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. Placebos for depression attract scrutiny

    FDA clinical trials suggest that placebos provide substantial relief to depressed patients, but debate continues about whether it's ethical to use placebos in studies of antidepressant drugs.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Attention Loss: ADHD may lower volume of brain

    Brain-scan data show that the brains of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are slightly smaller than those of their peers who are free of psychiatric disorders.

  3. Archaeology

    Maya warfare takes 10 steps forward

    The discovery of hieroglyphic-covered steps on the side of a Maya pyramid has yielded new information about warfare between two competing city-states around 1,500 years ago.

  4. Dementia may travel lonely road in elderly

    Social isolation may promote the development of Alzheimer's disease and other brain ailments among elderly people.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. Archaeology

    Early New World Settlers Rise in East

    New evidence supports the view that people occupied a site in coastal Virginia at least 15,000 years ago.

  8. Anthropology

    Lucy on the ground with knuckles

    Some early human ancestors appear to have walked on all fours using their knuckles, much as chimpanzees do.

  9. Anthropology

    Goat busters track domestication

    People began to manage herds of wild goats at least 10,000 years ago in western Iran.

  10. Pushing the Mood Swings

    Social and psychological forces sway the course of manic depression.

  11. Cooperative strangers turn a mutual profit

    In social exchanges, monkeys and people often appear to act according to the principle that "one good turn deserves another."

  12. 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.