Tag Psychology
Study uncovers how Ritalin works in brain to boost cognition, focus attention
In a paper publishing online this week in Biological Psychiatry, UW–Madison psychology researchers report that Ritalin fine-tunes the functioning of neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) - a brain region involved in attention, decision-making and impulse control - while having few effects outside it.
Sweeping analysis of research reinforces media influence on women’s body image
As France's parliament considers a landmark bill that would outlaw media images glamorizing the extremely thin, psychology researchers are reporting some of the most definitive findings yet on how these images affect women.
Study shows compassion meditation changes the brain
Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The Wisconsin Experience: Psychology gets undergraduate research down to science
Choices, choices. In every undergraduate major, a time comes around a student’s junior year to explore different academic specialties within a degree program, moving up the pyramid from general education to refined focus.
Professor to be featured on ABC’s 20/20 tonight, Jan. 11
Richard Davidson, the Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, will be featured on ABC’s 20/20 program tonight, Jan. 11, 2008.
Clinical depression linked to abnormal emotional brain circuits
In what may be the first study to use brain imaging to look at the neural circuits involved in emotional control in patients with depression, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have found that brains of people with clinical depression react very differently than those of healthy people when trying to cope with negative situations.
Study: Negative views of grief counseling are not substantiated by research
A new report finds that, despite frequent claims to the contrary, there is no empirical or statistical evidence to suggest that grief counseling is harmful to clients, or that clients who are "normally" bereaved are at special risk if they receive grief counseling, according to a new look at the scientific literature on grief counseling.
Brain scans show meditation changes minds, increases attention
For hundreds of years, Tibetan monks and other religious people have used meditation to calm the mind and improve concentration. This week, a new study shows exactly how one common type of meditation affects the brain.
Meditation may fine-tune control over attention
Everyday experience and psychology research both indicate that paying close attention to one thing can keep you from noticing something else.
Professor plants seeds of forgiveness in Belfast, Milwaukee
Bob Enright, a professor of educational psychology and his wife, Jeanette Knutson Enright, have been leading initiatives in Northern Ireland and Milwaukee to develop, introduce and assess a comprehensive curriculum for introducing children to the idea of forgiveness.
In quest for less risky drugs, scientists listen to neurons
Since the 1950s, doctors have been ordering medications such as Ritalin to ease symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and prescriptions now number in the millions. Still, though highly effective, so-called “psychostimulant” drugs are not without risks, leaving many seeking safer alternatives, especially for children.
Study focuses on closing school achievement gap
Despite decades of interventions and billions of dollars spent, a large gap in school achievement stubbornly persists between underprivileged children and their more advantaged peers. With funding from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery seed grant program, UW–Madison scientists will now bring their collective expertise to bear on one important, but overlooked, cause of this troubling problem.