How do cultures change over time? A burgeoning area of research explores trends in the characteristics of individuals, such as in their living arrangements, baby name choices, and self-views (Grossmann & Varnum, 2015; Twenge, Campbell, & Gentile, 2012a; Twenge, Dawson, & Campbell, 2016), concluding that American culture has increased in individualism, a cultural system that favors the self over social rules (Triandis, 1995). Another way to examine cultural change is through trends in cultural products-media such as books, movies, songs, and advertisements (Lamoreaux & Morling, 2012; Morling & Lamoreaux, 2008). Several studies of cultural products such as language use in books have found increases in individualism, including increases in the use of individualistic words and decreases in collectivistic words (Greenfield, 2013), declines in words referring to moral character (Kesebir & Kesebir, 2012), and increases in first-person singular and second-person pronouns (Twenge, Campbell, & Gentile, 2013). Another study found increases in individualistic language in the lyrics of popular songs (DeWall, Pond, Campbell, & Twenge, 2011). In this article, we explore changes in another aspect of language that may be connected to individualism: The use of swear words. The frequency of swearing over time has been a topic of some interest in popular culture. For example, many suggest we now occupy a cruder culture where bad language is more common (Gillespie, 2013). "One of the things that upsets me about modern society is the coarseness of manners," the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said in 2013. "You can't go to a movie-or watch a television show for that matter-without hearing the constant use of the F-word" (Senior, 2013). Others have been more sanguine about the free expression of swear words, seeing them as a marker of freedom. Comedian George Carlin (1937-2008) mocked the censorship of profanity in his well-known 1972 routine "Seven words you can never say on television." As Carlin's brother Patrick later commented about the routine, "It was a freeing experience for millions and millions of people who were young at that time. It took that restriction off people's shoulders and brought them down to a common level" (Bella, 2012). These are opposing views on swearing, but both point to the importance of individual freedom over traditional social norms, a common conceptualization of individualism.

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Objective A weak relationship exists between subjective memory complaints and performance on objective measures of learning and memory. A memory catastrophizing scale may explain this relationship. Our objective is to preliminarily explore a scale which assesses catastrophizing. Method The sample consisted of 46 patients (21 normal profiles, 25 mild cognitive impairment; mean age 56.1 ± 15.4) in a community-based neurology clinic. Each patient completed a clinical interview and comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The California Verbal Learning Test II (CVLT-II) was used to assess memory; the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory were used to assess depressive and anxiety symptoms; a novel Memory Catastrophizing Scale (MCS) was used to assess subjective memory. Results A reliability analysis revealed internal consistency throughout the MCS (Cronbach’s alpha = .958). A bivariate correlation revealed that memory catastrophizing was significantly positively correlated with depressive (r = 0.623, p < 0.01) and anxiety (r = 0.433, p < 0.01) symptomology. Bivariate correlations demonstrated significant positive correlations between subjective memory complaints and memory (CVLT-II SDFR r = 0.502, p < .05; SDCR r = 0.434, p = 0.05; LDCR r = 0.512, p < .05) only among NP patients. The mean MCS score was 26 (±17), with a median of 17, a skewness of 0.40 and kurtosis of -0.77. Conclusion Our results support past research suggesting that there is a weak relationship between subjective and objective memory performances. Catastrophizing as a concept may explain the relationship between mood and performance on testing, especially amongst individuals without a known neurological pathology seeking treatment at a community-based neurological clinic.

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Objective: Socially-inclusive food policies impact more than physical health, namely, psychological and cognitive well-being. We will provide a comprehensive review and visual relationship of mechanisms by which sociocultural factors (via socially-inclusive food policies), impact lifelong mental/cognitive health. The relationship between diet and cognitive/mental health has implications for systematically disadvantaged communities. Methods: Inclusion criteria: empirical studies published between 1995-2021 in English peer reviewed journals that included/addressed the impact of nutrition on mental health and/or cognition, searched for through electronic databases (e.g., Google Scholar). Keywords: terms related to nutrition (e.g., food policy, microbiome), cognition (e.g., neuropsychology, memory), development (e.g., perinatal, prenatal, older adulthood), mental health (e.g., stress, psychological outcomes). Results: Access to food, or the lack thereof, can play a significant role in mental health and cognitive outcomes. However, the relationship between food policies and mental health is at least as complex as the relationship between food insecurity and mental stress. Specifically, the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGB axis) shows increasing evidence linking the human microbiome to clinical psychopathology. Conclusion: What we eat, and thereby food policies that impact what we eat and what access we have to food, significantly impact cognition and mental health via multiple mechanisms. Responses related to the MGB axis (e.g., inflammation, cerebro/cardiovascular diseases) are associated with poorer outcomes, especially in marginalized communities with limited access to healthy food and higher rates of risk factors due to systemic discrimination and inequities. Nutritional interventions and addressing nutritional deficits serve as one modifiable way to potentially prevent and reduce the severity of cognitive and mental health symptoms.