<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/science-debunks-the-fashion-myth-that-vertical-stripes-are-always-slimming/" 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;">Science debunks the fashion myth that vertical stripes are always slimming</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 30th 2026, 10:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>New research published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695261441454" target="_blank">i-Perception</a></em> suggests that the way striped clothing affects body shape perception depends heavily on the specific spacing and direction of the lines. While people often believe that vertical stripes always create a taller and thinner look, this study provides evidence that horizontal pencil stripes can actually produce the most slimming effect. The findings offer practical insights into how simple geometric patterns alter our visual judgment of the human figure.</p>
<p>Scientists Tzu-Yu Chen, a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Design at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, and Li-Hsun Peng, a retired associate professor at the same university, conducted the study. They wanted to explore conflicting theories about visual perception and clothing patterns. A scientific concept known as the Helmholtz illusion suggests that horizontal lines can make a space, or a person, appear taller and narrower than vertical lines do. </p>
<p>Previous studies testing this illusion on human bodies have yielded highly inconsistent results. Peng noted that the goal was to expand upon basic theories of design. “In the field of design psychology, I wanted to move beyond the traditional binary of ‘horizontal vs. vertical stripes,'” Peng explained. </p>
<p>“Most existing studies focus solely on orientation, but our research demonstrates that the interaction between stripe type and stripe orientation significantly influences visual body perception,” Peng said. “Interestingly, our study also revealed that women tend to be more sensitive to these striped patterns than men when evaluating body image.”</p>
<p>Most people view full bodies in the real world and rarely compare horizontal and vertical patterns side by side. Clothing styles also impact a person’s body image, which is the subjective mental picture of one’s own physical appearance. People often buy striped clothing specifically to enhance this personal body image, making the optical illusion a highly practical topic for fashion design.</p>
<p>To address past inconsistencies, the scientists designed an experiment using images of a real human model. They categorized their patterns into two distinct types. The first category was equidistant stripes, where the dark lines and the light spaces between them are the exact same width. </p>
<p>The second category was pencil stripes. In these patterns, the light background spaces are significantly wider than the dark lines. The researchers recruited 241 undergraduate students from a university in Taiwan to participate in a visual survey. </p>
<p>They photographed a female volunteer model wearing a slim-fitting, short-sleeved dress. The model had a Body Mass Index of 20.8, representing an average to slightly above-average body type for Taiwanese women. The survey featured white dresses with black stripes in five specific measurements. </p>
<p>Three of these styles featured equidistant stripes, measuring one centimeter, two centimeters, or five centimeters in both line and gap width. The other two styles featured pencil stripes, using one-centimeter black lines separated by either two-centimeter or five-centimeter white gaps. The students viewed these images on computer screens and answered questions about the model’s appearance. </p>
<p>The survey was divided into three distinct experiments to isolate different visual effects. In the first experiment, the students looked exclusively at dresses with horizontal stripes. The results indicate that the horizontal pencil stripe with a two-centimeter white gap provided the most slimming effect, earning support from over half of the participants. </p>
<p>However, the horizontal dress with five-centimeter white gaps received the least support for a slimming effect. This suggests that horizontal pencil stripes only make a person appear thinner if the spacing is kept relatively narrow. The second experiment repeated this process using only vertical stripes, yielding highly inconsistent visual feedback among the students. </p>
<p>In the third experiment, the scientists asked the students to compare horizontal and vertical stripes directly against one another. To mimic real-world observation, they showed horizontal and vertical versions of the same dress on alternating screens. This forced the students to rely on short-term memory to make their evaluations. </p>
<p>“While a horizontal ‘pencil stripe’ pattern (1×2 h) can create a slimming effect, certain vertical configurations can achieve similar or even superior results depending on the perspective,” Peng said. “For example, in a standard 1×1 striped dress, our findings suggest that vertical stripes are perceived as more slimming than horizontal stripes when viewed from the back.” This highlights how a simple change in the viewing angle alters human perception.</p>
<p>While these findings are detailed, the study does have a few limitations to consider. The experiment only used one female model with a specific body type. This means the visual effects might differ on people with different body shapes, heights, or sizes. </p>
<p>“It is important to remember that the ‘1×2 pencil stripe’ may not be the optimal slimming choice for every body type, particularly for larger frames,” Peng noted. “Due to our focus on comparing five stripe types and two orientations, the primary experiment used a specific model prototype.” The students in the study were also all from the same demographic group, which might limit how these perceptions apply across different age brackets.</p>
<p>“For those with a fuller figure looking to utilize these illusions, our data suggests that 1×1 equidistant vertical stripes might be a more effective and reliable option than certain horizontal patterns,” Peng added. Future research could examine how these spacing patterns interact with looser clothing or different fabric types. Scientists might also test these optical illusions using a wider variety of colors. </p>
<p>The researchers also found unexpected potential for specific designs in maternity wear. “One of the most surprising findings was the potential of the 2×2 horizontal stripe as a functional choice for maternity wear,” Peng explained. “It manages to flatter the pregnant silhouette while remaining visually striking—blending aesthetic appeal with a degree of ‘visual safety’ (visibility).”</p>
<p>“On a personal note, during the course of this experiment, I happened to be pregnant myself and frequently wore these 2×2 horizontal striped dresses,” Peng shared. “Furthermore, when testing this specific pattern across eight different body types (ranging in height and weight), we observed a powerful hysteresis phenomenon.” A hysteresis phenomenon occurs when a system’s current state is highly dependent on its history, meaning the visual perception tends to remain stable even as the underlying body shape changes.</p>
<p>“The results were statistically non-significant across all eight body types for the 2×2 pattern,” Peng noted. “While we did not publish the non-significant data, this ‘neutrality’ is fascinating as it suggests a versatile design option that remains visually consistent regardless of the wearer’s size.” This suggests that some patterns neutralize body shape differences almost entirely.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695261441454" target="_blank">The influence of striped clothing on visual body perception: A study on pattern spacing design</a>,” was authored by Tzu-Yu Chen and Li-Hsun Peng.</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/subconscious-surrender-to-god-predicts-long-term-addiction-recovery-study-finds/" 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;">Subconscious surrender to God predicts long-term addiction recovery, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 30th 2026, 08:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A 1-year longitudinal study showed that the adoption of Surrender to God, a religious coping strategy, was associated with almost 3 times lower odds of substance use relapse over the course of one year in Christian patients, if the use of this strategy is measured using an implicit association task. However, explicit measurement of the application of this coping strategy was only associated with slightly decreased odds of relapse after a month, but not at 6- and 12-month assessments. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2026.100693"><em>Addictive Behaviors Reports</em></a>.</p>
<p>Surrender to God is a religious coping strategy in substance use disorder recovery in which people relinquish their own desires and actions in order to follow what they believe to be God’s will. It may support recovery by helping people shift attention away from substance-related reinforcers and toward a future-oriented, transcendent source of meaning and support. This process has been described as humble detachment: letting go of preoccupation with craving while prioritizing awareness of God’s active and loving presence.</p>
<p>In this way, surrender to God may reduce worry, negative repetitive thinking, uncertainty intolerance, negative emotions, and craving. Previous studies have linked surrender to God with lower substance use and craving, lower anxiety and depression, greater meaning in life, and a stronger sense of being supported by God. However, there is still limited longitudinal evidence and no fully developed overarching theory showing that surrender to God causally promotes recovery.</p>
<p>There are two general approaches to measuring the application of this coping strategy—the explicit and the implicit approach. Explicitly, surrender to God is measured with self-report questionnaires in which participants indicate how much they consciously endorse entrusting their problems, choices, and recovery to God. </p>
<p>It can be measured with an Implicit Association Task, which assesses how strongly and automatically a person subconsciously associates the concept of “surrender to God” with themselves. This implicit measure may be useful because substance use can involve automatic, hard-to-control processes that are not fully captured by self-reports.</p>
<p>Study author Henk-Jan Seesink and his colleagues hypothesized that Surrender to God, measured during treatment for substance use disorder, would be associated with lower chances of relapse, lower levels of substance use disorder symptoms, and greater meaning in life at follow-ups. They conducted a longitudinal study in which they followed individuals undergoing substance use disorder treatment up to a year after their treatment.</p>
<p>The study authors initially approached 462 patients with substance use disorder at a government-accredited Christian addiction and mental health clinic in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. At this clinic, a multidisciplinary team of addiction specialists provides treatment based on cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction, and on schema therapy for personality disorders where necessary. The patients were also free to participate in optional, non-governmentally funded religious activities, such as prayer meetings, and to choose whether to connect their faith and spirituality to treatment goals.</p>
<p>After early dropouts and excluding patients who were not Christians, the final number of participants included in the study was 177. However, only 101 (57%) of them provided their data after 12 months. Patients who were Christians were selected for the primary analyses of this study because Surrender to God was expected to be a valid predictor of outcomes mainly in these individuals.</p>
<p>Forty-nine percent of participants were treated for alcohol use disorder, 25% for cocaine, 11% for cannabis, and the remaining participants for other types of substances. Participants’ average age was 40 years. Around 75% of them were men.</p>
<p>Surrender to God was measured at the start of the study both explicitly (using the Dutch Surrender to God Scale) and implicitly (the Implicit Association Test for surrender). The study authors tracked relapse (the return to substance use) and assessed participants’ substance use disorder symptoms (using the Leeds Dependence Questionnaire) and meaning in life (the Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale).</p>
<p>Results showed that the implicit measure of Surrender to God predicted strongly decreased odds of relapse (almost 3 times lower odds) over the course of one year, but not at the one-month follow-up assessment. In contrast, the explicit measure of Surrender to God predicted slightly lower odds of relapse up to one month after treatment, but not at the 6- or 12-month assessments. Surrender to God was not associated with a reduction in daily substance use disorder symptoms or an increase in meaning in life.</p>
<p>“These results suggest that explicit StG [Surrender to God] may be useful in predicting short-term relapse, and implicit StG may be useful in predicting longer-term relapse,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of coping strategies that might help prevent relapse in substance use disorder. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. Additionally, the study had a very large attrition rate, meaning that a large share of participants dropped out or could not be reached before the end of the study. This non-response may have affected the findings.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2026.100693">A One-Year longitudinal study on Surrender to God assessed during addiction treatment,</a>” was authored by Henk-Jan Seesink, Cis Vrijmoeth, Brian D. Ostafin, Hanneke Schaap-Jonker, and Reinout W. Wiers.</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/gold-digging-is-strongly-linked-to-psychopathy-and-dark-personality-traits-study-finds/" 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;">Gold digging is strongly linked to psychopathy and dark personality traits, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 30th 2026, 06:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent psychological study suggests that gold digging is not merely a gender-based stereotype, but rather a calculated social strategy linked to traits like psychopathy and narcissism. The findings provide evidence that people who engage in this behavior actively sacrifice emotional intimacy to extract financial resources from their partners. This research was published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113817" target="_blank">Personality and Individual Differences</a></em>.</p>
<p>Scientists Lennart Freyth and Peter K. Jonason designed this study to understand the psychological motivations behind highly materialistic dating behaviors. Freyth is affiliated with the Behavioral and Social Sciences Institute in Austria and HSD Hochschule Döpfer University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Jonason is affiliated with the Behavioral and Social Sciences Institute and the University of Human Sciences in Poland.</p>
<p>Freyth previously published <a href="https://www.psypost.org/psychopathic-men-and-less-selective-women-report-more-sex-via-tinder/" target="_blank">research analyzing dating apps like Tinder as “digital leks,”</a> a biological term for environments where individuals display themselves to attract mates without providing emotional investment. That earlier work provided evidence that people with highly opportunistic, short-term mating strategies find the most success on these platforms. Building on those findings, he wanted to explore how some people use dating to actively exploit others. </p>
<p>“Following up on my research on dating, I became interested in people who prefer highly exploitative dating strategies, going beyond a simple preferences for resourceful partners (e.g., money or status),” Freyth told PsyPost. “After discussing with a friend and colleague about how to capture gold digging, I developed a decision-based online survey. Participants chose between an intimacy-focused (or relationship-oriented) option and an option focused on gaining some kind of benefit from the partner.”</p>
<p>In biology and psychology, exploitative dating is often viewed as a “fast life history strategy.” This concept describes how an individual adapts to their environment by seeking immediate, selfish rewards rather than investing in slow, mutually beneficial relationships. The scientists suspected that gold digging represents a specific, reckless version of this fast life strategy. </p>
<p>To test these ideas, the researchers collected data from 351 participants through an online German university course. After excluding ten people who completed the survey too quickly, the final group consisted of 105 men and 236 women. The volunteers were about thirty years old on average.</p>
<p>The survey required participants to make repeated forced choices, a method known as ipsative testing. They had to choose between a hypothetical partner focused on emotional support and one focused entirely on material benefits. This format forced participants to reveal if they would readily sacrifice a supportive relationship for financial gain. </p>
<p>The researchers also measured the “Dark Tetrad” of personality traits, which includes narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. Narcissism involves extreme vanity, while Machiavellianism features the cynical manipulation of others. Psychopathy involves impulsive and callous behavior, and sadism involves enjoying the suffering of others. </p>
<p>Participants also provided demographic details, such as their political orientation and the population size of their hometown. They also rated their own “mate value,” which is a self-assessment of how attractive and desirable a person believes they are on the dating market. </p>
<p>When analyzing the results, the scientists found that women scored higher on the gold digging measure than men. However, the behavior was present in both sexes and consistently linked to dark personality traits. Freyth outlined the primary takeaways from these findings. </p>
<p>“First, gold diggers do not only prefer resourceful partners, they trade-off characteristics of a happy relationship to extract resources from their partner,” Freyth said. “Second, gold digging is strongly linked to psychopathy, which confirms the reckless component mentioned in pop culture.”</p>
<p>The researchers found that other demographic elements also played a role. “Third, there are linked factors, like big cities, being a student, being non-heterosexual, and high self-described mate value, which do not differ between men and women (except for female students scored higher than males),” Freyth noted.</p>
<p>Because these factors were amplified similarly across genders, the researchers view this as a broad behavioral pattern. “This confirms a general human sexual strategy which is not uniquely used by women,” Freyth explained. “Still: Four, female gold diggers were also sadistic.”</p>
<p>The research suggests this materialistic approach requires a deeply callous mindset that surprised the researchers. “Some results were so clear or expected to theory, that as a psychologist this is a surprise within the discipline,” Freyth noted. “For instance, the link to psychopathy – there was no noise in the data on this.”</p>
<p>Freyth elaborated on how these traits manifest equally under the right circumstances. “Also, gold digging tendencies are amplified in men and women in certain conditions, but not stronger amplified in women,” he added. “Again, this makes it a human behavior, not a sex-specific one.”</p>
<p>Freyth suggests specific political links might be highly strategic for some demographics. “There was a group of right-wing, female students with elevated levels of gold digging,” he noted. “Besides being in their reproductive prime, right-wing individuals tend to be more industrious, thus this link could be a consequence or a motivation.”</p>
<p>Another distinct pattern emerged among left-leaning men, who reported the highest self-perceived mate value but did not score high on gold digging. “Interestingly, those with the highest self-described mate value (associated with gold digging) were left-wing males- not right-wing women-, which might be the complementary behavior to present themselves as vulnerable and empathic,” Freyth said.</p>
<p>The researchers propose these men might be engaging in a deceptive mating tactic to attract partners. “To do so and to improve their chances in the mating market this group labels themselves as left-wing,” Freyth concluded. “To our knowledge, this is the first empirical observation of the performative male (i.e., kleptogamy).”</p>
<p>While the study offers new insights into dating strategies, the researchers acknowledge some limitations. “Of course, as a scientist I always think about what to improve: The sample was predominantly left-wing and young, maybe some other effects were underestimated,” Freyth said. “Also, the study was cross-sectional.”</p>
<p>A cross-sectional design means the research only captured a single moment in time and cannot prove that specific traits directly cause gold digging. “I would like to see further experiments on the topic and more facets of the observed effects,” Freyth added. “But overall, the decision task, the used scales, and the sample size allow a first glance into the principle of gold digging.”</p>
<p>Moving forward, Freyth plans to investigate how these exploitative strategies impact broader aspects of society. “I am currently switching into a more fundamental line of research, capturing evolutionary and theoretical frameworks of social decision making,” he said. “For instance, in this study I distinguish adaptive mate preferences for resourceful partners from potentially maladaptive exploitative strategies such as gold digging.”</p>
<p>He hopes to expand this framework to understand wider behavioral trends. “By doing so, I have started to investigate broader group-related and societal research questions,” Freyth said. “As a young scientist I am especially interested in connecting with labs working on evolutionary psychology, social decision-making, and related societal outcomes.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113817" target="_blank">Mercenary predators: Individual characteristics of gold diggers</a>,” was authored by Lennart Freyth and Peter K. Jonason.</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/subtle-changes-in-everyday-tasks-can-signal-alzheimers-risk-years-before-memory-loss/" 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;">Subtle changes in everyday tasks can signal Alzheimer’s risk years before memory loss</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 29th 2026, 20:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>For many older adults, life is full of routines. Making breakfast, paying bills, shopping, driving, managing appointments and keeping track of medications are tasks done almost automatically. For most, these routines run smoothly, but for some, small disruptions begin to creep in.</p>
<p>These small struggles matter. Perhaps it starts with uncharacteristically forgetting to add an item to the grocery list or misplacing a pair of glasses. Maybe a chequebook gets mismanaged, or a favourite recipe becomes harder to follow.</p>
<p>These moments can be brushed off as part of aging or blamed on a busy mind. Yet, when these new difficulties persist over time, they may be more than just minor frustrations; they might be early signs of something far deeper.</p>
<h2>Understanding functional changes</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.2165/00023210-200418130-00003">Daily functioning</a> is a key measure of independence, reflecting not only memory, but the co-ordination, planning and attention required to navigate everyday life. Changes here are often subtle, and they can go unnoticed by family members or health-care providers.</p>
<p>Clinicians have long recognized that loss of functional independence, like difficulty performing everyday activities, is a hallmark of dementia. It is, in fact, part of the formal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2011.03.005">diagnostic criteria for dementia</a>.</p>
<p>What is less widely appreciated is that these functional changes can emerge years before dementia is diagnosed, providing an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.3865">early signal</a> that the brain may be at risk. Even when memory seems intact, persistent new struggles in daily tasks may indicate that cognitive decline is starting quietly.</p>
<h2>Persistent versus temporary struggles</h2>
<p>Recent studies tracking older adults without dementia have found that those who experience persistent difficulties in activities of daily living (like preparing meals, shopping or driving) face a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251406661">higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease</a> in the years ahead. In addition, these persistent impairments are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.70247">linked to biological markers of the disease</a>, detectable in spinal fluid long before memory loss becomes obvious. By contrast, temporary or occasional difficulties do not carry the same risk.</p>
<p>One of the key insights in this new research is the difference between temporary lapses and persistent functional changes. While almost everyone misplaces keys or forgets a name from time to time, chronic struggles that linger or worsen over months and years may reveal early disruptions in the brain’s ability to co-ordinate complex tasks.</p>
<p>These disruptions can be one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251406661">earliest indicators</a> that cognitive decline is on the horizon, even before conventional cognitive tests can detect it.</p>
<p>Families, especially those who live with or spend time daily with an older adult, are often the first to notice subtle but steady changes in function, like moments when their loved one struggles to follow a familiar schedule, double-checks every step in a process that used to be second nature or avoids tasks that were once routine. Recognizing these patterns early can help families seek timely evaluation, support and planning.</p>
<h2>Looking beyond cognitive screening tests</h2>
<p>These findings also underscore the value of integrating functional assessments into routine health care. Traditionally, cognitive screening has focused on memory, attention or language tests. More recently, including assessments of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2015.05.017">changes in behaviour or neuropsychiatric symptoms</a> have been included in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13859">dementia guidelines</a>, even at screening of cognitively unimpaired older persons.</p>
<p>Measuring the ability to manage daily life may provide a window into brain health that is both a practical and potentially more culturally adaptable approach to early detection than cognitive screening. <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22306-cognitive-test">Standard cognitive screening tests</a> can be affected by language, education or cultural background. For example, someone may score lower simply because the test uses unfamiliar words, assumes certain schooling or reflects cultural norms that differ from their own.</p>
<p>In contrast, observing changes in everyday function over time focuses on real-life abilities and can reveal early signs of brain changes, offering a practical and widely applicable way to detect risk.</p>
<h2>Shifting the focus in aging and brain health</h2>
<p>The story of everyday struggles as early warning signs challenges common perceptions of aging. What looks like normal forgetfulness may, in some cases, be a signal to pay closer attention. These subtle changes are not personal failures — they are clues, pointing to the need for care, support and awareness.</p>
<p>It’s also important to keep this in balance: not every struggle points to dementia, and many older adults maintain their independence without experiencing any decline in daily functioning. But for those whose difficulties persist and accumulate, the pattern is meaningful.</p>
<p>Based on the latest research, it is this persistence, rather than occasional slips, that is most strongly linked to future cognitive decline and brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.</p>
<p>By shifting the focus from episodic forgetfulness to ongoing functional changes, families and health-care providers can act sooner. Support strategies, such as simplifying routines, using reminders or providing assistance with complex tasks, can help maintain independence while also serving as a form of early intervention. Early recognition also allows for better planning, access to resources and timely medical evaluation.</p>
<h2>A window into brain health</h2>
<p>Ultimately, the story of functional change in aging is one of vigilance and insight. Paying attention to what may seem like small, everyday difficulties can offer a glimpse into the brain’s health years before memory loss becomes obvious. It’s a reminder that the subtle ways life becomes harder can carry vital information, and that early attention to persistent changes may make a meaningful difference in the course of aging and cognitive health.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in contributing to research on everyday function and brain health, Canadian studies like <a href="https://www.can-protect.ca/">CAN-PROTECT</a> and <a href="https://research.ucalgary.ca/participate/biomarkers-and-mild-behavioural-impairment-bambi-reb21-1463">BAMBI</a> are exploring how subtle changes in daily life may signal early risk for Alzheimer’s.</p>
<p>Both studies are led by Dr. Zahinoor Ismail, a clinician scientist at the University of Calgary and one of the authors of this story. BAMBI is based in Calgary, while CAN-PROTECT is an online study open to participants across Canada. By joining such studies, you can help advance research that could make a real difference.</p>
<p><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/277443/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-everyday-tasks-become-harder-early-clues-to-alzheimers-disease-277443">original article</a>.</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/the-covid-19-pandemic-temporarily-doubled-cases-of-autoimmune-brain-inflammation/" 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;">Spike in brain attacking autoantibodies linked to early COVID-19 pandemic</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 29th 2026, 18:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Researchers in Singapore detected a marked spike in autoantibodies associated with brain inflammation during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The incidence rates later declined to pre-pandemic levels, a trend the scientists attribute to widespread vaccination efforts and the arrival of less severe virus variants. The findings were published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70630"><em>Brain and Behavior</em></a>.</p>
<p>When a person catches a virus, their immune system generates targeted proteins called antibodies to fight off the invader. After the infection clears, the immune response usually winds down. In rare instances, this system makes an error. The body produces autoantibodies that mistakenly attack the person’s own healthy tissues.</p>
<p>When these errant antibodies target the brain, the resulting condition is known as autoimmune encephalitis. Patients with this disorder experience severe inflammation in their central nervous system. This can lead to a wide array of devastating symptoms, including memory loss, sudden alterations in personality, hallucinations, and seizures.</p>
<p>Medical professionals have recognized for years that certain viral infections can act as a trigger for autoimmune encephalitis. A classic example is the herpes simplex virus, which can prompt the immune system to attack specialized brain receptors long after the initial infection has passed. During the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, doctors began reporting isolated cases of autoantibody attacks in patients who had recently recovered from the novel coronavirus.</p>
<p>To understand if this was a widespread phenomenon, researchers needed to look at population-level laboratory data. Neurologist Tianrong Yeo and his colleagues at the National Neuroscience Institute in Singapore designed a study to evaluate regional testing trends. Their goal was to see if the incidence of specific brain attacking antibodies increased alongside the emergence of the coronavirus.</p>
<p>The researchers also decided to look at a second category of diseases known as paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. These conditions produce similar symptoms and mimic viral induced autoimmune encephalitis. However, they are triggered by an immune response to an underlying cancerous tumor, not an infectious disease. The researchers hypothesized that if a virus was causing a spike in autoimmune brain inflammation, the rates of cancer-linked inflammatory conditions should remain completely unaffected.</p>
<p>To test this idea, the team conducted a retrospective analysis of laboratory tests performed at their institute. The National Neuroscience Institute handles diagnostic samples from medical facilities that serve about three-quarters of the population of Singapore. This provided a massive dataset to examine long-term trends before and during the pandemic.</p>
<p>The researchers gathered data on blood serum and spinal fluid samples tested between 2017 and 2023. They looked for the presence of specific autoantibodies known to target the outer surface of brain cells. They also looked for a different set of autoantibodies known to attack the interior of cells, which are the primary hallmark of the cancer-linked neurological syndromes.</p>
<p>To eliminate false positive results, the laboratory team utilized incredibly strict conditions for inclusion. For certain autoantibodies, a patient’s sample was only counted as positive if the markers were found directly in the cerebrospinal fluid, the distinct liquid that bathes and protects the brain. For others, the sample had to test positive across two entirely separate types of laboratory tests. If a patient provided multiple samples over time, only their first positive result was recorded to prevent duplicate counting.</p>
<p>The team then calculated the incidence rate using a metric known as person-years. This is a statistical measurement that accounts for both the number of people observed and the amount of time they were monitored. It allows scientists to accurately compare how often a disease occurs across different time periods and shifting population sizes.</p>
<p>Between 2017 and 2023, the laboratory tested over four thousand individual samples for autoantibodies targeting brain surface proteins. Out of this large pool, 87 samples met the strict threshold for a positive result. The researchers noticed a distinct pattern when charting these positive results chronologically.</p>
<p>During the three years preceding the pandemic, the incidence of these autoantibodies hovered at around 2.44 cases per one million person-years. In 2020, the first year of the global viral outbreak, the rate shot up to 4.92 cases per one million person-years. The most common type of autoantibody found during this spike targeted a specific protein structure in the brain called the NMDA receptor, which handles memory and learning functions.</p>
<p>The research team views this sudden doubling as evidence of a biological link between the novel coronavirus and autoimmune brain inflammation. They propose two primary mechanisms that might explain the connection. The first is molecular mimicry, a scenario where the proteins on the outside of the coronavirus look so much like the proteins on the outside of human brain cells that the immune system gets fundamentally confused.</p>
<p>The second proposed mechanism relates to widespread internal inflammation. A severe coronavirus infection can cause a massive release of inflammatory molecules throughout the entire body. These molecules might damage the protective boundary between the bloodstream and the brain, allowing rogue immune cells to slip inside and wreak havoc.</p>
<p>Following the initial spike in 2020, the incidence of these autoantibodies dropped. Between 2021 and 2023, the rate hovered at roughly 2.74 cases per one million person-years. The researchers noted that while this drop was visually apparent on their charts, the difference between the 2020 peak and the later pandemic years was not statistically significant.</p>
<p>The researchers suspect the successful rollout of vaccination programs played a major role in bringing the numbers back down. Vaccines train the immune system in a safer environment and limit the severity of future infections. By late 2021, the vast majority of the population in Singapore had received at least two vaccine doses. With lower viral loads in the community, the chances of the virus triggering an extreme autoimmune response likely plummeted.</p>
<p>The natural evolution of the virus might have also contributed to the decline. As the pandemic progressed, the original strain of the coronavirus was replaced by variants that spread faster but generally caused milder illness. These newer iterations of the virus may have possessed a lower capacity to provoke an autoimmune malfunction.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the data for the cancer-linked neurological syndromes behaved exactly as the researchers predicted. The team found 29 positive samples out of more than three thousand tests. Rather than spiking during the pandemic, the incidence of these specific autoantibodies climbed slowly and steadily in a straight upward trajectory from 2019 to 2023.</p>
<p>The steady rise in cancer-linked autoantibodies likely reflects a growing awareness among doctors, who are now ordering the specialized tests more frequently than they did in the past. Above all, the complete lack of a sudden jump in 2020 reinforces the idea that these particular syndromes operate independently of viral outbreaks.</p>
<p>While the data reveals an important trend, the study has several limitations. The researchers conducted an observational analysis based purely on laboratory records. They did not have access to complete clinical histories or direct physical evaluations for the patients whose samples were tested.</p>
<p>Because of this physical barrier, the team could not confirm if the patients with positive autoantibody tests had suffered a corroborated coronavirus infection just prior to their specific neurological symptoms. They also could not completely rule out the possibility that a few of the rapid onset cases in 2020 were actually triggered by undiscovered tumors. The researchers had to rely on generalized group trends rather than case-by-case proof.</p>
<p>Despite the strict laboratory criteria, there is always a tiny residual risk of false positive results in chemical testing. The team noted that their testing methods remained completely uniform throughout the entire study period. Any sudden change in the number of positive samples is highly unlikely to be the result of a sudden spike in testing errors.</p>
<p>The primary researchers hope their findings encourage medical professionals to remain vigilant about the secondary consequences of viral outbreaks. The human immune system is incredibly powerful, and its biological mistakes can result in lasting neurological damage. As the virus that causes COVID-19 becomes a permanent part of the respiratory illness landscape, keeping an eye on unusual neurological symptoms will remain a high priority in hospital care.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70630">Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Incidence of Autoimmune Encephalitis and Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes Associated Antibodies in Singapore</a>,” was authored by Rui Ling Rena Lau, Karine Su Shan Tay, Seyed Ehsan Saffari, Patricia Yut Wan Wong, Mei Ting Lim, Angelia Swee Hoon Koe, Jeanne May May Tan, Kok Pin Yong, Kevin Tan, Josiah Yui Huei Chai, and Tianrong Yeo.</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/brain-halves-become-less-alike-as-kids-grow-especially-in-highly-intelligent-tee/" 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;">Brain halves become less alike as kids grow, especially in highly intelligent teens</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 29th 2026, 16:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>As children grow into adolescence, corresponding regions on the left and right sides of their brain function less identically, reflecting a transition toward specialized mental labor. A recent study observed that individuals with superior intelligence scores experience this functional division at an accelerated rate. These findings were published in the journal *<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101596">Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience</a>*.</p>
<p>The human brain features two distinct halves. These left and right hemispheres frequently communicate to manage everything from basic sensory input to high-level reasoning. Historically, discussions of brain organization have focused on spatial lateralization. This concept suggests that certain cognitive domains, like language processing or spatial awareness, rely heavily on one side of the brain. </p>
<p>Both hemispheres actually cooperate constantly to support cognitive demands. To understand this cooperation, neuroscientists measure functional homotopy. This concept describes the similarity in brain activity between mirroring regions on the left and right hemispheres. High functional homotopy means both sides of the brain are performing identical or highly synchronized roles. Lower functional homotopy indicates that the hemispheres are differentiating their duties to operate somewhat independently.</p>
<p>Researchers Li-Zhen Chen and Xi-Nian Zuo initiated this investigation to understand how this interhemispheric coordination evolves as children mature. Chen and Zuo are cognitive neuroscience researchers based at Beijing Normal University. They wanted to track the maturation of brain networks from early childhood into adolescence to see how physical brain organization is linked to cognitive performance.</p>
<p>During early childhood, neural networks are usually broadly distributed. Young brains maintain high levels of synchronized communication across the two hemispheres. Over time, the brain develops greater functional specialization. This developmental shift allows the mind to transition from generalized networks to specialized configurations capable of supporting advanced reasoning.</p>
<p>To observe these changes, Chen and Zuo analyzed longitudinal data and intelligence test scores. The cohort included 178 participants between the ages of six and nearly seventeen. The researchers obtained multiple resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans from the participants over several years. This scanning technique allowed the researchers to observe spontaneous brain activity while the participants rested in the scanner with their eyes open.</p>
<p>Measuring this communication involves evaluating blood oxygen changes in the brain over time. The scanning technology tracks how oxygenated blood moves to active neurons. When the oxygenation patterns match perfectly between mirroring brain regions across the left and right halves, it indicates high synchronization. A drop in this measurement designates that the corresponding regions have developed distinct, localized firing patterns.</p>
<p>Alongside the brain scans, participants completed standard cognitive assessments to measure their intelligence quotients. The researchers divided the participants by age, grouping them into children under twelve and adolescents twelve and older. They also categorized the participants into average, high, and superior intelligence groups based on their behavioral testing outcomes.</p>
<p>To quantify the changes in the brain, the team used a mathematical metric to evaluate the whole-brain functional connectivity profiles. This measurement allowed them to map how similarly the two sides of the brain communicated with the rest of the nervous system. By comparing these maps across ages and intelligence levels, they could precisely trace the rate of hemispheric specialization.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed an age-related decrease in matching left-right brain activity. Younger children showcased higher similarity between their brain hemispheres. Older adolescents demonstrated lower global similarity, displaying a more adult-like pattern of hemispheric independence.</p>
<p>Brain development follows a specific physical path as a person ages, mapped from core sensorimotor regions up to advanced cognitive regions. Areas that handle fundamental sensory information, such as vision and touch, mature early in life. Regions that process abstract ideas and integrate multiple types of sensory information mature much later. </p>
<p>The most pronounced decline in hemispheric harmony occurred within these higher-order association networks. These neural networks manage advanced tasks related to memory, attention, and executive control. Primary regions responsible for basic sensory processing exhibited weaker age-related changes across the general sample. As adolescents approach adulthood, their brain systems essentially delegate different pieces of complex cognitive tasks to separate hemispheres.</p>
<p>During early childhood, interconnected neural systems that handle internal thought processes behave similarly on both sides of the brain. When older adolescents use these same networks to recall memories or imagine future events, the left and right sides operate differently. The left side handles the language elements of a concept, while the right side manages the social or emotional elements.</p>
<p>When comparing the neuroimaging data to intelligence scores, distinct developmental patterns emerged. In the childhood group, the correlation between brain similarity and intelligence was relatively weak. By adolescence, lower synchronized brain activity was linked to higher intelligence scores.</p>
<p>Tracking the participants over time revealed divergent developmental trajectories among the intelligence groups. Children in the superior intelligence group experienced the fastest overall rate of decline in hemispheric similarity. By age seventeen, this group exhibited the lowest levels of symmetric brain activity compared to their peers.</p>
<p>The superior intelligence group also displayed neural changes in different physical locations. While the average and high intelligence groups only showed notable specialization in advanced association networks, the superior group showed these changes uniformly across the entire brain. Even their primary sensory and visual networks developed high levels of hemispheric independence.</p>
<p>Modern theories of neurodevelopment suggest that highly intelligent individuals integrate brain networks more efficiently. An accelerated drop in synchronized activity likely reflects an earlier, more advanced state of hemispheric specialization. By dividing labor efficiently across the left and right halves of the brain, individuals may use fewer physical resources to complete complex mental operations.</p>
<p>The study design presents certain limitations that researchers intend to address in future analyses. The calculated direct correlation between intelligence scores and brain symmetry was not statistically significant at every data point, reflecting the natural variability in human development. The researchers also focused exclusively on the outer layer of the brain, known as the cerebral cortex.</p>
<p>Some integral communication hubs reside deeper within the subcortical regions of the brain. Structures like the thalamus relay sensory information and participate in intellectual processing, but this study did not evaluate their developmental patterns. Exploring these regions could expand similar mapping techniques to include the entire central nervous system.</p>
<p>The observed sample size also restricted the ability to analyze biological sex differences in brain development. While the researchers controlled for broad sex differences mathematically, a larger group of participants is required to map out specialized developmental pathways for boys and girls. Tracking these differences could eventually help medical professionals understand atypical brain development patterns in learning disabilities and cognitive disorders.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101596">Intellectual ability and cortical homotopy development in children and adolescents</a>,” was authored by Li-Zhen Chen and Xi-Nian Zuo.</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/the-femme-fatale-might-be-a-universal-myth-driven-by-the-fear-of-romantic-deception/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">The “femme fatale” might be a universal myth driven by the fear of romantic deception</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 29th 2026, 14:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15040259" target="_blank">Social Sciences</a></em> has found that stories about dangerous, attractive women are almost universal across different cultures. These cautionary tales suggest that men tend to fear the risks of emotional attachment and heartbreak just as much as they are drawn to physical beauty. Ultimately, this research indicates that the famous “femme fatale” character stems from human evolutionary psychology rather than simply local cultural attitudes.</p>
<p>William Jankowiak, a professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, conducted this research to understand why the concept of the dangerous woman appears so frequently in human history. Jankowiak is also the author of several books, including the 2023 release <em><a href="https://amzn.to/3R6qF1e" target="_blank">Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Mormon Fundamentalist Community</a></em> and the 2026 book <em><a href="https://amzn.to/4mTMgWy" target="_blank">Polygamy: The Basics</a></em>. He wanted to see if these “femme fatale” narratives act as warnings about the evolutionary risks of choosing an untrustworthy partner.</p>
<p>“I’ve long been interested in human universals, which led me to evolutionary approaches to attraction and mating,” Jankowiak explained. “If men are widely attracted to youthful women, as some theories suggest, then we should also see cultural narratives—stories, warnings, or anxieties—about the potential risks of that attraction. This project grew out of that question: what fears or cautions accompany desire?”</p>
<p>Some social scientists propose that these stories arise primarily from social inequalities and a desire to control women. From this viewpoint, tales of manipulative women are a product of male dominance and specific societal structures. However, evolutionary scientists suggest a different explanation based on human mating psychology.</p>
<p>In evolutionary terms, physical attractiveness and youth serve as biological signals of health and reproductive potential. While men might be naturally drawn to these traits, pursuing a mate also involves significant risks. These risks include being deceived by a partner who is not genuinely committed to the relationship. </p>
<p>To answer his questions, Jankowiak analyzed folklore and historical stories from 84 different societies. The primary data came from a standardized sample of global cultures, which was supplemented with historical records and field observations. The researcher read all available tales from these collections to identify specific recurring themes.</p>
<p>The researcher looked for stories where a male character suffers harm, humiliation, or death after getting involved with a physically attractive but unfamiliar woman. Two independent graduate students reviewed the stories to ensure accuracy in identifying these themes. When there were disagreements, the stories were reviewed again, and three societies were removed from the study because a consensus could not be reached.</p>
<p>The sample included both egalitarian societies and stratified societies. In an egalitarian society, people of the same age and sex have relatively equal access to resources and power. In a stratified society, wealth and power are distributed unequally, helping the researcher determine if social inequality drives the creation of these stories.</p>
<p>The data showed that the dangerous woman motif is present in 79 out of the 84 sampled societies. This means that 94 percent of the cultures examined contain stories warning men about the dangers of attractive women. The researcher found that these tales appear consistently across both egalitarian and stratified societies.</p>
<p>This wide distribution suggests that the stories are not simply a result of unequal social structures or specific cultural biases. Instead, they reflect a shared human experience regarding the anxiety of mate selection. The tales act as culturally transmitted lessons that help guide behavior when people face uncertain romantic choices.</p>
<p>When looking at the motivations of the male characters, the findings tend to challenge traditional assumptions about male desires. In 42 out of the 48 societies where the man’s motivation was identifiable, the stories focused on emotional attachment or a desire for a long-term partnership. Only a very small number of stories framed temporary sexual gratification as the primary reason for the man’s involvement.</p>
<p>Regarding unexpected findings, Jankowiak said, “Yes. I expected concerns about sexual morality or ‘pollution’ to be more central, but instead the dominant anxiety was about deception—specifically, the fear of being misled after making an emotional or long-term commitment.” The stories typically depict a man who becomes overly attached to an idealized woman, which eventually leads to his downfall. </p>
<p>For instance, the research highlighted tales from various continents, such as stories of fox spirits in South America and Asia that trick men into destructive marriages. Other examples included Australian Aboriginal tales of water spirits who lure men to their deaths with enchanting songs. Men in these tales are rarely shown as aggressive predators, but are usually depicted as individuals who make poor judgments. </p>
<p>“Sexual and romantic encounters are often framed as deeply rewarding, but they also carry perceived risks,” Jankowiak noted. “My findings suggest that people experience them as both potentially wonderful and potentially dangerous, especially when commitment is involved.”</p>
<p>From an evolutionary perspective, men who overinvest in partners who are not committed face severe biological and social costs. The femme fatale narratives highlight the dangers of this one-sided emotional investment. “More broadly, the study highlights how cultural narratives and evolved concerns intersect,” Jankowiak explained. </p>
<p>“Attraction is not just about desire—it is also shaped by caution, storytelling, and the management of social risk,” he added. While these findings offer insight into human psychology, there are some limitations to consider. The presence of a theme in a society’s folklore does not mean that every single person in that culture shares the exact same fear. </p>
<p>Another point of consideration involves how researchers understand the motives of the characters in these tales. “One potential limitation is how we interpret ‘love’ in the findings,” Jankowiak stated. “I frame commitment as a primary motivation, but it could also be argued that concerns about deception are more fundamental, with commitment simply raising the stakes of that risk.”</p>
<p>Future research could explore how these narratives change over time as societies modernize and adapt to new social norms. Exploring modern views on relationships remains a focus for the researcher. “I’m currently working on a related project examining how young people in China conceptualize love, particularly the cognitive assumptions they hold about its role in sustaining a happy marriage,” Jankowiak shared.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15040259" target="_blank">Wanting Beauty, Fearing Beauty: Mate Preference, Intimacy, Deception, and the Femme Fatale</a>,” was authored by William Jankowiak.</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/heavy-substance-use-in-early-adulthood-predicts-memory-problems-decades-later/" 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;">Heavy substance use in early adulthood predicts memory problems decades later</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 29th 2026, 12:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Young adults who frequently drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or use cannabis might be putting their future cognitive health at risk. A new study reveals that heavy substance use in early adulthood predicts poorer memory performance decades later. The research, published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643261431007" target="_blank">Journal of Aging and Health</a></em>, highlights how habits formed in youth can create lasting consequences for brain health in late midlife.</p>
<p>As people grow older, they naturally experience changes in how their brains process and store information. Some individuals develop dementia, which is a severe impairment in cognitive abilities that affects daily life and independence. In the United States alone, millions of older adults are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia. </p>
<p>Early memory problems are often one of the first warning signs of future cognitive decline. Identifying the lifestyle factors that contribute to these memory issues is a major priority for public health experts trying to slow the progression of these diseases.</p>
<p>Past scientific literature firmly links heavy alcohol, cannabis, and cigarette consumption to decreased memory function. Substances like alcohol and cannabis are known to affect specific brain circuits, including the frontal lobes and the hippocampus, which govern memory formation.</p>
<p>However, researchers wanted to understand the specific timeline of these effects across a person’s entire lifespan. They designed the study to answer a specific question about early life habits and their long-term reach. They wanted to know if heavy substance use in a person’s twenties directly damages their memory decades later.</p>
<p>Alternatively, they considered whether early habits only cause harm by setting the stage for addiction during a person’s thirties. Megan Patrick, a research professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, led the investigation into these life-long behavioral patterns.</p>
<p>“Substance use has both acute and long-term effects on health and well-being,” Patrick said in a press release. “Poor memory is a common sign of early dementia. We examined whether young adult substance use was associated with poor memory decades later in midlife.”</p>
<p>To track these behaviors over a lifetime, the research team analyzed data from an ongoing national survey called the Monitoring the Future Longitudinal Panel Study. They looked at records from more than sixteen thousand participants who were first interviewed as high school seniors between the years of 1976 and 1991.</p>
<p>The survey followed these same individuals through their youth and into late midlife, which the study defined as ages fifty to sixty-five. During their young adult years, ranging from ages eighteen to thirty, participants periodically reported how often they used different substances.</p>
<p>The researchers focused specifically on identifying patterns of heavy use. For alcohol and cannabis, this meant consuming the substance on twenty or more occasions within a single thirty-day period. </p>
<p>For cigarettes, heavy use was defined as smoking on a daily basis. The team also tracked binge drinking, which they defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a row during a two-week window.</p>
<p>When the participants reached age thirty-five, they answered a new set of questions designed to identify problematic use or addiction. These questions asked whether their substance use caused specific social, physical, or personal problems. This served as a screening tool to identify symptoms of potential substance use disorders in early midlife.</p>
<p>Years later, when participants reached their fifties and sixties, they were asked to rate their own memory capacity. They graded their memory on a simple scale ranging from excellent to poor. Subjective self-ratings are often utilized in scientific research because individuals noticing their own cognitive struggles is a recognized warning sign for future dementia.</p>
<p>The research team found that participants who reported more periods of heavy substance use in their youth were more likely to report poor memory in their fifties and sixties. The specific biological and behavioral pathways connecting these two points in time varied depending on the exact substance.</p>
<p>In scientific studies, a mediator is a variable that explains the relationship between a cause and an effect. For binge drinking and heavy cannabis use, the risk to future memory was entirely mediated by continued addiction symptoms at age thirty-five.</p>
<p>This means that young adult behavior caused long-term memory problems primarily because it led to middle-aged substance use disorders. If a person frequently binge drank or used cannabis heavily in their twenties, they were highly likely to develop problematic use by age thirty-five. That middle-aged problematic use was the actual mechanism linking early habits to poorer memory later in life.</p>
<p>Alcohol use overall showed a slightly different and layered pattern. Frequent drinking in early adulthood increased the risk of developing a midlife alcohol use disorder, which in turn hurt later memory. </p>
<p>Yet, young adult alcohol use also had a direct, lingering effect on poor memory that was independent of middle-aged drinking habits. This suggests that early heavy drinking might cause lasting physical changes to the developing brain that remain even if a person’s drinking patterns change in their thirties.</p>
<p>Cigarette smoking revealed a surprisingly direct pathway to cognitive decline. The number of times a person reported daily smoking during their young adult years directly predicted poor memory in late midlife. </p>
<p>This specific outcome occurred regardless of whether the person was still smoking a pack a day at age thirty-five. Heavy nicotine exposure in early life appears to have lasting impacts on memory, regardless of whether a person quits or continues to smoke as they age.</p>
<p>The study also noted a well-known scientific anomaly regarding alcohol abstention. Participants who completely abstained from alcohol at age thirty-five were more likely to report poor memory than those who drank in moderation.</p>
<p>Scientists believe this happens because moderate drinkers often benefit from increased social interaction, which keeps the brain active. Additionally, people who completely abstain from alcohol sometimes do so because they are already managing underlying physical or mental health conditions that might separately impact cognitive function.</p>
<p>The researchers noted a few limitations to their work that provide context for the results. Relying on self-rated memory provides a useful subjective measure, but it is not a formal clinical diagnosis of cognitive decline. </p>
<p>Future research would benefit from using objective medical tests to evaluate memory and physical brain function in older adults. The study also relied on a sample that originated from high school seniors, meaning it entirely excluded individuals who dropped out of school at an earlier age. </p>
<p>Because educational attainment is strongly linked to both lifetime substance use and cognitive health, excluding dropouts may have slightly altered the overall statistical picture. There are also many unmeasured lifestyle factors, like diet and exercise, that influence memory over a person’s lifespan and could not be fully captured in the data.</p>
<p>Despite these limitations, the study provides strong evidence that the lifestyle choices made in early adulthood cast a long shadow over a person’s aging brain. Understanding the trajectory of these behaviors across multiple decades gives medical professionals a better idea of when to intervene.</p>
<p>“As we saw, this study demonstrates potential long-term detrimental impacts of young adult heavy substance use on cognitive health later in life. It highlights the importance of early interventions,” Patrick said in the press release.</p>
<p>By identifying how early substance use tracks into midlife addiction and later cognitive decline, public health officials can better target their prevention efforts. Helping young adults manage their substance use today could protect their memory function decades into the future.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643261431007" target="_blank">Young Adult Substance Use as a Predictor of Poor Self-Rated Memory Decades Later in Midlife</a>,” was authored by Megan E. Patrick, Yuk C. Pang, Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath, and Joy Bohyun Jang.</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/DY9DKf?signature=018b8cbbc88d9e8cfaad18cbd390691eacade4e6f93e24e02ae01614222f75b8'>unsubscribe from this feed</a></a></small></s></p>