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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/high-passion-without-intimacy-linked-to-severe-psychological-aggression-in-relationships/" 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;">High passion without intimacy linked to severe psychological aggression in relationships</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 9th 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012241297257" target="_blank">Violence Against Women</a></em> identifies distinct profiles of love in romantic relationships and links them to varying risks of psychological abuse. The findings indicate that relationships characterized primarily by passion, but lacking intimacy and commitment, are associated with higher levels of severe psychological aggression and controlling behaviors.</p>
<p>Psychological intimate partner violence is a pervasive public health issue that violates women’s human rights. While physical and sexual violence are often the focus of public discourse, psychological abuse is equally damaging and widespread. </p>
<p>This form of violence includes behaviors intended to control, manipulate, or inflict emotional harm on a partner. It can manifest as verbal aggression, intimidation, isolation from friends and family, and threats.</p>
<p>Statistics from the World Health Organization estimate that nearly one-third of women globally have been subjected to violence by an intimate partner. Psychological violence specifically is reported at high rates, with some surveys in the European Union showing a prevalence of over 40 percent. </p>
<p>The consequences of such abuse are severe and long-lasting. Victims often suffer from chronic pain, digestive issues, and mental health challenges.</p>
<p>Despite the harm caused by these relationships, many women remain with abusive partners. One reason for this is the complex nature of emotional attachment. Popular belief often frames love and violence as mutually exclusive, assuming that if abuse is present, love must be absent. </p>
<p>However, scientific literature suggests that feelings of love can coexist with abusive behaviors. This paradox can lead victims to rationalize a partner’s actions or hope for change.</p>
<p>“We were motivated by a persistent gap in the literature: although psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread and highly damaging, its relationship with love, particularly the components of intimacy, passion, and commitment, remains poorly understood,” said study author Patrick Raynal, a senior research scientist at INSERM.</p>
<p>“Popular discourse often assumes that ‘love protects’ or that abusive relationships lack love entirely. Yet prior research hinted at a more complicated picture, where love and abuse can coexist. We wanted to empirically examine this paradox and identify whether different love profiles are associated with different patterns of psychological aggression and controlling behaviors.”</p>
<p>To better understand this dynamic, the researchers utilized Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love. This theoretical framework posits that love is composed of three distinct components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. </p>
<p>Intimacy refers to feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness. Passion involves the drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation. Commitment encompasses the decision to remain with one another and the shared plans for the future.</p>
<p>The researchers aimed to determine how different combinations of these three components relate to psychological aggression. They sought to identify specific “love profiles” among women and analyze whether certain profiles were more susceptible to controlling or aggressive behaviors from their partners.</p>
<p>The research team recruited 1,061 women to participate in an online survey. Participants were required to be at least 18 years old and to have been in a relationship for a minimum of 12 months. The average age of the participants was approximately 30 years old. Most participants reported being in relationships with male partners.</p>
<p>The survey employed three standardized measures to collect data. First, the researchers used the Psychological Aggression subscale of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. This tool assesses the frequency of aggressive behaviors, such as insults or destruction of property, over the past year. It distinguishes between minor aggression and severe aggression.</p>
<p>Second, the Controlling Behavior Scale-Revised was used to measure various forms of coercive control. This scale includes questions regarding economic control, threatening behaviors, intimidation, emotional manipulation, and isolation. Participants rated how often their partners engaged in these actions.</p>
<p>Third, the participants completed the Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale. This measure asks individuals to rate their relationship based on the three theoretical components of intimacy, passion, and commitment. The researchers then used a statistical technique called cluster analysis to group the women based on their love scores.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed four distinct clusters of relationships. The first group was labeled “Moderate Love.” This was the largest group, comprising about 48 percent of the sample. These women reported moderately high levels of intimacy, passion, and commitment.</p>
<p>The second group was labeled “No Love.” This group made up about 12 percent of the sample. Participants in this category reported scores significantly below the average for all three components.</p>
<p>The third group was identified as “Low Passion.” Comprising roughly 24 percent of the participants, this group reported average levels of intimacy and commitment but very low levels of passion. This profile resembles what Sternberg describes as “companionate love,” which is often found in long-term marriages where the spark has faded but the bond remains strong.</p>
<p>The fourth group was labeled “Mostly Passion.” This cluster represented about 14 percent of the sample. These women reported passion scores that were slightly above average. However, their scores for intimacy and commitment were significantly lower than the rest of the sample. This profile suggests a relationship driven by infatuation or physical attraction without a foundation of trust or stability.</p>
<p>The researchers then compared these four groups against the scores for psychological aggression and control. As expected, the “No Love” cluster reported the highest levels of abuse across almost all measures. </p>
<p>Women in this group experienced more minor and severe aggression, as well as higher rates of economic, threatening, intimidating, emotional, and isolating control. This aligns with the idea that the deterioration of all loving feelings often accompanies a highly toxic or abusive dynamic.</p>
<p>A more nuanced finding emerged when comparing the “Low Passion” and “Mostly Passion” groups. The study revealed that the “Mostly Passion” cluster exhibited higher levels of severe psychological aggression than the “Low Passion” cluster. While both groups had imbalances in their love components, the presence of high passion combined with low intimacy and commitment appeared to be a riskier combination than the stable, low-passion dynamic.</p>
<p>The “Mostly Passion” group also reported higher levels of specific controlling behaviors. These women were statistically more likely to experience threatening and emotional control compared to those in the “Low Passion” group. Trends for economic, intimidating, and isolating control also pointed to higher rates in the “Mostly Passion” group.</p>
<p>“The most striking and counterintuitive finding was that high passion combined with low intimacy and low commitment was associated with more severe psychological aggression than relationships characterized by low passion but higher intimacy and commitment,” Raynal told PsyPost. “This challenges the common belief that passion is inherently positive or protective. Instead, passion without emotional closeness or stability may create volatile relational environments where control and aggression are more likely to emerge.”</p>
<p>The authors propose that the “Mostly Passion” dynamic might reflect relationships that are unstable or obsessive. In such contexts, the intense emotions associated with passion might manifest as jealousy or possessiveness. This can escalate into controlling behaviors and psychological aggression.</p>
<p>“The key takeaway is that love alone does not prevent psychological violence,” Raynal said. “In fact, certain forms of love, especially relationships marked by high passion but low intimacy and commitment, may be associated with greater psychological aggression and controlling behaviors. Conversely, relationships with balanced, moderate levels of all three love components tend to show the lowest levels of abuse. Understanding the quality and balance of love matters more than simply whether love is present.”</p>
<p>But as with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The design was cross-sectional, meaning it captured a snapshot of the participants’ lives at a single point in time. It is not possible to determine causality from this data.</p>
<p>“A crucial caveat is that this study does not imply that passion causes violence,” Raynal explained. “Passion may coexist with other unmeasured factors, such as personality traits, attachment styles, or past trauma, that contribute to psychological IPV.” </p>
<p>“Another important point: the ‘No Love’ cluster showed the highest overall levels of psychological aggression and control, but this does not mean that the absence of love is the cause of abuse. Rather, low love and high abuse may co-occur in deteriorating or harmful relationships.”</p>
<p>Future research could address these gaps by following couples over time. Longitudinal studies would allow scientists to observe how the components of love shift as violence begins or escalates. It would also be beneficial to include partners in the research to see if their perceptions of the relationship match those of the women.</p>
<p>The researchers also recommend that future studies investigate other variables that might influence these patterns. Personality traits, attachment styles, and past experiences with trauma could all play a role in how love and violence intersect. </p>
<p>“Ultimately, the goal is to translate these insights into better prevention strategies and more tailored support for victims,” Raynal said.</p>
<p>The implications of this study are significant for therapists and support services. Professionals working with victims of domestic violence often need to understand why a client remains with an abusive partner. Recognizing that a victim may be experiencing high levels of passion, even in the absence of trust or safety, can help tailor interventions.</p>
<p>“One important point is that the study highlights the complexity of intimate relationships,” Raynal added. “Love is not a simple protective factor, nor is violence limited to relationships devoid of affection.” </p>
<p>“By identifying distinct love profiles, we hope to encourage more nuanced conversations, both in research and in public discourse, about how emotional dynamics shape vulnerability to psychological IPV. This complexity also underscores the need for practitioners to assess not just whether love exists in a relationship, but how it is structured.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012241297257" target="_blank">Love’s Paradox: Unraveling the Dynamics of Love and Psychological Intimate Partner Violence Against Women</a>,” was authored by Cécylia Ablana, Patrick Raynal, and Natalène Séjourné.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/conservatives-and-liberals-tend-to-engage-in-different-evidence-gathering-strategies/" 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;">Conservatives and liberals tend to engage in different evidence-gathering strategies</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 9th 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338088" target="_blank">PLOS ONE</a></em> provides evidence that a person’s political ideology and their capacity for analytical thinking shape how they gather information. The findings suggest that liberals and individuals with higher cognitive reflection skills are more likely to seek out comprehensive statistical data, whereas conservatives and those who rely more on intuition tend to focus on singular data points or expert opinions.</p>
<p>Public policy debates are often characterized by intense disagreement, even when facts are available. While much psychological research has examined how people process information they have already received, less attention has been paid to the earlier step of information seeking. </p>
<p>The authors of the new study aimed to understand the standards of evidence people apply when they want to learn about the world. They sought to determine why some individuals demand rigorous statistical comparisons while others are satisfied with anecdotes or expert testimonials. </p>
<p>“There is a solid research agenda that evaluates how people treat evidence presented to then. However, there is much less research on how people look for evidence in the first place,” said study author <a href="https://www.uidaho.edu/people/fjustwan" target="_blank">Florian Justwan</a>, an associate professor of political science at the University of Idaho.</p>
<p>“This is particularly important in the social world where one finds a lot of contested cause-and-effect claims. Examples of such claims are: is a particular law responsible for an undesirable / desirable social outcome? Does a particular vaccine decrease the risk of contracting a disease?”</p>
<p>For their study, the researchers recruited a diverse sample of 583 adults from the United States using an online platform. The study was conducted in August 2023. </p>
<p>The participants were presented with a fictionalized but realistic scenario regarding a policy initiative known as cash bail reform. They were informed that out of the 300 most populous American cities, 100 had implemented this reform while 200 had not. The participants were then tasked with evaluating whether the policy was effective at reducing crime.</p>
<p>The core of the experiment was an “evidence bank” containing ten different pieces of information. Participants could choose to view as many or as few items as they wished before making their final assessment. This setup allowed the researchers to track exactly what kind of proof each respondent felt was necessary to form an opinion.</p>
<p>The evidence options fell into two broad categories: statistical data and expert testimony. The statistical options allowed participants to see the number of cities with or without the reform that experienced an increase or decrease in crime. </p>
<p>The expert testimony options provided evaluations from political sources, specifically the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and the Center for American Progress.</p>
<p>The researchers classified the statistical information seeking behavior into two types. The first type was labeled “categorical.” This involved looking at only one specific outcome, such as the number of reformed cities where crime went up. Relying on categorical evidence is often considered less reliable because it ignores the context provided by a control group. </p>
<p>The second type was labeled “fully associative.” This involved gathering all four necessary pieces of data: crime increases and decreases in both the reformed and non-reformed cities. This method allows for a calculation of probabilities and provides a complete picture of the policy’s impact.</p>
<p>In addition to tracking evidence selection, the researchers measured the participants’ political ideology and their level of “cognitive reflection.” Cognitive reflection refers to a person’s ability to override an immediate, intuitive response to engage in deeper, analytical thinking. This was measured using a seven-question test containing brain teasers that have an obvious but incorrect answer and a correct answer that requires slightly more thought.</p>
<p>The results showed a link between political ideology and the type of evidence gathered. Self-identified conservatives were more likely to rely on categorical standards of evidence. For example, the probability that a respondent would rely on a single type of data point rose from roughly 4 percent for very liberal participants to over 37 percent for very conservative participants. </p>
<p>Conservatives were also less likely to seek out the fully associative data required to make a mathematically sound comparison. Liberals, by contrast, demonstrated a strong preference for collecting comprehensive statistical information.</p>
<p>Cognitive reflection also played a substantial role in these behaviors. Participants who scored higher on the cognitive reflection test were much less likely to rely on categorical evidence. </p>
<p>Instead, they tended to gather all available statistical data to compare the outcomes properly. These analytical thinkers were also less likely to request expert testimony. They preferred to look at the raw numbers themselves rather than deferring to the judgment of political organizations.</p>
<p>The researchers also found nuance in how people used expert sources. When individuals with high cognitive reflection scores did choose to consult experts, they were more likely to look for a mix of opinions. They sought out evaluations from both their own political “in-group” and the opposing “out-group.” </p>
<p>For instance, a cognitively reflective Democrat might check what both the Center for American Progress and the NRA said about the policy. In contrast, participants with lower cognitive reflection scores who sought expert advice tended to look exclusively at sources that aligned with their own political preferences.</p>
<p>“There are different ‘types of evidence seekers’ in the world,” Justwan told PsyPost. “For instance, some people look for what we call ‘categorical standards of evidence.’ In practice, this means that they only look for one type of data when they examine a particular cause-and-effect relationship. This might take the form of looking up the number of people who received a vaccine for a particular disease and who still got sick.” </p>
<p>“Other people, by contrast, look for what we call ‘fully associative’ forms of evidence. In other words, they seek information on all possible combinations of treatment and outcome. Furthermore, people also vary systematically according to (1) their likelihood on looking for expert testimony and (2) their likelihood of consulting ideologically congruent and incongruent sources.” </p>
<p>“Importantly, our study shows that two major individual-level variables help to predict what type of ‘evidence seeker’ a given person is: whether or not they are ‘cognitively reflected’ and whether or not they are liberal/conservative,” the researcher explained. “Indeed, people’s political beliefs influence how they look for information (often without them realizing it).”</p>
<p>But the study, like all research, has some caveats. The study used a fixed list of evidence options, which does not perfectly mimic the open-ended nature of searching the internet. Real-world searches often involve typing queries into search engines, a process that might yield different results than selecting from a menu. </p>
<p>Additionally, the topic of cash bail reform is politically polarized. It is possible that people might gather evidence differently for less controversial topics. The researchers also noted that they did not evaluate whether the participants interpreted the evidence correctly, but simply observed what evidence they chose to access.</p>
<p>“Our work does not address how people process information,” Justwan noted. “In other words, we do not investigate what people do with information once they have collected it. We also do not examine whether people interpret information ‘correctly.’ Instead, the focus of this research only focuses on what type of information people rely on when they assess whether an external stimulus has an effect on a given outcome or not.” </p>
<p>Future research could explore how these patterns hold up in different contexts. The rise of artificial intelligence and chat-based search tools might alter how people gather information. </p>
<p>The researchers plan to investigate how people weigh the credibility of sources against the actual data those sources provide. Understanding these dynamics is essential for grappling with how citizens become informed in an increasingly complex and divided media landscape.</p>
<p>“Long term, we seek to understand general patterns between how people think about a source of information (e.g. trust, reliability, expertise) and the first-order information from that source,” Justwan said. “We anticipate this relationship will be further complicated by the rapid growth of AI systems in our information landscapes.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338088" target="_blank">The effects of ideology and cognitive reflection on evidence gathering behavior in the political domain</a>,” was authored by Florian Justwan and Bert Baumgaertner.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/can-entrepreneurship-be-taught-heres-the-neuroscience/" 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;">Can entrepreneurship be taught? Here’s the neuroscience</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 8th 2026, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>Despite countless programmes and initiatives, rates of entrepreneurial intention — a marker of how willing people are to start new ventures — remains stagnant. But what if the secrets to entrepreneurial success lie not in textbooks but within the brain itself?</p>
<p>Imagine an approach that doesn’t just teach <a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-to-be-an-entrepreneur-means-building-connections-as-well-as-studying-business-229774">the mechanics of entrepreneurship</a> but actively enhances the skills that make aspiring entrepreneurs successful? We know <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0883902697000311">these include</a> focus, creativity, resilience, cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation and an ability to make decisions under uncertainty.</p>
<p>And what if these critical abilities of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-ivory-tower-universities-need-to-prioritise-the-entrepreneurial-mindset-not-just-new-ideas-239377">entrepreneurial mindset</a> could be nurtured through neuroscience? This concept is at the core of a shift proposed in my recent book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Neuroscience-and-Entrepreneurship-Research-Researching-Brain-Driven-Entrepreneurship/PerezCenteno/p/book/9780367522407">Entrepreneurship and neuroscience: researching brain-driven entrepreneurship</a>.</p>
<p>By integrating advanced neuro-technologies into the research, teaching and practice of entrepreneurship, our work presents an alternative framework for fostering entrepreneurial behaviour from the ground up.</p>
<p>Entrepreneurship research has evolved through several distinct phases. The economic era (1870–1940) <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/b102095#toc">examined how entrepreneurs influenced markets</a>. Meanwhile, the social and psychological era (1940–1970) focused on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hans-Landstrom/publication/226480328_Pioneers_in_Entrepreneurship_Research/links/5457daaa0cf2cf516482204a/Pioneers-in-Entrepreneurship-Research.pdf">uncovering the traits and motivations that drive them</a>. More recently, the managerial era (1920-2022) framed entrepreneurship <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/edcoll/9781847209191/9781847209191.xml">as a structured, step-by-step process</a>.</p>
<p>I and others are now proposing the “brain-driven” era of entrepreneurship education. This focuses on reshaping how we understand and support entrepreneurial success. Unlike previous approaches, this new perspective places entrepreneurial cognitive enhancement at its core, leveraging insights from neuroscience.</p>
<p>For example, researchers including myself have identified electroencephalography (EEG) and structured cognitive training protocols — grounded in neuroscience — as promising tools for assessing mental states. They are also key to enhancing cognitive functions linked to entrepreneurial success.</p>
<p>While conventional tools such as interviews, questionnaires and behavioural observation capture surface-level behaviour and self-reported experiences, EEG goes deeper – measuring the brain’s electrical activity. This makes it possible to explore attention, working memory, cognitive workload and emotional regulation in more detail.</p>
<p>A study at the University of Kobe indicates that EEG can detect the <a href="https://advance.sagepub.com/users/719256/articles/704269-the-role-of-entrepreneurial-intention-on-the-association-between-emotional-word-stimuli-and-decision-making-an-event-related-potentials-study-a">subtle interplay</a> between emotions and entrepreneurial decision-making. In the experiment, participants were briefly shown emotionally charged words — such as “joyful” or “awful” — before making decisions in a risk-based game. The aim was to test whether emotional cues might subtly shift risk-taking behaviour.</p>
<p>While their choices didn’t change in statistically clear ways, the brain data told a different story. Participants with higher <a href="https://hal.science/hal-02276714/file/214280-AMLE_Fayolle_201706.pdf">entrepreneurial intention</a> showed distinct patterns of neural activity in response to emotional cues.</p>
<p>This was particularly in areas associated with attention and making meaning of things. This suggests that even when behaviour appears unchanged, the brain may be processing emotional information in ways that shape how decisions are made under uncertainty.</p>
<p>Brain activity in the frontal and parietal areas also revealed that those with stronger entrepreneurial intentions responded more efficiently to emotional cues. This suggests their brains may be wired to handle emotionally charged decisions differently.</p>
<p>While cognitive functions such as sustained attention, emotional regulation and cognitive flexibility <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amr.2001.4378020">are increasingly recognised</a> as essential for entrepreneurial success, EEG enables us to observe how these abilities operate in real time. These capacities are central to navigating uncertainty, adapting to changing conditions and <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amp.2006.19873412">making rapid, high-stakes decisions</a>.</p>
<h2>Brain-aligned cognitive training</h2>
<p>Emerging “brain-aligned methods” shed light on how to gently train the brain to support entrepreneurial development. These approaches focus on strengthening core cognitive functions increasingly associated with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0883902697000311">entrepreneurial performance</a>.</p>
<p>At Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s recent Technopreneurship Summer School, we let students take part in cognitive training. This included exercises such as maintaining focus on moving visual stimuli to strengthen sustained attention. This involved engaging in short design challenges like building a simple robot prototype and reflecting aloud on their mental processes.</p>
<p>This application of neuroscience within entrepreneurship education has also sparked innovation beyond classroom-based interventions. While the field is still emerging, studies in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.00345">music neuroscience</a> suggest that specific sound patterns and frequencies can influence <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/jbiol82">attention, mood and cognitive performance</a>.</p>
<p>A development called <a href="https://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/en/news/2025/04/cognitive-performance-music">cognitive performance music</a><br>
offers an early glimpse into how music might complement cognitive training. This is basically music designed to sharpen cognitive focus, sustain deep motivation and strengthen the cognitive dimensions of an entrepreneurial mindset.</p>
<p>A well-recognised example is Steve Reich’s minimalist composition Piano Phase, which has been shown to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.702067/full">foster neural synchronisation</a> and sustained attentional engagement across listeners. The world’s first album in this genre, <em><a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/5f6y8xjX108XK43ruBpWJ0">Take the Leap</a></em>, was produced using a proprietary neuro-algorithm developed through my ongoing work on brain-driven approaches to entrepreneurial learning.</p>
<p>Another example is structured frameworks like the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364323431_Accelerating_Entrepreneurial_Learning_through_the_WNYLE_Method_and_the_Invention_of_a_Cinematic_Pedagogy">WNYLE Method</a>, a pioneering brain-based entrepreneurial training approach designed to enhance the cognitive and emotional capacities that drive entrepreneurial actions. It draws on neuroscience, cinematic storytelling, thematic music and guided mental exercises. Ultimately, the method follows a carefully designed sequence that mirrors how the brain processes attention, emotion and reflection for deeper learning.</p>
<p>These innovations highlight the potential of neuroscience to enhance how students cultivate essential skills that can be of use both inside and outside the classroom.</p>
<p>As neuroscience moves from the lab to the lecture hall, a new frontier is emerging — one where cognitive optimisation becomes a core component of entrepreneurial readiness.</p>
<p>We have long known that learning reshapes the brain’s structure and function. This underscores the strength of neuroscience to enhance entrepreneurship education. It isn’t just about imparting knowledge, but by developing the cognitive agility needed to thrive in an unpredictable world.</p>
<p>And perhaps the most exciting part? This is only the beginning.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/250695/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
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<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-entrepreneurship-be-taught-heres-the-neuroscience-250695">original article</a>.</em></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/what-a-teens-eye-movements-reveal-about-their-future-anxiety-risk/" 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;">What a teen’s eye movements reveal about their future anxiety risk</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 8th 2026, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>Adolescent girls who consistently avoid looking at negative or critical social cues may be at a higher risk for developing long-term anxiety. A new study published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2025.103058" target="_blank">Journal of Anxiety Disorders</a> suggests that a pattern of sustained avoidance, rather than a hypersensitivity to threat, creates a pathway for worsening mental health over time. These findings challenge prevailing theories about how anxious individuals process social interactions and highlight the importance of how teenagers engage with the world around them.</p>
<p>The teenage years represent a distinct period of development where social standing becomes a primary focus. Mental health experts have noted for years that anxiety symptoms spike dramatically between the ages of 11 and 13. This increase is particularly acute among girls. Biological and social changes during puberty alter how young people perceive peer evaluation.</p>
<p>Researchers have sought to identify specific risk factors that could predict who will develop clinical anxiety. One area of intense focus is “attention bias.” This term refers to how an individual visually processes emotional information in their environment.</p>
<p>Theories regarding attention bias have often centered on how people react to threats. Some models suggest that anxious individuals possess a “vigilance” bias. This means they spot threatening faces or dangerous objects faster than non-anxious people do.</p>
<p>Other theories propose a “vigilance-avoidance” pattern. In this scenario, an anxious person quickly spots a threat but then immediately looks away to reduce their distress. This second step prevents them from realizing the threat might not be as dangerous as they feared.</p>
<p>However, past research on adolescents has produced inconsistent results. Many previous studies relied on computerized tasks where participants looked at static images of faces on a screen. These experiments often measured reaction time, which is an indirect way to track where someone is looking.</p>
<p>Emily Hutchinson and her colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh sought to clarify these mixed findings. They aimed to measure attention in a setting that more closely resembled real-life challenges. The team wanted to see how attention patterns during a stressful social task predicted anxiety years later.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 90 adolescent girls for the study. The average age of the participants was approximately 12 years old. The study design specifically oversampled for girls with shy or fearful temperaments.</p>
<p>This selection strategy ensured the group included individuals at higher risk for developing internalizing disorders. The team excluded participants who already had a diagnosed anxiety disorder at the start of the study, with the exception of specific phobias. This allowed the researchers to track the development of new or worsening symptoms.</p>
<p>To create a realistic social stressor, the researchers utilized a method called the Attention Speech Task. Participants were asked to deliver a two-minute speech in front of two judges. The prompt required them to explain why they should be chosen for a reality television show.</p>
<p>This scenario was designed to mimic the social evaluative pressures adolescents face in classrooms or peer groups. While the girls spoke, two undergraduate assistants acted as judges. These judges followed a strict script of nonverbal behaviors.</p>
<p>One judge was assigned to be “positive.” This judge offered affirming cues such as smiling, nodding, and maintaining eye contact. The other judge was designated as “potentially critical.”</p>
<p>The critical judge displayed ambiguous or slightly negative behaviors. These included maintaining a neutral facial expression, averting their gaze, or shuffling their feet. The researchers noted that adolescents often interpret such ambiguous cues as threatening.</p>
<p>The study employed advanced mobile eye-tracking technology to measure exactly where the participants looked. The girls wore Tobii Pro Glasses 2 during their speeches. These lightweight glasses look similar to standard eyewear but contain high-definition cameras and sensors.</p>
<p>The glasses recorded the wearer’s point of view and tracked their pupil movements. This allowed the researchers to calculate exactly when and for how long the girls looked at each judge. The team focused on two specific metrics.</p>
<p>The first metric was “time to first visit.” This measured how many milliseconds passed before a participant looked at a judge’s face or body. A short time indicated vigilance, while a long time suggested initial avoidance.</p>
<p>The second metric was “total visit duration.” This measured the total amount of time a participant spent looking at a judge throughout the task. A short duration indicated sustained avoidance.</p>
<p>The researchers assessed the participants’ anxiety levels at the beginning of the study using a standard self-report questionnaire. They also collected follow-up data three years later. This longitudinal approach allowed them to see which attention patterns predicted future mental health issues.</p>
<p>The results offered a new perspective on how anxiety develops. The data did not support the “vigilance-avoidance” model. Instead, the findings pointed to a pattern of pure avoidance.</p>
<p>Adolescents who took a long time to look at the critical judge and spent the least amount of time looking at her had the highest anxiety levels three years later. This suggests that avoiding a potential threat entirely is more detrimental than spotting it and looking away. The researchers controlled for baseline anxiety, meaning this attention pattern predicted symptom increases regardless of how anxious the girls were at the start.</p>
<p>This finding aligns with the idea that avoidance maintains anxiety. When a person refuses to look at a stressor, they lose the opportunity to habituate to it. They cannot learn that the neutral face is harmless or that the shuffling feet are not a sign of rejection.</p>
<p>The study also examined how the girls interacted with the positive judge. The analysis showed that adolescents who spent less time looking at the positive judge also reported higher anxiety three years later. This indicates that ignoring social support or positive feedback may be just as damaging as avoiding threats.</p>
<p>These results suggest that anxiety in early adolescence involves a broad withdrawal from social stimuli. The girls who struggled the most were those who disengaged from both critical and positive feedback. This pattern may reflect a general difficulty in regulating social distress.</p>
<p>The authors noted several limitations to their work. The study included only girls, most of whom were White. This limits how well the findings apply to boys or adolescents from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.</p>
<p>Additionally, the use of live judges introduced variability. While this increased the ecological validity of the task, it meant that the social cues were not identical for every participant. Human actors naturally vary in how they perform specific gestures or expressions.</p>
<p>The study also relied on self-reported anxiety symptoms. While the questionnaire used is a standard clinical tool, it represents the participants’ own perceptions of their mental health. Future studies could benefit from including physiological measures of stress, such as heart rate or cortisol levels.</p>
<p>Future research should also investigate if these patterns hold true for different types of anxiety. The speech task specifically provoked social fears. It remains to be seen if this avoidance pattern predicts generalized anxiety or specific phobias in the same way.</p>
<p>The researchers emphasized that identifying these risk factors is a step toward better prevention. If avoidance is a key driver of anxiety, interventions could target this behavior directly. helping at-risk teens learn to face and process social cues could alter their developmental trajectory.</p>
<p>These findings contribute to a growing understanding of the cognitive mechanisms behind mental health. By using real-world tasks and precise measurement tools, scientists can uncover the subtle behavioral habits that shape our emotional lives. For adolescent girls, learning to hold a gaze, rather than look away, might be a small but powerful tool for building resilience.</p>
<p>The study, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2025.103058" target="_blank">“Predicting anxiety symptoms through gaze-directed attention: A mobile eye-tracking study of adolescents during a real-world speech task</a>,” was authored by Emily Hutchinson, Erica Huynh, Mary Woody, Dev Chopra, Amelia Lint, Enoch Du, Kristy Benoit Allen, Cecile Ladouceur, and Jennifer Silk.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/sudden-drop-in-fentanyl-overdose-deaths-linked-to-biden-era-global-supply-shock/" 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;">Sudden drop in fentanyl overdose deaths linked to Biden-era global supply shock</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 8th 2026, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>For more than a decade, the United States has faced a relentless and heartbreaking increase in fatal drug overdoses driven by synthetic opioids. A new analysis suggests this trend has suddenly reversed due to a major disruption in the global supply chain of illicit fentanyl. Published in <em><a href="http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6130" target="_blank">Science</a></em>, the study indicates that regulatory actions taken by the Chinese government, following high-level diplomatic engagement with the Biden administration, may be the primary driver behind this unexpected decline in mortality.</p>
<p>The trajectory of the American overdose crisis has been grim for fifteen years. Deaths attributed to synthetic opioids rose more than 25-fold during that period. The annual toll reached a record high of 76,000 deaths in 2023. Yet, starting in the middle of that year, the numbers began to fall. By the end of 2024, the rate of fentanyl overdose deaths had dropped by more than one-third.</p>
<p>Public health officials and policymakers have struggled to explain this abrupt shift. It is often difficult to determine the cause of market fluctuations because illicit drug trafficking organizations operate in the shadows. To solve this puzzle, a team of researchers synthesized diverse data sets ranging from government seizure logs to social media discussions.</p>
<p>The research team was led by Kasey Vangelov at the University of Maryland. He worked alongside colleagues including Keith Humphreys of Stanford University and Peter Reuter of the University of Maryland. They sought to determine if the decline in deaths was the result of a “supply shock.” This economic term refers to a sudden event that drastically reduces the availability of a commodity.</p>
<p>Supply shocks have altered drug markets in the past. In the early 2000s, a drought in Australia’s heroin supply resulted in a 60 percent decline in opioid overdose mortality. Conversely, the introduction of fentanyl into North American markets around 2014 acted as a positive supply shock that increased mortality. The researchers hypothesized that a similar mechanism in the opposite direction might explain the current situation.</p>
<p>The investigators first examined traditional indicators of drug supply collected by the United States government. They analyzed data from the Drug Enforcement Administration regarding the purity of fentanyl seized by law enforcement. In illicit markets, dealers often respond to shortages by diluting their product rather than raising prices. This phenomenon is similar to the “shrinkflation” observed in legitimate retail sectors.</p>
<p>The data revealed a distinct pattern. The average purity of fentanyl powder seized by authorities rose throughout 2022 and peaked at roughly 25 percent in early 2023. Following that peak, purity levels plummeted. By the end of 2024, the average purity of seized powder had fallen to approximately 11 percent.</p>
<p>This decline in product quality occurred almost simultaneously with the drop in overdose deaths. The researchers found a strong correlation between the purity of fentanyl pills and the rate of fatal overdoses. As the drugs became less potent due to apparent shortages, fewer people died from using them.</p>
<p>The team also reviewed the number of drug seizures reported by the National Forensic Laboratory Information System. Seizures of fentanyl peaked in the first half of 2023. By the second half of 2024, those numbers had fallen by 37 percent. While fewer seizures could theoretically result from reduced police activity, the high political profile of the fentanyl crisis suggests that enforcement remained a priority. This makes a reduction in actual drug volume the most likely explanation.</p>
<p>To corroborate these government statistics with real-world experiences, the researchers turned to an unconventional source of data. They analyzed discussions on the social media platform Reddit. Users on this site frequently discuss the quality and availability of drugs in specific online communities or “subreddits.”</p>
<p>The researchers tracked the use of the word “drought” and related terms in communities such as r/fentanyl and r/heroin. They manually verified the posts to ensure the users were discussing a shortage of fentanyl rather than other substances. The analysis showed a spike in user complaints about a drought beginning in July 2023.</p>
<p>These complaints intensified throughout the year. The discussions became so prevalent that moderators of the forums temporarily banned posts about shortages to comply with site rules. Once the ban was lifted in mid-2024, mentions of a drought surged again. This timeline aligns closely with the reduction in overdose deaths and the decline in drug purity recorded by the government.</p>
<p>A central challenge in the study was identifying the source of the disruption. The researchers needed to determine if the supply shock originated in Mexico, where cartels produce fentanyl for the US market, or further upstream in the supply chain. To do this, they compared the situation in the United States with that of Canada.</p>
<p>Canada also suffers from a fentanyl crisis, but its supply chain is distinct. While the United States receives finished fentanyl trafficked from Mexico, Canadian traffickers largely import precursor chemicals and manufacture the drug domestically. Despite these different production methods, both countries rely on chemical precursors that originate in China.</p>
<p>If the supply shock were caused by law enforcement actions at the US-Mexico border or conflicts between Mexican cartels, the Canadian market should have remained relatively stable. However, the data showed that Canada experienced a similar disruption. Opioid-related deaths in Canada began to decline in the third quarter of 2023.</p>
<p>Canadian health data mirrored the trends seen in the United States. Emergency medical services reported fewer responses to suspected opioid poisonings. Hospitalizations related to opioids also fell. Additionally, Canadian lab data showed a shift where dealers began substituting fentanyl with fentanyl analogs, a behavior often seen when the primary drug is scarce.</p>
<p>The synchronized downturn in both nations points to a bottleneck at the source of the chemicals they share. The researchers suggest that actions taken by the Chinese government are the most plausible explanation. This shift aligned with a pivotal meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2023. The summit resulted in an agreement to increase cooperation on drug enforcement between the two nations.</p>
<p>Following this diplomatic breakthrough, China tightened regulations on the production and export of chemicals used to make synthetic opioids. These regulatory actions included the removal of online advertisements for precursor chemicals and the shutdown of various marketplaces. The Chinese government also issued notices warning chemical companies against selling substances that could be used for illicit drug production.</p>
<p>The Drug Enforcement Administration noted in a 2025 assessment that Chinese suppliers had become “wary” of selling these chemicals to international buyers. The assessment indicated that suppliers were aware of the increased scrutiny resulting from the government’s compliance with updated United Nations counter-narcotics treaties. The timeline of these enforcement actions in China closely matches the drop in purity and deaths seen in North America.</p>
<p>The study implies that diplomatic pressure and international cooperation can yield tangible public health benefits. The reduction in the flow of raw materials appears to have achieved what domestic law enforcement struggles to accomplish. Arresting street-level dealers rarely impacts the overall availability of drugs, but choking off the supply of essential chemicals affects the entire market.</p>
<p>The authors note that these positive changes may not be permanent. Drug trafficking organizations are highly adaptive businesses. History shows that when one supply route is closed, traffickers often find alternatives. They may stockpile chemicals, develop new synthesis methods, or source precursors from other nations such as India.</p>
<p>There are limitations to the analysis presented in the study. Because this was an observational study of national policies, there is no control group to confirm causation. It is theoretically possible that some unmeasured factor affecting both the United States and Canada caused the decline. However, alternative explanations such as the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic do not fit the timing of the data.</p>
<p>The data on drug purity also has limitations. The samples analyzed by the government are not always from the retail level. Some may be wholesale seizures, which naturally have higher purity. Changes in the mix of seizure types could influence the averages, though the trend across both pills and powder remains consistent.</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the research offers a coherent explanation for a sudden shift in a long-standing public health crisis. It suggests that the illicit fentanyl trade is more vulnerable to upstream disruptions than previously thought. The findings highlight the value of monitoring global chemical supply chains as a method of drug control.</p>
<p>The study authors recommend that policymakers use this period of reduced supply to expand treatment and prevention programs. While the current drought in fentanyl availability has saved lives, demand for the drug persists. Strengthening the support systems for those with substance use disorders could help sustain the reduction in mortality even if supply chains eventually recover.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.psypost.org/www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6130" target="_blank">Did the illicit fentanyl trade experience a supply shock? A synthesis of government and social media data suggests a disruption, possibly tied to events in China</a>,” was authored by Kasey Vangelov, Keith Humphreys, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Harold Pollack, Bryce Pardo, and Peter Reuter.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/the-psychology-behind-the-deceptive-power-of-ai-generated-images-on-facebook/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">The psychology behind the deceptive power of AI-generated images on Facebook</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 8th 2026, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108876" target="_blank">Computers in Human Behavior</a></em> reveals how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping social media interactions by generating images that manipulate user emotions and exploit cognitive shortcuts. The research suggests that specific visual themes, such as nostalgic rural scenes or neglected children, effectively bypass critical thinking and prompt genuine engagement from users. </p>
<p>Social media platforms are increasingly saturated with synthetic content produced by generative artificial intelligence. Much of this content originates from “content farms,” which are websites or pages designed to maximize advertising revenue through high-volume, low-quality posts. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/m%C3%A1rk-miskolczi" target="_blank">Márk Miskolczi</a>, a researcher at Corvinus University of Budapest, sought to understand the mechanisms behind this growing phenomenon. While previous academic discussions have often focused on the technical aspects of deepfakes or their potential for political disinformation, less attention has been paid to everyday “clickbait” images.</p>
<p>“What motivated this work was a very practical problem: AI-generated images (AIGIs) are now flooding social media, and many of them are explicitly designed to trigger emotional reactions,” explained Miskolczi, an assistant professor in the Institute of Sustainable Development.</p>
<p>“While the public debate often focuses on technical detection (‘can we spot the glitches?’), there has been far less attention to the psychological side: why do people engage so readily with images and stories that are not real? Another gap is that much of the existing research relies on laboratory stimuli. I wanted to study this phenomenon where it actually occurs, using real user sections.”</p>
<p>“I was also interested in how the platform environment rewards user engagement, which creates incentives for what I describe as ‘content farms’ that mass-produce sentimental or shocking posts,” Miskolczi said. “In that sense, the study sits at the intersection of cognitive biases, online social dynamics, and an emerging attention economy powered by generative AI.”</p>
<p>“Ultimately, the question is not only whether an image is technically convincing, but how it becomes socially ‘validated’ as real through reactions and repeated exposure.”</p>
<p>The study employed a qualitative approach known as Grounded Theory to analyze the data. Miskolczi began by observing public Facebook feeds to identify pages that frequently posted suspicious imagery. This observation phase led to the selection of 12 specific Facebook pages that exhibited behavior typical of content farms. These pages covered a diverse range of topics, including rural nostalgia, elderly care, and spirituality.</p>
<p>To ensure the images analyzed were indeed artificially generated, he utilized a dual-verification process. First, the researcher applied a custom “Eight-step Manual Analysis.” This involved scrutinizing images for visual errors common in AI generation. These signals included incorrect numbers of fingers, unnatural skin textures that appeared too smooth, and objects that defied the laws of physics or gravity.</p>
<p>Following this manual check, images flagged as suspicious were tested using an online AI detection tool. Only images with a probability score of 60 percent or higher were included in the final sample. This rigorous process resulted in a set of 146 confirmed AI-generated images for analysis. The researcher then collected user reactions to these posts to understand how people were engaging with them.</p>
<p>The initial dataset consisted of 11,547 comments. Miskolczi recognized that automated accounts, or bots, often comment on posts to artificially inflate engagement. </p>
<p>To address this, the researcher applied a “Ten-step Manual Analysis” to identify and remove automated responses. Indicators of bot activity included repetitive phrasing, unnatural posting speeds, and generic profiles. This filtering process removed over 2,000 comments, leaving 9,082 genuine user interactions for the final analysis.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed distinct categories of imagery designed to provoke specific reactions. One dominant theme was “Emotion and Nostalgia.” These images often depicted elderly couples celebrating long anniversaries, often with captions claiming they had been together for decades. </p>
<p>Another frequent category was “Arousing Empathy,” which featured subjects in difficult circumstances, such as poverty or loneliness, asking users if they would share a coffee with them. Users responded to these images with high levels of sincerity. The data indicates that users frequently offered prayers, blessings, or words of encouragement to non-existent entities. </p>
<p>“One surprising element was how often highly engaging posts did not require especially sophisticated technology,” Miskolczi told PsyPost. “In many cases, a relatively low-quality or imperfect AI image still generated strong reactions if the story was emotionally compelling.”</p>
<p>Miskolczi found that these reactions were heavily influenced by specific cognitive biases. These are mental shortcuts that the human brain uses to make decisions quickly, often at the expense of accuracy.</p>
<p>Confirmation bias lead users to accept images that align with their existing worldview. For example, images depicting an idealized version of rural life reinforce the belief that the past was simpler and better. </p>
<p>Because the image supports a deeply held value, the user is less likely to look for evidence that it is fake. This creates a loop where the emotional resonance of the content overrides the need for verification.</p>
<p>The concept of “anchoring” also played a significant role in the deception. Users often focused on the immediate emotional hook provided by the image and its caption. </p>
<p>If a caption described a sad child who was ignored on their birthday, the user’s emotional reaction to that story became the “anchor.” This initial feeling distracted them from noticing visual glitches, such as a distorted hand or a floating object, that revealed the deception.</p>
<p>The “familiarity effect” further reduced skepticism among users. By presenting recognizable and comforting tropes, the images created a false sense of security. </p>
<p>Miskolczi notes that repetitive exposure to familiar themes fosters trust. When users encounter content that feels safe and traditional, they lower their cognitive defenses. This makes them more susceptible to manipulation by content farms seeking to monetize their attention.</p>
<p>The study also highlighted the role of “groupthink” in validating these images. When a post already had thousands of likes and comments, new users were more likely to trust its authenticity. </p>
<p>This effect was amplified by the presence of bot comments that validated the content. Real users seeing a stream of “Happy Birthday” messages felt socially compelled to join in, creating a cascade of uncritical engagement.</p>
<p>“I was struck by how comment sections can function as credibility engines: once supportive responses accumulate, they can ‘lock in’ the interpretation that the content must be real,” Miskolczi said.</p>
<p>“Another striking pattern was that many users commented not only to react to the image, but to connect, to feel less alone, to receive a reply, or to participate in a shared emotional moment. That suggests the persuasive power is not only visual; it is social and relational.”</p>
<p>Deceptive strategies varied in their effectiveness. The researcher found that images evoking nostalgia or depicting seniority were particularly effective at suppressing critical thinking. </p>
<p>“Outrage bait,” such as a child supposedly ignored on their birthday, also generated high engagement by weaponizing user empathy. In contrast, themes involving controversial topics like inter-ethnic conflict tended to receive more skepticism and debate.</p>
<p>The findings also point to a phenomenon known as the “dead internet theory.” This theory suggests that a significant portion of internet activity consists of bots interacting with other bots. Miskolczi observed that many real users were unknowingly directing their empathy toward automated accounts. This creates an illusion of community connection while paradoxically reinforcing social isolation.</p>
<p>“Social media has long rewarded emotionally charged content, and people have always relied on cognitive shortcuts when scrolling quickly,” Miskolczi explained. “What generative AI changes is the scale, speed, and cost of producing highly ‘engagement-optimized’ images and stories, so the same biases and emotional triggers can be exploited far more efficiently and at much higher volume.” </p>
<p>“In other words, AI-generated images don’t invent manipulation, but they amplify it and make it easier to industrialize. Over time, this can contribute to broader trust erosion: users may start doubting not only suspicious posts, but authentic photos and genuine human stories as well. It can also fuel AI-skepticism, because repeated exposure to deceptive or low-integrity AI content may generalize into distrust toward AI tools more broadly, even the beneficial ones.” </p>
<p>“Practically, the most useful takeaway is that people need simple, repeatable ‘manual detection’ habits, not just vague advice to ‘be skeptical,'” Miskolczi continued. “In my study, I presented two such tools: ESMA, an eight-step checklist for visually inspecting common AI artifacts (hands, faces, lighting, text, background inconsistencies), and TSMA, a ten-step guide for spotting bot-like or inauthentic commenting patterns that can artificially boost credibility through social proof.”</p>
<p>There are some limitations to consider regarding this research. The study focused exclusively on public Facebook pages. User behavior may differ on platforms with different demographics or interfaces, such as TikTok or Instagram. </p>
<p>Miskolczi suggests that future studies should apply these methods across different social media environments to see if the patterns hold true. The researcher also emphasizes the need for experimental designs to test specific psychological mechanisms more directly. Understanding exactly how much emotional framing contributes to deception could help in designing better interventions.</p>
<p>The study concludes that the unregulated spread of synthetic images poses a risk to platform credibility. If users cannot distinguish between real human experiences and automated fiction, trust in digital content may erode. </p>
<p>Miskolczi advocates for improved digital literacy campaigns. Helping users recognize visual anomalies and understand their own emotional vulnerabilities could reduce the spread of this content.</p>
<p>“A common misinterpretation is that susceptibility to AI-generated content is limited to specific demographic groups, such as older adults or less educated users,” Miskolczi told PsyPost. “My findings do not support this stereotype. The mechanisms involved emotional anchoring, social proof, and familiarity are basic features of human cognition and affect people across age, education, and digital skill levels.” </p>
<p>“In fast-scrolling environments, even highly educated or media-literate users can rely on the same shortcuts, especially when content aligns with their values or emotions. Vulnerability is therefore situational rather than demographic: it depends on context, emotional state, and platform dynamics more than on individual intelligence.” </p>
<p>“Framing the issue as a problem of ‘naive users’ risks missing the structural factors that make such content persuasive in the first place,” Miskolczi continued. “It also creates a false sense of immunity that may reduce critical vigilance among users who believe they are not at risk.”</p>
<p>“There is strong human element that deserves attention: people often respond to these posts from a place of empathy, loneliness, or the desire to connect, and that emotional openness is precisely what makes manipulation effective. If we address this only as a technical detection problem, we miss the social and psychological reasons these posts work.” </p>
<p>“So I would encourage readers to treat the issue as a shared responsibility: individual awareness matters, but so do platform design choices, transparency, and incentives. A healthy response is not panic but building a stronger “digital immune system” through media literacy and better systems of verification.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108876" target="_blank">The illusion of reality: How AI-generated images (AIGIs) are fooling social media users</a>,” was authored by Márk Miskolczi.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/restoring-cellular-energy-transfer-heals-nerve-damage-in-mice/" 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;">Restoring cellular energy transfer heals nerve damage in mice</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 8th 2026, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that the sensory neurons responsible for pain rely on a designated delivery service to receive their energy. Researchers have discovered that support cells surrounding these neurons physically transfer mitochondria—the power plants of the cell—through tiny, tube-like bridges. When this supply chain breaks down, it appears to contribute to the nerve damage and pain associated with chemotherapy and diabetes. The study was published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09896-x" target="_blank">Nature</a></em>.</p>
<p>Our bodies possess an intricate network of sensory neurons that transmit information about touch, temperature, and pain to the central nervous system. These cells face a distinct logistical challenge. Their primary bodies are clustered in bundles called dorsal root ganglia located near the spine, but their thread-like extensions, called axons, must reach all the way to the toes and fingertips. Maintaining energy levels across such vast distances is energetically expensive.</p>
<p>Biologists have historically understood that mitochondria are generated within a cell and remain there to produce energy. However, the extreme length of sensory axons raises questions about how neurons maintain enough power to function and repair themselves. A single neuron extending from the human spine to the foot can be up to one meter long. Manufacturing and transporting mitochondria from the cell body to the distant terminals presents a formidable hurdle for the cell.</p>
<p>Jing Xu and Ru-Rong Ji, researchers at the Duke University Medical Center, hypothesized that these neurons might not be working alone. They focused on satellite glial cells, a type of support cell that completely envelopes the bodies of sensory neurons. For decades, scientists believed these glial cells merely provided structural cushioning and chemical balance. Xu and Ji investigated whether these cells might also serve as external batteries.</p>
<p>The research team, led by Xu and Ji, began their investigation by growing mouse neurons and satellite glial cells together in a laboratory setting. They utilized fluorescent dyes to label the mitochondria within the glial cells. Through time-lapse imaging, they observed the glowing mitochondria leaving the glial cells and entering the neurons. This offered visual proof that energy packets were moving between distinct cells.</p>
<p>To understand how this transfer occurred, the team employed high-resolution electron microscopy. This imaging technique revealed physical connections linking the outer membranes of the support cells to the neurons. These connections are known as tunneling nanotubes. They act as transient bridges that allow cellular cargo to pass from one interior environment to another.</p>
<p>The researchers identified the structural components of these bridges. They found that the nanotubes are constructed from actin, a protein that forms the skeleton of cells. They also identified a specific motor protein called myosin 10. This protein appears to drive the formation of the tunnels and facilitates the transport of mitochondria through them.</p>
<p>When the researchers genetically removed the ability of the glial cells to produce myosin 10, the transfer of mitochondria stopped. The study showed that without this external infusion of energy, the neurons struggled. Their ability to manage oxidative stress declined, and their electrical activity became unstable. This suggested that the donation of mitochondria is not just a bonus but a requirement for neuronal health.</p>
<p>The team then sought to determine if this mechanism operates inside living animals. They utilized a specialized strain of mice engineered to produce fluorescent mitochondria. By combining this with advanced microscopy, they documented the existence of tunneling nanotubes within the dorsal root ganglia of live mice. The images confirmed that the phenomenon observed in the petri dish was a natural biological process.</p>
<p>The investigation then turned to the relationship between mitochondrial transfer and neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy is a condition involving nerve damage that causes chronic pain, tingling, and numbness. It is a frequent side effect of chemotherapy drugs like paclitaxel and a common complication of diabetes. The researchers administered paclitaxel to mice to mimic chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.</p>
<p>In the mice treated with chemotherapy, the number of tunneling nanotubes dropped precipitously. The transfer of mitochondria from glial cells to neurons was severely impeded. The researchers observed a similar breakdown in transport in mice bred to model type 2 diabetes. In both models, the reduction in mitochondrial delivery correlated with increased sensitivity to pain and the degeneration of nerve fibers in the skin.</p>
<p>To verify the relevance to human health, the team analyzed tissue samples from human donors. They compared dorsal root ganglia from healthy donors with those from donors who had a history of diabetes. The diabetic tissue displayed a marked reduction in the genetic expression of myosin 10. This finding supports the idea that the mechanism failure seen in mice also occurs in humans with neuropathy.</p>
<p>The most distinct evidence for the protective role of this transfer came from “rescue” experiments. The researchers isolated healthy satellite glial cells and injected them directly into the dorsal root ganglia of mice suffering from neuropathy. This procedure restored the supply of mitochondria to the struggling neurons.</p>
<p>The results of this intervention were measurable and positive. The mice treated with healthy glial cells exhibited a higher tolerance for pain compared to untreated controls. Furthermore, the treatment appeared to resolve the physical damage to the nerves. The density of nerve fibers in the skin, which typically dies back during neuropathy, showed signs of regeneration.</p>
<p>The researchers took this line of inquiry one step further by bypassing the cells entirely. They isolated pure mitochondria from healthy glial cells and injected the organelles directly into the damaged nerve clusters. This direct injection of mitochondria achieved similar results. The pain behaviors in the mice subsided, and the nerves began to recover. This suggests that the mitochondria themselves are the therapeutic agent.</p>
<p>There are caveats to these findings that require consideration. The study focused exclusively on the dorsal root ganglia and peripheral sensory neurons. It remains unknown if similar transfer mechanisms occur in the brain or spinal cord, where a different type of support cell known as an astrocyte interacts with neurons. The central nervous system has a different architecture, so the processes may not be identical.</p>
<p>Additionally, the precise signals that trigger the formation of these nanotubes remain to be identified. The researchers know that the glial cells initiate the connection, but they do not yet know what chemical distress signal the neuron sends to request aid. Understanding this signaling pathway would be necessary to develop drugs that could stimulate the process without invasive injections.</p>
<p>The feasibility of translating this into a human therapy also presents challenges. Injecting cells or mitochondria directly into nerve bundles is an invasive procedure. Future research would need to determine if systemic treatments could stimulate the body’s existing glial cells to repair their connections and resume mitochondrial transfer.</p>
<p>This study fundamentally alters the understanding of how neurons sustain themselves. It portrays the sensory neuron not as an independent entity but as a cell that is metabolically coupled to its neighbors. The satellite glial cells act as a life-support system, constantly replenishing the energy reserves of the neuron. When that support line is cut, the neuron becomes vulnerable to disease and injury.</p>
<p>The findings offer a new target for treating peripheral neuropathy. Current treatments often focus on dampening the electrical signals of pain. This research suggests a restorative approach. By repairing the energy supply chain, it may be possible to heal the damaged nerves rather than simply masking the symptoms. The work opens a new avenue for investigating how cellular cooperation maintains the health of the nervous system.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09896-x" target="_blank">Mitochondrial transfer from glia to neurons protects against peripheral neuropathy</a>,” was authored by Jing Xu, Yize Li, Charles Novak, Min Lee, Zihan Yan, Sangsu Bang, Aidan McGinnis, Sharat Chandra, Vivian Zhang, Wei He, Terry Lechler, Maria Pia Rodriguez Salazar, Cagla Eroglu, Matthew L. Becker, Dmitry Velmeshev, Richard E. Cheney & Ru-Rong Ji.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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