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. Making Mice Mellow: Rodents yield clues to improved anxiety drugs

    Mice bred to lack a gene for a certain enzyme exhibit reduced anxiety and greater curiosity in stressful laboratory tasks, suggesting a possible new avenue of research into anti-anxiety medications.

  2. Anthropology

    Iceman mummy shares last meals

    DNA analyses of food remains from the intestines of a 5,000-year-old mummified man found in Europe's Tyrolean Alps indicate that his last two meals included meat from mountain goats and red deer, as well as wild cereals.

  3. Psychotic Biology: Genes yield clues to schizophrenia’s roots

    Two genes involved in the transmission of glutamate, a key chemical messenger in the brain, are linked to the occurrence of the severe mental disorder schizophrenia.

  4. Anthropology

    Court releases ancient skeleton

    A judge's decision gives scientists the right to study the 9,000-year-old skeleton dubbed Kennewick Man rather than turn the remains over to a coalition of Native American tribes for reburial.

  5. Anthropology

    Neandertals return at German cave site

    Researchers who tracked down the location of a German cave where the first Neandertal skeleton was discovered in 1856 have unearthed new Neandertal finds.

  6. Evolutionary Upstarts

    Theories of the evolution of the human mind are evolving, with some researchers now presenting alternatives to the dominant notion that genetic competition for survival during the Stone Age yielded brains stocked with a bevy of instincts for specific types of thinking.

  7. Distressing Dispatches: Some journalists feel stress wounds of war

    A substantial and largely unnoticed minority of war reporters and photographers develops symptoms of a severe stress reaction as a result of the job.

  8. Anthropology

    Lost-and-Found Fossil Tot: Neandertal baby rises from French archive

    The approximately 40,000-year-old skeleton of a Neandertal baby, filed and forgotten in a French museum for nearly 90 years, has been recovered by an anthropologist.

  9. Grief travels different paths

    A rare study of elderly individuals before and after the death of their spouses finds that a surprisingly large number stayed on an even emotional keel.

  10. Anthropology

    Gene change hints at brain evolution

    A genetic mutation found only in humans first appeared around 2.8 million years ago, perhaps setting the stage for brain enlargement in the Homo lineage.

  11. Rift of Gab: Speech insights spark statistical static

    A controversial new study suggests that people use statistical regularities in language to recognize individual words but not to discern rules for word construction.

  12. All about Me: Left brain may shine spotlight on self

    Experiments with a split-brain patient suggest that left-hemisphere structures contribute to the conscious understanding of oneself.