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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/single-session-of-weightlifting-improves-executive-function-and-processing-speed/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Single session of weightlifting improves executive function and processing speed</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 25th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study found that processing speed regarding inhibitory control (the ability to suppress automatic or impulsive responses) and working memory improved in a group of participants after moderate-intensity resistance exercises compared to a group that was resting and watching a video during that time. Blood lactate levels and systolic blood pressure also increased after exercises. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70171"><em>Psychophysiology</em></a>.</p>
<p>Resistance exercises are physical activities that make muscles work against an external force, such as weights, resistance bands, or one’s own body weight. They are designed to increase muscle strength by challenging the muscles to contract against this resistance. Common forms include weightlifting, push-ups, squats, and exercises using machines in a gym.</p>
<p>These exercises trigger muscle fibers to adapt and grow stronger over time. Resistance training can also help improve bone density, which is especially important for preventing osteoporosis. It boosts metabolism because stronger muscles burn more calories even at rest. Such exercises are valuable for improving balance and coordination, particularly in older adults. They also reduce the risk of injuries by strengthening the muscles that support joints.</p>
<p>Study author Nicholas W. Baumgartner and his colleagues note that resistance exercise has emerged as a critical component of health, playing a key role in regulating blood glucose, reducing obesity, and lowering blood pressure. </p>
<p>They conducted a study aiming to evaluate the effects of acute resistance exercises on executive function and to explore potential mechanisms underlying those effects. Executive function is the set of mental processes that enable a person to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, control impulses, and coordinate complex goal-directed behavior.</p>
<p>Study participants were 121 healthy adults. Their age ranged between 18 and 50 years, with the average being 27 years. 41% of them were women.</p>
<p>Study authors randomly divided them into two groups. One was to undergo resistance exercises of moderate difficulty, while the other group rested watching a video. The data collection was done on two separate days. On the first day, participants completed a demographic survey, and tests of strength (1RM protocol) and cardiovascular fitness (graded maximal exercise test for VO2 max).</p>
<p>On their next visit, which was at least 2 days after the first visit, participants gave blood samples and had electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of their brain recorded while they completed a set of cognitive tasks measuring executive function. </p>
<p>Next, depending on the group they were assigned to, participants either completed a set of resistance exercises or watched a video of a same-sex adult performing resistance exercises. After this period, they again gave blood samples and completed the cognitive tasks assessing executive function while the EEG activity of their brains was recorded.</p>
<p>The resistance exercises lasted for 42 minutes. They started with a 2-minute warm-up followed by two sets of 10 repetitions for each exercise: chest press, latissimus dorsi pulldown, dumbbell bicep curl, leg press, cable triceps extension, and leg extension. They were set at 65-75% of the maximum strength for each participant separately, with 1–2-minute rest periods between sets and 2–3-minute rest periods between exercises.</p>
<p>Results showed that response times for inhibitory control and working memory moderately improved in the group that completed resistance exercises compared to the group that watched videos. As expected, blood lactate levels and systolic blood pressure strongly increased after exercises as well.</p>
<p>Study authors tested a statistical model proposing that increased systolic blood pressure mediates the link between exercises and improved executive functions (inhibitory control and working memory). In other words, they proposed that resistance exercises increased systolic blood pressure and that increased pressure improves the speed of executive functioning. Results showed that such a mediation is possible.</p>
<p>“Overall, these findings provide evidence that acute RE [resistance exercises] enhances neuroelectric and behavioral markers of inhibitory control and working memory performance and highlight the potential for systolic pressure as a mechanism through which acute RE influences cognition,” study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the effects of resistance exercises on cognition. However, the effects on cognition were measured immediately after the exercises, so it remains unknown how long the effects last. If the improved executive functioning is indeed caused by increased blood pressure, as study authors suggest, it is likely that they would return to baseline together with blood pressure, which is within an hour.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70171">Brawn and Brainpower: Acute Resistance Exercise Improves Behavioral and Neuroelectric Measures of Executive Function,</a>” was authored by Nicholas W. Baumgartner, Michael D. Belbis, Kyoungmin Noh, Daniel M. Hirai, Steve Amireault, and Shih-Chun Kao.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/distinct-neural-pathways-link-fear-of-missing-out-and-negative-emotions-to-compulsive-phone-use/" 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;">Distinct neural pathways link fear of missing out and negative emotions to compulsive phone use</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 25th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108848" target="_blank">Computers in Human Behavior</a></em> suggests that specific structural and functional patterns within the brain’s default mode network can predict the severity of problematic smartphone use months or even years later. The findings indicate that these brain features contribute to excessive phone use through two distinct psychological pathways involving fear of missing out and negative emotional states.</p>
<p>Problematic smartphone use has become a widespread issue associated with anxiety, sleep disturbances, and social disruption. While it shares characteristics with behavioral addictions, such as loss of control and craving, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain a subject of debate. Previous scientific inquiries have implicated the default mode network in various forms of addiction. This network consists of a system of brain regions that are active during rest and engaged in self-reflection.</p>
<p>Most prior investigations relied on snapshots of brain activity taken at a single point in time. This cross-sectional approach makes it difficult to determine whether brain differences cause the behavior or result from it. </p>
<p>The authors of the new study sought to establish a timeline by using a longitudinal design. They aimed to determine if specific features of the default mode network could predict the future development of problematic smartphone use. They also sought to understand the psychological drivers linking brain biology to behavior and to explore the genetic underpinnings of these neural patterns.</p>
<p>“Our primary motivation came from a very concrete real-world issue: in everyday life, smartphones have become deeply embedded in learning, work, and social interaction, yet more and more young people report that they ‘can’t put the phone down,’ to the point that it affects their sleep, mood, and academic performance,” explained study author <a href="https://wanglab.mysxl.cn" target="_blank">Qiang Wang</a>, a professor of psychology at <a href="https://psych.tjnu.edu.cn/info/1048/2300.htm" target="_blank">Tianjin Normal University</a>.</p>
<p>“Unlike gambling or gaming, smartphones are almost universally used tools, which makes it very difficult to draw a sharp line between ‘addictive’ and ‘normal’ use. From a scientific perspective, most prior work on problematic smartphone use has relied on cross-sectional designs. There are relatively few multi-site longitudinal studies, and even fewer that integrate brain structure, resting-state function, and transcriptomics (gene expression) in the same framework.” </p>
<p>“At the same time, the default mode network (DMN) has repeatedly been implicated in various addictive behaviors, but it remained unclear whether the anterior and posterior DMN differentially predict future problematic smartphone use, and how these neural features operate through key psychological variables such as fear of missing out (FoMO) and negative affect.”</p>
<p>For their study, the research team recruited 282 young adults from four different universities and research sites in China. At the start of the study, participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans to measure brain structure and function. Brain structure refers to the physical architecture and density of neural tissue, while functional measures track the dynamic activity and communication patterns occurring within the brain.</p>
<p>The researchers specifically looked at gray matter volume. This measure represents the density of brain cells in a region. They also analyzed regional homogeneity, which measures how synchronized the activity is within a specific brain area.</p>
<p>Participants also completed psychological assessments to establish baseline levels of smartphone addiction symptoms, fear of missing out, and negative emotions. The researchers then followed up with the participants after intervals ranging from five months to five years. </p>
<p>At the follow-up stage, participants repeated the assessments regarding their smartphone use and psychological state. To ensure the data from different scanning sites was comparable, the team used advanced statistical harmonization techniques.</p>
<p>The data analysis revealed a specific division of labor within the default mode network regarding the prediction of smartphone habits. The researchers found that the volume of gray matter in the anterior, or front, part of this network predicted the severity of problematic smartphone use at the follow-up. </p>
<p>This predictive power was strongest in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. This brain region is typically involved in emotion regulation and self-referential processing.</p>
<p>The analysis showed that this relationship was not direct. Instead, it was mediated by psychological factors. The structural features of the anterior default mode network predicted higher levels of fear of missing out at the follow-up. </p>
<p>This heightened social anxiety then predicted more severe problematic smartphone use. This pathway aligns with social cognitive models of addiction, which suggest that the need for social connection can drive compulsive behaviors.</p>
<p>A different pattern emerged for the posterior, or rear, part of the network. The researchers observed that the spontaneous functional activity in the posterior cingulate cortex predicted future smartphone problems through a different pathway. </p>
<p>In this case, the brain activity predicted higher levels of negative affect, such as anxiety or depression. These negative emotions then led to increased smartphone use. The posterior cingulate cortex is a central hub for mind-wandering and directing attention internally.</p>
<p>This finding suggests a double dissociation effect. This means that different parts of the same brain network drive the behavior through separate psychological mechanisms. The anterior section appears to influence social motivation, while the posterior section relates to emotional regulation. </p>
<p>“One particularly striking and somewhat surprising finding was the clear double dissociation between the anterior and posterior default mode network, not only at the level of structural and functional prediction, but also at the psychological level,” Wang told PsyPost.</p>
<p>“<em>Structural</em> indices in the anterior default mode network primarily exerted their influence via FoMO, which is more closely related to social motivation and relationship needs. <em>Functional</em> indices in the posterior default mode network mainly operated via negative affect, which is more closely tied to emotional experience.”</p>
<p>“We initially expected that both FoMO and negative affect would show some degree of mediation, but we did not anticipate that their corresponding neural pathways would be so distinctly ‘specialized’ and statistically independent,” Wang said. “This suggests that social motivation and emotion regulation may rely on different, yet cooperating, neural pathways that together shape how a person uses their smartphone.”</p>
<p>“Put simply, our findings suggest that whether someone will later find it harder to put their phone down is, to some extent, linked to how the anterior and posterior parts of their default mode network are structured and functioning at baseline—and that this influence is transmitted through their emotional state and social motivation.”</p>
<p>To understand the biological roots of these brain patterns, the team performed a transcriptomic analysis. They compared their imaging results with data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. This allowed them to identify gene expression profiles associated with the brain regions identified in the study. This analysis highlighted a set of genes involved in synaptic transmission.</p>
<p>These genes are responsible for the regulation of glutamate, a key neurotransmitter in the brain. The analysis showed that these genes were expressed significantly in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. This suggests that an imbalance in neural signaling may contribute to the compulsive nature of smartphone use.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the researchers examined the developmental timeline of these genes. They found that the expression of these specific genes peaks during infancy and adolescence. These periods are critical for brain maturation. </p>
<p>This finding implies that early neural development may set the stage for vulnerabilities to addictive behaviors later in life. Adolescence is a particularly sensitive period for the maturation of reward processing and emotion regulation.</p>
<p>Wang noted that the observed effects were small to moderate but remained statistically stable even after controlling for various demographic factors. He emphasized that these findings should be viewed as population-level risk markers rather than diagnostic tools, as no single brain region determines whether a person will develop an addiction. These neural patterns represent just one piece of a larger puzzle.</p>
<p>“For the average reader, an important takeaway is that problematic smartphone use is not just about ‘weak willpower,'” Wang told PsyPost. “It reflects the long-term interaction of brain systems involved in self-related processing, emotion regulation, and social motivation. Paying attention to one’s emotional state (e.g., anxiety, low mood) and to anxiety about ‘missing out’ may be a key entry point for preventing loss of control over smartphone use.”</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the neurobiological basis of smartphone struggles, but it has certain limitations. The reliance on self-reported surveys for smartphone use may introduce subjective bias compared to objective digital logs. The sample consisted primarily of young adult university students. This means the results might not apply to children or older adults.</p>
<p>Additionally, the transcriptomic analysis relied on a post-mortem brain atlas rather than genetic data from the participants themselves. This provides a general correlation rather than a direct genetic link for the specific individuals in the study.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, the researchers aim to integrate objective tracking of smartphone usage data to create more accurate behavioral trajectories. They also plan to investigate whether psychological interventions can modify these brain patterns. Expanding the study to include adolescents would help clarify how these brain networks develop during critical periods of maturation.</p>
<p>“We hope this research can help shift discussions about problematic smartphone use away from simple moral judgments and generational conflicts, and toward a more evidence-based understanding that integrates psychological and biological foundations,” Wang said. “If we treat FoMO and negative affect as key nodes in this system, we can adopt a more compassionate view of people who ‘cannot put their phones down’: they are often using their phones to compensate for emotional gaps or social worries in real life, rather than simply lacking willpower.”</p>
<p>“From the perspective of public policy and educational practice, we hope this line of work can inform more nuanced and gentle interventions—for example, better design of digital environments, stronger emotional education, and improved social support—rather than relying on crude, blanket bans on smartphone use.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108848" target="_blank">Anterior-posterior dissociation of default mode network predicts problematic smartphone use: A multi-site longitudinal and transcriptomic analysis</a>,” was authored by Qiang Wang, Jinlian Wang, Xiang Li, Chang Liu, Pinchun Wang, and Weipeng Jin.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/your-bodys-hidden-reaction-to-musical-rhythm-involves-your-eyes/" 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;">Your body’s hidden reaction to musical rhythm involves your eyes</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 20:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that human bodies react to music in subtle ways that bypass conscious awareness. Researchers have discovered that listeners spontaneously synchronize their eye blinks with the rhythm of musical beats. This finding reveals a previously unknown connection between the auditory system and the motor system controlling eye movements. The research was published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003456" target="_blank">PLOS Biology</a></em>.</p>
<p>Humans possess a natural tendency to move in time with music. We often tap our feet, nod our heads, or clap along to a beat. This behavior is known as auditory-motor synchronization. It involves a sophisticated coordination between the parts of the brain that process sound and those that control movement. While this ability is common in humans, it is rare in other species. Scientists study this behavior to understand how the brain measures time and anticipates events.</p>
<p>Investigating these rhythms provides insight into the fundamental wiring of the human nervous system. Disruptions in rhythm processing often accompany neurodevelopmental conditions such as dyslexia or motor disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Establishing how the healthy brain couples movement to sound can lead to better diagnostic tools. The research team sought to determine if this coupling extends to involuntary movements.</p>
<p>The study was conducted by researchers Yiyang Wu, Xiangbin Teng, and Yi Du. They are affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The team focused on eye blinks because they are frequent and semi-automatic. Blinking is also linked to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in reward and timing.</p>
<p>To investigate this phenomenon, the researchers recruited young adults who were not professional musicians. In the first experiment, thirty participants listened to chorales composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. The music was played at a steady tempo of roughly 85 beats per minute. The researchers recorded the participants’ eye movements using a high-precision camera. Simultaneously, they recorded brain wave activity using electroencephalography, or EEG.</p>
<p>The participants were given no instructions regarding their blinking. They simply listened to the music while looking at a blank screen. The analysis of the eye-tracking data revealed a distinct pattern. The participants’ blinks were not random. Instead, they aligned significantly with the musical beats. This synchronization occurred regardless of whether the listeners enjoyed the specific piece of music.</p>
<p>The EEG data offered further evidence of this connection. The brain signals tracking the musical beat were coupled with the timing of the blinks. This suggests a shared underlying mechanism in the brain. The researchers observed that the brain seemed to predict the timing of the next blink. This prediction sharpened as the participants listened to the music repeatedly.</p>
<p>The team also looked at the physical structure of the participants’ brains. They used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to map white matter tracts. These tracts act as cabling that connects different brain regions. The analysis highlighted a specific pathway called the superior longitudinal fasciculus. This pathway connects the auditory cortex to motor planning areas.</p>
<p>Variations in the microscopic structure of this pathway correlated with the strength of the blinking behavior. Participants with specific structural characteristics in this tract tended to synchronize their blinks more primarily with the beat. This finding provides a physical anatomical basis for the behavior. It links the efficiency of neural communication to the ability to sync involuntary movements with sound.</p>
<p>In a second experiment, the researchers stripped the melody from the music. They presented participants with simple tone sequences that maintained the same rhythm. They also varied the speed of the audio. The synchronization persisted even without melodic cues. This indicates that the timing of the beat is the primary driver of the behavior.</p>
<p>However, the phenomenon had limits based on speed. The synchronization remained robust at slow and medium tempos. Yet, when the tempo increased to 120 beats per minute, the synchronization disappeared. This suggests there is a physiological limit to how fast the oculomotor system can entrain to external rhythms.</p>
<p>A third experiment explored whether this synchronization serves a functional purpose. Participants were asked to detect a subtle change in pitch within a musical phrase. The researchers found that individuals who synchronized their blinks more effectively with the beat performed better on the task. They were more accurate at identifying the pitch deviant. This supports the theory that synchronizing movement with sound helps the brain attend to auditory information at the right moment.</p>
<p>The final experiment tested the effect of attention. Participants performed a visual task where they had to detect a red circle on a screen while music played in the background. In this scenario, the participants focused their attention on the visual stimulus rather than the audio. The spontaneous synchronization of blinks to the music vanished completely. This demonstrates that the phenomenon is not a mere reflex. It requires the listener to actively attend to the auditory environment.</p>
<p>These findings suggest that eye blinks are part of a mechanism called active sensing. The brain may use blinks to reset or tune its sensory intake in time with the environment. By aligning blinks with the beat, the brain may minimize disruption to visual input while optimizing auditory processing.</p>
<p>This study presents a new way to measure rhythm perception. Because blinking is involuntary and easy to track, it could serve as a simple marker for neural function. As author Yi Du notes, “Because blinks are effortless to measure, this behavior offers a simple, implicit window into how we process rhythm—and could one day support clinical screening for rhythm-related difficulties.”</p>
<p>There are limitations to the current study. The sample consisted primarily of young adults with normal hearing. It is not yet clear how this behavior changes with age or hearing loss. Future research will need to examine more diverse populations.</p>
<p>Additionally, the study used Western classical music and simple tones. Research using different musical genres with complex rhythms could reveal different patterns. The scientists also aim to explore the neural circuits in greater detail. They hope to pinpoint the exact subcortical structures involved in this loop.</p>
<p>This discovery opens new avenues for understanding the embodied nature of music perception. It highlights that listening is not a passive activity but one that engages the entire motor system. Even our smallest, unconscious movements dance to the beat. As Yi Du states, “This project reminded us that small, overlooked behaviors can expose big principles of brain function.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003456" target="_blank">Eye blinks synchronize with musical beats during music listening</a>,” was authored by Yiyang Wu, Xiangbin Teng, and Yi Du.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/a-mathematical-ceiling-limits-generative-ai-to-amateur-level-creativity/" 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;">A mathematical ceiling limits generative AI to amateur-level creativity</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new theoretical analysis published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70077" target="_blank">Journal of Creative Behaviour</a></em> challenges the prevailing narrative that artificial intelligence is on the verge of surpassing human artistic and intellectual capabilities. The study provides evidence that large language models, such as ChatGPT, are mathematically constrained to a level of creativity comparable to an amateur human. </p>
<p>The study was conducted by David H. Cropley, a professor of engineering innovation at the University of South Australia. Cropley initiated this research to bring objective measurement to the polarized debate surrounding generative AI. While some proponents argue that AI can already outperform humans in creative tasks, others maintain that these systems merely mimic existing data without genuine understanding. </p>
<p>Cropley sought to move beyond subjective opinions by applying the standard definition of creativity to the probabilistic mechanics of large language models. His goal was to determine if the way these models operate places an inherent limit on the quality of their output.</p>
<p>To evaluate the creative potential of artificial intelligence, the researcher first established a clear definition of what constitutes a creative product. He utilized the standard definition of creativity, which posits that for an output to be considered creative, it must satisfy two specific criteria: effectiveness and originality. </p>
<p>Effectiveness refers to the product being useful, appropriate, or fit for its intended purpose. Originality refers to the product being novel, unusual, or surprising. In high-level human creativity, these two traits exist simultaneously; a masterpiece is both highly unique and perfectly executed.</p>
<p>Cropley focused his analysis on the “product” aspect of creativity rather than the psychological processes or environmental factors that influence humans, as AI does not possess personality traits or experience workplace culture. He examined the “next-token prediction” mechanism used by large language models. </p>
<p>These systems function by breaking text into smaller units called tokens and calculating the probability of which token should logically follow the previous ones based on their training data. This process is transparent and deterministic, allowing for a mathematical calculation of creativity that is not possible when studying the opaque cognitive processes of the human brain.</p>
<p>The investigation revealed a fundamental trade-off embedded in the architecture of large language models. For an AI response to be effective, the model must select words that have a high probability of fitting the context. For instance, if the prompt is “The cat sat on the…”, the word “mat” is a highly effective completion because it makes sense and is grammatically correct. However, because “mat” is the most statistically probable ending, it is also the least novel. It is entirely expected.</p>
<p>Conversely, if the model were to select a word with a very low probability to increase novelty, the effectiveness would drop. Completing the sentence with “red wrench” or “growling cloud” would be highly unexpected and therefore novel, but it would likely be nonsensical and ineffective. Cropley determined that within the closed system of a large language model, novelty and effectiveness function as inversely related variables. As the system strives to be more effective by choosing probable words, it automatically becomes less novel.</p>
<p>By expressing this relationship through a mathematical formula, the study identified a specific upper limit for AI creativity. Cropley modeled creativity as the product of effectiveness and novelty. Because these two factors work against each other in a probabilistic system, the maximum possible creativity score is mathematically capped at 0.25 on a scale of zero to one. </p>
<p>This peak occurs only when both effectiveness and novelty are balanced at moderate levels. This finding indicates that large language models are structurally incapable of maximizing both variables simultaneously, preventing them from achieving the high scores possible for human creators who can combine extreme novelty with extreme effectiveness.</p>
<p>To contextualize this finding, the researcher compared the 0.25 limit against established data regarding human creative performance. He aligned this score with the “Four C” model of creativity, which categorizes creative expression into levels ranging from “mini-c” (interpretive) to “Big-C” (legendary). </p>
<p>The study found that the AI limit of 0.25 corresponds to the boundary between “little-c” creativity, which represents everyday amateur efforts, and “Pro-c” creativity, which represents professional-level expertise.</p>
<p>This comparison suggests that while generative AI can convincingly replicate the work of an average person, it is unable to reach the levels of expert writers, artists, or innovators. The study cites empirical evidence from other researchers showing that AI-generated stories and solutions consistently rank in the 40th to 50th percentile compared to human outputs. These real-world tests support the theoretical conclusion that AI cannot currently bridge the gap to elite performance.</p>
<p>“While AI can mimic creative behaviour – quite convincingly at times – its actual creative capacity is capped at the level of an average human and can never reach professional or expert standards under current design principles,” Cropley explained in a press release. “Many people think that because ChatGPT can generate stories, poems or images, that it must be creative. But generating something is not the same as being creative. LLMs are trained on a vast amount of existing content. They respond to prompts based on what they have learned, producing outputs that are expected and unsurprising.”</p>
<p>The study highlights that human creativity is not symmetrically distributed; most people perform at an average level, which explains why AI output often feels impressive to the general public. Since a large portion of the population produces “little-c” level work, an AI that matches this level appears competent. </p>
<p>However, highly creative professionals quickly recognize the formulaic nature of AI content. The mathematical ceiling ensures that while the software can be a helpful tool for routine tasks, it cannot autonomously generate the kind of transformative ideas that define professional creative work.</p>
<p>“A skilled writer, artist or designer can occasionally produce something truly original and effective,” Cropley noted. “An LLM never will. It will always produce something average, and if industries rely too heavily on it, they will end up with formulaic, repetitive work.”</p>
<p>There are limitations to the theory presented in the paper. The model uses a linear approximation to define novelty as the inverse of effectiveness, which is a simplification of more complex concepts from information theory. </p>
<p>The study also assumes a standard mode of operation for these models, known as greedy decoding or simple sampling, and does not account for every possible variation in prompting strategies or human-in-the-loop editing that might artificially enhance the final product. The analysis focuses on the autonomous output of the system rather than its potential as a collaborative tool.</p>
<p>Future research is likely to investigate how different temperature settings—parameters that control the randomness of AI responses—might allow for slight fluctuations in this creativity ceiling. Additionally, researchers may explore whether reinforcement learning techniques could be adjusted to weigh novelty more heavily without sacrificing coherence. Cross-lingual studies could also determine if this mathematical limit holds true across different languages and cultural contexts.</p>
<p>“For AI to reach expert-level creativity, it would require new architecture capable of generating ideas not tied to past statistical patterns,” Cropley concluded. Until such a paradigm shift occurs in computer science, the evidence indicates that human beings remain the sole source of high-level creativity.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70077" target="_blank">“The Cat Sat on the …?” Why Generative AI Has Limited Creativity</a>,” was authored by David H. Cropley.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/is-sexual-compatibility-fated-or-forged-your-answer-may-shape-your-relationships-future/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Is sexual compatibility fated or forged? Your answer may shape your relationship’s future</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that a person’s underlying beliefs about sexual compatibility can influence how they expect their relationship to fare when faced with a sexual health challenge. People who believe that sexual satisfaction is something a couple builds together through effort are more likely to anticipate their new relationship growing stronger after learning of a partner’s sexual dysfunction, according to the paper published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075251334264" target="_blank">Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</a></em>.</p>
<p>Underpinning our romantic lives are sets of unstated assumptions about how relationships are supposed to work. These “implicit beliefs” are shaped by culture, media, and personal experience, and they can guide our reactions to relational challenges. </p>
<p>Researchers in communication and psychology have identified two main types of these beliefs. One is a “destiny” belief, which frames compatibility as something innate, a matter of finding the right person or soulmate. The other is a “growth” belief, which views a successful relationship as something that is cultivated and maintained through hard work and mutual effort.</p>
<p>These general mindsets also apply specifically to the sexual aspects of a relationship. A person with strong sexual destiny beliefs might think that sexual struggles are a sign that two people are simply not a good match. Conversely, someone with strong sexual growth beliefs is more likely to see sexual difficulties as a problem to be solved together. Sexual dysfunction, which includes conditions like erectile dysfunction or pain during intercourse, is a common but often stressful experience that can put these beliefs to the test, especially in the early stages of a romance.</p>
<p>A team of researchers at the University of Connecticut, Jacqueline N. Gunning, Amanda Denes, Elizabeth A. Hintz, and Rachel V. Tucker, wanted to understand how these different belief systems might affect a new relationship’s resilience. They were particularly interested in a concept called “sexual communal strength.” This refers to the motivation to meet a partner’s sexual needs out of genuine care, without expecting an immediate return, essentially viewing sexual challenges from a “we’re in this together” perspective. </p>
<p>The researchers hypothesized that a person’s implicit sexual beliefs might influence their level of sexual communal strength, which in turn would predict whether they see their relationship as capable of thriving through adversity.</p>
<p>To investigate these connections, the researchers designed an online experimental survey. They recruited 461 participants who were all in romantic relationships that had begun within the previous six months. The participants were from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and other Western countries, ensuring a degree of shared cultural context regarding relationship norms.</p>
<p>Each participant was asked to read a short, hypothetical scenario. In the scenario, they were to imagine their new romantic partner disclosing that they experience a form of sexual dysfunction. Depending on the genitals of the participant’s real-life partner, the imagined condition was either erectile dysfunction or vulvovaginal pain, two common forms of sexual dysfunction. After reading this vignette, participants completed a series of questionnaires.</p>
<p>These questionnaires were designed to measure the key concepts of the study. One set of questions assessed their implicit sexual beliefs, asking them to rate their agreement with statements reflecting either a growth mindset, such as “Successful sexual relationships require regular maintenance,” or a destiny mindset, like “Struggles in a sexual relationship are a sure sign that the relationship will fail.” </p>
<p>Another set of questions measured their sexual communal strength by asking how willing they would be to support their partner, with items like, “How likely are you to sacrifice your own needs to meet the sexual needs of your partner?”</p>
<p>Finally, participants responded to questions measuring “anticipated relational thriving.” This scale gauged their optimism that the relationship could not only survive the challenge but actually become stronger because of it. A sample statement was, “I believe I would be able to cope with my partner’s sexual dysfunction in a way that strengthens my relationship with my partner.” The research team then used a statistical method called structural equation modeling to analyze the relationships among these different variables.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed a clear pattern for individuals holding sexual growth beliefs. The results showed that people who more strongly believed that sexual satisfaction requires work also reported higher levels of sexual communal strength. </p>
<p>In other words, a growth mindset was associated with a greater willingness to be a supportive, team-oriented sexual partner. This increased sexual communal strength was then positively associated with greater anticipated relational thriving. The data supported the idea of an indirect pathway: believing in sexual growth fostered a communal orientation, which then promoted the belief that the relationship could flourish.</p>
<p>The findings for sexual destiny beliefs were different. The researchers did not find a significant indirect pathway linking destiny beliefs to relational thriving through sexual communal strength. Holding a “soulmate” view of sexuality was not significantly associated with a change in a person’s reported willingness to be a team player in the face of this particular challenge. However, the study did find a direct negative relationship. Individuals who held stronger sexual destiny beliefs were, on the whole, less likely to believe their relationship could thrive after imagining their partner’s disclosure of sexual dysfunction.</p>
<p>The study provides a nuanced look at how foundational beliefs can shape our responses to sensitive relationship issues. Still, the authors point out several limitations to their work. The primary caveat is that the study relied on a hypothetical scenario. Participants’ imagined reactions may not perfectly mirror how they would behave in a real-life situation. The emotional weight and complexity of an actual disclosure could lead to different outcomes.</p>
<p>Additionally, the sample, while diverse in some respects, consisted primarily of white, cisgender individuals in mixed-gender relationships. The dynamics of these beliefs and their outcomes might operate differently in relationships among people of other racial backgrounds or gender and sexual identities. The data are also cross-sectional, meaning they were collected at a single point in time. This approach can identify associations between variables but cannot establish that one causes another. For instance, it is possible that being in a satisfying relationship influences a person’s beliefs, rather than the other way around.</p>
<p>Future research could build on these findings by studying couples in real time as they navigate actual health challenges. Researchers could also explore these dynamics within a more diverse range of relationships to see how widely these patterns apply. Such work could help clarify the specific communication behaviors that connect a growth mindset to positive relational outcomes, offering more targeted insights for couples and therapists working to build resilience in the face of sexual health difficulties.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075251334264" target="_blank">Implicit sexual beliefs and relational thriving in new romantic relationships facing imagined sexual dysfunction: The mediating role of sexual communal strength</a>,” was authored by Jacqueline N. Gunning, Amanda Denes, Elizabeth A. Hintz, and Rachel V. Tucker.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/antidepressants-may-improve-mood-weeks-earlier-than-standard-tests-suggest/" 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;">Antidepressants may improve mood weeks earlier than standard tests suggest</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A commonly prescribed antidepressant may improve core emotional symptoms of depression much faster than previously thought. A new analysis reveals that while the drug sertraline offers relief from sadness and anxiety within two weeks, these benefits are often masked by simultaneous physical side effects when looking at combined symptom scores. These findings were published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00528-x" target="_blank">Nature Mental Health</a></em>.</p>
<p>Measuring the effectiveness of treatments for mental health conditions has historically proven difficult. Clinical trials typically rely on total scores derived from standardized questionnaires, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire or the Beck Depression Inventory. </p>
<p>These surveys ask patients to rate the severity of various experiences, ranging from mood and self-esteem to sleep quality and appetite. Researchers then sum these ratings to produce a single number representing the severity of the patient’s depression. This approach assumes that all symptoms are equally informative regarding the underlying condition.</p>
<p>However, depression is a highly heterogeneous disorder. Two individuals with the same diagnosis may share very few specific complaints. One person might struggle primarily with insomnia and agitation, while another experiences hypersomnia and lethargy. This variability complicates the assessment of how well a medication works. If a drug improves mood but simultaneously disrupts sleep or appetite, the total score might remain unchanged. This statistical canceling out can create the illusion that the medication is ineffective during the early stages of treatment.</p>
<p>Researchers from University College London sought to untangle these contradictory signals. They conducted a secondary analysis of data from the PANDA trial, a large randomized controlled study originally published in 2019. The original trial involved 653 adults recruited from primary care settings in the United Kingdom who were experiencing depressive symptoms. These participants were randomly assigned to receive either sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or a placebo for a period of 12 weeks.</p>
<p>The lead authors of the new analysis include Giulia G. Piazza and Jean-Baptiste Pingault from the Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology at University College London. They collaborated with Glyn Lewis and other experts from the Division of Psychiatry. The team aimed to move beyond the limitations of total scores by employing a statistical technique known as network analysis. This method allows scientists to model individual symptoms as “nodes” and the statistical associations between them as “edges.”</p>
<p>By treating symptoms as individual components rather than a monolithic whole, the investigators could observe how specific aspects of mental health responded to the drug over time. They examined the direct effects of sertraline on 21 distinct symptoms at two weeks, six weeks, and 12 weeks. This granular approach enabled them to distinguish between the therapeutic benefits of the medication and its physiological side effects.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed that sertraline began to alleviate specific emotional symptoms much earlier than the original trial results suggested. Patients taking the medication reported reductions in feelings of sadness, self-loathing, and restlessness after just two weeks. They also experienced a decrease in suicidal thoughts compared to the placebo group. These improvements occurred well before the six-week mark, which is often cited as the typical timeframe for antidepressants to show clinical efficacy.</p>
<p>Despite these early emotional benefits, the drug also triggered adverse physical reactions during the same period. Patients in the sertraline group reported increased problems with libido, sleep, and appetite. Because these physical complaints are also listed as symptoms on depression questionnaires, they contributed to the total depression score. This simultaneous improvement in mood and deterioration in physical comfort effectively neutralized the overall score in the early weeks.</p>
<p>Giulia Piazza, the lead author, noted the importance of viewing these conditions as complex systems. She stated, “Instead of thinking of depression and anxiety as each being a single, uniform condition, network analysis considers that they’re each a constellation of symptoms, that can appear in different combinations for different people. These symptoms influence each other over time; for example, poor sleep can lead to problems with concentration, which may then impact self-esteem.”</p>
<p>The study found that the trajectory of these opposing effects shifted as treatment continued. While the beneficial impact on anxiety and mood persisted and deepened over the 12-week period, the negative physical side effects appeared to plateau. By the six-week mark, the adverse effects on sleep and libido had largely stabilized. This suggests that the body may adjust to the medication’s physiological impact while the psychological benefits continue to accrue.</p>
<p>In addition to tracking individual symptoms, the researchers investigated whether sertraline altered the relationships between symptoms. Network theory posits that symptoms can reinforce one another, creating a self-sustaining cycle of distress. For instance, anxiety might lead to insomnia, which in turn worsens anxiety. The team hypothesized that the antidepressant might work by breaking these maladaptive links.</p>
<p>The results indicated that the medication did not significantly change the structure of the symptom network. The associations between different symptoms remained comparable between the sertraline and placebo groups. The drug appeared to work by reducing the intensity of specific nodes within the network rather than by rewiring the connections between them. This implies that sertraline lowers the volume of specific complaints without necessarily disrupting the mechanism by which one symptom triggers another.</p>
<p>Professor Jean-Baptiste Pingault, co-senior author, highlighted the broader implications of this granular focus. He explained, “We found that the beneficial effects of sertraline can be detected very early on, as soon as two weeks after people start taking the antidepressant. Beyond this study, our results highlight the importance of considering symptom-level effects when developing novel drugs and evaluating existing drugs in psychiatry, and how this can help us to understand how these drugs work and how they can help patients.”</p>
<p>These findings provide context for why many patients may feel ambivalent about their treatment in the first few weeks. A patient might feel slightly less sad but significantly more tired or nauseous. Without clear guidance, they might conclude the medication is making them worse. Understanding that somatic side effects can temporarily mask emotional progress could help clinicians encourage adherence during the difficult initial phase of therapy.</p>
<p>There are limitations to this analysis that require consideration. The study was a secondary analysis, meaning the data were originally collected for a different purpose with fixed intervals for assessment. The researchers could only analyze the specific symptoms included in the original questionnaires. Some symptoms may be measured more reliably than others, potentially skewing the network map.</p>
<p>Additionally, the study relied on self-reported measures from patients. While this is standard in psychiatric research, subjective reporting can introduce bias. The sample was drawn from a primary care setting, which makes the findings highly relevant to general practice but perhaps less applicable to severe, treatment-resistant cases seen in specialized psychiatric facilities.</p>
<p>Future research will likely need to employ trial designs specifically created for network analysis. Studies that track symptoms on a daily or weekly basis could provide an even higher resolution picture of how antidepressants function. Such high-frequency data would allow researchers to see exactly when specific side effects peak and when therapeutic effects begin to dominate the clinical picture.</p>
<p>Atheeshaan Arumuham, an Academic Clinical Fellow at King’s College London who was not involved in the study, commented on the clinical utility of this research. He told <a href="https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-secondary-analysis-of-the-panda-trial-on-the-effect-of-the-antidepressant-sertraline-on-mood-and-anxiety-symptoms/" target="_blank">the Science Media Centre</a>, “For patients, this means that early treatment may feel mixed or even discouraging, not because the medication isn’t working, but because side effects temporarily overshadow progress. For clinicians and the public, it highlights the need to separate illness-related symptoms from medication-related effects when evaluating the effectiveness of antidepressant treatment.”</p>
<p>The study provides a more nuanced understanding of how selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors function. It challenges the binary view of treatment success or failure based on a single number. By acknowledging that a drug can simultaneously help and hinder different aspects of a patient’s experience, the medical community can offer better guidance to those navigating the complexities of mental health treatment.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00528-x" target="_blank">The effect of sertraline on networks of mood and anxiety symptoms: secondary analysis of the PANDA randomized controlled trial</a>,” was authored by Giulia G. Piazza, Andrea G. Allegrini, Larisa Duffy, Gemma Lewis, Glyn Lewis, Jonathan P. Roiser & Jean-Baptiste Pingault.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/childhood-maltreatment-linked-to-poorer-cognitive-performance-in-young-adulthood-and-later-midlife/" 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;">Childhood maltreatment linked to poorer cognitive performance in young adulthood and later midlife</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A new longitudinal study found that individuals who were maltreated as children tended to have poorer performance on cognitive tasks assessing general intelligence, abstract visual reasoning, processing speed, and set-shifting in young adulthood and later midlife. The paper was published in <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0001042"><em>Neuropsychology</em></a>.</p>
<p>Childhood maltreatment refers to harmful experiences during childhood such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or exposure to chronic conflict or violence. It disrupts a child’s sense of safety and can interfere with normal emotional and brain development. Children who are maltreated often struggle to form secure attachments with caregivers because those caregivers are sometimes the source of fear or unpredictability.</p>
<p>Maltreatment can lead to long-term problems with emotion regulation, making children more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, and more prone to aggressive behaviors. It also affects cognitive development, sometimes reducing attention, working memory, and school performance. Chronic stress from maltreatment alters biological stress systems, especially cortisol regulation. These changes can increase the risk of both mental and physical health problems later in life.</p>
<p>Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with difficulties in forming healthy romantic and social relationships in adulthood. Neglect, the most common form, involves failing to meet a child’s basic emotional or physical needs. Emotional abuse, which includes humiliation and constant criticism, can be as damaging as physical abuse. Sexual abuse has particularly severe and enduring effects on trust and self-esteem.</p>
<p>Study author Molly Maxfield and her colleagues wanted to examine the links between childhood maltreatment and cognitive functioning into late midlife. They used data from a longitudinal prospective study noting that previous analyses of data from it indicated that individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment tended to have lower reading ability and estimated intelligence quotients in young adulthood.</p>
<p>The study in question enrolled children with evidence of physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect processed from 1967 to 1971 in the county juvenile (family) or adult criminal courts of a midwestern metropolitan area. The cases of abuse and neglect considered for this study were restricted to children aged 0–11 years at the time. In total, the study group included 908 maltreated children. They were matched with a control group of 667 children without documented histories of abuse.</p>
<p>Subsequent activities of this study involved locating and interviewing participants again on several occasions between 1989 and 2023. The current study is based on the data from this period. The total number of participants dropped from the initial number to 1,196 in 1989–1995 and to only 447 in the 2022–2023 data collection.</p>
<p>Data were collected by interviewing participants in their homes or another quiet location of participants’ choosing. Interviewers were unaware of the purpose of the study and of whether the participants they were interviewing had a history of abuse and neglect. In the scope of these interviews, study participants completed a series of cognitive tests, and in the final wave, a brief self-report screening for dementia.</p>
<p>Results showed that participants who were maltreated as children tended to have poorer performance on a number of cognitive tests (all tests used except Stroop). They also showed a steeper decline in performance on tasks involving reading ability and set-shifting as they aged.</p>
<p>“The effects of childhood maltreatment on cognitive functioning continue into late midlife, with worse performance on tasks assessing general intelligence, abstract visual reasoning, processing speed, and set-shifting compared with controls**,”** study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the links between childhood maltreatment and cognitive functioning in adulthood. However, it should be noted that the design of the study does not allow any definitive causal inferences to be derived from the results.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0001042">Childhood Maltreatment and Cognitive Functioning From Young Adulthood to Late Midlife: A Prospective Study,</a>” was authored by Molly Maxfield, Kellie Courtney, Stephanie Assuras, Jennifer J. Manly, and Cathy Spatz Widom.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/semaglutide-improves-biomarkers-but-fails-to-preserve-memory-in-alzheimers-patients/" 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;">Semaglutide improves biomarkers but fails to preserve memory in Alzheimer’s patients</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 11:39</div>
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<p><p>Two major clinical trials evaluating the potential of the weight-loss drug semaglutide to treat Alzheimer’s disease have concluded without showing the desired clinical benefit. The manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, <a href="https://www.novonordisk.com/content/nncorp/global/en/news-and-media/news-and-ir-materials/news-details.html?id=916462" target="_blank">reported</a> that patients taking the medication did not experience a slower decline in memory or thinking skills compared to those taking a placebo. While the drug successfully altered certain biological markers associated with the disease, these biological changes did not result in a measurable preservation of cognitive function for the participants.</p>
<p>The investigation into semaglutide was driven by a growing body of evidence linking metabolic health to brain function. Semaglutide belongs to a class of medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. These drugs are primarily prescribed to manage type 2 diabetes and to assist with weight loss under brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy.</p>
<p>The hormone GLP-1, or glucagon-like peptide-1, helps the body regulate blood sugar levels. However, receptors for this hormone are also found in the brain. Activation of these receptors has been shown to reduce inflammation and improve the health of blood vessels in animal studies. This led researchers to hypothesize that the drug might protect brain cells from the damage caused by Alzheimer’s.</p>
<p>Observational data further supported this hypothesis. Researchers had noted that patients with diabetes who were treated with GLP-1 drugs seemed to develop dementia at lower rates than those who were not. This correlation sparked hope that the medication could be repurposed to treat neurodegeneration directly.</p>
<p>Novo Nordisk, a Danish healthcare company with a long history in diabetes care, initiated the Phase 3 “evoke” and “evoke+” trials to test this theory rigorously. These were large-scale, international studies designed to provide a definitive answer regarding the drug’s efficacy for Alzheimer’s.</p>
<p>The trials enrolled a combined total of 3,808 adults. The participants ranged in age from 55 to 85 years old. All subjects had been diagnosed with either mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.</p>
<p>Additionally, all participants had confirmed amyloid positivity. This means they had a buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain, which is a hallmark physical sign of Alzheimer’s pathology. This inclusion criterion ensured that the study focused specifically on Alzheimer’s and not other forms of dementia.</p>
<p>The study design was randomized and double-blind. This is considered the gold standard for clinical research. Half of the participants received a daily oral dose of 14 milligrams of semaglutide. The other half received a placebo pill that looked identical but contained no active medication. Neither the patients nor the doctors knew who was receiving which treatment until the trial concluded.</p>
<p>The researchers monitored the participants for over three years. The primary analysis focused on changes observed over a 104-week treatment period. To measure the drug’s effectiveness, the study used a tool called the Clinical Dementia Rating – Sum of Boxes, or CDR-SB.</p>
<p>The CDR-SB is a standardized interview process. Clinicians assess patients and interview their caregivers to rate performance in six areas. These areas include memory, orientation, judgment, community affairs, home and hobbies, and personal care. A higher score indicates more severe impairment.</p>
<p>The goal was to see if the group taking semaglutide had a lower increase in their CDR-SB scores compared to the placebo group over the two years. A lower increase would indicate that the disease was progressing more slowly.</p>
<p>On November 24, 2025, Novo Nordisk announced that this primary goal was not met. The statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the rate of decline between the two groups. The disease progressed at roughly the same speed regardless of whether the patient took semaglutide or the placebo.</p>
<p>Despite the lack of clinical benefit, the study did reveal that semaglutide had an effect on the body. The company noted that the drug led to improvements in “Alzheimer’s disease-related biomarkers.” Biomarkers are measurable indicators of what is happening inside the body, such as levels of specific proteins in the blood or spinal fluid.</p>
<p>This creates a complicated picture where the biology of the patient appeared to respond to the drug, but their mental, functional state did not improve. This disconnect highlights the difficulty of translating biological changes into meaningful improvements in a patient’s daily life.</p>
<p>Experts responding to the news through <a href="https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-news-from-novo-nordisk-that-semaglutide-does-not-reduce-alzheimers-disease-progression/" target="_blank">the Science Media Centre</a> emphasized that while the results are a setback for treatment, they do not necessarily rule out the drug’s potential for prevention. The timing of the intervention may be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>Ivan Koychev, a Clinical Associate Professor in Neuropsychiatry at Imperial College London, commented on this distinction. He noted that the earlier data that inspired the trial pointed toward a preventive signal rather than a curative one.</p>
<p>“In large real-world datasets, people exposed to GLP-1 receptor agonists over many years appear to have a lower risk of ever developing dementia,” Koychev said in a statement to the Science Media Centre. He explained that this suggests the drug influences the earliest stages of the disease process rather than established neurodegeneration.</p>
<p>Koychev further elaborated on why the trial might have failed despite the biomarker improvements. By the time a person has mild cognitive impairment, significant damage to the brain’s neural networks has already occurred.</p>
<p>“At this point in the disease course, even meaningful shifts in fluid biomarkers may not translate into measurable improvements in cognition or daily functioning over a two-year trial,” Koychev stated.</p>
<p>This sentiment was echoed by Prof. Tara Spires-Jones, Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. She described the results as disappointing but noted the biomarker data offers a specific insight.</p>
<p>“Treatment did improve Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers leaving open a tiny window of hope that in future this drug might be effective if used earlier as a preventative strategy,” Prof. Spires-Jones told the Science Media Centre.</p>
<p>The safety profile of the drug in these trials was consistent with its known effects. Semaglutide is widely used and has been studied extensively. The trial data indicated it was well-tolerated by the older population in the study.</p>
<p>However, the lack of efficacy in slowing symptom progression means Novo Nordisk will discontinue the extension period of the trials. The company stated it would present the full data at upcoming medical conferences in late 2025 and early 2026.</p>
<p>The failure of the evoke trials reinforces the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease. It is not a condition driven by a single mechanism. Consequently, treating it may require targeting multiple biological pathways simultaneously.</p>
<p>Susan Kohlhaas, Executive Director of Research and Partnerships at Alzheimer’s Research UK, highlighted this necessity. She pointed out that no single approach is likely to be sufficient.</p>
<p>“The field now needs to focus on understanding those processes in much greater detail and developing treatments that can be used together to tackle the disease from multiple angles,” Kohlhaas said in her comments to the Science Media Centre.</p>
<p>Professor Paul Morgan, Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute Cardiff, also weighed in on the duration of the study relative to the disease’s development. He noted that the impact of risk factors like obesity and diabetes accumulates over decades.</p>
<p>“In the trials, subjects were treated for two years, while the impacts of obesity and diabetes on dementia likely accumulate over many years,” Morgan noted via the Science Media Centre. He expressed hope that the widespread use of these drugs in the general population might still reveal long-term protective effects against developing Alzheimer’s.</p>
<p>For now, the immediate hope that oral semaglutide could serve as a treatment for those already showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s has been dampened. The focus of research may now shift toward earlier intervention.</p>
<p>The theory is that protecting the brain’s metabolic and vascular health must happen before neurons die and cognitive connections are severed. Once the structural damage of dementia is established, metabolic drugs alone appear insufficient to reverse or halt the decline.</p>
<p>Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer at the Alzheimer’s Society, reminded the public that negative results are still a vital part of the scientific process. They help refine where researchers should look next.</p>
<p>“No trial is wasted,” Carragher said to the Science Media Centre. “Every investigation helps us develop better drugs and design better trials in the future.”</p>
<p>The scientific community will now await the detailed presentation of the data. Researchers will analyze the specific biomarkers that changed. This analysis will help determine if GLP-1 drugs should remain a part of the conversation for Alzheimer’s prevention, even if they are not the solution for treatment.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/gratitude-exercises-may-help-the-heart-recover-from-stress/" 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;">Gratitude exercises may help the heart recover from stress</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Nov 24th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>Recent psychological research suggests that writing a letter of appreciation may physically strengthen the heart’s ability to recover from stress. A team of researchers found that gratitude exercises can improve how the cardiovascular system regulates itself, potentially offering long-term health benefits. These findings were published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2574048" target="_blank">The Journal of Positive Psychology</a>.</p>
<p>The concept of gratitude is typically defined as a feeling of thankfulness for positive aspects of life. Mental health experts have historically associated this emotion with better wellbeing and reduced stress. However, the biological pathways connecting a grateful mindset to physical health have been less clear. The authors of the new paper sought to close this gap by examining the autonomic nervous system. This system controls involuntary bodily functions like heartbeat and digestion. It acts as a control center that balances the body’s need for energy with its need for rest.</p>
<p>A primary focus of this research was the vagus nerve. This nerve serves as a critical connection between the brain and the heart. It acts somewhat like a brake on a car. When the vagus nerve is active, it slows the heart rate down and promotes calm. When the body faces a challenge, this brake lifts to allow the heart rate to rise. Scientists measure the efficiency of this braking system using a metric called heart rate variability.</p>
<p>High heart rate variability is generally a sign of good health. It indicates that the heart can respond flexibly to changing environments. A healthy heart slows down when safe and speeds up only when necessary. Low variability suggests a system that is stuck or rigid. Andreas R. Schwerdtfeger and his colleagues at the University of Graz in Austria conducted two experiments to see if gratitude could enhance this flexibility. They wanted to determine if gratitude interventions could act as a training tool for the heart.</p>
<p>The first study focused on the immediate physical effects of expressing thanks. The researchers recruited 76 participants for this laboratory experiment. They randomly assigned these individuals to one of two groups. The first group engaged in a gratitude letter intervention. They spent fifteen minutes writing a letter to someone they appreciated.</p>
<p>The second group served as an active control condition. These participants spent fifteen minutes writing a detailed description of their apartment furniture. They were asked to describe what had changed since they moved in. This control task ensured that any differences found were not simply due to the act of writing or holding a pen.</p>
<p>Immediately following the writing session, all participants underwent a social stress test. The researchers used a method known as the “sing-a-song” stress test. Participants had to learn and then perform the song “Angels” by Robbie Williams. To heighten the pressure, they were told that experts would evaluate their performance and self-confidence. They sang in front of a camera while wearing electrodes to monitor their heart rhythms.</p>
<p>The results revealed a distinct difference between the two groups. The participants who wrote gratitude letters showed a specific pattern of heart rate variability. During the stressful singing portion, their variability dropped significantly. This indicates that their bodies efficiently released the “vagal brake” to mobilize energy for the challenge.</p>
<p>Once the singing task ended, the gratitude group showed a rapid recovery. Their heart rate variability rebounded strongly during the rest period. This pattern resembles a U-shape. It suggests that their nervous systems were highly responsive. They engaged fully with the stressor and then relaxed quickly once it passed. The control group did not show this dynamic response to the same degree.</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed the language used in the letters to verify the intervention. They used software to count specific types of words. The gratitude letters contained significantly more positive emotion words and social references. This confirmed that the participants followed the instructions. The physiological data suggests that this mental focus on appreciation primed the body for better stress management.</p>
<p>The second study aimed to test the effects of gratitude over a longer period. This experiment included 133 participants. The goal was to see if regular practice could lower the resting pulse rate. A lower resting pulse is typically a marker of cardiovascular fitness.</p>
<p>The researchers divided the participants into intervention and control groups. The gratitude group performed a daily exercise for two weeks. They either wrote down or mentally rehearsed three things they were grateful for each day. This is often called the “three good things” exercise.</p>
<p>The control group performed a different daily task for the same two-week period. They were asked to list or think about three things that were most time-consuming each day. This focused their attention on daily hassles rather than positives.</p>
<p>Participants measured their own pulse rates at home using a smartphone app. They were instructed to record their pulse in the evenings while sitting quietly. The app used the phone’s camera to detect blood volume changes in the finger. This technique provided a reliable estimate of heart rate outside of a lab setting.</p>
<p>By the end of the two weeks, the groups showed diverging physical trends. The participants in the control group experienced a slight increase in their resting pulse rate. In contrast, the gratitude group maintained a lower pulse rate. The intervention appeared to buffer the heart against the increases seen in the control group.</p>
<p>This finding aligns with the “coping hypothesis” of gratitude. This theory suggests that grateful people use more adaptive strategies to handle daily pressures. Over time, this adaptive coping may reduce the total wear and tear on the cardiovascular system. The result is a calmer, more efficient heart beat during rest.</p>
<p>Despite the positive physical results, the study produced one puzzling finding. The researchers used questionnaires to ask participants how grateful they felt. In both studies, the interventions did not lead to an increase in self-reported feelings of gratitude. The participants also did not report higher levels of happiness or life satisfaction compared to the control group.</p>
<p>This disconnect is notable. The physical benefits occurred even though the participants did not feel subjectively different. It implies that the biological mechanism might work independently of conscious mood. The act of focusing on gratitude may trigger neural pathways that regulate the heart, regardless of whether the person feels a surge of emotion.</p>
<p>There are some limitations to this research. In the first study, the stress task involved singing. Speaking and singing change how a person breathes. Respiration has a direct effect on heart rate variability. The researchers used a standardized song to minimize this issue, but it remains a variable.</p>
<p>In the second study, the measurements were taken in uncontrolled home environments. While the sample size was large enough to show a trend, home measurements are less precise than laboratory data. Additionally, the study combined writing and thinking exercises. Future research might need to separate these to see if one is more effective than the other.</p>
<p>The authors suggest that future studies should look at the brain. They point to the prefrontal cortex as a likely key player. This area of the brain helps regulate emotions and also sends signals to the heart. Understanding how gratitude activates this brain region could explain the link between a thankful mind and a healthy heart.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2574048" target="_blank">Strengthening the heart by means of a gratitude intervention?</a>,” was authored by Andreas R. Schwerdtfeger, Claudia Traunmüller, Bernhard Weber and Christian Rominger.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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