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Psychology - Health - 12.01.2023

From emotional maltreatment to psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence
Children between the ages of three and sixteen have an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders as a result of emotional maltreatment. In younger children, the consequences are mainly seen in their behaviour, and in adolescents more in the form of anxiety and depression. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers at Leipzig University Hospital in cooperation with other German universities.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 20.10.2022

Genes that influence dyslexia
A large-scale gene study identifies series of DNA variants linked to dyslexia An international team of scientists, including researchers at the University of Edinburgh and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen (Netherlands), has for the first time pinpointed a large number of genes that are reliably associated with dyslexia.

Psychology - Environment - 17.10.2022

Birdsong is good for mental health
Study investigates the influence of birdsong on mood, paranoia, and cognition When you next hear cheerful twittering of birds, you should stop and listen. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf have shown that birdsong reduces anxiety and irrational thoughts.

Environment - Psychology - 13.10.2022

Birdsong is good for mental health
Study examines influence of birdsong on mood, paranoia and cognition If you hear chirpy birdsong coming soon, you should stop and listen. Because birdsong has been shown to alleviate anxiety and irrational thoughts. This is what researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf have discovered.

Sport - Psychology - 19.09.2022

Fit for work at over 50
Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed program to increase performance and well-being Am I over the hill? This question comes up regularly among workers over 50. A common prejudice is that older people's efficiency and stress-tolerance are continuously decreasing. But mental performance, self-confidence, psychological resilience and well-being can be improved in the 50-plus generation.

Psychology - 19.09.2022

Don’t look at me like that!
Does eye-contact always attract attention? Not in every case, as a research team at the University of Würzburg's Institute of Psychology has recently shown. Why not? Because context matters. It's a phenomenon that we have probably all experienced. You're in a packed place surrounded by a swirling mass of people, and someone looks you in the eye.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 15.09.2022

The hemispheres are not equal
A study analyzes differences in brain asymmetry among different individuals Although the brain is divided into two halves, it is not exactly a mirror image. Some functions are processed more on the left side, others more on the right - and each person's processing is a little different. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Forschungszentrum Juelich, together with an international team of neuroscientists, have now discovered heritable underpinnings of brain asymmetry - and - how much we share with monkeys.

Health - Psychology - 12.09.2022

Compassion: An incentive does not always help
People who help others do not necessarily want to receive a reward for doing so. However, a reward can encourage people with a low degree of empathy to help. This is shown by a new study . It is a classic of social psychological research: people donate less blood when they are paid for it. Without payment, i.e., solely out of the desire to help their fellow human beings, they have significantly more blood drawn.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 30.08.2022

How value shapes the fluctuations of conscious perception
Although visual perception might seem as easy as just opening our eyes and reporting what is out there, the underlying computations are surprisingly complex. One of the more revealing ways to study these computations is by using inputs that are ambiguous or even impossible under normal circumstances (for instance with radically different pictures seen by the two eyes).

Psychology - 26.08.2022

Brothers and sisters shape character less than thought
Our personality as adults is not determined by whether we grow up with sisters or brothers. This is the finding of an international study by researchers from Leipzig University, the University of Zurich and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The results have now been published in the renowned journal -Psychological Science-.

Psychology - Health - 25.08.2022

Appetite change in depression
New study published on changes in the brain's reward system Major depressive disorders are characterized by a significant health burden, including changes in appetite and body weight. Identifying biomarkers such as changes in brain function to treat depression is difficult due to the varying symptomatology of affected individuals.

Psychology - Life Sciences - 15.08.2022

Connection between a ’calm mind’ and better capacity for self-control
People's self-control can be seen in the stability of their neuronal processes People who have a "calmer mind" - that is, their neuronal processes take longer on average and whirl around less than others - have greater self-control. This was the finding of Dr. Tobias Kleinert, Markus Heinrichs and Dr. Bastian Schiller from the Department of Psychology at the University of Freiburg, together with Kyle Nash and Dr. Josh Leota from the University of Alberta/Canada, and Thomas König from the University Hospital of Bern/Switzerland.

Psychology - 15.07.2022

Children compensate for lack of concentration through creativity
Study shows that children find their own solutions thanks to broad focus Children have a hard time with concentration tasks, but are often good at discovering hidden "tricks" to make the task easier. Spontaneous strategy changes help them to do this, according to a study on learning behavior in children by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin.

Health - Psychology - 29.06.2022

New app helps Syrian refugees deal with post-traumatic stress
Researchers at Leipzig University have partnered with Syrian refugees and an agency for e-mental health services to develop and scientifically test an app to help users deal with post-traumatic stress and related mental strain. The app - Sanadak - has now been published in Arabic and German and can be downloaded free of charge.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 08.06.2022

Early childhood experiences may lead to irreversible changes in the brain
Changes in the brain caused by early childhood experiences are not entirely irreversible. This is the conclusion reached in a recent study by researchers at Universität Hamburg, led by the psychologist and neuroscientist Brigitte Röder. Earlier neuroscientific studies have revealed that unfavorable experiences in the first few months and years of life, for example blindness or poverty, can adversely affect the structural development of the human brain.

Psychology - 08.06.2022

People’s idealized self-representation on the internet
Differences among people are less pronounced online than offline / users particularly tend to idealize their psychological characteristics / publication in 'Current Psychology' Researchers in social and media psychology at the University of Cologne have explored digital environments in which people tend to portray themselves in an idealized way.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 19.05.2022

The fading of negative experiences
Active suppression weakens unwanted memories A natural disaster, a dented car, an injured person - memories of traumatic experiences can be controlled by deliberately suppressing the images that arise. Until now, however, it was unclear what happens to the memory in the process and how the process is reflected in the brain.

Health - Psychology - 21.04.2022

Protection and Risk: Social Cohesion during Lockdown
The CovSocial Project Analyzes the Mental Health and Social Cohesion of the Citizens of Berlin during the COVID-19 Pandemic In the CovSocial project, scholars and scientists led by Tania Singer from the Social Neuroscience Research Group of the Max Planck Society are investigating how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the mental health and social cohesion of Berlin citizens during the pandemic years 2020 to 2022.

Psychology - 18.02.2022

Mental Speed Hardly Changes over a Lifespan
Heidelberg study shows that the speed of cognitive information processing remains largely stable over decades Mental speed - the speed at which we can deal with issues requiring rapid decision-making - does not change substantially over decades. Psychologists at Heidelberg University have come to this conclusion.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 10.02.2022

Intelligence - It’s all about connectivity
Human intelligence is closely associated with functional brain networks: The better these networks are developed, the easier it is for the brain to adapt to different tasks, this is shown by a new study of the University of Würzburg. You are just enjoying a nap on the sofa when your son suddenly turns up and asks you to help him with his math homework.