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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/neuroscientists-are-starting-to-unravel-the-amygdalas-complexity-shedding-new-light-on-ptsd/" 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 are starting to unravel the amygdala’s complexity, shedding new light on PTSD</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 4th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03508-y" target="_blank">Translational Psychiatry</a></em> provides evidence that posttraumatic stress disorder may be linked to altered communication between specific parts of the amygdala and other brain regions. The findings suggest that one part of the amygdala in particular shows distinct patterns of connectivity in people with the condition, which may help explain difficulties with emotional regulation, sensory processing, and self-related thought often seen in PTSD. This research highlights how focusing on the smaller subdivisions of the amygdala may deepen scientific understanding of PTSD’s neural foundations.</p>
<p>The amygdala is often described as the brain’s “fear center,” due to its well-established role in detecting threats and triggering fight-or-flight responses. However, scientists now recognize that it plays broader roles in how we experience emotions, respond to rewards, and process sensory information. Previous research has shown that the amygdala functions differently in people with PTSD, but many studies have treated the amygdala as a single unit. This approach may be overlooking subtle but important differences in how its internal structures behave.</p>
<p>In reality, the amygdala is made up of several distinct regions, or subnuclei, that connect to different parts of the brain and support different functions. These subnuclei include the basolateral, centromedial, and superficial regions, each of which is thought to contribute uniquely to emotion, behavior, and bodily responses. The new study aimed to clarify how these substructures connect with the rest of the brain in people with PTSD compared to those without trauma exposure. By focusing on these smaller components, the researchers hoped to uncover more precise patterns of brain function associated with the disorder.</p>
<p>“Most people have heard of the ‘fight or flight’ response—how your body reacts when you’re scared. A key player in that response is a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is also heavily involved in PTSD,” said study author Elizabeth Haris of the University of Melbourne.</p>
<p>“In most research, the amygdala is treated as though it’s one single structure. But in reality, it’s made up of several smaller regions that may each play different roles. We wanted to look more closely at how these smaller regions connect to other parts of the brain. By comparing people with PTSD to those without trauma exposure, we hoped to see whether these connection patterns could give us new insights into how PTSD affects the brain.”</p>
<p>For their study, the researchers analyzed brain scans from 129 adults: 65 individuals with PTSD and 64 non-traumatized participants. The PTSD group included civilians who had experienced a variety of traumas. Nearly half reported trauma in childhood, and many also had conditions like depression or anxiety. None of the participants had a history of psychosis, traumatic brain injury, or substance dependence.</p>
<p>Instead of using data from a typical resting-state brain scan, the researchers used a method known as task-derived intrinsic functional connectivity. Participants had completed five separate cognitive and emotional tasks while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The researchers removed task-related brain activity from the scans to isolate underlying connectivity patterns that persist across different mental states. This approach has been found to provide reliable information about how brain regions interact, even when tasks are involved.</p>
<p>The researchers then divided each participant’s amygdala into three substructures in each hemisphere: the basolateral, centromedial, and superficial regions. Using these as starting points, they measured how strongly each region was functionally connected to other areas of the brain. Functional connectivity refers to how synchronized the activity of different brain regions is over time.</p>
<p>The main finding was that the patterns of brain connectivity linked to the basolateral region of the amygdala were significantly different between people with PTSD and those without trauma exposure. In contrast, no group differences were found for the centromedial or superficial regions.</p>
<p>“One surprise was that we only found clear differences in brain connectivity for one part of the amygdala—the basolateral amygdala—and not the other two regions we looked at,” Haris told PsyPost. “This shows why it’s so important to study these smaller subregions individually, because they don’t all behave the same way. Notably, the lack of differences in the other areas could also mean a few things. It might be because those regions are physically smaller and harder to measure, or because they’re more active in specific situations rather than when the brain is at rest. </p>
<p>“For example, one of these regions, the centromedial amygdala, is especially linked to generating responses, so its role might stand out more if people were doing a task instead of just resting in the scanner. Overall, this tells us there’s still so much to learn. Each part of the amygdala has its own role, and exploring those differences could help us uncover even more about how PTSD affects the brain.”</p>
<p>For individuals with PTSD, the basolateral region showed reduced connectivity with several cortical areas, including the precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, precentral and postcentral gyri, and the superior parietal lobe. These brain regions are typically involved in bodily sensation, movement, attention, and self-referential thought—mental processes involved in understanding one’s own feelings or sense of identity. Reduced connectivity in these networks may contribute to PTSD symptoms such as emotional numbness, identity disturbance, or impaired control over bodily reactions.</p>
<p>At the same time, the PTSD group showed increased connectivity between the basolateral amygdala and a different set of brain areas, particularly in the brainstem, cerebellum, and right pallidum. These areas are associated with arousal, threat detection, motor control, and processing rewards or punishments. For example, the brainstem helps regulate automatic functions like heart rate and stress responses, while the pallidum is linked to motivation and reward-seeking behavior.</p>
<p>Together, these findings suggest that the basolateral amygdala may be more strongly tied to systems involved in alertness and stress in people with PTSD, while being less engaged with networks responsible for self-awareness and sensory regulation.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked at within-group differences. In the non-traumatized group, the basolateral amygdala had stronger connections to cortical regions, while the superficial region tended to connect more with subcortical areas. In contrast, for the PTSD group, the basolateral region had stronger connections to both cortical and subcortical areas than the other amygdala subregions did, indicating its dominant role in altered connectivity patterns.</p>
<p>These group differences held up even after accounting for factors like age and education. The results were also not explained by common co-occurring conditions such as depression or generalized anxiety disorder.</p>
<p>“The main takeaway is that the amygdala is much more complex than we often think,” Haris said. “Most people know it as the ‘fear center’ of the brain, or the place that drives the fight-or-flight response. But our study shows it’s also involved in many other processes. When we look more closely at its smaller parts, we see links not only to fear and arousal, but also to things like how we process sensory information, how we respond to rewards, how we think about ourselves, and even how we integrate thoughts and movements. In short, the amygdala isn’t just about fear—it plays a role in a wide range of experiences and behaviors.”</p>
<p>The study also provides support for the idea that PTSD may involve imbalances in how different brain networks communicate, particularly those related to emotional and bodily regulation. The basolateral amygdala appears to sit at the center of these altered patterns, acting as a hub that is either underconnected to some cortical systems or overconnected to brain regions associated with arousal and vigilance.</p>
<p>This pattern may help explain why people with PTSD often report feeling constantly on edge or disconnected from themselves or their bodies. The increased links between the amygdala and brainstem could reflect heightened threat detection, while the reduced links with areas like the precuneus might relate to difficulties with self-reflection or integrating sensory input.</p>
<p>By identifying these more specific changes in brain communication, the findings support the view that PTSD is not a uniform disruption of the fear system, but a more nuanced shift in how various brain regions interact.</p>
<p>“Like all research, our study has some limitations,” Haris noted. “The biggest one is the comparison group we used. When studying PTSD, you ideally want to compare people with PTSD to people who have also experienced trauma but not developed PTSD. In our case, the comparison group wasn’t quite that ‘gold standard,’ so it’s important to keep that in mind.”</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the study offers a detailed look into how different parts of the amygdala function in PTSD and how they relate to broader brain systems. The findings support the idea that the amygdala plays a wider role than just fear detection. By focusing on its internal structure, researchers may gain a clearer understanding of the diverse symptoms of PTSD and open new paths for treatment targeting specific brain networks.</p>
<p>“Looking ahead, our next steps involve using a more advanced type of MRI scanner, called a 7T scanner,” Haris said. “This technology gives us much higher resolution images of the brain, which means we can see the amygdala’s subregions in even greater detail than before. The study we’ve just discussed used a standard 3T scanner, which is still very valuable, but the 7T scanner allows us to push the boundaries further and to even better understand how these subregions of the amygdala contribute to PTSD. We’ve already started this work, and we’re excited to share those findings soon!”</p>
<p>“I’d just like to highlight that this study was truly a team effort,” she added. “It took many years and countless hours of data collection, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of both the research team and the participants who generously gave their time. We’re very grateful to them, because their contributions are what make it possible to move this research forward and deepen our understanding of PTSD and, most importantly, how to better help people who are going through it.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03508-y" target="_blank">Functional connectivity profiles of amygdala subregions in posttraumatic stress disorder</a>,” was authored by Elizabeth M. Haris, Richard A. Bryant, Kim L. Felmingham, Leanne M. Williams, and Mayuresh S. Korgaonkar.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-assisted-group-therapy-may-help-reduce-depression-and-burnout-among-healthcare-workers/" 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;">Psilocybin-assisted group therapy may help reduce depression and burnout among healthcare workers</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 4th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new clinical trial suggests that a single dose of psilocybin, combined with mindfulness training, may offer short-term relief from depression and burnout for frontline healthcare workers. Published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004519" target="_blank">PLOS Medicine</a></em>, the study found that participants who received both psilocybin and mindfulness-based stress reduction reported greater and faster improvements in depressive symptoms than those who received mindfulness training alone. The effects on depression were most notable two weeks after the intervention but became less pronounced by six months. The study also found preliminary evidence that the combination may improve emotional exhaustion, demoralization, and feelings of connectedness.</p>
<p>Depression and burnout among doctors and nurses have become more common in recent years, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical professionals have faced long hours, high patient loads, and personal health risks. These pressures have strained emotional well-being and placed many at risk of depression, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion.</p>
<p>Burnout is typically described as a state of physical and emotional depletion, often involving feelings of detachment, lowered sense of accomplishment, and disconnection from others. Both burnout and depression are linked with poorer job performance and worse patient care.</p>
<p>Mindfulness-based stress reduction, a standardized program involving meditation and awareness practices, has shown some benefit in reducing emotional distress. Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, has also gained attention for its potential to reduce symptoms of depression. </p>
<p>“The COVID-19 pandemic amplified and exacerbated existing distress and burnout among healthcare workers. This is a significant problem with very limited existing interventions,” said study author Benjamin R. Lewis, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah and the principal investigator of <a href="https://medicine.utah.edu/psychiatry/research/labs/upsi" target="_blank">the University of Utah Psychedelic Science Initiative</a>.</p>
<p>“I, as well as my co-author John Hendrick, not only saw this first hand but experienced this personally. This project felt like something we could do that would advance the field, work to address this issue, and also make a direct impact within our own healthcare community. We were also very interested in this overlap of mindfulness practice and psychedelic interventions, and investigating the ways these practices might mutually inform each other.”</p>
<p>The trial enrolled 25 participants, all of whom were either physicians or registered nurses with firsthand experience providing care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. To be eligible, individuals had to report at least one month of frontline clinical work during the pandemic and meet clinical thresholds for both depression and burnout. Specifically, participants had to meet diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder, as measured by a score of 10 or higher on a standard screening tool (the Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and show elevated levels of emotional exhaustion and either depersonalization or low personal accomplishment on the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which is designed to assess burnout in medical professionals.</p>
<p>“I’ve been a clinician for my entire career, and I was very well acquainted with healthcare provider burnout,” Lewis said. “However I was nonetheless astonished by how severe the suffering was. Within days of putting up posters for our trial we had 700+ clinicians interested in participating. No doubt this is in part due to the effect of hanging posters with the word ‘psilocybin’ on it, but this clearly did not account for what we found when we began screening individuals for participation. This really impressed upon me how much suffering goes on right in our midst and how much of this is under the surface.”</p>
<p>Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course by itself. The other group received the same mindfulness training but also participated in a structured group psilocybin intervention. This included a single psilocybin dosing session (25 milligrams), along with preparatory and integration meetings with therapists.</p>
<p>The main goal was to see whether adding psilocybin led to greater reductions in depression symptoms two weeks after the intervention. Depression was measured using a widely used questionnaire known as the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms.</p>
<p>At the two-week mark, the group that received psilocybin in addition to mindfulness training showed a larger reduction in depression scores. On average, their depression scores dropped by 7.2 points, compared to a 2.8-point reduction in the mindfulness-only group. Nearly half of the participants in the psilocybin group showed remission of depression symptoms at two weeks, compared to just one in the mindfulness-only group. By six months, however, the difference between groups had narrowed, and both groups showed similar improvements.</p>
<p>“We compared MBSR alone to MBSR + group psilocybin and both groups demonstrated significant improvement,” Lewis told PsyPost. “By the 6 month endpoint the MBSR alone group had ‘caught up’ as it were, suggesting that the addition of psilocybin accelerated or catalyzed the benefits of mindfulness training,”</p>
<p>Secondary outcomes suggested potential benefits in other areas as well. At two weeks, the psilocybin group had larger reductions in depersonalization and demoralization, and reported stronger feelings of social and emotional connectedness. These effects, however, did not remain statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Still, the trends tended to favor the group that received psilocybin.</p>
<p>Importantly, the study also tracked safety. No serious adverse events were reported. Some participants experienced temporary side effects such as nausea or anxiety during the psilocybin session, but none required medication or medical intervention. No participants showed signs of worsening mental health or suicidality during the study.</p>
<p>“This study involved very busy physicians and nurses who were nonetheless able to make the commitment to an 8 week mindfulness curriculum and, for those randomized to the psilocybin arm, additional group sessions for preparation and integration,” Lewis said. “This combination was feasible as well as safe as evidenced by our rates of adverse events and the absence of any serious adverse events.”</p>
<p>The study used a group format for the psilocybin sessions, which may have contributed to improvements in connectedness and reduced feelings of isolation. Participants were supported by therapists and peers, which the authors suggest might enhance the social benefits of the experience.</p>
<p>The researchers also examined whether the intensity of participants’ altered states of consciousness related to treatment outcomes. Many in the psilocybin group reported what was described as a “complete mystical experience,” involving feelings of unity, transcendence, and profound meaning. </p>
<p>Interestingly, these experiences were strongly linked to improvements in depression, emotional exhaustion, and connectedness, and the association appeared independent of whether psilocybin was administered, suggesting that self-transcendent states induced by either psychedelics or intensive mindfulness practice may play a role in recovery.</p>
<p>“I think a common misunderstanding of a process involving psilocybin is that it is some kind of magic pill, or fix — i.e. some kind of cure for depression, or suffering,” Lewis said. “In the process of working with participants with this intervention, you really see what comes up for them, how they work with this, and how you as a team can create the conditions that might support that kind of work. I think it is also a misconception to over-emphasize the ‘special’ or ‘mystical’ aspects of a psychedelic experience. In this sense grounding this within a mindfulness training program may help to better integrate these experiences within day to day ordinary life.”</p>
<p>While the study points to promising early findings, it had several limitations that affect how the results should be interpreted. First, the sample size was small, and most participants were white women. This limits how broadly the results can be applied. A larger and more diverse sample would be needed to confirm the findings.</p>
<p>Second, the study was not blinded, meaning participants knew which treatment they were receiving. This can influence expectations and possibly affect outcomes. However, the researchers found that expectations were more strongly linked to outcomes in the mindfulness-only group, suggesting the improvements seen in the psilocybin group may not have been driven by expectancy alone.</p>
<p>There was also no placebo condition, which limits the ability to isolate the effects of psilocybin itself. The psilocybin group received an emotionally intense experience, while the mindfulness-only group participated in a day-long silent retreat. Though both are immersive, they differ in emotional intensity and novelty.</p>
<p>Finally, the improvement in depression was most notable at the two-week follow-up and became less pronounced over time. By six months, the mindfulness-only group had largely “caught up” in terms of depression scores. This suggests that psilocybin may act more as a catalyst that accelerates benefits rather than producing sustained effects on its own.</p>
<p>The study offers preliminary evidence that adding a single dose of psilocybin to a mindfulness program can lead to more rapid reductions in depression among healthcare workers facing burnout. The findings point to the potential value of combining psychedelic therapy with established mental health interventions in a group setting.</p>
<p>Still, the results should be viewed as a starting point. The authors emphasize the need for larger trials that can test the effects across more diverse populations and over longer periods of time. They also recommend study designs that can better separate the effects of psilocybin from other components of the intervention.</p>
<p>“I’d love to run a factorial design study along these lines where you can include a group with mindfulness training alone, psilocybin alone, mindfulness + psilocybin, and mindfulness + placebo condition,” Lewis said. “This would require a larger study but would be a necessary next step to really understanding the relative contributions of these different elements.”</p>
<p>“This was a deeply meaningful process for me and has been the highlight of my professional career,” he added.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004519" target="_blank">Psilocybin-assisted group psychotherapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction for frontline healthcare provider COVID-19-related depression and burnout: A randomized controlled trial</a>,” was authored by Benjamin R. Lewis, John Hendrick, Kevin Byrne, Madeleine Odette, Chaorong Wu, and Eric L. Garland.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/researchers-studied-the-shift-from-singlehood-to-dating-three-key-areas-stood-out/" 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;">Researchers studied the shift from singlehood to dating. Three key areas stood out.</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 4th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251371351" target="_blank">Social Psychological and Personality Science</a></em> suggests that entering and maintaining a romantic relationship can lead to modest improvements in overall well-being, especially in areas directly tied to having a partner. The study found that while life satisfaction increased slightly, improvements were more pronounced in areas such as sexual satisfaction, loneliness, and how happy people felt about their relationship status. These effects were strongest among men and among people who had a strong desire to be in a relationship.</p>
<p>The researchers aimed to test a widely accepted idea: that being in a romantic relationship makes people happier. Although past studies have consistently shown that partnered individuals report higher well-being than those who are single, there has been skepticism about whether romantic relationships actually cause these differences. Some scholars argue that these differences may be the result of “selection effects”—that is, people who are happier or more sociable might be more likely to attract partners in the first place.</p>
<p>“There had been arguments in singlehood studies that maybe the idea that getting into a romantic partnership causes higher well-being was a myth. But we thought there were two main problems with this argument,” said study author Geoff MacDonald, a professor at the University of Toronto and author behind the new Substack column <a href="https://unromanticprof.substack.com/" target="_blank">The Unromantic</a>.</p>
<p>“One, those arguments are based on longitudinal data following people going from dating to married. We thought the more relevant question is what happens when people go from single to dating. Secondly, those arguments are based on studies on overall life satisfaction. It’s probably not surprising that getting into a romantic relationship might only cause a small bump in life satisfaction since that is an assessment of how your life is going across all the different domains in your life.” </p>
<p>“Even if you’re really happy to be in a new relationship, that doesn’t change your problems at work, your fight with your parents, etc. So we thought a domain-specific approach might help us see the effects of partnering more clearly, with domains that are more strongly tied to being single/partnered (like sexual satisfaction) possibly showing stronger effects of partnering.”</p>
<p>“Also, one critique of past literature is that you couldn’t really say partnering caused higher well-being because you can’t randomly assign people to be single or partnered,” MacDonald said. “But by using propensity score data analytic methods that helps account for variables that lead people to be more likely to be partnered or single, we can more confidently say the changes in well-being we note are caused by partnering.”</p>
<p>For their new study, the research team followed more than 3,100 single adults over a six-month period. At the beginning of the study, all participants identified as single and had been so for at least three months. Participants were between 18 and 39 years old, and the sample was fairly balanced in terms of gender and sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Six months later, the researchers checked in again to see who had entered a romantic relationship and who had not. They divided the participants into three groups: those who stayed single the entire time, those who started a new relationship and were still in it at the second timepoint, and those who entered a relationship but broke up before the study ended.</p>
<p>To measure well-being, the researchers asked participants about their life satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, satisfaction with their relationship status, and feelings of loneliness. They also accounted for factors that could influence these outcomes—such as age, gender, and how much participants initially wanted to be in a relationship—using a method called propensity score weighting. This technique helps reduce bias by making the comparison groups more similar.</p>
<p>Three outcomes stood out. The researchers found that participants who entered a relationship and stayed in it reported higher well-being at the follow-up compared to those who stayed single. The biggest gains were seen in areas closely tied to being in a relationship. Sexual satisfaction increased substantially, and people were also much more satisfied with their relationship status. Loneliness also dropped significantly. While the direction of the effects was expected, their magnitude was surprising.</p>
<p>“The relationship status and sexual satisfaction effects meet the criteria for large effects (some of the biggest I’ve seen in my career),” MacDonald told PsyPost. “In our research and in other research looking at long established couples, there is a huge advantage in sexual satisfaction for partnered people. So it looks like partnered people are higher in sexual satisfaction than singles in the long term, and that’s not because they were that much higher in sexual satisfaction before they ever partnered.”</p>
<p>“We tested for moderation by desire for a partner. We were not surprised that singles who desired a partner more experienced the largest gains in well-being from partnering. However, we were surprised that even people with below average desire for a partner (i.e., -1 SD) exhibited gains in sexual satisfaction, relationship status satisfaction, and lower loneliness in the medium to large effect size range.”</p>
<p>Among participants who entered a relationship, life satisfaction did go up as well, but the increase was small.</p>
<p>“Our data do suggest that partnering causes higher well-being, but that’s true most strongly in the domains that are structurally tied to having a partner like satisfaction with relationship status (people are happier being partnered on average) and sexual satisfaction,” MacDonald explained. “Life satisfaction went up a small degree. So if you’re looking to romantic partnering to change your life you probably have the wrong expectations. But if you’re looking for partnering to add value to parts of your life that a partner can actually help (like your sex life), you probably have a more realistic sense of the well-being gains that are likely to result from partnering.”</p>
<p>Those who started a relationship and then broke up did not report the same benefits. Their well-being remained largely unchanged compared to those who stayed single, with only a small uptick in sexual satisfaction. In some cases, their satisfaction with relationship status actually dropped.</p>
<p>Participants who stayed single throughout the study reported little change in any well-being category, with some showing very small declines in sexual satisfaction and relationship status satisfaction. This suggests that, for many people, staying single is a stable state that does not dramatically change their well-being over short periods of time.</p>
<p>The effects of entering a romantic relationship were not the same for everyone. Men who entered and stayed in a relationship reported larger increases in life satisfaction and relationship status satisfaction than women who did the same.</p>
<p>“This growing sense that maybe it’s a myth that romantic relationships increase well-being doesn’t seem to hold up to these data,” MacDonald remarked.</p>
<p>But the study focuses on average patterns, so its findings should not be taken to mean that every individual will experience benefits from entering a relationship. People who are content being single or who value independence may not experience these kinds of gains. In fact, entering a relationship might even interfere with life goals for some individuals.</p>
<p>“It is important to note we are not saying that <em>everyone</em> would gain in well-being from partnering,” MacDonald said. “For example, we doubt that people who identify as aromantic would experience these gains.”</p>
<p>“Overall, we think people should be thinking about singlehood/partnership not as which is better overall, but what parts of my life can they affect positively and negatively. We have a past study showing that satisfaction with work/life balance decreases when you partner. So expect your sexual satisfaction to go up, but your friend network to shrink and your time for your hobbies to be less (at least at first).”</p>
<p>Although the study used advanced methods to control for confounding factors, the authors caution that it cannot definitively prove that romantic relationships cause better well-being. The method they used can only account for factors that were measured. Other variables, such as individual values, personality traits, or social environment, could also play a role.</p>
<p>The time frame of the study was also relatively short. It is unclear whether the improvements in well-being seen in the first six months of a new relationship would hold up over longer periods. Previous research has shown that satisfaction often declines in long-term relationships, which may affect whether these early gains are lasting.</p>
<p>“We only studied people six months into the relationship so it’s not clear how long the effect would last,” MacDonald noted. “It’s complicated because there’s almost no studies that compare both the effect of getting into a relationship and staying single in the same study. So we know relationship satisfaction decreases with time, but if staying single is also associated with decreases in life satisfaction, there may still be an advantage to getting partnered in terms of life satisfaction. This is a really important direction for future research, to do studies that simultaneously follow people who go from single to partnered as well as people who remain consistently single for that same period.”</p>
<p>“We think that singlehood studies has been highly focused on singles who do not want partnership,” he added. “That’s an important focus, but has maybe been missing out on the fact that most people benefit from getting in a good relationship, and dealing with unmet romantic desire needs to be another focus of singlehood studies.”</p>
<p>People who want to explore this research in more depth can visit <a href="https://unromanticprof.substack.com/" target="_blank">Geoff MacDonald’s Substack</a>, where he has published three posts that each highlight different aspects of the study.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251371351" target="_blank">In What Domains Does Entering a Romantic Relationship Boost Well-Being? A Longitudinal Investigation</a>,” was authored by Helena Yuchen Qin, Elaine Hoan, Samantha Joel, and Geoff MacDonald.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/these-facts-about-dark-personalities-seem-to-weird-too-be-true-but-are-backed-by-science/" 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 facts about dark personalities seem too weird to be true but are backed by science</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 3rd 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>We often think of people with dark personality traits as master manipulators, villains we can spot from a mile away. The reality science is uncovering is far more complex and often surprising. Researchers are discovering that these traits affect everything from how a person moves their head to what news stories they click on. The findings paint a strange, sometimes counterintuitive, picture of how these personalities operate in the world.</p>
<p>So, what are these traits? Psychologists often refer to the “dark tetrad.” This group includes narcissism, which involves a grandiose sense of self-importance and a need for admiration. It also includes Machiavellianism, a tendency to be cynical, unprincipled, and manipulative. The third trait is psychopathy, characterized by a lack of empathy, impulsivity, and antisocial behavior. The fourth, sadism, is the tendency to derive pleasure from others’ suffering. Together, they represent a disposition toward putting oneself first, often at others’ expense.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/the-psychopathic-stare-an-algorithm-may-be-able-to-detect-signs-of-psychopathy-based-on-an-inmates-head-movements/">Psychopaths Move Their Heads Less</a></h3>
<p>Researchers set out to quantify the body language of inmates with psychopathic traits. They used automated tracking algorithms to measure the head movements of 507 incarcerated men while they participated in videotaped conversations. The interviews, which ranged from one to four hours long, were used to score each inmate’s level of psychopathy using a standard diagnostic tool.</p>
<p>The digital camera was focused only on the inmate, who was seated and facing forward. A machine learning program then analyzed the footage to measure how much and how often each person’s head moved, providing a set of objective data on their nonverbal behavior during the interview.</p>
<p>The study found a strong connection between psychopathic traits and reduced head movement. Inmates who scored higher on psychopathy tests tended to keep their heads more stationary during their conversations, creating the effect of a rigid and focused “stare.”</p>
<p>This stillness was primarily linked to the antisocial elements of psychopathy, meaning that individuals with a long history of diverse and persistent antisocial behavior were the most likely to exhibit fixed head positions. The researchers suggest that this is a first step, and more work is needed to see if these findings apply to other groups, like women or adolescents.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/overconfidence-in-bullshit-detection-linked-to-cognitive-blind-spots-and-narcissistic-traits/">Dark Personalities and Bullshitting</a></h3>
<p>In two studies involving nearly 600 people in the first and over 400 in the second, researchers explored the connection between personality and the ability to detect “pseudo-profound bullshit.” Participants were shown a series of statements and had to judge them as either “profound” or “not profound.” Some statements were genuinely meaningful motivational quotes, while others were nonsensical but lofty-sounding sentences like, “Good health imparts reality to subtle creativity.”</p>
<p>Participants also estimated their own performance on this task, which allowed researchers to measure their overconfidence. In addition, they completed questionnaires assessing their personality traits, including narcissism and Machiavellianism, and how often they engaged in persuasive or evasive bullshitting themselves.</p>
<p>The results showed a clear Dunning-Kruger pattern: the people who were least able to distinguish nonsense from meaningful statements were also the most likely to overestimate their own ability. They incorrectly believed they were better at the task than their peers.</p>
<p>Machiavellianism was not strongly linked to the ability to detect bullshit, but they were connected to self-reported bullshitting behavior. Narcissists tended to think they were better at spotting nonsense than they actually were. Interestingly, people high in Machiavellianism were actually better at detecting bullshit, while also reporting that they use it themselves. This suggests they may use it as a conscious social tool rather than out of ignorance.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/dark-triad-personalities-may-be-easier-to-scam-than-youd-think/">Dark Personalities More Susceptible to Phishing Scams</a></h3>
<p>In a study of 461 undergraduate students, researchers investigated whether people with dark personality traits were more likely to fall for email phishing scams. Participants completed a series of questionnaires to measure different aspects of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. They also completed tests measuring their social intelligence, which includes social awareness (sensitivity to others’ motives) and social information processing (the ability to use social information).</p>
<p>To test their susceptibility to scams, participants were shown 12 real-looking phishing emails. They rated how likely they would be to respond to each email and how trustworthy and persuasive they found it. These ratings were combined into a single score for phishing vulnerability.</p>
<p>The results challenged the idea that manipulative people are always savvy about deception. Initially, there were almost no direct links between most dark traits and falling for scams. However, a deeper analysis revealed an indirect relationship. People with higher levels of traits like Machiavellian cynicism, psychopathic callousness, and narcissistic rivalry tended to score lower on social awareness.</p>
<p>This lower social awareness, in turn, predicted a greater vulnerability to phishing scams. In essence, a diminished ability to consider a sender’s intentions or notice subtle social cues made them easier to trick. The findings suggest that a lack of social insight, common in many dark personality types, might make them easier to exploit through social engineering.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/narcissists-are-drawn-to-a-particular-kind-of-news-story-psychologists-find/">Narcissists Are Drawn to a Particular Kind of News Story</a></h3>
<p>Researchers conducted two studies to see what kind of news content people with narcissistic traits prefer. In the first study, 253 participants completed a narcissism questionnaire and were then asked to choose ten news headlines they wanted to read from a list of thirty. The headlines were pre-tested and categorized as antisocial (e.g., “Supervisor sexually harasses multiple interns”), prosocial (e.g., “Steep increase in blood donors”), or neutral.</p>
<p>A second study with 294 participants replicated this design but also measured other traits that might explain the choices, including empathy, the need for intense stimulation (sensation seeking), and social motives like altruism.</p>
<p>Across both studies, individuals who scored higher in antagonistic narcissism, a subtype characterized by arrogance and aggression, showed a clear preference. They were more likely to choose antisocial news stories and less likely to select stories about prosocial behavior.</p>
<p>The second study helped explain why. This preference was statistically linked to two underlying traits: lower levels of empathy and a higher need for sensation seeking. Narcissistic individuals’ reduced ability to feel compassion for others and their desire for intense experiences made them more interested in stories about harm and conflict, and less interested in stories about cooperation and kindness. This suggests that their media choices reflect and possibly reinforce their worldview.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-neuroscience-research-links-psychopathys-antisocial-features-to-distinct-brain-structure-abnormalities/">Antisocial Behaviors and Brain Structure Abnormalities</a></h3>
<p>In this study, researchers used advanced brain imaging to examine the brain structures of 39 men with high psychopathy scores who were recruited from forensic hospitals and parole offices. Each participant underwent an MRI scan, and their brain volumes were analyzed using a highly detailed anatomical map called the Julich-Brain Atlas.</p>
<p>The analysis focused on connecting brain structure with the two main dimensions of psychopathy: the first dimension involves interpersonal and emotional traits like manipulativeness and coldness, while the second dimension involves impulsive and antisocial lifestyle choices. The brain scans of the psychopathic individuals were also compared to an age-matched control group.</p>
<p>The study found that high scores on the second dimension of psychopathy, which relates to impulsive and antisocial behavior, were strongly associated with reduced volume in widespread brain regions. These areas, including parts of the brainstem, basal ganglia, and frontal cortex, are involved in behavioral regulation, self-control, and decision-making.</p>
<p>In contrast, the first dimension of psychopathy which covers emotional coldness and manipulation showed much weaker and more inconsistent links to brain structure. The findings suggest that the impulsive and criminal behaviors seen in psychopathy may be tied to measurable structural differences in brain circuits responsible for self-control, while the manipulative and affective traits might be less dependent on consistent structural changes.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/trump-supporters-report-higher-levels-of-psychopathy-manipulativeness-callousness-and-narcissism/">Elevated Levels Observed Among Trump Supporters</a></h3>
<p>Researchers conducted two large surveys with a total of over 9,000 U.S. adults to explore the psychological traits underlying political beliefs. Participants completed a range of questionnaires measuring attitudes toward Donald Trump, general political ideology, and various personality traits.</p>
<p>The personality assessments included measures of both “malevolent” traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism) and “benevolent” traits (humanism, faith in humanity). Participants also completed tests of empathy, which distinguished between feeling concern for others (affective empathy), understanding others’ emotions (cognitive empathy), and enjoying others’ suffering (dissonant empathy).</p>
<p>The findings consistently showed that people who rated Trump’s presidency highly were more likely to score higher on malevolent personality traits like psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. These individuals also scored lower on benevolent traits, such as humanism and a belief in the basic goodness of others.</p>
<p>Support for Trump was also linked to specific empathy patterns. His supporters reported lower levels of affective empathy (less emotional concern for others’ suffering) and higher levels of dissonant empathy (greater enjoyment of others’ pain). These personality differences held up even when accounting for factors like age, gender, and education, suggesting a deep connection between these psychological dispositions and a particular political alignment.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/narcissism-and-psychopathy-are-both-weakly-related-to-makeup-habits-among-women/">Surprising Links to Makeup Habits</a></h3>
<p>This study surveyed 1,410 Brazilian women about their personality and makeup habits. The women completed questionnaires that measured the “Big Five” personality traits as well as the dark triad traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.</p>
<p>They were also asked detailed questions about their makeup use: how much time and money they spent on it, and how frequently they wore it in different situations, such as at home, at work, on a first date, or while exercising. This allowed researchers to see if makeup use changed depending on the social context.</p>
<p>The study found a consistent positive link between narcissism and makeup use. Women who scored higher in narcissism tended to spend more time, money, and effort on makeup. They also adjusted their makeup usage significantly depending on the situation, wearing more in settings where they might meet new people or wanted to make a good impression.</p>
<p>In contrast, women who scored higher on psychopathy tended to have more stable and lower levels of makeup use across all situations. This suggests they may not use makeup as a tool for social presentation as much as other personality types. The researchers caution that these effects were small and that many other factors influence makeup habits.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/psychopathic-men-have-more-children-study-finds/">Psychopathic Men Have More Children</a></h3>
<p>To investigate the evolutionary perspective on psychopathy, researchers recruited 253 young men and 243 young women between the ages of 24 and 35 for an online survey. Participants provided demographic information, including their relationship status, income, and the number of children they had.</p>
<p>They also completed a self-report measure of psychopathy that assesses its four key dimensions: interpersonal manipulativeness, affective coldness, erratic lifestyle, and antisocial behavior. This allowed the researchers to look at both overall psychopathy and its specific facets in relation to reproductive success in a general, non-criminal population.</p>
<p>The study found that for men, prototypical psychopathy was associated with having more children. Specifically, the interpersonal, affective, and antisocial facets of psychopathy were all linked to a higher number of offspring in men. For women, however, there was no such association; only the antisocial facet showed a weak link to having more children.</p>
<p>The findings support the idea that, for men, psychopathic traits might be part of a “fast” life history strategy that prioritizes mating and producing more offspring, even if it comes at the cost of lower parental investment. The researchers note that a limitation was not distinguishing between biological and step-children, which is an important area for future study.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/dark-personality-traits-linked-to-generative-ai-use-among-art-students/">Generative AI Use Among Art Students</a></h3>
<p>This study surveyed 504 university art students in Sichuan, China, to understand the psychological factors behind their use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. The students, who came from diverse artistic fields, completed self-report questionnaires measuring dark personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and materialism).</p>
<p>They also answered questions about their academic behaviors and experiences, including academic misconduct, academic anxiety, procrastination, feelings of frustration, and negative thinking. Finally, they reported on their habits related to using generative AI for their coursework. Researchers then used a statistical model to see how all these factors were connected.</p>
<p>The results showed that students who scored higher on dark personality traits were significantly more likely to engage in academic misconduct, such as plagiarism or passing off AI work as their own. These traits were also linked to higher academic anxiety and more procrastination.</p>
<p>This combination of personality and behavior was, in turn, associated with increased frustration, negative thinking, and a greater reliance on generative AI tools. The study suggests that for some students, turning to AI is not just about seeking help; it’s part of a larger pattern driven by personality, stress, and poor self-regulation, where AI becomes a coping mechanism for academic pressures.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/dark-personality-traits-linked-to-virtuous-victim-signaling-and-exploitation-of-accusations/">“Virtuous Victim Signaling” as a Dark Triad Strategy</a></h3>
<p>A series of three studies with over 1,500 U.K. participants investigated “virtuous victim signaling,” a behavior where a person publicly highlights their suffering and moral character at the same time to gain sympathy and resources. Participants completed questionnaires measuring dark tetrad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism).</p>
<p>They also completed a scale measuring their tendency to engage in virtuous victim signaling. The third study introduced a new scale to measure the tendency to exploit accusations against others, such as by participating in public shaming or “canceling” them. The researchers controlled for factors that might predict actual victimhood, like poor health.</p>
<p>The first two studies confirmed that both narcissism and Machiavellianism are strongly linked to virtuous victim signaling. This suggests the behavior is a strategic tool for social influence rather than a simple reflection of genuine suffering. People high in these traits appear to use displays of victimhood and morality to manipulate others for personal gain.</p>
<p>The third study revealed a unique role for sadism. While sadism was not linked to signaling one’s own victimhood, it was connected to the enjoyment of exploiting accusations against others. Individuals high in sadism reported deriving pleasure from shaming or canceling people, often under the guise of moral righteousness. This shows a different way dark traits can manipulate social dynamics.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/some-dark-personality-traits-linked-to-virtuous-victim-signaling-and-exploitation-of-accusations/">A Key Part of Machiavellianism May Protect Against Depression</a></h3>
<p>Researchers recruited 343 adults online to explore how different components of dark triad traits relate to mental health. Participants completed detailed questionnaires that broke down narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy into their various facets, some considered adaptive and others maladaptive. They also completed measures of depression, anxiety, and stress.</p>
<p>A key part of the study was assessing “coping flexibility,” or a person’s ability to switch from an ineffective coping strategy to a more effective one. The researchers used network analysis, a statistical method that maps out the complex, interacting relationships between all of these different traits and symptoms.</p>
<p>The study found that a trait called “Machiavellian agency,” which involves strategic thinking, assertiveness, and goal-orientation, was a highly influential factor. Higher levels of Machiavellian agency were positively connected to coping flexibility and negatively connected to symptoms of depression. In other words, people who were more strategic and goal-focused were more flexible in their coping and reported less depression.</p>
<p>This challenges the idea that all dark traits are psychologically harmful. While other traits like narcissistic antagonism and secondary psychopathy were linked to higher depression and stress, Machiavellian agency appeared to function as a protective factor. It may help individuals leverage other traits, like extraversion, in ways that build resilience against psychological distress.</p>
<h3><a href="https://www.psypost.org/people-with-dark-triad-traits-gain-others-trust-through-facial-attractiveness/">Gaining Trust Through Facial Attractiveness</a></h3>
<p>Across four studies, researchers in China investigated how people perceive and trust individuals with dark triad traits based solely on their faces. First, they took neutral facial photographs of people who had scored either very high or very low on dark triad personality tests. Then, they had new groups of participants look at these photos and rate how trustworthy each person appeared.</p>
<p>In a follow-up study, they used a “trust game” where participants had to decide how much money to invest in a partner, based only on that partner’s picture. The amount invested served as a behavioral measure of trust. Other studies had participants rate the faces on attractiveness, dominance, and extraversion to see what might explain the trust ratings.</p>
<p>The results consistently showed that individuals with high dark triad traits were perceived as more trustworthy from their faces alone. In the trust game, participants also invested more money in the high-dark-triad individuals, showing that this perception translated into actual trusting behavior.</p>
<p>The reason for this surprising effect appeared to be attractiveness. Faces of people with high dark triad traits were rated as more attractive, and this attractiveness largely explained why they were seen as more trustworthy. The findings suggest that despite their manipulative nature, these individuals may have a social advantage in short-term interactions, where an appealing appearance can create a misleading first impression of trustworthiness.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/gossip-might-do-more-for-your-relationship-than-you-think-study-suggests/" 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;">Gossip might do more for your relationship than you think, study suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 3rd 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>Couples who gossip together may be happier and more satisfied in their relationships, according to a new study published in the <em>Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.</em></p>
<p>While gossip is often criticized as petty or harmful, psychologists have long noted that it can strengthen social bonds, such as between friends and coworkers.</p>
<p>However, previous research has rarely looked at gossip specifically between romantic partners. Additionally, most past studies rely on self-reports or artificial lab settings, which are biased and do not reflect real-world gossip.</p>
<p>To address these research gaps, Chandler M. Spahr and Megan L. Robbins from the University of California recruited 76 couples from Southern California. These included both same-gender (man-man, woman-woman) and different-gender (man-woman) pairs. All participants were in long-term, marriage-like relationships and living together for at least a year.</p>
<p>Each person wore a small portable recording device, called the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), for two weekends. The device captured short sound clips throughout their day-to-day lives in a naturalistic setting, whether it was at home, at work, or in a public setting.</p>
<p>In total, nearly 100,000 audio clips were collected. A team of research assistants coded the conversations to identify when participants were gossiping – defined as talking about someone not physically present in the conversation. Participants also filled out surveys measuring their happiness and relationship quality.</p>
<p>The findings showed that gossip was a common part of couples’ daily conversations. Partners spent an average of 38 minutes per day gossiping, and nearly every couple engaged in gossip at least once. About 3 percent of all recordings contained gossip with a romantic partner.</p>
<p>Couples who gossiped more frequently with each other reported higher levels of happiness and better relationship quality. This link was consistent across both same-gender and different-gender couples.</p>
<p>Some differences by relationship type also appeared. Women in relationships with women tended to gossip more often and reported the highest relationship quality. Women in relationships with men reported the lowest relationship quality. However, gossip predicted positive outcomes across all groups.</p>
<p>“Because gossip is a shared activity, it may reinforce the perception that partners are “on the same team,” enhancing feelings of connectedness, trust, and other positive relationship qualities,” Spahr and Robbins explained.</p>
<p>The authors note some caveats. For instance, the study did not distinguish between positive and negative gossip, or examine the subjects of gossip. Participants also tended to report already high levels of happiness, suggesting the findings may not represent couples in more strained situations.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075251375147">Spill the tea, honey: Gossiping predicts well-being in same- and different-gender couples</a>,” was authored by Chandler M. Spahr and Megan L. Robbins.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/five-cultural-tendencies-might-explain-the-east-asian-happiness-puzzle/" 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;">Five cultural tendencies might explain the “East Asian happiness puzzle”</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 3rd 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.70078"><em>Social and Personality Psychology Compass</em></a> has revealed that East Asian countries report lower average happiness than Western nations, not because they are poorer, but due to five cultural tendencies that dampen everyday joy.</p>
<p>Economists and policymakers have long held beliefs that national prosperity drives happiness. Indeed, richer countries tend to have higher happiness scores. However, wealthy East Asian democracies such as Japan and South Korea often report lower happiness than similarly affluent Western nations. In previous research, this “East Asian happiness puzzle” still persisted even after accounting for income, social equality, and rights.</p>
<p>Researchers Hyewon Choi (Kyung Hee University) and Eunsoo Choi (Korea University) set out to investigate this paradox. Rather than focusing on economics or politics, they examined cultural differences in psychology – how individuals think about themselves, their emotions, and their social worlds.</p>
<p>They scoured global surveys of up to 147 countries, lab experiments comparing hundreds of East Asians and European Americans, brain-wave studies on self-focus, and community analyses from rice- versus wheat-farming areas. By weaving together this diverse evidence, they identified five key cultural mechanisms.</p>
<p>First, East Asians practice self-effacing interdependence where humility, modesty and criticism of the self keep individual pride in check. In contrast, Westerners embrace self-enhancement, which boosts positive self-views and lifts happiness. Experiments find European Americans focus more on good traits, while East Asians give equal weight to flaws.</p>
<p>Second, East Asians lean on external standards – social approval and norms – to judge success, including happiness. Westerners rely mostly on internal feelings. Studies show Koreans lower their happiness ratings if someone criticizes their joyful memories, whereas Americans stick to their own sense of well-being.</p>
<p>Third, strong and tight social norms in East Asia encourage constant social comparison. Comparing upward – such as “my neighbor earns more” or “my friends seem happier” – often backfires, leaving people less satisfied with their own lives.</p>
<p>Fourth, dialectical thinking common in East Asia accepts that too much happiness can spark envy and disrupt harmony, viewing happiness as fleeting or even dangerous if overindulged. Hence, individuals savor positive moments less. Western analytic thinking on the other hand simply chases joy directly.</p>
<p>Finally, low relational mobility – i.e. fewer chances to make new friends – means East Asians share good news less often and seek support less as they often remain in fixed social networks. Westerners, in more fluid social worlds where people can freely form and leave friendships, readily celebrate together and lift each other up.</p>
<p>Taken together, these cultural patterns may explain why wealth and democracy do not automatically lead to happiness in East Asia. Happiness is not just about material comfort or social freedoms – it is also deeply shaped by cultural habits of thought and social life.</p>
<p>Despite its breadth, the review has gaps. It focuses mainly on East Asia versus North America, relies heavily on cross-sectional data, and cannot isolate which single mechanism matters most. Future studies will need unified experiments and a broader range of cultures.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.70078">Unraveling Why Happiness Levels Vary Across Cultures: Mechanisms Underlying East-West Differences</a>”, was authored by Hyewon Choi and Eunsoo Choi.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/scientists-uncover-molecular-link-between-high-salt-and-cognitive-decline/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Scientists uncover molecular link between high salt and cognitive decline</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 3rd 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study has identified a specific chain of molecular events that explains how a high-salt diet can contribute to cognitive decline. The research, published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202502099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Advanced Science</a></em>, reveals that consuming excess salt can disrupt a key signaling pathway in the brain, leading to the reduction of a protein essential for maintaining healthy connections between neurons and causing memory deficits in animal models.</p>
<p>Scientists have long recognized that high salt intake is a risk factor for cognitive problems, but the precise biological mechanisms have remained largely unclear. While some research has pointed to issues like reduced blood flow in the brain or inflammation, a team of researchers led by Cuiping Guo sought to investigate a more direct effect on the brain’s communication network.</p>
<p>They focused on synapses, the specialized junctions where neurons transmit signals to one another. The integrity of these connections is fundamental to learning and memory, and their dysfunction is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases. The researchers hypothesized that a high-salt diet might directly damage these synaptic structures.</p>
<p>To test this idea, the scientific team conducted a series of experiments using rats. They divided the animals into two groups: one received a normal diet, while the other was fed a diet with a very high concentration of salt for nine weeks. Following this period, the rats underwent several behavioral tests designed to assess their learning and memory abilities. In one test, which evaluates spatial memory, rats had to learn the location of a hidden platform in a small pool of water. In another, their ability to recognize a new object was measured. The results from these tests showed a clear impairment in the rats that consumed the high-salt diet, as they struggled with memory-related tasks compared to the control group.</p>
<p>With the behavioral effects established, the investigators next examined the brains of the rats to identify the physical changes behind the memory loss. They focused on the hippocampus, a brain region known to be central to memory formation. By measuring the electrical activity between neurons in hippocampal tissue, they found that synaptic communication was significantly weaker in the high-salt group.</p>
<p>Using powerful electron microscopes to visualize the synapses, they observed physical evidence of decay. The rats on the high-salt diet had fewer synapses overall, and the existing ones had smaller and less developed postsynaptic densities, which are complex protein structures on the receiving end of a synapse that are essential for processing signals.</p>
<p>To pinpoint the molecular cause of this synaptic damage, the researchers used a technique called RNA sequencing to analyze gene activity in the hippocampus. This method allowed them to see which genes were being turned up or down in response to the high-salt diet. The analysis revealed significant changes in genes related to synaptic function.</p>
<p>One protein, named SHANK1, stood out because its expression was substantially decreased in the rats fed excess salt. SHANK1 is a scaffolding protein, meaning it acts as an organizational hub at the synapse, holding other important proteins in place and ensuring the structure is stable and functional. Subsequent tests confirmed that the levels of SHANK1 protein were indeed much lower in the high-salt rats.</p>
<p>To determine if the loss of SHANK1 was a direct cause of the cognitive problems and not just a side effect, the researchers performed a follow-up experiment. They used a specially engineered virus to selectively reduce the amount of SHANK1 in the hippocampus of healthy rats that were on a normal diet. This intervention produced the same effects seen in the high-salt group. The rats with reduced SHANK1 developed synaptic dysfunction and performed poorly on memory tests. This result provided strong evidence that the decline in SHANK1 protein is a key contributor to the cognitive impairments induced by high salt consumption.</p>
<p>The team then worked to understand what was causing the reduction in SHANK1. They investigated a known cellular communication route called the PKA/CREB pathway. This pathway begins with a signaling molecule that activates an enzyme known as protein kinase A. This enzyme, in turn, activates a gene-regulating protein called cAMP-response element-binding protein, or CREB. The CREB protein functions like a switch that turns on the production of other proteins necessary for memory and synaptic health.</p>
<p>The investigation revealed that in the rats on the high-salt diet, the activity of protein kinase A was suppressed. This led to less activation of the CREB protein, which in turn meant that the gene for SHANK1 was not being turned on as it should be, resulting in lower protein levels.</p>
<p>Having identified this complete molecular pathway, the researchers tested whether they could reverse the damage. In a new experiment, they took rats that had been on a high-salt diet and injected a chemical that directly activates protein kinase A into their hippocampi. The treatment successfully restored the activity of the CREB protein and brought SHANK1 production back to normal levels. Remarkably, this molecular repair translated into functional recovery. The rats showed improved synaptic function and performed significantly better on memory tests, demonstrating that the damage caused by the high-salt diet could be reversed by targeting this specific pathway.</p>
<p>To further solidify the central role of the CREB protein in this process, the team conducted experiments in cultured neurons. They used genetically modified versions of the CREB protein, one that was permanently active and one that was permanently inactive. When the permanently active version was introduced into neurons, it prevented SHANK1 levels from dropping even when protein kinase A was blocked. Conversely, activating protein kinase A failed to increase SHANK1 when the permanently inactive version of CREB was present. This confirmed that the CREB protein is the essential link connecting protein kinase A signaling to the production of SHANK1.</p>
<p>While the study provides a detailed mechanism linking high salt intake to cognitive problems, the researchers note some limitations. The precise way in which high salt levels in the body lead to the initial suppression of protein kinase A activity in the brain is not yet fully understood and requires more investigation. The study also used a very high concentration of salt to induce effects within an experimental timeframe.</p>
<p>Future work could explore the impact of more moderate salt consumption over longer periods, which would more closely resemble typical human dietary patterns. As the experiments were conducted in rats, additional research will be needed to confirm that this same pathway is at play in humans. The findings suggest that this molecular pathway could be a promising target for developing therapies to protect against or treat cognitive dysfunction associated with diet.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202502099" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Long Term High-Salt Diet Induces Cognitive Impairments via Down-Regulating SHANK1</a>,” was authored by Cuiping Guo, Yuanyuan Li, Wensheng Li, Tongrui Wu, Yi Liu, Yacoubou Abdoul Razak Mahaman, Jianzhi Wang, Rong Liu, Wei Liu, Hui Shen, and Xiaochuan Wang.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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