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

    The Stone Masters

    Investigations of modern-day expert and novice craftsmen of stone tools and decorative stone beads offer insights into the making of stone implements thousands and perhaps even millions of years ago.

  2. Sleep debt exacts deceptive cost

    Moderate but sustained sleep deficits undermine alertness and other mental faculties to a potentially dangerous extent, although people who experience this level of sleep loss usually don't feel particularly drowsy.

  3. Paleontology

    Fine Toothcomb: New fossils add to primate-origins debate

    The discovery of 40-million-year-old teeth and jaw fragments belonging to ancient forms of lorises and bushbabies doubles the age of the fossil record for a major primate group.

  4. Uncertainty fires up some neurons

    In monkeys, a small set of brain cells that transmit the chemical messenger dopamine to various neural destinations works as an uncertainty meter.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Pressurized Pregnancies: Schizophrenia linked to fetal diuretic exposure

    A Danish study has found that pregnant women who take diuretic medication for high blood pressure during the third trimester substantially raise the chances that their unborn children will develop schizophrenia by age 35.

  6. Brain training aids kids with dyslexia

    Preliminary brain-imaging evidence indicates that after completing an intensive reading-remediation program, children with dyslexia not only read better but also exhibit signs of increased activity in key brain areas as they read.

  7. Anthropology

    Ancient people get dated Down Under

    New dating analyses indicate that people reached southeastern Australia between 50,000 and 46,000 years ago and that two human skeletons previously unearthed there were buried about 40,000 years ago.

  8. Working Out: Welfare reform hasn’t changed kids so far

    A study conducted among low-income families in three states suggests that the emotional health and academic skills of preschoolers and young adolescents don't suffer when their mothers move off welfare and into the workforce.

  9. Archaeology

    Grave surprise rises in Jamestown fort

    Excavations in the 17th-century fort at Jamestown, Va., have yielded a grave containing the skeleton of a high-ranking male colonist.

  10. Anthropology

    Pieces of a Disputed Past: Fossil finds enter row over humanity’s roots

    Two new fossil discoveries have fueled scientific debates about the evolutionary status of a pair of species traditionally considered to have been our direct ancestors, Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

  11. Anthropology

    Evolution’s DNA Fusion: Hybrid gene forms clue to human, ape origins

    A gene of mixed evolutionary pedigree may have transformed mammalian reproduction, leading to the evolution of apes and humans.

  12. Archaeology

    Farming sprouted in ancient Ecuador

    Analyses of microscopic plant remains from two archaeological sites indicate that people began to grow squash in Ecuador's lowlands between 10,000 and 9,000 years ago, when agriculture was also taking root in Mexico.