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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/scientists-discover-our-bodies-react-differently-to-ai-generated-music/" 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 discover our bodies react differently to AI-generated music</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 15th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study explored if music generated by artificial intelligence can be as emotionally impactful as human-composed music when paired with videos. Researchers found that while artificial intelligence music could evoke similar emotional feelings in viewers, it also prompted different physiological responses linked to attention and arousal. The research was published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0326498" target="_blank">PLOS One</a></em>.</p>
<p>The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence has prompted discussions about its role in creative fields like music and visual arts. While these tools are increasingly used in media production, the general public often expresses skepticism, viewing creativity as a uniquely human quality. </p>
<p>In the area of music generation, Nikolaj Fišer and his colleagues noted that the ability of artificial intelligence to convey emotion has been largely overlooked in both its development and in academic research. They designed a study to investigate whether music created by new artificial intelligence tools could produce the same emotional effect as human-created music within an audiovisual setting.</p>
<p>To conduct their investigation, the researchers recruited 88 participants and randomly assigned them to one of three groups. Each group watched the same 14 short video clips, which were gathered from an online platform and had their original audio removed. The videos were diverse in content, showing everything from nature documentaries and suspenseful scenes to abstract animations and advertisements. The key difference between the groups was the type of musical soundtrack that accompanied the videos.</p>
<p>The first group listened to human-created music. These soundtracks were selected from a database of emotional movie scores composed by people. To ensure the music was a good fit for each video, the researchers first conducted a preliminary test with a small group of people who watched the silent videos and rated their emotional content. Using these ratings, an algorithm identified the best-matching human-composed track from the database for each video.</p>
<p>The second group heard music generated by an artificial intelligence system using sophisticated and detailed prompts. These prompts were based on keywords that people in the preliminary test used to describe the videos, such as “horror,” “suspenseful,” or “romantic.” The researchers used an artificial intelligence music generator called Stable Audio to create these tracks, instructing it with detailed descriptions of genre, mood, and instruments to match the video’s content.</p>
<p>The third group listened to music also created by the same artificial intelligence system, but this time using simpler and less detailed prompts. Instead of descriptive keywords, these prompts were based on the numerical emotional ratings from the preliminary test, such as the level of positivity or negativity (valence) and the level of excitement or calmness (arousal). This method provided the artificial intelligence with emotional data but less specific creative direction.</p>
<p>During the experiment, participants sat in a laboratory wearing headphones while their biological signals were monitored. An eye-tracking camera measured pupil dilation and blink rate, and a separate device recorded their galvanic skin response, which relates to skin sweat levels. After viewing each video with its accompanying soundtrack, participants answered questions about their emotional state. They rated how positive or negative they felt, how aroused or calm they felt, how well the music fit the video, and how familiar the music sounded.</p>
<p>The results from the biological measurements revealed several differences between the conditions. When participants listened to either of the artificial intelligence-generated soundtracks, their pupils dilated more widely compared to when they listened to human-created music. This suggests that the music from the artificial intelligence may have required more mental effort to process or was perceived as more arousing.</p>
<p>The participants’ blink rates also showed differences. The group that heard artificial intelligence music generated from detailed keyword prompts had a higher blink rate than the group that heard artificial intelligence music from simpler emotional prompts. Blink rate can be an indicator of cognitive load or attention. The galvanic skin response, a measure of arousal, also showed a distinction. The music from detailed artificial intelligence prompts was associated with a higher skin impedance level, a state linked to lower arousal, compared to both the human-created music and the simpler artificial intelligence music.</p>
<p>When analyzing the participants’ self-reported feelings, the researchers found that the emotional valence, or the positive or negative quality of the emotion felt, was consistent across all three groups. This indicates that the source of the music did not change the fundamental emotional character of the experience. However, participants reported feeling significantly more aroused by both types of artificial intelligence-generated music than by the human-created scores.</p>
<p>The study also examined how well the music fit the visuals. Participants rated the music created by artificial intelligence from detailed keyword prompts as being the most congruent with the videos. In contrast, when asked about familiarity, participants found the human-created music to be significantly more familiar than either of the artificial intelligence-generated soundtracks. This may be because human composers often follow established musical conventions in film scoring that listeners recognize, while the artificial intelligence-generated tracks may have sounded more novel or unconventional.</p>
<p>The study has some limitations that the researchers acknowledge. The preliminary test used to generate the musical prompts involved a small sample of only ten people, which may not represent a wider audience. The experiment also relied on a single artificial intelligence music generator, and since the technology is evolving quickly, the results might not apply to newer or different systems. Because each participant was exposed to only one type of music, the study could not directly compare individual preferences between human and artificial intelligence compositions.</p>
<p>For future research, the scientists suggest exploring these questions with more advanced methods, such as using electroencephalography to get a more detailed picture of brain activity. They also propose comparing the responses of professional musicians with those of non-musicians. A next step in their work involves collaborating with professional composers to create original human-made soundtracks for a more direct comparison against music generated by artificial intelligence, rather than relying on a database of existing film scores.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0326498" target="_blank">Emotional impact of AI-generated vs. human-composed music in audiovisual media: A biometric and self-report study</a>,” was authored by Nikolaj Fišer, Miguel Ángel Martín-Pascual, and Celia Andreu-Sánchez.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/frequent-laughter-linked-to-lower-risk-of-depression-in-older-adults/" 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;">Frequent laughter linked to lower risk of depression in older adults</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 15th 2025, 09:00</div>
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<p><p>Older adults who laugh more often are less likely to develop depression, according to a large study conducted in Japan. These findings suggest that laughter in everyday life, not just structured therapy sessions, could play a role in maintaining mental health in later life. The study was published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120209" target="_blank">Journal of Affective Disorders</a></em>.</p>
<p>Depression is common in later life, affecting an estimated 10 to 20 percent of older adults around the world. It can lead to a range of serious health problems, such as heart disease, dementia, and even early death. Despite its wide-ranging impact, depression often goes undetected or untreated in older adults, particularly those who live independently in the community.</p>
<p>Because of this, public health researchers are increasingly interested in prevention strategies that could reduce the risk of developing depression. One area that has received attention is social engagement. Studies have indicated that staying socially active and maintaining relationships may help protect against depression. </p>
<p>Laughter, which often occurs during social interactions, is known to provide physical and mental health benefits. It may reduce stress hormones, support immune function, and improve mood. While structured laughter therapy has shown positive effects in reducing depressive symptoms, there has been limited long-term research on whether spontaneous laughter in daily life can actually prevent depression from developing in the first place. The new study was designed to help answer that question.</p>
<p>“This study was motivated by a long-standing debate on a bidirectional relationship in which whether reduced laughter precedes depression or whether depressive symptoms suppresses laughter,” said study author Yudai Tamada, lecturer at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry. “In other words, there was a possibility that reduced laughter appears both as a risk factor for future depression and as a symptom once depression is present. Hence, we conducted this study to test the former hypothesis, reduced laughter is associated with a greater risk of subsequent depressive symptoms.”</p>
<p>The study used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, which tracks the health and well-being of older adults across Japan. Researchers focused on three time points: 2016, 2019, and 2022. They analyzed information from 32,666 adults who completed surveys during all three of these years. All participants were at least 65 years old and were living independently at the start of the study.</p>
<p>The researchers asked participants in 2019 how often they laughed out loud. They could choose from four answers: almost every day, one to five days per week, one to three days per month, or never or almost never. The participants also completed a questionnaire measuring depressive symptoms in both 2016 and 2022. The researchers used this information to identify who had developed depression during the six-year period.</p>
<p>At the start of the study, just under half of participants said they laughed almost every day. Another 41 percent said they laughed between one and five days per week. Around 12 percent reported laughing only a few days per month, and about 3 percent said they almost never laughed.</p>
<p>By 2022, roughly 15 percent of participants had developed symptoms of depression. When the researchers analyzed the data, they found a strong association between how often someone laughed in 2019 and their likelihood of developing depression by 2022. Compared to those who laughed nearly every day, people who laughed one to five days per week were 25 percent more likely to become depressed. Those who laughed only one to three days per month had a 26 percent higher risk. And participants who rarely or never laughed had a nearly 50 percent higher risk of developing depression.</p>
<p>These associations held even after the researchers took into account a wide range of factors that could influence both mood and laughter. These included age, income, marital status, physical health conditions, cognitive function, and social participation. The findings also showed a dose-response trend. In other words, the less frequently someone laughed, the more likely they were to develop depression. This pattern provides additional support for a possible link between daily laughter and long-term mental health.</p>
<p>One possibility is that laughter reflects a person’s overall social connectedness. People are more likely to laugh when spending time with friends or engaging in enjoyable group activities. In that sense, laughter could be both a signal of social engagement and a mechanism that supports well-being. It may also trigger physical responses in the body that reduce stress or improve mood, contributing to resilience over time.</p>
<p>“We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106945" target="_blank">have previously reported</a> that laughing with others is more beneficial for health than laughing alone,” Tamada told PsyPost. “Based on these findings, we hope people will become more socially active, for example by meeting friends more often, and will find more opportunities to laugh in their everyday lives to improve their mental and physical health.</p>
<p>The study provides evidence that frequent laughter may help prevent depression in older adults, but there are some limitations to consider. The measure of laughter was based on self-report, which may be influenced by how participants perceive themselves or how they want to be seen by others. People who were already feeling low or withdrawn might have underreported how often they laughed, even if their actual behavior had not changed much. The researchers attempted to minimize this issue by controlling for earlier levels of depressive symptoms.</p>
<p>Another limitation is that the study could not fully account for all possible influences on both laughter and depression. For example, sleep problems and anxiety were not measured, even though they are likely to be connected to both mood and emotional expression. Although the researchers conducted statistical tests to estimate how strong any missing factors would need to be to change the results, unmeasured influences cannot be ruled out completely.</p>
<p>There is also the question of whether the results can be generalized beyond the Japanese context. Cultural attitudes toward laughter and emotional expression can vary, and what is considered typical or appropriate in one country may not be the same in another. That said, the researchers point out that many of the biological effects of laughter, such as changes in stress hormones and immune response, are not specific to any one culture.</p>
<p>Future studies could explore whether programs designed to encourage more daily laughter, perhaps through social activities or community engagement, can reduce the risk of depression in older populations. It may also be useful to examine whether similar patterns hold in younger groups or in other cultural settings.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120209" target="_blank">Frequency of laughter and depression onset among older adults: A 6-year longitudinal study from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study</a>,” was authored by Yudai Tamada, Masashige Saito, Tetsuya Ohira, Kokoro Shirai, Chikae Yamaguchi, Kohei Hasebe, Katsunori Kondo, Ken Osaka, and Kenji Takeuchi.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/the-nocebo-effect-not-gluten-may-trigger-symptoms-for-many-with-ibs/" 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;">The nocebo effect, not gluten, may trigger symptoms for many with IBS</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 15th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that for many patients with irritable bowel syndrome who believe wheat or gluten trigger their symptoms, the expectation of a food causing discomfort may play a larger role than the food itself. Research published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(25)00090-1" target="_blank">The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology</a></em> found no significant difference in symptom flare-ups when these patients consumed bars containing wheat, purified gluten, or a gluten-free sham substance.</p>
<p>Researchers launched the study to address a persistent puzzle in the management of irritable bowel syndrome. While many patients report that their digestive symptoms improve on a gluten-free diet, it has remained unclear if wheat or gluten are the direct biological triggers. The scientific rationale for this investigation is rooted in the powerful connection between the gut and the brain, which allows a person’s expectations to create real, physical symptoms.</p>
<p>This mind-body connection can work in two opposing ways. When a person’s positive belief in a treatment leads to genuine symptom improvement, even if the treatment is inactive, it is known as the placebo response. Conversely, when a person’s negative belief or fear about a substance causes them to experience adverse effects from it, even if the substance is harmless, it is called the nocebo response. </p>
<p>Because these effects are known to be especially strong in conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, it is difficult to separate a true food reaction from a psychologically driven one. To untangle these factors, a research team led by Caroline Larissa Seiler at McMaster University designed this study to scientifically isolate the physical impact of wheat and gluten from the powerful influence of patient beliefs.</p>
<p>The investigation was a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled crossover trial. This design means that each participant served as their own control, trying all three interventions at different times. It also means that neither the participants nor the researchers interacting with them knew which intervention was being administered at any given time, which helps prevent bias. The team recruited adults diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome who had previously reported feeling better after following a gluten-free diet. Twenty-eight participants completed the full study.</p>
<p>Each participant went through three distinct seven-day challenge periods, separated by two-week washout periods where they maintained their gluten-free diet. During each challenge week, participants ate one specially prepared cereal bar per day. There were three types of bars, all designed to look, taste, and smell identical. </p>
<p>One bar contained whole wheat flour, which includes both gluten and other wheat proteins like amylase trypsin inhibitors. The second bar contained purified gluten with most other wheat proteins removed. The third bar was a sham, made from gluten-free and wheat-free flour. </p>
<p>Participants were randomly assigned to a sequence for consuming the three types of bars. The primary measurement was whether a participant’s symptoms worsened by at least 50 points on a standard scale known as the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptom Severity Score.</p>
<p>The study’s main finding was that there were no statistically significant differences in symptom worsening among the three challenges. After the wheat challenge, 39 percent of participants experienced a significant worsening of symptoms. Following the gluten challenge, 36 percent reported a symptom flare-up. </p>
<p>After the sham challenge, which contained neither wheat nor gluten, 29 percent of participants still experienced a significant worsening of symptoms. The small differences between these groups were not large enough to be considered statistically meaningful, suggesting that wheat and gluten were not the specific triggers for the majority of these individuals.</p>
<p>Adverse events were common, but they occurred at nearly identical rates across all three conditions. An overwhelming 93 percent of participants reported adverse events like bloating, abdominal pain, or changes in bowel habits after each of the wheat, gluten, and sham challenges. The fact that negative symptoms were reported just as frequently after consuming the inactive sham bar points toward a powerful nocebo effect, where the anticipation of symptoms appeared to generate them.</p>
<p>A secondary and revealing component of the study involved objectively measuring adherence to the diet protocol. Participants were asked to provide stool samples, which were tested for gluten immunogenic peptides, a reliable marker of recent gluten consumption. While participants self-reported high levels of compliance, with 97 percent of the challenge bars reportedly consumed, the objective stool tests told a different story. </p>
<p>The results showed that 57 percent of patients had detectable gluten in their stool at times when they should have been on a strict gluten-free diet, such as before a challenge week or during the sham week. Conversely, 25 percent of patients had no detectable gluten after the wheat or gluten challenges, suggesting they did not consume all the challenge bars. Ultimately, the objective data indicated that only about one-third of the participants were fully compliant with the study protocol.</p>
<p>The researchers also conducted a follow-up to assess how learning their personal results affected patients’ beliefs and behaviors. After the trial, each participant was informed about their individual responses to the wheat, gluten, and sham bars. Despite this personalized feedback, most participants did not change their dietary habits. Of the 26 patients who received their results, 17 continued to follow a gluten-free diet. </p>
<p>The decision to continue the diet was mostly driven by a persistent belief that it improved their symptoms and quality of life. Even among individuals who were shown that their symptoms flared up in response to the sham bar, or that they had no reaction to gluten, most maintained their gluten-free lifestyle. This finding highlights how deeply entrenched beliefs about food triggers can be, resisting even direct, personal scientific evidence to the contrary.</p>
<p>The study did have some limitations. The number of participants was small, and recruitment was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also caused some data from blood tests and imaging to be incomplete. The study population was also not very diverse, consisting mostly of white women, which means the findings may not be generalizable to all people with irritable bowel syndrome. Additionally, the amount of wheat used in the challenge bar was relatively low to avoid confounding effects from other components in wheat, so it is possible that higher doses could trigger symptoms in some individuals.</p>
<p>Looking forward, the research carries important implications. The findings suggest that for a significant portion of irritable bowel syndrome patients with self-perceived gluten sensitivity, it is the belief about gluten, not gluten itself, that may be driving symptoms. The study powerfully demonstrates the unreliability of self-reported dietary adherence and makes a strong case for including objective markers, like stool analysis, in future nutrition trials. </p>
<p>The results also suggest that helping patients effectively manage their condition may require more than just dietary advice. Psychological support aimed at helping patients re-evaluate their beliefs about food triggers and safely reintroduce foods into their diet could be an important component of care.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(25)00090-1" target="_blank">Effect of gluten and wheat on symptoms and behaviours in adults with irritable bowel syndrome: a single-centre, randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled crossover trial</a>,” was authored by Caroline Larissa Seiler, Gaston Horacio Rueda, Pedro Miguel Miranda, Andrea Nardelli, Rajka Borojevic, Amber Hann, Sara Rahmani, Russell De Souza, Alberto Caminero, Valentina Curella, Manjusha Neerukonda, Stephen Vanner, Detlef Schuppan, Paul Moayyedi, Stephen Michael Collins, Elena Francisca Verdu, Maria Ines Pinto-Sanchez, and Premysl Bercik.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/scientists-identify-neural-pathway-underlying-contagious-aggression/" 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 identify neural pathway underlying contagious aggression</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 15th 2025, 07:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1018-25.2025" target="_blank">The Journal of Neuroscience</a></em> has found that aggression can spread socially among mice, but only when there is a pre-existing bond between the observer and the aggressor. Researchers from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine have identified a brain region involved in this process and demonstrated that its activity is both necessary and sufficient for aggression learned through observation. These findings suggest a biological pathway by which violence may propagate within close social groups.</p>
<p>Aggression is not just a behavior individuals act out themselves. It can also be something they absorb by watching others. Classic work in human psychology showed that children can become more violent after watching aggressive adults. Later studies linked repeated exposure to aggression in peers or family to higher risks of criminal behavior. Similar effects have been seen in animals: mice tend to become more aggressive after watching other mice fight.</p>
<p>But scientists still do not fully understand how this process works. What are the brain mechanisms that allow a mouse — or potentially a person — to learn aggression by watching someone else? And are there specific social or environmental factors that make such learning more likely? Some research points to the importance of familiarity. </p>
<p>For example, rats tend to copy food choices only from cage mates, not from unfamiliar animals. In humans and animals alike, emotional contagion, such as fear or stress, often spreads more easily between individuals who know each other. Researchers in this study wanted to know whether familiarity also influences the way aggression is socially transmitted.</p>
<p>“Violence often spreads within families and peer groups, but the biological mechanisms behind this social transmission have been unknown,” said study author <a href="https://nordman-lab.academic.ws/" target="_blank">Jacob Nordman</a>, an assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.</p>
<p>“We wanted to understand how simply <em>witnessing</em> aggression could make someone more likely to act aggressively later. Earlier studies hinted that the brain’s social circuits might be sensitive to familiarity — whether the aggressor is known or a stranger — but no one had directly tested this in the context of aggression. Our goal was to identify both the behavioral and neural mechanisms that explain how exposure to familiar aggression can promote violence.”</p>
<p>The researchers focused on a specific part of the brain called the medial amygdala. This region processes social and sensory cues and plays a known role in aggressive behavior. In earlier work, the same research team showed that excitatory neurons in a posterior part of the medial amygdala can temporarily boost aggression after a fight. If these neurons are also activated while witnessing aggression, they might be involved in observational learning. </p>
<p>To examine this, the researchers developed a two-phase behavioral test in mice. In the first phase, one mouse, called the “witness,” was placed on one side of a transparent barrier. On the other side, a “demonstrator” mouse — either a familiar cage mate or a stranger — was allowed to interact with a third mouse, called the “intruder.” These interactions could include aggressive attacks. The witness mouse could see and hear everything but could not physically intervene. Thirty minutes later, in the second phase, the witness mouse was itself paired with a new intruder. Researchers measured whether the witness became aggressive during this encounter.</p>
<p>The researchers found that only witnesses who had observed a familiar demonstrator attack became more aggressive themselves. Witnesses who observed an unfamiliar mouse attacking showed no increase in aggression. These effects were specific to aggression and did not generalize to other types of social behaviors.</p>
<p>“We expected familiarity to matter, but the effect was striking — a single brief exposure to a familiar aggressor completely changed the observer’s behavior. That such a simple variable could ‘gate’ whether aggression spreads highlights how deeply social context shapes brain function.”</p>
<p>Next, the team used a method called fiber photometry to record real-time neural activity in the medial amygdala of the witnesses during the observation phase. They found that this brain region was significantly more active when a mouse watched a familiar demonstrator attack, compared to when it watched an unfamiliar one. This activity was absent in control animals that did not have the calcium-sensitive fluorescent protein used to detect neuron firing. Activity also increased slightly during non-aggressive social behavior — but only when that behavior came from a familiar demonstrator who had already shown aggression. This suggests the brain was interpreting even non-aggressive signals as potentially threatening in that context.</p>
<p>To see whether this brain activity played a functional role, the researchers then used chemogenetics to silence these neurons during the observation phase. Mice with silenced medial amygdala neurons were much less likely to become aggressive later, even after watching a familiar demonstrator attack. The same result came from optogenetic inhibition, which uses light to suppress neural activity. On the other hand, activating these neurons during the observation of an unfamiliar aggressor made the witness mouse more likely to attack later — even though unfamiliar demonstrators typically do not trigger this effect.</p>
<p>Together, these results suggest that the medial amygdala is not only activated during observed aggression, but its activation is required for the observer to internalize and later act out that aggression.</p>
<p>“Aggression can be ‘contagious,’ but only within familiar social circles. In mice, witnessing a familiar cage-mate fight was enough to make them more aggressive later — while watching a stranger had no effect. This was controlled by neurons in a region of the brain called the medial amygdala, which encodes social identity. These results suggest that violence tends to spread most easily within close social networks, offering insight into why cycles of aggression and abuse are often confined to families or peer groups.”</p>
<p>As with all animal studies, there are limits to how directly these findings can be applied to humans. While mice offer a useful model for studying neural circuits, their social systems and cognitive processes differ from ours. One surprising result was that female mice showed no sign of this type of socially transmitted aggression under any conditions. This could reflect true sex differences in aggression pathways, or it may be due to the specific strain of mice used. Future studies might examine other mouse strains or look more closely at hormonal cycles to clarify whether females can also learn aggression through observation.</p>
<p>“We’re now investigating how repeated exposure to familiar aggression changes the wiring of the medial amygdala and connected circuits. Additionally, we are very interested in <em>why</em> females seem impervious to observationally learned aggression. Ultimately, we hope this work will reveal neural targets that could be leveraged to reduce pathological aggression or the long-term effects of violent exposure.”</p>
<p>“The study doesn’t mean violence is inevitable or that watching aggression automatically makes one violent. Rather, it shows that social bonds can amplify how strongly we internalize others’ aggressive behavior. Understanding this mechanism could help design interventions that disrupt these cycles.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1018-25.2025" target="_blank">Familiarity Gates Socially Transmitted Aggression via the Medial Amygdala</a>,” was authored by Magdalene P. Adjei, Elana Qasem, Sophia Aaflaq, Jessica T. Jacobs, Savannah Skinner, Fletcher Summa, Claudia Spotanski, Rylee Thompson, Mikaela L. Aholt, Taylor Lineberry, and Jacob C. Nordman.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/conscious-breathing-appears-to-synchronize-brain-and-body-activity/" 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;">Conscious breathing appears to synchronize brain and body activity</a>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2025.1650475" target="_blank">Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience</a></em> provides evidence that consciously controlled breathing can enhance communication between the brain and the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary bodily functions such as heart rate. The research indicates that slow, rhythmic breathing strengthens the bidirectional flow of information between brain activity and heart signals, especially through patterns that align with the frequency of the breath itself. These findings suggest that controlled breathing may be a powerful tool for improving emotional and physiological self-regulation.</p>
<p>The idea that breathing influences both mental and bodily states is not new, but the precise ways in which breathing interacts with brain activity and the autonomic nervous system remain poorly understood. Researchers have long known that breathing patterns affect heart rate, and that this connection—commonly observed through heart rate variability—can reflect a person’s ability to adapt to stress. Still, how breathing shapes the communication between the brain and these bodily responses has not been fully mapped.</p>
<p>The new study aimed to clarify how consciously slowing and regulating breath might influence brain-body signaling. The researchers focused on whether breathing can act as a kind of rhythm that the brain uses to organize its own activity, and whether this rhythm strengthens the coupling between neural signals and heart rate changes. </p>
<p>The study was grounded in existing theories about neural oscillations and their tendency to synchronize with external rhythms, a concept known as entrainment. By aligning brain activity with respiratory rhythms, the researchers hypothesized that breathing could enhance self-regulation through improved synchronization between brain and body.</p>
<p>“We were motivated by a growing interest in how conscious control of breathing can influence brain–body interactions,” said study author MariNieves Pardo-Rodriguez, a PhD candidate in engineering sciences at Universidad Iberoamericana.</p>
<p>“While breathing techniques are widely used in meditation, yoga, and stress reduction practices, the underlying neural mechanisms—particularly the bidirectional communication between the brain and the autonomic system at the bodily level—are not well understood. We saw an opportunity to help bridge that gap using EEG and heart rate variability (HRV) metrics.”</p>
<p>The study involved fifteen healthy adult volunteers who participated in three conditions: spontaneous breathing while listening to an audiobook, and two separate controlled breathing tasks. In the first task, participants followed a breathing pattern consisting of a 4-second inhale, 7-second breath-hold, and 8-second exhale. In the second, the pattern involved a 5-second inhale, 8-second exhale, and 5-second breath-hold. These patterns were designed to promote slow breathing at approximately 0.05 to 0.06 hertz, which corresponds to about one breath every 18 to 19 seconds.</p>
<p>To measure brain and body signals, the researchers recorded electroencephalograms (EEGs) from the scalp to track neural activity across various frequency bands, including delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. They also used electrocardiograms to calculate heart rate variability and to infer a breathing signal based on changes in the heart rhythm. The team then analyzed these signals to detect patterns of shared timing and directionality using statistical techniques such as cross-spectrum analysis and Granger causality testing.</p>
<p>The results showed that during the controlled breathing tasks, there was a marked increase in synchronized activity between the brain and heart. In particular, a consistent component of the EEG signals matched the frequency of the breathing pattern and became more prominent during the breathing tasks. This frequency alignment was absent during spontaneous breathing.</p>
<p>The researchers also observed that the strength of the coupling between brain and heart signals increased significantly during controlled breathing. This was especially true in the gamma frequency band, which is often associated with high-level cognitive functions. Signals from the brain tended to predict changes in heart rate, and heart rate signals also predicted shifts in brain activity, suggesting a two-way communication loop.</p>
<p>“We were particularly intrigued by the directionality of the effects—suggesting that conscious breathing doesn’t just passively reflect internal states, but may actually drive top-down changes in brain activity and autonomic function,” Pardo-Rodriguez told PsyPost. “In simpler terms, while we typically think of the brain as being in charge of the body, our study shows how bodily states and feedback—derived from conscious breathing—can influence and reshape brain dynamics.”</p>
<p>To further explore these interactions, the researchers broke down the EEG signals into components using a data-driven method called empirical mode decomposition. This revealed that certain components of the EEG—specifically those oscillating at frequencies similar to the breathing rate—played a key role in coordinating brain-body communication. These components appeared to act as intermediaries that allowed the breath to influence brain activity and vice versa.</p>
<p>One striking finding was that the gamma band showed the most robust causal relationships between the brain and heart signals. This suggests that high-frequency brain activity may serve as a kind of communication channel that links voluntary breath control with involuntary physiological responses. The data also suggested that this interaction was not limited to a single direction: both the brain and the autonomic system appeared to influence each other during the breathing tasks.</p>
<p>The spatial patterns of this communication provided additional insight. Brain-to-heart influences during the breathing tasks were most commonly observed in frontal regions of the brain, which are associated with executive control and attention. Conversely, signals from the heart and respiratory systems seemed to influence more posterior brain regions, such as those involved in sensory processing. This spatial distinction hints at a complex, distributed network that supports the integration of breathing with cognitive and emotional functions.</p>
<p>Another notable observation was that the influence of breathing extended beyond moment-to-moment changes in heart rate. The researchers found evidence of harmonics (multiple rhythmic patterns nested within the main breathing rhythm) suggesting that the brain may use breathing as a kind of scaffolding for organizing internal rhythms.</p>
<p>“Conscious breathing isn’t just calming—it appears to actively reshape the communication and dynamics between the brain and body,” Pardo-Rodriguez said. “Even short sessions of intentional breathing can enhance regulatory processes that support the coordination of global brain and heart rhythms, aligning them more closely with the respiratory frequency.”</p>
<p>The study offers detailed insight into brain-body synchronization during conscious breathing, but it does have some limitations. The sample size was small, with only fifteen participants. Although the results were consistent across individuals, a larger and more diverse group would help confirm the generalizability of the findings.</p>
<p>The study also focused only on healthy individuals, so it remains unclear how these patterns might differ in people with anxiety, cardiovascular conditions, or other health issues. Future research could explore whether these forms of neural-autonomic communication are disrupted in such populations, and whether breath-based interventions might help restore balance.</p>
<p>The researchers also point out that different components of brain activity may reflect different physiological processes. Some components may respond quickly to changes in heart rate, while others may reflect slower, more integrative adjustments. Disentangling these temporal layers of brain-body interaction remains an area for future study.</p>
<p>“A common misinterpretation to avoid is the idea that ‘frequency alignment’ refers to something mystical or spiritual,” Pardo-Rodriguez noted. “What we’re really observing is a physiological synchronization between brain and heart rhythms at the respiratory frequency. This isn’t about aligning energies but about the body’s natural regulatory processes, which are measurable through techniques like EEG and heart rate variability.”</p>
<p>The team is now interested in exploring how these findings might apply to people with anxiety or mood disorders, and whether controlled breathing could serve as a therapeutic approach and are also examining how breathing affects broader concepts.</p>
<p>“We’re currently exploring how these physiological changes relate to concepts like chaos and criticality in brain dynamics,” Pardo-Rodriguez explained. “We’re also interested in applying these findings to populations with anxiety, to explore their potential therapeutic implications.”</p>
<p>“These results offer new insights into the mechanisms underlying interoception, autonomic regulation, and closed-loop brain–body control. They contribute directly to systems neuroscience by showing how endogenous neural activity interacts with peripheral physiology to support adaptive regulation.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2025.1650475" target="_blank">Conscious breathing enhances bidirectional cortical-autonomic modulation: dynamics of EEG band power and heart rate variability</a>,” was authored by MariNieves Pardo-Rodriguez, Erik Bojorges-Valdez, Oscar Arias-Carrion, Oscar Yanez-Suarez.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/elon-musks-political-persona-linked-to-waning-interest-in-teslas-among-liberals/" 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;">Elon Musk’s political persona linked to waning interest in Teslas among liberals</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 14th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests Elon Musk’s public shift toward conservative politics may be reducing liberals’ desire to purchase Tesla vehicles, without creating a corresponding increase in interest among conservatives. The research, published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05242-8" target="_blank">Humanities and Social Sciences Communications</a></em>, indicates that the chief executive’s political alignment could be negatively impacting the brand’s appeal to its traditional customer base while failing to attract new buyers from the other side of the political spectrum.</p>
<p>The research team, led by Alexandra Flores of Williams College, sought to understand the complex interplay between political identity, consumer behavior, and climate action. Individual choices, such as switching to an electric vehicle, can play a substantial part in reducing household greenhouse gas emissions. However, these decisions are not made in a vacuum. They are often influenced by social cues and political polarization. Previous research has shown that electric vehicles are often symbolically associated with liberal values, such as environmentalism and technological novelty, creating a political divide in their appeal.</p>
<p>The researchers identified a unique situation with Tesla, the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the United States. While the product itself aligns with liberal identity cues, its prominent chief executive, Elon Musk, has cultivated an increasingly conservative public persona. This created a testable conflict: would Musk’s conservative alignment make Teslas more appealing to conservatives and less polarizing overall, or would it alienate the liberal consumers who were historically more inclined to purchase an electric vehicle?</p>
<p>To investigate this, the researchers conducted a series of five surveys with United States adults. The first survey, in August 2023 with 633 participants, served as a baseline. Respondents were asked about their intentions to adopt 30 different actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results from this initial survey established that purchasing an electric vehicle was the most politically polarized action of all those tested. Liberals expressed positive intentions to buy an electric vehicle, while conservatives expressed negative intentions, confirming the existing political divide.</p>
<p>Following this, the researchers conducted four more surveys between November 2023 and March 2025, with sample sizes ranging from 500 to nearly 700 participants each. In these studies, they introduced a key experimental component. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group was asked about their likelihood of purchasing an unspecified “electric vehicle” the next time they were in the market for a car. The other group was asked about their likelihood of purchasing a “Tesla.” This design allowed for a direct comparison of attitudes toward the specific brand versus the general product category.</p>
<p>Beginning with the third survey in May 2024, the researchers added another layer to their investigation. They began measuring participants’ personal perceptions of Elon Musk, asking them to rate him on traits related to warmth and competence, such as being likeable, trustworthy, competent, and intelligent. This allowed the team to directly examine whether views of the chief executive were connected to vehicle purchase intentions.</p>
<p>The findings revealed a consistent and telling pattern, particularly when broken down by political ideology. For conservatives, there was no significant difference in their intentions to purchase a Tesla compared to a generic electric vehicle. Across all surveys, they consistently reported being unlikely to buy either. Their personal perceptions of Elon Musk did not appear to change their disinclination toward purchasing an electric vehicle, regardless of the brand. Musk’s conservative alignment did not translate into increased support for his company’s product among this group.</p>
<p>Among liberals, however, a different story unfolded. Over the course of the studies, liberals showed a distinct and growing reluctance to purchase a Tesla compared to a generic electric vehicle. In the earlier surveys, liberals showed strong positive intentions to buy an electric vehicle in general. But when asked specifically about a Tesla, their enthusiasm dropped significantly, bringing their purchase intentions down to a negative level similar to that of conservatives.</p>
<p>The data further suggested that this effect was tied to their perceptions of Elon Musk. Liberals who held a more negative opinion of Musk showed a much larger drop in their intention to purchase a Tesla. This connection became stronger over the course of the study period, a time when Musk’s public association with conservative politics intensified. </p>
<p>The research also found a smaller, but still present, decline in liberals’ intention to purchase any electric vehicle, suggesting a potential “backlash effect” where negative feelings about the leading brand and its chief executive could be dampening enthusiasm for the entire product category among some liberal consumers.</p>
<p>Taken together, the results indicate that Musk’s political activities may have reduced support for Tesla among liberals without making up for it with new support from conservatives. The researchers connect this finding to a psychological concept known as negativity bias, where people are often more motivated by their dislike of something than their like for it. For liberals, the negative association with Musk’s politics appeared to outweigh the positive association of Tesla being an electric vehicle. For conservatives, the negative association with the “eco-friendly” product category appeared to outweigh any potential positive association with Musk.</p>
<p>The researchers acknowledge some limitations. The study measured purchase intentions, which may not always translate directly into actual sales. The findings also focus on one high-profile chief executive and brand, and the effects may not apply to all companies. Future research could explore how the political activities of corporate leaders affect consumer behavior in other industries.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05242-8" target="_blank">Liberals are less willing to buy Teslas than other electric vehicles, moderated by perceptions of Elon Musk</a>,” was authored by Alexandra Flores, Matthew G. Burgess, Mariah D. Caballero, Amanda R. Carrico, Jane E. Miller, Christian Suarez, and Michael P. Vandenbergh.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/prenatal-exposure-to-common-forever-chemicals-linked-to-changes-in-childrens-brain-structure/" 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;">Prenatal exposure to common “forever chemicals” linked to changes in children’s brain structure</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 14th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>New research indicates that a pregnant mother’s exposure to a class of persistent synthetic chemicals is associated with specific structural and functional characteristics of her child’s brain. The findings are significant because these compounds, known as PFAS, are widespread in the environment and are found in the blood of nearly all people. The study was published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.101309" target="_blank">The Lancet Planetary Health</a></em>.</p>
<p>Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a large group of human-made chemicals. They have been used since the mid-20th century in numerous consumer and industrial products, including non-stick cookware, water-resistant clothing, and firefighting foams, because of their ability to resist heat, water, and oil. Their exceptionally strong chemical bonds mean they do not break down easily, earning them the nickname “forever chemicals.” As a result, they accumulate in the environment and in living organisms, including humans. People are exposed primarily through contaminated food and drinking water.</p>
<p>A team of researchers led by Aaron Barron of the University of Turku in Finland sought to understand if these chemicals could affect the developing human brain. Previous research has linked PFAS exposure to a variety of health problems, and some studies have suggested a connection to neurodevelopmental conditions like autism spectrum disorder, though the evidence has been inconsistent. </p>
<p>Because PFAS are known to cross the placenta from mother to fetus and can also pass through the protective blood-brain barrier, there is a clear pathway for them to potentially influence brain development directly. The researchers hypothesized that exposure during this sensitive prenatal period would be associated with observable differences in a child’s brain years later.</p>
<p>“Humans consume PFAS from drinking water, food, or in some cases exposure through occupation. They are ubiquitous in our blood, and our bodies do not break them down,” said Senior Researcher Aaron Barron, the lead author of the study.</p>
<p>The investigation was part of the ongoing FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, which follows mothers and their children from pregnancy onward. For this specific analysis, the researchers used data from 51 mother-child pairs. They collected blood samples from the mothers during their 24th week of pregnancy and used a highly sensitive laboratory technique to measure the concentrations of 31 different PFAS. Seven of these chemicals were detected in the majority of samples.</p>
<p>When the children reached five years of age, they underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans. This non-invasive procedure provided the researchers with detailed pictures of the children’s brains. The team collected several types of images to assess different aspects of the brain, including the volume of grey matter (which contains most of the brain’s nerve cells), the structure of white matter (which connects different brain regions), and the brain’s surface area and thickness. They also collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data, which measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.</p>
<p>To analyze this complex set of imaging data, the researchers used a sophisticated statistical method. They combined all the different structural brain measurements to create ten composite “components.” Each component represented a unique pattern of variation across the brain’s grey matter, white matter, and cortex. This allowed them to get a holistic picture of brain structure rather than just looking at one measure at a time. They then examined whether the levels of the seven PFAS found in the mothers’ blood could predict these brain components in their children, while accounting for other factors like the child’s age and sex.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed several distinct associations. One brain component, which primarily reflected the microscopic structure of the corpus callosum, was strongly linked to maternal PFAS levels. The corpus callosum is the largest bundle of white matter in the brain, and it is responsible for communication between the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Higher maternal blood concentrations of two specific PFAS, known as perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and linear perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), were associated with changes in this brain region’s structure.</p>
<p>Another brain component was also strongly predicted by maternal PFAS levels. This component represented greater grey matter volume and cortical surface area in the posterior parts of the brain, particularly the occipital lobe, which is the brain’s primary visual processing center. The relationships here were more complex. Higher levels of branched perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were associated with a higher score on this brain component, while higher levels of branched perfluorohexanesulphonic acid (PFHxS) were associated with a lower score. This finding suggests that different types of PFAS can have different, and sometimes opposite, relationships with brain development.</p>
<p>“We were able to measure seven different PFAS in this study, and found that individual compounds had specific associations with offspring brain structure, and in some cases two different PFAS had opposite relationships with the same brain region,” explained Professor Tuulia Hyötyläinen from Örebro University.</p>
<p>The team also specifically investigated the hypothalamus, a small brain region that plays a major role in regulating hormones and metabolism. PFAS are known to accumulate in this area. They found that higher levels of branched perfluorooctanesulphonic acid (PFOS) in mothers were associated with changes in the microstructure of their children’s hypothalamus.</p>
<p>The researchers then looked at brain function. They discovered that the same PFAS associated with structural brain changes were also linked to differences in brain activity. For example, higher levels of PFNA and PFOA were connected to more synchronized local brain activity in a part of the brain involved in motor control, while higher levels of branched PFHxS were associated with less synchronized activity in the visual cortex. These functional findings were located in the same brain areas highlighted by the structural analysis, creating a consistent picture.</p>
<p>“At the moment, it is unclear whether PFAS are directly affecting brain development, although it’s known that they pass the placenta and the blood-brain barrier to accumulate in the brain, and can disturb developing brain cells. It’s also unclear whether these associations are harmful, beneficial, or neutral, and future studies will be needed to determine the functional implications of our findings,” said Professor Hasse Karlsson from the University of Turku.</p>
<p>The authors note some limitations to their work. The study size of 51 mother-child pairs is small, which can limit the certainty of the findings and means the results should be interpreted with caution. The participants were also relatively homogenous, consisting of White individuals with a higher socioeconomic status than the general population, which may limit how broadly the findings can be applied. Because the study is observational, it shows a correlation but cannot prove that PFAS exposure caused the observed brain differences. Other unmeasured factors, like diet or maternal occupation, could play a role.</p>
<p>Future research should aim to replicate these findings in larger and more diverse groups of people. It would also be important to study populations with higher levels of PFAS exposure, such as those living near contaminated sites. Researchers also need to investigate the potential health consequences of the newly developed PFAS that are replacing the older, “legacy” chemicals that were the focus of this study. Despite the limitations, this study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that even at the low levels found in the general population, these “forever chemicals” may influence the way the human brain develops.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.101309" target="_blank">Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances predicts multimodal brain structural and functional outcomes in children aged 5 years: a birth cohort study</a>,” was authored by Aaron Barron, Alex M Dickens, Jetro J Tuulari, Tuulia Hyötyläinen, Susanna Kortesluoma, Harri Merisaari, Elmo P Pulli, Eero Silver, Venla Kumpulainen, Anni Copeland, Ekaterina Saukko, John D Lewis, Linnea Karlsson, Matej Orešič, and Hasse Karlsson.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/long-term-ayahuasca-use-linked-to-distinct-emotional-brain-activity-and-higher-resilience/" 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;">Long-term ayahuasca use linked to distinct emotional brain activity and higher resilience</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 14th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Long-term users of ayahuasca may process emotional experiences differently than those who do not use the substance, according to a new brain imaging study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.70063" target="_blank">Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging</a></em>. The findings indicate that regular ritual use of the psychedelic brew is linked to changes in brain activity patterns and elevated psychological resilience, offering preliminary evidence that its long-term effects may extend beyond acute experiences.</p>
<p>Ayahuasca is a psychoactive drink traditionally used in Amazonian rituals. It is made by brewing two plants: <em>Psychotria viridis</em>, which contains the hallucinogenic compound dimethyltryptamine (commonly known as DMT), and <em>Banisteriopsis caapi</em>, which contains compounds that prevent the body from breaking down DMT too quickly. Together, these ingredients produce altered states of consciousness often described as emotionally intense and introspective.</p>
<p>Interest in ayahuasca has grown in recent years, not only within spiritual communities but also among scientists interested in its potential mental health benefits. Previous studies have documented short-term changes in brain activity after taking ayahuasca, including increased emotional sensitivity and altered connectivity between brain regions. There is also some evidence that the brew boosts levels of proteins related to brain plasticity, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor.</p>
<p>Despite this growing body of research, relatively little is known about how long-term use of ayahuasca might influence the brain when the substance is not actively in a person’s system. This new study aimed to address that gap by examining emotional brain responses and psychological traits in regular users who had not consumed ayahuasca recently.</p>
<p>“Most studies on ayahuasca have focused on its acute effects, often emphasizing potential adverse outcomes. Our goal was different: we wanted to understand whether long-term ritual use could lead to lasting and adaptive changes in emotional processing and psychological resilience,” said study author Lucas Rego Ramos, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. “Studying and quantifying beneficial effects is equally important — not only to uncover new therapeutic opportunities but also to inform regulatory science with balanced, evidence-based data about both risks and benefits.”</p>
<p>For their study, the researchers recruited 38 healthy adult males in Brazil. Nineteen were long-term ayahuasca users who had consumed the brew at least 36 times over a one-year period, typically in structured religious ceremonies. The other 19 participants were nonusers with no history of ayahuasca intake. All participants were screened for psychiatric conditions and were not under the influence of any psychoactive substance during the study.</p>
<p>To assess psychological traits, participants completed several questionnaires. These included a resilience scale that measures a person’s ability to adapt to stress, as well as standardized measures of anxiety, depression, and mood.</p>
<p>The core of the study involved brain scanning using functional magnetic resonance imaging. During the scan, participants performed a task involving emotional processing. They were shown pictures of faces with either neutral or negative expressions, such as fear or disgust, and were asked to judge the gender of each face. This task is designed to activate emotional brain circuits without explicitly asking participants to think about emotions.</p>
<p>The researchers then applied machine learning techniques to the brain imaging data. These advanced models looked for patterns that could distinguish between the brains of ayahuasca users and nonusers and could also test whether brain activity predicted resilience scores.</p>
<p>The psychological assessments revealed that long-term ayahuasca users scored higher on the resilience scale than nonusers. This trait is commonly associated with greater emotional adaptability and coping ability. However, there were no differences between the two groups in measures of anxiety, depression, or general mood.</p>
<p>In the brain imaging data, machine learning models were able to distinguish between ayahuasca users and nonusers with about 75 percent accuracy. The most influential brain regions in this classification included parts of the thalamus, parietal cortex, cerebellum, and areas involved in emotional regulation such as the amygdala and medial frontal cortex.</p>
<p>“Long-term ayahuasca users showed higher resilience and distinct brain activity patterns during emotional tasks,” Ramos told PsyPost. “In simple terms, their brains seemed to handle emotional situations differently — possibly in a more adaptive way. These findings suggest that regular, ritualized use may be associated with positive psychological and neural adaptations rather than harm.”</p>
<p>“Even with a modest sample, the analysis involved tens of thousands of brain voxels — each one a data point in this complex neural landscape. By using artificial intelligence to interpret these patterns, we identified consistent differences in emotional processing among long-term ayahuasca users. This pioneering work highlights how technology can reveal subtle traces of resilience in the human brain and opens the way for larger and more integrated studies in the future.”</p>
<p>Another model tested whether brain activity could predict an individual’s resilience score. This analysis showed a strong correlation, suggesting that certain brain patterns were linked to higher resilience regardless of group. These findings support the idea that long-term ayahuasca use might shape how the brain processes emotional information in ways that are behaviorally relevant.</p>
<p>“The results surprised everyone in the lab — myself included,” Ramos said. “Some colleagues even doubted we would find anything meaningful, and that was fair. After all, you can’t tell who uses ayahuasca just by looking at them — unless, of course, they’re wearing a shirt that says ‘In Ayahuasca We Trust.’ But the data told a different story. While users and non-users may seem identical on the surface, the brain revealed subtle yet consistent distinctions aligned with previous reports of reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms. It’s a humbling reminder that these psychological traits are deeply rooted in our neural patterns.”</p>
<p>The researchers noted that the brain regions contributing to group differences are involved in both sensory processing and emotional regulation. For example, the parietal cortex has been tied to attention and emotion regulation, while the amygdala is a key player in processing fear and social signals. These regions have also been shown in past research to respond to ayahuasca during the acute experience.</p>
<p>Although the participants in this study were not under the influence of the substance at the time of testing, the differences in brain activity suggest that long-term use may lead to lasting changes in emotional processing networks.</p>
<p>But the researchers caution that these findings should not be interpreted as an endorsement for widespread ayahuasca use. The context in which the brew is consumed likely plays an important role in shaping outcomes.</p>
<p>“These findings should not be seen as an open invitation for everyone to start using ayahuasca,” Ramos explained. “Our participants were long-term members of structured spiritual communities, where preparation, context, and guidance are essential parts of the experience. As Mestre Irineu wisely said, ‘Ayahuasca is for everyone, but not everyone is for Ayahuasca.’ This phrase reminds us that, despite its ancestral wisdom, the brew requires respect, self-knowledge, and proper integration.”</p>
<p>“In science, our role is to help translate this traditional knowledge into evidence-based understanding — not to replace it, but to bridge worlds. My scientific hypothesis is that by uniting these two ways of knowing — ancestral wisdom and modern neuroscience — we may one day help those who live in emotional suffering find new paths to healing.”</p>
<p>There are also some limitations to consider. The sample was relatively small and included only men, limiting how broadly the results can be applied. In addition, all ayahuasca users were part of spiritual communities that may provide additional psychological support, which could influence resilience scores independently of ayahuasca itself.</p>
<p>While these results provide evidence that long-term ayahuasca use may be associated with distinct patterns of emotional brain activity and greater psychological resilience, they do not imply causation. The findings point to associations that warrant further investigation and suggest that ayahuasca, when used in structured contexts, may influence emotional processing in ways that are measurable and potentially beneficial.</p>
<p>Future studies with larger and more diverse samples could help clarify whether these findings hold across different populations. Additional work could also explore whether similar brain patterns are observed in people who use ayahuasca in clinical settings or in other types of structured environments. The researchers hope to expand their investigations using newer technologies, including liquid biomarkers and more advanced imaging techniques, to better understand how ayahuasca affects the brain and emotional health over time.</p>
<p>“I’m currently in a phase of consolidating our research group and training new scientists,” Ramos told PsyPost. “Alongside that, I’m actively seeking funding to keep this line of investigation alive and growing. Over the next few years, I plan to bring back several ayahuasca projects that are already written but waiting for the right support — now using new technologies that allow us to tell a more integrated and precise story. To inspire this next chapter, we’re investing in in silico models, liquid biomarkers (the so-called ‘liquid biopsy’ techniques), and advanced neuroimaging methods. My vision is to merge these approaches so that we can better understand, at multiple levels, how ayahuasca interacts with the brain and mind.”</p>
<p>“I’d like to share that working on this topic was not easy — there was a lot of stigma from people who didn’t fully understand it. On the other hand, those who were familiar with ayahuasca welcomed the project with deep respect and gratitude. I feel honored to help bring this knowledge to the scientific community and to reduce prejudice through evidence-based understanding. My goal is to make visible what has long been invisible to some — to transform ancient wisdom into something that modern science can also see, measure, and respect.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.70063" target="_blank">Resilience and Brain Changes in Long-Term Ayahuasca Users: Insights From Psychometric and fMRI Pattern Recognition</a>,” was authored by Lucas Rego Ramos, Orlando Fernandes Jr, and Tiago Arruda Sanchez.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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