Author: dispatchtimes news

A large U.S. study published in JAMA Pediatrics has found no evidence that newborn circumcision increases the risk of autism in boys, offering reassurance to parents considering the procedure or whose sons were circumcised. The research was led by Monica McGrath, a research professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and analysed data from a national health initiative tracking child health outcomes. Neonatal circumcision and autism: no link found in large US study Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by differences in social interaction and communication, with common features including repetitive behaviours and unusual responses to…

A new longitudinal study published in Psychedelic Medicine suggests that the timing of a person’s most intense psychedelic experience may shape their willingness to endorse partisan violence, with distinct patterns around the Fourth of July, the 2024 party conventions and Election Day. The research was led by Otto Simonsson, an assistant professor at the Centre for Social Sustainability within Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, and involved colleagues Peter S. Hendricks, Walter Osika and Simon B. Goldberg. Psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD are substances that alter perception, mood and cognitive processes by interacting with serotonin receptors…

A neuroimaging study suggests the brain uses a shared code for gender across images of faces, bodies and objects, with a small cluster in the right middle temporal gyrus emerging as a possible universal gender signal. The work, described as a reviewed preprint, has been published in eLife. Humans are remarkably adept at inferring gender from visual cues, doing so rapidly and with little conscious effort. Faces are especially informative, but people can also read gender from body shape, posture, clothing, and even the objects associated with men or women. Researchers asked whether the brain represents gender in a way…

A new study of inmates has found that grandiose narcissistic traits are closely linked to psychopathy, mediated by manipulative strategies, with the connection appearing strongest among incarcerated women. The research appears in Psychology, Crime & Law and sheds light on how Dark Triad traits interact under the pressures of prison life. The Dark Triad framework groups three aggressive, self-centred traits: narcissism, characterised by an inflated sense of self-importance; Machiavellianism, a calculating and cynical approach to others; and psychopathy, marked by emotional coldness, moral disengagement and a lack of empathy. In everyday life these traits are related but distinct, psychologists say,…

People adjust what they say in small online chats to fit the room’s dominant view, according to new AI-based experiments led by researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University. In two studies, each with 180 American participants, volunteers interacted in chats described as with three coworkers who were AI agents programmed to express liberal or conservative views. The findings suggest that what people say in everyday political conversations may not always reflect their private beliefs. Previous work on online political expression has focused on large public platforms where users know a vast audience may be watching. By contrast, the new research concentrates…

A US study has found that parents of transgender youth experienced worsening mental health and well‑being in the weeks after the 2025 presidential inauguration, compared with parents of cisgender youth. The research, led by psychologist Rachel A. Leshin of Princeton University, and published in Psychological Science, tracked families across 2022 to 2024 and again in the seven weeks following the inauguration. Following the inauguration, the new federal administration issued executive orders aimed at transgender youth. These orders sought to ban gender‑affirming medical care for minors, penalise schools that support transgender students, and restrict transgender girls from competing on gender‑aligned sports…

A university-led trial in Oxford has found that an eight‑week salsa dance programme can reduce depressive symptoms and social anxiety in young adults with mild to moderately severe depression, compared with a waitlist control. The study recruited 121 participants aged 18 to 24 who reported mild to moderate depressive symptoms, with 93 completing the study and being analysed. Participants were randomly allocated to either an experimental group that attended salsa classes or a waitlist control group. Before the trial, researchers engaged with an Oxford-based youth advisory group to decide which dance style would appeal most. “These young people watched videos…

A small French study into psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder suggests that how a patient describes the first psychedelic session may correlate with abstinence three months later. Those who stayed abstinent tended to talk about an inner dialogue and shifts in thinking, while those who later drank focused more on sensations, visions and emotions exposed during the session. Led by Maria Garcia Garcia of Nîmes University Hospital and the University of Montpellier, the researchers analysed recordings from the first integration session in the Psilocybin Alcohol Depression trial. In that trial, recently detoxified patients underwent two psilocybin sessions three weeks…

A new study published in the Journal of Political Marketing finds that political candidates on TikTok attract more views and engagement when they use short, emotionally charged, performance-focused videos rather than detailed policy discussions. The research argues the app’s design encourages quick entertainment and visual spectacle over traditional campaigning. Researchers sought to understand how candidates adapt their communication for a platform with a younger, fast-moving audience and to explain why some formats perform better than others in this digital environment. The work relies on Media Ecology Theory, which posits that communication platforms are not neutral conduits for information but shape…

A new Italian study of heterosexual adults has found persistent gender differences in orgasm frequency, with men reporting more frequent orgasms than women. The research also shows that, for both men and women, more frequent orgasms are linked to greater sexual arousal, a wider range of sexual activities, and a stronger desire for sex. The study, published in Sexuality & Culture, analysed 579 heterosexual adults in stable relationships in Italy. Orgasm is described in psychological and physiological terms as an intense experience of sexual pleasure accompanied by bodily responses such as rhythmic contractions and hormonal activity. Although the underlying mechanisms…