Psychology

Source: Google News - HealthNew photos and rare video footage of an uncontacted indigenous tribe in the Peruvian Amazon show people emerging from a rain forest—perhaps due to encroaching logging operations. The Mashco Piro people, which human rights group Survival International says is the largest uncontacted tribe in the world, were given a territorial reserve in 2002. But the Peruvian government also gave concessions to several logging companies within the tribe's...

Source: APA Press ReleasesAs a discipline, psychology prides itself on helping people improve their lives. However, psychology has had a long history of harming people of color, and psychologists must work to dismantle racism within the field, according to a special issue of the American Psychologist—flagship journal of the American Psychological Association. The journal examines how psychology has perpetuated racial hierarchy and looks at ways to redress racial...

Source: U.S. News and World ReportAs the Paris Games open on Friday, followed by the Paralympics starting August 28, athletes have more access than ever to mental health resources and seem more likely to use them. That's noteworthy because according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's director of psychological services, roughly half of U.S. athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use, or...

Source: Google News - HealthThe wife of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Usha Chilukuri Vance, and the couple's children have become the targets of hate for their Indian ancestry. Chilukuri Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants who grew up in San Diego, as well as RNC speaker Harmeet Dhillon—who is Sikh and Indian—are facing anti-Asian hate from far-right figures online. The posts spiked after his nomination, criticizing him for marrying someone who...

Source: Google News - HealthNico Dosenbach, an associate professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, had been given a high dose of psilocybin, the active substance in magic mushrooms, as part of an experiment. "Time stopped, and I was everyone," he recalls. The results, which appear in the journal Nature, suggest that psychedelic drugs work by disrupting certain brain networks—especially one that helps people form a sense of space, time, and self.

Source: U.S. News and World ReportA newly posted video of Miss Kansas calling out her domestic violence abuser from the stage the night she was crowned is whipping up a maelstrom of support on social media. Alexis Smith was crowned Miss Kansas on June 8 but posted the video of her on-stage comments just this past week. Her comments are resonating with thousands in part because she called out her own abuser from the stage while she said the perpetrator was sitting in the audience.

Source: United Press International - Health NewsThe Human Rights Campaign released a report Friday detailing a "stark contrast" in federal LGBTQ+ protections under Presidents Biden and Trump. The report describes the effects both leaders had on federal agencies during their presidencies. For example, agencies under Trump stopped accepting civil rights complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity, whereas many agencies under Biden treated LGBTQ+ people as protected from...

Source: U.S. News and World ReportU.S. President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign on Sunday after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump. He announced his decision in a letter posted on social media. Then, in a subsequent message he posted soon after, Mr. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be their party's candidate. Here is the letter's full text.

Source: BBC News - Top HeadlinesA popular British fashion magazine has been criticized after it described an artificial intelligence "fashion and lifestyle editor" on its social media page as a "new member" of the team. The editor, known as "Reem,' was introduced through social media earlier this week. But there has been backlash from fans, with one saying the company is depriving "human journalists of a job" and creating unachievable "beauty standards."

Source: U.S. News and World ReportIn Ukraine, a handful of startups are developing artificial intelligence systems to help fly a vast fleet of drones, taking warfare into uncharted territory as combatants race to gain a technological edge in battle. One such company is Swarmer, which is developing software that links drones in a network. Decisions can be implemented instantly across the group, with a human only stepping in to green-light automated strikes.

Source: ABC News - InternationalSouth Korea's top court ruled Thursday that same-sex couples are eligible to receive the same health insurance benefits as heterosexual couples, a landmark verdict hailed by human rights groups. The Supreme Court said it ruled that the state health insurance agency's refusal to provide spousal insurance coverage for gay couples was an act of discrimination that violates the constitutional principle of equality.

Source: U.S. News and World ReportDefiance, tantrums, aggression: All signs of a condition called conduct disorder, which Mental Health America says affects up to 16% of boys and 9% of girls. Now, researchers have found differences in the brain structure of youths with the disorder, compared to those without. Specifically, a Lancet Psychiatry study of people aged 7-21 found that individuals with conduct disorder have less cerebral cortex surface area than is typical for others...

Source: BBC News - BusinessBillionaire Elon Musk has said he will move the headquarters of two of his most high-profile companies, rocket firm SpaceX and social media platform X, from California to Texas. He said the move was due to recent laws passed by the state—in particular, a new law that prevents schools from making rules requiring staff tell parents information about a child's gender identity. A spokesperson for the governor said the law keeps students safe.

Source: U.S. News and World ReportAs millions of American teens continue to struggle with their mental health, a new survey reveals a sizable gap between how much support teens say they get and how much support their parents think they get. In the report, published Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics, just over a quarter of teens said they always get the social and emotional support they need, whereas parents were nearly three times more likely to think they did.

Source: Google News - HealthCalifornia became the first U.S. state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child's gender identification change under a law signed Monday by Governor Gavin Newsom. The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student's gender identity or sexual orientation to anyone without the child's permission. Advocates say the law will help protect LGBTQ+ students who live in unwelcoming...

Source: U.S. News and World ReportSince President Joe Biden's poor debate performance last month, some Democratic lawmakers are calling on him to take a cognitive test to illustrate his mental capacity. Thursday night, Biden was asked during a press conference following the NATO summit if he would take a cognitive test. He said he had already taken three "significant and intense" neurological exams, one as recently as February, and added that being president is its own daily...

Source: Google News - HealthAfter being kidnapped by Hamas at a music festival on October 7, Andrey Kozlov, a 27-year-old Russian-Israeli citizen, said he was tied up for "three days with rope, then until the middle of December with chains." During eight months of captivity, he was also subjected to psychological abuse—being told that his death would be filmed, that his family had forgotten him, and that Israel wanted to kill him. Then, on June 8, Israel rescued him.

Source: Science Daily - Top HealthScientists have developed an artificially-intelligent tool capable of predicting in four cases out of five whether people with early signs of dementia will remain stable or develop Alzheimer's disease. The team say this new approach could reduce the need for invasive and costly diagnostic tests while improving treatment outcomes early when interventions such as lifestyle changes or new medicines may have a chance to work best.

Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company - Top Stories NewsThe Walsh family in Ontario, Canada, appeared to be the picture of domestic bliss, making the murder-suicide event that destroyed them all the more shocking. But while the devastating tragedy was unthinkable to the community, it's unlikely that it occurred arbitrarily, according to researchers. "These cases don't happen out of the blue. Someone doesn't wake up one day and decide to kill their family members," said Peter Jaffe, a domestic...

Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel has left children and parents with significant psychological scars, a new study shows. But families with a child who has autism have been especially hard hit, according to researchers from the Autism Center at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For autistic children who depend on a routine and predictability in life, the disruptions owing to terror attacks and war make everyday stress even worse,...

Source: Google News - HealthAlzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, affects almost 7 million people in the United States alone, with an estimated one in three U.S. seniors dying with Alzheimer's or another dementia. Now, a research team in Amsterdam has designed a model that can predict the rate of cognitive decline in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. The research appears in the journal Neurology.

Source: BBC News - EuropeJewish people in the European Union continue to face high levels of antisemitism, according to a survey from the bloc's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). More than 8,000 Jews in 13 EU countries, including Germany and France, were interviewed, with 96% saying they encountered antisemitism in their daily life, often online. The FRA's director, Sirpa Rautio, warned that Europe was facing a "wave of antisemitism" driven partly by the conflict in the...

Source: ABC News - InternationalA Japanese high court has approved a legal gender change for a transgender woman without requiring gender-affirming surgery—a step that LGBGQ+ groups on Thursday heralded as progress. Under the law, trans people who want to have their gender assigned at birth changed on official documents must be diagnosed as having gender dysmorphia and must undergo an operation to remove their sex organs, but the court ruled that requiring surgery may be...

Source: ABC News - InternationalThousands of people gathered in Srebrenica Thursday for the annual ritual of commemorating the 1995 genocide, which Serb officials continue to deny, fueling ethnic tensions within the war-ravaged state. Twenty-nine years after they were murdered in Europe's only acknowledged genocide since the Holocaust, the bodies of 13 men and one teenage boy were laid to rest in an ever-expanding memorial cemetery, joining more than 6,600 massacre victims...

Source: Science DailyTen million new cases of dementia are diagnosed each year, but the presence of different dementia forms and overlapping symptoms can complicate diagnosis and delivery of effective treatments. Now, researchers have developed an AI tool that can diagnose ten different types of dementia, such as vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia—even if they co-occur—according to a new report published in Nature Medicine.

Source: U.S. News and World ReportDecision makers should pursue aggressive policies to bring climate change under control if they want to avoid losses in the value of global stocks that could top 50%, think-tank EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact warned in a 74-page report published on Wednesday. The report explains how physical climate damage, along with the costs of transition, can have a dramatic impact on the value of stocks, and, by extension, can threaten global financial stability.

Source: BBC News - AsiaAustralia has appointed a special envoy to combat antisemitism and preserve "social cohesion" amid rising tensions over the Israel-Gaza war. The envoy, lawyer and businesswoman Jillian Segal, will consult with community leaders and discrimination experts to advise the government. The U.S., Canada, Greece, and the United Kingdom have all had similar positions for years. Australia also plans to appoint a special envoy for addressing Islamophobia...

Source: Google News - HealthThree deans at Columbia University have lost their jobs over what the university is calling disturbing texts that "touched on ancient antisemitic tropes." Columbia says the three individuals are on indefinite leave and will not return to their prior positions. The three were texting each other during a panel discussion on Jewish life on campus in May, mocking and disparaging students' complaints of antisemitism.

Source: ABC News - InternationalElders are at the center of a homegrown form of mental health therapy in Zimbabwe that is now being adopted in other countries, including the United States. The approach involves setting up benches in quiet, discreet corners of community clinics and in some churches, poor neighborhoods, and at a university. An elder with basic training in problem-solving therapy then sits there patiently, ready to listen and engage in a one-on-one conversation.

Source: U.S. News and World ReportPost a comment on Reddit, answer coding questions on Stack Overflow, edit a Wikipedia entry, or share a baby photo on your public Facebook or Instagram feed and you are also helping to train the next generation of artificial intelligence. Not everyone is OK with that — especially because the same online forums where they've spent years contributing are increasingly flooded with AI-generated commentary mimicking what real humans might say.