool. Some “cool” traits were not necessarily good at all, like extroversion and hedonism.</p>
<h2>What about South Africa and Nigeria?</h2>
<p>One of the most fascinating aspects of our study was seeing how consistent the meaning of coolness was across cultures – even in countries with very different traditions and values.</p>
<p>In South Africa, participants viewed cool people as extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous – just like participants from Europe to Asia. In South Africa, however, coolness is especially distinct from being good. South Africa is one of the countries in which being hedonistic, powerful, adventurous and autonomous was much more cool than good.</p>
<p>Nigeria was the only country in which cool and uncool people were equally autonomous. So basically, individuality wasn’t seen as cool. That difference might reflect cultural values that place a greater emphasis on community, respect for elders, or collective identity. In places where tradition and hierarchy matter, doing your own thing might not be cool.</p>
<p>Social sciences, like all science, however, are not perfect. So, it’s reasonable to speculate that autonomy might still be cool in Nigeria, with the discrepancy resulting from methodological issues such as how the Nigerian participants interpreted and responded to the survey.</p>
<p>Nigeria was also unique because the distinction between cool and good wasn’t as notable as in other countries. So coolness was seen more as goodness than in the other countries.</p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>The fact that so many cultures agree on what makes someone cool suggests that “coolness” may serve a shared social function. The traits that make people cool may make them more likely to try new things, innovate new styles and fashions, and influence others. These individuals often push boundaries and introduce new ideas – in fashion, art, politics, or technology. They inspire others and help shape what’s seen as modern, desirable, or forward-thinking.</p>
<p>Coolness, in this sense, might function as a kind of cultural status marker – a reward for being bold, open-minded and innovative. It’s not just about surface style. It’s about signalling that you’re ahead of the curve, and that others should pay attention.</p>
<h2>So what can we learn from this?</h2>
<p>For one, young people in South Africa, Nigeria, and around the world may have more in common than we often think. Despite vast cultural differences, they tend to admire the same traits. That opens up interesting possibilities for cross-cultural communication, collaboration and influence.</p>
<p>Second, if we want to connect with or inspire others – whether through education, branding, or leadership – it helps to understand what people see as cool. Coolness may not be a universal virtue, but it is a universal currency.</p>
<p>And finally, there’s something reassuring in all this: coolness is not about being famous or rich. It’s about how you live. Are you curious? Courageous? True to yourself? If so, chances are someone out there thinks you’re cool – no matter where you’re from.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/261266/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>
<p> </p>
<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/what-makes-a-person-cool-global-study-has-some-answers-261266">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/paternal-anxiety-during-pregnancy-and-infancy-linked-to-childrens-mental-health-risks/" 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;">Paternal anxiety during pregnancy and infancy linked to children’s mental health risks</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 5th 2025, 12:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Children whose fathers experience anxiety during the perinatal period may be at increased risk for mental health difficulties later in life, according to a new study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579425000343" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Development and Psychopathology</a></em>. The researchers found that anxiety in fathers either before or after the child’s birth was associated with emotional and behavioral problems in early childhood.</p>
<p>This research responds to a long-standing gap in developmental psychology. While maternal mental health has been extensively studied in relation to child development, the potential impact of paternal anxiety—especially around the time of a child’s birth—has received comparatively little attention.</p>
<p>Yet anxiety is a common experience for new fathers, who often face social, financial, and emotional pressures during this period. Estimates suggest that between 6 to 13 percent of new fathers experience anxiety disorders, a rate notably higher than that observed in men more generally. The transition to fatherhood may be a sensitive time, both for the parent and the child.</p>
<p>“The main motivation behind my research is the urgent need to address the rising rates of mental health difficulties among children and young people. Around the world, we are seeing a worrying increase in these issues – a trend that has been recognized as a major international health priority,” said study author <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-zecchinato-a813b0142/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Francesca Zecchinato</a> (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/fzecchinato.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@fzecchinato</a>), a researcher within the NIHR ARC Wessex Mental Health Hub at the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/668kz5/doctor-francesca-zecchinato" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Southampton</a>.</p>
<p>“While there is no single or simple solution, prevention is seen as one of the most promising ways to ease this burden. But to prevent mental health problems effectively, we first need to understand the risk factors that contribute to them. One of the clearest, and potentially modifiable, risk factors for child mental ill-health is parental mental health. Among all mental health conditions, anxiety is the most common worldwide, and it is particularly prevalent in parents. That is why we chose to focus our research on the potential impact of parental anxiety on children’s mental health.”</p>
<p>“Much of the existing research in this area has focused on mothers, especially during pregnancy,” Zecchinato explained. “But fathers also play a crucial role in a child’s early development, and their mental health has received far less attention. I was especially interested in whether a father’s anxiety during the perinatal period, a time of major life change and adjustment, could have lasting effects on their child’s mental health outcomes.”</p>
<p>“To explore this, we used data from one of the largest and most well-established longitudinal studies in the UK, which follows children and their families over many years. With this study, we hoped to shed light on an often-overlooked area and contribute to a more complete understanding of how we might better support families from the very beginning.”</p>
<p>The study used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a large cohort study tracking thousands of families in the United Kingdom since the early 1990s. The researchers examined anxiety symptoms in fathers at two key timepoints: 18 weeks into their partner’s pregnancy (prenatal) and 8 weeks after birth (postnatal). They then tracked the mental health of the children at ages 3.5 and 7.5 years.</p>
<p>Fathers were categorized into four groups based on their anxiety status: those with no anxiety, those with anxiety only during pregnancy, those with anxiety only after birth, and those with anxiety at both timepoints. Anxiety was measured using a self-reported symptom questionnaire. The study then looked at how each group related to emotional and behavioral outcomes in the children, while also accounting for factors such as the child’s temperament, maternal mental health, and family socioeconomic background.</p>
<p>At 3.5 years old, children whose fathers had experienced anxiety during pregnancy (but not after birth) showed higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems than those whose fathers had not been anxious at either time. This prenatal-only group appeared to be at particular risk for emotional difficulties. Children whose fathers experienced anxiety only after birth did not show significantly higher mental health risks at this age.</p>
<p>By the time children reached 7.5 years old, a different pattern emerged. At this later stage, it was the children who had been exposed to paternal anxiety both before and after birth who showed the greatest vulnerability. These children were more likely to receive a psychiatric diagnosis, particularly for behavioral disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or conduct problems. In contrast, children exposed to paternal anxiety at only one timepoint—either prenatal or postnatal—did not show significantly elevated risk at age seven.</p>
<p>“What stood out was how the timing of paternal anxiety seemed to matter,” Zecchinato told PsyPost. “We looked at whether anxiety in fathers during pregnancy (prenatal), after birth (postnatal), or both, was linked to children’s mental health later on, both in early childhood (around 3.5 years) and later in primary school (around 7.5 years).”</p>
<p>“Interestingly, we found that paternal prenatal anxiety on its own was already associated with emotional and behavioral difficulties in early childhood, even in the absence of paternal postnatal anxiety. But when we looked at mental health outcomes later in childhood, difficulties were more likely to appear only when children had been exposed to paternal anxiety both before and after birth.”</p>
<p>“While there could be several factors behind this pattern, it suggests that when a child is exposed to parental anxiety might influence how it affects their development, and that different stages of early life may involve different processes of risk.”</p>
<p>These findings held even after controlling for a wide range of other influences, including the mother’s mental health, child temperament, and family social characteristics. The researchers also examined whether the child’s sex mattered. Boys appeared to be more strongly affected by prolonged paternal anxiety than girls, particularly when it came to behavioral problems. This may reflect differences in how fathers interact with sons versus daughters, or biological sensitivities that vary by sex.</p>
<p>“Our findings suggest that when fathers experience anxiety during their partner’s pregnancy or in the early months after birth, it can increase the risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties in their children, even when we take into account the mother’s mental health and other sociodemographic factors,” Zecchinato said. “This highlights an important message: fathers’ mental health matters, not just for their own wellbeing, but for their children’s development too.”</p>
<p>“By supporting both parents during the perinatal period, including helping fathers recognise and manage stress or anxiety, and their mental health in general, we may be able to make a real difference to the mental health of future generations.”</p>
<p>The authors stress that their findings do not mean paternal anxiety directly causes mental health problems in children. The mechanisms remain unclear. Prenatal paternal anxiety could influence children indirectly, for instance by affecting the mother’s stress levels during pregnancy or by contributing to conflict in the family. Postnatal anxiety may interfere more directly with father-child interactions, such as through increased withdrawal, overcontrol, or difficulty responding sensitively to the child’s emotional needs.</p>
<p>“We weren’t able to pinpoint exactly how or why paternal anxiety might affect children’s development,” Zecchinato said. “Understanding these mechanisms is an important next step. It would help us design more effective prevention and intervention strategies that target modifiable risk factors to support children’s mental health from the earliest stages of life.”</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the study carries important implications. It suggests that paternal mental health in the perinatal period deserves more attention in both research and clinical settings. While mothers have historically been the focus of interventions aimed at supporting child development, these findings highlight that fathers’ mental wellbeing can also shape the family system in ways that affect children’s long-term outcomes.</p>
<p>“For a long time, research on child development has focused almost exclusively on mothers, who were traditionally seen as the primary caregivers,” Zecchinato explained. “Fathers were often viewed as having a more secondary role, which meant their experiences and contributions were frequently overlooked. This imbalance not only led to a limited understanding of parental influence, but also, at times, placed unfair blame on mothers for the challenges their children faced.”</p>
<p>“Our study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that fathers’ mental health matters, too. When we exclude fathers from research and clinical conversations, we risk missing a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to understanding and supporting child and family wellbeing. This is especially important today, as fathers are increasingly taking on more active caregiving roles.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579425000343" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The impact of perinatal exposure to paternal anxiety on offspring: A prospective study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort</a>,” was authored by Francesca Zecchinato, Jana M. Kreppner, and Peter J. Lawrence.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
<p><strong>This information is taken from free public RSS feeds published by each organization for the purpose of public distribution. Readers are linked back to the article content on each organization's website. This email is an unaffiliated unofficial redistribution of this freely provided content from the publishers. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><s><small><a href="#" style="color:#ffffff;"><a href='https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/565/DY9DKf'>unsubscribe from this feed</a></a></small></s></p>