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. Anthropology

    Ancient DNA moves Neandertals eastward

    Evidence from mitochondrial DNA indicates that Neandertals lived 2,000 kilometers farther east than previously thought.

  2. Exercise steps up as depression buster

    Aerobic exercise, done alone or in a group, eases depression almost as well as a common antidepressant does.

  3. Dangerous DNA: Genes linked to suicidal thoughts with med use

    Two gene variations mark many patients who develop suicidal thoughts when treated with widely used antidepressants.

  4. Anthropology

    Sail Away: Tools reveal extent of ancient Polynesian trips

    Rock from Hawaii was fashioned into a stone tool found in Polynesian islands more than 4,000 kilometers to the south, indicating that canoeists made the sea journey around 1,000 years ago.

  5. Anthropology

    Walking Small: Humanlike legs took Homo out of Africa

    Newly discovered fossils, 1.77 million years old, show that the earliest known human ancestors to leave Africa for Asia possessed humanlike legs, feet, and spines, but strikingly small brains and primitive arms.

  6. SSRI use declines, youth suicides rise

    In the United States and the Netherlands, youth suicides have increased as the number of antidepressant prescriptions for children and teenagers has fallen, raising concerns that regulatory warnings about these drugs have backfired.

  7. Archaeology

    Ancient city grew from outside in

    A 6,000-year-old city in what's now northeastern Syria developed when initially independent settlements expanded and merged, unlike other nearby cities that grew from a core outward.

  8. Consciousness in the Raw

    Observations of children born without most of the brain's outer layer, or cortex, and evidence from animal studies suggest that a basic form of consciousness may arise from the brain stem alone.

  9. Anthropology

    Men’s fertile role in evolving long lives

    The ability of men 55 and older to father children may have had evolutionary effects that caused both sexes to develop longer lifespans.

  10. Bipolar Express: Mental ailment expands rapidly among youth

    Diagnosis of bipolar disorder in kids and teenagers has dramatically increased since 1994, raising concerns that this severe mood disorder is being overdiagnosed.

  11. No-Fight Zones: School programs reduce violence in all grades

    A variety of school-based programs succeed in reducing students' violent and disruptive behavior.

  12. Believers gain no health advantage

    Strong religious beliefs or practices don't appear to benefit depressed or socially isolated heart attack survivors.