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. 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.

  2. Inside Violent Worlds

    Political conflict and terror look different up close and local.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. Looking for the brain’s g force

    Controversial evidence suggests that a frontal-brain network underlies psychological measures of general intelligence.

  8. Study of stimulant therapy raises concerns

    A community survey in North Carolina indicates that many children receiving stimulant treatment don't have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Pressurized Pregnancies: Schizophrenia linked to fetal diuretic exposure

    A Danish study has found that pregnant women who take diuretic medication for high blood pressure during the third trimester substantially raise the chances that their unborn children will develop schizophrenia by age 35.

  10. Brain training aids kids with dyslexia

    Preliminary brain-imaging evidence indicates that after completing an intensive reading-remediation program, children with dyslexia not only read better but also exhibit signs of increased activity in key brain areas as they read.

  11. Anthropology

    Ancient people get dated Down Under

    New dating analyses indicate that people reached southeastern Australia between 50,000 and 46,000 years ago and that two human skeletons previously unearthed there were buried about 40,000 years ago.

  12. Working Out: Welfare reform hasn’t changed kids so far

    A study conducted among low-income families in three states suggests that the emotional health and academic skills of preschoolers and young adolescents don't suffer when their mothers move off welfare and into the workforce.