<table style="border:1px solid #adadad; background-color: #F3F1EC; color: #666666; padding:8px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; line-height:16px; margin-bottom:6px;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-relationships-take-a-surprising-physical-toll-on-older-adults/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New relationships take a surprising physical toll on older adults</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 23rd 2026, 10:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Older adults are often thought to handle interpersonal conflicts far better than younger people, but new research suggests this advantage might not extend to the modern dating scene. A recent study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251332763">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</a></em> found that older individuals in newly formed romantic partnerships actually report worse emotional and physical reactions to daily partner tensions than younger daters do. These findings challenge common assumptions about aging and emotional maturity by highlighting how the specific context of a fresh relationship can undermine the usual benefits of getting older.</p>
<p>Aging frequently brings a distinct shift in social and emotional priorities. Studies consistently show that as people grow older, they start to heavily prioritize harmony and become better at regulating their emotions during social conflicts. This gained skill is often referred to by psychologists as socioemotional expertise. Decades of accumulated life experience allow older adults to deploy passive coping strategies, such as consciously letting minor annoyances go or giving their partners the benefit of the doubt.</p>
<p>Because of these practiced skills, older adults typically experience far less emotional distress than younger people when their romantic partners behave poorly. But there is a notable catch to this scientific literature. Most prior research on relationship conflict in later life has focused almost entirely on couples in longstanding marriages. This heavy focus makes it difficult to separate the benefits of chronological age from the benefits of being in a comfortable partnership spanning decades.</p>
<p>When human beings transition into a committed dating relationship, they must figure out how to merge their daily lives and coordinate their routines. This early integration phase is naturally turbulent and prone to misunderstandings. Because new couples lack a long history of shared positive experiences, they are more likely to view minor irritations as serious threats to the relationship’s future. Without an established foundation of trust, sweeping a partner’s annoying habits under the rug becomes a much harder task.</p>
<p>Lisa Neff, a human development researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, alongside her colleague Jennifer Beer, wanted to know if the emotional advantages of aging hold up during this rocky dating phase. As the number of unmarried adults over the age of fifty continues to rise, dating in later life has become increasingly common. The researchers designed a study to test whether age always brings wisdom during relationship tensions, or if the protective nature of aging strictly depends on how long the couple has been together.</p>
<p>To investigate these questions, the research team recruited two distinct groups of romantic partners. The first group consisted of two hundred married couples who had been together for at least ten years. The second group contained eighty-two couples in dating relationships that had lasted less than three years. All participants ranged in age from thirty to eighty-eight years old, ensuring that the researchers could accurately compare older and younger individuals within both established and newly formed partnerships.</p>
<p>The researchers utilized a structured daily diary approach to track the couples over a twenty-one-day period. Each evening, participants logged onto a secure survey to report on their partner’s actions that day. They checked off whether their partner had criticized them, acted impatient, or exhibited other negative actions from a standard behavioral list.</p>
<p>The participants also filled out daily assessments regarding their own physical health symptoms, tracing complaints like headaches, muscle soreness, and nausea. Additionally, they recorded their emotional states, reporting any feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety, or loneliness, along with their overall satisfaction with the relationship on that particular day. By collecting this daily data, the investigators could measure each person’s reactivity to relationship stress.</p>
<p>Reactivity refers to the extent to which a person’s emotional distress or physical problems increase on days when they have more tension with their partner compared to days with less tension. The researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for baseline emotional states from the exact previous day. This mathematical approach allowed the investigators to track true daily changes, ensuring they were measuring immediate reactions to a conflict rather than a lingering bad mood. They also controlled for variables like daily time spent together, general relationship happiness, the presence of children in the home, and any history of past divorces.</p>
<p>The results revealed an unexpected pattern regarding emotional distress among women. Among established married couples, a person’s age was not associated with their emotional reactions to a partner’s annoying behaviors. Among dating couples, older women experienced greater spikes in negative emotions on tense days compared to younger dating women. Older dating women were also more emotionally reactive than older married women, suggesting that trying to navigate a new partnership in later life takes a unique emotional toll.</p>
<p>Men did not show this age-related difference in emotional responses. This gender disparity aligns with past research indicating that women often shoulder a heavier emotional burden and report higher sensitivity during interpersonal conflicts. When looking at physical health, however, the researchers found a shared vulnerability for older daters of both sexes.</p>
<p>Once again, age did not offer any physical buffer against stress for people in longstanding marriages. Older dating individuals reported experiencing more spikes in physical health issues on tense days than younger dating individuals did. Symptoms such as headaches and nausea were more pronounced for older daters when relationship friction occurred. This indicates that for older adults, the friction of a fresh romance is closely tied to tangible bodily complaints.</p>
<p>When it came to general relationship satisfaction, age did not make a difference for anyone. All participants, regardless of their chronological age or the length of their relationship, reported drops in daily satisfaction when their partners exhibited negative behaviors. The researchers noted that relationship satisfaction is a higher-level psychological evaluation rather than an immediate emotional or bodily reaction, meaning everyone is equally likely to feel unhappy with their union right after an argument happens.</p>
<p>The underlying reasons for this heightened vulnerability likely stem from the changing emotional goals of older adults. Because people in later life place a high priority on maintaining peaceful social ties, they generally try to avoid arguments whenever possible. In a brand new dating relationship, however, avoiding friction is incredibly difficult because the partners are still figuring out how to merge their diverse daily lives.</p>
<p>When older adults are forced into these unavoidable confrontational situations, they may lack the emotional flexibility to easily brush the tension aside. Additionally, the physical toll observed in the study might relate to how aging bodies process biological stress. While an older person might want to let an issue go, the biological stress response triggered by a romantic dispute can linger. Because physiological arousal takes longer to dissipate in an aging body, the unavoidable friction of a new dating scenario can easily manifest as prolonged anxiety, headaches, or muscle tension.</p>
<p>While the study offers a rare glimpse into the dynamics of later-life dating, the research team acknowledged several limitations to their work. The couples who participated in the study were predominantly white, healthy, and highly educated. Because socio-economic status and cultural background can deeply influence how people approach romantic relationships, future studies should aim to include more diverse populations to see if these patterns hold up across different demographic groups.</p>
<p>The study also did not track the couples over a multi-year period to see how their reactivity affected the long-term survival of the relationships. It is entirely possible that heightened emotional sensitivity to a partner’s flaws actually serves a protective function for older adults. A strong negative reaction to early dating turbulence might motivate an older person to exit an unhealthy situation quickly, rather than wasting precious time on an incompatible partner.</p>
<p>Future investigations will need to track older dating couples for longer durations to determine if this intense reactivity is ultimately a vulnerability or a hidden strength. Until then, psychologists and dating coaches alike might need to reconsider the assumption that older singles will naturally breeze through the bumps of a new romance.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251332763">Dating in Later Life: Do the Advantages of Age Depend on the Relational Context?</a>,” was authored by Lisa A. Neff and Jennifer S. Beer.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/left-leaning-support-for-redistribution-stems-from-perceived-unfairness-rather-than-malicious-envy/" 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;">Left-leaning support for redistribution stems from perceived unfairness rather than malicious envy</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 23rd 2026, 08:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in the <em>Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</em> suggests that public support for wealth redistribution is driven by beliefs about fairness rather than jealousy toward the rich. The findings indicate that people who favor taxing the wealthy are primarily motivated by the perception that extreme wealth is not strictly earned through hard work. This research provides evidence that the popular “politics of envy” narrative, which claims left-leaning individuals just want to punish the successful, is largely inaccurate.</p>
<p>Critics often dismiss support for economic redistribution as being fueled by malicious envy, which is a hostile and painful desire to see superior or wealthy individuals lose their advantages. This idea suggests that left-leaning individuals favor redistributive policies simply out of resentment for those who have achieved financial success.</p>
<p>However, previous empirical links between left-wing political views and envy have been inconsistent and weak. The scientists suspected that past discussions overlooked a major psychological mechanism known as meritocracy beliefs. Meritocracy is the belief that social systems are generally fair, providing equal opportunities to all, and that financial success is the direct result of individual talent and hard work.</p>
<p>“A popular argument against redistribution is that its supporters are driven by an immoral motive: envy. And indeed, some studies have found that envy predicts support for redistribution,” said study author <a href="https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/00172809" target="_blank">Jasper Neerdaels</a>, a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven in Belgium.</p>
<p>“However, in our studies, we observed that this effect largely disappears once we took meritocracy beliefs into account, that is, whether people believe wealth and success are truly deserved. Thus, it seemed that support for redistribution is driven not by envy, but by the belief that the rich often don’t deserve their advantage. This is what we tested and found across four studies.”</p>
<p>The researchers hypothesized that left-leaning people are not inherently more envious than conservative individuals. Instead, they proposed that left-leaning individuals are simply less likely to endorse meritocracy beliefs. Because they tend to view extreme wealth as the product of luck or structural privilege rather than hard work, they support redistributing that wealth to address perceived societal unfairness.</p>
<p>To test these ideas, the scientists conducted a series of four investigations involving a total of 4,171 participants. The first study involved an online survey of 400 adult residents of the United States. Participants completed standard questionnaires measuring their political ideology, their endorsement of meritocracy beliefs, their disposition toward malicious envy, and their support for economic redistribution policies.</p>
<p>The scientists found that left-leaning political views predicted a lower belief in a fair meritocracy, which in turn weakly predicted feelings of malicious envy. When looking at support for wealth redistribution, the belief that wealth is unearned was a strong, dominant predictor. Malicious envy did not significantly predict support for redistributive policies once these meritocracy beliefs were factored into the statistical models.</p>
<p>To ensure these patterns were reliable, the researchers conducted a second survey with a larger sample of 793 adults in the United States. The procedures, questionnaires, and demographic questions were nearly identical to the first survey. The results of this second, larger survey closely replicated the initial findings about ideology and fairness.</p>
<p>The data from the second survey confirmed that left-leaning ideology was only indirectly connected to envy through a reduced belief in a fair meritocracy. As before, a lack of belief in a meritocracy strongly predicted a person’s support for wealth redistribution. Envy entirely failed to predict support for redistribution in any meaningful way, challenging the traditional political narrative.</p>
<p>Next, Neerdaels and his colleagues designed an experiment to test these dynamics in a controlled setting with 794 adults in the United States. Participants read a hypothetical scenario about a villager named Alex, who was described as one of the wealthiest people in town. In a control group, participants received no additional information about how Alex acquired this immense wealth.</p>
<p>In the experimental group, participants were explicitly told that Alex had worked very hard and that the wealth was completely deserved. After reading the scenarios, participants rated their perceptions of Alex’s deservingness, their feelings of envy, and their support for taking some of Alex’s money to help poorer villagers. The experimental manipulation successfully altered how participants viewed the wealthy villager.</p>
<p>In the ambiguous control condition, left-leaning participants were highly likely to assume Alex’s wealth was unearned, which predicted higher support for redistribution. However, when explicitly told that Alex’s wealth was the clear result of hard work, left-leaning participants adjusted their views. Their perception of deservingness increased, their envy decreased, and their support for redistribution dropped to match the rest of the participants.</p>
<p>Finally, the researchers sought to confirm these patterns outside of the United States by analyzing data from a large German survey. This fourth study included representative responses from 2,183 German adults. The survey used time-lagged data, meaning the questions about political ideology, meritocracy beliefs, and general envy were asked at different times over a span of several years.</p>
<p>This time-lagged approach allowed the scientists to see if early ideological beliefs predicted later emotional attitudes. Just as in the American samples, the German data showed that left-leaning political views predicted lower meritocracy beliefs. These lower meritocracy beliefs, rather than feelings of envy, drove the participants’ support for government measures to reduce income disparities.</p>
<p>“Despite the popularity of the ‘politics of envy’ argument, people who support redistribution are less driven by envy and more by the perception that the rich do not deserve their wealth,” Neerdaels told PsyPost. “Getting those motives right matters because people may judge policies differently depending on whether support for them is seen as rooted in fairness concerns or in envy. We hope our findings contribute to a more informed discussion about redistribution. This is especially important given the high levels of inequality in the world today.”</p>
<p>But the study, like all research, has some limitations. Because the survey data relies on correlational observations, it is difficult to definitively prove cause and effect in every instance. It remains possible that feelings of envy could sometimes influence how fair a person thinks the system is, rather than the lack of fairness causing the envy.</p>
<p>Another limitation is that the studies relied on a simple left-right scale for measuring political ideology. People often have complex political views that differ wildly across social and economic issues. Future research should separate economic conservatism from social conservatism to see if these distinct dimensions relate differently to meritocracy beliefs and redistribution preferences.</p>
<p>The scientists also pointed out that their studies relied on self-reported support for hypothetical redistribution. To strengthen these conclusions, future experiments could use behavioral scenarios where participants have to redistribute real money. Finally, scientists might explore how other common arguments, such as concerns about personal freedom or economic growth, shape people’s attitudes toward taxation and wealth.</p>
<p>The study, “Politics of Envy? Meritocracy Beliefs, Not Envy, Drive Support for Redistribution”, was authored by Jasper Neerdaels, Lisa Blatz, and Jan Crusius.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/severe-borderline-traits-in-bipolar-disorder-are-linked-to-early-maladaptive-schemas/" 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;">Severe borderline traits in bipolar disorder are linked to early maladaptive schemas</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 23rd 2026, 06:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.121174" target="_blank">Journal of Affective Disorders</a></em> suggests that deep-seated negative beliefs formed in childhood play a role in how borderline personality traits appear in people with bipolar disorder. The research provides evidence that individuals with severe borderline traits experience a stronger psychological web of negative relationship patterns and self-harm compared to those with milder traits. These findings offer new insights into how mental health professionals might better tailor therapies for complex mood disorders.</p>
<p>Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by extreme mood swings, including emotional highs and depressive lows. Many people with this condition also exhibit borderline personality features. These features include emotional instability, a distorted sense of self, turbulent relationships, and behaviors that cause self-harm.</p>
<p>The authors of the new study wanted to understand why some patients with bipolar disorder display very severe borderline traits while others only show mild signs. The researchers hypothesized that early maladaptive schemas might explain these differences. Early maladaptive schemas are deeply ingrained, unhelpful patterns of thinking and feeling about oneself and the world. These negative beliefs usually develop in childhood when a child’s basic emotional needs are not met.</p>
<p>“Some patients with bipolar disorder exhibit severe borderline personality features, while others do not. I considered it important to explore the mechanisms underlying these differences, as the level of borderline personality features is associated with variations in patients’ clinical characteristics, such as mood symptoms, self-identity, and interpersonal relationships,” explained Myeongkeun Cho of the Asan Medical Center.</p>
<p>“I also hypothesized that differences in the level of borderline personality features might be related with early maladaptive schemas, as schema therapy posits that early maladaptive schemas influence several personality-related problems. Therefore, I decided to compare the levels and associations of borderline personality features and early maladaptive schemas between patients with bipolar disorder who have severe borderline personality features and those with nonsevere borderline personality features.”</p>
<p>To conduct the study, the researchers analyzed data from 557 outpatients receiving treatment at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea. All participants were between the ages of 18 and 49 and had a formal diagnosis of either bipolar I or bipolar II disorder. Bipolar I disorder involves severe manic episodes that are often accompanied by deep depression, while bipolar II involves a pattern of depressive episodes and less severe manic periods.</p>
<p>The patients completed standardized psychiatric questionnaires as part of their routine medical care. The scientists used a specific assessment tool to measure the severity of four borderline traits: emotional instability, identity problems, negative relationships, and self-harm. They also used a secondary questionnaire to evaluate 18 different early maladaptive schemas.</p>
<p>These 18 schemas included feelings of abandonment, emotional deprivation, social isolation, and a persistent sense of defectiveness. Based on the assessment scores, the researchers divided the participants into two separate categories. The final sample included 345 patients with severe borderline features and 212 patients with non-severe borderline features.</p>
<p>The researchers utilized a statistical method called network analysis to map out how these different traits and beliefs connected to one another. Network analysis is a mathematical technique that allows scientists to visualize complex relationships, treating each symptom or belief as a point on a map and drawing lines between them based on how strongly they link together.</p>
<p>The researchers found that the group with severe borderline traits scored higher on all four borderline features. This severe group also scored higher on every single one of the 18 early maladaptive schemas compared to the non-severe group.</p>
<p>The network analysis revealed several similarities between the two groups. In both sets of patients, the early negative beliefs were highly interconnected. Specifically, schemas related to a sense of defectiveness, shame, and subjugation tended to be central hubs in the psychological network.</p>
<p>Subjugation refers to a person’s tendency to surrender control to others to avoid conflict or rejection. Additionally, in both groups, a patient’s struggle with identity and negative relationships strongly linked to schemas involving disconnection and feelings of being rejected by others.</p>
<p>Another shared pattern involved self-harming behaviors. Across all participants, engaging in self-harm was directly connected to a schema characterized by insufficient self-control and a lack of self-discipline. This provides evidence that the belief that one cannot control their own impulses plays a role in self-destructive actions.</p>
<p>Despite these commonalities, the scientists discovered distinct differences in how the traits interacted. For patients in the severe group, negative relationship patterns were much more strongly tangled with early negative beliefs than in the non-severe group. This indicates that their interpersonal struggles are deeply rooted in chronic, unhelpful ways of seeing the world.</p>
<p>The way emotional instability manifested also differed based on the severity of the borderline traits. For the patients with severe borderline features, emotional instability was directly linked to self-harming behaviors. For those with non-severe features, emotional instability was instead linked to internal struggles with their own identity.</p>
<p>“I would like to highlight that, whether borderline personality features are severe or not, identity problems and negative relationships are directly related with the schema that ‘others will reject me’, and self-harm behavior is directly related with the schema that ‘I am unable to tolerate distress well,'” Cho told PsyPost. “Another takeaway is that patients with severe borderline personality features show greater severity across all maladaptive schemas, and their negative relationships with others are more closely related with maladaptive schemas.”</p>
<p>While the study provides extensive details about the psychological networks of these patients, there are some potential misinterpretations and limitations to consider. The research relied on cross-sectional data, meaning the information was gathered at a single point in time. Because of this design, the scientists cannot definitively prove that early maladaptive schemas cause borderline traits. It remains possible that having severe borderline traits alters how a person remembers and reports their childhood beliefs. </p>
<p>Additionally, the study solely included Korean outpatients from a single hospital. This specific sample might limit how well the findings apply to individuals from different cultural backgrounds or clinical settings.</p>
<p>Future research should involve long-term studies that track patients over months or years. Observing these changes over time would help clarify the direct cause-and-effect relationships between childhood schemas and personality traits. Scientists also recommend testing whether specific psychotherapies that target these deep-seated beliefs can successfully reduce borderline symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.121174" target="_blank">Levels and associations of borderline personality features and early maladaptive schemas in bipolar disorder: A comparative network analysis</a>“, was authored by Myeongkeun Cho, Chanhee Park, Eunbyeol Lee, and C. Hyung Keun Park.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-links-psilocybin-receptor-activation-to-sustained-structural-brain-changes/" 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 links psilocybin receptor activation to sustained structural brain changes</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 22nd 2026, 20:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251395386"><em>Journal of Psychopharmacology</em></a> sheds light on how psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in certain mushrooms, may produce anti-depressant effects. Researchers suggest that its benefits could be linked to specific patterns of serotonin receptor activity and increased flexibility in brain cells.</p>
<p>In recent years, clinical trials have shown that psilocybin can produce rapid and lasting improvements in symptoms of major depressive disorder, sometimes after only one or two treatment sessions. Despite promising results, scientists still have limited understanding of the biological mechanisms that allow psilocybin to produce such long-lasting effects.</p>
<p>One theory lies in the way psilocybin interacts with the brain’s serotonin system. The compound activates a serotonin receptor known as the 5-HT2A receptor, which is widely believed to play a central role in the psychedelic experience. However, researchers have not fully understood how activation of this receptor leads to changes in mood and behavior that may persist long after the drug’s immediate effects have worn off.</p>
<p>To investigate this question, a team led by Connor J. Maltby (Ulysses Neuroscience, Republic of Ireland) conducted an experimental study using mice. The researchers administered different doses of psilocybin and measured how strongly the drug occupied 5-HT2A receptors in the animals’ prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in decision-making, emotional regulation, and complex thinking.</p>
<p>The researchers also examined several behavioral responses associated with psychedelic compounds. One of these measures was the acute “head twitch response,” a rapid side-to-side head movement in mice that is commonly used as a biological indicator of psychedelic activity. </p>
<p>In addition, to test the drug’s lasting effects, the animals were evaluated 20 to 24 hours after administration—when the drug had already cleared from their systems—in two widely used behavioral experiments: the elevated zero maze, which measures anxiety-related behavior, and the forced swim test, which is often used to assess depression-like behavior in rodents.</p>
<p>The results revealed a clear relationship between psilocybin dose, receptor activation, and behavioral outcomes. The drug produced increasing levels of 5-HT2A receptor occupancy as doses rose. However, the head twitch response followed an “inverted-U” pattern, meaning that optimal levels of receptor activation (~44–62%) produced the strongest responses, while higher doses caused a drop-off in twitches due to a general suppression of movement.</p>
<p>In the behavioral tests conducted the following day, mice receiving a moderate dose of psilocybin (1.5 mg/kg) showed greater willingness to explore open areas of the maze, a pattern typically interpreted as reduced anxiety-like behavior. Meanwhile, a higher dose (3 mg/kg) reduced immobility in the forced swim test, which researchers interpret as a sign of sustained antidepressant-like effects.</p>
<p>Beyond behavior, the researchers also examined biological changes within brain cells. They measured modifications to proteins that regulate the structure of microtubules, which are components of the cell’s internal framework that play an important role in neuronal growth and communication. The findings showed that psilocybin successfully shifted these molecular markers toward a more flexible, dynamic state in both the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala (the brain’s fear center).</p>
<p>Crucially, the drug also increased the expression of certain synaptic proteins associated with neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize its connections and adapt. However, this increase in synaptic proteins occurred selectively in the prefrontal cortex, not in the amygdala. The researchers hypothesize that this regional difference may serve as an intrinsic safety mechanism, allowing the brain to rewire itself to fight depression while preventing the hardwiring of new fear-based connections.</p>
<p>The present findings “support the hypothesis of a potential role of microtubule dynamics in the promotion of neuronal plasticity, potentially associated with antidepressant efficacy,” Maltby and team noted.</p>
<p>Several limitations should be considered. For example, the study was conducted exclusively on male mice to limit biological variability, and animal models cannot fully replicate human mental health conditions. Also, the experiments utilized healthy animals rather than disease models, which may limit direct relevance to clinical conditions.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251395386">An exploration of the relationships between the effects of psilocybin on behavior, 5-HT2A receptor occupancy, and neuroplastic effects in mice</a>,” was authored by Connor J. Maltby, Adam K. Klein, Enya Paschen, Jessica Pinto, Dino Dvorak, Joseph R. Hedde, Ashley N. Hanks, Massimiliano Bianchi, and Zoë A. Hughes.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/people-with-cannabis-disorder-do-not-seem-to-pay-increased-attention-to-pictures-of-cannabis/" 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;">People with cannabis disorder do not seem to pay increased attention to pictures of cannabis</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 22nd 2026, 18:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A study of individuals with cannabis use disorder in Australia did not find evidence that they pay more attention to pictures of cannabis compared to individuals not suffering from that disorder. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2025.152658"><em>Comprehensive Psychiatry</em></a>.</p>
<p>Cannabis use disorder is a mental health condition characterized by a problematic pattern of cannabis use that leads to significant impairment or distress. It occurs when a person continues using cannabis despite experiencing negative consequences in daily life.</p>
<p>Individuals with this disorder may have difficulty controlling how often or how much cannabis they use. They may spend a lot of time obtaining, using, or recovering from the effects of cannabis. Another common feature is craving, which refers to a strong desire or urge to use the substance. People with cannabis use disorder tend to also develop tolerance, meaning they need larger amounts of cannabis to achieve the same effects.</p>
<p>Some individuals experience withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, sleep problems, or reduced appetite when they stop using cannabis. The disorder can interfere with responsibilities at work, school, or home. It may also lead to social or interpersonal problems related to cannabis use.</p>
<p>Study author Marianna Quinones-Valera and her colleagues wanted to explore how attentional bias towards cannabis-related pictures (vs. neutral pictures) differs between individuals with moderate-to-severe cannabis use disorder who are not seeking treatment and control participants, accounting for the amount of alcohol consumption during the past month. They also wanted to see whether the strength of this attentional bias depends on how much cannabis they use, cannabis cravings, cannabis-related problems, and a number of other characteristics.</p>
<p>Study participants were 108 individuals recruited from the Melbourne metropolitan area (Australia) via flyers from the general community, university campuses, and online platforms. Participants were required to be between 18 and 55 years of age, with normal or corrected-to-normal vision, and fluent in English. Participants with cannabis use disorder also needed to report daily or almost daily cannabis use for at least the past 12 months, and to meet diagnostic criteria for a moderate-to-severe cannabis use disorder.</p>
<p>Study participants completed assessments of anxiety (the State-Trait Anxiety Index – Y Form), and depressive and psychotic symptoms (the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences). They also completed a clinical interview to confirm the severity of their cannabis use disorder, reported their motivation to change cannabis use habits (the Contemplation Ladder), and completed an assessment of problematic alcohol use (the Alcohol Use Identification Test).</p>
<p>Attentional bias was measured using a task where participants viewed and responded to pictures. There were 10 pairs of cannabis and neutral images. Cannabis images included photos of cannabis, of people using cannabis, and cannabis paraphernalia. Neutral images included people and objects matched to cannabis images on composition, complexity, brightness, and color.</p>
<p>The task first briefly showed a cannabis and a neutral image side-by-side. After this, one of those images was replaced by an arrow, and the participant had to indicate the orientation of the arrow. The idea is that if participants show attentional bias towards cannabis (i.e., if cannabis images attract their attention more than neutral images), they will react faster to arrows that replace the cannabis image because their gaze and attention were already directed at that place before the arrow appeared there (so they do not need to move their gaze to view the arrow). Each participant completed 164 of these trials, lasting some 15 minutes in total.</p>
<p>The results did not support the expectation that participants with cannabis use disorder have a stronger attentional bias towards cannabis pictures compared to the control group. However, within participants suffering from cannabis use disorder, those with more severe symptoms tended to have very slightly faster reaction times when the arrow appeared over cannabis images compared to neutral images. However, this difference was very small, and it remained unclear whether it is a systematic difference or just something produced by random variations in participants’ responses.</p>
<p>“Attentional bias might not be a robust feature of CUD [cannabis use disorder], though this notion requires validation in a larger sample using more direct measures of attentional bias,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific knowledge about cannabis use disorder. However, it should be noted that reactions to briefly shown cannabis pictures might not adequately reflect how people react to cannabis in real-world situations. Study authors also note that the fact that they selected participants with cannabis use disorder that do not suffer from any other psychiatric illness might have resulted in a sample not really representative of the general population of individuals with cannabis use disorder.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2025.152658">Attentional bias in people with moderate-to-severe cannabis use disorder,</a>” was authored by Marianna Quinones-Valera, Gary Chan, Madeleine I. Fraser, Andrew Jones, Tom P. Freeman, Chandni Hindocha, Hannah Thomson, Eugene McTavish, Hannah Sehl, Adam Clemente, Janna Cousijn, Izelle Labuschagne, Peter Rendell, Gill Terrett, Lisa-Marie Greenwood, Govinda Poudel, Chao Suo, Victoria Manning, and Valentina Lorenzetti.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/in-sickness-and-in-health-how-a-medical-condition-impacts-your-chances-of-findin-2026-03-20/" 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;">In sickness and in health? How a medical condition impacts your chances of finding and keeping love</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 22nd 2026, 16:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A person’s health can shape their romantic trajectory, acting as a filter for who gets married and who stays married. A recent study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465251375984">Journal of Health and Social Behavior</a></em> found that poor health reduces the chances of forming a romantic union and elevates the risk of those partnerships ending. The results indicate that the association between physical well-being and marital status flows in both directions, layering social disadvantages onto those already experiencing medical issues.</p>
<p>Prior research has heavily focused on the protective effects of marriage, showing that being married correlates with better outcomes over a lifespan. Considerably less attention has been directed at the opposite sequence of events. A person’s medical status might predict their ability to find a partner or maintain a supportive network.</p>
<p>Researchers want to know if medical adversity is linked to damaged relationships or limited options in the dating market. If poor health coincides with relationship breakdown, aging populations might risk losing social support right when they need it most. This dynamic is highly relevant today, as longer lifespans mean more people will eventually manage chronic illnesses.</p>
<p>At the same time, marriage patterns are shifting globally. People are marrying less, divorcing more, and frequently repartnering at older ages. In this environment, partner selection has become highly competitive, elevating the importance of perceived physical vitality.</p>
<p>Several theoretical mechanisms attempt to explain how illness might be linked to romantic status. During the dating phase, health may function as a screening criterion alongside education, income, and personality. People might consciously or unconsciously select partners based on their ability to offer resources and protection during a long term commitment.</p>
<p>Once a union is formed, chronic illness can reduce a person’s mobility and increase their need for care. This dynamic can cause an emotional and practical burden on the healthier partner. Routine conflicts, reduced communication, and withdrawal tendencies become more common as couples navigate these new challenges.</p>
<p>Matthijs Kalmijn, a demographer and professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, designed the project to explore these ideas. Kalmijn utilized long-term survey data from multiple countries to test whether a person’s self-assessed condition has an association with the formation and dissolution of their romantic unions.</p>
<p>Kalmijn evaluated data from annual household surveys conducted in Australia, Germany, South Korea, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. This harmonized dataset provided information on over a quarter of a million adult respondents. The analysis tracked these individuals over several years to observe transitions in their relationship status.</p>
<p>The observed transitions included entering a first romantic union, deciding between marriage or living together unmarried, experiencing a separation or divorce, and finding a new partner after a previous marriage ended. The key variable of interest was self-rated health. This metric asks respondents to classify their well-being on a five-point scale ranging from excellent to poor.</p>
<p>Self-rated health is a widely accepted measure in demographic research. The simple five-point scale correlates strongly with mortality rates and a wide range of actual mental and physical conditions. Using this metric allowed for a consistent comparison across the different national surveys.</p>
<p>Kalmijn used statistical models to calculate the probability of individuals making relationship transitions in a given year based on their prior health ratings. The models accounted for age, education, religious affiliation, and other demographic factors to isolate the specific role of an individual’s wellbeing.</p>
<p>The analyses revealed that poor health was associated with negative outcomes across every type of relationship transition studied. Individuals dealing with poor health were less likely to enter a first union. When they did find a partner, they were less likely to get married, opting instead to simply live together.</p>
<p>The link was even stronger for dissolving a relationship. Survey participants with worse health scores faced a much higher risk of separation and divorce compared to their healthier peers. This aligns with the idea that ongoing medical demands put a strain on established routines.</p>
<p>For those who had already gone through a divorce or the death of a spouse, health issues posed a barrier to finding love again. Poor health reduced the odds of repartnering in almost all the countries surveyed. This trend highlights a vulnerability among older populations who are searching for companionship late in life.</p>
<p>Kalmijn estimated these events with and without accounting for employment status and household income. Health problems often lead to job loss or reduced income, which can put financial strain on relationships. Including these economic factors slightly reduced the observed association between health and marriage.</p>
<p>Even after controlling for money and employment, the direct associations with health status remained robust. The severity of the health penalty depended on the type of union transition. The negative link with poor health was consistently stronger on the dissolution of relationships than on their formation.</p>
<p>This suggests that while medical issues might not always be apparent during the early dating stages, they become highly visible once a union is established. A decline in a couple’s relationship quality can also negatively affect a person’s mental state. This creates a reciprocal loop that accelerates the path to separation.</p>
<p>Similarly, poor health had a stronger negative relation to getting married than it did to cohabitation. Marriage implies a longer time horizon, meaning individuals may evaluate a partner’s health more stringently before taking that step. Cohabitation often functions as a trial period, accommodating a higher degree of uncertainty about a partner’s future care needs.</p>
<p>The pattern of results remained strikingly similar across the six countries, suggesting that these social dynamics are not isolated to specific cultures. One exception was South Korea, where poor health was an especially strong predictor of marital dissolution. This outcome might be related to local dating market structures and heavy family involvement in matching couples.</p>
<p>Age also introduced variation to the findings. The link between poor health and relationship dissolution was strongest among younger adults. As people age, health problems become more common and socially expected.</p>
<p>Older couples have also typically invested more time in their relationship. This creates a sense of loyalty that makes them better equipped to stay together through an illness. At younger ages, a severe diagnosis introduces intense uncertainty about the future course of the partnership.</p>
<p>The researcher looked for differences between men and women but found very few instances where health penalized one gender more than the other. The assumption that a man’s health matters more for securing a marriage due to traditional earning roles was not supported by the data. Both men and women faced similar obstacles when dealing with poor health.</p>
<p>The study has some limitations that point to avenues for future research. The broad measure of self-rated health combines physical and mental well-being into a single metric. Future projects will need to separate specific physical ailments from psychological conditions to see how different illnesses relate to a partnership.</p>
<p>The current analysis only looked at individual survey responses, which prevented a study of how both partners’ health statuses interact. Researchers would need couples-based data to determine whether having two ailing partners amplifies relationship instability.</p>
<p>The data also lacked complete information regarding the exact starting dates for some marriages. Knowing the exact duration of a relationship helps researchers understand separation risks because couples tend to build resilience over time. While the researcher used specialized data out of Germany to confirm this omission did not bias the primary results, future studies could benefit from more detailed timelines.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465251375984">Effects of Self-Rated Health on Union Formation and Dissolution in Six Countries</a>,” was authored by Matthijs Kalmijn.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/how-to-make-friends-scientists-have-uncovered-some-intriguing-new-details/" 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;">How to make friends: Scientists have uncovered some intriguing new details</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 22nd 2026, 14:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Forming meaningful friendships is a fundamental human need that impacts our mental and physical well-being. Scientists are learning more and more about the exact mechanisms that bring people together. Modern research provides evidence that everything from physical environment to brain wave synchronization plays a specific role in how we form bonds.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Researchers are investigating the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience behind our closest relationships. By mapping social networks and scanning the brains of young adults, scientists are decoding the architecture of human connection. The findings suggest that making friends is a complex process influenced by a mix of personal traits, environmental structures, and deep biological compatibilities.</span></p>
<h3 class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The Power of Physical Space and Proximity</span></h3>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">One of the most essential elements of friendship formation is simple physical proximity. Being physically close to someone provides the repeated exposure necessary to turn a stranger into an acquaintance, and eventually, a friend. A study published in the journal </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.796002" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Frontiers in Psychology</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> examined this phenomenon in a sample of 235 children in the third through fifth grades. The researchers compared the students’ self-reported friendships at two different time points spaced about fourteen weeks apart.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology involved cross-referencing these friendship nominations with the physical seating charts provided by the classroom teachers. The scientists found that students sitting next to or nearby one another were significantly more likely to become friends than students seated farther apart. As classroom seat assignments changed, the students were highly likely to form new bonds with their newly assigned neighbors. This provides evidence that simple, forced proximity acts as a powerful catalyst for childhood social connections.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Physical environments continue to shape our social lives well beyond childhood classrooms. A scoping review published in the </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsae023" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Community Development Journal</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> analyzed 37 relevant research papers to understand how local community organizations foster friendship. The researchers looked for patterns in how physical community spaces, acting as social infrastructure, promote connection among diverse groups of people.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The review highlighted that community centers and clubs provide structured programs that serve as predictable prompts for social interaction. In addition to organized activities, these environments create safe spaces for informal, unplanned conversations to occur. The scientists concluded that physical community spaces help strangers discover shared similarities while providing a safe environment to bridge cultural differences.</span></p>
<h3 class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Personality Traits in the Friendship Equation</span></h3>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">While physical proximity brings people together, personality traits often determine whether a lasting connection will form. A common question in psychology is whether people are drawn to those who are similar to them, or if opposites attract. Research published in the </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.35566/jbds/v1n1/p3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Journal of Behavioral Data Science</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> explored this dynamic using a sample of 162 college students in China. The researchers used network analysis to map the entire social web of the students while assessing their Big Five personality traits.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology allowed the scientists to compare the personality profiles of students who were friends against those who were not. They discovered a nonlinear, U-shaped relationship between personality similarity and the likelihood of forming a friendship. The results suggest that students were highly likely to become friends if their personalities were very similar, supporting the idea that like attracts like. At the same time, students with highly dissimilar personalities were also very likely to become friends, providing evidence that opposites do indeed attract.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Specific personality traits also dictate where a person ends up within a broader social network. A study published in </span><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2022.916938" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Frontiers in Psychology</span></a><span class="ng-star-inserted"> examined the friendship network of 82 college sophomores, building on an initial survey sample of 260 students. The researchers measured the students’ personality types along with their interpersonal self-efficacy, which is a person’s belief in their own ability to communicate effectively.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The scientists mapped the classroom network and found that students displaying highly dominant or extroverted personalities naturally migrated to the center of the friendship web. Students with high interpersonal self-efficacy were much more likely to be popular and hold central positions within their peer groups. The researchers noted that while similar self-efficacy levels brought people together, complementary personality traits often helped solidify these small group formations.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Another detailed investigation into personality and social networks was published in the </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075241297721" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted">. This research involved 95 first-year university students in the Netherlands. The scientists tracked the students over the course of an academic year, measuring their personality traits, their academic grades, and their evolving networks of friends and study partners.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The tracking models revealed that students who were highly open to new experiences established the most friendships and were preferred as collaboration partners. Students with higher academic grades were also highly sought after in both friendship and study networks. Intriguingly, students who scored high in agreeableness were actually less likely to form connections, possibly because highly agreeable individuals avoid making too many ties to prevent conflicts in competitive academic environments.</span></p>
<h3 class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The Shock of Adulthood and Unmet Expectations</span></h3>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">As individuals transition from childhood to young adulthood, the rules for making friends change dramatically. This shift can lead to severe loneliness if young adults expect the process to remain as effortless as it was in high school. A qualitative study published in the </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12489" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Journal of Adolescence</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> explored this issue using a sample of 21 university students in the United Kingdom. The researchers conducted eight intensive focus group discussions to examine the gap between students’ expectations of college life and their actual experiences.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology involved showing students diagrams of different social environments and asking them to describe their pre-college expectations versus their current reality. The researchers found that many students experienced deep loneliness because their social expectations were entirely unmet. The students generally assumed that university friendships would form automatically through shared classes, just as they did in secondary school.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Instead, the students encountered a massive environment where forming relationships required unexpected and exhausting personal effort. The scientists noted that the students felt overwhelmed by the need to actively organize social outings and initiate conversations with strangers. This mismatch between expectations and reality was heavily influenced by idealized portrayals of college life seen on television and social media.</span></p>
<h3 class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Can We Teach People How to Make Friends?</span></h3>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Because making friends can be difficult, scientists have begun testing specific programs designed to teach connection skills. A study published in the </span><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1111%2Fjora.12622" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Journal of Research on Adolescence</span></a><span class="ng-star-inserted"> tested a structured bonding activity on 301 middle school students in the seventh and eighth grades. The researchers adapted a psychological exercise known as the Fast Friends procedure to see if it could promote friendships among young teenagers.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology paired students up and had them take turns answering a series of increasingly personal questions over three separate sessions. The final session required the newly paired students to work together on a physical task, such as building a tower out of blocks. The researchers tracked how close the students felt to one another before and after the month-long intervention.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The results showed that this escalating self-disclosure exercise successfully increased feelings of interpersonal closeness and friendship. The intervention proved equally effective for pairs of students from the same ethnic background and pairs from entirely different ethnic backgrounds. The scientists suggest that deliberately creating environments for guided vulnerability can actively speed up the friendship formation process for adolescents.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Similar guided training has proven helpful for adults who struggle with social interactions. Research published in the </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1625564" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">International Journal of Inclusive Education</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> evaluated a social skills training program for 10 young adults with learning disabilities. The scientists implemented a twelve-session curriculum designed to teach the participants how to navigate the complex dynamics of adult friendships.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology relied on qualitative evaluations, including individual interviews and focus group discussions with the participants after the program ended. The training sessions involved watching video clips of social scenarios and participating in role-playing exercises to practice communication skills. The researchers found that the participants gained significant knowledge about how to initiate conversations, manage conflicts, and recognize toxic relationship behaviors.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Following the program, the young adults expressed a much stronger predisposition toward actively fostering and maintaining their friendships. They reported feeling more confident in their ability to ask for help and apply their new skills in real-world settings. The scientists highlight that structured, experiential learning can empower vulnerable populations to build healthier social networks.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Empowering young people to support their existing friends is another major focus for behavioral scientists. A comprehensive review published in the </span><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032160" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted"><em>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</em></span></a><span class="ng-star-inserted"> analyzed the effectiveness of peer-based mental health interventions. The researchers conducted a systematic review of 18 studies representing a total sample of 12,815 adolescents.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology involved mapping out various training programs that teach adolescents how to recognize mental distress in their social circles. The scientists found that improving mental health literacy consistently empowered students to seek help and provide better support to their struggling peers. While the long-term effects of these interventions require more study, the short-term results show that training friends to help friends significantly improves overall community well-being.</span></p>
<h3 class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The Neuroscience of Connection and Brain Synchronization</span></h3>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Perhaps the most fascinating discoveries about friendship come from the field of neuroscience. Scientists are discovering that the brains of close friends actually process the world in remarkably similar ways. A study published in </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsae072" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> investigated this phenomenon in a sample of 92 middle school students. The researchers mapped the social network of the students’ school to determine exactly who was friends with whom.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The methodology involved placing the students inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, which tracks blood flow in the brain to measure neural activity. Inside the scanner, the students viewed a series of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images, and rated how each picture made them feel. The scientists specifically looked at the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a brain region heavily involved in processing emotions and assigning value to experiences.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The researchers discovered that students who were closer together in their social network had highly similar brain activity patterns when viewing the images. Friends showed synchronized neural responses particularly when looking at positive and neutral pictures. The findings suggest that adolescents who share close bonds literally interpret and experience emotional stimuli in the exact same biological way.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">An even more profound question is whether this brain synchronization happens because people spend time together, or if people choose their friends because their brains already work the same way. A landmark study published in </span><em><a class="ng-star-inserted" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02266-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span class="ng-star-inserted">Nature Human Behaviour</span></a></em><span class="ng-star-inserted"> tackled this mystery by scanning the brains of 41 graduate students. The researchers scanned these students right as they arrived on campus, before they had any real opportunity to meet or socialize.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">During the brain scanning sessions, the students watched a diverse series of video clips spanning comedy, documentary, and debate formats. After the initial scans, the researchers surveyed the entire cohort of 288 graduate students to map their evolving social network over the next eight months. This methodology allowed the scientists to compare the initial brain scans of perfect strangers against the social webs those strangers eventually formed.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The results provided strong evidence that pre-existing neural similarity actually predicts future friendships. The students whose brains reacted most similarly to the video clips before they even met were significantly more likely to become friends months later. In contrast, students with highly dissimilar brain activity patterns tended to remain distant acquaintances.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">The researchers also tracked how relationships changed over the eight-month period. They found that pairs of students who grew closer over time had exhibited exceptionally similar neural responses when they were still strangers. On the other hand, students who initially formed a shallow bond but later drifted apart showed vast differences in their original brain scans.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">This neural homophily, or the tendency for biologically similar minds to flock together, suggests that deep interpersonal compatibility is hardwired into us. When two people process visual information, allocate their attention, and react emotionally in the same way, they find communicating with each other much easier. The scientists conclude that while some friendships form out of mere circumstance, the bonds that deepen and endure are often rooted in a shared neural reality.</span></p>
<p class="ng-star-inserted"><span class="ng-star-inserted">As scientists continue to explore human relationships, the picture of how we make friends is becoming increasingly clear. It is a process that requires the right physical environment, a complementary mix of personality traits, and a realistic understanding of the effort involved. Most surprisingly, it seems that our brains are constantly scanning the world for individuals who view reality exactly as we do.</span></p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/albert-einsteins-brain-what-have-scientists-discovered/" 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;">Albert Einstein’s brain: What have scientists discovered?</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 22nd 2026, 12:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>For decades, scientists have sought to understand the biological foundations of genius by examining the physical characteristics of Albert Einstein’s brain. Various studies indicate that while his brain weighed a normal amount, it possessed distinct anatomical features and enhanced connectivity that may have contributed to his extraordinary cognitive abilities. These findings offer a glimpse into the potential neural substrates of his mathematical and visuospatial prowess.</p>
<p>Albert Einstein is widely recognized as one of the most influential physicists in history. In 1905, often referred to as his <em>annus mirabilis</em> or miraculous year, he published four groundbreaking papers that fundamentally altered the scientific understanding of the universe. These works addressed the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and the equivalence of mass and energy. He later developed the general theory of relativity, cementing his reputation as a scientific revolutionary.</p>
<p>Because of his immense intellectual achievements, significant curiosity surrounded the source of <a href="https://www.psypost.org/what-was-albert-einsteins-iq/">his genius</a>. Researchers and the public alike questioned whether his abilities stemmed from his environment and education or if he possessed a unique biological advantage. This debate regarding nature versus nurture prompted a desire to analyze his physical brain for clues.</p>
<p>Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at Princeton Hospital due to a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. During the autopsy, the pathologist Thomas Harvey removed Einstein’s brain for scientific study. Harvey weighed the organ, photographed it from multiple angles, and preserved it using formalin. He subsequently sectioned the brain into approximately 240 blocks and prepared histological slides, which are microscopic slices of tissue used for studying cellular structure.</p>
<h3><strong>A Review of the Research</strong></h3>
<p>Despite the early preservation of the tissue, scientific analysis appeared slowly. A review article published in <em>Neurosciences and History</em> in 2015 by Paul Carrillo-Mora and colleagues provides a chronological overview of the major studies conducted on the specimens. The authors note that thirty years passed between Einstein’s death and the first publication of data regarding his brain’s morphology.</p>
<p>The review highlights that researchers have identified multiple microscopic and macroscopic differences between Einstein’s brain and control samples. However, Carrillo-Mora and his team note that the functional significance of these anomalies remains a topic of debate. They suggest that while structural peculiarities exist, determining their direct link to genius requires careful interpretation.</p>
<h3><strong>Cellular Composition</strong></h3>
<p>One of the first major studies appeared in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-4886(85)90123-2"><em>Experimental Neurology</em></a> in 1985. Marian C. Diamond and her colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, examined the ratio of neurons to glial cells in specific regions of the brain. Neurons are the primary cells responsible for transmitting information, while glial cells provide support, nutrients, and insulation to neurons.</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed samples from the prefrontal cortex and the inferior parietal lobes. The prefrontal cortex associates with planning and abstract thought, while the parietal lobes handle sensory integration. Diamond compared Einstein’s tissue to samples from eleven male control subjects.</p>
<p>The study found that in the left posterior parietal lobe, Einstein’s brain possessed a significantly lower ratio of neurons to glial cells. This indicates a higher number of glial cells for every neuron. Diamond suggested that this increased presence of support cells might reflect a higher metabolic need. The neurons in this region of Einstein’s brain may have been utilizing more energy, requiring more glial cells to support their intense activity.</p>
<h3><strong>Anatomical Structure and the Parietal Lobes</strong></h3>
<p>In 1999, Sandra Witelson and her team at McMaster University published a study in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(98)10327-6"><em>The Lancet</em></a> that focused on the gross anatomy, or visible structure, of the brain. They utilized photographs taken by Harvey in 1955 and measurements taken directly from the organ. They compared these against a control group of thirty-five male and fifty-six female brains.</p>
<p>Witelson found that Einstein’s brain weight was not exceptional. However, the parietal lobes displayed striking differences. The study revealed that his parietal lobes were approximately 15 percent wider than those of the control group.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the researchers identified a unique pattern in the Sylvian fissure. This fissure is a deep fold that separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes. In typical brains, this fissure curves up and divides a region called the supramarginal gyrus.</p>
<p>In Einstein’s brain, the Sylvian fissure followed an unusual trajectory that left the supramarginal gyrus undivided. Witelson proposed that this absence of division allowed for more efficient connections between neurons in that area. This region supports visuospatial cognition and mathematical thinking. The study suggests this unique anatomy may have facilitated the type of visual thinking Einstein used to develop his theories.</p>
<h3><strong>Surface Features and Motor Skills</strong></h3>
<p>In 2009, anthropologist Dean Falk published a study in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/neuro.18.003.2009"><em>Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience</em></a> that applied techniques from paleoanthropology to analyze photographs of Einstein’s brain. This field usually focuses on the evolution of human anatomy, but Falk used these skills to identify previously overlooked details on the brain’s surface.</p>
<p>Falk identified an unusual “knob-like” structure on the right motor cortex. The motor cortex is the area of the brain that controls voluntary muscle movement. This specific knob corresponds to the area that controls the left hand.</p>
<p>Falk noted that this feature is often seen in long-time musicians. Einstein famously played the violin from childhood. The study implies that this anatomical feature developed as a result of the intense, repetitive motion required to finger the strings with his left hand. This finding provides evidence for plasticity, the brain’s ability to physically change in response to repeated activity.</p>
<p>Falk also observed unusual grooving patterns in the parietal lobes. These patterns reinforced earlier findings regarding the expansion of association cortices. These are areas responsible for integrating information from different senses.</p>
<h3><strong>Interhemispheric Connectivity</strong></h3>
<p>A study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt252"><em>Brain</em></a> in 2013 provided further insight into how the two halves of Einstein’s brain communicated. Weiwei Men, Dean Falk, and colleagues analyzed the corpus callosum. This structure is a thick bundle of nerve fibers that acts as a bridge connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres.</p>
<p>The researchers used high-resolution photographs to measure the thickness of the corpus callosum at various points. They compared these measurements to MRI data from two control groups: fifteen elderly men and fifty-two young men.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed that Einstein’s corpus callosum was thicker than that of the controls in most subregions. A thicker corpus callosum implies a higher number of nerve fibers. This suggests that Einstein possessed enhanced connectivity between the two hemispheres of his brain.</p>
<p>Increased connectivity allows for faster and more integrated processing of information. The authors proposed that this facilitated cooperation between the analytical functions often associated with the left hemisphere and the spatial or creative functions of the right hemisphere. This neural integration may have supported his ability to visualize complex physics problems.</p>
<h3><strong>Rediscovering Lost History</strong></h3>
<p>Much of the recent understanding of Einstein’s brain comes from the recovery of materials thought to be lost. In his book <a href="https://amzn.to/4tOI6Tc"><em>Finding Einstein’s Brain</em></a>, Frederick Lepore details the history of these biological specimens. Lepore, a neurologist at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, collaborated with Dean Falk to analyze photographs that had remained in the possession of Thomas Harvey’s family for decades.</p>
<p>Following Harvey’s death in 2007, his family donated the materials to the National Museum of Health and Medicine. This collection included dozens of photographs and hundreds of histological slides. Lepore explains that these materials provided a view of the brain before it was dissected, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of its surface anatomy.</p>
<p>The book and associated research highlighted a significant anomaly in the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain located directly behind the forehead. It manages executive functions, such as planning, working memory, and decision-making.</p>
<p>In a typical human brain, the frontal lobe contains three ridges, known as gyri. Lepore and Falk identified that Einstein’s right frontal lobe possessed a fourth gyrus. This extra ridge suggests an increase in the surface area of the prefrontal cortex.</p>
<p>This region associates closely with high-order cognitive processes. The presence of additional cortical surface area implies a greater capacity for the complex mental simulations Einstein employed. He famously used “thought experiments,” such as imagining chasing a beam of light, to conceptualize his theories.</p>
<h3><strong>The Parietal Lobe Revisited</strong></h3>
<p>Lepore’s work also reinforces the significance of the parietal lobe asymmetry. The book details how the inferior and superior parietal lobules were grossly asymmetrical. This contradicts earlier assumptions that Einstein’s brain was spherical.</p>
<p>The text explains that the parietal lobes are essential for processing sensory information and spatial orientation. The unusual expansion in these areas aligns with reports of Einstein’s preference for thinking in images rather than words. He often described his thought process as a combinatory play of images and signs.</p>
<h3><strong>Skepticism and Context</strong></h3>
<p>It is important to note that some members of the scientific community remain skeptical of these findings. Critics argue that attributing Einstein’s genius to specific anatomical bumps or ridges resembles phrenology, a discredited pseudoscience. They contend that natural human variation is vast.</p>
<p>Lepore addresses this in his writings by emphasizing that the research presents data points rather than definitive explanations. He argues that while one cannot bridge the explanatory gap between brain structure and the mind entirely, the anatomical deviations are too significant to ignore. He posits that the unique structure provides the hardware that made his cognitive software possible.</p>
<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>
<p>The study of Albert Einstein’s brain offers a fascinating intersection of history, neuroscience, and biography. Research indicates that his genius was likely not the result of a single anomaly but rather a combination of features. These include a higher ratio of glial cells, expanded parietal lobes, a unique ridge in the frontal cortex, and enhanced connectivity between hemispheres.</p>
<p>These biological traits appear to correlate with the specific cognitive strengths Einstein displayed, particularly his mathematical insight and visual thinking. While the mystery of genius cannot be solved by anatomy alone, the evidence suggests that Einstein’s brain was physically adapted for the unique intellectual tasks he performed. The recovered photographs and slides continue to provide a resource for scientists seeking to understand the neural machinery of a brilliant mind.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
<p><strong>This information is taken from free public RSS feeds published by each organization for the purpose of public distribution. Readers are linked back to the article content on each organization's website. This email is an unaffiliated unofficial redistribution of this freely provided content from the publishers. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><s><small><a href="#" style="color:#ffffff;"><a href='https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/565/DY9DKf'>unsubscribe from this feed</a></a></small></s></p>