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The damage to brain structure caused by chronic alcohol consumption has been extensively studied. However, most previous research has not taken into account the presence of family history of alcoholism (FHA), which can change behavior and brain morphology. This variable is a risk factor in the development of this addiction. Because of this, the results of neuroimaging studies with people with alcohol use disorder are relatively inconsistent.

Prior research has shown the relationship between objective economic inequality and searching for positional goods. It also investigated the relationship between social class and low income with conspicuous consumption. However, the causal relationship between economic inequality (the difference in wealth between individuals and groups living in a shared context and consumer behavior) has been less explored. Furthermore, there are also few studies looking for the psychological mechanisms that underlie these effects.

La experiencia del orgasmo se refiere a la autoevaluación psicológica del orgasmo. Ninguna investigación previa ha comparado las características de la experiencia del orgasmo entre hombres y mujeres creando un ranking de los adjetivos que mejor la representan. Ana Arcos y Juan Carlos Sierra, miembros del CIMCYC, han realizado está investigación cuyo objetivo principal fue analizar las diferencias de género en la experiencia global del orgasmo, sus dimensiones y sus palabras descriptivas para examinar cómo las personas heterosexuales califican sus orgasmos.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to previous studies, this situation may have contributed to the increase in stress, anxiety or depression levels. A particularly vulnerable group is that of pregnant women. In fact, during pregnancy, it is more likely to experience an increase in mental disorders.

In the laboratory, when studying attentional orienting, both valid and invalid attentional cues are used: valid ones direct attention to a place where something relevant will occur. Invalids occur at a place where nothing relevant will happen. In general, performance improves when valid rather than invalid cues are presented. This work is novel because it explores the effects of attentional capture and driving experience in everyday situations while participants perform a hazard prediction task.

Co-occurrence of drug abuse with other dysregulated behaviors is common. This study aimed to explore the associations between the risk of presenting a clinically relevant condition involving addictive or dysregulated non-substance-related behaviors (measured by the MultiCAGE CAD-4 screening test) and cannabis abuse/dependence scores (CAST/SDS), and the role of gender therein.

Daniela Paolieri, Alejandra Marful Quiroga, and Antonio Bernal Benítez from the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychobiology have studied how sex hormones can modulate how we process the stimuli around us, causing variations according to sex, the phase of the menstrual cycle and the use of hormonal-based contraceptives. A second study has also identified some factors that interact with ovarian hormones and modulate spatial and verbal ability

The use of verbal instructions allows us to incorporate novel behaviors in a quick and flexible way. Previous results have shown that different variables related to cognitive control shape neural activity in frontoparietal regions during the encoding of novel instructed tasks.

The Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Centre (CIMCYC) opens its doors to welcome high school students throughout the year, with the aim of guiding them in their future career. Last Friday, 25th of February, students from the Pedro Soto de Rojas high school visited the centre. The activity was organized in collaboration with their Psychology teacher, Mateo Casas Martínez.

The CIMCYC doctoral students have organized a classic Andalusian breakfast, offering oil toasts, coffee and chocolate milkshakes, on the occasion of the Andalusia Day, which takes place on 28th of February
The doctoral students have been in charge of bringing everything necessary for breakfast such as bread and milkshakes. The event took place at the CIMCYC entrance to shelter from the rain, and it was a great opportunity for all the members of the center to gather together.