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Department News

New research finds link between poor air quality and impaired cognition in infants

New research has found poor air quality could be causing cognitive deficits in babies and toddlers.
Image of smoke filling air

Research says talking to toddlers shapes early brain development

New research reveals that talking to babies and toddlers helps shape their developing brain.
An image of two parents interacting with a young child

New study reveals evidence of early Ice Age writing and what it meant

A research team including two Durham University academics have decoded the meaning of markings seen in Ice Age drawings, and in doing so found evidence of early writing dating back at least 14,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Image of Horse drawn onto the wall of Niaux Cave (Ariège, France) around 15,000 years ago. Credit - Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann

Novel collaboration project aims to explore Ice Age through art

A new interdepartmental research collaboration between our Archaeology and Psychology Departments are experimenting with the online visual perceptions of Ice Age arts through their newly launched project website, Palaeo Vision: Do you see through Ice Age Eyes?
Ice age arts 2

Psychology experts launch training tool to help support neurodivergent and autistic pupils in schools

We are delighted to announce the launch of a free evidenced-based online Triple-A training tool for teachers, developed by our team in the Centre for Neurodiversity and Development. Triple-A refers to a set of ‘hidden’ challenges with attention, arousal (sensory processing), and anxiety, which are experienced by many autistic and neurodivergent pupils at school
Logo for the Triple-A project

Need help tackling your procrastination? This could be the book for you!

Professor Fuschia Sirois, a globally renowned expert in the psychology of procrastination in our Department of Psychology, has distilled her game-changing insights into a new book to help procrastinators understand the issue, and how to tackle it.
Image of alarm clock with notes about delaying tasks

Increasing awareness of neurodiversity

We are really pleased that the Centre for Neurodiversity & Development has been awarded funding for this new project from the institutional EDI fund for increasing awareness of the needs and requirements of neurodiverse students within our community.
A chalk drawing of a human head and brain

Helping the rehabilitation of people with partial visual loss

Award-winning research by our psychologists has led to the development of an app to help with the rehabilitation of people with partial visual loss following brain injury. Called DREX - Durham Reading and Exploration - the free app increases general vision-related functioning and thereby confidence, independence, and quality of life.
Digital brain illustation in red and blue

Apes show similar interaction patterns to humans

A new study led by experts from our Psychology Department has revealed that apes such as chimps and bonobos show striking similarities to humans in how they interact using signals.
An ape scratching its nose

Ups and downs in mood may affect performance in ultramarathons

Many long-distance runners will know how it feels for that little voice in your head to make you feel good one minute and terrible the next. Now a new study carried out with ultrarunners shows how beneficial it may be to try and keep your mood as stable as you can during a race as it could help to achieve a faster time.
A woman running an ultra marathon

Does a mother’s stress and depression affect how her unborn baby moves?

New research from our Psychology and Mathematical Sciences departments found that stress and/or depression during pregnancy, affects how much unborn babies touch and engage in the womb.

Can bad weather really cause headaches?

In this article, Professor Amanda Ellison explores the connection between headaches and the weather, and explains how to reduce the impact that headaches have on our daily lives.
Student listening in a lecture