Bilingual speakers can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and its symptoms for between four and five years, according to studies conducted by researchers at Toronto’s Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, wrote the Toronto Star Oct. 15 : In a soon to be published study three researchers from Baycrest – Ellen Bialystok, Fergus Craik and […]
A lifetime of speaking two or more languages appears to pay off in old age, with recent research showing the symptoms of dementia can be delayed by an average of four years in bilingual people, wrote The Wall Street Journal online Oct. 11: Over time, regularly speaking more than one language appears to strengthen skills […]
New research from York University is the first to show how several distinct brain areas control eye and hand movements – explaining, for example, how a quarterback can make a split-second play with pinpoint accuracy. The study, recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience, examined the inner workings of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), located […]
Why is it that some smart people do really dumb things? That’s the question York psychology Professor Maggie Toplak is trying to answer through her research on rationality. What she’s found is that intelligence as measured by IQ tests is not the same as rationality or a rationality quotient (RQ). “There’s a folk idea that […]
Just months after the reissue of York Professor Geoffrey Reaume’s book Remembrance of Patients Past, documenting 19th- and early-20th-century life from the viewpoint of psychiatric patients at the former Toronto Insane Asylum, he will help unveil nine memorial wall plaques at the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH). The unveiling of the memorial wall plaques […]
The opening last week of a new state-of-the-art health research centre was made possible by a $5-million investment by York University Foundation board member Honey Sherman and her husband Dr. Barry Sherman, president and CEO of Apotex Inc., wrote the Jewish Tribune Sept. 21: The project brings scientists who study the brain and vision, virtual […]
Originally the site of some of York’s most memorable hockey moments and reputed to have the best arena ice in the province, the former York University Ice Arena, known as the Ice Palace, is now home to a new kind of dream team. The Keele campus building's transformation from a hockey rink into an innovative new health science research centre […]
Narcissists and those with low self-esteem gravitate toward Facebook as a self-promotional tool and tend to be heavier users of the site, according to a study by a York University psychology student. Soraya Mehdizadeh examined the online habits and personalities of 100 Facebook users at York University ranging in age from 18-25 years old. Her […]
You could be an online narcissist if you keep updating your status and posting pouty profile pictures on Facebook, wrote the International Business Times News Aug. 30: An analysis by researchers from York University’s Faculty of Health suggests that egotism and low self-esteem may be related to “greater online activity” among Facebook profiles of users […]
Professor Maggie Toplak, a clinical psychologist in York’s Faculty of Health, discussed a new American study that found that attention deficit disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children are commonly misdiagnosed with Matt Galloway on CBC Radio’s “Metro Morning” in Toronto Aug. 19. The clip runs 6:15 and can be found on CBC's Website. Posted […]
Just like humans, orangutans will resort to mime to get their message across, scientists report, wrote BBC News online Aug. 11. Just like humans, orangutans will resort to mime to get their message across, scientists report. A team from Canada found the great apes would sometimes use elaborate gestures to explain what they meant. They […]
The Milton & Ethel Harris Research Initiative (MEHRI) explores the critical role of the caregiving environment in the evolution and development of language, intelligence, social skills and reflective consciousness in children. During a recent conversation with York University President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, David Onley (Hon. LLD '09), expressed an interest in the research initiative. […]
When York psychology Professor Leslie Greenberg (PhD '96) was first developing his emotion-focused therapy (EFT) approach, he was bucking a trend that put the emphasis on controlling and suppressing emotions, rather than working with them. That was in 1986. Today, EFT is catching on as a therapeutic approach of choice and therapists are coming to […]
A new book by York University psychology Professor Robert Muller offers help for therapists dealing with patients who resist treatment. Trauma and the Avoidant Client, to be officially released this week by W.W. Norton & Company, offers practical guidance for treating clients who withdraw into themselves or avoid disclosing painful past experiences. Right: Robert Muller “Trauma […]
York University will launch a unique study into the impact of extreme violence on victims and their families, thanks to a generous new gift. The Canadian Crime Victim Foundation (CCVF) has pledged $25,000 for the research initiative which will help address a critical gap in crime research, according to the lead researchers. “Victims of extreme […]
Stuart Shanker, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Philosophy and director of the Milton & Ethel Harris Research Initiative at York University, spoke about the concept of self-regulation – managing our inner emotional life – and its increasing role in treating children with mental disorders, such as autism, and adults on CBC Radio’s “Ideas” program […]
New mothers who think they should be perfect parents might be at risk for postpartum depression, a new study suggests, wrote MSNBC.com July 7: The results show that a type of perfectionism in which individuals feel others expect them to be perfect, known as "socially-prescribed perfectionism," is associated with postpartum depression for first-time mothers. The […]
Until psychology Professor Jennifer Connolly began synthesizing information about teen pregnancy and teen mothers through a ResearchImpact Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) grant, she hadn’t realized that those youth who had dealings with youth protection services or the justice system were at increased risk of pregnancy compared to the general population. The other area of high risk […]
Gay men can recall familiar faces faster and more accurately than their heterosexual counterparts because, like women, they use both sides of their brains, according to a new study by York University researchers. The study published in the journal, Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition and led by Psychology Professor Jennifer Steeves in the […]
Gay men can recall familiar faces faster and more accurately than their heterosexual counterparts because, like women, they use both sides of their brains, according to a new study by York University researchers. The study, published in the journal, Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, examined the influence of gender, sexual orientation and whether […]