A 7-day mind-body retreat study in 20 healthy adults found pre/post shifts across fMRI brain networks and plasma biology, with p values as low as 0.000003.1 Those numbers are striking, but the design was observational, so the honest reading is biological signal without causal isolation. Research Highlights Neural signal was broad: Meditation-state fMRI showed lower …
A 2025 survey of 686 Dutch university students linked violent pornography use to self-reported sexual aggression risk, especially when pornography was perceived as realistic or when peer rape myth acceptance was higher. Research Highlights 686 students were surveyed: the Dutch online sample was 63.4% female and focused on pornography use, perceived realism, peer rape myth …
A 2026 randomized exploratory pilot found that a single 24-minute yoga session did not significantly lower salivary cortisol or salivary alpha-amylase compared with quiet sitting in 19 stressed adults.1 The acute yoga signal was physiological but not the simple stress-biomarker drop that wellness claims often imply. Research Highlights Biomarker claim failed: Yoga did not significantly …
In a 2,411-person multinational twin-consortium study, depressive symptoms increased significantly as death approached. The strongest design check compared twins directly: twins who died had larger terminal symptom increases than co-twins who survived at least 4 more years. Research Highlights Terminal mood change was visible: Petkus et al. found accelerated depressive-symptom increases roughly 4.3 years before …
A 2026 randomized comparison study of 152 Rwandan genocide survivors and released perpetrators found that 3-day Community Resiliency Model training improved social cohesion, compassion, forgiveness, and resilience over time, with social cohesion F(1) = 36.1, compassion F(1) = 131, forgiveness F(1) = 19.8, and resilience F(1) = 8.10.1 Mixed survivor-perpetrator groups improved slightly more, but …
A 2026 fMRI study of 45 adults with strong pro- or anti-refugee stances found that people made more socially mindful choices for ingroup partners than for outgroup or unclassified partners, with mean socially mindful choices of 19.36 for ingroup, 17.18 for outgroup, and 16.31 for unclassified partners.1 Outgroup prosocial choices still occurred, but they recruited …
A pilot randomized trial involving 71 refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder found large symptom improvement after narrative exposure therapy-based care, but adding refugee-adapted emotion-regulation training before narrative exposure therapy did not outperform supportive problem-solving before narrative exposure therapy in the full sample.1 Research Highlights 71 refugees were randomized: 35 received STAIR-R plus narrative exposure therapy, …