<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/mothers-humor-during-sex-talks-can-make-teenage-daughters-less-open-new-study-suggests/" 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;">Mothers’ humor during sex talks can make teenage daughters less open, new study suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 5th 2026, 10:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2026.2653032" target="_blank">The Journal of Sex Research</a></em> provides evidence that when teenage daughters use humor to talk about sex with their mothers, they tend to experience better sexual well-being. The same study suggests that when mothers use humor during these conversations, it can actually make daughters less willing to open up. These findings highlight how the way family members interact during sensitive discussions shapes a teenager’s healthy sexual development.</p>
<p>Discussing sexuality is often an uncomfortable experience for both parents and teenagers. Lotem Schmil-Itzhak, a student and educational consultant, and Professor Yaniv Efrati, head of <a href="https://sites.biu.ac.il/en/addictive-behaviors-lab" target="_blank">the Addictive Behaviors Laboratory</a> in the Faculty of Education at Bar-Ilan University, wanted to explore whether humor could ease this tension. </p>
<p>“Sex education is an extremely important and meaningful topic for conversations between parents and adolescents,” the researchers explained. “However, in practice, these conversations are often accompanied by embarrassment, discomfort, avoidance, and silence.”</p>
<p>The researchers noted that many parents struggle to initiate and sustain these discussions naturally. “One possible way to make these conversations feel less threatening is through humor,” they said. “Humor can reduce tension, make the interaction feel more relaxed, and help parents and adolescents approach sensitive topics in a more open and comfortable way.”</p>
<p>They noted that in the Jewish Israeli community, where the study took place, sexuality is often considered a highly sensitive topic due to conservative social norms. “When used appropriately, humor may serve as a bridge that helps transform conversations about sexuality from awkward or avoided discussions into opportunities for connection, guidance, and support,” the researchers added.</p>
<p>To answer their questions, the scientists recruited 98 mother-daughter pairs from across Israel, totaling 196 participants. The teenage daughters ranged in age from 14 to 18, while the mothers were between the ages of 40 and 63. To ensure genuine participation and avoid fake online responses, research assistants met with the mothers in person to explain the study before providing access to the digital questionnaires. </p>
<p>The mothers and daughters then completed separate, confidential online surveys that took about 14 minutes. To link the pairs without compromising privacy, each duo received a unique identification code. The researchers also checked internet addresses to confirm that the mothers and daughters filled out the surveys on different devices. </p>
<p>The surveys asked participants to rate how often they used humor when discussing sexuality with the other person. The researchers also measured the frequency and openness of their sexual communication. Additional questions evaluated the level of parental control over the conversations and how much the daughters kept secrets from their mothers. </p>
<p>Finally, the daughters completed a comprehensive questionnaire assessing their sexual well-being. Sexual well-being in adolescence involves more than just avoiding risky behavior. It includes a young person’s sense of control over sexual experiences, their resilience to challenging situations, and their general acceptance of their own developing sexuality. </p>
<p>The researchers used statistical modeling to examine how one person’s behavior affected their own outcomes, known as actor effects. They also looked at partner effects, which measure how one person’s behavior influences the other person’s outcomes. This allowed them to separate individual coping strategies from broader relationship dynamics. </p>
<p>The data showed that when daughters used humor, they reported much more open and frequent communication about sex with their mothers. “The findings point to a complex and nuanced answer,” the scientists noted. “When daughters themselves used humor in conversations about sexuality, the dialogue tended to become more open, direct, and less emotionally charged.”</p>
<p>Because humor helped daughters communicate openly, it was also linked to healthier development. “In this context, humor may function as a personal resource that reduces embarrassment and allows adolescents to approach a sensitive topic more naturally,” the researchers explained. “In our study, daughters’ use of humor was positively associated with their own open sexual communication, and through this openness, it was also linked to higher sexual well-being, including greater confidence, understanding, and a more positive attitude toward sexuality.”</p>
<p>When mothers used humor, the results pointed in the opposite direction. “Since we began the study with the assumption that humor could help reduce embarrassment in conversations about sexuality, we expected mothers’ use of humor to be associated with more open sexual communication and higher sexual well-being among daughters,” the scientists explained. “However, we were surprised to find that this was not the case.”</p>
<p>The analysis indicated that mothers’ humor was associated with less open communication from their daughters. Because maternal humor reduced the daughter’s willingness to communicate openly, it was indirectly linked to lower scores in the daughter’s sexual well-being. “From the daughters’ perspective, mothers may be seen as part of the adult world, and when humor is introduced by a parent in a conversation about sexuality, it may not always feel relieving or supportive,” the researchers observed. </p>
<p>Instead, maternal humor may sometimes increase discomfort, feel misplaced, or create additional embarrassment. The scientists propose that this difference comes down to power dynamics and how messages are interpreted. “Within the mother-daughter relationship, where there are natural differences in roles, authority, and developmental stage, the same communicative tool may carry different meanings depending on who uses it,” they said. </p>
<p>A teenager’s humor is a self-initiated way to feel safe, while a mother’s humor might feel dismissive or evaluating to the teenager. The scientists also looked at whether it helped if the mother and daughter had similar humor styles. They found that matching humor levels did not affect the outcomes. The daughter’s own use of humor and the overall openness of the conversation were the primary factors supporting positive sexual development. </p>
<p>As with all research, there are some limitations. “Since this was a cross-sectional study based on self-report questionnaires and dyadic analysis, caution is needed when interpreting the findings,” the scientists warned. “The results point to meaningful associations, but they do not allow us to draw conclusions about causality or the direction of effects.”</p>
<p>Participants might have answered in ways they thought were socially acceptable, especially given the sensitive nature of the topic. The study measured how much humor was used, but it did not examine the specific types of jokes or playful comments made. Different styles of humor might have vastly different effects on a conversation. </p>
<p>The researchers suggest that future studies should observe conversations over time to see exactly how humor unfolds. “Future research should examine different types of humor in a broader range of parent-adolescent relationships, including fathers and sons, mothers and sons, and fathers and daughters,” they proposed. “Understanding how humor is used by educators, and how adolescents respond to it, could offer a broader perspective on the role of humor in creating open, comfortable, and meaningful conversations about sexuality.”</p>
<p>Ultimately, the study suggests that parents should let their teenagers guide the tone. “We believe that, when used appropriately, humor may also play an important role in conversations about sexuality,” the researchers concluded. “It can help reduce tension, make difficult topics feel more approachable, and support more open communication with adolescents.” </p>
<p>“At the same time, our findings suggest that humor should be used with sensitivity. In matters related to sexuality, humor is most helpful when it respects the adolescent’s comfort, timing, and personal boundaries. Used thoughtfully, it may contribute to more open discourse and support healthier sexual development among adolescents.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2026.2653032" target="_blank">Humor in Sexual Communication and Sexual Well-Being Outcomes Among Mother-Daughter Dyads</a>,” was authored by Lotem Schmil-Itzhak and Yaniv Efrati.</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/genetic-data-reveals-how-brain-structure-contributes-to-autism-and-attention-dis/" 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;">Genetic data reveals how brain structure contributes to autism and attention disorders</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 5th 2026, 08:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Differences in the physical shape and wiring of the brain can directly contribute to the development of attention and social disorders. A recent genetics study mapped how the size of specific brain folds and the organization of brain wiring alter the risk of developing autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The findings were published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2026.111631"><i>Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry</i></a>.</p>
<p>Autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are developmental conditions that can persist throughout a person’s life. They affect how individuals process information, regulate their attention spans, and engage in social interactions. People dealing with these neurological differences often face elevated emotional burdens and adverse health outcomes compared to their peers.</p>
<p>Medical professionals have utilized brain scans to study these populations for decades. Those imaging tests frequently show that neurodivergent individuals have slightly different brain structures compared to typically developing people. However, simple observational brain scans cannot tell investigators which event happened first.</p>
<p>A difference in brain structure might cause the condition, or living with the condition might slowly shape the physical brain as a person grows. It is also completely plausible that a third unrelated environmental factor causes both the brain changes and the behavioral symptoms.</p>
<p>To solve this timing puzzle, researchers rely on massive genetic datasets. Yilu Zhao, Yamin Zhang, and Tao Li, researchers at Zhejiang University in China, designed a study to systematically test whether differences in brain structure actually dictate the onset of these neurodevelopmental conditions.</p>
<p>The research team focused their investigation on two primary physical components of the human brain. Gray matter consists of the tiny bodies of nerve cells, where the actual processing of sensory information takes place. This tissue covers the exterior of the brain in deep folds and ridges, maximizing the total processing surface area within the confined space of the human skull.</p>
<p>White matter lies beneath this outer processing shell. It is made up of axons, which are long, insulated fibers that stretch between distant nerve cell bodies. These biological cables act like communication highways, allowing different specialized regions of gray matter to coordinate their electrical activity.</p>
<p>To figure out how these tissues relate to developmental disorders, the investigators used an approach called Mendelian randomization. When medical experts want to know if a medication works, they run a randomized clinical trial, assigning patients to receive either the active drug or a placebo. Mendelian randomization uses a similar logic, but it uses the natural genetic shuffling that happens before birth.</p>
<p>Humans inherit natural variations in their genetic code from their parents. Some of these tiny genetic variations reliably dictate physical characteristics of the brain. By looking at huge population databases, scientists can isolate the exact genetic markers that result in slightly thicker brain folds or highly organized white matter fiber bundles.</p>
<p>Analysts can then check if those exact same genetic blueprints are overly present in populations diagnosed with neurological conditions. If the genes that build a specific brain shape also track perfectly with a diagnosis, the researchers can deduce a sequence of events. The genes dictate the brain architecture, and the architecture acts as the biological precursor to the behavioral symptoms.</p>
<p>Following this method, Zhao and colleagues gathered genetic profiles for tens of thousands of individuals. They cross-referenced genes known to alter gray matter and white matter dimensions against separate databases containing DNA from people diagnosed with either autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. They found specific regions in the frontal lobe of the brain that act as direct structural contributors to these conditions.</p>
<p>The frontal lobe is the large region situated behind the forehead, heavily involved in decision-making, social behavior, and attention span. For attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the team found that having an increased surface area in the superior frontal gyrus raised the risk of developing the condition. The superior frontal gyrus is a strip of brain tissue near the top of the frontal lobe.</p>
<p>Previous imaging studies have linked the superior frontal gyrus to executive functioning and the ability to suppress impulsive responses. These are common cognitive challenges for individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Finding that an overgrowth of surface area in this specific region causes the disorder fits well with behavioral observations, suggesting normal tissue maturation is altered.</p>
<p>The researchers identified a vastly different pattern for autism spectrum disorder. They looked closely at the orbital frontal gyrus, a region located just resting above the eyes. This neural area processes incoming sensory information and helps interpret the emotional states of other people.</p>
<p>The genetic analysis showed that a larger surface area in the orbital frontal gyrus essentially protects against autism risk. Individuals possessing genetic markers for a more expansive orbital frontal gyrus were less likely to be diagnosed with autism. A larger processing area in this region seemingly provides a buffer against the social and communicative challenges associated with the condition.</p>
<p>The research team then transitioned to exploring the brain’s internal white matter connectivity. They analyzed a tissue property that describes the physical complexity and orientation of the nerve fibers crossing through the deep brain. Highly organized structural pathways are essential for efficiently integrating thoughts and senses across long distances.</p>
<p>For attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, an altered structural connection called the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus emerged as a contributing factor. This pathway is a bundle of fibers connecting the visual centers at the back of the brain to the language processing centers at the front. The data indicated that the developmental organization of this visual-to-frontal relay directly influences the risk of the attention disorder.</p>
<p>For autism risk, a separate white matter tract was implicated. The investigators found that physical variations in a deep brain intersection called the internal capsule contributed to autism diagnoses. Reduced structural integrity in the specific pathway carrying visual sensory data to the cortex increased the likelihood of a child being diagnosed with autism.</p>
<p>The scientists also ran their mathematical models in reverse to scan for opposite connections. They wanted to know if inheriting genetic markers for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism eventually caused the brain structures to physically morph over time. The results for this reverse progression were not statistically significant. The physical brain shapes appear to drive the behavioral conditions, rather than the conditions driving the architecture.</p>
<p>A brain’s physical architecture is only one part of the wider puzzle. The way those physical structures actively talk to one another represents the brain’s functional network. Magnetic resonance imaging can capture this live activity by measuring tiny changes in blood oxygen levels as different tissues fire electrical signals.</p>
<p>The Zhejiang University team ran an additional test using live functional imaging data to see how physical shapes translated into behavioral symptoms. They found that resting brain connectivity acts as a functional bridge. For example, an expanded surface area in the superior frontal gyrus alters how that frontal tissue routinely communicates with areas controlling physical movement.</p>
<p>This altered real-time communication then leads to the recognizable physical and behavioral symptoms of an attention disorder. It is akin to a city’s road network dictating its daily traffic jams. An abnormally wide road structure permanently changes where cars tend to drive, and that altered traffic flow ultimately creates the observable congestion.</p>
<p>When dividing their data by demographic details, the scientists noticed distinct trends. For attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the structural causes were highly apparent in childhood-onset cases. However, when the researchers looked at data from individuals diagnosed later in adulthood, these specific anatomical causes were not statistically significant.</p>
<p>When analyzing the genetic information by sex, the team found that the white matter link to attention disorders was strong in boys but absent in girls. This physiological difference aligns with worldwide clinical observations, as males are historically diagnosed with attention disorders at much higher rates than females. Conversely, the structural shape factors linked to autism risk were universally present in both male and female genetic profiles.</p>
<p>While the genetics approach offers strong evidence for causality, the study authors acknowledged a few data limitations. The massive DNA databases used in the analysis were primarily sourced from individuals of European ancestry. This lack of genetic diversity means the anatomical pathways identified might not perfectly represent the global population.</p>
<p>Future research efforts will need to incorporate genetic profiles from a wider range of global ethnic backgrounds to ensure the results are robust. Additional large-scale genetic tracing projects could also test for similar structural drivers in other developmental variants, such as specific learning variations or communication delays.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2026.111631">Causal relationships between ADHD, ASD and brain structure: A mendelian randomization study</a>,” was authored by Yilu Zhao, Yamin Zhang, and Tao Li.</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/breastfeeding-may-give-babies-early-practice-in-self-control-longitudinal-study-suggests/" 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;">Breastfeeding may give babies early practice in self-control, longitudinal study suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 5th 2026, 06:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2026.108568" target="_blank">Appetite</a></em> suggests that infants who are breastfed may develop better self-control skills by the time they reach preschool. The findings provide evidence that the act of breastfeeding gives babies early, regular practice at recognizing when they are full. This daily practice tends to improve their ability to manage their impulses and behaviors later in childhood.</p>
<p>Scientists designed the study to explore how early life experiences shape a psychological concept known as executive function. Executive function refers to the underlying mental processes that help people manage their thoughts, actions, and emotions to achieve specific goals. These mental skills undergo major development between the ages of three and five years.</p>
<p>One specific component of executive function is inhibitory control. This is the ability to stop an automatic or impulsive response to a situation. Instead of acting on immediate urges, a person with strong inhibitory control can pause and choose a more appropriate action.</p>
<p>“For more than 30 years, our research has focused on children’s self-regulation development, their growing ability to manage their thoughts, emotions, and behavior,” said study author <a href="https://www.dal.ca/faculty/science/psychology_neuroscience/faculty-staff/our-faculty/sophie-jacques.html" target="_blank">Sophie Jacques</a>, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University. </p>
<p>People with strong inhibitory control tend to have better health and financial outcomes in adult life. “Because self-regulation is so important across the lifespan, many researchers (including us) are working to identify the early factors that may help foster these skills during development,” Jacques noted.</p>
<p>Research shows that babies who are breastfed have a lower risk of becoming obese as they grow up. Some scientists propose that this happens because breastfeeding acts as natural training for appetite regulation. This theory suggests that nursing teaches an infant how to consume only the amount of energy their body actually needs.</p>
<p>When feeding an infant from a bottle, parents can see exactly how much milk is left in the container. Because of this visual cue, parents might accidentally coax the baby to finish the bottle even after the infant is full. “This can lead infants to rely on external cues, such as an empty bottle, rather than their own sense of fullness,” Jacques explained.</p>
<p>When feeding directly from the breast, the mother cannot see the exact volume of milk the baby consumes. As a result, breastfed babies are allowed to rely on their own internal feelings of fullness to know when to stop eating.</p>
<p>“Beyond appetite regulation, we wondered whether breastfeeding might also provide broader ‘on-the-job training’ for self-regulation skills,” Jacques said. “Controlling their food intake multiple times per day may help infants practice self-control more generally.”</p>
<p>To test this idea, the researchers analyzed data from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. This long-term project tracked a large, representative group of children from infancy through childhood. </p>
<p>“Because the children in that study were born before breast pumps were widely used, they offered a unique opportunity to explore how breastfeeding history relates to the development of children’s self-regulation,” Jacques noted.</p>
<p>The initial sample included 572 infants. When the babies were five months old, and again at seventeen months of age, mothers reported whether they were breastfeeding and for how long they had done so. </p>
<p>Using this information, the scientists divided the infants into four specific groups. These groups included babies who were never breastfed, those breastfed for less than three months, those breastfed for three to six months, and those breastfed for six months or longer.</p>
<p>When the children reached three and a half years of age, researchers visited their homes to evaluate their cognitive skills. By this time, 491 children remained in the study to complete the behavioral tests.</p>
<p>The children completed several direct assessments of their executive function. One test was Luria’s Hand Game, which is specifically designed to measure inhibitory control. </p>
<p>In this game, an adult shows the child a hand gesture, such as making a fist or holding out a flat hand. The child is instructed to do the exact opposite of what the adult does. This forces the child to suppress their automatic urge to simply copy the adult.</p>
<p>Another test of inhibitory control involved a verbal task using pictures of the sun and the moon. Children were shown a picture of a sun and told to say the word night. When shown a moon, they had to say the word day.</p>
<p>Mothers also filled out questionnaires about their children’s daily behavior. They rated how often their child showed specific signs of hyperactivity and inattention over the previous six months.</p>
<p>The researchers included several control variables in their statistical models to ensure their findings were as accurate as possible. They accounted for the family’s income, the mother’s education level, smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy, and the mother’s weight gain before birth. They also factored in the child’s birth weight, gestational age, and general intelligence scores at age three.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed that breastfeeding duration predicted better inhibitory control at three and a half years of age. Infants who were breastfed for at least three to six months performed better on Luria’s Hand Game than infants who were never breastfed. </p>
<p>These children also showed fewer hyperactive and inattentive behaviors in their daily lives, according to their mothers’ reports. For example, mothers of breastfed children were less likely to report that their child fidgets, is impulsive, or has poor concentration. The behavioral benefits were most apparent for infants breastfed for more than six months.</p>
<p>Interestingly, breastfeeding only predicted inhibitory control. It did not predict other executive function skills, such as working memory or cognitive flexibility. Working memory involves holding information in your mind and updating it as you solve a problem. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to shift your thinking and look at a situation from a different perspective.</p>
<p>The lack of a link to these other skills supports the authors’ theory that breastfeeding specifically trains self-restraint. It suggests that nursing does not simply boost overall brainpower, but rather provides targeted practice in behavioral control.</p>
<p>While the study provides interesting insights, there are some potential misinterpretations and limitations to keep in mind. The research team stressed that their findings do not imply causality. </p>
<p>“Although we found a clear association between breastfeeding and children’s inhibitory control, it is important to emphasize that this study was correlational. This means we cannot conclude that breastfeeding directly caused the improvements in self-regulation,” Jacques explained. “It is also possible that the relationship works in the opposite direction. For example, mothers may be more likely to stop breastfeeding earlier, or choose not to breastfeed, if their infants show early difficulties with self-regulation.”</p>
<p>The authors also want to avoid contributing to guilt or pressure surrounding infant feeding choices. “Breastfeeding is not always possible or feasible for many families, and we do not want our findings to be used in ways that blame mothers or parents,” Jacques stated. “There are many medical, practical, and personal reasons why a mother may not breastfeed or may stop earlier than planned.”</p>
<p>“In our paper, we suggest that feeding infants directly at the breast makes it somewhat harder, though not impossible, for parents to control how much infants eat, compared to bottle feeding,” Jacques explained. “When bottle feeding, parents may be more tempted to focus on external cues, such as whether the bottle is empty.”</p>
<p>“However, feeding from a bottle does not mean that parents must override infants’ internal hunger and fullness cues,” she pointed out. “In fact, research has shown that some parents rely more on infants’ cues than on the amount consumed, regardless of feeding method.”</p>
<p>“The key takeaway is not that bottle feeding is inherently problematic, but that infants benefit when parents pay close attention to their signals of hunger and fullness and allow them to guide how much they eat,” Jacques added. “Even when feeding from a bottle, infants can learn to regulate their intake when caregivers respond to these cues.”</p>
<p>It is also possible that breastmilk contains specific nutrients that help the brain develop inhibitory control. For example, trace elements in breastmilk might support general neurological growth in young children. Separating the chemical and nutritional benefits of the milk from the behavioral practice of nursing remains a complex challenge for scientists.</p>
<p>Future research could look at whether other infant routines provide similar self-regulation practice. “More broadly, if our hypothesis is correct, breastfeeding is only one of many early experiences that may give infants regular opportunities to practice self-regulation,” Jacques noted. “Although prolonged breastfeeding at the breast may offer multiple benefits (including nutrition, parent-child interaction, and, as we propose, repeated practice at self-regulation), it is not the only path.”</p>
<p>“The larger message from this and other research is that practice matters: the more opportunities children have to exercise self-control, the stronger these skills tend to become,” Jacques said. “Experiences such as learning to self-soothe, developing sleep routines, toilet training, and other guided challenges may help build inhibitory control that can carry over into many areas of life.”</p>
<p>“These opportunities can take many forms across development,” she added. “Learning to wait for rewards, managing eating from a plate, practicing a musical instrument, participating in team sports, or following rules in school and group activities all give children chances to strengthen their self-regulation.”</p>
<p>Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring these developmental links. “Our long-term goal is to continue examining how psychological, physical, and health-related factors develop and interact over time,” Jacques concluded.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2026.108568" target="_blank">Breastfeeding May Provide On-the-Job Training of Self-Regulation: Longitudinal Links with Inhibitory Control</a>,” was authored by Sophie Jacques, Sophie Parent, Natalie Castellanos-Ryan, Jean R Séguin, and Philip David Zelazo.</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/depression-worsens-rapidly-in-the-final-four-years-of-life/" 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;">Depression worsens rapidly in the final four years of life</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 4th 2026, 22:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Older adults often experience a rise in depression as they near the end of their lives, a phenomenon known as terminal decline. A new study reveals that this worsening in mood accelerates roughly four years before death, with men experiencing steeper increases than women. The research, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251351022"><em>Psychological Science</em></a>, helps explain why historical differences in mental health between sexes tend to vanish in late adulthood. Tracking these late-life mood changes could eventually support clinicians who are diagnosing and treating psychiatric conditions in aging populations.</p>
<p>Mental health naturally shifts across a person’s life span. Average depressive symptoms tend to decrease from middle age into early older adulthood. Then, around age 70, this downward trend routinely reverses, and symptoms begin to climb again. Researchers have proposed that general age-related changes, such as functional impairments or shifting social roles, cause this late-life increase.</p>
<p>Another hypothesis suggests this late-life uptick reflects terminal decline. This concept describes a rapid deterioration in various physical and psychological traits that occurs in close proximity to a person’s death. Previous research has observed terminal decline across domains like memory capability, overall well-being, and general life satisfaction.</p>
<p>University of Southern California neurology researcher Andrew Petkus and his colleagues wanted to test if the terminal decline hypothesis applied specifically to depression. They also sought to understand if this process affects men and women differently. Women typically report more depression than men throughout most of their lives. In the oldest segments of the population, these differences often shrink, leaving men and women with similar levels of depressive symptoms. The researchers wondered if a harsher terminal decline process in men might explain this narrowing gap. Men also tend to experience steeper declines in physical health in very old age, which could make them more vulnerable to shifts in mood.</p>
<p>To answer these questions, the team analyzed data from the Interplay of Genes and Environments Across Multiple Studies consortium. This is an international research collaboration involving sets of twins from Sweden, Denmark, and Australia. The sample included 2,411 community-dwelling older adults who had completed at least three longitudinal assessments of their mental health. Within this group, 1,491 participants died during the study period, giving researchers a way to look retroactively at their mood prior to death. Participants completed multiple testing sessions separated by years, leaving a deep record of their mental health over time.</p>
<p>Participants answered questionnaires asking how frequently they experienced specific emotional or physical symptoms over a given week. Because the Swedish, Danish, and Australian researchers relied on slightly different psychological questionnaires, the team used statistical techniques to harmonize the scores onto a single mathematical metric. This standardizing process allowed them to compare results across the different countries smoothly. Essentially, the researchers cross-calibrated the tests so that a specific score in Denmark meant the exact same thing as a specific score in Australia.</p>
<p>The researchers then built statistical tools called joint models to map out the average change in depressive symptoms across chronological age. A joint model combines two different types of analyses. One part tracks how a specific trait grows or shrinks over a timeline. The second part calculates the probability of an endpoint event occurring, such as survival or mortality. This approach let the team see if a person’s individual mental health trajectory confidently predicted their risk of dying.</p>
<p>The results matched expectations for human aging. On average, people showed small increases in depressive symptoms before age 70, followed by much larger annual increases after age 70. The statistical models showed a relationship between these late-life changes and mortality. Individuals who reported larger annual rate increases in depression after age 70 had an increased risk of death compared to those with more stable mental health. Individuals with profound increases in late-life depression had a median survival time that was a little over a year and a half shorter than individuals with more stable moods.</p>
<p>To verify that impending mortality was actually driving these outcomes, the team removed all psychological data collected within three years of a participant’s death and ran the models again. Under these conditions, the steep rate of mental health decline after age 70 flattened out almost entirely. The association between late-life depression and an increased risk of death was practically erased, leaving a result that was not statistically significant. This confirmed that the final few years of life were primarily responsible for the post-70 depression spike.</p>
<p>To pinpoint exactly when this accelerated change begins, the researchers constructed another type of mathematical model. This one worked backward from the time of death, analytically searching for a specific point in time where the rate of change in mood suddenly worsens. They identified a sharp acceleration in depressive symptoms starting approximately four years before a person died. The models recorded substantial variability from person to person, meaning that while the average onset was four years, some people began their terminal decline earlier or later than others.</p>
<p>Comparing the deceased group to those who survived the study period highlighted the reality of this terminal change. Among the surviving participants, the rate of change in depressive symptoms remained relatively flat leading up to their final assessment. For those who died, the rate of depressive symptoms spiked dramatically after this four-year mark.</p>
<p>The study also relied heavily on a co-twin control design. Observational studies usually struggle to account for all the invisible variables that might influence a person’s health. By studying sets of twins where one died early and the other survived at least four more years, the researchers could account for hidden confounding factors. Identical twins share all their genes, and fraternal twins share roughly half. Both types of twins typically share their early childhood environments, including their socioeconomic upbringing and community support systems.</p>
<p>Analyzing 98 twin pairs, the team found that the deceased twin experienced a much steeper acceleration in depressive symptoms compared to their surviving sibling. Because these genetic and childhood factors were shared evenly between the twins, the results suggest the terminal decline is driven by factors specifically related to impending mortality, rather than just a family history of depression or a tough childhood.</p>
<p>As hypothesized, the terminal decline process looked different for men and women. Men experienced more severe increases in depressive symptoms after the four-year mark compared to women, though women tended to enter this phase of acceleration about a year earlier. This profound difference in velocity means that by the time death occurs, older men have effectively caught up to older women in their overall average depression levels. The researchers suggest that the advanced functional impairment and physical loss of independence common in the last years of life might have a stronger negative impact on men than on women.</p>
<p>The team noted several limitations regarding the populations represented in the data. The participant pools from Sweden, Denmark, and Australia are primarily of European descent, which limits the ability to generalize the results to more diverse populations globally. A broader sample of subjects from varied racial and ethnic backgrounds is required to see if these patterns hold up worldwide.</p>
<p>The current data did not track the specific use of antidepressant medications among the participants. The use of therapeutic drugs could alter an individual’s mental health trajectory in ways the statistical models could not account for. Future studies will need to track medication usage to see how medical interventions might blunt the severity of terminal decline in psychiatric patients. The researchers were also unable to perfectly match the deceased and surviving groups by age and gender, requiring extra statistical techniques to ensure their main results were robust.</p>
<p>While the research identifies the timeline of terminal decline, it does not reveal the structural causes behind the changing mood. Late-life depression might be conceptualized as a depletion of affective reserve. Affective reserve describes a type of mental stamina, acting as an emotional buffer that helps people cope with stress. Towards the very end of life, people may simply run out of affective reserve, leaving them uniquely vulnerable to psychological distress.</p>
<p>Issues like declining physical mobility, the loss of friends, failing sensory perception, or an accumulating sense of helplessness might all contribute to this late-life mood shift. Further scientific inquiry will be needed to untangle which specific physical and social losses drive the final increase in emotional distress as human beings near the end of life.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251351022">Terminal Increases in Depressive Symptoms in a Multinational Twin Consortium</a>,” was authored by Andrew J. Petkus, Chandra A. Reynolds, Vibeke S. Catts, Kaare Christensen, Deborah Finkel, Marianne Nygaard, Perminder S. Sachdev, Nancy L. Pedersen, and Margaret Gatz.</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/dark-personality-traits-predict-manipulation-and-aggression-in-romantic-relation/" 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;">Dark personality traits predict manipulation and aggression in romantic relationships</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 4th 2026, 20:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>People with certain antagonistic personality traits frequently approach romantic partnerships with heightened levels of aggression, dominance, and a preference for unconventional sexual experiences. These same traits are connected to a higher likelihood of using manipulative tactics to coerce intimate partners into sexual activities. The research mapping out these behavioral patterns was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2557475"><i>Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy</i></a>. </p>
<p>In popular culture, the phrase toxic relationship is used to describe partnerships defined by controlling, manipulative, or emotionally abusive dynamics. Psychologists prefer to use specific, measurable concepts to understand why certain people routinely cultivate highly conflicted or damaging romantic bonds. One major area of focus is a constellation of personality profiles known as the Dark Triad. </p>
<p>The Dark Triad consists of three distinct but related personality traits: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Psychopathy involves high impulsivity, a pronounced lack of empathy, and a tendency to behave antisocially. People with high levels of psychopathy struggle to form genuine emotional bonds. Narcissism is characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance. Narcissistic individuals demand constant admiration and often react with hostility when they feel rejected or insulted. </p>
<p>Machiavellianism is named after the Renaissance political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. The trait centers on manipulating others to gain or maintain power. People with these traits view human nature cynically. They rely on deception and strategic planning to achieve their goals, treating interpersonal relationships as games to be won.</p>
<p>Psychologists also look through the lens of adult attachment theory to understand troubled romances. This theory suggests that humans develop an internal mental model of relationships during early childhood. This model persists into adulthood. People with secure attachment styles are comfortable with emotional intimacy and independence. Those with insecure attachment styles may cling anxiously to their partners or avoid emotional closeness altogether. Past research suggests that people who score highly on the Dark Triad measures often exhibit avoidant attachment styles, distancing themselves to maintain control or prevent vulnerability. </p>
<p>Building on this, researchers observe a phenomenon known as the relationship personality. This concept posits that individuals display a relatively stable cluster of behaviors uniquely reserved for intimate partners, distinct from how they interact with friends or colleagues. People tend to seek out partners who respond to their specific relationship personality. This habit often leads individuals to repeatedly select similar types of romantic partners despite negative past experiences.</p>
<p>Researchers Judith Antonia Iffland, Lara Katharina Albrecht, and Urszula Martyniuk of the Medical School Hamburg in Germany wanted to see how the Dark Triad traits translate into specific relationship expectations. They aim to bring scientific rigor to the popular concept of toxicity. They designed a study to systematically evaluate whether psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism forecast aggressive, dominant, and sexually coercive behaviors in intimate relationships. </p>
<p>The research team recruited 624 adult participants for an online survey. The participant group included 481 women and 143 men, with an average age in their late twenties. </p>
<p>Participants answered a standard psychological questionnaire designed to assess their levels of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. The survey asked them to rate their agreement with statements reflecting manipulative or emotionally callous attitudes. </p>
<p>Next, the researchers evaluated the participants using a relationship and attachment personality inventory. This tool measures the specific attitudes and behaviors people exhibit toward their romantic partners. The inventory included questions about their tendencies for dominance and aggression, such as whether they respond to provocation with physical strikes. It also measured their need for emotional closeness and their preferences for adventurous, risky, or deviant sexual activities. </p>
<p>A final segment of the survey asked participants about their experiences with sexual aggression. They were asked whether they had ever used physical force, verbal pressure, or a partner’s inability to resist to coerce a romantic partner into a sexual act. They were identically asked if they had ever experienced these coercive tactics from a partner. </p>
<p>The data revealed a robust link between the Dark Triad traits and a highly aggressive approach to romance. Individuals scoring higher on these traits were substantially more likely to report a relationship style defined by physical aggression, rudeness, and a tendency to provoke fights. </p>
<p>Among the three traits, psychopathy proved to be the strongest predictor of this combative and dominant relationship style. Because psychopathy includes elements of impulsivity and decreased behavioral control, the researchers noted that it makes sense for it to map closely onto aggressive relationship dynamics. </p>
<p>The personality traits were also connected to distinct sexual expectations. Participants with higher Dark Triad scores expressed a stronger preference for passionate, adventurous, and sometimes risky sexual activities. Psychopathy again emerged as a strong predictor in this category. The researchers suggested that the emotional detachment associated with psychopathy might drive a preference for superficial or purely physical sexual gratification over tender romance. </p>
<p>When looking at emotional dependency, the traits diverged. Machiavellianism was positively correlated with an anxious need for closeness. People elevated in Machiavellian traits reported higher separation distress and a stronger desire to merge with their partners. The researchers theorize that this need for proximity might actually be a strategy to monitor and control their partners, reflecting an underlying mistrust rather than genuine affection. </p>
<p>The researchers then analyzed the data on sexual coercion within intimate partnerships. They found that individuals harboring these dark traits were more likely to act as perpetrators of sexual aggression. Specifically, Machiavellianism was the trait most reliably associated with the perpetration of sexual coercion. </p>
<p>The strategic thinking and lack of empathy common in Machiavellianism may lead people to use subtle manipulation to initiate sex. Such coercive strategies might include issuing false promises, creating guilt trips, or leveraging a position of power. The researchers noted that these individuals frequently try to maintain dominance in social interactions, which unfortunately extends into the bedroom. </p>
<p>The survey data also highlighted an overlap between the perpetrators and targets of sexual aggression. The vast majority of the respondents who admitted to using coercive sexual strategies also claimed to have been targets of sexual aggression by a partner. The researchers hypothesized that people high in manipulative traits might perceive situations as coercive more quickly or might feel psychologically manipulated themselves due to a fragile need for control.</p>
<p>Men in the sample scored higher on the Dark Triad scales than women did, mirroring patterns seen in the broader psychological literature. Men also reported higher levels of adventurous sexual desires. The statistical models indicated that the fundamental association between the personality traits and aggressive relationship behaviors was broadly similar for both men and women. </p>
<p>The authors noted a few limitations regarding the research design. The study relied on cross-sectional survey data, meaning the researchers captured a single snapshot in time. They cannot prove that these personality traits definitively cause the abusive behaviors, only that they are strongly correlated. </p>
<p>The phrasing used to recruit participants might have also introduced a specific bias. The study advertisement featured the term toxic relationships, which likely attracted an unusual number of people with troubled romantic histories. An exceptionally high percentage of the female respondents reported experiencing sexual victimization from a partner. The researchers acknowledge that these rates do not reflect the general population and indicate a self-selection bias among the survey takers. </p>
<p>In addition, the reliance on self-reporting means that parts of the data might be subject to a social desirability bias. People generally hesitate to admit to socially unacceptable or illegal behaviors. Because individuals with high Dark Triad traits are prone to deceit, they might have downplayed the true extent of their coercive or manipulative actions. </p>
<p>For future sociological work, the researchers recommend assessing both members of a couple simultaneously. Studying partners together would help scientists understand how these challenging personality traits interact with a mate’s characteristics to influence relationship stability and conflict over time. Developing a better understanding of how manipulation and coercion operate in these relationships may eventually improve risk assessment tools and counseling strategies to prevent interpersonal violence.</p>
<p>The study, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2557475">“The Dark Triad and Relationship Expectations: Attempting an Empirical Approach to Study Toxic Relationships,”</a> was authored by Judith Antonia Iffland, Lara Katharina Albrecht, and Urszula Martyniuk.</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-scans-reveal-a-universal-neural-signature-for-addiction/" 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 scans reveal a universal neural signature for addiction</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 4th 2026, 18:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>People with substance use disorder—whether addicted to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, or nicotine—share a strikingly similar pattern of abnormal brain connections, particularly within the brain’s reward and self-control circuits, according to a new meta-analysis published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03396-2" target="_blank">Translational Psychiatry</a></em>.</p>
<p>Substance use disorder (SUD) is marked by an ongoing struggle to control drug or alcohol use despite harmful consequences. Scientists have long suspected that this loss of control is tied to changes in the brain’s reward system—the network that helps us experience pleasure, form habits, and make decisions. However, past brain imaging studies have produced inconsistent results, largely due to studies varying in the specific substances used, stages of addiction (e.g., active use versus long-term withdrawal), and the specific brain regions being investigated.</p>
<p>To address this gap, a research team led by Xiaonan Zhang of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University in China conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis, a statistical method that pools data from many prior studies to identify overarching trends. They focused specifically on studies that utilized resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), a technique that measures how different brain regions communicate while a person is awake but not performing a specific task.</p>
<p>The team ultimately included 53 whole-brain fMRI studies in their analysis, covering nine substances: alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, cannabis, heroin, ketamine, amphetamine, areca nut, and methamphetamine. Combined, these studies included 1,700 people diagnosed with SUD (average age 39 years; approximately 19% women) and 1,792 healthy control participants (average age 38 years; approximately 30% women).</p>
<p>Zhang and colleagues mapped functional connectivity patterns based on five key “seed” regions within the reward circuit: the anterior cingulate cortex, the prefrontal cortex, the striatum, the thalamus, and the amygdala. The results revealed a consistent and specific set of connectivity abnormalities shared across all types of SUDs.</p>
<p>Broadly, people with substance use disorder showed significant dysfunction in the cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical (CSTC) circuit. This is a critical neural loop connecting the brain’s frontal regions (responsible for logic, control, and decision-making), the striatum (central to motivation and reward), and the thalamus (which relays sensory and motor signals throughout the brain).</p>
<p>Within this circuit, certain connections were overactive (hyperconnected), while others were underactive (hypoconnected). For instance, the prefrontal cortex showed stronger-than-normal connections with regions involved in heightened attention and executive function, but significantly weaker connections with the inferior frontal gyrus, an area critical for suppressing impulses. </p>
<p>Similarly, the striatum was overconnected with the superior frontal gyrus—suggesting an overactive response to drug-related cues—while being underconnected with the median cingulate gyrus, a region involved in emotional regulation and pain processing. Furthermore, the thalamus displayed reduced connections with several frontal and cingulate regions, which aligns with the cognitive difficulties and impaired impulse control often seen in addiction.</p>
<p>The researchers also found evidence of a second disrupted circuit connecting the striatum to memory- and emotion-processing regions, including the hippocampus and amygdala. This points to a role for disrupted emotional memory and regulation in sustaining addictive behaviors. </p>
<p>Notably, when the researchers analyzed psychological assessments, they found a direct behavioral link: the degree of disconnection between the striatum and the median cingulate gyrus was strongly and negatively correlated with impulsivity scores in patients. In other words, the weaker that specific neural connection was, the more impulsive the individual tended to be.</p>
<p>“We present, for the first time, a specific pattern of network abnormalities in [substance use disorder] patients based on key nodes of the reward circuit, offering new insights into functional deficits within and between these networks,” the authors concluded. They noted that by mapping these specific broken circuits, the medical field gains a theoretical foundation for targeted interventions—such as deep brain stimulation or transcranial magnetic stimulation—designed to restore normal brain connectivity. </p>
<p>The study does have important limitations. Because it relied on existing data, there were significant age and gender differences between the SUD and healthy control groups. Additionally, individuals with serious psychiatric conditions alongside their addiction were excluded from the original studies; thus, these findings may not fully apply to the many real-world patients who suffer from both addiction and a co-occurring mental illness.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03396-2">Common neural patterns of substance use disorder: a seed-based resting-state functional connectivity meta-analysis</a>,” was authored by Xiaonan Zhang, Haoyu Zhang, Yingbo Shao, Yang Li, Feifei Zhang, and Hui Zhang.</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/unexpected-bilingualism-is-surprisingly-common-among-young-autistic-children/" 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;">Unexpected bilingualism is surprisingly common among young autistic children</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 4th 2026, 16:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70032" target="_blank">Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry</a></em> provides evidence that many autistic children can learn to speak a second language without any social exposure to it. These findings suggest that autistic children often acquire language skills through non-interactive sources like videos or tablets. This opens up new ways to think about early language development in nonverbal children.</p>
<p>Autism is a developmental condition that affects how individuals communicate, behave, and interact with the world. It often involves differences in social behavior, repetitive actions, and highly focused interests. Many autistic children experience early delays in speaking, often going through a plateau period between the ages of two and six where their spoken communication develops very slowly. </p>
<p>In typical development, children learn language primarily through social interactions with parents and peers. Because autistic children tend to face challenges with social communication, scientists wanted to understand how they might learn language differently. “I assess more than 100 prototypical autistic children two to five years of age,” said study author Laurent Mottron, a medical doctor and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Addictology at the University of Montreal. </p>
<p>“The prevalence of intense or exclusive interest for letters and numbers, and learning it in a language that parents do not speak, was obvious,” Mottron continued. He noted that the findings were not shocking. “We strongly expected it based on our clinical experience,” he explained.</p>
<p>To explore this, Mottron and his colleagues decided to look specifically at a concept known as unexpected bilingualism. This occurs when a child uses a language that no one in their daily life actually speaks. The researchers wanted to see if autistic children were more likely to pick up unexpected languages than children without autism. </p>
<p>The researchers recruited the caregivers of 296 children living in a specific geographic area in Canada. The children in the study were all between the ages of two and six. The sample included 119 autistic children, 102 non-autistic children with other clinical diagnoses like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and 75 typically developing children. </p>
<p>The researchers conducted detailed telephone interviews with the caregivers to gather data about the children. They asked specific questions about the children’s daily language use, their interests, and the exact types of languages spoken at home or in daycare. Caregivers also provided information about the children’s use of non-interactive media, such as televisions, computers, tablets, and mobile phones. </p>
<p>The research team focused heavily on the children’s ability to name letters and numbers. Learning these symbols is a common early interest for autistic children, making it a systematic way to measure language skills even in children who barely speak. The researchers defined unexpected bilingualism as situations where a child used an unknown language to name letters or numbers that was completely absent from their social environment. </p>
<p>The data revealed that 53 percent of the autistic children in the sample had very limited verbal abilities. Despite this limitation, 38.7 percent of the autistic children demonstrated unexpected bilingualism. This rate was significantly higher than the 14.7 percent seen in the non-autistic clinical group and the 12 percent in the typically developing group. </p>
<p>Statistical analysis showed that the autistic children were 4.38 times more likely to exhibit unexpected bilingualism than the typically developing children. English was the most common unexpected language used among the children in this predominantly French-speaking Canadian sample. Even when accounting for brief social exposure to English, autistic children were still 8.28 times more likely to use it than typically developing children. </p>
<p>Caregivers reported that the unexpected languages were acquired exclusively through non-interactive media. Children learned these new languages from online videos, television shows, and tablet games. In some instances, autistic children actively sought out this media, such as requesting to watch cartoons only in a foreign language. </p>
<p>These findings challenge the traditional view that screen time is purely detrimental to early development. Mottron suggests “that autistic children with speech onset delay have a benefit in accessing YouTube in a regulated way.” He added that this approach “orients toward ‘lateral tutorship in autism intervention,’ which is the opposite of ABA [Applied Behavior Analysis].” Applied Behavior Analysis is a common therapy that uses interactive rewards to shape behavior, whereas lateral tutorship relies on a child’s self-directed learning. </p>
<p>But Mottron wants to preempt a few potential misinterpretations. He cautioned against thinking “that you can leave the tablet eight hours a day to an autistic child, that all autistic children are ‘genius learners,’ or that it favors ‘facilitated communication’ theory.” Facilitated communication is a discredited practice where a guide physically supports a nonverbal person’s hand to help them type messages. </p>
<p>There are also important limitations to keep in mind regarding the study’s timeline. “We did not follow these children after six years of age, so we do not know to what extent this will support their acquisition of oral or written language,” Mottron noted. “This will be done in the future.”</p>
<p>The research also relied on caregivers to estimate social exposure, which depends on human memory and might lack precision. Future research will examine how specific traits of autism influence this independent learning process. </p>
<p>Mottron stated that the next steps are to “determine how strongly this is associated with prototypical autism, and to what extent it supports future language learning.” Ultimately, he hopes to explore “how we can build a recommendation system that subtly orients autistic children with literacy, for those who do not find it on their own.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70032" target="_blank">Early manifestations of unexpected bilingualism in minimally verbal autism</a>,” was authored by David Gagnon, Alexia Ostrolenk, and Laurent Mottron.</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/fox-news-viewership-linked-to-higher-belief-in-great-replacement-theory/" 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;">Fox News viewership linked to belief in a racist conspiracy theory</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 4th 2026, 14:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>White Americans who regularly get their political news from Fox News show much higher levels of support for the Great Replacement Theory than those who do not watch the network. By tracking individual viewers over time, researchers found that increases in viewing specific television programs on this network corresponded with an elevated belief in this conspiracy theory. These findings were published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096525101856"><i>PS: Political Science & Politics</i></a>.</p>
<p>The Great Replacement Theory is a xenophobic framework with origins in right-wing French political thought. It proposes that powerful elites are deliberately relaxing immigration policies to flood the United States with foreigners. Adherents believe these undocumented immigrants will serve as an obedient voting block to keep progressive elites in power indefinitely. The theory claims this process will ultimately replace native-born white citizens and strip them of their political, economic, and cultural dominance.</p>
<p>Historically, these demographic fears existed isolated on the obscure margins of political discourse, largely confined to extremist websites. In recent years, high-profile conservative figures have brought these concepts out of the shadows and straight into the mainstream. Prominent politicians and major conservative media personalities have publicly endorsed variations of the theory to millions of followers.</p>
<p>The ideas have seen regular promotion on major cable news networks, reaching massive daily audiences. Specific conservative news programs discussed in the research include those hosted by prominent personalities like Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters. The study authors also highlight past extensive commentary on demographic replacement by Tucker Carlson, who hosted the most watched cable news program on television until his departure from the network.</p>
<p>According to the study text, scholars point out that individuals who subscribe to these beliefs also show an increased inclination to endorse violence as a political tool. The perpetrators of several mass shootings targeting minorities in the United States have cited the theory in their writings. Because the ideology frequently emerges alongside acts of violence, understanding how the beliefs spread has become a major concern for social scientists.</p>
<p>To understand why these ideas resonate with the public, scholars turn to intergroup-conflict theory. This psychological framework suggests that when a socially dominant group perceives a threat to its historical power or resources from an outside group, its members react fearfully to reassert control. The narrative of an elite conspiracy gives anxious individuals a convenient explanation for shifting national demographics. It provides a specific villain and target for their anxieties regarding the cultural changes brought about by widespread immigration.</p>
<p>Scholars studying public opinion also theorize that ordinary citizens rely heavily on prominent political leaders to make sense of complicated topics. Immigration policy involves intricate global economics, legal nuances, and unfamiliar demographic data. When people feel overwhelmed by complicated public policy, they fall back on mental shortcuts. Rather than expending cognitive energy researching legal frameworks or border apprehension statistics, voters simply adopt the interpretations provided by their group leaders.</p>
<p>Because immigration policy is highly abstract, everyday people tend to adopt the viewpoints of commentators they already trust to guide their own political attitudes. If a trusted television host repeatedly warns that a specific foreign group poses an existential threat to the nation, loyal viewers will naturally integrate that warning into their worldview. This dynamic explains why messaging from trusted media sources can powerfully mold voter behavior.</p>
<p>Jesse Rhodes, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, led a team of researchers in investigating this phenomenon. They focused specifically on the influence of conservative media on white public opinion regarding shifting demographics. The team wanted to determine if regular exposure to Fox News correlated with a person embracing the replacement conspiracy. They aimed to go beyond snapping a single picture of public opinion by looking at how individual minds evolve over passing months.</p>
<p>The research team tested their questions using information from a large nationwide survey of American adults. They focused on responses from more than a thousand white individuals sampled during the summer of 2024 and sampled again in the summer of 2025. Gathering survey answers from the exact same individuals over two distinct time periods is known among researchers as panel data. This structure allows researchers to track individual shifts in personal attitudes rather than just looking at societal averages.</p>
<p>To measure belief in the conspiracy theory, the survey asked respondents to rate their agreement with three statements on a five-point scale. The first statement proposed that immigrants invade and colonize the country. The second stated that native-born Americans are losing economic, political, and cultural influence due to growing immigrant populations. The third alleged that secret actors are actively working to ensure foreigners replace real Americans.</p>
<p>Participants also self-reported their private media consumption habits. They indicated whether they watched specific cable news networks on a regular basis. In addition, they specified exactly which popular daytime and primetime programs on the network they viewed at least once a month. The researchers combined these answers to create a heavily detailed picture of individual television news consumption.</p>
<p>The survey answers painted a distinct picture of the modern American electorate. The researchers discovered wide support for the conspiracy theory among white adults in general. Roughly half of all white respondents agreed to some extent that native-born citizens are losing their influence because of immigrants. More than a third agreed that secret actors intend to replace real Americans entirely.</p>
<p>When isolating the views of the network’s audience, the levels of agreement were drastically higher. Almost two thirds of the network’s regular viewers agreed that immigrants are invading and colonizing the country. Over three quarters of these conservative television viewers believed native-born Americans are actively losing their cultural and political sway.</p>
<p>The team ran statistical models to isolate the specific impact of the network. They adjusted the math to account for a variety of other factors that heavily shape political views. The team asked respondents about their age, gender identity, household income brackets, and highest level of schooling completed. To understand the role of racial bias, the survey questions asked respondents to express their attitudes toward various demographic minority groups.</p>
<p>Even with these diverse variables stripped away, watching the network remained strongly linked to endorsing the conspiracy. Simply viewing the channel occasionally was tied to higher support for the replacement ideas. Watching a wider variety of specific programs on the network was linked to even stronger support. According to the data, earning higher incomes reduced the likelihood of embracing the conspiracy, while holding a conservative ideology elevated it.</p>
<p>The most rigorous test of the hypothesis came from the mathematical methods applied to the panel data. The researchers compared each individual participant directly against their own past survey answers. This mathematical approach removes the possible influence of permanent personal traits and strictly looks at changes within an individual mind over a span of time.</p>
<p>In this stringent statistical analysis, the research team found a highly consistent pattern. People who increased the number of conservative television programs they watched between the first and second survey periods also increased their overall support for the conspiracy ideas. Because this specific model controls for personal baselines and pre-existing political leanings, the authors consider it robust evidence that watching the network actively shapes these specific attitudes.</p>
<p>The authors wrote in their report, “Our findings provide evidence of the continued influence of Fox News in shaping the contours of public opinion and political behavior, and they assist in better understanding the origins and relative popularity of GRT attitudes among white Americans.”</p>
<p>The study does come with some recognized limits regarding its observational design. The authors note that the research relies entirely on observed survey results rather than tightly controlled experimental laboratory conditions. While the repeated surveying of the exact same individuals helps establish a firm timeline of events, observational survey data cannot provide absolute proof of cause and effect by itself. The researchers suggest that future investigations should use experimental setups to verify how direct exposure to specific media clips changes a viewer’s immediate psychological mindset.</p>
<p>Future studies should also explore other underlying drivers of these beliefs among the mass public. The research team recommends exploring psychological traits like group dominance mentalities. They note that future research must also critically examine the popularity of these conspiracy ideas among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Expanding the focus beyond only white voters will help political analysts map the rapidly changing landscape of American politics.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096525101856">Follow the Fox? Elite Influence and White Support for the Great Replacement Theory</a>,” was authored by Jesse Rhodes, Seth Goldman, Tatishe Mavovosi Nteta, Adam Eichen, Sabrina Lapcheske, Linda Tropp, Efrén Pérez, and Yuen Huo.</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/better-cardiorespiratory-fitness-is-linked-to-a-lower-risk-of-dementia-and-depression/" 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;">Better cardiorespiratory fitness is linked to a lower risk of dementia and depression</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 4th 2026, 12:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Being physically fit might offer protective benefits for the brain and the mind over a person’s lifespan. A recent study published in <em>Nature Mental Health</em> suggests that having higher levels of cardiovascular fitness is linked to a lower risk of developing conditions like depression and dementia. These findings provide evidence that keeping the heart and lungs in good shape could be an important part of maintaining long-term mental health.</p>
<p>Scientists conducted this study to address a gap in our understanding of how physical health affects the brain. Cardiorespiratory fitness measures how well the body absorbs and uses oxygen during sustained physical activity. Past research on this topic only synthesized a few studies at a time and focused primarily on adults with anxiety or depression. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Valentina-Diaz-Goni" target="_blank">Valentina Díaz Goñi</a> of <a href="https://www.uclm.es/centros-investigacion/cess" target="_blank">the Health and Social Research Center</a> at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruno-bizzozero-peroni/" target="_blank">Bruno Bizzozero Peroni</a> shared their motivation for the research. Bizzozero Peroni is affiliated with the same center, as well as <a href="https://ki.se/en/nvs/research/centres-and-networks-at-nvs/aging-research-center-arc" target="_blank">the Karolinska Institutet</a> in Sweden and the Universidad de la República in Uruguay. They wanted to look across the entire lifespan to understand if fitness protects against less common issues like psychotic disorders.</p>
<p>“This study emerged from a growing interest in understanding mental health from a preventive and integrative perspective,” the researchers noted. “While physical activity has long been linked to better mental health, we saw a need to focus on cardiorespiratory fitness specifically, as it is a more objective and comprehensive measure of how well the body can supply and use oxygen during sustained activity.” They aimed to synthesize the available evidence across multiple mental and neurocognitive disorders to better understand how strongly fitness levels are linked to long-term mental health outcomes.</p>
<p>To investigate this, the scientists performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical technique that combines data from multiple independent studies to identify overall trends. The researchers searched five major scientific databases for cohort studies, which are studies that track a specific group of people over time.</p>
<p>They specifically looked for research involving general populations who did not have a mental or neurocognitive disorder when the studies began. The team found twenty-seven relevant studies published between 2009 and 2025. These studies tracked a massive combined sample of 4,007,638 individuals across nine different countries.</p>
<p>The participants came from nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, and Taiwan. The vast majority of these individuals were categorized as white or of European ancestry. The average age of the participants at the start of the studies ranged from about ten to seventy-two years old, and they were monitored for periods ranging from four to twenty-nine years.</p>
<p>To measure cardiorespiratory fitness, the original studies used various testing methods. Some studies used direct oxygen consumption tests in a laboratory setting. Other studies relied on indirect exercise performance tests on treadmills or stationary bikes. </p>
<p>The data revealed that high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with a noticeably lower risk of developing certain mental and neurocognitive disorders. Specifically, individuals in the highest fitness category had a thirty-six percent lower risk of developing depression compared to those in the lowest category. High fitness was also associated with a thirty-nine percent lower risk of developing all-cause dementia.</p>
<p>The researchers found a twenty-nine percent lower risk for schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders among highly fit individuals. This specific finding was based entirely on data from two studies that only included male participants. For anxiety disorders, the combined data did not show a statistically significant protective effect from high fitness.</p>
<p>When looking at incremental changes, the scientists found that even small fitness gains were beneficial. “One notable finding was how consistent the associations were across different disorders, particularly for depression and dementia,” the researchers explained. “We were also struck by the fact that even modest increases in fitness, such as a 1-MET improvement, were linked to measurable reductions in risk.”</p>
<p>“A MET (metabolic equivalent of task) is a simple way to describe energy expenditure: 1 MET represents the energy used at rest, while light activities like slow walking require about twice that amount,” they added. “This reinforces the idea that small, achievable changes can have important long-term health benefits.” An increase of just one metabolic equivalent in a person’s fitness capacity was associated with a five percent lower risk of depression and a nineteen percent lower risk of dementia.</p>
<p>The researchers suggest several biological reasons why physical fitness might protect the brain. Exercise and improved fitness can increase blood flow to the brain and reduce body-wide inflammation. Chronic inflammation is known to damage brain cells and disrupt chemical signals linked to mood and memory.</p>
<p>Higher fitness has been linked to maintaining the volume of the hippocampus over time. The hippocampus is a specialized brain region responsible for memory formation and emotional regulation. Fitness may also support the integrity of the brain’s white matter, which acts as the communication network connecting different regions of the brain.</p>
<p>“The key message is that better cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing conditions such as depression, dementia, and psychotic disorders,” the researchers told PsyPost. “Importantly, the benefits are not limited to highly fit individuals; even small improvements in fitness can make a meaningful difference. This suggests that incorporating regular physical activity into daily life can be a powerful and accessible way to support both physical and mental health.”</p>
<p>While these findings suggest a protective role for physical fitness, there are several potential misinterpretations and limitations to consider. The certainty of the evidence for depression, anxiety, and psychotic disorders was rated as very low. Meanwhile, the evidence for dementia was rated as moderate.</p>
<p>One major challenge in this type of research is the possibility of reverse causation. Reverse causation means that early, undetected symptoms of a mental health condition might actually cause a person to exercise less. This lack of motivation tends to lead to lower physical fitness before a formal diagnosis is ever made.</p>
<p>When asked about limitations, the researchers confirmed there are several. “Most of the available evidence comes from middle-aged adults in Europe and North America, so more research is needed in younger populations, older adults, and more diverse global settings,” they explained. “In addition, although the associations we observed are consistent, they should be interpreted with caution, as observational studies cannot establish definitive cause-and-effect relationships.”</p>
<p>They also highlighted the lack of data for certain conditions. “There is also limited evidence for several other mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder, stress-related disorders, sleep-wake disorders, and ADHD, and no available studies for some conditions like autism spectrum disorders,” they pointed out. “This means that conclusions in these areas are still uncertain and that more research is needed to fill important gaps in the evidence.”</p>
<p>Future research should track both fitness and mental health continuously over time to better understand which one changes first. The researchers have specific plans for advancing this field. “Moving forward, we aim to expand this research to underrepresented populations and to conduct more longitudinal studies that can better clarify causal relationships,” they stated.</p>
<p>“We are also interested in exploring the biological mechanisms underlying these associations, such as inflammation, brain plasticity, and stress regulation, to better understand how fitness influences mental and neurocognitive health over time,” they added. The scientists believe their work offers practical insights for society.</p>
<p>“Overall, we believe these findings highlight cardiorespiratory fitness as a modifiable and scalable factor that could play an important role in public health strategies,” they concluded. “Promoting physical fitness may not only help people live longer but also improve quality of life by reducing the risk of mental disorders and cognitive decline.”</p>
<p>The study, “Cardiorespiratory fitness and risk of mental disorders and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” was authored by Valentina Díaz-Goñi, José Francisco López-Gil, Eva Rodríguez-Gutiérrez, María Eugenia Visier-Alfonso, Estela Jiménez-López, Irene Sequí-Domínguez, Francisco B. Ortega, José Castro-Piñero, Arthur Eumann Mesas, Mairena Sánchez-López, Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno & Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni.</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>