Unique brain cells linked to OCD and anxiety

Scientists have discovered a new lineage of specialized brain cells, called Hoxb8-lineage microglia, and established a link between the lineage and OCD and anxiety in mice. Their experiments proved that Hoxb8-lineage microglia prevent mice from displaying OCD behaviors. Additionally, they found that female sex hormones caused more severe OCD behaviors and induced added anxiety in the mice.

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Image analysis to automatically quantify gender bias in movies

Many commercial films worldwide continue to express womanhood in a stereotypical manner, a recent study using image analysis showed. A research team developed a novel image analysis method for automatically quantifying the degree of gender bias in in films.

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Bullies may come and go, but the 'molecular memory' of being a target lingers

Life at the bottom of the social ladder may have long-term health effects that even upward mobility can't undo, according to new research in monkeys. A team studied 45 rhesus macaques. They found that monkeys who move up in the hierarchy still show the effects of their once-lowly status at the cellular level, even after they rise in rank.

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Children associate white, but not black, men with 'brilliant' stereotype, new study finds

The stereotype that associates being 'brilliant' with white men more than white women is shared by children regardless of their own race, finds a team of psychology researchers. By contrast, its study shows, children do not apply this stereotype to black men and women.

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New diagnostic criteria may enable earlier detection of cognitive impairment in women

Study finds when verbal memory test cut-offs were tailored to patient sex, more female patients and fewer male patients were considered to have amnesic mild cognitive impairment. This could change the way aMCI diagnoses are determined and make it easier to catch the condition in its early stages.

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Scientists find gender-distinct circuit for depression

Depression affects women nearly twice as much as men, but unraveling the brain's blueprint that regulates this behavior, let alone identifying specific molecular differences between sexes, has proven difficult. Researchers, however, have found and flipped a switch in the brain, revealing a single circuit in mice that activates during stress and is controlled by testosterone.

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