EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior - News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Dec-2025 20:11 ET (22-Dec-2025 01:11 GMT/UTC)

29-Jul-2025

Music is good company: new study shows that music induces social imagination

University of Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Have you ever felt like music keeps you company? Does music truly offer companionship or is it simply a figure of speech?

A new study led by Dr Steffen A. Herff, cognitive neuroscientist at Sydney, Music, Mind and Body Lab at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, has shown for the first time empirically that music can indeed keep you company by facilitating imagined social interactions. “Music appears to act as a catalyst for social imagination,” Dr Herff said. “Even without words or voices, it can trigger thoughts of connection, warmth and companionship.”

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: Australian Research Council

28-Jul-2025

Astrocytes identified as hidden culprit behind PTSD

Institute for Basic Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new discovery, scientists at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Ewha Womans University have uncovered a new brain mechanism driving PTSD — and a promising drug that may counteract its effects.

Journal: Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
Funder: Institute for Basic Science

28-Jul-2025

Veterans experiencing homelessness who secure housing more likely to get cancer health screenings

American Academy of Family Physicians
Reports and Proceedings

This editorial reviews Decker et al’s study of more than 100,000 veterans experiencing homelessness who were overdue for colorectal or breast cancer screening. About 57,000 secured housing during a 24-month window and were more than twice as likely to get screened after doing so.

Journal: The Annals of Family Medicine

28-Jul-2025

HEAL protocol addresses human trafficking in Brazilian primary care

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, professionals from the health, social services, and justice sectors collaborated to adapt and translate the U.S.-based HEAL Trafficking Protocol Toolkit to the Brazilian context.

Journal: The Annals of Family Medicine

28-Jul-2025

Study finds veterans experiencing homelessness who gain housing are more likely to get colorectal and breast cancer screenings

American Academy of Family Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This study examines if gaining housing increased rates of colorectal and breast cancer screening in a cohort of veterans who experience homelessness.

Journal: The Annals of Family Medicine

28-Jul-2025

Risk of long COVID increases with social and economic hardship

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new analysis of the RECOVER-Adult cohort, Mass General Brigham researchers found a two- to three-times higher risk of long COVID in those with social risk factors, including financial hardship, food insecurity, experiences of medical discrimination, and skipped medical care due to cost. Findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

28-Jul-2025

Economically disadvantaged patients at greater risk for long COVID

American College of Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A prospective observational cohort study determined the associations between social determinants of health (SDoH) at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent risk for long COVID.

Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine