Stroke can impair a person’s ability to communicate, resulting in a disorder known as aphasia. To facilitate recovery, scientists must understand how language is processed normally as well as how a stroke may impact the language system in the brain. Dr Cynthia K. Thompson, Ralph and Jean Sundin Professor of Communication Science and Professor of Neurology at Northwestern University, has been researching normal and disordered language for over thirty years. Her focus is on understanding and supporting the recovery of language processes when the brain has been damaged.

Sexual pain, often referred to as vaginismus and dyspareunia, can be a debilitating condition that prevents many women from having penetrative sexual intercourse. While many studies have investigated this disorder, its psychological underpinnings are not yet fully understood. Dr Thula Koops, Christian Wiessner, Professor Johannes Ehrenthal, and Professor Peer Briken at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf recently explored some of the psychological dimensions of women’s sexual pain. They conducted this research from the standpoint of psychodynamics, which involves exploring links to childhood experiences and unconscious thoughts and feelings.

Limited research has explored the causes of sexual pain and difficulties with intercourse that are experienced by women across the world. Dr Thula Koops and Professor Peer Briken at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf have spoken to women experiencing these difficulties and listened to their real stories and thoughts on the origins of their sexual difficulties. Based on these interviews, two main themes emerged. The first links these difficulties to perceived implications of womanhood, while the second focuses on the separation between body and mind in relation to the cause.

There is a strong link between identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) and homelessness. Dr Ruth McNair from the University of Melbourne analysed data investigating risk and resilience factors associated with homelessness according to sexual identity in the Australian population to understand the associations with homelessness and to improve LGB-inclusive homelessness policy and services.

The multi-theory model – or ‘MTM’ – of health behavior change provides a theoretical framework for understanding and promoting health behaviors. Professor Manoj Sharma from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has now applied this model to understand the factors that lead people to take up meditation – or ‘dhyana’ – and to maintain this health-related behavior over time. His findings confirm the utility of the MTM in informing behavior change interventions and open up important avenues for future research.