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. Gestures help words become memorable

    Relevant hand gestures make a speaker's words more memorable to listeners, whereas inappropriate hand gestures undermine recall for what was previously said.

  2. Hypnotic hues in the brain

    Hypnosis uniquely colors the activity of brain areas involved in visual perception, supporting the view that hypnotized people enter a distinct psychological state rather than only play a role designed to please the hypnotist.

  3. Babies posture to learn

    Infants make better action-oriented decisions when they adopt a familiar posture, such as sitting upright, instead of an unfamiliar one, such as crawling.

  4. Words Get in the Way

    New studies explore people's tendency to have trouble recalling faces or other hard-to-describe perceptions after giving verbal accounts of them, with an eye toward improving police interviewing techniques with crime eyewitnesses.

  5. Depression may play a role in stroke risk

    Feelings of hopelessness and other signs of major depression markedly raise a person's likelihood of suffering a stroke.

  6. Anthropology

    Cannibalism’s DNA Trail: Gene may signal ancient prion-disease outbreaks

    Cannibalism among prehistoric humans may have left lasting genetic marks.

  7. Anthropology

    The Stone Masters

    Investigations of modern-day expert and novice craftsmen of stone tools and decorative stone beads offer insights into the making of stone implements thousands and perhaps even millions of years ago.

  8. Inside Violent Worlds

    Political conflict and terror look different up close and local.

  9. Sleep debt exacts deceptive cost

    Moderate but sustained sleep deficits undermine alertness and other mental faculties to a potentially dangerous extent, although people who experience this level of sleep loss usually don't feel particularly drowsy.

  10. Paleontology

    Fine Toothcomb: New fossils add to primate-origins debate

    The discovery of 40-million-year-old teeth and jaw fragments belonging to ancient forms of lorises and bushbabies doubles the age of the fossil record for a major primate group.

  11. Uncertainty fires up some neurons

    In monkeys, a small set of brain cells that transmit the chemical messenger dopamine to various neural destinations works as an uncertainty meter.

  12. When autism aids memory

    People with autism may often have a superior memory for factual details, possibly because of their inability to use context in remembering information.