For over a century, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been considered irreversible. Consequently, research has focused on disease prevention or slowing, rather than recovery. Despite billions of dollars spent on decades of research, there has never been a clinical trial of a drug for AD with an outcome goal of reversing disease and recovering function.
Now, a research team from University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has challenged this long-held dogma in the field. They tested whether brains already badly afflicted with advanced AD could recover.
The study, led by Kalyani Chaubey, Ph.D., from the Pieper Laboratory, is published in Cell Reports Medicine.
A new study published in Applied Psychology provides evidence that the belief in free will may carry unintended negative consequences for how individuals view gay men. The findings suggest that while believing in free will often promotes moral responsibility, it is also associated with less favorable attitudes toward gay men and preferential treatment for heterosexual men. This effect appears to be driven by the perception that sexual orientation is a personal choice.
Psychological research has historically investigated the concept of free will as a positive force in social behavior. Scholars have frequently observed that when people believe they have control over their actions, they tend to act more responsibly and helpfully. The general assumption has been that a sense of agency leads to adherence to moral standards. However, the authors of the current study argued that this sense of agency might have a “dark side” when applied to social groups that are often stigmatized.
The researchers reasoned that if people believe strongly in human agency, they may incorrectly attribute complex traits like sexual orientation to personal decision-making. This attribution could lead to the conclusion that gay men are responsible for their sexual orientation.
Research from Mass General Brigham suggests that this increased risk is driven by stress-related brain activity, nervous system dysregulation, and chronic inflammation.
They also found that patients with both depression and anxiety were at even higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those diagnosed with just one condition.
