Can Viagra Help against Alzheimer’s?

A new study, published in the journal Neurology by Adesuyan et al. (2024), is generating buzz: Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (such as Viagra) might reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers analyzed data from men with erectile dysfunction and discovered that those who took Viagra had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

However, before celebrating Viagra as a miracle cure, it’s important to note some limitations of the study. Being an observational study, it demonstrates correlations but not causation. Additionally, potential influencing factors, such as lifestyle and genetic predispositions, were not fully accounted for.

While the results are promising, further research is needed to confirm the actual effect of Viagra on Alzheimer’s. Until then, caution is advised…
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Studies (just a small selection):

Adesuyan, M., Jani, Y. H., Alsugeir, D., Howard, R., Ju, C., Wei, L., & Brauer, R. (2024). Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors in men with erectile dysfunction and the risk of alzheimer disease: a cohort study. Neurology, 102(4), e209131.

Gohel, D., Zhang, P., Gupta, A. K., Li, Y., Chiang, C. W., Li, L., … & Cheng, F. (2024). Sildenafil as a Candidate Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease: Real-World Patient Data Observation and Mechanistic Observations from Patient-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, (Preprint), 1-15.

Hu, E., Li, T. S., Wineinger, N. E., & Su, A. I. (2023). Association study between drug prescriptions and Alzheimer’s disease claims in a commercial insurance database. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 15(1), 118.

Prickaerts, J., Heckman, P. R., & Blokland, A. (2017). Investigational phosphodiesterase inhibitors in phase I and phase II clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease. Expert opinion on investigational drugs, 26(9), 1033-1048.

A thought experiment:

Imagine you had to write down the following sentence:

“My mother will win a million euros in the lottery tomorrow.”

So far so simple. Now imagine you have to write down another sentence:

“My mother will die tomorrow.”

You probably found the second idea much more difficult. Because you shouldn’t write something like that. It’s best not to think something like that in the first place. Because thoughts are powerful, aren’t they?

But more and more studies suggest that the conviction (metacognition) that thoughts are powerful and uncontrollable contributes to the development and maintenance of mental disorders such as depression, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc. For example, anyone who is convinced that a thought such as “My mother/father could die soon.” is not just a thought, but a dark premonition that will materialize because we had this thought, with most likely feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression. If, on the other hand, we realize that thoughts are often nothing more than insignificant “brain farts”, of which we produce thousands every day, we remain relaxed and unimpressed. modern psychotherapy – especially metacognitive therapy – also makes use of these insights and achieves sometimes unprecedented therapeutic success…

Embodied cognition explains how physical states and actions can influence our thoughts and feelings. One example is how our voice can impact our well-being. Speaking in a deeper voice, for instance, can make us feel more relaxed and confident.

A study by Stel et al. (2012) supports this idea. Their research found that adopting physical characteristics associated with confidence and relaxation, such as a deeper voice, can indeed lead to an increase in those feelings. This phenomenon illustrates the powerful interplay between our physical expressions and emotional states.

In the video you will get to know several Tips, that will help you to train your voice to sound deeper and relaxed.
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Studies (just a small selection):

Costa, J., Jung, M. F., Czerwinski, M., Guimbretière, F., Le, T., & Choudhury, T. (2018, April). Regulating feelings during interpersonal conflicts by changing voice self-perception. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).

Jin, W. J., & Park, S. H. (2023). Your voice pitch speaks volumes about you: How voice pitch affects mind perception of the speakers. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(3), 1230-1250.

Motoki, K., Saito, T., Nouchi, R., Kawashima, R., & Sugiura, M. (2019). A sweet voice: The influence of cross-modal correspondences between taste and vocal pitch on advertising effectiveness. Multisensory research, 32(4-5), 401-427.

Stel, M., Dijk, E. V., Smith, P. K., Dijk, W. W. V., & Djalal, F. M. (2012). Lowering the pitch of your voice makes you feel more powerful and think more abstractly. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(4), 497-502.

Is it possible to rewrite old traumatic fear memories and thus significantly reduce the suffering of many patients? The discovery of memory reconsolidation suggests that this could be much easier than many researchers have long assumed.  This is because new research has shown that our memory hovers in a changeable, protein synthesis-dependent state after each recall. During this time window, it is possible to “update” the memory through interventions (e.g. preventing protein synthesis with anisomycin). (Nader & Hardt, 2009; Nader, Schafe, & Le Doux, 2000). Our memory is therefore much more modifiable than we realize. This opens up many new possibilities for the psychotherapy of anxiety disorders (panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, phobias, agoraphobia, etc.).

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Studies (just a small selection):  Elsey, J. W., & Kindt, M. (2017). Tackling maladaptive memories through reconsolidation: From neural to clinical science. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 142, 108-117.

Mallet, C., Chick, C. F., Maatoug, R., Fossati, P., Brunet, A., & Millet, B. (2022). Memory reconsolidation impairment using the β-adrenergic receptor blocker propranolol reduces nightmare severity in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder: a preliminary study. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 18(7), 1847-1855.

Pigeon, S., Lonergan, M., Rotondo, O., Pitman, R. K., & Brunet, A. (2022). Impairing memory reconsolidation with propranolol in healthy and clinical samples: a meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 47(2), E109-E122.

Soeter, M., & Kindt, M. (2011). Disrupting reconsolidation: pharmacological and behavioral manipulations. Learning & Memory, 18(6), 357-366.

Psychological trauma refers to the lasting emotional and psychological impact resulting from distressing events or experiences. While trauma can be debilitating, individuals have the remarkable capacity to heal and recover from these wounds.
When individuals confront traumatic experiences, they often develop coping mechanisms and resilience to manage the associated distress. Similarly, cognitive training aims to enhance adaptability and resilience by challenging the mind to respond to novel situations. Overcoming trauma requires individuals to adapt their thinking patterns, reframe negative thoughts, and cultivate a more positive mindset. This process mirrors the cognitive strategies employed in cognitive training exercises that improve mental flexibility and adaptability.
Psychological trauma can leave lasting imprints on the brain, altering neural pathways and affecting cognitive processes. However, just as cognitive training exercises can rewire the brain and enhance cognitive function, trauma recovery also involves reshaping neural connections. Therapeutic techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy actively target maladaptive thoughts and behaviors, allowing individuals to create new neural pathways and establish healthier cognitive patterns.
Cognitive training aims to bolster cognitive resources such as attention, memory, and executive functions. In the context of trauma recovery, individuals often face difficulties in these areas due to the impact of trauma on cognitive functioning. However, by engaging in trauma-focused therapy and utilizing various cognitive techniques, individuals can rebuild their cognitive resources. This process involves improving attentional control, working memory, and decision-making abilities, which aligns with the goals of cognitive training programs.

The quick way to higher intelligence?

When children (but also adults) encounter difficulties, they tend to think handicapping thoughts: “I’m so stupid,” “I can’t do it.” All of these negative thoughts consume cognitive capacity.

A study by French researchers shows:

A simple reframing can succeed in leveraging this negative mechanism and freeing up the cognitive capacity so that it is once again available for more important tasks.

Study:

Autin, F., & Croizet, J. C. (2012). Improving working memory efficiency by reframing metacognitive interpretation of task difficulty. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 610.

Is personality irrelevant? – The Big Five and Career Success (Psychology, Personnel Selection, Business Psychology, Recruitment)

More than 100 years of research have impressively shown: Based on the Big Five personality factors, career success can be predicted surprisingly poorly on average (Schmidt, Oh & Shaffer, 2016). For example, a huge meta-analysis showed that the personality traits extroversion and emotional stability explain only 0.8% and 1.4% of the variance in job performance, respectively. By comparison, cognitive performance (intelligence) explained 42.5%!

So are personality traits really largely irrelevant at work? Get the answer in the video…

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Studies (small sample only):

Schmidt, F. L., Oh, I.-S., & Shaffer, J. A. (2016). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 100 years of research findings. Working paper retrieved from www.researchgate.net. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18843.26400

Van Aarde, N., Meiring, D., & Wiernik, B. M. (2017). The validity of the Big Five personality traits for job performance: Meta‐analyses of South African studies. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 25(3), 223-239.

Wilmot, M. P., & Ones, D. S. (2019). A century of research on conscientiousness at work. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(46), 23004-23010.

Wilmot, M. P., Wanberg, C. R., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Ones, D. S. (2019). Extraversion advantages at work: A quantitative review and synthesis of the meta-analytic evidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(12), 1447.

Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2022). Big five personality traits and performance: A quantitative synthesis of 50+ meta‐analyses. Journal of Personality, 90(4), 559-573.

Many people know the awkward situation: You meet someone on the street and just want to say hello, and suddenly your voice doesn’t sound relaxed and melodious, but slightly broken. And you think to yourself, “How awkward. That sounded like I wasn’t idiot who can not speak.”

In many ways, our vocal cords are like muscles that need constant exercise. In particular, if we speak little over a long period of time (or speak with incorrect speaking technique over a long period of time), the voice can suffer.

Because of what is called embodied cognition, voice failures can sometimes feel like a personal failure. On the other hand, a relaxed-sounding, deep voice can also have a relaxing effect on the speakern…

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Studies (small sample only):

Foglia, L., & Wilson, R. A. (2013). Embodied cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 4(3), 319-325.

Fugate, J. M., Macrine, S. L., & Cipriano, C. (2019). The role of embodied cognition for transforming learning. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 7(4), 274-288.

Gronau, Q. F., Van Erp, S., Heck, D. W., Cesario, J., Jonas, K. J., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2017). A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: The case of felt power. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 2(1), 123-138.

Marmolejo-Ramos, F., Murata, A., Sasaki, K., Yamada, Y., Ikeda, A., Hinojosa, J. A., … & Ospina, R. (2020). Your face and moves seem happier when I smile. Experimental Psychology.

Röhricht, F., Gallagher, S., Geuter, U., & Hutto, D. D. (2014). Embodied cognition and body psychotherapy: The construction of new therapeutic environments. Sensoria: A Journal of Mind, Brain & Culture, 10(1).

Stel, M., Dijk, E. V., Smith, P. K., Dijk, W. W. V., & Djalal, F. M. (2012). Lowering the pitch of your voice makes you feel more powerful and think more abstractly. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(4), 497-502.

What does really help after a traumatic experience? Should we, directly after a traumatic experience, talk through the traumatic experience again in great detail in a conversation with a psychologist (or another person we trust) so that we can process the experience better? Or might it be better to play Tetris, for example. The answer is perplexing…

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Studies and books (only a small selection):

James, E. L., Bonsall, M. B., Hoppitt, L., Tunbridge, E. M., Geddes, J. R., Milton, A. L., & Holmes, E. A. (2015). Computer game play reduces intrusive memories of experimental trauma via reconsolidation-update mechanisms. Psychological science, 26(8), 1201-1215.

Holmes, E. A., & Iyadurai, L. (2020). Can we develop a «cognitive therapeutic vaccine» for the early hours after trauma to prevent the reccurrence of intrusive memories of trauma. Risk Management of Terrorism Induced Stress, 66-71.

Horsch, A., Vial, Y., Favrod, C., Harari, M. M., Blackwell, S. E., Watson, P., … & Holmes, E. A. (2017). Reducing intrusive traumatic memories after emergency caesarean section: A proof-of-principle randomized controlled study. Behaviour research and therapy, 94, 36-47.

Iyadurai, L., Blackwell, S. E., Meiser-Stedman, R., Watson, P. C., Bonsall, M. B., Geddes, J. R., … & Holmes, E. A. (2018). Preventing intrusive memories after trauma via a brief intervention involving Tetris computer game play in the emergency department: a proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial. Molecular psychiatry, 23(3), 674-682.

Kanstrup, M., Kontio, E., Geranmayeh, A., Olofsdotter Lauri, K., Moulds, M. L., & Holmes, E. A. (2021). A single case series using visuospatial task interference to reduce the number of visual intrusive memories of trauma with refugees. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 28(1), 109-123.

Kessler, H., Schmidt, A. C., James, E. L., Blackwell, S. E., von Rauchhaupt, M., Harren, K., … & Holmes, E. A. (2020). Visuospatial computer game play after memory reminder delivered three days after a traumatic film reduces the number of intrusive memories of the experimental trauma. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 67, 101454.

Kessler, H., Holmes, E. A., Blackwell, S. E., Schmidt, A. C., Schweer, J. M., Bücker, A., … & Kehyayan, A. (2018). Reducing intrusive memories of trauma using a visuospatial interference intervention with inpatients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 86(12), 1076.

Lau-Zhu, A., Holmes, E. A., & Porcheret, K. (2018). Intrusive memories of trauma in the laboratory: Methodological developments and future directions. Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports, 5(1), 61-71.

Does your smartphone make you dumb?

Can the mere presence of a smartphone affect our intelligence? Does a smartphone that is next to us on the desk make it harder for us to concentrate? A very interesting study delivers amazing results:

Ward, A.F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M.W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2 (2), 140-154.