Psychology | Penn Today

Died of a broken heart? The science behind close couple deaths

David Casarett of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the phenomenon of spouses dying shortly after one another. Casarett said social and cultural factors may play a role, as in cases when “the surviving spouses stop taking care of themselves. Sometimes they become depressed.”

line drawing of two heads and lightbulbs implying intelligence

Bigger brains are smarter, but not by much

Using a large dataset and controlling for a variety of factors, including sex, age, height, socioeconomic status, and genetic ancestry, Gideon Nave of the Wharton School and Philipp Koellinger of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found that people with larger brains rated higher on measures of intelligence, but only accounts for two percent of the variation in smarts.

Four days of intensive therapy can reverse OCD for years

Martin Franklin of Penn Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences commented on a new method for treating OCD. While Franklin was “very impressed” with the results, he noted that the researchers’ analysis lacked a control group.

What to do if mental illness runs in your family, like Bruce Springsteen’s

The Perelman School of Medicine’s Christian Kohler offered guidance to those at risk of developing schizophrenia. “You might not notice the symptoms, but family members may be able to pick up on it,” said Kohler.

Cutting social media time can lessen depression and loneliness

Melissa Hunt of the School of Arts and Sciences shared her research on social media and wellness. “The extent to which young people are using social media can interfere with time spent on activities that can more genuinely foster self-esteem, like getting your work done, or true intimacy, like hanging out with your friends in the real world,” said Hunt.

Coren Apicella and Corey Cusimano standing to the side as Geoff Goodwin speaks at a podium.

Social scientists trade academic silos for shared work space

Faculty and grad students in the new Social and Behavioral Sciences Initiative have access to two state-of-the-art labs, grants, and a collaborative environment aimed at creating a vibrant research community.

Social media use increases depression and loneliness

Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram may not be great for personal well-being. For the first time, an experimental study shows a causal link between time spent on these social media and increased depression and loneliness.

Virtual reality is more than a game at local hospitals

The Abramson Cancer Center at the Perelman School of Medicine has partnered with a local production group to create a meditative VR program designed to encourage mindfulness and manage stress in patients. The technology “relaxes even the most anxious of minds,” said Fern Nibauer-Cohen.

New scholars named to promote research into the influence of gender on health

Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing, Jennifer Lewey of the Perelman School of Medicine, and C. Alix Timko of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are pursuing research that examines the role of sex and gender on health, supported by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health program.

The new study reveals that indicators of the condition included mentions of hostility and loneliness, words like “tears” and “feelings,” and use of more first-person pronouns like “I” and “me.”

Linguistic red flags from Facebook posts can predict future depression diagnoses

The language people use in these social media posts can make these predictions as accurately as the tools clinicians use in medical settings to screen for the disease.

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