Author: dispatchtimes news

A new commentary published in Evolutionary Psychological Science argues that sex differences in overhand throwing cannot be explained by socialisation alone, insisting that biological predispositions and experience work together across development. The authors, Robert O. Deaner and Michael P. Lombardo, frame their argument as an interactionist account rather than a simple nature-versus-nurture debate. Researchers generally reject a binary choice between nature and nurture. Across disciplines including evolutionary biology, behavioural genetics and psychology, behaviour is treated as the product of ongoing interactions among genes, hormones, development, learning and the social environment. Yet explanations that attribute differences between women and men entirely…

A four‑week field experiment conducted on Reddit examined how online toxicity shapes participation in political discussions, revealing that polite environments prompt silent readers to post for the first time, while toxic debates drive the most active users to post more. The study appears in Science Advances and was led by Lisa Oswald of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, with colleagues William Small Schulz and Philipp Lorenz‑Spreen. Online spaces central to political discourse often show a participation gap: a vocal minority creates most content while the majority observe in silence. Researchers refer to these highly active individuals as power…

A team of scientists from the Institutes of Brain Science at Fudan University has identified a nose-to-brain circuit that links the frequency of nasal airflow to anxiety regulation in mice. The researchers found that slow, rhythmic nasal breathing dampens anxiety by activating a specific neural pathway, while rapid breathing has the opposite effect. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also showed that a daily regimen of simulated slow breathing can produce lasting relief from anxiety-like symptoms. To map the effect, the researchers exposed mice to distinct breathing frequencies—two breaths per second as slow, four…

A major Norwegian study has found that carrying excess belly fat in midlife is linked to higher blood levels of an Alzheimer’s biomarker and a significantly increased risk of dementia decades later. The findings, published in Neurology, centre on the work of lead author Ekaterina Zotcheva from the Norwegian National Centre for Ageing and Health, and draw on data from a large population study in Norway. The researchers aimed to understand how weight changes across adulthood relate to the brain’s pathology associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Rather than relying solely on memory tests and behavioural observations, they examined a blood biomarker…

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…