#new-study

They say that our taste in music can reveal a lot about our personalities, but could it also indicate a mental disorder?

According to researchers at New York University, there’s a good chance it could. Looking to find a way to identify psychopaths, they used song preference as a possible indicator, believing it could help predict the disorder that affects about one percent of the general population and about one in five prison inmates.

It’s long been assumed that psychopaths prefer listening to classical music like the fictional cannibal, Hannibal Lecter.

Or, in Patrick Bateman’s case, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, and even Whitney Houston. However, research from Channel 4 in the U.K. has shown that people who score high on psychopath tests prefer rap and heavy metal the most.

In part, New York University’s study backed that up. Studying 200 people and 260 songs, the researchers found that those who scored higher on psychopath tests were more likely to be fans of “No Diggity”…

Growing up, you probably remember hearing a lot of common statements about how we learn and the way our brains work. You likely even still think of them as facts.

As a kid, I was always under the impression that we only use about 10 percent of our brains — in fact, I’m pretty sure one of my teachers told me this. What I didn’t know was that this is actually a neuromyth, or a misconception about brain research. In fact, according to a new study carried out by Kelly Macdonald, a graduate student at the University of Houston and former teacher, it’s one many believe — including educators.

In the study, Macdonald and other researchers presented a group of 3,045 people, 598 educators, and 234 people who’d completed neuroscience courses with an online survey. They were then instructed to rate various statements as true or false.

Flickr / misskprimary

They were all neuromyths. Included were statements that a common sign of dyslexia is seeing letters backwards, we only use 10 percent of our brains, sugar affects attention, individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style (the most widely believed myth), people are right- or left-brained, and that listening to classical music enhances children’s reasoning ability.

Flickr / Eric and Mary Ellen

On average, the public believed 68 percent of the neuromyths on the list, while educators believed 56 percent and those trained in neuroscience believed 46 percent. What’s interesting is that younger participants tended to answer more of these questions correctly.

Flickr / Kim

New research begs the question: Should you stop taking aspirin? (Photo by Getty Images)

Prescribing an aspirin a day as part of a preventive regimen to reduce the risk of first-time heart attack or stroke is a controversial directive by docs — and now, new research out of Japan may explain why.

According to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers sought to monitor the effects of a preventative dose of aspirin. The scientists split 14,646 men and women aged 60 to 85 into two groups. Of those directed to take an aspirin a day, 58 died of heart-related incidents with 2.77 percent suffering a fatal or non-fatal heart attack or stroke. The numbers in the non-aspirin group were very similar, with 57 deaths and 2.96 percent experiencing heart attack or stroke.

After discovering there was no statistically significant difference in preventing a person’s first heart-related episode with low-dose aspirin, the study’s review board stopped the research after five years.

This begs the question. Should you stop taking aspirin?

Cardiologist Kevin Dunsky, M.D, director of diagnostic and preventive medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, says this new finding should cause medical professionals to take a second look at drug. “It’s certainly interesting,” he told Yahoo Health. “There isn’t great data that anyone who just exhibits risk factors should be on aspirin.” Dunsky told Yahoo Health. Right now, doctors are left to evaluate their patients on “an individual, case-by-case basis” when determining if taking an aspirin a day is their best option.

Related: 5 Heart-Healthy Eating Habits to Steal from Europeans

The drug might be right for some people with heart issues. Dr. Dunsky stresses that this study only found that aspirin did not make a difference in primary prevention, or first-time, heart attacks. Men and women who have already suffered a heart attack may still benefit from a dose a day for secondary prevention — but, he says, doctors still have to weigh the benefits against the risks of the drug for each patient, like an increased risk of bleeding.

If a doctor has suggested you take aspirin, don’t stop — at least not yet. Your individual symptoms and medical history might mean he or she has good reason to prescribe you the pill.

Dr. Dunsky does, however, recommend addressing any concerns with your cardiologist or primary-care physician. “Ask about the risks for you personally,” he says. “We still need to find out: does aspirin tip the scale and have more positives than negatives? Hopefully, this study should lead to a lot more questions and thought.”