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    Silky Sifaka conservation and research efforts spearheaded by Cornell Psychology Doctoral Student
  • Ph.D. candidate Erik Patel's work with the highly-endangered silky sifaka lemur has gotten some important media attention in August 2009.
    The animals are featured in an article in National Geographic magazine, and in a documentary called "Angels of the Forest," directed by Sharon Pieczenik for The Research Channel, which can be viewed here.
  • Posted: Sunday, August 2, 2009

    Culture, not biology, drives evolution of language
  • Cornell psychology professor Morten H. Christiansen challenges the idea that human language stems from a genetic blueprint -- an idea that has dominated language sciences theory for more than 40 years. Instead, he says, the neural machinery used for language likely predates the emergence of language itself, in an study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS, 106:3).
  • http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan09/languageEvolu.sk.html
  • Posted: Sunday, February 1, 2009

    Adverse effects found in Strupp lab impact NIH policy
  • Research findings from the laboratory of Dr. Barbara J. Strupp played a significant role in the halting of a controversial National Institutes of Health clinical trial on the efficacy of chelation therapy as a potential treatment for autistic children. The administration of chelating agents to autistic children was being tested based on the unproven belief that even very slightly elevated levels of methylmercury can cause autism.

    Strupp, Professor of Nutritional Sciences and Adjunct Professor of Psychology, has been engaged in a research program, also funded by the NIH, which shows that chelation therapy, in which a drug is used to leach lead from the body, can significantly reduce learning and behavioral problems that result from lead exposure. Using young rats -- whose responses to lead exposure are similar to humans' – Strupp's lab work showed that the chelating agent, succimer, substantially improved the cognitive impairments seen in rats previously exposed to lead.

    The study found, however, that when the drug was given to rats that had not previously been exposed to lead, the animals exhibited lasting cognitive and emotional deficits. "These findings raise concerns about the administration of chelating agents to children without elevated levels of lead or other heavy metals," Strupp said.

    These findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, are the first to demonstrate that succimer chelation can reduce behavioral and learning problems caused by lead exposure. Additionally, Strupp says, this study provided the first evidence that this type of treatment can produce lasting cognitive and affective impairments when administered in the absence of elevated levels of heavy metals. The press release put out by NIH to announce the halting of their trial of succimer in autistic children cited Strupp’s study as instrumental in its decision.

    A related story appeared in the July 18, 2008, edition of Science magazine.
  • http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/9263/9263.html
  • Posted: Tuesday, December 9, 2008

    Americans flunk self-assessment, according to NPR
  • Prof. David Dunning talked to Alix Spiegel in a "Science Out of the Box" segment of NPR's All Things Considered on October 6, 2007. The complete interview, in which he discusses his research on the sometimes critical gap between Americans' perceived, and actual, performance and skill levels can be heard at the url below.
  • http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15073430&ft=1&f=1001
  • Posted: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

    James Maas named Best Professor in IthacaTimes Readers Poll
  • Each year the IthacaTimes publishes a poll for readers about their favorite things in town. Recently, the department's Prof. James Maas learned he had been named "Best Professor" by the respondents. The results, including Maas' response to his award, were published in the September 26-October 2, 2007 edition of the paper.
  • http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18859628&BRD=1395&PAG=461&dept_id=216635&rfi=6
  • Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2007

    Psychology Professors respond to questions of limited application of research findings
  • Department faculty were asked by The Cornell Daily Sun to respond to a recent article published in The Wall Street Journal which alleges that psychological research departments on college campuses operate with too narrow a testing pool. The WS Jarticle asserts that the exclusive use of college students as study subjects provides only a slim demographic for research, ultimately limiting the findings.
  • http://cornellsun.com/node/23958
  • Posted: Monday, September 17, 2007