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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/short-acting-psychedelic-dmt-shows-promise-as-a-rapid-treatment-for-major-depressive-disorder/" 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;">Short-acting psychedelic DMT shows promise as a rapid treatment for major depressive disorder</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 31st 2026, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04154-z" target="_blank">Nature Medicine</a></em> suggests that a brief psychedelic experience combined with talk therapy can rapidly and safely reduce symptoms of severe depression. The findings indicate that a single dose of a fast-acting psychedelic compound, administered intravenously, provides sustained relief for up to three months. This research offers early evidence for a mental health treatment that requires much less time in a clinic than other psychedelic therapies.</p>
<p>Dimethyltryptamine, commonly known as DMT, is a naturally occurring compound that produces intense but short-lived psychedelic effects. It works by interacting with the serotonin system in the brain, which plays a major role in regulating mood and processing emotions. While other psychedelics like psilocybin have shown promise for treating mood disorders, their effects tend to last four to six hours. This extended duration requires a full day of medical supervision, making the treatment expensive and difficult to scale for widespread use.</p>
<p>When given directly into a vein, the psychedelic effects of DMT last only twenty to thirty minutes. The scientists behind the new study wanted to find out if this brief window of altered consciousness, paired with dedicated psychological support, could meaningfully reduce depressive symptoms. Finding a faster-acting alternative could make psychedelic-assisted therapy more practical and accessible for people who do not respond to standard treatments.</p>
<p>“Major depressive disorder remains one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, and a substantial proportion of patients do not respond adequately to existing treatments,” said study author Tommaso Barba of Imperial College London.</p>
<p>“Psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, have shown real promise as antidepressants, but a key practical limitation is that psilocybin sessions typically require four to six hours of therapeutic supervision, making them costly and difficult to scale. DMT produces a psychedelic experience lasting only around 20 to 30 minutes when administered intravenously, and we wanted to find out whether this shorter experience could be equally clinically meaningful.”</p>
<p>The clinical trial included 34 adults diagnosed with moderate to severe major depressive disorder. All participants had previously tried at least two different treatments, such as traditional antidepressant medications or talk therapy, without success. The researchers designed a two-part study to test the safety and effectiveness of the drug. In the first phase, participants were randomly assigned to receive either a 21.5 milligram dose of DMT or a placebo, which is an inactive substance used for comparison.</p>
<p>Neither the participants nor the staff knew which substance was being administered during this initial stage. The treatment took place in a softly lit room designed to help participants feel calm. Participants wore eyeshades and listened to an ambient music playlist specifically chosen to match the trajectory of the drug experience. The drug or placebo was given as a ten-minute intravenous infusion.</p>
<p>Two trained therapists stayed in the room the entire time to provide quiet support, and a psychiatrist was present at the facility. Psychological support was a core component of the intervention rather than an optional addition. The day before the dosing session, participants spent ninety minutes with their therapists to prepare for the experience. Following the dosing session, participants completed several integration sessions where therapists helped them process any emotional or mystical experiences they had and apply those insights to their daily lives.</p>
<p>Two weeks after the first dose, the researchers measured depression severity using a standard clinical questionnaire called the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. The scientists found that participants who received DMT experienced a significantly greater drop in their depression scores compared to those who received the placebo. Specifically, the DMT group scored an average of 7.35 points lower on the depression scale than the placebo group. These improvements happened rapidly, with notable reductions in symptoms appearing just one week after the treatment.</p>
<p>Two weeks after the initial blinded phase, the trial entered an open-label stage where all participants were offered a dose of DMT. This meant the original placebo group received their first active dose, while the original DMT group received a second active dose. Following this stage, the scientists monitored the participants for up to three months. The researchers found that the reduction in depressive symptoms was sustained throughout this follow-up period.</p>
<p>“A single intravenous dose of DMT, combined with psychological support from trained therapists, produced a significant and rapid reduction in depressive symptoms compared to placebo, with effects sustained for up to three months,” Barba told PsyPost. “It is important to emphasize that this was not simply a psychedelic experience: the therapeutic support provided before, during, and after the session was an integral part of the treatment, not an add-on.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, the data suggests that a single dose of DMT might be superior to two doses. Participants who received two doses of the drug did not show greater improvements than those who received only one dose. In fact, the group that received just a single dose during the open-label phase showed slightly better mental health scores at the three-month mark. </p>
<p>“One hypothesis is that participants in that group had a longer preparatory period before receiving the active compound, which may have led to better psychological readiness and a stronger or more durable response,” Barba said. “We are cautious about over-interpreting this given the small sample size, but it is an interesting signal worth investigating further.”</p>
<p>The treatment was generally well-tolerated by the participants. The most common side effects included pain at the injection site, nausea, and brief feelings of anxiety during the onset of the drug. These side effects were mild to moderate and typically went away before the end of the clinic visit. There were no serious adverse events, and the treatment did not increase suicidal thoughts or behaviors.</p>
<p>“The magnitude of the antidepressant effect we observed is comparable to what has been reported in psilocybin trials, which is striking given that the DMT experience lasts roughly 20 to 30 minutes compared to the four to six hours typically required with psilocybin,” Barba explained. “If these results are replicated in larger studies, it raises the exciting possibility that a shorter psychedelic experience could be as effective as a much longer one, with significant implications for the accessibility and cost of psychedelic-assisted therapy.”</p>
<p>Despite the promising outcomes, the study has some limitations that readers should keep in mind. The sample size was quite small, and the group of participants lacked ethnic diversity, which makes it difficult to know if the results apply to the broader population. Additionally, because the psychedelic effects of DMT are so obvious, participants likely knew whether they received the active drug or the placebo. This awareness can create expectations that influence how a person reports their symptoms.</p>
<p>“It would be a mistake to view this as evidence that DMT alone is an antidepressant,” Barba told PsyPost. “The therapeutic framework surrounding the dosing session was a core component of the treatment, not a backdrop. We also want to be clear that this was a small phase IIa trial, and the results need to be replicated in larger, more diverse populations before firm conclusions can be drawn.”</p>
<p>Several scientists involved in the study were employed by or held shares in Small Pharma and Cybin, the companies that sponsored the trial and provided the drug. Other members of the research team serve as paid advisors for various pharmaceutical and psychedelic research companies.</p>
<p>Moving forward, the scientists plan to conduct larger clinical trials using a modified version of DMT called <a href="https://www.helus.com/hlp004/" target="_blank">HPL004</a>. These future studies will aim to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the treatment in a larger, more diverse group of patients suffering from anxiety and depression. The researchers also hope to study the exact role of the therapeutic support component to better understand which patients are most likely to benefit from this fast-acting intervention.</p>
<p>“This promising trial offers a welcome glimmer of hope in the fight against depression, suggesting that DMT — similar to other psychedelic compounds — may bring a rapid reduction in symptoms within just a week, alongside clear improvements in response and remission rates that in many cases lasted for months,” said Liliana Galindo, affiliate assistant professor at the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the study, in a statement to <a href="https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-phase-iia-randomized-placebo-controlled-trial-of-dmt-for-depression/" target="_blank">the Science Media Centre</a>.</p>
<p>“The treatment was well tolerated, with no serious safety concerns linked to the drug, and because its effects are so short in duration, it could offer a more practical and time-efficient option than other therapies. While the study was small and further research is needed, the findings highlight the potential of a valuable new treatment for people who have not found relief through existing options.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04154-z" target="_blank">A short-acting psychedelic intervention for major depressive disorder: a phase IIa randomized placebo-controlled trial</a>,” was authored by David Erritzoe, Tommaso Barba, Tiffanie Benway, Zelah Joel, Meghan Good, Marie Layzell, Michelle Baker Jones, Graham Campbell, Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner, Peter Rands, Malcolm Boyce, Helen Topping, Brandon Weiss, Christopher Timmermann, David Nutt, Robin Carhart-Harris, Carol Routledge, and Ellen James.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/twin-study-untangles-the-links-between-higher-education-and-authoritarian-attitu/" 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 a twin study untangled the surprising roots of authoritarian political beliefs</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 31st 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>People who complete more years of formal education tend to score lower on measures of right-wing authoritarianism, a trait characterized by strict obedience to leaders and adherence to traditional norms. A recent study of twins reveals that while part of this connection may be a direct result of schooling, most of the link is explained by the childhood environments and genetics that siblings share. These results were recently published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251407779">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</a>.</p>
<p>Following the horrors of the Second World War, psychologists initiated a massive effort to understand why certain populations enthusiastically support dictators and oppressive regimes. Understanding which factors lead people to support authoritarian regimes remains a matter of the greatest practical importance, just as it was when the academic field originated. Early researchers identified a personality profile they called right-wing authoritarianism. Individuals with high levels of this trait show a strong willingness to defer to established authorities, while demanding that others do the same.</p>
<p>These individuals also desire to see others punished if they deviate from established social traditions, and they prefer strict enforcement of conservative moral values. For decades, this psychological variable has been prominent in academic research. It consistently predicts political affiliation, fundamentalist religiosity, and hostility toward marginalized groups. The potency of authoritarian preferences is particularly strong when societies face threats of a social or cultural nature. </p>
<p>Given the current global prevalence of societal threats ranging from mass migration to viral pandemics, understanding the origins of individual differences in authoritarian predispositions is highly relevant. Researchers studying political psychology have historically observed a strong inverse relationship between how much time a person spends in school and their level of authoritarianism. University graduates are routinely found to be less supportive of authoritarian policies than people who end their education after high school. </p>
<p>Substantial differences between the most and least formally educated populations are found in attitudes regarding gender roles, sexuality, and childrearing practices. Many scientific theories have been proposed to explain exactly why this educational divide happens. Some researchers suggest that higher education exposes students to diverse viewpoints, which directly challenges their assumptions and reduces their need for rigid societal rules.</p>
<p>Other experts argue that the sense of economic and social security typically provided by a college degree makes authoritarian policies feel less necessary. Alternatively, the relationship might simply reflect the fact that people who are already open to new experiences are both more likely to pursue higher education and less likely to hold authoritarian views. Distinguishing between a direct effect of education and the effect of underlying traits has proven exceptionally difficult in modern psychology.</p>
<p>To address this persistent question, a team led by Nikolai Haahjem Eftedal at the University of Oslo mapped out the various factors that influence both education and political attitudes. Working alongside colleagues from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and New York University, Eftedal wanted to see if the correlation between schooling and ideology remains after accounting for invisible variables. They decided to look at twins, who offer a unique window into the hidden forces of genetics and upbringing.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 1,284 individuals from the Norwegian Twin Registry to participate in the project. This massive historical database contains detailed health and demographic information for scientists to study. For this specific project, the group consisted of identical twins, who share all of their DNA, and fraternal twins, who share about half of their DNA on average. Because twins generally grow up in the same household at the exact same time, they also share a specific set of environmental influences. </p>
<p>By comparing sets of twins who ended up with different levels of education, Eftedal and his colleagues could isolate different types of influences. If higher education truly causes a reduction in authoritarian views, an individual who went to college should be less authoritarian than their identical twin who only finished high school. Both twins share the exact same genetic code and the exact same upbringing, so any differences in their adult perspectives would likely stem from their differing educational paths or uniquely personal life events.</p>
<p>The team asked participants to report their highest level of completed education. They also had them complete a widely used set of survey questions designed to measure authoritarian leanings. Participants rated their agreement with statements regarding old-fashioned values, the need to punish deviants, and the importance of free thinkers who challenge tradition.</p>
<p>Additionally, participants estimated their household social class from both their childhood and their current adult life. The researchers used a visual scale resembling a ladder, where the top steps represented people with the most money and respect. Participants indicated which step of the ladder their family occupied compared to the rest of the country.</p>
<p>When the team analyzed the data, they confirmed the standard pattern observed in previous psychological studies. Educational attainment and authoritarianism had a pronounced negative correlation. However, the twin design allowed the scientists to break this broad correlation down into its specific component parts.</p>
<p>The statistical models estimated that 47 percent of the overlap between education and lower authoritarianism was the result of shared environmental factors. This means that elements of a twin’s shared upbringing simultaneously boosted their likelihood of going to college and depressed their tendency toward authoritarianism. Roughly 15 percent of this total shared environmental effect was traced back directly to the family’s social class during childhood. Growing up in a wealthy, high-status household seems to organically encourage advanced schooling while steering children away from rigid conservative ideologies.</p>
<p>An additional 25 percent of the relationship was tentatively attributed to shared genetics. While the researchers calculated this influence, they noted that the genetic connection was not statistically significant on its own. Inherited traits, such as natural cognitive ability or deeply ingrained personality characteristics, might still influence both a person’s academic trajectory and their political orientation. For instance, people born with a high openness to new experiences might naturally gravitate toward universities and naturally repel authoritarian dogma.</p>
<p>After accounting for both shared upbringing and shared genetics, the researchers found that 28 percent of the original correlation remained unaccounted for. This leftover portion aligns with the theory that education has a genuine, direct impact on a person’s adult worldview. Though they could not definitively label it as an absolute causal effect, the persistent relationship within identical twin pairs strongly supports the idea that formal education independently softens authoritarian impulses.</p>
<p>The research team also looked closely to see if adult income and status played a specific role in this ideological process. They tested an established theory that education leads to higher income, which in turn provides a sense of security that makes authoritarianism less attractive. The results did not show any statistical support for this specific progression. Earning a higher socioeconomic status in adulthood did not explain the missing link between a university degree and a tolerant worldview.</p>
<p>Despite the robust methodology, the study has a few limitations that warrant attention in future reviews. All the participants were Norwegian citizens between the ages of 55 and 70. The educational systems and cultural norms they experienced during their youth might differ from those of younger generations or people living in other parts of the world. Generalizing these results to modern college students or populations outside of Northern Europe requires basic caution.</p>
<p>The scientists also noted that they lacked data on the specific college majors or types of degrees the participants pursued. Some past research suggests that studying the humanities or social sciences is more strongly linked to decreased authoritarianism than studying finance or engineering. Identifying exactly what type of university experience influences political psychology remains an open question for future analysis.</p>
<p>Moving forward, the research team suggests expanding similar study designs to include spouses, children, and extended family members. Doing so would help scientists understand how people choose romantic partners with similar political views, a common phenomenon known to inflate estimates of genetic and environmental overlap. More precise, objective measurements of wealth and social capital could also refine our understanding of how resources shape our political reality.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251407779" target="_blank">The Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Right-Wing Authoritarianism: A Discordant Twin Study</a>,” was authored by Nikolai Haahjem Eftedal, Thomas Haarklau Kleppestø, Nikolai Olavi Czajkowski, Espen Moen Eilertsen, Espen Røysamb, Olav Vassend, Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, and Lotte Thomsen.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/lifting-weights-can-slow-down-biological-brain-aging-in-older-adults/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Lifting weights can slow down biological brain aging in older adults</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 31st 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>Lifting weights might help keep your mind young. A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-026-02141-x" target="_blank">GeroScience</a></em> suggests that older adults who engage in regular resistance training can actively slow down the biological aging process in their brains. These findings provide evidence that strength-building exercises offer widespread benefits for long-term cognitive health.</p>
<p>Scientists have consistently linked physical exercise to better memory, sharper thinking, and a lower risk of brain diseases. Past studies tend to focus on how aerobic workouts, like running or swimming, change specific isolated parts of the brain. For instance, many projects look at changes in the physical size of the hippocampus, a brain region tied to memory.</p>
<p>As a result, the effects of resistance training on the entire brain remained mostly a mystery. Scientists wanted to see if lifting weights could improve overall brain health rather than just tweaking a single area. To do this, they used advanced computer models called brain clocks.</p>
<p>A brain clock is a mathematical tool that analyzes medical images of a person’s brain to guess their age based on biological wear and tear. If the tool guesses an age lower than the person’s actual chronological age, it suggests the brain is aging slowly and healthily. The researchers set out to quantify exactly how a year of strength training influences this biological brain age.</p>
<p>“For years, we’ve known that exercise is good for the brain, but most studies looked at isolated pieces (like the hippocampus or specific networks) without telling us whether exercise actually slows brain aging as a whole. At the same time, results across studies have been inconsistent, and resistance training has been particularly understudied,” explained study author <a href="https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/agustin-ibanez" target="_blank">Agustín Ibáñez</a>, a professor at the Global Brain Health Institute and director of the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.</p>
<p>“What we wanted to address was a very practical and urgent question: can a real-world intervention like strength training actually change the trajectory of brain aging? To do that, we used brain clocks, computational models that capture global brain health, in a randomized trial. That allowed us to move beyond fragmented evidence and test whether exercise impacts the brain at a systems level.”</p>
<p>To measure these changes, the scientists first trained their brain clock model using brain scan data from 2,433 healthy adults. These scans were taken using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This technology measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow while a person is simply resting.</p>
<p>This large dataset helped the computer program learn what a typical brain network looks like at any given age. Next, the researchers applied this trained brain clock to a study sample of 309 healthy older adults. These participants were between 62 and 70 years old and were approaching retirement age.</p>
<p>The scientists randomly divided the volunteers into three different groups to compare different exercise habits. The first group engaged in heavy resistance training. They attended three supervised weightlifting sessions at a training center every week for a full year.</p>
<p>The second group completed moderate-intensity training. This routine included one supervised session and two unsupervised home workouts each week. The exercise intensity for both groups progressed gradually over the one-year period to safely build endurance and balance.</p>
<p>The third group acted as a non-exercise control group. These participants were instructed to stick to their normal daily routines and avoid strenuous physical activity. All 309 participants underwent comprehensive brain scans and physical fitness tests at the beginning of the study.</p>
<p>The researchers tested the participants’ physical fitness by measuring their leg strength using standardized equipment. They repeated all the brain scans and strength tests after one year of training. The scientists also brought the participants back for a final round of testing after two years to see if any changes lasted.</p>
<p>The scientists found that resistance training led to noticeable improvements in brain connectivity. In the heavy resistance training group, the brain scans showed increased communication between prefrontal brain regions compared to the control group. The prefrontal cortex is an area located at the front of the brain that handles complex tasks like planning and paying attention.</p>
<p>The brain clock analysis provided evidence for even broader benefits across the whole brain. After the one-year fitness program, both the heavy and moderate exercise groups showed a significant reduction in their biological brain age. On average, the physical training reduced the participants’ brain age by 1.4 to 2.3 years. These younger brain ages were maintained when the researchers tested the participants again at the two-year mark. </p>
<p>“A 1-year, or even a few months, reduction in brain age might sound modest, but in aging research, that’s actually meaningful,” Ibáñez told PsyPost. “Brain aging is a slow, cumulative process, and differences of this magnitude have been linked to better cognitive function, lower risk of decline, and a healthier future lifespan. Think of it less as a ‘quick fix’ and more as shifting your long-term trajectory—small changes sustained over time can have large downstream effects.”</p>
<p>The non-exercise control group did not experience any significant changes in their brain age during this same period. </p>
<p>The scientists tested specific networks, like the systems controlling movement or vision, to see if the changes were isolated. They found that the anti-aging effects did not come from just one network. This suggests that resistance training causes a widespread reorganization of brain activity that benefits global brain health.</p>
<p>“The effects were global rather than localized,” Ibáñez explained. “We expected changes in specific networks, but instead we saw a distributed, whole-brain pattern. That suggests exercise works through systemic mechanisms (like vascular, metabolic, and inflammatory processes) rather than targeting a single brain region.”</p>
<p>The researchers also looked at how physical performance changes related to these younger brain ages. They found a modest link between improved leg strength and a reduced brain age, specifically in the moderate-intensity group. This indicates that gaining physical strength tends to track alongside improvements in global brain health.</p>
<p>This association did not appear in the heavy training group, which the scientists suspect might be due to a ceiling effect. Essentially, more intense training does not always yield a proportionally larger reduction in brain age. Even moderate amounts of physical work can provide substantial biological benefits.</p>
<p>“The key message is simple but powerful: regular strength training can slow your brain’s aging,” Ibáñez said. “We found that people who engaged in resistance exercise (moderate or intense) showed brains that looked about 1–2 years younger over time compared to those who didn’t exercise. This is not about elite fitness. Even moderate, consistent exercise can have measurable benefits for how your brain ages.”</p>
<p>While the findings are promising, the scientists noted a few limitations to keep in mind. The study focused entirely on healthy older adults living in a high-income European country. This specific demographic means the results might not apply to people with existing medical conditions or those from different socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<p>“A key caveat is that this does not mean exercise ‘reverses aging’ or replaces medical care,” Ibáñez noted. “Also, brain age is a probabilistic biomarker (it reflects patterns of brain health), not a literal clock. So we should interpret these results as evidence of improved brain resilience, not as a precise measure of turning back time.”</p>
<p>Future research will help clarify if these numbers translate into noticeable protections against memory loss decades later. Future studies could also test these exercise programs in more diverse groups of people. Additional projects might also explore the exact biological mechanisms that link muscle strength to brain health. </p>
<p>“We want to move toward precision prevention,” Ibáñez said. “That means understanding <em>who benefits most from which type of intervention</em>, integrating exercise with other factors like social environment, cardiovascular health, creativity, nutritions, and the mitigating exposome (environmental factors that impact health). We’re also working on combining brain clocks with biological and behavioral data to better predict individual aging trajectories. We dream of scalable, personalized strategies for brain health across populations.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-026-02141-x" target="_blank">Randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise and brain aging clocks</a>,” was authored by Raul Gonzalez-Gomez, Naiara Demnitz, Carlos Coronel, Anne Theil Gates, Michael Kjaer, Hartwig R. Siebner, Carl-Johan Boraxbekk, and Agustin M. Ibanez.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/women-use-a-higher-pitched-voice-when-speaking-to-unfamiliar-dogs-2026-03-26/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Women use a higher-pitched voice when speaking to unfamiliar dogs</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 30th 2026, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>When women talk to dogs they do not know, they use a higher-pitched voice than they do when speaking to their own pets. The tone of voice and facial expressions people use also change depending on a dog’s size and the type of activity they are doing together. These results were recently published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-02041-1">Animal Cognition</a>.</p>
<p>To understand this research, it helps to look at the concept of prosody. Prosody refers to the rhythm, tone, and pitch of speech, as well as the facial expressions that accompany spoken words. Acoustic prosody includes vocal features like pitch range, while visual prosody relates to the facial movements a person makes while talking. People often use an exaggerated, high-pitched vocal style when speaking to babies, which helps capture a child’s attention and communicate emotion.</p>
<p>Research indicates that humans use a very similar style of communication when talking to their pet dogs. However, scientists are still working to understand exactly how the relationship between a person and an animal changes these speech patterns.</p>
<p>In human interactions, emotional attachment usually leads to more intense facial and vocal expressions. When adults speak to infants or romantic partners, they tend to use more exaggerated tones and facial movements than they do with strangers. This kind of communication strengthens social bonds and increases feelings of closeness.</p>
<p>A team of researchers set out to find if this holds true for dogs. They wanted to see if the bond between an owner and a pet creates the same intensely expressive communication style seen in close human relationships. Anna Gergely, a researcher at the Hungarian Research Center for Natural Sciences, led the investigation.</p>
<p>Gergely and her colleagues recruited 42 female dog owners to participate in the experiment. The researchers focused exclusively on women because previous studies indicate that female owners tend to be more talkative with their pets. Women also have a stronger tendency to use more exaggerated baby talk with dogs than men do.</p>
<p>Each participant was asked to interact with her own pet and with an unfamiliar dog of the exact same breed. By keeping the breed consistent, the researchers aimed to prevent natural breed preferences from affecting how the women reacted. The unfamiliar dogs were completely matched in breed to ensure the human participants would view both animals with a similar base level of affection.</p>
<p>The interactions were divided into three alternating scenarios, each lasting 30 seconds. In an attention-getting scenario, the women were instructed to call the dog and focus its attention on a toy or treat. In a task-solving scenario, the women played a simple game of hide and seek with the toy, encouraging the dog to guess which hand held the object.</p>
<p>The third scenario required the participants to recite a familiar Hungarian nursery rhyme to the dog twice. During all of these interactions, the dogs were held gently on a leash by a passive assistant who did not interact with the animals. The speaking participant sat on the floor so she was at eye level with the animal at all times, ensuring the camera had a clear view of her face.</p>
<p>While the women spoke to the dogs, the researchers recorded audio and video of the brief sessions. They fed the visual data into an automated facial analysis software program to track basic emotional indicators and overall facial muscle activation. This software evaluated the raw intensity of a person’s smile and overall facial arousal on a continuous mathematical scale.</p>
<p>They analyzed the sound recordings to track the average pitch of the participants’ voices. They also measured the pitch range, analyzing how much that pitch rose and fell throughout the interaction.</p>
<p>The results showed that familiarity altered only a single aspect of the human communication style. The women used a higher overall vocal pitch when speaking to a strange dog compared to their own pet. The researchers did not find any statistically significant differences in facial expressions based on whether the participant knew the dog or not.</p>
<p>This outcome runs counter to what happens in human communication, where familiarity usually increases the intensity of the speaker’s voice and expression. The research team noted that a high pitch acts as a universal friendly greeting signal across many animal species. High frequencies often work to grab the attention of animals while sounding non-threatening.</p>
<p>The researchers suspect that humans unconsciously raise their pitch to show friendly intentions to a strange animal. Because the dog has no prior experience with the human speaker, the speaker must rely on widely understood acoustic signals to show they mean no harm.</p>
<p>An owner and their own dog share a deep history, meaning they already understand each other’s specific relational signals. They do not need to rely on broadly recognized acoustic cues to establish a safe and friendly mood. Instead, the established bond allows the owner to use a more relaxed vocal pitch without worrying that the dog might misinterpret their intent.</p>
<p>As for why visual communication did not change based on familiarity, the researchers pointed to evolutionary differences between humans and canines. Human baseline expressions of surprise or extreme happiness involve wide, open eyes and exposed teeth. To a dog, these kinds of facial movements often signal aggression or a potential threat. Human speakers might subconsciously limit their facial expressions around all dogs to avoid sending aggressive cues, relying on their voice to carry emotional weight instead.</p>
<p>While familiarity only changed vocal pitch, the type of activity heavily influenced both voice and facial expressions. The simple attention-getting scenario produced the lowest overall pitch from the speakers. The researchers suspect that an excessively high pitch during this task might distract the dog, drawing the animal’s focus to the human face rather than the toy or treat.</p>
<p>The task-solving game prompted the widest range of vocal pitch from the women. Praising the dog’s successes and encouraging its overall efforts naturally led to a highly fluctuating, melodic voice. A wide pitch range appears to be an effective tool for communicating emotions and influencing a dog’s behavior during a structured game.</p>
<p>The nursery rhyme reading provoked the most intense visual responses from the speakers out of all the categories. The software detected the highest levels of facial muscle activation and the most intense happy facial expressions during this specific scenario.</p>
<p>The researchers suggest that the musical rhythm of a nursery rhyme combined with its association with human babies naturally triggers intense, child-directed facial expressions. People use highly animated facial cues when talking to infants, and reciting a nursery rhyme seems to automatically pull those exact expressions to the surface. Even though the subject is a dog, the context of the poem prompts human parental behavior.</p>
<p>The researchers evaluated dog body size as a final potential factor in human communication styles. They split the canine participants into two categories, separating those that weighed under 15 kilograms from those that weighed more. Fifteen kilograms is roughly equivalent to 33 pounds, creating an even split between small dogs and medium-to-large breeds.</p>
<p>The women used a wider pitch range and displayed more intense happy facial expressions toward the smaller dogs. The researchers attribute this physical change to the fact that small size often contributes to an animal’s perceived cuteness. A small dog might look more like a human infant, automatically prompting more baby-like communication from the speaker.</p>
<p>The research team acknowledged some limitations in their experimental design. The small dog group might have coincidentally contained more dogs with natural baby-like facial features, such as large eyes and small noses. This concentration of features could have driven the altered communication style, rather than the raw body weight of the animal alone.</p>
<p>Future studies should aim to separate a dog’s body size from specific facial features to isolate what exactly triggers changes in human speech. Researchers could also test different types of communicative tasks that do not involve reading from a piece of paper. Reading the nursery rhyme was the least spontaneous activity in the trial, which might have influenced how the participants behaved.</p>
<p>The study demonstrates that humans actively adjust how they speak to animals based on physical appearance and relationship status. People do not use a single, uniform method of talking to pets. Instead, they constantly adapt their pitch and expressions to match the immediate social and emotional needs of their canine partners.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-02041-1" target="_blank">The effect of familiarity and dog’s body size on female owners’ dog-directed communication</a>,” was authored by Lőrinc András Filep, Édua Koós-Hutás, Fanni Hollay, József Topál, and Anna Gergely.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/how-science-goes-viral-the-hidden-rules-of-tiktok-instagram-and-youtube/" 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;">Researchers break down the digital habits of science influencers</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 30th 2026, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study exploring how scientists share knowledge on social media reveals that different digital platforms and scientific topics require distinct communication styles to reach wide audiences. The research highlights that while snappy, objective videos perform best on TikTok, detailed and slightly ironic explanations gain more traction on YouTube. These findings were recently published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108866">Computers in Human Behavior</a>.</p>
<p>In our highly digital society, the way scientific knowledge reaches the general public relies heavily on social media networks. Online platforms allow experts to speak directly to citizens without filtering their messages through traditional news media. This direct line of communication helps combat widespread misinformation and builds a more informed public.</p>
<p>Yet, the sheer volume of content available online makes it difficult for users to identify reliable sources. Many science communicators post accurate, well-researched information that fails to attract viewers. Researchers wanted to understand the specific elements that help certain scientific posts go viral while others remain unseen.</p>
<p>Knowing what drives audience engagement helps content creators design better educational material. Lead researcher Montserrat Aiger of Zaragoza University in Spain and her team set out to identify the common traits of successful science videos. They focused their investigation on the precise characteristics that determine digital popularity across different scientific fields.</p>
<p>Social media platforms offer a unique opportunity for academics to build trust with everyday people. Before the internet, scientific discoveries primarily lived in dense academic journals or specialized magazines. Now, a biologist or physicist can record a quick video on a smartphone and reach millions of viewers in hours. This modern shift relies on communicators acting as relatable figures who can break down complicated concepts.</p>
<p>The research team examined the performance of prominent science influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. They selected sixty total accounts representing five distinct fields of knowledge. These fields included arts and humanities, health sciences, experimental sciences, social sciences, and engineering.</p>
<p>To gather their data, the researchers pulled the twenty most popular videos from each selected profile. This process generated a total sample of one thousand two hundred videos posted between early 2022 and late 2023. The team then used analytical software to measure engagement metrics like total comments, user reactions, and overall view counts. The researchers established a specific time window to capture a broad sample of digital activity while comparing the different applications fairly.</p>
<p>After downloading the numerical data, the team turned their attention to the spoken words. They utilized voice recognition software to transcribe the audio tracks of all the videos. Once the transcripts were complete, the researchers fed the text into a linguistic analysis program.</p>
<p>This program evaluated multiple aspects of the language used by the influencers. It measured polarity, which determines if a statement leans heavily positive or heavily negative. It also checked for subjectivity, dividing statements into either factual descriptions or personal opinions. Finally, the software looked for instances of irony and emotional agreement within the sentences.</p>
<p>The investigators discovered distinct behavioral patterns across the three social media networks. TikTok consistently generated the highest levels of audience interaction, including likes and comments. Videos on this app leaned toward highly objective language mixed with intense emotional extremes. The short format seemed to reward fast, attention-grabbing delivery over nuanced debate.</p>
<p>Instagram appealed to slightly different user habits. The app rewarded visually appealing content coupled with positive emotional framing. Catchy captions filled with popular hashtags and optimistic language performed exceptionally well on this network.</p>
<p>YouTube produced entirely different engagement patterns compared to the other two platforms. Although YouTube videos generated fewer total likes and comments per post, they provided a space for deeper, longer explanations. Creators on YouTube successfully used higher levels of subjectivity and irony to keep their audiences entertained during extended discussions.</p>
<p>The research also demonstrated that audience expectations change depending on the branch of science being discussed. Viewers seeking out information about physics, mathematics, and engineering tend to reward objective presentations. Creators in these fields generated massive numbers of likes by clearly explaining concepts without relying on heavy humor or subjective opinions.</p>
<p>This pattern flipped entirely within the social sciences. When creators discussed topics like psychology and sociology, their audiences wanted to chime in with personal thoughts. Videos in this category generated relatively lower like counts but experienced an explosion of comments. The communicators who leaned into subjective opinions and ironic commentary successfully stimulated debate among their viewers.</p>
<p>Health science accounts found success by maintaining an objective tone while remaining relatable. Their highly engaged audiences responded well to factual medical information that lacked heavy irony. Experimental science creators performed best when they mixed positive emotions with moderate portions of humor and subjective opinion.</p>
<p>Arts and humanities profiles tended to score closer to neutral on the emotional polarity scale. Because these topics often invite deep reflection rather than quick reactions, their overall engagement metrics lagged slightly behind the hard sciences. These creators still managed to build dedicated followings by using irony and highly subjective messaging.</p>
<p>Based on the data, the researchers suggested several guidelines for aspiring science communicators. Those hoping to grow an audience on TikTok should focus on short, visually dynamic videos that reach their point quickly. Emotional appeals have less impact on this application, so creators should focus on prompting immediate interactions from their viewers.</p>
<p>For Instagram, communicators should pair their educational facts with an inspirational tone. The platform rewards personal storytelling, which helps academics build a sense of proximity with the public. YouTube creators should worry less about gathering quick likes and focus instead on crafting structured, educational lessons. Using humor and emotional diversity can help keep long-form content engaging.</p>
<p>While the results offer clear guidelines for online educators, the researchers noted several limitations to their work. The study focused heavily on the most popular posts from established influencers. By excluding less successful videos from smaller creators, the study creates a certain level of survival bias. What works for a massive influencer might not produce the same results for a new account.</p>
<p>The design of this analysis also means it cannot prove that specific emotional tones directly cause videos to go viral. The invisible algorithms guiding these platforms frequently prioritize content based on hidden corporate formulas. Social media companies design their software to keep users watching, meaning audiences might not be freely choosing the content they consume.</p>
<p>The reliance on automated text analysis also carries potential biases. Artificial intelligence tools sometimes struggle to interpret cultural slang or subtle sarcasm accurately. Because the videos tested featured variations in language and regional dialects, the software might have missed some of the more nuanced human emotions.</p>
<p>The metrics themselves provide only a superficial measure of educational success. A high number of likes shows that a video captured attention, but it does not reveal what the viewer actually absorbed. Tapping a screen requires very little mental effort. True learning demands a level of deep engagement that simple social media metrics cannot easily measure. </p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.108866" target="_blank">Science communication in social Media: Analysis of success on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube across scientific disciplines</a>,” was authored by Montserrat Aiger, Carmen Elboj, Raquel Lozano-Blasco, and Marian Acero-Ferrero.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/depressed-elderly-adults-are-almost-5-times-more-likely-to-develop-alzheimers/" 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;">Depressed elderly adults are almost 5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 30th 2026, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A longitudinal study of elderly adults in China found that depressed individuals are at an almost 5 times higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to their non-depressed peers. Their risk of developing vascular dementia was 1.9 times higher. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116716"><em>Psychiatry Research</em></a>.</p>
<p>Dementia is a general term used to describe a group of neurocognitive disorders characterized by a decline in memory, thinking, and daily functioning. While the risk of developing dementia clearly increases with age, it is not a normal part of aging. It is caused by underlying brain pathology, such as neurodegeneration, vascular damage, or abnormal protein accumulation.</p>
<p>The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, followed by vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Symptoms typically include memory loss, impaired reasoning, language difficulties, and changes in personality or behavior. Early stages involve mild forgetfulness, while later stages are characterized by severe disorientation and a loss of independence.</p>
<p>Study author Elaine He Xu and her colleagues investigated the relationship between depression and two specific types of dementia—Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia—in a large group of Chinese adults. They noted that while previous studies had explored the association between depression and dementia, many did not differentiate between the specific subtypes of the disease, nor did they explore the timeline of this association longitudinally.</p>
<p>The study authors analyzed data from electronic health records in Yichang, a city located in central mainland China. The Yichang electronic health record system integrates general demographic data with inpatient and outpatient records, disease diagnoses, prescriptions, and health cost data from 160 local healthcare facilities. The total database covered 921,289 residents between 2015 and 2023.</p>
<p>From this dataset, the researchers focused on individuals aged 50 years and older who were dementia-free at the start of the study period (January 2016) and had complete medical records available. In total, they analyzed data from 4,341 depressed individuals and matched them with 43,214 non-depressed individuals who shared similar key characteristics (such as age and sex).</p>
<p>Approximately 62% of these individuals were women, and their average age at the start of the study was 64 years. Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, or bipolar disorder were excluded from the analysis to isolate the specific effects of depression.</p>
<p>Results showed that, during the average 3.6-year follow-up period, 1,493 individuals in the dataset developed dementia. The average age at the first diagnosis of dementia was 78 years.</p>
<p>Compared to their non-depressed peers, depressed individuals had a 2.2 times higher risk of developing any kind of dementia. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was almost 5 times higher for depressed individuals. The risk of developing vascular dementia was almost twice as high. Further analysis revealed that this increased risk for Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia was specifically present among older adults (aged 60 and older) diagnosed with depression.</p>
<p>Crucially, the researchers discovered a “U-shaped” temporal relationship between depression and Alzheimer’s disease. The risk of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis spiked at two distinct timeframes: less than two years after a depression diagnosis, and again six to eight years later.</p>
<p>The researchers suggest this means depression acts in two ways. Short-term, late-life depression may actually be a “prodrome”—an early warning symptom of underlying, undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease. Conversely, long-term depression (lasting six to eight years) acts as a physical risk factor, where years of immune dysregulation and biological stress actively contribute to brain degeneration. Interestingly, this U-shaped pattern was unique to Alzheimer’s; for vascular dementia, the risk only increased after a long-term depression exposure of six to eight years.</p>
<p>“Our study demonstrates a robust association between depression and incident dementia, with AD [Alzheimer’s disease] showing the stronger correlation than VD [vascular dementia]. The unique temporal association suggests that depression may serve as both a risk factor and a prodromal symptom for AD, and solely as a risk factor for VD,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the links between dementia and depression in older adults. However, the study data came from a single city with a relatively homogenous population, meaning findings in other countries and geographical areas may differ. </p>
<p>Additionally, the study authors report that the proportion of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in their dataset was lower than Chinese national survey estimates, leaving the possibility that the condition was underdiagnosed in the studied area. Finally, the dataset lacked information on lifestyle factors like smoking, diet, and exercise, which are known to influence dementia risk.</p>
<p>The paper “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116716">Effect of depression on risks of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia: a real-world longitudinal study</a>” was authored by Elaine He Xu, Yueqing Wang, Weihao Shao, Jiajuan Yang, Xiaoxia Wei, Xunliang Tong, Chi Hu, Enying Gong, Luzhao Feng, Maigeng Zhou, Zuolin Lu, and Ruitai Shao.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/relying-on-ai-chatbots-for-historical-facts-can-influence-your-political-beliefs-new-study-shows/" 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;">Relying on AI chatbots for historical facts can influence your political beliefs, new study shows</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 30th 2026, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag022" target="_blank">PNAS Nexus</a></em> suggests that reading history summaries generated by artificial intelligence can subtly shift people’s social and political opinions. The research indicates that popular chatbots carry hidden biases that can influence users, even when the software provides factually accurate information in response to neutral questions. These findings provide evidence that relying on AI to learn about the world might quietly shape public attitudes.</p>
<p>Generative AI refers to computer programs that can create new text, images, or audio based on patterns they learned from vast amounts of data. Chatbots like ChatGPT are a common type of this technology. They are designed to mimic human conversation and answer questions. People increasingly use these tools as everyday search engines to learn about historical events and gather facts.</p>
<p>The scientists wanted to know if the way these chatbots write about history could sway how people think about modern issues. Previous studies focused on how artificial intelligence persuades people when it is specifically instructed to make an argument or spread misinformation. This new research focuses on more subtle form of influence.</p>
<p>“My collaborators and I had been following a lot of interesting research on AI-powered chatbots’ ability to persuade people during dynamic conversations, and we started wondering how AI-generated content could influence people in more routine, everyday settings,” said study author <a href="https://dkarell.github.io/" target="_blank">Daniel Karell</a>, an assistant professor of sociology at Yale University.</p>
<p>“Namely, what happens when people simply develop the habit of querying a chatbot to learn things about the world? Once we had this question, we decided to focus on the case of using AI to learn about historical events since research has shown that people’s understanding of history profoundly influences their identities and worldviews.”</p>
<p>The scientists explored a concept called latent bias. This is an underlying slant that naturally develops in a computer program during its training process. It often occurs because the software absorbs the subtle opinions and language patterns present in the millions of internet pages it reads.</p>
<p>The researchers also tested prompting bias. This happens when a human user explicitly instructs the chatbot to adopt a specific political viewpoint. For example, a user might type a command asking the software to write a summary from a strictly conservative or liberal perspective.</p>
<p>To test these concepts, the researchers conducted an experiment with 1,912 participants. They selected a group of people that closely matched the demographic makeup of the United States population. Each participant was asked to read short summaries of two real historical events from the twentieth century.</p>
<p>One event was the Seattle General Strike of 1919, where tens of thousands of workers stopped working for several days. The second event involved university student protests in 1968 that demanded more academic representation for ethnic minorities. The scientists selected these specific events because they are not widely known to the average person today.</p>
<p>If participants already possessed strong, fixed opinions about an event, a short text would be less likely to change their minds. For example, the researchers suspected that well-known events like the September 11 attacks would not yield the same attitude shifts. Using obscure events allowed the researchers to measure the true persuasive power of the text.</p>
<p>Participants were randomly divided into different groups to read different versions of the history summaries. One group read the standard Wikipedia entries for the events. A second group read summaries generated by the chatbot GPT-4o using a basic, neutral request.</p>
<p>Two other groups read summaries generated by GPT-4o after the chatbot was instructed to write with either a liberal or a conservative slant. All the artificial intelligence summaries were kept completely factually accurate. The chatbot only changed the framing, tone, and emphasis of the historical facts.</p>
<p>After reading the texts, participants answered survey questions about their own social and political views related to the events. They were asked about their opinions on the appropriateness of labor strikes and the use of school curricula to advance social justice causes. Their answers were scored on a five-point scale.</p>
<p>On this specific scale, a score of one meant extremely conservative, while a score of five meant extremely liberal. A score of three represented a perfectly moderate viewpoint. The researchers then averaged the scores to determine the overall political leanings of the readers.</p>
<p>The scientists found that reading the different summaries had a measurable impact on participant attitudes. The default chatbot summaries led to more liberal opinions compared to the standard Wikipedia summaries. This suggests that the baseline model carries an underlying liberal bias that naturally surfaces even when a user asks a simple question.</p>
<p>The average opinions after reading the Wikipedia text fell near the middle, representing a moderate stance with a score of 3.47. The average opinions after reading the default chatbot summaries shifted slightly upward to 3.57. This movement indicates a slight shift from a moderate stance toward a somewhat liberal stance.</p>
<p>When the chatbot was specifically instructed to use a liberal framing, readers also shifted toward more liberal opinions. This shift happened across the board for all demographics. It impacted readers regardless of whether they originally identified as liberal, moderate, or conservative.</p>
<p>“I was a little surprised that we did actually find an effect on people’s attitudes,” Karell told PsyPost. “I thought there was a good chance that we were going to get null results because I did not think that simply reading a short AI-generated summary of an event would have much of an impact (relative to reading a Wikipedia summary of the event).”</p>
<p>“It’s likely that we did find an effect because we used historical events that were not very familiar to people. If we had selected well-known events, like, say, the September 11, 2001 attacks or the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, we probably would have obtained null results because many people already have well-formed, strongly-held attitudes about these events.”</p>
<p>The summaries generated with a conservative framing tended to make readers report more conservative opinions overall. But this shift primarily occurred among participants who already leaned conservative, rather than changing the minds of liberal or moderate readers.</p>
<p>This uneven reaction might be tied to how people process new information. People tend to filter new facts through their existing belief systems. Encountering information that confirms existing beliefs often reinforces those views, while encountering opposing views can provoke defensive reactions.</p>
<p>“People’s views on a historical event can be influenced by learning about this event from a popular commercial AI chatbot, even when a user prompts the chatbot with a basic, neutral query,” Karell said. “Furthermore, their attitudes can also be influenced by the chatbot when it has been instructed to take on a particular political bias, which is easy to do.” </p>
<p>“Overall, users of AI should be aware that the companies that develop AI tools — and the governments that might impose regulations on them — can imbue the chatbot with characteristics that subsequently influence users, even when they are using the AI tool in mundane, everyday ways.”</p>
<p>While the study provides evidence of persuasion, it is important to avoid overstating the scope of the findings. The experiment only tested summaries of two historical events. More research is needed to see if these patterns hold true for other historical periods and other subjects beyond history.</p>
<p>“It is important to keep in mind that the effect sizes are modest,” Karell explained. “The differences between the groups that read the AI and Wikipedia summaries was between, say, a moderate attitude and a ‘slightly liberal’ attitude. Nonetheless, it could be that the effect sizes accumulate and ultimately become more consequential over many uses of a chatbot, but further research will be needed to determine this.”</p>
<p>The degree of underlying bias likely varies between different computer models created by different companies. The way a model is trained and filtered before it reaches the public can change how it talks about history. Future studies might explore exactly how a model’s underlying slant interacts with specific user instructions.</p>
<p>“In the near future, many people will learn about history, as well as other things about our world, by simply asking a chatbot to tell them about it,” Karell said. “This puts knowledge and learning in the hands of the developers and regulators of AI tools, which I think will have significant implications for society. Understanding these implications is a big task that will require many research projects — and the continuing work of the excellent social scientists currently studying the social consequences of AI.”</p>
<p>“After we conducted the study (but before publication), xAI announced that it was going to use its AI chatbot, Grok, to create its own version of Wikipedia, called ‘<a href="https://grokipedia.com/page/PsyPost" target="_blank">Grokipedia</a>,'” Karell added. “So, widespread, publicly available summaries of history (and other knowledge) generated by a private company’s AI tool are now a reality.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag022" target="_blank">How latent and prompting biases in AI-generated historical narratives influence opinions</a>,” was authored by Matthew Shu, Daniel Karell, Keitaro Okura, and Thomas R Davidson.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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