Author: dispatchtimes news

A large-scale mapping of brain protein interactions linked to autism risk genes has revealed that diverse genetic mutations may converge on the same biological networks, offering a potential route to targeted therapies for neurodevelopmental conditions. The work, led by Belinda Wang with Nevan Krogan at the Quantitative Biosciences Institute in the University of California, San Francisco, focuses on 100 high‑confidence autism risk genes and maps how their protein products interact, suggesting mutations rewire networks rather than simply disabling functions. The findings were published in Science. Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by varying challenges with social communication and…

A team of researchers has deconstructed the chemical architecture of LSD to identify which parts drive hallucinations and which might underpin future therapies. By applying function-oriented synthesis, they produced nine simplified analogues and tested them in cells and mice, isolating a minimal two-ring core that appears to trigger the head-twitch response associated with psychedelic effects, while other configurations show antipsychotic potential. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is led by Andrian G. Basargin with senior author David E. Olson of the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics at the University of California, Davis. LSD’s effects…

A new, small study into the neural correlates of social exclusion in individuals with excessive smartphone use has found distinct patterns of brain activity when heavy users are left out in a simulated online interaction. Researchers, led by psychiatrist Robert C. Wolf at Heidelberg University, reported that these heightened neural responses could help explain why some people maintain screen-related behavioural habits over time. The research sits within an ongoing debate about where habit ends and addiction begins, particularly in the realm of digital social interaction. The study notes that behavioural addictions often emerge from a mix of personal traits, heightened…

A trio of studies published in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that having a daughter can subtly recalibrate a father’s relationship priorities, nudging him to invest more in his bond with the child’s mother and potentially supporting greater long-term family stability. The researchers grounded their work in paternal investment theory, a framework that treats fathers as early models of male behaviour for their children. For daughters in particular, a father’s involvement and presence can signal whether men in the wider environment are reliable and likely to invest in long-term relationships. Past findings cited by the team note that father absence…

A new study analysing long-running US survey data suggests that family-level cognitive ability may be linked to how healthy mothers are in midlife. Researchers found that mothers whose children performed better in mathematics and reading tended to report better physical and mental health, while poorer cognitive performance in children was associated with larger declines in mothers’ physical health between ages 40 and 50. The research has been published in the journal Intelligence. Intelligence is described by the authors as the general capacity to learn, reason, solve problems, understand complex information and adapt to new situations. It has long been connected…

Disgust sensitivity appears to steer people towards conservative political views, but only for those who are less aware of their own bodily signals, a new study suggests. Researchers Mariana von Mohr and Manos Tsakiris report that interoceptive sensibility moderates the link between disgust and political orientation. The work, published in Politics and the Life Sciences, used 632 adults from the United States to explore how disgust triggers, bodily awareness, and ideology interact. Disgust sensitivity refers to how intensely and easily a person experiences disgust in response to things such as germs, taboo sexual acts, or moral violations like lying. Interoceptive…

A major study led by researchers at the University of Oslo has shown that changes in the brain’s cortical thickness can be detected years before amyloid-beta plaques reach detectable levels on scans, challenging the long-held view that amyloid buildup is the first event in Alzheimer’s disease. The research, published in Nature Neuroscience, was guided by James M. Roe and Yunpeng Wang and draws on data from three large longitudinal studies of cognitive ageing. Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by amyloid-beta plaques, and the traditional model holds that plaque accumulation comes first and drives subsequent brain shrinkage. A 2010 study framed this…

A new eye-tracking study suggests that followers who rate themselves as conscientious use gaze strategically when speaking to a leader, directing their eyes at the leader’s features to bolster their own arguments. The researchers say this behaviour can make such followers appear more conscientious to observers, indicating eye contact may signal reliability in workplace settings. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Eye gaze is widely recognised as a powerful form of nonverbal communication, capable of attracting attention, increasing engagement and influencing the course of social interactions. While avoiding eye contact can sometimes be taken as…

A new study published in Royal Society Open Science suggests intelligence and personality traits do little to predict whether people notice an unexpected object while concentrating on another task. Led by Daniel J. Simons of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the researchers conducted two large online studies across multiple countries, each including 1,000 participants in the final analyses, to test whether cognitive ability or personality sways noticing. Inattentional blindness is the phenomenon at the heart of the research. It occurs when individuals fail to see something clearly visible because their attention is fixed on a different task. For example,…

PsyPost, the psychology and neuroscience news website, has unveiled an automated Python programme designed to monitor its archive for studies that have been retracted, corrected, or flagged by publishers. In its first run against the databases Retraction Watch and Crossref, the programme scanned PsyPost’s archive of more than 16,000 articles and identified six studies that had been retracted. The system now runs on a consistent weekly schedule to answer one question: has any PsyPost-covered study been withdrawn or altered, and which articles are affected? How the Programme Works The audit process runs weekly in four steps to translate publisher data…