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Are We Wired to Sit?
Are we born to be physically lazy? A sophisticated if disconcerting new neurological study suggests that we probably are. It finds that even when people know that exercise is desirable and plan to work out, certain electrical signals within their brains may be nudging them toward being sedentary. The study’s authors hope, though, that learning how our minds may undermine our exercise intentions could give us renewed motivation to move. Exercise physiologists, psychologists and practitioners have long been flummoxed by the difference between people’s plans and desires to be physically active and their actual behavior, which usually involves doing the opposite.
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Moving Stress Research Forward
Research tells us that severe stress can cause all kinds of adverse health outcomes, including an increased risk for mental illnesses. In his latest Director's Message, Dr. Gordon discusses how NIMH is trying to move the field of stress research forward, toward the translation of basic findings into clinical advances. .
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Psychologists have surprising advice for people who feel unmotivated
Per traditional self-help narratives, if you can’t accomplish your goal, you should ask for advice. Find someone who has successfully landed the job, gotten the promotion, made the grades, achieved the weight loss, or created the financial stability that you want. Tell this person you’re struggling. Then do what she says. According to two leading psychologists, this theory isn’t just hackneyed, it’s wrong. Their research suggests that the key to motivation is giving advice, not receiving it.
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Wider-faced politicians are seen as more corrupt
New research offers a tip for politicians who don't want to be seen as corrupt: don't get a big head. A new study showed people photos of politicians and asked them to rate how corruptible each seemed. The results were published this week in Psychological Science by researchers at Caltech. The volunteers were able to guess with significant accuracy which politicians were corrupt and which weren't. The common denominator between the politicians who seemed guilty? A wide face, a trait that past research has linked to aggressive behavior in men.
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Why senators claim to believe Ford — but still side with Kavanaugh
On Wednesday, the day before a hearing on sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Jeff Flake made a speech defending the right of Christine Blasey Ford, the Supreme Court nominee’s accuser, to be heard. “How many times do we have to marginalize and ignore women before we learn that important lesson?” Flake (R-Ariz.) asked, taking issue with President Trump’s questions about why Ford never reported the alleged attempted rape. This followed a fortnight of sometimes surprising gestures from Kavanaugh’s ideological kin, who also seemed to draw on the language and concepts of the Me Too movement.
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Teens Sleeping Too Much, Or Not Enough? Parents Can Help
Within three days of starting high school this year, my ninth-grader could not get into bed before 11 p.m. or wake up by 6 a.m. He complained he couldn't fall asleep but felt foggy during the school day and had to reread lessons a few times at night to finish his homework. And forget morning activities on the weekends — he was in bed. We're not the only family struggling to get restful shut-eye. "What parents are sharing with us is that the 'normal life' of a typical American high schooler is interfering with sleep," says Sarah Clark, co-director of C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan.
