Author: dispatchtimes news

A Finnish nationwide registry study has found that adolescents and young adults referred to specialised gender identity services were markedly more likely to receive specialist psychiatric care than their peers, both before and after their first clinic visit. The research, published in Acta Paediatrica, also showed that rates of psychiatric treatment did not fall among those who went on to receive hormones or surgery, instead rising sharply after referral. The findings have quickly become a focal point in one of medicine’s most heated debates. The study drew on comprehensive national health records from Finland, where gender identity assessments leading to…

A soy-derived compound, LPC70, has shown potential to mitigate the health harms of a high-salt diet in mice, improving blood pressure and certain cognitive functions. The research, led by Professor Akihiro Mouri and Dr. Hisayoshi Kubota with Dr. Kazuhiro Kagotani in Japan, probes how the ingredient interacts with prostaglandin signalling in the kidneys and brain. LPC70 is a form of soy lysolecithin in which lysophosphatidylcholine accounts for more than 70% of the phospholipids. The team previously showed LPC70 could ease salt-related hypertension and cognitive problems; this study investigates the mechanisms responsible, particularly the influence on prostaglandin signalling. Prostaglandins are signalling…

A new study examining the genetics of educational attainment and childhood problem behaviour finds that genetic variants linked to higher educational attainment are also associated with fewer behavioural and emotional difficulties in children and adolescents, with the strongest patterns emerging through the cognitive component and notably in girls. In behavioural genetics, researchers use a tool called a polygenic index, or PGI, to summarise statistical patterns across the human genome. Rather than measuring a fixed trait, a PGI is a mathematical summary that adds up thousands of tiny DNA associations identified in large population studies. When applied to complex outcomes like…

A new analysis of brain imaging data suggests that ADHD may influence brain iron levels in relation to when children start stimulant medication. The study found that starting treatment by age eight is linked with higher iron concentrations in dopamine-rich brain regions than starting at age nine or later, and the findings are published in Brain Research. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. These symptoms often complicate daily tasks and social interactions, and the condition is closely tied to reduced dopamine signaling in the brain. Psychostimulants, commonly prescribed to manage ADHD, work…

A sweeping new synthesis of workplace data suggests that general mental ability tests are weaker predictors of job performance than long believed. Researchers pooled information from more than 109,000 workers across more than 200 contemporary samples, finding the predictive power of cognitive ability tests is less than half of the historical benchmark widely cited in textbooks. The work, published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, argues that employers should rely on a broader mix of hiring assessments rather than treating intelligence tests as a standalone gauge of future success. General mental ability, or GMA, is described as a person’s…

A new study published in Behavioral Sciences has found that psychopathy is the strongest predictor of how often people gossip, with Machiavellianism linked to a broader range of gossip motives and everyday sadism tied to malicious gossip aimed at harming others’ reputations. The research, conducted by Adam C. Davis of Canadore College, Tracy Vaillancourt of the University of Ottawa, and Steven Arnocky of Nipissing University, analysed how four dark personality traits relate to both how frequently people gossip and why they do it. The study drew on 516 North American adults from the United States and Canada, with data collected…

A new study published in Sex Roles suggests that eight-year-old children’s views about women tend to mirror their parents’ sexist attitudes, with fathers’ hostile sexism and mothers’ benevolent sexism the most consistently linked to their offspring’s beliefs. The research draws on 175 family groups in New Zealand, each consisting of a mother, a father and their child aged eight, and forms part of a longer study that began when the children were four or five. Psychologists divide sexism into hostile and benevolent forms. Hostile sexism involves openly negative attitudes toward women who challenge male power, while benevolent sexism is more…

A four-week randomised trial found that two meditation styles—focused-attention and self-inquiry—significantly reduced depressive symptoms compared with a wait-list control among adults without a diagnosed depression. The study also suggested the two practices may operate through partially different psychological processes. The research contributes to a long-running discussion about why meditation helps depression, exploring how cognitive decentering and a broader sense of selflessness may interrupt patterns of negative thinking and identity threat that often underpin depressive states. The authors note that meditation is not a single technique and that different practices may influence these processes in distinct ways. The study was conducted…

Weaker incoming connections to a key emotion-related brain region are linked to higher depressive symptoms in a study of 890 neurotypical young adults, with researchers applying a directional analysis to resting-state brain scans to tease apart influence between regions. The work, published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, used Granger causality to estimate whether activity in one area tends to precede and predict activity in another, a step beyond conventional measures that simply note concurrent activity. The subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, or sgACC, sits at the front of the brain and helps regulate emotion and bodily responses. Altered activity in…

A new, large-scale study conducted in China has shown that clusters of unhealthy daily habits in adolescents can predict a higher risk of developing both anxiety and depression over time. Led by researchers Wanyu Che, Ziyan Ruan and Xiaoyan Wu of Anhui Medical University, the study followed 6,656 teenagers across eight regions and tracked them for a year. The findings, published in BMC Psychiatry, suggest that groups of lifestyle risks may collectively heighten mental health vulnerability in adolescence. Adolescence is a period of rapid physical and mental development, during which daily routines can have lasting impacts. The researchers note that…