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. 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.

  2. Anatomy of antisocial personality

    A disturbance in the brain's prefrontal cortex may either contribute to or result from a psychiatric condition called antisocial personality disorder.

  3. Treatment enigma for disturbed kids

    Two new studies offer conflicting views of the effectiveness of mental-health services for children and teenagers.

  4. Genes to Grow On

    Researchers studying children with Williams syndrome say that the unusual condition emerges through a developmental process that's influenced but not predetermined by a genetic defect.

  5. Survey raises issue of isolated Web users

    A controversial study suggests that heavy users of the Internet become socially isolated.

  6. 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.

  7. Testosterone shows hurtful, helpful sides

    A small but significant portion of men taking large doses of testosterone experience mania, although moderate doses of the male sex hormone show promise in boosting the mood and sex drive of HIV-infected men.

  8. Sleepyheads’ brains veer from restful path

    Unusual patterns of brain activity appear in sleep-deprived volunteers trying to solve verbal and mathematical problems.

  9. Archaeology

    Ancient birth brick emerges in Egypt

    Investigations at a 3,700-year-old Egyptian town have yielded a painted brick that was used in childbirth rituals.

  10. Dendrite decline in schizophrenia

    Cell connections in a part of the brain's frontal lobe appear to dwindle in people with schizophrenia.

  11. Keys to expertise in the brain

    A brain region linked to face recognition may foster expertise at identifying items in any category a person strives to master.

  12. Anthropology

    Ancient populations were game for growth

    Archaeological evidence of a Stone Age shift in dietary preferences, from slow to swift small game, suggests that the human population rose sharply sometime between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago.