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. Health & Medicine

    Parenting shapes genetic risk for drug use

    A three-year study of black teens in rural Georgia finds that involved, supportive parenting powerfully buffers the tendency of some genetically predisposed youngsters to use drugs.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Newborns pick up the beat

    Electrical measurements of sleeping newborn babies’ brains indicate that the 2- to 3-day-olds automatically detect a regular beat in rhythmic sequences, possibly reflecting an early capacity for learning music.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Neural paths for borderline personality disorder

    A new brain-imaging study indicates that unusual neural activity linked to emotion, attention and conflict-resolution systems underlies a common psychiatric condition known as borderline personality disorder.

  4. Life

    Capuchin monkeys choose the right tool for the nut

    New field experiments indicate that wild capuchin monkeys choose the most effective stones for cracking nuts, suggesting deep evolutionary roots for the use of stone tools.

  5. Archaeology

    Armenian cave yields ancient human brain

    A team of scientists has excavated 6,000-year-old artifacts and three human skulls, including one containing a preserved brain, from a cave bordering Armenia’s Arpa River.

  6. Archaeology

    Early chemical warfare comes to light

    Investigations of a Roman garrison in Syria conquered in a massive assault by Persians nearly 2,000 years ago have uncovered evidence of the earliest known chemical warfare.

  7. Archaeology

    Shipwrecks harbor evidence of ancient sophistication

    Research on shipwrecks from two ancient, submerged harbors shows that frame-based shipbuilding emerged surprisingly early and then became more sophisticated within a few hundred years.

  8. Humans

    Migrants settled New World in tandem

    A genetic investigation of two rare types of mitochondrial DNA in Native Americans suggests that people first entered the Americas in two groups, following separate routes.

  9. Humans

    Stone Age tools go south

    Diamond-mining pits have yielded stone artifacts old enough to suggest that hand axe production started 1.6 million years ago in southern Africa, not just in eastern Africa.

  10. Humans

    Taking trophy heads close to home

    Members of the prehistoric Nasca culture in southern Peru took trophy heads from their own people rather than from foreigners captured in wars or raids, a new biochemical analysis suggests.

  11. Humans

    Primates get a neural facial

    New brain-imaging studies indicate that similar brain areas coordinate face recognition in people, chimpanzees and macaque monkeys, suggesting that a face-sensitive brain system evolved early in primate evolution.

  12. Archaeology

    Tools with handles even more ancient

    An analysis of stone tools excavated at a Syrian site indicates that, around 70,000 years ago, Neandertals used a tarlike adhesive to affix sharpened items to handles.