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. Humans

    Midlife suicides are on the rise

    Data gleaned from death certificates indicate that, from 1999 to 2005, middle-aged whites accounted for much of the overall increase in the U.S. suicide rate.

  2. Humans

    Rumors of Gulf War Syndrome

    British Gulf War veterans responded to military secrecy by talking among themselves about their health problems. Through rumor, the vets collectively defined the controversial ailment known as Gulf War Syndrome, a new study suggests.

  3. Humans

    Infectious finds at ancient site

    A DNA analysis of skeletons found at a submerged Israeli site produces the earliest known evidence of human tuberculosis, now known to have existed at a 9,000-year-old farming settlement.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Bad air for growing brains and minds

    Preliminary evidence suggests that children’s regular exposure to heavy air pollution can be accompanied by brain inflammation and lowered scores on intelligence tests.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Body In Mind

    Long thought the province of the abstract, cognition may actually evolve as physical experiences and actions ignite mental life.

  6. Humans

    New hand, same brain map

    An investigation of a man who received a successful hand transplant suggests that reorganization of sensory maps in the brain following amputation can be reversed in short order.

  7. Humans

    The long, wild ride of bipolar disorder

    The first long-term study of its kind finds that bipolar disorder identified in children often persists into young adulthood and involves frequent, intense swings between manic euphoria and depression.

  8. Humans

    Genetic link to dyslexia

    Scientists studying a large group of British children find a link between a DNA sequence that contains a gene involved in brain development and a range of reading problems, including dyslexia.

  9. Humans

    Machu Picchu’s far-flung residents

    A new chemical analysis of skeletons at the Inca site of Machu Picchu strengthens the idea that the royal estate was maintained by retainers who had been uprooted from homes throughout the empire.

  10. Humans

    Teaching babies to err

    A puzzling error that infants make in a hiding game arises from their inherent tendency to interpret others’ behavior, a research team contends.

  11. Humans

    Stone Age seafood fans

    Excavations in two Gibraltar caves suggest that Neandertals, like modern humans, regularly visited the Mediterranean shore to complement a land-based diet with seafood

  12. Humans

    Pain relief to believe in

    Religious believers shown pictures that evoke spiritual responses display brain activity that may contribute to feeling relief from physical pain, a new study finds.