In a rare, large-scale study of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients who span the full range of severity from mild to moderate and severe, Canadian researchers have found that the more severe the injury, the greater the loss of brain tissue, particularly white matter. “This is an important finding as TBI is one of the [...]
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers – in collaboration with scientists at the University of California at San Diego and Yale University – have discovered perhaps the strongest evidence yet linking variation in a particular gene with anxiety-related traits. In the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, the team describes finding that particular versions of [...]
Forgiveness can be a powerful means to healing, but it does not come naturally for both sexes. Men have a harder time forgiving than women do, according to Case Western Reserve University psychologist Julie Juola Exline. But that can change if men develop empathy toward an offender by seeing they may also be capable of [...]
Beginning with the question of whether psychopathy is a stable disorder throughout life, the researchers attempted to trace its development back to its roots. In studying it over time, they found that child/adolescent psychopathy looks quite similar to the adult version but there did seem to be some areas of instability in the young version [...]
Although researchers have long agreed that girls have superior language abilities than boys, until now no one has clearly provided a biological basis that may account for their differences. For the first time — and in unambiguous findings — researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show both that areas of the brain [...]
To meet increased needs for mental health services for veterans, especially those returning from the Global War on Terror, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is expanding its training programs for psychologists. “Not all the wounds of war are visible,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “VA is committed to ensuring veterans [...]
Happiness in life is as much down to having the right genetic mix as it is to personal circumstances according to a recent study. Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh working with researchers at Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Australia found that happiness is partly determined by personality traits and that both personality and [...]
Cochlear implant recipients experience a significant improvement in their quality of life, and have improved speech recognition, according to new research published in the March 2008 issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. The German study evaluated the quality of life of 56 cochlear implant recipients using the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ), a [...]
Young Canadians living with the debilitating inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis (UC) will now have access to a new treatment option with Health Canada’s approval of REMICADE® (infliximab) for use in pediatric patients (age six to 17 years). REMICADE® has been approved for the treatment of UC in adults in Canada since 2006. With this [...]
People who suffer from depression or anxiety are much more likely to be obese and to smoke both major risk factors for chronic disease according to a large nationwide study. “The relationship between obesity and depression is plausible for several reasons,” said lead author Tara Strine, of the Division of Adult and Community Health in [...]