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

    South African find gets younger

    The partial skeleton of a human ancestor previously found in South Africa dates to about 2.2 million years ago, roughly 1 million years younger than the original estimates.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Bitter Pill: Costs surge for new schizophrenia drugs

    Medications widely prescribed to treat schizophrenia cost hundreds of dollars more each month than does a less popular, older medication that has similar success at alleviating symptoms of the disorder.

  3. The Predator’s Gaze

    A new wave of research is trying to untangle the origins and nature of psychopathy, a personality style characterized by a lack of conscience, empathy, or guilt that attracts intense interest from the legal system.

  4. Anthropology

    Stone Age Role Revolution: Modern humans may have divided labor to conquer

    A new analysis of Stone Age sites indicates that a division of labor first emerged in modern-human groups living in the African tropics around 40,000 years ago, providing our ancestors with a social advantage over Neandertals.

  5. Age Becomes Her: Male chimpanzees favor old females as mates

    Male chimpanzees in Uganda prefer to mate with older females, a possible sign of males' need to identify successful mothers in a promiscuous mating system.

  6. Anthropology

    Ancient Gene Yield: New methods retrieve Neandertals’ DNA

    Researchers have retrieved and analyzed a huge chunk of Neandertal DNA.

  7. Revving up recall while fast asleep

    Scientists have discovered a way to give memory a modest lift while people slumber.

  8. Anthropology

    Evolution’s Mystery Woman

    A heated debate has broken out among anthropologists over whether a highly publicized partial skeleton initially attributed to a new, tiny species of human cousins actually comes from a pygmy Homo sapiens with a developmental disorder.

  9. Sick and Tired: Tracking paths to chronic fatigue

    Stressful experiences and a genetic predisposition toward emotional turmoil contribute to some cases of chronic fatigue syndrome.

  10. Dementia warning

    A long-term study of people ages 65 and older in England and Wales indicates that the prevalence of brain disorders of memory and thinking, including Alzheimer's disease, increases sharply in aging populations.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Helping Hands: Brief rehab method aids arm activity after stroke

    Stroke survivors who have difficulty using an arm or a hand experience lasting mobility gains after completing an unusual 2-week rehabilitation program.

  12. Med-Start Kids: Pros, cons of Ritalin for preschool ADHD

    A long-term study indicates that 3- to 5-year-olds with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who are prescribed the stimulant Ritalin often show behavioral improvements but also display greater sensitivity to the drug's side effects than older children do.