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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/teens-with-social-anxiety-rely-heavily-on-these-unhelpful-mental-habits/" 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;">Teens with social anxiety rely heavily on these unhelpful mental habits</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 12th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>New research suggests that adolescents with high levels of social anxiety rely heavily on unhelpful mental habits to manage their daily stress. These young people do not necessarily lack positive coping skills, but they appear to lean disproportionately on negative strategies like excessive worry. This specific pattern of behavior holds true regardless of the teenager’s age or gender. The findings were published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316251370618" target="_blank">Journal of Early Adolescence</a></em>.</p>
<p>Adolescence represents a distinct developmental window marked by profound changes in social functioning. Young people begin to encounter interpersonal stressors, such as peer conflict or exclusion, with greater frequency than in childhood. This transition is often accompanied by an increase in anxiety symptoms. For youth who are particularly anxious, the normative challenges of middle school can feel overwhelming. Mental health experts recognize that the way a person regulates their emotions in response to stress is a major predictor of their overall psychological health.</p>
<p>Researchers have previously established that anxious youth often experience more intense negative emotions after difficult events. Prior studies also suggested these youth are less successful at regulating those emotions compared to their non-anxious peers. However, past research frequently grouped different types of anxiety together. This approach potentially obscured important nuances. Different forms of anxiety likely have unique causes and distinct developmental paths.</p>
<p>A team of researchers from the University of Toledo sought to address this gap in understanding. The investigators were Caley R. Lane, Julianne M. Griffith, and Benjamin L. Hankin. They aimed to determine if social anxiety specifically predicted how adolescents managed their feelings in real-time. They hypothesized that the fear of negative evaluation, which is central to social anxiety, would trigger specific emotional responses to daily interpersonal stressors.</p>
<p>The study distinguished between two broad categories of emotion regulation. The first category includes adaptive strategies. These are generally helpful behaviors such as problem solving or seeking social support. The second category includes maladaptive strategies. These are unhelpful responses such as rumination and worry. Rumination involves repetitively fixating on distress without finding a solution. Worry involves repetitive negative thinking about the future.</p>
<p>To capture these behaviors in a natural setting, the researchers utilized a technique known as the experience sampling method. This approach allows scientists to collect data on a person’s experiences as they happen in the real world. This offers an advantage over laboratory studies, which may not reflect how people act in their daily lives.</p>
<p>The study included 146 adolescents recruited from a midwestern city in the United States. The participants ranged in age from 10 to 14 years old. Approximately half of the group identified as girls. The racial composition was predominantly white, though it included participants from multiracial, Asian, Black, and Latine backgrounds.</p>
<p>Participating adolescents carried a smartphone equipped with a specific application for nine days. During this period, the participants received alerts to complete surveys three to four times a day. These alerts occurred at semi-random times on weekends and during after-school hours on weekdays. This schedule minimized interference with academic activities.</p>
<p>On each survey, the adolescents reported the worst mood they had experienced in the previous hour. They identified what kind of event triggered that mood. The researchers categorized these events as either interpersonal stressors, such as arguments with friends, or non-interpersonal stressors, such as academic pressure. The participants then rated how much they used various coping strategies in response to that specific event.</p>
<p>The results of the analysis showed a clear pattern regarding social anxiety symptoms. Adolescents with higher levels of social anxiety were more likely to use maladaptive regulation strategies when facing interpersonal stress. Specifically, these youth engaged in higher levels of repetitive negative thinking.</p>
<p>The researchers also examined whether social anxiety influenced the use of positive strategies. The data indicated that social anxiety symptoms did not predict the use of adaptive regulation. Highly socially anxious adolescents were just as likely to use problem solving or support seeking as their less anxious peers. This suggests a specific deficit in restraining negative thoughts rather than a lack of positive skills.</p>
<p>To ensure these findings were specific to social anxiety, the researchers analyzed symptoms of physical anxiety. Physical anxiety involves somatic sensations like trembling or tension. The study found no statistical association between physical anxiety symptoms and the use of maladaptive emotion regulation. This indicates that the tendency to respond to stress with unhelpful cognitive habits is a unique feature of social anxiety symptoms in this context.</p>
<p>The study further broke down the maladaptive strategies into specific components. The analysis revealed that the association was driven largely by worry rather than rumination. Socially anxious youth were statistically more likely to engage in repetitive thoughts about future negative outcomes. This aligns with the nature of social anxiety, which involves anticipating humiliation or rejection.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked at whether the type of stressor mattered. They found that social anxiety predicted maladaptive regulation in response to both interpersonal and non-interpersonal stress. This suggests that for socially anxious youth, the tendency to worry extends beyond social situations to general life challenges.</p>
<p>The team explored whether age or gender influenced these relationships. Previous research has shown that girls often report more interpersonal stress and social anxiety than boys. Additionally, sensitivity to social feedback tends to increase as children get older. However, the current study found no evidence that age or gender altered the results. The link between social anxiety and maladaptive coping appears consistent across early adolescence for both boys and girls.</p>
<p>These findings have practical implications for how mental health professionals support anxious youth. Interventions often focus on teaching new coping skills. However, this study suggests that socially anxious adolescents may already possess these adaptive skills. They simply engage in maladaptive worry alongside them. Effective treatment might need to prioritize reducing repetitive negative thinking patterns.</p>
<p>There are several caveats to consider regarding this research. The sample was drawn primarily from white families with relatively high incomes. The results may not fully generalize to adolescents from diverse racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. Future research needs to examine these processes in more diverse populations.</p>
<p>The study relied entirely on self-reported data. While experience sampling reduces recall bias, it still depends on the participant’s perception. Shared method variance can sometimes inflate associations between variables. Additionally, the researchers did not survey students during school hours. This means many peer interactions that occur in the classroom or hallway were likely missed.</p>
<p>The researchers also noted that the study focused on a specific set of regulation strategies. Adolescents may use other techniques, such as suppression or cognitive reappraisal, which were not measured here. Future investigations could broaden the scope of strategies assessed.</p>
<p>Finally, the study looked at between-person differences. It compared kids with high anxiety to kids with low anxiety. Future work should investigate within-person variations. It would be useful to know if a specific teenager uses more maladaptive strategies on days when they feel more anxious than usual.</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the research offers a clearer picture of the internal world of socially anxious teens. It highlights the specific burden of worry that these young people carry. By pinpointing the reliance on maladaptive strategies, the study identifies a precise target for intervention. Helping adolescents break the cycle of worry may be a key step in preventing social anxiety from escalating into more severe psychopathology.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316251370618" target="_blank">Youth Social Anxiety and Daily-Life Emotion Regulation in Response to Interpersonal Stress</a>,” was authored by Caley R. Lane, Julianne M. Griffith, and Benjamin L. Hankin.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/higher-diet-quality-is-associated-with-greater-cognitive-reserve-in-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;">Higher diet quality is associated with greater cognitive reserve in midlife</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 12th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107599" target="_blank">Current Developments in Nutrition</a></em> provides evidence that individuals who adhere to higher quality diets, particularly those rich in healthy plant-based foods, tend to possess greater cognitive reserve in midlife. This concept refers to the brain’s resilience against aging and disease, and the findings suggest that what people eat throughout their lives may play a distinct role in building this mental buffer.</p>
<p>As humans age, the brain undergoes natural structural changes that can lead to difficulties with memory, thinking, and behavior. Medical professionals have observed that some individuals with physical signs of brain disease, such as the pathology associated with Alzheimer’s, do not exhibit the expected cognitive symptoms. This resilience is attributed to cognitive reserve, a property of the brain that allows it to cope with or compensate for damage. </p>
<p>While factors such as education level and occupational complexity are known to contribute to this buffer, the specific influence of dietary habits has been less clear. The scientific community has sought to determine if nutrition can serve as a modifiable factor to help individuals maintain cognitive function into older age.</p>
<p>“It has been established that cognitive reserve is largely influenced by factors like genetics, education, occupation, and certain lifestyle behaviors like physical activity and social engagement,” explained study author <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-c-cara/" target="_blank">Kelly C. Cara</a>, a postdoctoral fellow at the American Cancer Society.</p>
<p>“Few studies have examined the potential impact of diet on cognitive reserve, but specific dietary patterns (i.e., all the foods and beverages a person consumes), foods, and food components have been associated with other cognitive outcomes including executive function and cognitive decline. With this study, we wanted to determine whether certain dietary patterns were associated with cognitive reserve and to what degree diet quality may influence cognitive reserve.”</p>
<p>For their study, the researchers analyzed data from the 1946 British Birth Cohort. This is a long-running project that has followed thousands of people born in Great Britain during a single week in March 1946. The final analysis for this specific study included 2,514 participants. The researchers utilized dietary data collected at four different points in the participants’ lives: at age 4, age 36, age 43, and age 53. By averaging these records, the team created a cumulative picture of each person’s typical eating habits over five decades.</p>
<p>The researchers assessed these dietary habits using two main frameworks. The first was the Healthy Eating Index-2020. This index measures how closely a person’s diet aligns with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It assigns higher scores for the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and proteins, while lowering scores for high intakes of refined grains, sodium, and added sugars. </p>
<p>The second framework involved three variations of a Plant-Based Diet Index. These indexes scored participants based on their intake of plant foods versus animal foods. The overall Plant-Based Diet Index gave positive scores for all plant foods and reverse scores for animal foods. </p>
<p>The researchers also calculated a Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index, which specifically rewarded the intake of nutritious plant foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, vegetable oils, tea, and coffee. Finally, they calculated an Unhealthful Plant-Based Diet Index. This measure assigned higher scores to less healthy plant-derived options, such as fruit juices, refined grains, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sweets.</p>
<p>To measure cognitive reserve, the researchers administered the National Adult Reading Test to the participants when they were 53 years old. This assessment asks individuals to read aloud a list of 50 words with irregular pronunciations. The test is designed to measure “crystallized” cognitive ability, which relies on knowledge and experience acquired over time. </p>
<p>Unlike “fluid” abilities such as processing speed or working memory, crystallized abilities tend to remain stable even as people age or experience early stages of neurodegeneration. This stability makes the reading test a reliable proxy for estimating a person’s accumulated cognitive reserve.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed that participants with higher scores on the Healthy Eating Index and the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index tended to have higher reading test scores at age 53. The data suggested a dose-response relationship, meaning that as diet quality improved, cognitive reserve scores generally increased. </p>
<p>Participants in the top twenty percent of adherence to the Healthy Eating Index showed the strongest association with better cognitive reserve. This relationship persisted even after the researchers used statistical models to adjust for potential confounding factors, including childhood socioeconomic status, adult education levels, and physical activity.</p>
<p>“This was one of the first studies looking at the relationship between dietary intake and cognitive reserve, and the findings show that diet is worth exploring further as a potential influencer of cognitive reserve,” Cara told PsyPost.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the researchers found an inverse relationship regarding the Unhealthful Plant-Based Diet Index. Participants who consumed the highest amounts of refined grains, sugary drinks, and sweets generally had lower cognitive reserve scores. This distinction highlights that the source and quality of plant-based foods are significant. The findings indicate that simply reducing animal products is not sufficient for cognitive benefits if the diet consists largely of processed plant foods.</p>
<p>The researchers also examined how much variability in cognitive reserve could be explained by these dietary patterns. The single strongest predictor of cognitive reserve at age 53 was the individual’s childhood cognitive ability, measured at age 8. This early-life factor accounted for over 40 percent of the variance in the adult scores. </p>
<p>However, the Healthy Eating Index scores still uniquely explained about 2.84 percent of the variation. While this number may appear small, the authors noted that when diet was combined with other lifestyle factors like smoking and exercise, the collective contribution to cognitive reserve was roughly 5 percent. This effect size is comparable to the cognitive advantage associated with obtaining a higher education degree.</p>
<p>“People in our study with healthier dietary patterns generally showed higher levels of cognitive reserve while those with less healthy dietary patterns generally showed lower levels of cognitive reserve,” Cara explained. “We do not yet know if diet caused these differences in cognitive reserve or if the differences were due to some other factor(s). Our study findings did suggest that diet plays at least a small role in individuals’ cognitive reserve levels.”</p>
<p>It is worth noting that the Healthy Eating Index showed a stronger association with cognitive reserve than the plant-based indexes. The authors suggest this may be due to how the indexes treat certain foods. The Healthy Eating Index rewards the consumption of fish and seafood, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids known to support brain health. In contrast, the plant-based indexes penalize all animal products, including fish. </p>
<p>Additionally, the plant-based indexes categorized all potatoes and fruit juices as unhealthful. The Healthy Eating Index allows for these items to count toward total vegetable and fruit intake in moderation. This nuance in scoring may explain why the general healthy eating score served as a better predictor of cognitive outcomes.</p>
<p>As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The measurement of cognitive reserve was cross-sectional, meaning it looked at the outcome at a single point in time rather than tracking the development of reserve over decades. It is not possible to definitively state that the diet caused the higher test scores, as other unmeasured factors could play a role. For instance, while the study controlled for childhood cognition, it is difficult to completely rule out the possibility that people with higher cognitive abilities simply choose healthier diets.</p>
<p>“To date, very few studies have examined diet and cognitive reserve, so our work started with an investigation of the relationship between diet and cognitive reserve only at a single point in time,” Cara said. “While we can’t draw any strong conclusions from the findings, we believe our study suggests that diet may be one of the factors that influence cognitive reserve.” </p>
<p>“Future studies that look at diet and the development of cognitive reserve over time will help us better understand if dietary patterns or any specific aspect of diet can improve or worsen cognitive reserve. I hope to apply different statistical approaches to dietary and cognitive data collected across several decades to get at how these two factors relate to each other over a lifetime.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107599" target="_blank">Associations Between Healthy and Plant-Based Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Reserve: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the 1946 British Birth Cohort</a>,” was authored by Kelly C. Cara, Tammy M. Scott, Paul F. Jacques, and Mei Chung.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/encouraging-parents-to-plan-sex-leads-to-more-frequent-intimacy-and-higher-desire/" 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;">Encouraging parents to plan sex leads to more frequent intimacy and higher desire</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 11th 2025, 20:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that changing how parents perceive scheduled intimacy can lead to tangible improvements in their sex lives. The findings indicate that encouraging parents of young children to view planned sex as a positive strategy results in more frequent sexual activity and higher levels of desire. This research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2025.2585377"><em>The Journal of Sex Research</em></a>.</p>
<p>Many people in Western cultures hold the belief that sexual intimacy is most satisfying when it occurs spontaneously. This cultural narrative often frames scheduled sex as unromantic or a sign that a relationship has lost its spark. However, this ideal of spontaneity can become a source of frustration for couples navigating the transition to parenthood.</p>
<p>New parents frequently face significant barriers to intimacy, including sleep deprivation, physical recovery from childbirth, and the time-consuming demands of childcare. These factors often lead to a decline in sexual frequency and satisfaction during the early years of child-rearing. When couples wait for the perfect spontaneous moment to arise, they may find that it rarely happens.</p>
<p>The authors of the new study, led by Katarina Kovacevic of York University, sought to challenge the prevailing view that spontaneity is superior to planning. They hypothesized that the negative association with planned sex might stem from beliefs rather than the act of planning itself. They proposed that if parents could be encouraged to see planning as a way to prioritize their relationship, they might engage in it more often and enjoy it more.</p>
<p>To test this hypothesis, the researchers conducted two separate investigations. The first was a pilot study designed to determine if reading a brief educational article could successfully shift people’s attitudes. The team recruited 215 individuals who were in a relationship and had at least one child between the ages of three months and five years.</p>
<p>Participants in this pilot phase were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group read a summary of research highlighting the benefits of planning sex for maintaining a healthy relationship. The control group read a summary stating that researchers are unsure whether planned or spontaneous sex is more satisfying.</p>
<p>The results of the pilot study showed that the manipulation worked. Participants who read the article promoting planned sex reported stronger beliefs in the value of scheduling intimacy compared to the control group. They also reported higher expectations for their sexual satisfaction in the coming weeks.</p>
<p>Following the success of the pilot, the researchers launched the main study with a larger sample of 514 parents. These participants were recruited online and resided in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. All participants were in romantic relationships and had young children living at home.</p>
<p>The procedure for the main study mirrored the pilot but included a longer follow-up period. At the start of the study, participants completed surveys measuring their baseline sexual desire, distress, and beliefs about spontaneity. They were then randomized to read either the article extolling the virtues of planned sex or the neutral control article.</p>
<p>One week after reading the assigned material, participants received a “booster” email. This message summarized the key points of the article they had read to reinforce the information. Two weeks after the start of the study, participants completed a final survey detailing their sexual behaviors and feelings over the previous fortnight.</p>
<p>The researchers measured several outcomes, including how often couples had sex and how much of that sex was planned. They also assessed sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and feelings of sexual desire. To gauge potential downsides, they asked participants if they felt distressed about their sex life or obligated to engage in sexual activity.</p>
<p>The researchers that the intervention had a significant impact on behavior. Participants who were encouraged to value planned sex reported engaging in more frequent sexual activity overall. In fact, the experimental group reported having approximately 28 percent more sex than the control group over the two-week period.</p>
<p>“From previous research we know that most people idealize spontaneous sex, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate with actual sexual satisfaction,” explained Kovacevic, a registered psychotherapist. “For this study, we wanted to see if we could shift people’s beliefs about planning sex so they could see the benefits, which they did.”</p>
<p>In addition to increased frequency, the experimental group reported higher levels of sexual desire compared to the control group. This suggests that the act of planning or thinking about sex intentionally did not dampen arousal but rather enhanced it. The researchers posit that planning may allow for anticipation to build, which can fuel desire.</p>
<p>A common concern about scheduling sex is that it might feel like a chore or an obligation. The study provided evidence to the contrary. Among participants who engaged in sex during the study, those in the planning group reported feeling less obligated to do so than those in the control group.</p>
<p>The researchers also identified a protective effect regarding satisfaction. Generally, people tend to report lower satisfaction when they perceive a sexual encounter as planned rather than spontaneous. This pattern held true for the control group. When control participants had planned sex, they reported lower sexual satisfaction and higher sexual distress.</p>
<p>However, the experimental group did not experience this decline. The intervention appeared to buffer them against the typical dissatisfaction associated with non-spontaneous sex. When participants in the experimental group engaged in planned sex, their satisfaction levels remained high.</p>
<p>Furthermore, for the experimental group, engaging in planned sex was associated with greater relationship satisfaction. This link was not present in the control group. This suggests that once people view planning as a valid tool for connection, acting on that belief enhances their overall view of the relationship.</p>
<p>The researchers also analyzed open-ended responses from participants to understand their experiences better. Many participants in the experimental group noted that the information helped them coordinate intimacy amidst their busy lives. They described planning as a way to ensure connection happened despite exhaustion and conflicting schedules.</p>
<p>Some participants mentioned that planning allowed them to mentally prepare for intimacy. This preparation helped them shift from “parent mode” to “partner mode,” making the experience more enjoyable. Others highlighted that discussing sex ahead of time improved their communication and reduced anxiety about when intimacy might occur.</p>
<p>Despite the positive outcomes, the study has some limitations. The research relied on self-reported data collected through online surveys. This method depends on the honesty and accurate memory of the participants.</p>
<p>Additionally, the sample was relatively homogenous. The majority of participants were white, heterosexual, and in monogamous relationships. It is unclear if these findings would apply equally to LGBTQ+ couples, those in non-monogamous relationships, or individuals from different cultural backgrounds where attitudes toward sex and scheduling might differ.</p>
<p>The intervention period was also brief, lasting only two weeks. While the short-term results are promising, the study cannot determine if the shift in beliefs and behaviors would be sustained over months or years. It is possible that the novelty of the intervention wore off after the study concluded.</p>
<p>Future research could explore the long-term effects of such interventions. It would also be beneficial to investigate whether this approach helps couples facing other types of challenges. For instance, couples dealing with sexual dysfunction or chronic health issues might also benefit from reframing their views on planned intimacy.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2025.2585377">Can Shifting Beliefs About Planned Sex Lead to Engaging in More Frequent Sex and Higher Desire and Satisfaction? An Experimental Study of Parents with Young Children</a>,” was authored by Katarina Kovacevic, Olivia Smith, Danielle Fitzpatrick, Natalie O. Rosen, Jonathan Huber, and Amy Muise.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-review-challenges-the-idea-that-highly-intelligent-people-are-hyper-empathic/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New review challenges the idea that highly intelligent people are hyper-empathic</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 11th 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new scientific review challenges the popular assumption that highly intelligent people possess a naturally heightened capacity for feeling the emotions of others. The analysis suggests that individuals with high intellectual potential often utilize a distinct form of empathy that relies heavily on cognitive processing rather than automatic emotional reactions. Published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2025.101935" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intelligence</a></em>, the paper proposes that these individuals may intellectualize feelings to maintain composure in intense situations.</p>
<p>The research team set out to clarify the relationship between high intelligence and socio-emotional skills. General society often views people with high intellectual potential as hypersensitive or “hyper-empathic.” This stereotype suggests that a high intelligence quotient, or IQ, comes packaged with an innate ability to deeply feel the pain and joy of those around them.</p>
<p>This belief has historical roots in psychological theories that linked intellectual giftedness with emotional overexcitability. The researchers wanted to determine if this reputation holds up against current neuroscientific and psychological evidence.</p>
<p>The review was conducted by Nathalie Lavenne-Collot, Pascale Planche, and Laurence Vaivre-Douret. They represent institutions including the Université Paris Cité and INSERM in France. The authors sought to move beyond simple generalizations. They aimed to understand how high intelligence interacts with the specific brain mechanisms that govern how humans connect with one another.</p>
<p>To achieve this, the investigators performed a systematic review of existing literature. They searched major scientific databases for studies linking high intellectual potential with various components of empathy. The team did not simply look for a “yes” or “no” regarding whether smart people are empathetic. Instead, they broke empathy down into its constituent parts to see how each functioned in this population. They examined emotional detection, motivation, regulation, and cognitive understanding.</p>
<p>A primary distinction made in the review is the difference between emotional empathy and cognitive empathy. Emotional empathy is the automatic, visceral reaction to another person’s state. It is the phenomenon of flinching when someone else gets hurt or tearing up when seeing a crying face. The review found that individuals with high intellectual potential do not necessarily exhibit higher levels of this automatic emotional contagion. Their immediate physical resonance with the feelings of others appears to be average compared to the general population.</p>
<p>However, the findings regarding cognitive empathy were quite different. Cognitive empathy involves the intellectual ability to understand and identify what another person is thinking or feeling. The researchers found that highly intelligent individuals often excel in this area. They possess advanced capabilities in “Theory of Mind,” which is the psychological term for understanding that others have beliefs and desires different from one’s own. Their strong verbal and reasoning skills allow them to decode social situations with high precision.</p>
<p>The reviewers detailed how these individuals process emotional data. While they may not feel a rush of emotion, they are often superior at emotion recognition. They can identify subtle changes in facial expressions, vocal tones, and body language more faster and accurately than average. This ability likely stems from their general cognitive speed and heightened attention to detail. The brain networks responsible for processing visual and auditory information are highly efficient in this population.</p>
<p>A central finding of the article involves the regulation of emotions. The authors describe a mechanism where cognitive control overrides emotional reactivity. Individuals with high intellectual potential typically possess strong executive functions. This includes inhibitory control, which is the ability to suppress impulsive responses. The review suggests that these individuals often use this strength to dampen their own emotional reactions. When they encounter a charged situation, they may unconsciously inhibit their feelings to analyze the event objectively.</p>
<p>This creates a specific empathic profile characterized by a dominance of cognitive empathy over emotional empathy. The person understands the situation perfectly but remains affectively detached. The authors note that this “intellectualization” of empathy can be an adaptive strategy.</p>
<p>It allows the individual to function effectively in high-stress environments where getting swept up in emotion would be counterproductive. However, this imbalance can also create social friction. It may lead others to perceive them as cold or distant, even when they are fully engaged in understanding the problem.</p>
<p>The study also explored the motivational aspects of empathy. The researchers investigated what drives these individuals to engage in prosocial behavior. They found that for this population, empathy is often linked to a sensitivity to justice. Their motivation to help often stems from an abstract moral reasoning rather than a personal emotional connection. They may be deeply disturbed by a violation of fairness or an ethical breach. This sense of justice can be intense. Yet, it is frequently directed toward systemic issues or principles rather than specific individuals.</p>
<p>The authors discussed the developmental trajectory of these traits. They highlighted the concept of developmental asynchrony. This occurs when a child’s cognitive abilities develop much faster than their emotional coping mechanisms. A highly intelligent child might cognitively understand complex adult emotions but lack the regulatory tools to manage them. This gap can lead to the “intellectualization” strategy observed in adults. The child learns to rely on their strong thinking brain to manage the confusing signals from their developing emotional brain.</p>
<p>The review also addressed the overlap between high intelligence and other neurodivergent profiles. The researchers noted that the profile of high cognitive empathy and low emotional empathy can superficially resemble traits seen in autism spectrum disorder. However, they clarify a key difference.</p>
<p>In autism, challenges often arise from a difficulty in reading social cues or understanding another’s perspective. In contrast, highly intelligent individuals often read the cues perfectly but regulate their emotional response so tightly that they appear unresponsive.</p>
<p>This distinction is essential for clinicians and educators. Misinterpreting this regulatory strategy as a deficit could lead to incorrect interventions. The high-potential individual does not need help understanding the social world. They may instead need support in learning how to access and express their emotions without feeling overwhelmed. The dominance of the cognitive system is a strength, but it should not come at the cost of the ability to connect authentically with others.</p>
<p>The authors also touched upon the role of sensory sensitivity. While the stereotype suggests these individuals are hypersensitive to all stimuli, the evidence is mixed. They do not consistently show higher physiological reactivity to stress. Instead, they may show a “negativity bias.” This is a tendency to focus on negative or threatening information. For a high-functioning brain, a negative emotion or a social threat is a problem to be solved. This intense focus can mimic anxiety but is rooted in an analytical drive to resolve discrepancies in the environment.</p>
<p>The review emphasizes that this profile is not static. Empathy is influenced by context and motivation. A highly intelligent person might appear detached in a boring or repetitive social situation. Yet, the same person might show profound engagement when the interaction is intellectually stimulating or aligned with their values. Their empathic response is flexible and modulated by how much they value the interaction.</p>
<p>The authors provide several caveats to their conclusions. They warn against treating individuals with high intellectual potential as a monolith. Great diversity exists within this group. Some may have co-occurring conditions like ADHD or anxiety that alter their empathic profile. Additionally, the definition of high potential varies across studies, with different IQ thresholds used. This inconsistency makes it difficult to draw universal conclusions.</p>
<p>Future research directions were also identified. The authors argue that scientists need to move beyond simple laboratory questionnaires. Self-report surveys are prone to bias, especially with subjects who are good at analyzing what the test is asking.</p>
<p>Future studies should use ecologically valid methods that mimic real-world social interactions. Observing how these individuals navigate complex, dynamic social environments would provide a clearer picture of their empathic functioning. Physiological measures, such as heart rate variability or brain imaging during social tasks, could also help verify the “inhibition” hypothesis.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2025.101935" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Empathy in subjects with high intellectual potential (HIP): Rethinking stereotypes through a multidimensional and developmental review</a>,” was authored by Nathalie Lavenne-Collot, Pascale Planche, and Laurence Vaivre-Douret.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/parents-who-support-school-prayer-also-favor-arming-teachers/" 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;">Parents who support school prayer also favor arming teachers</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 11th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new sociological analysis suggests that American parents who advocate for teacher-led prayer in public schools also tend to favor specific types of security measures to prevent school shootings. These parents are more likely to support arming teachers and installing metal detectors compared to parents who oppose school-sponsored prayer. The research appears in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.70000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion</a></em> .</p>
<p>Following the tragedy of a school shooting, public discourse in the United States often fractures into two distinct camps regarding prevention. One side typically advocates for structural or policy-based changes. These often include banning specific types of firearms or expanding mental health screenings. The opposing side frequently focuses on infrastructural interventions. These proposals usually involve increasing the number of armed personnel in schools or hardening the physical security of the buildings.</p>
<p>Simultaneously, a subset of American political and religious leadership often frames these events not as a failure of policy, but as a spiritual failing. This narrative suggests that the removal of religious observance from public education has left a moral vacuum. Proponents of this view argue that this vacuum invites chaos and violence.</p>
<p>Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead conducted this research to investigate the relationship between these two seemingly distinct debates. Perry is a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma, and Whitehead is a sociologist at Indiana University Indianapolis. They sought to determine if a parent’s desire for religion in schools predicts their preferred method for stopping gun violence.</p>
<p>The researchers drew upon the theoretical framework of Christian nationalism. This ideology posits that American civic life should be fused with a specific expression of Christianity. Previous scholarship indicates that adherents to this worldview often perceive a need to defend their social order against encroaching chaos.</p>
<p>Within this framework, violence is not always viewed negatively. Instead, it can be seen as a tool for maintaining order. The concept of “righteous violence” suggests that the appropriate response to a “bad guy with a gun” is a “good guy with a gun.” Perry and Whitehead hypothesized that parents who want to return prayer to classrooms would also support solutions that introduce more firearms into the hands of authority figures.</p>
<p>To test this theory, the authors analyzed data from the American Trends Panel. This survey was fielded by the Pew Research Center in the fall of 2022. The sample included over 3,400 parents of children under the age of 18. The survey is nationally representative, meaning it accurately reflects the broader population of American parents.</p>
<p>The survey asked parents to evaluate the potential effectiveness of various strategies to prevent school shootings. One category of solutions was structural. This included banning assault-style weapons and improving mental health screening. The second category was infrastructural and gun-centric. This included allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns, stationing police or armed security in schools, and installing metal detectors.</p>
<p>Parents also answered questions regarding their views on prayer in public education. They chose between three options. The first option was that teachers should not be allowed to lead students in prayer. The second was that teachers should be allowed to lead Christian prayers, provided other religions are also included. The third was that teachers should be allowed to lead Christian prayers even if other religions are excluded.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed a clear pattern regarding infrastructural solutions. Parents who supported teacher-led Christian prayer were more likely to believe that arming school personnel would be effective. This held true regardless of whether they wanted exclusive Christian prayer or inclusive prayer. These parents also expressed greater support for installing metal detectors and stationing police in schools.</p>
<p>The researchers found that the specific type of prayer support did not matter as much as the general desire for prayer. Parents who favored “inclusive” prayer held views on school safety that were statistically indistinguishable from those who favored “exclusive” Christian prayer. The primary dividing line was between parents who wanted some form of teacher-led prayer and those who rejected it entirely.</p>
<p>The study did not find a strong statistical link between support for prayer and opposition to structural policies like weapon bans. Initially, it appeared that prayer supporters were less likely to support bans. However, once the researchers accounted for political conservatism, that association largely disappeared. This indicates that opposition to gun bans is driven more by political ideology than by views on school prayer.</p>
<p>The researchers observed that political ideology interacts with these views in specific ways. Among parents who identified as conservative, support for armed security measures was consistently high. This was true regardless of their stance on prayer.</p>
<p>In contrast, parents who identified as liberal showed more variation. Liberal parents who opposed school prayer were very skeptical of armed security. However, liberal parents who supported school prayer were more open to these gun-centric measures. This suggests that for some on the political left, religious views may bridge the gap toward more conservative security policies.</p>
<p>The authors argue these findings illustrate a worldview where spiritual and physical defenses are intertwined. For parents who see school shootings as a result of moral decay, policy fixes like background checks may seem insufficient. Instead, they appear to favor a dual approach. This approach combines the spiritual protection of prayer with the physical protection of armed authority figures.</p>
<p>This perspective aligns with the rhetoric often used by politicians who champion Christian nationalist ideals. The study quotes several leaders who explicitly connect the absence of prayer to the presence of violence. For example, the authors cite North Carolina politician Mark Robinson. Robinson suggested that if a prayer vigil had occurred before a shooting rather than after, the violence might not have happened.</p>
<p>The preference for metal detectors among this group is also notable. The researchers suggest this fits a narrative of external threat. Metal detectors operate on the assumption that danger comes from the outside. They are designed to catch “bad guys” at the door. This differs from mental health screenings, which imply that the danger might be internal or systemic.</p>
<p>There are limitations to this study. The data used is cross-sectional. This means it captures a snapshot of public opinion at a single moment in time. Consequently, the researchers cannot definitively prove that wanting prayer causes a person to want armed teachers. It is possible that a third, unmeasured factor drives both opinions.</p>
<p>Additionally, the survey did not ask parents directly why they preferred certain solutions. The researchers inferred the connection to “righteous violence” based on previous sociological theory. Future research could benefit from asking participants to explain the reasoning behind their policy preferences in their own words.</p>
<p>The authors also note that while the study focused on Christian prayer, the dynamics could be different for other religious groups. The current data did not allow for a robust analysis of parents from non-Christian backgrounds. Exploring how Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu parents view these trade-offs represents a potential avenue for future inquiry.</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the research provides a new lens for understanding the stalemate in American gun politics. It suggests that for a large segment of the population, the debate is not merely about the Second Amendment or school safety statistics. It is also about a deeper cultural and theological understanding of order, protection, and the role of religion in public life.</p>
<p>The authors conclude that proposals to arm teachers are part of a broader cultural narrative. This narrative perceives school shootings as a symptom of a godless society. In this view, reintroducing prayer is seen as a necessary step to restore moral order. Arming teachers is seen as the necessary physical enforcement of that order.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.70000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gun Problem or God Problem? Support for Teacher-Led Prayer in Public School and Solutions for School Shootings</a>,” was authored by Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/women-with-severe-childhood-trauma-show-unique-stress-hormone-patterns/" 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;">Women with severe childhood trauma show unique stress hormone patterns</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 11th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that women whose most distressing traumatic experiences occurred during childhood respond differently to biological stress than men or women traumatized later in life. The research indicates that these women exhibit a muted hormonal response to stressful situations, a pattern not observed in male participants. These results were published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23159" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Traumatic Stress</a></em>.</p>
<p>Trauma impacts a vast number of people globally. Women, however, are disproportionately affected by the psychological aftermath of these events. Statistics show that women are roughly twice as likely as men to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, during their lifetimes. Research indicates that this disparity cannot be explained simply by the amount of trauma women face.</p>
<p>Scientists have historically struggled to pinpoint the biological reasons for this gap. One major hurdle has been the tendency of biomedical research to focus primarily on male physiology. This practice effectively treats women as “small men,” ignoring the unique hormonal and biological environments of the female body. Consequently, the mechanisms that link trauma to physical health outcomes in women remain poorly understood.</p>
<p>The body responds to stress through a system known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This system releases cortisol, often called the stress hormone, to help the body manage threats. In a healthy response, cortisol levels spike when a person faces a challenge and then return to baseline.</p>
<p>In some individuals with a history of trauma, this system functions distinctively. Instead of rising to meet a challenge, cortisol levels may remain low. This phenomenon is known as “blunted” cortisol reactivity. This muted response is associated with various negative health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and autoimmune disorders.</p>
<p>Researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine sought to clarify how sex interacts with this stress response. The team included experts from the departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Theoretical and Behavioral Foundations, and Sociology. They aimed to determine if the timing or type of trauma influences cortisol patterns differently in men and women.</p>
<p>The study also investigated the role of subjective perception. The researchers wanted to know if the event a person considers their “worst” trauma matters more than simply tallying a list of bad experiences. This approach recognizes that the impact of a traumatic event can vary widely from person to person.</p>
<p>To test these ideas, the team recruited 59 adults from the Detroit area. The group consisted of 37 women and 22 men. All participants had a history of trauma exposure. The researchers screened the participants to exclude those with medical conditions or medication regimens that might artificially alter hormone levels.</p>
<p>The participants underwent a standardized laboratory procedure called the Trier Social Stress Test. This test is designed to induce moderate psychosocial stress in a controlled environment. First, participants had to perform a mock job interview in front of a panel of “behavior experts.”</p>
<p>The participants were told that these experts were evaluating their performance. Following the interview, the participants were asked to complete a surprise mental arithmetic task. Throughout the 90-minute session, the researchers collected saliva samples at five specific time points. These samples allowed the team to measure the total amount of cortisol released and the change in levels over time.</p>
<p>Participants also completed detailed questionnaires regarding their history. They used the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire to report which events they had experienced. Crucially, they were asked to identify the single “most stressful or upsetting event” of their lives. This was labeled the “index event.”</p>
<p>The researchers categorized these index events based on when they happened. They distinguished between traumas that occurred during childhood, defined as before age 18, and those that happened in adulthood. They also classified the events by type. Interpersonal traumas included events like physical or sexual assault. Non-interpersonal traumas included events like car accidents or natural disasters.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed distinct biological patterns based on sex. In the male group, the timing of the trauma did not predict cortisol patterns. Men who identified childhood trauma as their worst experience showed similar stress responses to those who identified adult trauma.</p>
<p>For women, the results were distinct. Women who identified a childhood event as their most stressful life experience showed a blunted cortisol response. Their bodies did not produce the expected rise in stress hormones during the mock interview and math task. This effect was substantial.</p>
<p>It is important to note that this association was specific to the subjective “index event.” Women who had objectively experienced childhood trauma but identified an adult event as their most stressful did not show this blunted response. This suggests that the subjective impact of early-life trauma is a key factor in how the female stress system functions.</p>
<p>The study did not find a similar link regarding the type of trauma. Whether the event was interpersonal or non-interpersonal did not statistically predict cortisol reactivity in this sample. The findings point specifically to the combination of female sex and the subjective severity of childhood trauma.</p>
<p>The authors discuss several biological reasons for these findings. Childhood is a period of high neural plasticity. The brain is developing rapidly and is highly sensitive to environmental inputs. Trauma during this window may embed a predisposition for altered stress responses.</p>
<p>Hormones likely play a mediating role. Estrogen is known to dampen cortisol reactivity. This effect can be protective in healthy individuals, preventing the body from overreacting to minor stressors. However, in women with trauma histories, this natural dampening might combine with trauma-related dysregulation. The result could be a stress response that is too low to be effective.</p>
<p>These findings have implications for how researchers and clinicians approach trauma. The “biological embedding” of childhood trauma appears to manifest differently depending on sex. This challenges the utility of research models that do not separate data by sex.</p>
<p>The results also support the importance of asking patients about their own perceptions of their history. Simply knowing that a person experienced a specific event is not enough. Knowing which event the patient perceives as the most impactful provides greater insight into their physiological status.</p>
<p>There are limitations to this study that affect how the results should be interpreted. The sample size was relatively small. This was particularly true for the male group, which included only 22 participants. A larger sample might reveal patterns in men that were not detected here.</p>
<p>The study also relied on retrospective self-reports. Participants had to recall events and rate their severity from memory. This method can be influenced by a person’s current emotional state. Additionally, the participants were relatively young, with an average age of 25. It is not known if these cortisol patterns persist or change as women enter middle age or menopause.</p>
<p>The study design was cross-sectional rather than longitudinal. This means it captured a snapshot in time. It cannot definitively prove that the childhood trauma caused the blunted cortisol. It only establishes a strong association between the two in women.</p>
<p>Future research is needed to confirm these findings in larger, more diverse groups. The authors suggest that future studies should account for cumulative lifetime stress. Women often carry a higher burden of chronic daily stress, which could also influence hormonal baselines.</p>
<p>Understanding these mechanisms could eventually lead to better treatments. Current therapies for PTSD often involve exposure to traumatic memories. Some research suggests that cortisol helps the brain process and extinguish fear memories.</p>
<p>If women with childhood trauma have low cortisol availability, they might benefit from treatments timed to coincide with their natural daily cortisol peaks. Alternatively, they might be candidates for pharmacological interventions that temporarily boost cortisol during therapy. Unraveling the specific pathways of dysregulation is the first step toward such personalized medicine.</p>
<p>The authors note that despite decades of study, the biological pathways linking trauma and disease remain elusive. Accounting for sex differences offers a promising route to resolving this quandary. By acknowledging that women are not simply “small men,” medical science can move toward more equitable and effective mental health care.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23159" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Not small men: Sex-specific determinants of cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress following trauma</a>,” was authored by Liza Hinchey, Francesca Pernice, Holly Feen-Calligan, Shannon Chavez-Korell, David Merolla, and Arash Javanbakht.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-reveals-visual-processing-differences-in-dyslexia-extend-beyond-reading/" 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;">Study reveals visual processing differences in dyslexia extend beyond reading</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Dec 11th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109268" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neuropsychologia</a></em> provides evidence that adults with dyslexia process visual information differently than typical readers, even when viewing non-text objects. The findings suggest that the neural mechanisms responsible for distinguishing between specific items, such as individual faces or houses, are less active in the dyslexic brain. This implies that dyslexia may involve broader visual processing differences beyond the well-known difficulties with connecting sounds to language.</p>
<p>Dyslexia is a developmental condition characterized by significant challenges in learning to read and spell. These difficulties persist despite adequate intelligence, sensory abilities, and educational opportunities. The most prominent theory regarding the cause of dyslexia focuses on a phonological deficit. This theory posits that the primary struggle lies in processing the sounds of spoken language.</p>
<p>According to this view, the brain struggles to break words down into their component sounds. This makes mapping those sounds to written letters an arduous task. However, reading is also an intensely visual activity. The reader must rapidly identify complex, fine-grained visual patterns to distinguish one letter from another.</p>
<p>Some scientists suggest that the disorder may stem partly from a high-level visual dysfunction. This hypothesis proposes that the brain regions repurposed for reading are part of a larger system used to identify various visual objects. If this underlying visual system functions atypically, it could impede reading development.</p>
<p>Evidence for this visual hypothesis has been mixed in the past. Some studies show that people with dyslexia struggle with visual tasks unrelated to reading, while others find no such impairment. The authors of the current study aimed to resolve some of these inconsistencies. They sought to determine if neural processing differences exist even when behavioral performance appears normal.</p>
<p>“Developmental dyslexia is typically understood as a phonological disorder in that it occurs because of difficulties linking sounds to words. However, past findings have hinted that there can also be challenges with visual processing, especially for complex real-world stimuli like objects and faces. We wanted to test if these visual processing challenges in developmental dyslexia are linked to distinct neural processes in the brain,” said study author Brent Pitchford, a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven.</p>
<p>The researchers focused on how the brain identifies non-linguistic objects. They chose faces and houses as stimuli because these objects require the brain to process complex visual information without involving language. This allowed the team to isolate visual processing from phonological or verbal processing.</p>
<p>The study involved 62 adult participants. The sample consisted of 31 individuals with a history of dyslexia and 31 typical readers. The researchers ensured the groups were matched on key demographics, including age, gender, and general intelligence. All participants underwent vision screening to ensure normal visual acuity.</p>
<p>Participants engaged in a matching task while their brain activity was recorded. The researchers used electroencephalography (EEG), a method that detects electrical activity using a cap of electrodes placed on the scalp. This technique allows for the precise measurement of the timing of brain responses.</p>
<p>The researchers were specifically interested in two electrical signals, known as event-related potentials. The first signal is called the N170. It typically peaks around 170 milliseconds after a person sees an image. This component reflects the early stage of structural encoding, where the brain categorizes an object as a face or a building.</p>
<p>The second signal is called the N250. This potential peaks between 230 and 320 milliseconds. The N250 is associated with a later stage of processing. It reflects the brain’s effort to recognize a specific identity or “individuate” an object from others in the same category.</p>
<p>During the experiment, participants viewed pairs of images on a computer screen. A “sample” image appeared first, followed by a brief pause. A second “comparison” image then appeared. Participants had to decide if the second image depicted the same identity as the first.</p>
<p>“The study focused on within-category object discrimination (e.g., telling one house from another house) largely because reading involves visual words,” Pitchford told PsyPost. “It is often hard to study these visual processes because reading also involves other things like sound processing as well.”</p>
<p>The researchers also manipulated the visual quality of the images. Some trials used images containing all visual information. Other trials utilized images filtered to show only high spatial frequencies. High spatial frequencies convey fine details and edges, which are essential for distinguishing letters.</p>
<p>Remaining trials used images filtered to show only low spatial frequencies. These images convey global shapes and blurry forms but lack fine detail. This manipulation allowed the team to test if dyslexia involves specific deficits in processing fine details.</p>
<p>The behavioral results showed that both groups performed similarly on the task. Adults with dyslexia were generally as accurate and fast as typical readers when determining if two faces or houses were identical. There was a non-significant trend suggesting dyslexic readers were slightly less accurate with high-detail images.</p>
<p>Despite the comparable behavioral performance, the EEG data revealed distinct neural differences. The early brain response, the N170, was virtually identical for both groups. This suggests that the initial structural encoding of faces and objects is intact in dyslexia. The dyslexic brain appears to categorize objects just as quickly and effectively as the typical brain.</p>
<p>However, the later N250 response showed a significant divergence. The amplitude of the N250 was consistently reduced in the dyslexic group compared to the typical readers. This reduction indicates less neural activation during the process of identifying specific individuals.</p>
<p>“This effect was medium-to-large-sized, and robust when controlling for potential confounds such as ADHD, fatigue, and trial-to-trial priming,” Pitchford said. “Importantly, it appeared for both face and house stimuli, highlighting its generality across categories.”</p>
<p>The findings provide support for the high-level visual dysfunction hypothesis. They indicate that the neural machinery used to tell one object from another functions differently in dyslexia. This difference exists even when the individual successfully performs the task.</p>
<p>“Our results suggest that reading challenges in developmental dyslexia are likely due to a combination of factors, including some aspects of visual processing, and that developmental dyslexia is not solely due to challenges with phonological processing,” Pitchford explained. “We found neural differences related to how people with dyslexia discriminate between similar faces or objects, even though their behavior looked the same. This points to specific visual processes in the brain that may play a meaningful role in reading development and reading difficulties.”</p>
<p>The researchers propose that adults with dyslexia may use compensatory strategies to achieve normal behavioral performance. Their brains might rely on different neural pathways to recognize objects. This compensation allows them to function well in everyday visual tasks. However, this alternative processing route might be less efficient for the rapid, high-volume demands of reading.</p>
<p>“We expected to see lower accuracy on the visual discrimination tasks in dyslexia based on previous work,” Pitchford said. “Instead, accuracy was similar across groups, yet the neural responses differed. This suggests that adults with dyslexia may rely on different neural mechanisms to achieve comparable performance. Because these adults already have years of experience reading and recognizing faces and objects, it raises important questions about how these neural differences develop over time.”</p>
<p>One limitation of the study is the educational background of the participants. A significant portion of the dyslexic group held university degrees. These individuals likely developed robust compensatory mechanisms over the years. This high level of compensation might explain the lack of behavioral deficits.</p>
<p>It is possible that a sample with lower educational attainment would show clearer behavioral struggles with visual recognition. Additionally, the study was conducted on adults. It remains to be seen if these neural differences are present in children who are just learning to read.</p>
<p>Pitchford also noted that “these findings do not imply that phonological difficulties are unimportant in dyslexia. There is already extensive evidence supporting their crucial role. Rather, our study shows that visual factors contribute to dyslexia as well, and that dyslexia is unlikely to have a single cause. We see dyslexia as a multifactorial condition in which both phonological and visual factors play meaningful roles.”</p>
<p>Determining the timeline of these deficits is a necessary step for future research. Scientists need to establish whether these visual processing differences precede reading problems or result from a lifetime of different reading experiences. The researchers also suggest comparing these findings with other conditions. For instance, comparing dyslexic readers to individuals with prosopagnosia, or face blindness, could be illuminating.</p>
<p>“The next steps for this research are to test whether the neural differences we observed reflect general visual mechanisms or processes more specific to particular categories such as faces,” Pitchford explained. “To do this, we’ll apply the same paradigm to individuals with prosopagnosia, who have difficulties recognizing faces. We believe the comparison of results from the two groups will shed light on which visual processes contribute to dyslexia and prosopagnosia, both of which are traditionally thought to be due to challenges in specific domains (reading vs. face recognition).”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109268" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Distinct neural processing underlying visual face and object perception in dyslexia</a>,” was authored by Brent Pitchford, Hélène Devillez, and Heida Maria Sigurdardottir.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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