People who are credulous are less capable of recognizing fake news, and along with mistrustful adults, are more susceptible to conspiracy thinking and vaccine hesitancy, according to a study published December 4, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Michal Tanzer and colleagues from University College London, U.K. Epistemic trust is the readiness to...
Health
‘For the Very First Time I Really Enjoyed Sex!’ − How Lesbian Escort Agencies Became a Form of Self-Care in Japan
In Japanese society, prostitution is often framed as a necessary evil – a way to maintain social harmony by providing men with an outlet for their pent-up sexual desires. While there are a number of issues with this view – such as the implication that men are inherently unable to control their sexual impulses –...
Online Health Care Reviews Turned Negative Following Covid Pandemic
After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, online reviews of health care facilities dropped signficiantly, and they have not yet fully recovered, according to a new analysis led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. More than half of reviews on the online platform, Yelp,now are negative, flipping the pre-COVID picture....
Who Is Most Vulnerable to Commercial Sexual Exploitation?
Educational achievement, mental health diagnoses, childhood abuse, number of arrests and number of children all play a complex role in shaping a person’s vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation, how long they are exploited for and how difficult it is to get out. That is one conclusion of a new study published November 20, 2024 in...
Does More Virtual Care Mean More Low-Value Care? Study Suggests No
An analysis of 2022 data shows that despite worries, use of unneeded scans and tests didn’t rise at primary care practices that embraced virtual care most Before 2024 ends, Congress will decide whether to keep or change rules about telehealth, or let them expire. And even though the decision will focus on Medicare’s payment for...
Bilingualism May Maintain Protection Against Alzheimer’s
Bilingualism has long been known to have cognitive benefits for older adults. Research shows it helping delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by up to five years compared to monolingual adults. This is one of several lifestyle factors that may contribute to brain resilience as we age. In a new study published in the journal Bilingualism:...
‘Visual Clutter’ Alters Information Flow in the Brain
Too much stuff in the periphery of our vision can make it difficult to identify what we’re seeing. Yale researchers now know how that clutter affects the brain. Whether we’re staring at our phones, the page of a book, or the person across the table, the objects of our focus never stand in isolation; there...
British Adults Healthier in Midlife Than U.S. Peers
Rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are lower among British adults in their 30s and 40s compared to their counterparts in the US, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. However, people in Britain are more likely to be regular smokers and to judge their health as poor. Published in the International...
Systematic Review Highlights Decline in Mental Health Care and Increase in Suicides Following FDA Youth Antidepressant Warnings
Key Takeaways: A new systematic review led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute examined a wide body of evidence documenting pediatric mental health outcomes in the period following FDA Black-Box Warnings that antidepressants may be associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth. The data indicate that these warnings, meant to increase monitoring of...
Our Brains Divide the Day into Chapters. New Psychology Research Offers Details on How
Mindset and expectations, not just the external environment, shape the “table of contents” into which our brains organize the day. The moment a person steps off the street and into a restaurant—to take just one example—the brain mentally starts a new “chapter” of the day, a change that causes a big shift in brain activity....