Figure 1

The atlas

Click a mark to open the variable: its edges, the sign of each arrow, and the papers. Drag a mark to move it. Click a curve to open the edge. Hover for a short card. The "Strata" layout groups nodes by layer. The URL is the view.

56 edges in this cut — click a mark, a curve, or a row

1. MENDELIAN0 NULLAlcohol → CognitionAlmeida 2014 and Campbell 2024 find no Mendelian randomization effect of adult alcohol on cognitive impairment or Alzheimer disease; Cui 2022, with 235 genotyped rural Chinese adults, finds more drinking and more mild cognitive impairment.
2. MENDELIAN? CONDITIONALAlcohol → DepressionThree Mendelian randomization files of alcohol on depression disagree: two ADH variants in 68,486 Copenhagen adults are null for antidepressant use, UK Biobank beer and spirits instruments raise major depression until insomnia and smoking enter the model, and ALDH2 plus ADH1B in 476 Chinese adults point the other way.
3. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALBacopa → CognitionCalabrese 2009 found that 300 mg of standardized Bacopa monnieri a day for twelve weeks improved delayed word recall on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test versus placebo in 48 healthy adults aged 65 or older. Lopresti 2025 saw no between-group change on primary learning, attention, or working memory in 87 completers aged 40 to 70.
4. SMOKE+ INCREASESBreastfeeding → CognitionIn three European birth cohorts, longer breastfeeding tracked with higher child IQ on crude models. After maternal IQ, education, and class, Generation R's 0.32 IQ points per month fell to 0.09 and crossed zero. Sabadell's full breastfeeding past six months still sat 7.4 McCarthy points higher. Nobody randomized the feed.
5. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALCortisol → LeadershipHigh cortisol is the condition under which 'high T = leader' fails. The internet quote drops this term.
6. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALCreatine → CognitionMcMorris 2008 found that 20 g a day of creatine for one week, after a placebo week, improved random-number, recall, and long-term memory tasks versus continued placebo in 32 older adults, except backward number recall. Toniolo 2018 then found that 6 g a day as an adjunct in 18 people with bipolar depression moved only verbal fluency.
7. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALCreatine → DepressionToniolo 2019 found that 6 g a day of creatine monohydrate as an add-on for six weeks did not beat placebo on the change in Montgomery-Åsberg score among 35 people already treated for a bipolar depressive episode (P=0.560), while a secondary remission cut (score of 12 or less) favored creatine (52.9 percent versus 11.1 percent).
8. MECHANISM− DECREASESCurcumin → DepressionLopresti 2015 found that 500 mg of curcumin twice a day versus placebo did not separate on the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology in the first four weeks among 56 adults with major depression, then showed a group-by-time interaction from week 4 to week 8 (P=0.045). The authors call that partial support.
9. MECHANISM0 NULLDHEA-S → CognitionA year of 50 mg DHEA did not move six cognitive tests against placebo in 225 healthy adults aged 55 to 85. A Cochrane review of earlier RCTs and a 13-week crossover in 46 older men also found no cognitive benefit.
10. SMOKE0 NULLDHEA-S → StatusDHEA-S on an optimization panel is not a status intervention.
11. MECHANISM+ INCREASESDominance → StatusDominance is a means. Status is the end. Folklore treats them as synonyms.
12. MECHANISM+ INCREASESEducation → HomogamyEducation sorts the rooms where people meet. Homogamy is mostly a market-design fact.
13. SMOKE? CONDITIONALE2 → DominanceCycle-phase 'preference for dominance' is a contested meta-finding, not a hormone dial.
14. MECHANISM− DECREASESAerobic → DepressionPrescribed walking or jogging reduced depression scores in randomized trials of people with major depression. The programs looked similar to sertraline. Against a placebo pill, SMILE II's HAM-D gap did not reach significance. A year later, assigned arm no longer predicted mood.
15. MECHANISM+ INCREASESFerritin → CognitionTreating iron deficiency in young women can move attention and memory on named tasks. Murray-Kolb and Beard (2007) showed that in a blinded 16-week trial. Two later trials in the same age band again find the gain where ferritin rose. Berglund's infant trial found no WISC-IV difference at age 7.
16. MECHANISM0 NULLGLP-1 → DepressionIn 3,377 adults with overweight or obesity and no known major psychiatric illness, weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg did not raise PHQ-9 depression scores versus placebo (Wadden 2024). A later trial in major depression found no change in symptom severity.
17. MECHANISM+ INCREASESGLP-1 → WellbeingIn the STEP 1 trial of weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, more people crossed a meaningful threshold on the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life physical-function scale than on placebo: 51.8 percent versus 28.3 percent (Rubino 2024). The same direction showed up on SF-36 physical functioning.
18. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALGreen tea → CognitionWightman 2012 found that 135 or 270 mg of epigallocatechin gallate did not change computerised cognitive tasks or mood versus placebo in 27 healthy adults, though frontal blood flow fell at the lower dose. Dietz 2019 saw a small attention and psychomotor-speed rise after a matcha drink in 23 people.
19. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALHearing → CognitionIn 977 older adults with untreated hearing loss, three years of hearing aids did not slow a global cognition score versus health education; a prespecified ARIC slice of 238 people at higher risk did.
20. SMOKE0 NULLIncome → HypergamyAs the income gap closes, strict economic hypergamy yields to educational and cultural homogamy. Incentives, not a frozen instinct.
21. SMOKE? CONDITIONALIncome → RiskHolt–Laury measures the preference. Income changes the budget. Do not call either 'testosterone'.
22. SMOKE0 NULLIncome → Youth pref.Richer men can act on a preference that poorer men also often hold. Money changes the feasible set, not necessarily the utility function.
23. SMOKE+ INCREASESJob strain → DepressionMadsen 2018's IPD-Work pool of 120,221 employees found a 27 percent higher rate of first hospital-treated depression after job strain (HR 1.27, 1.04 to 1.55). In Smith 2012, 3,735 Canadians free of depression who reported a rise in psychological demands had later depression odds of 2.36. Nobody assigned the job.
24. SMOKE− DECREASESLead → CognitionHigher childhood blood lead tracked lower IQ in Rochester, the Lanphear pool, and Dunedin at age 38 after maternal IQ was in the model. Nobody randomized lead.
25. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALLion's mane → CognitionMori 2009 found that 3 g a day of Yamabushitake powder for sixteen weeks raised Revised Hasegawa Dementia Scale scores versus placebo in 30 people with mild cognitive impairment; scores fell after the powder stopped. Docherty 2023 saw a faster Stroop after one 1.8 g dose in 41 young adults and little chronic change.
26. SMOKE+ INCREASESLoneliness → DepressionHysing 2026 followed 10,460 Norwegian university students: those in the highest fifth of a 2022 Three-Item Loneliness Scale score, against the lowest fifth, had more CIDI major depressive episodes a year later (relative risk 2.02 in women and 2.64 in men after age and baseline Hopkins symptoms).
27. SMOKE+ INCREASESLoneliness → MortalityWang 2023 pooled 90 prospective cohorts in 2,205,199 adults and found loneliness associated with a 14 percent higher all-cause death risk (effect size 1.14, 1.08 to 1.20). Nobody randomized loneliness.
28. MECHANISM− DECREASESMagnesium → DepressionTarleton 2017 found that 248 mg a day of elemental magnesium as chloride, versus no treatment, cut PHQ-9 scores by 6.0 points among 112 primary-care adults with mild-to-moderate depression in an open-label crossover (95% CI -7.9 to -4.2). Barragán-Rodríguez 2008 found a similar drop versus imipramine in 23 older adults with diabetes and low serum magnesium.
29. MECHANISM− DECREASESMindfulness → DepressionRitvo 2021 found that online mindfulness-based CBT plus monthly psychiatry cut Beck depression scores by 8.54 points versus psychiatry alone in 45 young adults with major depression. Cladder-Micus 2019's MBCT add-on in chronic treatment-resistant depression missed on the IDS-SR in intention-to-treat and still raised partial remission.
30. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALOmega-3 → DepressionLespérance 2011 found that 1,200 mg a day of EPA-heavy fish oil versus sunflower oil missed the primary Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology contrast among 432 Canadian outpatients in a major depressive episode (adjusted difference 1.32, -0.20 to 2.84); a planned no-anxiety slice moved, and two later pilots of 60 and 61 people do not settle the sign.
31. MECHANISM0 NULLOSA → CognitionXu 2025 assigned 148 middle-aged adults with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea and normal cognition to CPAP plus usual care or usual care alone. At six months the Montreal Cognitive Assessment did not differ (difference -0.04, 95% CI -0.72 to 0.65).
32. SMOKE0 NULLOT → TrustIntranasal oxytocin does not raise trusting behavior: a 2026 registered report found no effect in 211 people, and a pooled equivalence test with the 2020 registered replication (532 people) put the leftover effect inside a minimal range.
33. SMOKE− DECREASESAir pollution → CognitionPregnancy-average outdoor PM2.5 tracked 1.79 fewer full-scale IQ points per 3 µg/m³ at age 10.5 in 568 Salinas Valley children, while six European birth cohorts (9,482 children) found no association between pregnancy air pollution and cognition at ages 1 to 6. Nobody randomized the air.
34. SMOKE0 NULLPower pose → RiskExpansive posture is not a Holt–Laury intervention. The later RCTs are nulls on the gambling choice.
35. SMOKE0 NULLPower → Youth pref.Command over people is not a separately identified cause of youth preference. It usually arrives with money.
36. MECHANISM+ INCREASESPrestige → LeadershipIf people follow you because you are worth copying, the group gets coordination without fear. That is a different hormone story.
37. MECHANISM− DECREASESProbiotic → DepressionKazemi 2020 found that eight weeks of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum lowered the Beck Depression Inventory from 17.39 to 9.1 versus 18.18 to 15.55 on placebo in 81 completers with major depression. Akkasheh 2016 saw a similar Beck drop in 40 people.
38. SMOKE0 NULLT/C → StatusT/C is a derived index. Stamp it smoke unless the paper pre-registered the ratio and showed the interaction.
39. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALRhodiola → DepressionMao 2015 found that twelve weeks of Rhodiola rosea extract did not beat placebo on Hamilton change among 57 adults with mild-to-moderate major depression (-5.1 versus -4.6; groups P=0.79). Darbinyan 2008 reported that SHR-5 at 340 or 680 mg a day did move Hamilton scores versus placebo in 89 people.
40. SMOKE? CONDITIONALScreens → CognitionIn 3,625 Pelotas cohort members, more television and games at 11 and more computer time at 11 and 15 tracked with better Digit Span backward scores at 22 in men, and with nothing in women. In 356 Illinois toddlers, more daily screen minutes tracked with worse parent-rated executive function. Nobody assigned the screens.
41. MECHANISM0 NULLSt John's wort → DepressionThe Hypericum Depression Trial (Davidson 2002) found that LI-160 St John's wort did not beat placebo on eight-week Hamilton change among 340 US outpatients with major depression and a baseline score of at least 20 (-8.68 versus -9.20, P=0.59). Sertraline, the active comparator, also missed that primary.
42. MECHANISM+ INCREASESSleep → CognitionLim and Dinges's 2010 meta of short-term deprivation shows losses on vigilance and working memory. Santisteban's 2019 adult week and Lo's 2016 adolescent week then lose working memory; Lo also loses vigilance. Zimmerman's 2024 habit trial moves the same tasks.
43. MECHANISM0 NULLSleep → DepressionIn 126 adults with insomnia and major depression, adding internet CBT for insomnia to CBT for depression improved the insomnia score but not the depression score versus depression treatment plus a placebo sleep module.
44. SMOKE0 NULLSOI-R → HypergamyUnrestricted sociosexuality is not a stealth measure of 'women want richer men'.
45. MECHANISMUNSIGNEDT → RiskLarge randomized trials do not show that a testosterone dose moves lottery risk. A preregistered study of 1,000 men found no effect of a single nasal dose. Four weeks of testosterone in 200 postmenopausal women also left risk attitudes unchanged.
46. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALT → StatusIn observational samples, testosterone tracks status-seeking mainly when cortisol is low; the interaction is small, heterogeneous, and still contested.
47. LOOP+ INCREASEST → Win/lossThe other half of the loop: higher T states make another challenge more likely. Evidence is thinner than the win→T half.
48. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALT → UG rejectExogenous T changes bargaining — but not in the folk direction, and not in every lab.
49. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALL-theanine → CognitionKahathuduwa 2018 found that 200 mg of L-theanine alone sped recognition visual reaction time versus placebo in 20 healthy men. Dassanayake 2023 saw a similar simple-reaction win in 32 young adults and no win on harder attention tasks. Tea-dose theanine alone has often missed.
50. MECHANISM− DECREASESLifting → DepressionEight weeks of twice-weekly supervised resistance training lowered QIDS scores versus wait-list in 55 young adults. Depression was a secondary read of two anxiety-primary randomized trials.
51. MECHANISM0 NULLVitamins → CognitionChen 2021 found that six months of folic acid plus vitamin B12 moved MoCA total by about one point versus placebo in 120 people with Alzheimer's in Tianjin, while a 2003 Cochrane review of B12 in dementia with low serum B12 found no cognitive effect.
52. MECHANISM0 NULL25(OH)D → CognitionKang 2022 found that 2000 IU a day of vitamin D3 versus placebo did not slow cognitive decline among 4218 adults aged 60 and older in VITAL (pooled annual global-score difference 0.01, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.02). Corbett 2025 and Pham 2023 then also found no cognitive gain.
53. MECHANISM0 NULL25(OH)D → DepressionOkereke 2020 found that 2000 IU a day of vitamin D3 versus placebo did not change the risk of depression or clinically relevant depressive symptoms among 18353 adults aged 50 and older in VITAL-DEP (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.09). Rahman 2023 then found the same null on PHQ-9 in D-Health.
54. SMOKE0 NULLWealth → HypergamyAssets change the feasible set in a mating market. That is not a new instinct.
55. LOOP+ INCREASESWin/loss → TWinning a meaningful contest raises T relative to losing. That T change then colors the next contest. A loop, not an arrow.
56. MECHANISM? CONDITIONALZinc → CognitionMaylor 2006 found that 15 or 30 mg of zinc a day for six months had a mixed effect on Cambridge tasks in 387 healthy adults aged 55 to 87: one spatial working-memory score moved at three months, and 15 mg worsened one attention score. de Vargas 2023 saw higher Mini-Mental and Stroop scores on 30 mg in 32 overweight women.