Study: Social media users shy away from opinions
http://www.kswt.com/story/26372031/study-social-media-users-shy-away-from-opinions
WASHINGTON (AP) - People who use Facebook and Twitter are less likely than others to share their opinions on hot-button issues, even when they are offline, according to a surprising new survey by the Pew Research Center.
The study, done in conjunction with Rutgers University in New Jersey, challenges the view of social media as a vehicle for debate by suggesting that sites like Facebook and Twitter might actually encourage self-censorship. Researchers said they detect what they call the "spiral of silence" phenomenon: Unless people know their audience agrees, they are likely to shy away from discussing anything controversial.
In other words, most of us are more comfortable with ice-bucket challenges than political banter.
"People do not tend to be using social media for this type of important political discussion. And if anything, it may actually be removing conversation from the public sphere," said Keith Hampton, a communications professor at Rutgers University who helped conduct the study.
The survey was conducted shortly after Edward Snowden acknowledged leaking classified intelligence that exposed widespread government surveillance of Americans' phone and email records. Hampton said the Snowden case provided researchers with a concrete example of a major national issue that divided Americans and dominated news coverage.
Of the 1,801 adults surveyed, 86 percent they would be willing to discuss their views about government surveillance if it came up at various in-person scenarios, such as at a public meeting, at work or at a restaurant with friends. But just 42 percent of Facebook or Twitter users said they would be willing to post online about it.
What's more, the typical Facebook user - someone who logs onto the site a few times per day - was actually half as likely to discuss the Snowden case at a public meeting as a non-Facebook user. Someone who goes on Twitter a few times per day was one-quarter as likely to share opinions in the workplace compared with those who never use Twitter.
Only when a person felt that their Facebook network agreed with their opinion were they twice as likely to join a site discussion on the issue, the survey found.
Another finding was that social media didn't make it easier for people to share opinions they wouldn't otherwise share. Of the 14 percent of Americans unwilling to discuss the Snowden case with others in person, fewer than one-half of 1 percent were willing to discuss it on social media.
Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center Internet Project, said it's possible that social media actually sensitize people to different opinions.
"Because they use social media, they may know more about the depth of disagreement over the issue in their wide circle of contacts," he said. "This might make them hesitant to speak up either online or offline for fear of starting an argument, offending or even losing a friend."
While many people might say keeping political debate off Facebook is a matter of tact, Hampton said there is a concern that a person's fear of offending someone on social media stifles debate.
"A society where people aren't able to share their opinions openly and gain from understanding alternative perspectives is a polarized society," he said.
Online:
Pew study: http://www.pewinternet.org /2014/08/26/social-media-and-the-spiral-of-silence
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Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Brains of sex addicts may be wired like those of drug addicts, study finds
http://www.kswt.com/story/25997877/brains-of-sex-addicts-may-be-wired-like-those-of-drug-addicts-study-finds
(HealthDay News) -- In people with sex addiction, pornography affects the brain in ways that are similar to that seen in drug addicts as they consume drugs, a new study finds.
"There are clear differences in brain activity between patients who have compulsive sexual behavior and healthy volunteers. These differences mirror those of drug addicts," study author Dr. Valerie Voon, of the University of Cambridge in England, said in a university news release.
Voon's research involved 19 men with sex addiction and a "control group" of 19 men without the disorder, also known as compulsive sexual behavior. The men with sex addiction had started watching pornography, and more of it, at an earlier age than those in the control group.
"The patients in our trial were all people who had substantial difficulties controlling their sexual behavior and this was having significant consequences for them, affecting their lives and relationships," Voon explained.
"In many ways, they show similarities in their behavior to patients with drug addictions," she said. "We wanted to see if these similarities were reflected in brain activity, too."
The study participants' brain activity was monitored while they watched either pornographic videos or sports videos. While watching the pornographic videos, the men with sex addiction showed much greater activity in three areas of the brain compared with men in the control group.
These three areas of the brain -- the ventral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate and amygdala -- are involved in processing reward and motivation, and also become highly activated in drug addicts in response to drugs.
The study was published July 11 in the journal PLoS One.
"Whilst these findings are interesting, it's important to note, however, that they could not be used to diagnose the condition," Voon cautioned. "Nor does our research necessarily provide evidence that these individuals are addicted to porn -- or that porn is inherently addictive. Much more research is required to understand this relationship between compulsive sexual behavior and drug addiction."
According to the researchers, prior studies have suggested that sex addiction -- an obsession with sexual thoughts, feelings or behavior that they are unable to control -- affects as many as one in 25 adults.
There's more on sex addiction at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Sperm's anti-germ 'shield' might play role in fertility
http://www.kswt.com/story/26271791/sperms-anti-germ-shield-might-play-role-in-fertility
HealthDay News) -- Preliminary new research points to the possibility that some infertile men could benefit from boosting a protein shield that protects sperm cells from germs.
While it's too early to know if the research will lead to any new treatments, one infertility expert said that any treatment would most likely be applied only to sperm used in the process of in-vitro fertilization.
Still, the expert, Gary Cherr of the University of California, Davis, noted that "this study adds another piece to the puzzle" surrounding men who are infertile for no apparent reason because it suggests something may be wrong with the germ-fighting sperm shield.
At issue in the new study are proteins known as defensins, which provide protection against germs. In particular, the researchers looked at one protein known as human beta-defensin 1, which is found in a variety of types of tissue in the body, "but its role in the male reproductive tract is not clear," said study co-author Hsiao Chang Chan, a professor at the school of biomedical sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Other research has suggested that men may become less fertile if these proteins are missing. Cherr noted, "Sperm would need antimicrobial protection from microbes that are present in the female reproductive tract."
This fact raises the possibility that boosting the levels of the proteins would provide more protection against germs as sperm try to survive long enough to fertilize a female egg.
The new study tested this idea in the laboratory.
The researchers checked the levels of human beta-defensin 1 in the sperm cells of men who suffered from poor sperm motility (asthenozoospermia), meaning that their sperm don't move properly, or a fairly common infection within the genital tract known as leukocytospermia. The investigators found that the protein levels were lower than in men without fertility problems.
The researchers also boosted the levels of the protein in the sperm cells and found they moved more efficiently, had greater germ-fighting powers and could penetrate eggs more effectively.
Chan said the researchers included the sperm of 325 infertile men and 190 fertile men.
The next steps are to continue research and understand whether boosting the levels of the protein is safe, Chan noted.
Other questions remain as well.
Cherr, who studies infertility and is a professor of environmental toxicology and nutrition at UC Davis, said it's not clear why boosting human beta-defensin 1 on sperm would have an effect on fertility since the protein is found in the female reproductive tract also and would presumably fight germs there.
An estimated 10 percent to 15 percent of couples are infertile, the study authors noted. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, men are fully or partially responsible for infertility in 40 percent of couples who are unable to conceive.
The study is published in the Aug. 13 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
More information
For more about infertility, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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