Latest Science and Society News

Marriage linked to better survival in middle age

Could marriage, and associated companionship, be one key to a longer life? According to new research, not having a permanent partner, or spouse, during midlife is linked to a higher risk of premature death during those midlife years. The work, by Dr. Ilene Siegler and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center in the US, is published online in Springer's journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

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Study identifies new characteristic of binge eating

A study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) suggests food concocting — the making of strange food mixtures like mashed potatoes and Oreo cookies, frozen vegetables mixed with mayonnaise, and chips with lemon, pork rinds, Italian dressing and salt — is common among binge eaters. The findings, available online and to be published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, reveal that 1 in 4 survey participants secretly create concoctions.

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Brain regions encoding shared experience and social reward

 Duke scientists studied the manner in which neurons in three frontal cortical areas of brain encoded the outcomes of social decisions as monkeys performed a reward-allocation task.

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More than half a million California adults think seriously about committing suicide

More than half a million adults in California seriously thought about committing suicide during the previous year, according to a new study from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The study, which uses data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), is the first by the center to focus on suicide ideation.

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Study links personality changes to changes in social well-being

Researchers report that changes in social well-being are closely tied to one’s personality, with positive changes in one corresponding to similar changes in the other. Their study reveals potential new mechanisms that can help individuals thrive as they age.

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Food Insecurity Predicts Mental Health Problems in Adolescents

A study published in the December 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that adolescents who experienced food insecurity in the past year have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than adolescents whose families have reliable access to food.

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