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An LSE expert on happiness and behaviour has launched a free online tool to help people who want to cut down on alcohol. Professor Paul Dolan, author of the bestselling book Happiness by Design, used insights from behavioural science to create the innovative and easy-to-use tool. It uses a simple brain-training exercise, known as a 'cognitive bias modification' (CBM), to reduce any unconscious preference people may have for alcoholic drinks over non-alcoholic ones. As Professor Dolan has highlighted through his work, people often put a lot of faith in willpower to change their bad habits. The problem is willpower is unreliable, and is a poor way of controlling impulsive behaviors like alcohol-use in the long term. This brain-training exercise, however, has a proven impact in changing behaviour. A recent study shows alcoholics who undertook just four 15-minute training sessions over four days saw a reduced preference for alcohol. The treatment group also had a 13% lower ...

"Current intervention methods appear to have limited effectiveness in reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems among fraternity and possibly sorority members," said lead researcher Lori Scott-Sheldon, PhD, of The Miriam Hospital and Brown University. "Stronger interventions may need to be developed for student members of Greek letter organizations." The study appears in the journal  Health Psychology , which is published by APA. The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 15 studies looking at 21 different interventions involving 6,026 total participants (18 percent women) who were members of fraternities and sororities . They found no significant difference between students who received an intervention and those who did not for alcohol consumption per week or month, frequency of heavy drinking, frequency of drinking days or alcohol-related problems. In some cases, alcohol consumption even increased after an intervention. Alcohol use is com...

Across all states, excessive drinkers would pay more than 5 times as much as nonexcessive drinkers on a per-person basis, and would pay nearly $3 in $4 of the increased cost of alcohol following the state alcohol tax increases examined in the study. Even the largest hypothetical tax increase ($0.25 per drink) would cost those who don't drink excessively an average of less than $10 per year. Additionally, the study found that drinkers who were non-Hispanic whites and those with higher household incomes would pay higher per capita costs than people with lower incomes and racial minorities , reflecting the fact that those with financial means tend to drink more than their counterparts. "This study shows that, contrary to popular opinion, alcohol tax increases don't unfairly burden those who drink less or are financially disadvantaged," said Tim Naimi, MD, MPH, physician and alcohol epidemiologist at BMC who is the lead author of the study. "This is important be...

Single microglia cell within the mind. DNA within the cell physique is labeled in blue, and in purple and inexperienced are totally different proteins expressed solely by microglia which present the frilly processes of those cells. Credit score: MUHC A sort of mind cell referred to as microglia performs a key function in decreasing the consequences of cocaine within the mind, in keeping with a serious examine by a staff from the Analysis Institute of the McGill College Well being Centre ( RI-MUHC ) in Montreal. The invention, revealed within the journal  Neuron , establishes for the primary time that microglia can diminish the antagonistic modifications to neural circuitry introduced on by the continual use of cocaine and has vital implications for growing an efficient therapy for habit. Microglia will not be as effectively referred to as neurons, the mind cells that relay messages, however they've many essential capabilities. They always ...

The danger of NAFLD was considerably larger within the ALDH2*2 allele carriers than within the non-carriers. Credit score: Dr. Kentaro Oniki Individuals who have lowered enzyme exercise to breakdown energetic aldehyde, i.e., those that turn out to be simply inebriated, usually tend to develop fatty liver illness even when they don't drink alcohol. This discovery was made by a scientific analysis group from Kumamoto College in Japan. It's usually understood that fatty liver is triggered by alcoholism or heavy ingesting. Not too long ago, nevertheless, the variety of sufferers with non-alcoholic fatty liver illness ( NAFLD ), a kind of liver perform dysfunction brought on by growing impartial fats within the liver that's brought on by overeating and lack of train, has elevated. NAFLD is definitely missed due to the dearth of related signs, and it's typically solely discovered when it has progressed to a sophisticated stage, reminis...

The findings show that via school burnout, adolescents' excessive internet use can ultimately lead to depression. Exposure to digital addiction is most likely to happen if the adolescent loses interest in school and feels cynicism towards school. Fostering enthusiasm for learning is paramount The research suggests that the most critical stage for tackling the problem of digital addiction and school burnout is age 13-15. The most effective way of supporting adolescents' mental health and preventing excessive internet use is to promote school engagement, to build up students' motivation to learn, and to prevent school burnout. Depressive symptoms and school burnout in late adolescence are more common among girls than boys. Boys suffer more from excessive Internet use than girls. The study was carried out among Helsinki adolescents aged 12-14 and 16-18. The former group of early adolescents consisted of lower-school 6th graders born in 2000. The late adolescents were...