PsychDigest

High caffeine intake linked to hallucination proneness

High caffeine consumption could be linked to a greater tendency to hallucinate. People with a higher caffeine intake from sources such as coffee, tea and caffeinated energy drinks are three times more likely to report hallucinatory experiences such as hearing voices and seeing things that are not there, than people with a low caffeine intake. 'High caffeine intake' was defined as more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day, for the purposes of this study. Caffeine has been found to exacerbate the physiological effects of stress; researchers speculate that this extra boost of cortisol may be behind this increased tendency to hallucinate.

Sources:

Durham University (2009, January 14). High caffeine intake linked to hallucination proneness. Durham University News & Events. Retrieved January 19, 2009, from http://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=7403

Caffeine has a greater effect on men

Caffeine has a greater effect on men than women, and these effects start just 10 minutes after it is drunk. In addition, contrary to what was previously thought, decaffeinated coffee also produces an increased state of alertness. The results showed a small impact among both men and women who drank the decaffeinated coffee, although this time the effect was slightly more noticeable among the women. It remains to be evaluated whether these effects are simply subjective, or if they do have an impact on performance.

Sources:

Adan, A., Prat, G., Fabbri, M., Sánchez-Turet, M. (2008, October). Early effects of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee on subjective state and gender differences. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry , 32(7). 1698-1703. Retrieved January 19, 2009, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2008.07.005. Access to the full article can be purchased from ScienceDirect for $31.50.

AlphaGalileo.Org (2008, December 22). Caffeine has greater effect on men, and starts only ten minutes after consumption. Retrieved January 19, 2009, from http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?_rss=1&fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=534950

Marriage and divorce in 2007

The total number of marriages in South Africa as recorded by the Department of Home Affairs in 2007 was 180 030. The 2007 figure represents a decline of 1% compared with the 2006 figure of 184 860. The total number of divorces in South Africa as recorded by department of Justice and Constitutional Development through its 12 divorce courts in 2007 was 29 639. The 2007 figure represents a decline of 5.2% compared with the 2006 figure of 31 270.

Sources:

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) (2008, December 17). P0307-Marriages and Divorces, 2007. StatsOnline. Retrieved January 19, 2009, from http://www.statssa.gov.za/PublicationsHTML/P03072007/html/P03072007.html

Breast cancer patients with marital problems fare worse

Breast cancer patients who have a poor relationship with their spouse may face a more difficult road to recovery than would other women. Researchers found that, over five years, patients in distressed marriages had higher levels of stress, less physical activity, slower recovery, and more symptoms and signs of illness than did similar patients who reported good marriages.

Sources:

Ohio State University (2008, December 9). Poorer outcomes for breast cancer patients with marital problems. Medical News Today. Retrieved January 18, 2009, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/132334.php

Facial detection and recall impaired in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients have an impaired ability to recognize others' faces, specifically with respect to initial detection, memory retrieval, and to a lesser extent discrimination.

Sources:

Chen, Y., Norton, D., McBain, R., Ongur, D., & Heckers, S. (2009, January). Visual and cognitive processing of face information in schizophrenia: Detection, discrimination and working memory. Schizophrenia Research, 107(1). 92-98. Retrieved January 18, 2009, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2008.09.010. The full article can be accessed at ScienceDirect for $31.50.

Medwire News (2008, October). Facial detection and recall impaired in schizophrenia. InPsychiatry.com. Retrieved January 18, 2009, from http://www.inpsychiatry.com/news/article.aspx?id=78576

Language delays in autism spectrum disorders

Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children. Identifying and classifying these brain response patterns may allow researchers to more accurately diagnose autism and possibly aid in developing more effective treatments for the developmental disorder.

Sources:

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2008, December 1). Brain's magnetic fields reveal language delays in autism. PRNewswire. Retrieved January 18, 2009, from http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=159681&TICK=CHOP&STORY=/www/story/12-01-2008/0004933756&EDATE=Dec+1,+2008

Autism and schizophrenia might share common origin

Schizophrenia and autism probably share a common origin. An extensive literature study by a developmental psychologist demonstrated that both mental disorders have similar physical abnormalities which are formed during the first month of pregnancy.

Sources:

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) (2008, November 24). Autism and schizophrenia share common origin. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOA_7LPL4Q_Eng