Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.

3 papers

Individual differences in extraversion and dopamine genetics predict neural reward responses

Michael X Cohen, Jennifer Young, Jong Min Baek, Christopher Kessler, Charan Ranganath
Cognitive Brain Research Summary & key facts 2005 271 citations

Researchers ran two fMRI studies using a gambling task to see how personality and a dopamine gene relate to brain reward signals. Rewards were given either right after a response (Study 1) or after a 7.5-second wait (Study 2). The studies found that people’s extraversion scores and whether they carried…

Functional Brain Connectivity Studies Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Mind Wandering (Internal Distractibility) in ADHD: A Literature Review

Jane Lanier, Elizabeth Noyes, Joseph Biederman
Journal of Attention Disorders Summary & key facts 2019 68 citations

This literature review searched PubMed, PsycINFO/OVID, and Medline for original English studies that defined both ADHD and mind wandering and used statistical tests. Only nine studies met the rules (eight in adults and one in children). The studies suggest that people with ADHD commonly experience spontaneous mind wandering and that…

Mind wandering and attention Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies Sleep and Wakefulness Research

Inattention and task switching performance: the role of predictability, working memory load and goal neglect

Gizem Arabacı, Benjamin A. Parris
Psychological Research Summary & key facts 2019 12 citations

Two studies tested how self-rated inattention relates to switching between tasks. Study 1 found that higher inattention (but not hyperactivity/impulsivity) was linked with larger switch costs when the next task could be predicted and working memory load was high. Study 2 found this link was not explained by predictability or…

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Cognitive Functions and Memory Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
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