Robotics and the sense of self in humans

Three scientists discuss the concept of “sense of self” in humans and explore how robots can be used to better understand the phenomenon. The review paper has been published in Science Robotics

 News Release 18-Nov-2024

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia - IIT

Genova (Italy), 18 November 2024 - In a review paper published recently in Science Robotics a cognitive roboticist, cognitive psychologist and a psychiatrist discuss the concept of “sense of self” in humans, and they explore how robots can be used to better understand the phenomenon.

The experience of being, or having, a self—contained within our bodies and able to act in the world—comes naturally to all of us as human beings, along with a feeling of being the same self from day-to-day and of seeing others as also being selves. Robots could be used either as embodied models of the self (and its sub-components) or as testing platforms for psychological experiments. The authors suggest the possibility of generating in robots some of the processes which contribute to the “sense of self” in humans.

The authors are Agnieszka Wykowska, head of Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction unit at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology) in Italy, Tony Prescott, Professor of Cognitive Robotics at University of Sheffield in UK and Kai Vogeley, Professor at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University of Cologne in Germany.

The inquiry originates from the idea that the sense of self in humans is intrinsically tied to having a body, feeling it, and experiencing actions and interactions. A key idea emerging from current research studies in human cognition is that the human sense of self is not just one thing but is made up of many ongoing processes, such as the sense of “owning” a body and the sense of having “agency”, that is the feeling of control over one’s actions. Today roboticists are aiming to construct robots that could reliably distinguish their own bodies (the self-other distinction) and detect the consequences of their own actions (agency). From this perspective, robots can serve as embodied models of the human cognitive processes underlying the sense of self. However, robots can also be used experimental probes for exploring the sense of self, as they possess bodies and can interact with both humans and their environment.

The three authors explore using robots in these two specific ways.

The first is programming robots to simulate processes within the human mind and brain that relate to the experience of self, as understood through psychology and neuroscience. Current research studies suggest that in humans a sense of self develops as the brain’s best explanation of its sensory experience, and its own role in generating those sensory signals.  A robot, being a physically embodied actor, is a suitable platform to test those theories.

The second approach is using robots in psychological experiments where humans interact with them while the robots display social capacities, such as communication through language or joint attention. These experiments could allow for an analysis whether people experience these robots as social others and whether the mental states they have about robots are similar to those they have when interacting with other people. Some experiments conducted by Wykowska’s group at IIT have already shown that sometimes, humans develop sense of joint agency with robots, when they act together as a team and when the robot is perceived as an intentional agent.

The authors also draw a connection between the development of the sense of self in humans over the course of life and the possibility of transferring some of its features to robots. For instance, by age 4, children have a sense of themselves as existing through time, and of other people as also having selves. These aspects of self are beginning to be investigated in robots by creating memory systems for robots that are similar to human autobiographical memory.  However, this work is at an early stage; current robots do not have awareness of themselves as persisting from day to day, nor are they aware of others (humans or robots) as being selves. 

The article also highlights future directions and open challenges in understanding the sense of self through robotics, especially when it is compromised in people due to specific conditions, such as schizophrenia or autism.  By understanding such diversity, authors hope that scientists may be able to gain new insights into the building blocks of the experience of self.

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Journal

Science Robotics

DOI

10.1126/scirobotics.adn2733 

Method of Research

Systematic review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Understanding the Sense of Self through Robotics

 

Why substitute sugar with maple syrup?

First human clinical trial explores how replacing refined sugars with pure maple syrup can help in preventing metabolic disease

Ellen LaNicca Fearless PR

 

image: 

Dr. Andre Marette, PhD, was the lead scientist for first human trial substituting refined sugars with pure maple syrup. The study found significant improvement in multiple cardiometabolic risk factors.   

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Credit: Maple From Canada

Quebec, CA, November 18, 2024 – A new study published in the The Journal of Nutrition, found that substituting two tablespoons of pure maple syrup for refined sugars reduced several cardiometabolic risk factors in humans.  It was the first placebo-controlled clinical trial exploring potential health benefits of maple syrup in humans.

“We know from decades of research that maple syrup is more than just sugar. It contains over 100 natural compounds, including polyphenols, that are known to prevent disease in part through their anti-inflammatory effects,” remarked Dr. André Marette, PhD, and lead scientist on the study.  “Because the fundamental chemistry of maple syrup is unique, I wondered if ingesting maple syrup instead of an equivalent amount of refined sugar would differently impact the cardiometabolic health and the intestinal microbiota in humans.  The results were extremely encouraging. I did not expect to see so many improvements of risk factors within a relatively short treatment period.”   

The study was conducted by a Laval University team led by Dr. André Marette, PhD, at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute and Dr. Marie-Claude Vohl, PhD, at the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods.

Study Protocol

Forty-two volunteers from the greater Québec city area, between the ages of 18-75 in good health, and with a BMI of 23-40, participated in the study. Participants substituted 5% of their daily caloric intake (corresponding to 2 tablespoons) from refined sugars with either Canadian maple syrup or an artificially flavored sucrose syrup. Each phase lasted 8 weeks with participants switching between maple syrup and sucrose syrup groups after a four-week washout period. The cross-over design ensured that the same test subject was his or her own control, consuming both placebo and maple syrup. Primary outcomes focused on the oral glucose tolerance test, the OGTT.  Secondary outcomes included changes in blood lipid profile, blood pressure, body fat composition (measured by DEXA scan) and changes in gut microbiota composition.  

Maple, the Smarter Sweetener, Improves Multiple Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Blood Sugar Lowered

Study participants who consumed pure maple syrup had an improved response to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) than those who received a flavored syrup of refined sugar. Their bodies managed blood sugar levels better after eating (-50.59 vs. +29.93).

Blood Pressure Lowered

Blood pressure was also lowered in the subjects who consumed maple syrup during the trial.  Systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the maple syrup group (-2.72 mm Hg) while it increased slightly in the sucrose group (+0.87 mm Hg). “Lowering blood pressure continues to be an important factor in lessening the risk of cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Marette commented. “Natural sweeteners, such as pure maple syrup, when substituted for refined sugars, can be part of an overall solution in helping to prevent metabolic diseases.”

Abdominal Fat Reduced

Visceral fat is the deep fat that wraps around the internal organs in your belly.  It can increase an individual’s risk of serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke. The maple syrup trial showed that android fat mass, the fat in the abdominal region, significantly decreased in the maple syrup group as compared to an increase in the group consuming the sucrose solution (-7.83 g vs. +67.61 g).

Healthier Gut

An unexpected discovery was the improved levels of potentially beneficial gut bacteria and a decrease in levels of potentially harmful gut bacteria in the maple syrup participants. The study showed a reduction in Klebsiella species and Bacteroides pectinophilus, which are linked to inflammation and metabolic disorders, and the increased growth of beneficial bacteria like Lactocaseibacillus casei and Clostridium beijerinckii.

“Both individually and collectively, the study findings are quite significant,” Dr. Marette noted.  “The combined decrease of such key risk factors may help to reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Making a commitment to lifestyle changes and small adjustments to our everyday diets is important and can be a powerful tool in preventing future diseases.”

According to one participant: “Before the study, I would consume pure maple products regularly but not consistently. I have always enjoyed it. Today my routine is to replace refined sugars with 2 tablespoons of pure Canadian maple syrup daily.”

First Human Trial Builds Upon American Researcher’s Cellular and Animal Studies

Dr. Marette’s clinical study builds upon his own work in animal models of diabetes and previous work on maple syrup and its bioactives by  American scientist Navindra P. Seeram, PhD, of the University of Rhode Island, College of Pharmacy. Dr. Seeram’s extensive foundational work with maple syrup set the stage for this first human clinical trial. “With each new study, we learn more benefits that natural products from medicinal plants and functional foods, like maple syrup, provide.” noted Dr. Seeram. “The significant promising results of this first human trial provide more reasons for us to educate consumers about maple syrup’s many health benefits. It is truly a ‘smarter sweetener’ and a healthier alternative to refined sugar.”

“While this study was limited to a relatively small sample size (42 men and women) and took place during a relatively short duration of time, the results are still significant,” Dr. Marette remarked.  “We now have human evidence to support replacing refined sugars with maple syrup, a natural sweetener, for preventing metabolic diseases.  Our next goal is to conduct larger studies with other populations to explore how replacing refined sugars with maple syrup might impact their unique health conditions.”     

General nutrition claims for 2 tablespoons of maple syrup:

• Excellent source of manganese (35%).
• Good source of riboflavin (15%).
• Source of calcium (2%), thiamin (2%), potassium (2%) and copper (8%).
• It contains 12% fewer calories than in light corn syrup.
• By comparison, refined sugar requires a large amount of processing and therefore lacks any real nutritional value. 

The study was jointly funded by Québec Maple Syrup Producers and the Québec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) through its healthy food production initiative, the Programme Alimentation santé.

To find out more about  this and other clinical studies about maple syrup, please visit ppaq.ca/en/medias/clinical-study.

The Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) represent over 13,500 maple producers and 8,400 maple enterprises. Québec produces 72% of the world’s maple syrup and exports it to over 70 countries. 

  

In the first ever human clinical study, replacing refined sugars with the same amount of pure maple syrup for 5% of daily energy intake resulted in improved glycemic response, lower systolic blood pressure and reduced abdominal fat.  

Maple syrup provides functional food benefits for cardiometabolic health, when replacing refined sugars.  

Maple Syrup from Canada (IMAGE)

Ellen LaNicca Fearless PR

Maple syrup from Canada is an excellent source of manganese (35%), a good source of riboflavin (15%), calcium (2%), thiamin (2%) potassium (2%) and copper (8%) 

Credit

Maple from Canada

Journal

Journal of Nutrition

DOI

10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.08.014 

Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Substituting Refined Sugars With Maple Syrup Decreases Key Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Individuals With Mild Metabolic Alterations: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Crossover Trial

COI Statement

The study was jointly funded by Quebec Maple Syrup Producers and the Quebec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) through its healthy food production initiative, the Programme Alimentation sante.

 

Alcohol-related deaths in the US more than double from 1999 to 2020

Researchers explore overall trends as well as by age, gender, race and region

Florida Atlantic University

 

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The sharpest spike occurred among 25–34-year-olds (nearly fourfold), while individuals aged 55–64 had the highest rates. Men consistently had higher rates but women saw the largest proportional rise, with deaths increasing 2.5 times.

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Credit: Florida Atlantic University

In the United States and globally, alcohol consumption is a major cause of preventable death and disability and increases liver disease, mental health disorders and accidents.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine explored U.S. trends in alcohol-related deaths from 1999 to 2020 overall as well as by age, gender, race and region, using the publicly available U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER).

Results of the clinical research study, published in The American Journal of Medicine, reveal that alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. have surged dramatically in the last two decades, with the mortality rate nearly doubling from 10.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2020. The total number of alcohol-related deaths soared from 19,356 to 48,870, a dramatic twofold increase. Every age group has suffered increases, with the most alarming spike – nearly fourfold – in those aged 25 to 34.

The 85 and older age group saw a possible but nonsignificant increase. Additionally, individuals aged 55-64 had both the steepest rise in mortality and the highest absolute rates in both 1999 and 2020. Both men and women experienced significant increases in alcohol-related deaths, but men had the highest rates in both years and saw the steepest increase overall. Women, however, saw the largest proportional rise, with deaths increasing from 4.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 in 2020.

Deaths in women increased two-and-a-half times, while Asian and Pacific Islander communities experienced the steepest rise of 2.4 times. Regionally, the Midwest experienced the greatest jump, with an increase of 2.5 times in alcohol-related mortality, followed by the Northeast, West and South.

 “Our study found significant gender differences in alcohol-related mortality. While men had higher overall death rates, women experienced a larger relative increase, which may reflect changing social norms and the alcohol industry’s increased targeting of women through marketing campaigns,” said Panagiota “Yiota” Kitsantas, Ph.D., senior and corresponding author and professor and chair of the Department of Population Health and Social Medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “As alcohol consumption among women has grown, so have the associated risks. Women appear to be more vulnerable to alcohol’s harmful effects due, possibly, to differences in body composition and metabolism, leading to higher blood alcohol concentrations. Moreover, mental health issues like depression and anxiety, already more common in women, can be worsened by alcohol use.”

Findings from the study highlight significant clinical and public health challenges that may benefit from targeted interventions. Risk factors such as obesity, diabetes and liver damage complicate these challenges, accelerating alcohol-related mortality. Gender, demographic and regional differences should also guide health care strategies.

“Addressing these factors through tailored interventions could help combat the growing U.S. alcohol mortality epidemic,” said Kitsantas.

Additionally, findings from the study generate testable hypotheses for future research, which combined with further basic studies, will enable more informed clinical decisions and public health policies. In the meantime, the data suggest actionable solutions for health care providers and public health officials at all levels.

“Health care providers should recognize that heavy alcohol use is a leading risk factor for total mortality and cardiovascular disease, especially heart attacks and stroke,” said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., FACPM, co-author, the first Sir Richard Doll Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine in the departments of medicine and population health and social medicine, and senior academic advisor, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “To mitigate these risks, screening for alcohol use in primary care settings is essential. Coexisting conditions like overweight and obesity can accelerate liver damage, which may in turn lead to earlier onset of cirrhosis and liver cancer. The U.S. has the highest rates of overweight and obesity in the world and low levels of daily physical activity. The deleterious interaction of these factors may contribute to the observed trends in alcohol-related mortality, particularly in younger adults.”

Alcohol consumption varies significantly by region worldwide and in the U.S. According to 2019 data, Latvia had the highest annual per capita consumption at 13.2 liters, followed by France at 12.2 and the U.S. at 10. Descriptive data on mortality reveal complex links between alcohol use and premature deaths. Latvia, for example, leads in alcohol consumption and ranks third in total deaths, while France, despite high alcohol consumption, has low cardiovascular mortality but high rates of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In contrast, Russian men have high alcohol consumption and an elevated rate of cardiovascular mortality. These patterns illustrate the complex interrelationships of alcohol consumption, premature death and disease, regardless of the beverage type.

“Both globally and in the U.S., high levels of alcohol consumption are closely linked to premature deaths and disability,” said Hennekens. “The difference between consuming small amounts of alcohol daily and larger amounts could be the difference between preventing and causing premature death. One immediate effect of alcohol is liver damage, and in the U.S., the rising rates of obesity and diabetes also contribute to early liver damage.”

The authors say health care providers should be aware that in the U.S. as well as most populations throughout the world, individuals who consume large amounts of alcohol tend to have the highest risks of mortality as well as deaths from cardiovascular disease, which are predominantly due to heart attacks and stroke.

Co-authors are Alexandra Matarazzo, first author and a second-year FAU medical student; John Dunn, a second-year FAU medical student; Katerina Benson, a third-year premedical student at FAU; Yanna Willett, a third-year premedical student at Virginia Tech; Robert S. Levine, M.D., FACPM, an affiliate professor of family medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine; and Maria C. Mejia, M.D., a professor, Department of Population Health and Social Medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine.

- FAU -

About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine:

FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 157 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU’s commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. The Consortium currently has five Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residencies including internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and neurology.

 

About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.

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Journal

The American Journal of Medicine

DOI

10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.10.024 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

ew Clinical and Public Health Challenges: Increasing Trends in United States Alcohol Related Mortality

Article Publication Date

15-Nov-2024

 

This year’s dazzling aurora produced a spectacular display… of citizen science

Research Organization of Information and Systems

 

image: 

a) Aurora photos taken from Aomori, b) from Hokkaido, c) from Chubu, and d) from Tohoku, Japan

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Credit: a) 🄫KAGAYA b) ~d) @Courtesy of a citizen scientists

Citizen scientists in Japan enabled researchers to learn why May 2024’s aurora appeared a magenta color over the country. This effort in extending research beyond academies and laboratories has greater consequence for humanity than explaining pretty lights

Around the world, the historic geomagnetic superstorm of late spring 2024 inspired millions of non-scientists around the world—many armed with highly sensitive smartphone cameras—to take a fantastic, unprecedented number of images of the aurora it produced.

In Japan, this widespread popular uptake of what is now quite advanced imaging technology (even if it is kept in everyone’s pocket) proved to be a tremendous boon for atmospheric physicists and other scientists specializing in “space weather.” It allowed them to discover why the Northern Lights over Japan appeared as a mysterious magenta color this time instead of the typical red that is observed when aurorae are visible over that country.

The researchers describe both their findings and what could be a model for the organization of future “citizen-science” operations in the journal Scientific Reports on October 28.

In early May this year, one of the most extreme geomagnetic storms in the history of recording such events hit the Earth’s atmosphere. This great ‘storm’ in space, composed of ionized particles, is what produces the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, in the northern hemisphere and the aurora australis, or Southern Lights, in the southern hemisphere.

This time, however, the storm was so strong—the ninth most severe storm in the 110-year history of Japan’s Kakioka Magnetic Observatory, one of the oldest geomagnetic stations in the world—that the polar lights could be photographed at much lower latitudes than normal.

In Japan, space weather researchers took advantage of ordinary people taking pictures of the aurora with their smartphones to organize one of the densest citizen science observation efforts anywhere, despite being a low-latitude country where the aurora was somewhat fainter than in places like Canada or northern Europe.

The different colors of an aurora come from the emission of light from different atoms and molecules in the atmosphere when they are bombarded by the particles from space. The dramatic green hue seen in many photographs of the polar lights comes of atomic oxygen (single atoms of oxygen rather than molecular oxygen, or two oxygen atoms bound together) at the lower altitudes within the atmosphere that are visible to people. (The human eye is also just very sensitive to this color). At even lower altitudes, where atomic oxygen is less common, blue is more visible, and this comes from the greater presence of nitrogen.

At the very highest altitudes in the atmosphere, however, there is a lower concentration of atoms of any kind. The fewer collisions there result in a perception by humans of the excited atomic oxygen atoms as the color red. This is why the upper parts of the aurora curtains can appear as green fading into a scarlet hue.

At low latitudes as in Japan, normally there is no green at all, only red because only the upper part of the aurora can be seen above the horizon.

“Yet this time, weirdly, the images revealed a very clear and dominant magenta hue to the aurora ‘curtains’ over Japan, not red,” said Ryuho Kataoka, the lead author of the study and a specialist in extreme space weather.

To solve the mystery, the researchers quickly took to social media to encourage people to observe and report their sightings of the auroras, as well as to input data into a questionnaire asking about observation locations, time, elevation angles and other details, allowing researchers to analyze the auroras' characteristics in unprecedented detail.

The effort resulted in an impressive 775 grassroots submissions, which the researchers then combined with satellite observations and advanced modeling techniques to explore the conditions that had led to the magenta aurora.

The elevation data from these citizen scientists proved to be particularly useful. The researchers used elevation angles to calculate the position of the aurora over time, and found that it was often a surprisingly high altitude of roughly 1000 km above sea level—which should thus drive a red appearance. But on top of this, the time and season of year meant the atmosphere was more “preheated” ahead of the aurora, in turn driving an upwelling of ionized molecular nitrogen—what is usually responsible for a blue hue.

“Blue plus red makes us see magenta,” added Professor Kataoka. “And the magenta was made all the more visible and vibrant by the sheer volume of solar activity, even though, ironically, the preheating would also have worked to reduce the peak brightness of the aurora.”

Better understanding of magnetic storms goes beyond explaining why humans see the pretty colors of aurorae; these storms can have profound, negative impacts on satellite operations, GPS systems, power grids and even the safety of passengers and crews aboard high-altitude flights.

And so ahead of the next magnetic storm, the researchers want to take an even more coordinated approach to citizen science and spread their efforts further afield. This particular study was limited to Japan and used only the Japanese language, representing something of a proof of concept.

But by using automated translation of their questionnaires and social media posts into local languages around the world, the researchers feel that they will be able to produce a global replication of this effort, with the ultimate aim of analyzing different phases of magnetic storms, to better protect humanity from the dangers posed by extreme space weather.

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About National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR)
The NIPR engages in comprehensive research via observation stations in Arctic and Antarctica. As a member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), the NIPR provides researchers throughout Japan with infrastructure support for Arctic and Antarctic observations, plans and implements Japan's Antarctic observation projects, and conducts Arctic researches of various scientific fields such as the atmosphere, ice sheets, the ecosystem, the upper atmosphere, the aurora and the Earth's magnetic field. In addition to the research projects, the NIPR also organizes the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition and manages samples and data obtained during such expeditions and projects. As a core institution in researches of the polar regions, the NIPR also offers graduate students with a global perspective on originality through its doctoral program. For more information about the NIPR, please visit: https://www.nipr.ac.jp/english/

About the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)
ROIS is a parent organization of four national institutes (National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Informatics, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and National Institute of Genetics) and the Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research. It is ROIS's mission to promote integrated, cutting-edge research that goes beyond the barriers of these institutions, in addition to facilitating their research activities, as members of inter-university research institutes.

The distribution of 179 auroral observations over Japan during the 11 May 2024 magnetic storm

Credit

🄫 National Institute of Polar Research

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-75184-9 

Article Title

Extended magenta aurora as revealed by citizen science

The women and stress behind rural farming in America

Study highlights unique challenges of farming while raising a family, managing household

University of Georgia

If you’re like most Americans, you probably don’t give too much thought to where your food comes from. And you likely pay even less attention to the people who supply it.

But recent research from the University of Georgia suggests the unique stresses from farm life may be taking a toll on one of the pillars of the families that make your dinners possible: the women who keep farming families running.

“If we don’t control our food sources, we don’t control our health and safety,” said Anna Scheyett, lead author of the study and a professor in UGA’s School of Social Work. “It’s a matter of national security that farmers survive in the United States. And one of the big factors in helping farms survive is women.”

Women vital in farming, on and off the agricultural field

The researchers held six focus group sessions with more than two dozen women married to farmers in rural Georgia.

Women are vital in farming, Scheyett said. Many women are farmers themselves while others work the farm alongside their spouse. But much of their work is “invisible,” sometimes even to the women themselves. That’s a theme that emerged among the women in the groups.

They often take care of everything but the farm, managing housework, yardwork and child care. One participant even described herself as being, in a sense, a single parent, saying, “If it has to do with our kids or my household … that is 100% on me.”

Because farming is uncertain and one bad frost can spell disaster for the season’s crops, two-thirds of the women in the study also work full time outside the home. This provides more financial stability and health care coverage for the families, but it also increases the mental load the women carry.

On top of their careers and role handling all the non-farming tasks, over half of the women in the study also managed the books for their families’ farms, a unique source of stress for many of them.

“He doesn’t look at the bank account … as far as looking at it on paper, what we have coming in and what we have going out, I carry that burden,” one woman said.

Many also work on the farm as well. But they often discounted their own contributions to farm work, saying things like they “only” managed hay or that their husband was “the primary farmer.”

Managing emotions, coping with stress gets tough for female farm wives

The women described feeling like they had to be the “bright spot in everyone’s day,” saying it was up to them to manage their husbands’ emotions when things got rough and the farmers got grumpy.

“Any time they’re under stress, boy, you’re going to get the brunt of it,” said one participant.

They lead an isolated and often lonely life, the women agreed.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is as a farmer’s wife … you can’t get off at 5 o’clock and go and hang out with your friends like ‘normal’ … because it’s a full-time, seven day a week deal,” one participant said.

“It is really easy to get sad,” said another.

Minimizing difficulties, finding joy and pride to thrive in farm life

The women often minimized the difficulties they experience, describing their farm work as simple and their husbands’ as “the real work.” And they also minimized the negative emotions they absorbed from their spouses.

“I don’t think that they mean it” and I just “tune it out” were common refrains from the women in the focus groups.

A positive repeatedly stated by women was the pride they felt in farm life and how it gave them real joy to see their children raised on a farm. One wife noted how lucky she felt because “we live right here in the midst of it all, so there’s no life like it” while others talked about how “it’s a great way to raise kids.”

"These are powerful, resilient women … They are passionate about farming and farm life.” —Anna Scheyett, School of Social Work

“These are powerful, resilient women,” Scheyett said. “The title of the paper — ‘A great life if you can stand it’ — is a quote from one of the women.

“They are passionate about farming and farm life, proud of what their families are doing, proud of their kids, proud of how hard their husbands are working and how hard they’re all working.”

And they don’t want your pity, the researchers said. The participants universally agreed that raising their families on a farm was a uniquely challenging but rewarding experience, and they wouldn’t change that.

Thank farming families

Still, a little recognition of their contribution to securing the U.S. food supply could go a long way, the researchers said.

“I’d love to see a campaign thanking farmers and their families for their service to the country,” Scheyett said. “They put their bodies on the line every day so we can eat and live. The least we could do is say ‘thank you.’”

Using Extension services to connect the women to lessen their feelings of isolation could also improve quality of life among this population.

Another obstacle is child care. Rural child care is hard to find and often extremely expensive when you do find it. Policies increasing access to quality and affordable care “would give the women a little bit of breathing space,” Scheyett said.

“I ultimately would hope that people can move beyond whatever stereotypes they have about farming and families who farm,” Scheyett said. “If we don’t support these families, we’re in big trouble as a country because we won’t be able to generate our food.”

Published by the Journal of Rural Mental Health, the study was co-authored by Andrea Garcia and Ian Marburger, of UGA’s School of Social Work, and Stephanie Hollifield and Andrea Scarrow, of UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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Journal

Rural Mental Health

DOI

10.1037/rmh0000264 

Article Title

“A great life, if you can stand it”: Stress and farm women.

Article Publication Date

18-Nov-2024