Psychology in Action

Author: Alexandra

  • Hot off the press: Yoga and inflammation randomized trial

    Yoga can make you feel good emotionally, but can it also help your immune system? Our research group recently completed a randomized controlled trial looking at the effects of a yoga intervention on inflammation.

  • The anti-inflammatory effects of music

    Can music help us heal? The first piece of research evidence that turned me on to my field was a finding presented in a Health Psychology course as an undergraduate.  Researchers found that after surgery, patients healed faster, and were released from the hospital sooner, if they had a window that looked out on to…

  • Social connection, rejection, and pain

    Social connection, rejection, and pain

    Ever felt pain in your body when you see that someone else has been injured? That’s because we are wired to be deeply socially connected. Our brains may be so much larger than other species because that allows us to connect in complex ways with the large social groups in which we live. This is the…

  • Improve creativity by working in a coffee shop

    There seems to be an endless search for how to be more productive and creative in a shorter amount of time. Books, websites, and seminars preach all different techniques to accomplish more with less.  The company Coffitivity is trying to do just that, but in a unique way.

  • Why are there fewer women in the sciences? Maybe stereotype threat can explain…

    Stereotype threat is the experience of anxiety or concern when someone believes they are in a position to confirm a stereotype about their social group. For example, girls who are primed with information that women tend to do worse on math tests right before they take a math exam, will do worse on the test…

  • Biased results — field of psych takes the heat

    The pressure to publish positive findings (instead of null results) is present across scientific discipline, but several researchers have argued that the field of Psychology is the most biased offender.  An article posted last week in Nature.com discussed these biases – and presents two potential solutions one of which was suggested by UCLA researcher Dr.…

  • Your Brain on Ads: Ground breaking research by UCLA researchers

    Dr. Matt Lieberman and former Psych in Action blogger Dr. Emily Falk are getting a lot of attention for their paper in Psychological Science that found that the specific brain regions that were activated while viewing health related advertisements predicted the ad’s success in the population at large — even though the viewers were not aware…

  • Exercise to cure depression: why moderated effects are so helpful

    One of the areas of research I’m interested in is exercise. Most of us are aware that exercise benefits our well-being. It helps keeps our heart strong, maintain a healthy weight, and combat stress. However, is exercise so good it works as well as pharmaceuticals? The more radical exercise evangelicals claim it can. Some assert…

  • It’s the Season of Eating, Should We Be Concerned?

    Co-authored by Nicole Yu and Alexandra Dupont The candy and treat gorging associated with Halloween has come and gone but the holiday season of eating has just started.  This leaves many of us excited, yet concerned about our fitness and maintaining a healthy weight.  As tempting food surrounds us this season, it is not uncommon…

  • Depression and the immune system: recent research

    Behavioral scientists have been studying depression and depressive symptoms for a long time, yet the etiology is still not fully known.