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Want Less Pain? Don’t Look Away
A recent study published in Psychological Science, is shedding light on how the brain processes pain. What you look at can influence how much pain you feel. Contrary to many people's compulsion to look away during a painful event such as an injection, scientists found that looking at your body - in this case the hand - reduces the pain experienced. The team also showed that magnifying the hand to make it appear larger cut pain levels further still. The researchers say that gaining a better understanding of this could lead to new treatments. Watch this explanation and read the full story: BBC
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Are You Stuck in a ‘Bad Project’?
Members of the Hui Zheng lab at BCM who study Alzheimer's Disease recently posted a video titled “Bad Project” parodying Lady Gaga’s immensely popular single Bad Romance. The video follows a PhD student who’s inherited project that isn’t quite living up to her expectations. Since its posting on YouTube January 20, 2011 the video has received nearly two million views – an indicator that more than a few in the scientific community can commiserate with Hui Zheng lab. Though still slightly shy of Bad Romance‘s 350 million YouTube views, we applaud the Hui Zheng lab’s performance!
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Too Many Choices? How Humans Cognitively Manage an Abundance of Mate Options
Can’t find the right guy or girl for Valentine’s Day? Research suggests you might be looking in the wrong place. A study published in Psychological Science found that people who have the choice of many potential mates pay very little attention to important characteristics which take more time to elicit, and instead choose potential love interests based on trivial characteristics that are quickly and easily assessed.
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Pitfalls and Opportunities in Nonverbal and Verbal Lie Detection
Full Text HTML (Available to the Public) Aldert Vrij, Par Anders Granhag, and Stephen Porter Unlike Pinocchio, most of the time people do not give telltale signs that they are being dishonest. In lieu of a growing nose, is there a way to distinguish people who are telling the truth from those who aren’t?
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Is it Over Yet? How We Recover From Conflict
It’s the second week of February and you unfortunately find yourself in the middle of a heated argument with your significant other. Can you resolve the fight and recover your relationship in time for Valentine’s Day? According to a new study published in Psychological Science, your ability to bounce back from conflict may depend on what you and your partner were like as infants. The study, part of a two-decade longitudinal study, compared participants’ attachment styles during infancy to their adult conflict recovery styles, emotions, and ratings of relationship satisfaction and stability when they were 20 years old.
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Husband and Wife Team Trace the Roots of Youth Violence
APS Fellow Avshalom Caspi and APS Fellow Terrie Moffitt hold professorships at two institutions: Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and King's College London. The pair, who research mental health and human development have just won the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize, given to individuals from all disciplines who make outstanding scientific contributions to improvement of young people’s development and perspectives worldwide. The prize includes 1 million Swiss francs to further the couple's research. The Jacobs Foundation considers it vital to ensure that scientific findings from interdisciplinary research are incorporated in practice, giving out two awards annually — the Klaus J.