Biopsychology

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

FILE - Young people use their phones to view social media in Sydney, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
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Health advice is all over social media. Here’s how to vet claims

Devi Shastri, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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Health advice is all over social media. Here’s how to vet claims

Devi Shastri, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:42 PM CDT

Health and wellness advice is available in abundance on social media — from trendy to informative to straight-up disinformation — and you're far from alone in seeing it.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults — and around half of those under 50 — get health information from social media or podcasts.

Researchers also looked at the social media profiles of 6,828 health and wellness influencers with at least 100,000 followers. Only about 4 in 10 list a background as a health professional. About one-third called themselves coaches, about 3 in 10 described themselves as entrepreneurs and about 1 in 10 cited their own life experience, like being a parent.

Despite the wide range of expertise, about half of people who get health and wellness information from influencers said the influencers help them better understand their own health, while about one-third said it hasn't made much difference. About 1 in 10 said it made them more confused.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:42 PM CDT
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Delaying access to social media

Lianna McDonald 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 5, 2026

An 11-year-old boy is threatened with the distribution of nude images unless he pays an international extortionist who found him on TikTok. A 12-year-old girl is relentlessly pressured by someone she believed was a friend to expose herself on camera. A 14-year-old boy is unravelling — failing classes, withdrawing from life — because his friend is being exploited on Roblox and he feels powerless to help.

These are not outliers. In 2025 alone, Cybertip.ca processed more than 28,000 reports. These are just three.

Canada’s children are not stumbling into harm by accident. They are being systematically exposed to it — on platforms engineered to capture their attention, monetize their vulnerability and retain their engagement at all costs. The scale and severity of harm now demand more than incremental reform. They demand intervention.

For over 25 years, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has documented a steep and accelerating rise in online harms against children. This trajectory is not coincidental. It reflects a digital environment that is fundamentally misaligned with the developmental realities of childhood.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES A room inside the Disraeli Freeway detox facility.
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Former chief psychiatrist legally challenges Manitoba’s detox detention laws

Dan Lett 4 minute read Preview
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Former chief psychiatrist legally challenges Manitoba’s detox detention laws

Dan Lett 4 minute read Sunday, Apr. 19, 2026

Manitoba’s former chief psychiatrist is challenging the constitutionality of a controversial law allowing the province to incarcerate intoxicated people for up to 72 hours, claiming that it will harm those suffering from mental illness or disabilities.

Dr. Jim Simm, an outspoken critic of the Protective Detention and Care of Intoxicated Persons Act, said in an exclusive interview on Sunday that he is seeking leave from the Court of King’s Bench to challenge the law violates provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“We’re talking about human beings who are suffering,” Simm said. “They may be acting badly but to be putting them in solitary confinement — it’s just wrong.”

As it stands now, the legislation allows someone who appears intoxicated to be held for 24 hours at a “detention location,” and then held for up to 72 additional hours at a “preventative care centre.”

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Sunday, Apr. 19, 2026
Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun A black bear mother and two cubs forage for food in the rain in Riding Mountain National Park.
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Why claims of sentience can’t guide black bear policy

Mark Hall 5 minute read Preview
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Why claims of sentience can’t guide black bear policy

Mark Hall 5 minute read Thursday, Apr. 16, 2026

The modern debate over sustainable-use bear hunting often hinges on a few claims including bears are sentient, therefore humans have no moral right to hunt them.

It’s a powerful emotional argument, but it collapses under scientific scrutiny and ecological reality. Sentience is real. Bears and other animals do feel.

But the leap from “animals feel” to “humans must never hunt” is not supported by biology, ethics or conservation science. If we want wildlife policy that protects species and ecosystems, we need to separate what sentience is from what animal rights activists want it to mean.

In scientific terms, sentience refers to the capacity to feel or perceive, not the ability to make moral judgments.

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Thursday, Apr. 16, 2026
Guests collect their smartphones at the end of a weekly phone-free gathering at the home of organizer Dan Fox in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
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A small but growing movement wants you to put down your phone. But first read this

Michael Weissenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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A small but growing movement wants you to put down your phone. But first read this

Michael Weissenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, May. 11, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — More than a dozen millennials gathered in a brownstone apartment in Brooklyn and placed their phones in a metal colander before two hours of reading, drawing and conversation — anything but staring at screens.

A similar scene played out a few miles away, in an early 20th-century cardboard box factory turned high-end office space. Nearly 20 people in their 30s stared at their cellphones for a few minutes. Then they set them down and looked at their bared palms for a while. Then those of their neighbors.

The exercise was meant to drive home the importance of paying attention to real life, not the gleaming little screens that have taken over our world.

A ‘revolution’ against devices

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Monday, May. 11, 2026
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The need for regulation in a digital age

Andrew Lodge 5 minute read Monday, Apr. 13, 2026

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta and co-founder of Facebook, has been under increased scrutiny in past months after being forced to testify in a Los Angeles courtroom over allegations that Meta-owned Instagram is designed to be addictive, especially when it comes to kids.

Victim service workers Carla Deeley, left, and Deanna Shaw, with their accredited facility dogs Bagel (blond) and Glossy (black) talk with media in the child victim family room at the Manitoba Law Courts Thursday, March 26, 2026. Manitoba has implemented an assistive dog program for people using the law system in Manitoba. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
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‘Furry face to greet them:’ How facility dogs help victims navigate Manitoba’s court system

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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‘Furry face to greet them:’ How facility dogs help victims navigate Manitoba’s court system

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Wednesday, May. 6, 2026

WINNIPEG - Tucked in a quiet corner on the fourth floor of Winnipeg's law courts building is a spacious room filled with vibrant toys, children's books and leather couches.

It’s a stark contrast to the cold marble and ornate, wooden fixtures that make up the rest of the building.

It's where four-legged Glossy spends a lot of her working days comforting children going through the judicial system.

The five-year-old Labrador retriever with milk chocolate-coloured eyes and a shiny black coat to match her name, is one of two accredited facility dogs that support victims of crime or their families by lending a sympathetic paw.

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Wednesday, May. 6, 2026
Delegates attend the Liberal Party of Canada convention in Montreal, Friday, April 10, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
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Liberals set to debate age restrictions for social media

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Liberals set to debate age restrictions for social media

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Saturday, May. 2, 2026

MONTREAL - Liberal party members will soon grapple with the question of whether children and young teens should be barred from accessing social media accounts for platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube.

The policy resolution is expected to hit the floor at the Liberal party policy convention in Montreal for debate and a vote on Saturday.

Jonathan Nuss, the head of the Outremont Liberal riding association, is one of the main proponents of a resolution calling on the party to ensure social media platforms limit user accounts to Canadians aged 16 and older.

The Montreal lawyer and father of two young children said he wants this resolution to kick-start a national debate on addictive technologies and the harmful effects social media can have on young children — a debate that's already happening among parents across the country.

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Saturday, May. 2, 2026
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves after testifying in a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

Morgan Lee, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

Morgan Lee, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors began presenting never-before-seen video depositions of Meta executives at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday to bolster accusations that the social media conglomerate failed to disclose what it knows about harmful effects to children on its platforms, including Instagram.

New Mexico prosecutors are billing depositions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri as centerpieces of the state's case against Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Prosecutors have accused Meta of violating state consumer protection laws.

Prosecutors say the dangers of addiction to social media as well as child sexual exploitation on Meta's platforms weren’t properly addressed or disclosed by the company.

Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions during opening statements on Feb. 9, highlighting efforts to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some content still gets through its safety net. He said Meta discloses the risks.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
Melanie De Bona skis during training in Lans-en-Vercors, near Grenoble, France, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
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End the ban: France backs return of intellectually disabled athletes to Winter Paralympics

Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview
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End the ban: France backs return of intellectually disabled athletes to Winter Paralympics

Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press 6 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026

LANS-EN-VERCORS, France (AP) — On a well-groomed, snow-covered slope in the Montagnes de Lans ski area near the French city of Grenoble, a group of Alpine skiers take aggressive lines through the gates. Their trajectories are precise, the tempo is fast and the technique polished.

Among this competition squad are world champions — some with multiple medals to their names.

Yet none will line up in the starting gates at the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games, where more than 650 athletes will compete in 79 medal events from March 6.

The reason? They have cognitive disabilities and are not eligible to compete.

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Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026
FILE - A group holds hands outside a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)
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Social media can be addictive even for adults, but there are ways to cut back

Barbara Ortutay And Kaitlyn Huamani, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview
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Social media can be addictive even for adults, but there are ways to cut back

Barbara Ortutay And Kaitlyn Huamani, The Associated Press 7 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026

Social media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes.

While there’s some debate among experts about the line between overuse and addiction, and whether social media can cause the latter, there is no doubt that many people feel like they can’t escape the pull of Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and other platforms.

The companies that designed your favorite apps have an incentive to keep you glued to them so they can serve up ads that make them billions of dollars in revenue. Resisting the pull of the endless scroll, the dopamine hits from short-form videos and the ego boost and validation that come from likes and positive interactions, can seem like an unfair fight. For some people, “rage-bait,” gloomy news and arguing with internet strangers also have an irresistible draw.

Much of the concern around social media addiction has focused on children. But adults are also susceptible to using social media so much that it starts affecting their day-to-day lives.

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Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026
Freepik To prevent cognitive decline, experts recommend sleep, movement and a healthy diet.
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Movement, proper sleep crucial for brain health

Mitch Calvert 6 minute read Preview
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Movement, proper sleep crucial for brain health

Mitch Calvert 6 minute read Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026

Winter in Winnipeg has a way of forcing us indoors.

Short days. Long nights. More sitting. More screens. Less movement. More “I’ll get back on track in spring.”

That seasonal slowdown doesn’t just stiffen joints and pad waistlines. It quietly affects the brain, too.

When most people think about Alzheimer’s or dementia, they picture something that shows up late in life — 70s, 80s, maybe a parent or grandparent.

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Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026
FILE - Young people use their phones to view social media in Sydney, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
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Google, Meta, push back on addiction claims in landmark social media trial

Kaitlyn Huamani And Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview
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Google, Meta, push back on addiction claims in landmark social media trial

Kaitlyn Huamani And Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 7 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2026

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors in a landmark social media case that seeks to hold tech companies responsible for harms to children got their first glimpse into what will be a lengthy trial characterized by dueling narratives from the plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants, Meta and YouTube.

At the core of the Los Angeles case is a 20-year-old identified only by the initials “KGM,” whose case could determine how thousands of similar lawsuits will play out. KGM and the cases of two other plaintiffs have been selected to be bellwether trials — essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury.

Comparing social media platforms to casinos and addictive drugs, lawyer Mark Lanier delivered opening statements Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court trial that seeks to hold Instagram owner Meta and Google's YouTube responsible for addictive features and harms to children who use their products. Two other defendants, TikTok and Snap, have settled the case.

Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt spoke of the disagreement within the scientific community over social media addiction, with some researchers believing it doesn’t exist, or that addiction is not the most appropriate way to describe heavy social media use.

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Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2026
Sandra Demontigny stands in a park on a rainy day in Levis, Que., Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
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Advocates push for advance MAID requests two years after Parliament recommendation

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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Advocates push for advance MAID requests two years after Parliament recommendation

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

OTTAWA - Sandra Demontigny knew something wasn't right when she couldn't remember buying herself a new pair of boots. They were a splurge — a little out of character for the mother of three — and she had been excited about bringing them home.

"I saw them near the door and I asked my kids, 'Who bought these boots? I've never seen them,'" she said.

"The kids were saying, 'No, (they're) yours. You bought them and you really like them."

Sliding her feet inside, she realized she couldn't remember buying them. "I started crying," she said.

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Monday, Dec. 29, 2025
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Doctor’s orders? ‘Belly laugh at least two to five days a week’

Albert Stumm, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Jan. 19, 2026

Melanin Bee curves her spine like a stretching cat as she lets out a maniacal, forced laugh.

The quick-fire pattern of manufactured giggles —“oh, hoo hoo hoo, eeh, ha ha ha”— soon ripples into genuine laughter, and she giddily kicks her feet.

She’s practicing what she calls Laughasté, a hilarious yoga routine she created that is a descendant of “laughter clubs” that emerged in India in the 1990s. It feels awkward at first, but you fake it till you make it, she said.

“It’s about allowing yourself to be OK with being awkward,” said Bee, a Los Angeles comedian and speaker. “Then you’re going to find some form of silliness within that is going to allow you to laugh involuntarily.”

The Associated Press Files This undated image shows the 46 human chromosomes, where DNA resides and performs its complex functions involved in regulating genetic activity.
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U of M researchers studying whether genetic testing helps zero in on effective mental-health treatment meds

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview
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U of M researchers studying whether genetic testing helps zero in on effective mental-health treatment meds

Malak Abas 3 minute read Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025

A team of University of Manitoba researchers is recruiting people seeking mental-health treatment for a study that could take the guesswork out of medication with the help of genetic testing.

The study will offer free pharmacogenomic testing — which predicts how a person may react to medications based on their genetic makeup — to 200 adults who are looking to start a new medication or switch their medication treating a mental-health issue.

“Someone with mental-health conditions, they (try) multiple medications, and sometimes it takes months or years to get to a point where those drugs work for them, or to have less side effects,” said Dr. Abdullah Maruf, the lead investigator on the study and assistant professor in U of M’s College of Pharmacy.

“Pharmacogenomic testing can find out how our body will respond to these kinds of medication.”

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Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025
FILE - Volunteer Brent Cohen carries plates of food to guests during the annual Thanksgiving banquet at the Denver Rescue Mission on Nov. 22, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
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Why doing good also makes us feel good, during the holidays and beyond

Christina Larson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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Why doing good also makes us feel good, during the holidays and beyond

Christina Larson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — The holiday season is a time for giving thanks, giving gifts — and for many, a time for giving back.

Food banks, services that deliver meals to seniors and other U.S. charities typically see a surge in volunteering between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. But there are good reasons to volunteer at any time of the year.

Alfred Del Grosso volunteers weekly to work the lunch shift at Shepherd’s Table, a food bank in Silver Spring, Maryland. “I feel more connected to the broader community,” he said.

Most Thursdays, the retired chemist from Kensington, Maryland, also lends an unpaid hand to help clear fallen trees and brush from local trails with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. "It’s mostly volunteers who help maintain the trails," he said.

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Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025
Christy Morrill, 72, who lost decades of memories to autoimmune encephalitis, holds up a viewfinder with a slide film of himself as a college student, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, at his home in San Carlos, Calif. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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What happens when your immune system hijacks your brain

Lauran Neergaard And Shelby Lum, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview
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What happens when your immune system hijacks your brain

Lauran Neergaard And Shelby Lum, The Associated Press 7 minute read Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

“My year of unraveling” is how a despairing Christy Morrill described nightmarish months when his immune system hijacked his brain.

What’s called autoimmune encephalitis attacks the organ that makes us “us,” and it can appear out of the blue.

Morrill went for a bike ride with friends along the California coast, stopping for lunch, and they noticed nothing wrong. Neither did Morrill until his wife asked how it went — and he'd forgotten. Morrill would get worse before he got better. “Unhinged” and “fighting to see light,” he wrote as delusions set in and holes in his memory grew.

Of all the ways our immune system can run amok and damage the body instead of protecting it, autoimmune encephalitis is one of the most unfathomable. Seemingly healthy people abruptly spiral with confusion, memory loss, seizures, even psychosis.

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Monday, Nov. 24, 2025
(AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin)
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When self-doubt creeps in at work, pause and reframe your negative thoughts. Here’s how

Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview
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When self-doubt creeps in at work, pause and reframe your negative thoughts. Here’s how

Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press 7 minute read Friday, Oct. 31, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — When we make mistakes at work, it can lead to a cycle of negative thinking.

The damaging thoughts swirl: “I’m an impostor.” “I’m not smart enough.” “I’m failing at my job.”

Feeling like an impostor — doubting one’s own abilities despite a track record of success — is common, especially among women and members of marginalized groups. Even on days when everything’s going right, it can be hard to shift out of a cycle of self-doubt.

But there are ways to interrupt that downward spiral.

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Friday, Oct. 31, 2025
GOFUNDME Jordyn Reimer
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Drunk driver who killed woman in 2022 hit-and-run denied parole

Erik Pindera 6 minute read Preview
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Drunk driver who killed woman in 2022 hit-and-run denied parole

Erik Pindera 6 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

The man who killed a 24-year-old woman while driving drunk in a high-speed hit-and-run collision in Transcona in 2022 was denied parole Wednesday.

In November 2023, Tyler Scott Goodman was sentenced to seven years in prison — six for impaired driving causing death and one for leaving the scene — for the collision that killed Jordyn Reimer on May 1, 2022, sparking outrage from loved ones who argued the sentence was too low.

The Wednesday hearing, at Stony Mountain prison, was to assess whether Goodman could be deemed a manageable risk if granted day or full parole.

Parole Board of Canada member Lesley Monkman said he wasn’t ready for either.

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025
People rest at Sankofa Square in Toronto, on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
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The big meaning behind micro-relationships, and why we should talk to strangers more

Brieanna Charlebois and Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Preview
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The big meaning behind micro-relationships, and why we should talk to strangers more

Brieanna Charlebois and Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

VANCOUVER - Psychology Prof. Gillian Sandstrom was a lonely graduate student in Toronto when she began what she calls "a tiny, tiny micro-relationship."

She and a woman who ran a hotdog stand on her way to university around 2007 would wave hello and smile at each other. Their interactions were so small that Sandstrom uses air quotes to even describe them as a "relationship."

And yet "it really meant something much bigger than it seemed like it should, and it made me feel like I belonged there," said Sandstrom.

"I felt very out of place and she, more than anyone else, is who made me feel OK, which was a bit puzzling."

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025
The casket containing the body of Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA who was shot and killed on Wednesday is removed from Air Force Two at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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Blame game after acts of political violence can lead to further attacks, experts warn

Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview
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Blame game after acts of political violence can lead to further attacks, experts warn

Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press 7 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

DENVER (AP) — From the moment conservative activist and icon Charlie Kirk was felled by an assassin’s bullet, partisans began fighting over which side was to blame. President Donald Trump became the most prominent to do so, tying the attack to “the radical left” before a suspect was even identified.

It was part of a new, grim tradition in a polarized country — trying to pin immediate responsibility for an act of public violence on one of two political sides. As the nation reels from a wave of physical attacks against both Republicans and Democrats, experts warn that the rush to blame sometimes ambiguous and irrational acts on political movements could lead to more conflict.

“What you’re seeing now is exactly how the spiral of violence occurs,” said Robert Pape, a political scientist and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago.

On Friday, authorities announced they had arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Washington, Utah, in the shooting. While a registered voter, he was not affiliated with any party and had not voted in the last two general elections. Even so, officials said Robinson had recently grown more political and expressed negative views about Kirk.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025
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Clean air as privilege

Marwa Suraj 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 6, 2025

For elders with dementia, youth with anxiety, or evacuees coping with displacement, smoke is not just a public health irritant. It’s an accelerant for mental health issues.

You can’t put an N95 on your brain. You can’t tell your nervous system to calm down when the air outside looks like dusk at noon.

For older adults, people with asthma, families on fixed incomes, or those living in crowded apartments or trailers, wildfire season in Manitoba is more than just a nuisance. It’s a trigger. Of breathlessness. Of panic. Of helplessness.

And every year, the advice is the same:

Thomas, a golden retriever mix, lies on a bed in Westchester County, New York, on July 7, 2024. (Lloyd Green via AP)
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Should you let pets sleep next to you? (Does it even matter what the experts say?)

Albert Stumm, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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Should you let pets sleep next to you? (Does it even matter what the experts say?)

Albert Stumm, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

It turns out, our furry best friend might be our sleep enemy.

Lots of pet owners let their animals sleep on the bed with them, which usually disrupts sleep. But many would say it’s worth it.

And researchers don't necessarily disagree.

Melissa Milanak, a professor at Medical University of South Carolina specializing in sleep health, said most people at her clinic say their pets disturb them often at night.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025