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Depression

The Fatigue Factor: Uncovering the Brain’s Decision-Making Process in Mental Exhaustion

When you’re mentally exhausted, your brain might be doing more behind the scenes than you think. In a new study using functional MRI, researchers uncovered two key brain regions that activate when people feel cognitively fatigued—regions that appear to weigh the cost of continuing mental effort versus giving up. Surprisingly, participants needed high financial incentives to push through challenging memory tasks, hinting that motivation can override mental fatigue. These insights may pave the way to treating brain fog in disorders like PTSD and depression using brain imaging and behavior-based therapies.

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The recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience sheds light on the brain’s decision-making process when individuals feel mentally exhausted. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University used functional MRI imaging to examine how two areas of the brain, the right insula and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, work together to react to and possibly regulate mental fatigue.

The experiments involved 28 healthy adult volunteers who performed memory tasks while undergoing subsequent MRI scans of their brains. The participants were given feedback on their performance and opportunities to receive increasing payments based on their performance and choices. The test results found increased activity and connectivity in both brain areas when participants reported cognitive fatigue, with activity levels more than twice the level of baseline measurements taken before starting the tests.

The study’s lead researcher, Vikram Chib, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, notes that the findings may provide a way for physicians to better evaluate and treat people who experience overwhelming mental exhaustion, including those with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Chib and his research team found that financial incentives need to be high in order for participants to exert increased cognitive effort, suggesting that external incentives prompt such effort. The two areas of the brain may be working together to decide to avoid more cognitive effort unless there are more incentives offered.

The study’s findings have implications for understanding fatigue-related conditions and developing treatments. Chib notes that it may be possible to use medication or cognitive behavior therapy to combat cognitive fatigue, and the current study using decision tasks and functional MRI could be a framework for objectively classifying cognitive fatigue.

Overall, the study provides new insights into the brain’s decision-making process when individuals feel mentally exhausted, highlighting the importance of understanding the neural circuits involved in cognitive effort and fatigue.

Chronic Illness

The Surprising Link Between Hearing Loss, Loneliness, and Lifespan

People who treat hearing loss with hearing aids or cochlear implants regain rich conversations, escape isolation, and may even protect their brains and lifespans—proof that better hearing translates into fuller living.

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A groundbreaking new study has shed light on the surprising link between hearing loss, loneliness, and lifespan. Researchers from the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery found that adults with hearing loss who used hearing aids or cochlear implants were more socially engaged and felt less isolated compared to those who didn’t use them.

The study, published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, is the first to link hearing aids and cochlear implants to improved social lives among adults with hearing loss. The researchers conducted a comprehensive review of 65 previously published studies, encompassing over five thousand participants, on how hearing aids and cochlear implants affect three key measures: social quality of life, perceived social handicap, and loneliness.

The findings suggest that hearing devices can help prevent the social disconnection and broader health consequences that can follow untreated hearing loss. When left unaddressed, hearing loss can make communication difficult, leading people to withdraw from conversations and social activities. This can lead to mental stimulation reduction, increased risk of loneliness, anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, and dementia.

The researchers found that adults using hearing devices feel more socially connected and less limited in social situations. They are better able to engage in group conversations and feel more at ease in noisy or challenging listening environments. Participants also reported feeling less socially handicapped by their hearing loss, with fewer barriers and frustrations during interactions and an improved ability to stay engaged without feeling excluded.

Those with cochlear implants reported the most improvement in their social quality of life, likely because cochlear implants offer greater hearing restoration than hearing aids, especially for individuals with more severe hearing loss. As a result, they may experience more noticeable improvements in social engagement once their hearing is restored.

While it was outside the scope of the study to measure how better social lives relate to improved cognitive outcomes, the researchers believe there may be a connection. Previous research has found managing hearing loss may be key to reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. The study’s lead researcher, Janet Choi, MD, MPH, an otolaryngologist with Keck Medicine, believes that by restoring clearer communication, hearing devices may help preserve cognitive health by keeping the brain more actively involved and people more connected.

This research follows a January 2024 study by Choi showing that adults with hearing loss who use hearing aids have an almost 25% lower risk of mortality, suggesting that treating hearing loss can improve lifespan as well as social quality of life. These findings add to a growing body of research showing that hearing health is deeply connected to overall well-being.

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Anger Management

“Unraveling Midlife: How Women’s Anger Traits Cool with Age”

Anger isn’t just a fleeting emotion—it plays a deeper role in women’s mental and physical health during midlife. A groundbreaking study tracking over 500 women aged 35 to 55 reveals that anger traits like outbursts and hostility tend to diminish with age and menopause progression. This shift could signal enhanced emotional regulation during and after the reproductive transition. Surprisingly, the only form of anger that remained steady was suppressed anger.

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The menopause transition is a significant milestone in a woman’s life, marked by hormonal changes that can impact her mental health. While there has been extensive research on depression during this period, the relationship between age and emotional arousal, including anger, remains relatively understudied. A new study published online in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society, sheds light on this aspect, revealing a surprising decline in women’s anger traits starting at midlife.

Anger is often confused with hostility, but these emotions have distinct characteristics. Anger refers to antagonism toward someone or something, whereas hostility implies a fear-eliciting emotion and a propensity for constant readiness to fight. Previous studies have explored the link between anger and heart disease in midlife women, showing that increased trait anger (anger proneness) is associated with higher blood pressure and carotid atherosclerosis.

However, no study has examined how anger traits progress through the menopause transition until now. This new analysis involved over 500 women aged 35 to 55 years, aiming to investigate the impact of aging and reproductive-aging stages on their reports of anger. The results indicate that chronological age is significantly related to most anger measures, including anger temperament, anger reaction, anger expressed aggressively, and hostility. These forms of anger decrease substantially with age, suggesting better emotion regulation during midlife.

The study also found that reproductive-aging stages affect anger, resulting in a decline after the late-reproductive stages. This suggests that as women enter menopause, they become more adept at managing their emotions. It is essential to conduct further research on women’s anger in everyday life to inform effective emotion regulation and anger management strategies for midlife and older women.

Dr. Monica Christmas, associate medical director for The Menopause Society, emphasizes the importance of educating women about potential mood changes during vulnerable windows and actively managing symptoms to improve overall quality of life and health.

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Creativity

Debunking a Long-Standing Myth: Left-Handedness and Creativity Not Linked

A sweeping review of more than a century’s research upends the popular notion that left-handers are naturally more creative. Cornell psychologist Daniel Casasanto’s team sifted nearly a thousand studies, ultimately finding no consistent advantage for lefties on standard divergent-thinking tests—and even a slight edge for right-handers in some. The myth appears to thrive on coincidence: left-handedness is rare and so is creative genius, plus lefties’ overrepresentation in art and music gets cherry-picked while other professions are ignored.

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For over a century, the notion that left-handed individuals are more creative has been a widespread belief. However, new research from Cornell University’s psychology department has found no evidence to support this claim. In fact, the data suggest that right-handed people may be more creative in some contexts.

Daniel Casasanto, associate professor of psychology and senior author of “Handedness and Creativity: Facts and Fictions,” published in the Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, led the study. He analyzed nearly 1,000 scientific papers on handedness and creativity, published since 1900, to find that most studies did not support any advantage for left-handed individuals.

The research team conducted a meta-analysis, sorting through relevant studies and identifying those with standardized data reporting. They found only 17 studies meeting these criteria, which reported nearly 50 effect sizes. These analyses revealed little difference in creativity between left- and right-handers, with some tests even showing a small advantage for right-handers.

Casasanto suggests that the persistence of this myth may be due to several factors. One reason is “left-handed exceptionalism,” where people assume that being left-handed is rare and creative genius is also uncommon, so perhaps one explains the other. Another factor is the popular perception that creative geniuses are often mentally ill, which coincidentally is more prevalent among artists.

This phenomenon is known as the “myth of the tortured artist.” Casasanto notes that this idea may have contributed to the appeal and staying power of the lefty creativity myth. Additionally, the focus on art and music as creative professions where left-handers are overrepresented can lead to statistical cherry-picking, where researchers select studies with small or biased samples to support their claims.

In conclusion, the data do not support any advantage in creative thinking for left-handers. If anything, right-handers may have a slight edge in some laboratory tests. The widespread belief that left-handed individuals are more creative is simply not supported by the evidence.

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