Today's older adults are aging more healthily than older adults did 20 years ago, finds research out of Humboldt University in Berlin. The study compares two very similar samples of 65- to 85-year-olds in Berlin, measured 20 years apart. Scientists found increases in "healthy aging," in terms of both improved cognitive performance and quality of life, likely due to economic improvements and advancements in medical practice, education and media systems (Psychology and Aging, June).
Older adults think more about the future than young adults do, suggests a study by George Mason University scientists. Over the course of 19 days, researchers placed daily telephone calls to more than 100 older and younger adults, asking participants to indicate what they were thinking about and whether it was about the past or the future. The results belied the stereotype that older adults "live in the past," the authors note, and instead indicate that they are often quite future-oriented (Psychology and Aging, Juneopens in new window).
The brain is directly connected to the immune system by previously undiscovered lymphatic vessels, according to research out of the University of Virginia. Scientists discovered the link while developing a method to mount a mouse's meninges — the membranes covering the brain — on a single slide so that they could be examined as a whole. The discovery could have profound implications for understanding such diseases as autism, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, say the authors (Nature, online June 1opens in new window).
Parents' beliefs about their children show up in the classroom, suggests research conducted at Brigham Young University. Researchers studied 388 pairs of teenage first- and second-born siblings and their parents over three years, asking parents about which sibling was better in school. The researchers found that the child whom parents believed had greater academic ability tended to do better in the subsequent years of the study, whereas the child parents believed was less capable tended to do more poorly in the following years. Specifically, that belief translated to a 0.21 difference in GPA among study participants (Journal of Family Psychology, June).
Belonging to a social group appears to boost self-esteem more than having lots of friends does, according to a study conducted by fellows at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Working with groups of school children, older adults and formerly homeless people in the United Kingdom, China and Australia, scientists compared group memberships with the number of friends participants had. Having a large network of friends did not increase self-esteem, but belonging to multiple groups did (PLOS ONE, May 27).
Clinician support is critical to successfully quitting smoking, finds a study led by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The researchers analyzed data from 3,336 former and current smokers. They found that those who talked with a primary-care provider about how to quit or received a referral for counseling or smoking-cessation medication were 40 percent more likely to quit compared with people who just received education about the importance of quitting. Also, follow-up calls or visits with a clinician increased a participant's chance of quitting by 46 percent (JAMA Internal Medicine, online June 15opens in new window).
Contrary to popular belief, cyberbullying appears to be less emotionally harmful to kids than traditional in-person harassment, according to a study by University of New Hampshire scientists. They analyzed data from telephone interviews conducted with 791 U.S. 10- to 20-year-olds about the number of harassment incidents they experienced in the previous year. The researchers found that while online-only incidents were more likely to involve many witnesses, they were less likely than in-person incidents to result in injury, involve a social power differential or involve multiple episodes. In addition, online-only incidents were more likely to involve strangers or anonymous perpetrators, which appeared to be less distressing to youth than harassment by schoolmates or other people they know (Psychology of Violence, online June 1opens in new window).
Inducing a sense of awe can promote positive social behaviors, suggests a study by University of California, Irvine, psychologists. In the first of five experiments, researchers asked more than 1,500 participants to complete a questionnaire measuring how predisposed they were to experience awe. The subjects then received 10 raffle tickets and had to decide how many, if any, to share with a participant who had no tickets. Researchers found a significant association between participants' tendency to experience awe and their generosity. In the other four experiments, the researchers asked groups of people to participate in an activity designed to elicit one of three different states: awe, a neutral state or another reaction, such as pride or amusement. The participants then engaged in an activity designed to measure positive and helpful behaviors. In every experiment, awe was significantly associated with pro-social behaviors (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, online May 18opens in new window).
More than half of all U.S. children and adolescents don't drink enough water, finds research conducted at Harvard University. The researchers examined the urine osmolality — a measure of how well a person is hydrated — of more than 4,000 children and adolescents ages 6 to 19. They found that a little more than half of all children and adolescents weren't hydrated enough. Boys were 76 percent more likely than girls, and black children were 34 percent more likely than white children, to be inadequately hydrated. Nearly a quarter of study participants reported drinking no plain water at all (American Journal of Public Health, online June 11opens in new window).
We remember individual colors in terms of their color category, according to a study led by a Johns Hopkins University psychologist and colleagues. Researchers briefly presented participants with colors one at a time on a screen. After each color was removed from view, participants had to select the color they had just seen from a ring of 180 colors spanning the spectrum. They found that when researchers presented colors that were close to a category center, such as the yellowest yellow or the greenest green, participants did better at selecting the matching color on the ring. As they moved toward colors on the borders of categories, such as teal, participants tended to remember the color as closer to its category center than the actual color presented (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, online May 18).
Risky outdoor play strengthens children's physical health and encourages creativity, social skills and resilience, according to a systematic review led by University of British Columbia scientists. The researchers compiled data from 18 studies conducted with more than 50,000 children ages 3 to 13. The children who participated in such activities as climbing, jumping, rough play and exploring alone displayed greater physical and social health. The study also found that play environments that offer natural elements such as trees and plants, changes in height, and freedom for children to engage in activities of their own choosing and take risks promoted increased play time, social interactions, creativity and resilience (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, June 8opens in new window).
Having cynical beliefs about others may negatively affect your income, find researchers at the University of Cologne, Germany. Using nationally representative longitudinal survey data from the United States and Europe, scientists found that those with low levels of cynicism had higher incomes than their more cynical counterparts. One reason for this finding could be that cynical people are less likely to trust others and therefore forgo cooperation, the authors suggest (Journal of Personality and Social Psychologyopens in new window, online May 25opens in new window).
Minority students are underrepresented in special education, finds research led by Pennsylvania State University investigators. They analyzed multiyear longitudinal and nationally representative data from the U.S. Department of Education, controlling for variables such as the children's academic achievement and behavior, whether they were born with low birth weight, family socioeconomic status and access to health insurance, and their state of residence. The researchers found that racial and ethnic-minority children were less likely than otherwise similar white, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled across all five of the surveyed disability conditions: learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, other health impairments or emotional disturbances. As a result, the researchers say, minority students are less likely to receive potentially beneficial special education services (Educational Researcher, online June 23opens in new window).
In mice, recalling positive memories improves stress-induced depression more than experiencing a new positive event, according to research conducted by scientists at the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics. In the study, researchers first provided male mice with a positive experience — exposure to a female mouse — to allow them to form positive memories. The mice were then exposed to a stressful experience that led to a depression-like state. While the mice were depressed, light was used on some of the mice to stimulate specific neurons involved in memory for the positive experience. After five days of twice-a-day light treatment, the mice's depression improved significantly, while other depressed mice that instead interacted with a female twice a day for five days did not show as much improvement (Nature, online June 17opens in new window).
Providing diagrams with lectures appears to boost undergraduate students' learning and recall, finds research by psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis. In the study, 144 college undergraduates with no mechanical experience listened to spoken explanations of how automobile braking system components work together to slow a car. Participants were divided into three groups: some received a blank sheet of notepaper, some received bare-bones text outlining key concepts and some received diagrams showing how brake shoes, drums and other parts fit together to complete the braking system. Researchers found that undergrads at all ability levels who received the handouts with diagrams did much better on post-presentation problem-solving tests. In addition, these students took fewer notes during the presentation, but the notes they took were of better quality and focused more on connecting ideas (Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognitionopens in new window, Juneopens in new window).
In tough economic times, parents financially favor daughters over sons, according to a study led by a Rutgers University scientist. In one of several experiments, the researchers asked 629 adult participants (both females and males) to read a news article that described the economy as either improving, getting worse or neutral. When asked afterward to make a will dividing their assets between an imaginary son and daughter as well as to select one for other benefits that cost money, such as extracurricular activities, participants who were led to believe tough economic times were ahead allocated nearly 60 percent of their resources to the daughter. When economic conditions were viewed as either neutral or prosperous, participants made a nearly 50/50 split between the two children (Journal of Consumer Research, online May 28opens in new window).
People who spend too much time sitting may be at increased risk for an anxiety disorder, according to research led by a scientist at Deakin University in Australia. Researchers looked at nine studies of more than 40,000 adults and children that assessed anxiety levels as well as sedentary behavior, adding up how much time participants spent watching TV, working at a computer, playing video games and other inactive pastimes. When examined together, the studies indicated that increased sedentary behavior was associated with an increased risk of anxiety (BMC Public Health, June 19).
— Amy Novotney
