Bruce Bower

Bruce Bower

Behavioral Sciences Writer

Bruce Bower has written about the behavioral sciences since 1984. He often writes about psychology, anthropology, archaeology and mental health issues. Bruce has a master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Following an internship at Science News in 1981, he worked as a reporter at Psychiatric News, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, until joining Science News as a staff writer. In 1996, the American Psychological Association appointed Bruce a Science Writer Fellow, with a grant to visit psychological scientists of his own choosing. Early stints as an aide in a day school for children and teenagers with severe psychological problems and as a counselor in a drug diversion center provided Bruce with a surprisingly good background for a career in science journalism.

All Stories by Bruce Bower

  1. A Very Spatial Brain Defect: Gene disorder blocks neural path for vision

    Among its many unusual symptoms, the genetic disorder called Williams syndrome robs people of depth perception and the ability to visualize how different parts assemble into larger objects.

  2. Cultured Readers: Chinese kids show new neural side of dyslexia

    Brain disturbances that underlie the inability to read a non-alphabetic script, such as Chinese, differ from those already implicated in the impaired reading of alphabetic systems, such as English.

  3. A call to arms aids recovery of sight

    A man was able to recover some of the sight he lost as a result of brain damage simply by reaching out toward objects near his body, researchers say.

  4. Babies’ sound path to language skills

    A test of early speech perception shows promise as a way to identify 6-month-olds headed for language difficulties as toddlers.

  5. Ringing Out Despair: Phone therapy gets call as depression buster

    Psychotherapy delivered over the telephone shows promise as a depression treatment when offered in conjunction with prescribed antidepressant medication.

  6. Lifting the Mood: Depressed teens benefit from combined therapy

    Treatment that includes both an antidepressant drug and talk therapy is especially beneficial for teenagers diagnosed with major depression.

  7. To Err Is Human

    Two researchers have issued a blunt critique of what they see as a misguided emphasis on immoral behaviors and mental flaws in many social psychology studies.

  8. Lighting Up the Rainbow: Color perception tied to early visual experience

    A study of baby monkeys finds that exposure to natural light in the year after birth fosters their ability to recognize colors as lighting gets brighter or dimmer.

  9. Brain development disturbed in autism

    A brain-imaging study suggests that autism is characterized by disturbances in the development of the amygdala and the hippocampus, two inner-brain structures.

  10. Anthropology

    Chimps mature with human ancestor

    The Stone Age human ancestor Homo erectus grew at about the same pace as wild chimpanzees today do.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Suicide Watch: Antidepressants get large-scale inspection

    Data from the United Kingdom indicate that depressed patients attempt and complete suicides at an elevated rate in the 3 months after starting to take any of four antidepressant drugs.

  12. Archaeology

    Seeds of agriculture move back in time

    Excavations in Israel indicate that people began to eat large quantities of wild grass seeds and wild cereal grains by around 23,000 years ago, which pushes back by 10,000 years the estimated shift to a plant-rich diet.