Discovery News: The placebo effect relies on the mind’s ability to influence the body, but does the same work in reverse? For instance, after being sick, can the body’s immune system subconsciously tell us who’s sick so we can avoid getting sick again? In one early analysis on the topic More
Humans have always had to cope with threats, both big and small. The physical and life-threatening threats that our ancestors faced have largely been replaced by social threats, but they are nonetheless an emotional menace: Insults, rejections and criticism can undermine our integrity and self-esteem, even our sense that the More
Times of India: The way a threat is construed determines the effectiveness of the types of strategies that one embarks upon to resolve it, according to a new study. According to author Alexa Tullett, upon noticing that your house has been burgled “there’s more than one way to interpret this More
We know that in keeping the body physically healthy, the mind both conscious and unconscious is a principle actor. Indeed, research has shown that the biological, or physiological, immune system that fights pathogens once they’ve entered the body can be kick-started by the “behavioral immune system,” with which we notice More
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1941 film Suspicion is a masterful psychological study of love and money. Cary Grant plays the charming but irresponsible Johnnie Aysgarth, who dazzles the frumpy Lina McLaidlaw, played by Joan Fontaine. Only after their elopement does Lina begin piecing together the truth about her husband: He is broke More
What do you think of when you see the color red? Danger, blood, passion, and…dominance, new research suggests. A study to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science found that that there is evolutionary basis to the human tendency to avoid the color red or act submissively in More
