Humans spend on average 6.5 hours a day online. A large portion of that time is dedicated to information-seeking. How does this activity impact mental health? We assess this over four studies (n = 1,145). We reveal that the valence of information sought affects mental health, which in turn influences the valence of information sought, forming a self-reinforcing loop. We quantified the valence of text on webpages participants chose to browse using natural language processing and found that browsing more negative information was associated with worse mental health and mood. By manipulating the webpages browsed and measuring mood and vice versa, we show that the relationship is causal and bidirectional. Finally, we developed an intervention that altered web-browsing patterns in a manner that improved mood. Together, the findings suggest that the information sought reflects mental state and shapes it, creating a loop that may perpetuate mental health problems. The results also provide a potential method for assessing and enhancing welfare in the digital age.
This study aimed to test theoretical predictions over biological underpinnings of previously documented phenotypic correlations between human language-related and musical rhythm traits. Here, after identifying significant genetic correlations between rhythm, dyslexia and various language-related traits, we adapted multivariate methods to capture genetic signals common to genome-wide association studies of rhythm (N = 606,825) and dyslexia (N = 1,138,870). The results revealed 16 pleiotropic loci (P < 5 × 10−8) jointly associated with rhythm impairment and dyslexia, and intricate shared genetic and neurobiological architectures. The joint genetic signal was enriched for foetal and adult brain cell-specific regulatory regions, highlighting complex cellular composition in their shared underpinnings. Local genetic correlation with a key white matter tract (the left superior longitudinal fasciculus-I) substantiated hypotheses about auditory–motor connectivity as a genetically influenced, evolutionarily relevant neural endophenotype common to rhythm and language processing. Overall, we provide empirical evidence of multiple aspects of shared biology linking language and musical rhythm, contributing novel insight into the evolutionary relationships between human musicality and linguistic communication traits.
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