Psychiatry724 articles archived since 1845

Scents and Senescence: "Old Person Smell" Is Real, but Not Necessarily Offensive

A new study confirms that people, like many animals, easily recognize a unique—but not unpleasant—eau de elderly

The Brain May Disassemble Itself in Sleep

Slumber may loosen the links that undergird knowledge, restoring the brain daily to a vibrant, flexible state

Mind-Pops: Psychologists Begin to Study an Unusual form of Proustian Memory

Sudden, unannounced memories might help people make connections between disparate ideas more quickly—but they might also be the building blocks of hallucinations

Meat-Eating Is Viewed as More of a Man's Game

A recent study finds that we tend to view meat consumption as being more masculine than vegetarianism. Christie Nicholson reports

Unhurtful Thoughts: A Preoccupied Brain Produces Pain-Killing Compounds

Spinal scans reveal the mechanism by which intense thinking can block pain receptors in the nervous system

Diagnosis of Early Psychosis Risk Excluded from Psychiatry's Updated Guidebook

The benefits of catching psychosis early were deemed to come at too high a price--over-reliance on antipsychotic drugs which have unpleasant side effects

Psychiatry's "Bible" Gets an Overhaul

Psychiatry's diagnostic guidebook gets its first major update in 30 years. The changes may surprise you

Does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Require Trauma?

Revisiting the role of trauma in PTSD

Better Safe Than Sorry: Why We Believe In Tempting Fate [Excerpt]

Switching grocery lines, carrying an umbrella, talking out loud about a possible no-hitter in baseball—a sense of jinxing things arises because when negative possibilities come to mind, they seem more likely...

Readers Respond to "The Google Effect"--and More

Letters to the Editor about the January/February 2012 issue of Scientific American Mind

Keeping Secrets Weighs You Down, Literally

New research finds that keeping a secret can make you feel as if you are physically burdened. Christie Nicholson reports

The Neuroscience of Habits: How They Form and How to Change Them [Excerpt]

Charles Duhigg's new book The Power of Habit draws on neuroscience and psychology to explain how habits form, how to promote good habits and how to break bad ones

How Do Painkillers Buffer against Social Rejection?

Jeannine Stamatakis, an instructor at various colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area, answers

The Rue Age: Older Adults Disengage from Regrets, Young People Fixate on Them

New research suggests that elderly brains are less susceptible to regret than are the brains of the young and depressed

Depression in Teens Could Be Diagnosed with Blood Test

A blood test based on 11 genetic markers could make early-onset diagnosis easier and possibly relieve the stigma of depression

Men Who Hold a Gun Appear Taller and Stronger

Research finds that men are perceived to be strong and large if they are carrying a deadly weapon. Christie Nicholson reports

Feeling Free

We Tend to Underestimate How Much We Weigh

New research has found significant discrepancies between how much people think they weigh and how much they actually weigh. Christie Nicholson reports

Ability to Learn Is Affected by the Timing of Sleep

Researchers find that how soon we sleep after learning new information impacts how well we retain it. Christie Nicholson reports

The Ballooning Brain: Defective Genes May Explain Uncontrolled Brain Growth in Autism

Autistic children's brains may grow too big, too soon. A new study links this unusual growth to abnormal gene activity that fails to prune unnecessary neural connections