In many places around the world, people are living longer and are having fewer children. But a new study in the journal Current Biology reports that those aren’t the only changes happening. The research shows that modern-day selection may lead women to be taller and slimmer, too. “This is a reminder that declines in mortality […]
A new series of experiments have shown that when presented with images of men, both male and female subjects perceive the person as a whole, whereas images of women are perceived as an assemblage of various body parts. The research, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, suggests that two distinct cognitive processes are […]
Spread through contact with cat feces or eating undercooked meat, the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) has been linked to increased rates of attempted suicide in women. The study, in the Archives of General Psychiatry, notes that while causality has not been proven, a significant predictive association exists between the infection and suicide attempts later […]
As a woman’s fertility begins to wane, the brain ramps up the libido in what researchers call “reproduction expediting,” an adaptive response that makes women more willing to engage in one-night stands and adventurous sexual behavior in an effort capitalize on their remaining childbearing years. The researchers, from The University of Texas at Austin, based […]
Women’s minds and genitals often disagree about sexual arousal, suggests a new meta-study that compared subjective ratings and physiological measures of sexual arousal in men and women. Published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the study confirms long suspected gender difference in the body’s responses to sexual stimuli. Researcher Meredith Chivers, from Queen’s University in […]
Intriguing research from Penn State University shows that air pollution has a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males – at least in mice. The experiments showed that ozone – a major component in air pollution – markedly reduced the females’ ability to fight off pneumonia. Ozone is a major pollutant in […]
Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have made an intriguing discovery to do with the properties of human bone. The scientists describe their results, published in Nature Materials, as like finding a sort of “glue” in human bone. It describes how young healthy bone resists fracture and how getting older increases the […]
A new study backs up what the etiquette books have been saying all along, that a firm handshake helps makes a good first impression for both males and females. The study, reported in this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a journal published by the American Psychological Association (APA), finds that […]
