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. Sound learning may hinge on cue contrasts

    Training yields much more improvement in the ability to discriminate subtle differences in the loudness of sounds entering the right and left ears than in the timing of sounds arriving in each ear, a finding with implications for treating some speech and language disorders.

  2. Drunk drivers tow mental load

    Individuals convicted of drunk driving often have a history of not only alcohol but also illicit drug abuse and other psychiatric disorders.

  3. Tracking down bodies in the brain

    A new report that a specific brain region orchestrates the recognition of human bodies and body parts stirs up a scientific debate over the neural workings of perception.

  4. Gene change speaks to language malady

    Researchers have identified a genetic mutation that may lie at the root of a severe speech and language disorder observed across four generations of a British family.

  5. Anthropology

    Humans in eastern Asia show ancient roots

    Human ancestors lived in northeastern Asia about 1.36 million years ago, making it the oldest confirmed occupation site in eastern Asia.

  6. Joined at the Senses

    As evidence accumulates for the existence of brain cells that handle many types of sensory information, some scientists challenge the popular notion that perception is grounded in five separate senses.

  7. Youthful nicotine addiction may be growing

    Although the rate of daily cigarette smoking has declined among teenagers and young adults over the past 20 years, the number of smokers in this age range who develop nicotine dependence has risen dramatically.

  8. Archaeology

    Ancestors who came in from the cold

    Researchers found the remains of a 36,000-year-old human occupation in the Russian Arctic, which represents the earliest evidence of a human presence that far north.

  9. Archaeology

    Neandertals used tools with versatility

    Microscopic data from artifacts found at two Ukrainian sites indicate that Neandertals used stone tools in flexible ways that allowed them to maintain a broad diet for nearly 50,000 years.

  10. Anthropology

    Neandertals show ancient signs of caring

    A partial jaw unearthed in France indicates that Neandertals extensively cared for sick and infirm comrades beginning nearly 200,000 years ago.

  11. Glutamate paths surface in schizophrenia

    Three new studies indicate that altered transmission of glutamate, a key brain chemical, plays an influential role in the severe mental disorder known as schizophrenia.

  12. A tip of the tongue to the brain

    Researchers have identified several brain areas that together underlie the experience of feeling certain that a piece of forgotten information is nonetheless on the tip of one's tongue.