The sexiest body part

You might think that men would be more likely to ogle the genitals, and women the faces, of people in sex photos. But the opposite is true, an Emory University study found.

Serotonin T-Shirts

PsychBot is back, and in the process of buying this fantastic t-shirt that sings the praises of serotonin. The t-shirt maker is a fellow depressive, and pledges to commit an anonymous act of kindness for each sale he makes.

On Hiatus

PsychBot will be traveling and offline until May 1. Stay sane, y'all.

Eating Handfuls of Dirt Between Sessions

• A bacteria found in soil may stimulate the brain’s production of serotonin, the “happy chemical” that staves off depression, a mice study found. Soon drug companies will be selling us vials of dirt for $10/pop.

• Up to nine months of continuous psychotherapy works much better than bursts of short-term therapy in helping depressed bipolar patients who are on medication, a study found. Insurance companies responded with a shrug: "Just spread your 15 sessions a year out over nine months-- what's the big deal?"

Born To Be Mild

• Genes, and not just upbringing, play a role in determining altruistic behavior and religiousness, according to a Journal of Personality study.

Prison Video Games Played By Depressed :-( Moms

• Where you live affects how you read people, a new study found. In Japan, where emotional control is valued, focus is placed on the eyes to interpret emotion, while in the U.S., where emotion is expressed more openly, the focus is on the mouth. That may be why the U.S. emoticons for happy : - ) and sad : - ( are different in Japan: (^_^) and (;_;)

• Depressed moms are more likely to give birth prematurely, because they have higher levels of a stress hormone that initiates birth, a UK study found.

• Violent video games do indeed make kids more aggressive and hostile, according to Iowa State researchers who did three studies and wrote a book on the subject.

• The NY Times has an interview with Philip Zombardo, the guy who designed the Stanford Prison Experiment, showing just how nasty people can get when put in bad situations.

Sliding Scales and Brain Drain

• Nearly a quarter of people diagnosed with major depression may instead be dealing normally with a difficult event, like job loss, divorce or a natural disaster, for which current diagnostic tests don't account, a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry says.

• Spain’s University of the Basque Country plans to create a “bank” of brains donated by psychiatric patients so it can study the origin of mental disorders and develop treatments, a Basque news agency reports.

Bipolar, Croc-sportin' Moms-to-be

• Women who have a rough time quitting smoking when pregnant are more likely to have mental disorders, especially depression and panic disorder, an NIH study finds.

• Fashion trends, baby names and dog breeds gain and lose favor at a predictable, steady rate, and become popular thanks to a small minority of innovators—often celebrities-- whom everybody else copies, a study from the UK’s Durham University finds.

• Bipolar folks on meds get well faster and stay well if they get intensive psychotherapy, the NIH says. Family-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and interpersonal and social rhythm therapies all work equally well.