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. Archaeology

    Peruvian site yields a golden discovery

    The discovery of a 4,000-year-old gold necklace in Peru suggests that social elites and economic growth appeared in a surprisingly simple society.

  2. Without Substance: ADHD meds don’t up kids’ drug abuse risk

    Boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who take prescribed stimulant medication don't become more likely to abuse drugs than boys who don't receive the medication.

  3. Rare mutations tied to schizophrenia

    Individual-specific DNA deletions and duplications, many located in genes involved in brain development, occur in an unusually large percentage of people with schizophrenia.

  4. Anthropology

    European Roots: Human ancestors go back in time in Spanish cave

    Excavations of a cave in northern Spain have yielded a fossil jaw and tooth that provide the first solid evidence that human ancestors reached Western Europe more than 1 million years ago.

  5. Anthropology

    A hip stance by an ancient ancestor

    By 6 million years ago, upright human ancestors had evolved a hip design that remained stable for perhaps the next 4 million years, until the appearance of hip modifications in Homo erectus.

  6. Road to Eureka!

    Researchers are beginning to identify neural components of insightful problem solving, though no scientific consensus exists on how the brain mediates "light-bulb" or "Aha!" moments.

  7. Anthropology

    Small Wonders: Tiny islanders elevate ‘hobbit’ debate

    The discovery in two South Pacific caves of bones from an extinct group of half-size humans has fueled the already heated scientific debate over the evolutionary identity of so-called hobbit remains from Indonesia.

  8. Altruistic twist in market economies

    Democratic societies with market economies promote a moral ethic of cooperating with strangers who demand mutual sacrifices in joint ventures.

  9. Riff Riders: Brain scans tune in to jazz improvisers

    Accomplished jazz pianists are able to improvise musical passages thanks in part to a set of reactions at the front of the brain that free self-expression from conscious monitoring and self-censorship.

  10. Drug or No Drug: Placebos may be more than appeasing

    A new analysis of FDA data concludes that placebo pills generally offer almost as much symptom relief to depressed patients as antidepressant medications do, raising questions about physicians' antidepressant-prescription practices.

  11. Gene variants shield against depression

    Some child-abuse victims possess specific variations in a stress-regulating gene that decrease their likelihood of developing moderate or severe depression as adults, a research team reports.

  12. Internet Seduction: Online sex offenders prey on at-risk teens

    Most online sex crimes involve adults seducing psychologically vulnerable teenagers into sexual relationships, a finding at odds with public fears of Internet-using children falling prey to deceptive, violent sexual predators.