Skip to Content Skip to Content

Psychology

Laughing gas: An old drug’s new trick to fight depression
A laughing gas mask hovering over a patient’s perspective.

Image: vzmaze via Getty Images

Laughing gas: An old drug’s new trick to fight depression

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine have uncovered how nitrous oxide, an anesthetic used worldwide since the 19th century, could help lift mood fast in people with depression that resists other treatments.

From Penn Medicine News

1 min. read

Modeling careers in STEM
Allyson Mackey, Melissa Kelly, Ping Wang, and Vanessa Chan speaking to audience.

This year’s Women in STEM Symposium featured (left to right) Allyson Mackey of the School of Arts & Sciences, Melissa Kelly of Penn Center for Innovation, Ping Wang of the Perelman School of Medicine, and Vanessa Chan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. 

nocred

Modeling careers in STEM

At Penn’s annual Women in STEM Symposium, Vanessa Chan, Allyson Mackey, Ping Wang, and Melissa Kelly shared lessons from their experiences.

3 min. read

Small incentives drive lasting seatbelt habits, cut unbuckled trips by a third

Small incentives drive lasting seatbelt habits, cut unbuckled trips by a third

Research from the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn Medicine’s Nudge Unit that incentivized drivers of connected cars with reward money to build and maintain seatbelt habits shows promise for promoting safer, consistent buckling behavior.

2 min. read

A simple way to boost math progress
Angela Duckworth lecturing a class with a white board.

“Our results showed that simple, low-cost nudges can help teachers support student progress in math,” says Penn psychology professor Angela Duckworth.

nocred

A simple way to boost math progress

Researchers from Penn’s Behavior Change for Good Initiative and their collaborators conducted a megastudy to investigate whether low-cost nudges–informed by behavioral science–could help teachers accelerate student progress in math.

3 min. read