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. In depression, the placebo also rises

    In a small group of depressed patients, those whose condition improved after taking placebo pills for 6 weeks displayed many of the same brain changes observed in people who benefited from an antidepressant drug.

  2. Boys take a tumble

    A long-term study of children from grades 1 through 12 finds a disturbing tendency for boys to report much larger declines in appraisals of their academic abilities than do girls.

  3. All Cried Out: Major depression puts lid on tears

    A new study suggests that depressed individuals cry no more often in response to a sad situation than nondepressed people do.

  4. Brain keeps tabs on arbitrary patterns

    Several parts of the frontal brain cooperatively identify apparent regularities in random sequences of events and detect breaks in those patterns.

  5. The Social Net

    New studies explore the nature of social interactions on the Internet, from online corporate work groups to white supremacist chat rooms.

  6. Anthropology

    Attack of the Ancestor: Neandertals took a stab at violent assaults

    The pieced-together fragments of a 36,000-year-old Neandertal skull reveal a bony scar caused by a blow from a sharp tool or weapon.

  7. Paleontology

    Older Ancestors: Primate origins age in new analysis

    A controversial new statistical model concludes that the common ancestor of primates lived 81.5 million years ago, about 16 million years earlier than many paleontologists have estimated.

  8. Anthropology

    The DNA Divide: Chimps, people differ in brain’s gene activity

    The distinctive looks and thinking styles of people and chimpanzees derive from the contrasting productivities of their similar DNA sequences.

  9. Night Patrol for Tired Cops: Police lose sleep over workday hassles

    A large proportion of big-city police officers suffers from insomnia and other serious sleep problems that stem from chronic work stress.

  10. Archaeology

    New World hunters get a reprieve

    New radiocarbon evidence indicates that, beginning around 11,000 years ago, human hunters contributed to North American mammal extinctions that had already been triggered by pronounced climate shifts.

  11. Archaeology

    Stone Age Siberians move up in time

    Siberian sites previously thought to have been bases for early human excursions into North America may only date to about 11,300 years ago, when people have traditionally been assumed to have first reached Alaska.

  12. Archaeology

    Wild Chimps Rocked On: Apes left unique record of stone tools

    Researchers have uncovered the first archaeological site attributed to chimpanzees, which includes stone implements that were used to crack nuts on top of thick tree roots.