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. Nursing moms face meds dilemma

    A research review yields a little advice and a lot of uncertainty for nursing mothers with mental disorders who may expose their babies to potential dangers if they take prescribed psychoactive drugs.

  2. Medicinal mirth gets research rebuke

    Little scientific evidence to date supports any of the purported physical health benefits of laughter and humor, a psychologist concludes.

  3. Paleontology

    Neandertals, humans may have grown apart

    A controversial fossil analysis finds that the skulls of Neandertals and humans grew in markedly different ways.

  4. Deaf kids establish own sign language

    Deaf children in Nicaragua display evidence of having created a fully grammatical sign language on their own in under 2 decades.

  5. Depression therapies converge in brain

    Depressed people who benefit from either talk therapy or antidepressant drug treatment may experience similar brain changes, according to a pair of new studies.

  6. Anthropology

    Earliest Ancestor Emerges in Africa

    Scientists have found 5.2- to 5.8-million-year-old fossils in Ethiopia that represent the earliest known members of the human evolutionary family.

  7. Archaeology

    Stone Age folk in Asia adapted to extremes

    Preliminary evidence indicates that people occupied the harsh, high-altitude environment of Asia's Tibetan Plateau in the late Stone Age, between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago.

  8. Faces of Perception

    Scientists who study face perception currently disagree strongly over whether newborn babies innately know what human faces look like and whether certain brain areas are solely responsible for distinguishing one face from another.

  9. Women show the ways to maturity

    A 39-year study finds three different patterns of healthy psychological development among women, each of which emphasizes particular goals and trade-offs.

  10. Math fears subtract from memory, learning

    In a study of college students, high levels of anxiety about taking mathematics tests interfered with memory processes needed to perform difficult arithmetic problems.

  11. Babies may thrive on wordless conversation

    Although unable to say a word, 4-month-olds coordinate the timing of their vocalizations with those of adult partners in conversational ways that may have implications for social and intellectual development.

  12. Anthropology

    Human fossils tell a fish tale

    Fossil clues indicate that Stone Age humans ate a considerable amount of seafood, giving them a broader and more resilient diet than that of Neandertals.