It’s hardly a secret that both being pregnant and the act of giving birth can change not only a person’s outlook on life, but also their brain, but the question to neuroscience has always been how different, exactly. According to a recent study, however, it’s also a matter of “when.”  The authors established that the brain can look different depending on whether or not it has been examined during the pregnancy of an individual or after that person has given birth. The new research is helping to disentangle a number of the mysteries that have been ignored for a considerable period of time ..read more

It has become fairly cliched to say that time heals all wounds – attesting to the power of forgetfulness when it comes to tragedy. For better or worse, the passing days and years erode trauma done both to the mind and the physical landscape of the world – turning battles and tragedies into distant memories. There are, all too often, times in which the memories long outlast the places we’ve been. The human brain, it turns out, can be surprisingly resistant to the ravages of time – preserving itself even beyond the needs of the body it leads. This year, a new study made a catalog of human brains ..read more

Over the last few years, a body of research has grown looking into the nature of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) –– in particular, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a disorder defined by several consistently recurring symptoms: tiredness despite not doing unusually strenuous activity; that is not relieved by a consistent sleep schedule; and then is either causing thinking or memory problems and/or symptoms becoming more severe when standing – a condition itself known as orthostatic intolerance. The degrees to which people suffer from CFS often vary – there are severe ..read more

A sudden flickering of light and a quick, stumbling buzz of noise could in fact have our answer to beating Alzheimer’s disease—with a recent study in lab mice offering insight as to how these sensory cues could work in an unconventional therapy for humans. This noninvasive brain-stimulation technology makes use of a sort of audiovisual disco – 40-hertz stimuli occurring in rhythms, has been designed to bulk up the brain’s health by stimulating neural activity at a similar “gamma” frequency. The patient gets their therapy from the comfort of their own home, putting on headsets and sitting by an ..read more

When Sigmund Freud first presented his theories of the superego and the id to an unsuspecting world at the dawn of the 20th century, it quickly met with an outcry – controversial even in the very young pioneering field that was psychology. Not only were we just some species that was next in line, the latest subset of primates, as biology of the day would tell us, but we don’t even know why we do half the things we do. Things have gotten a bit more sophisticated over the last century, as the beginning of the 21st century saw the growing field of neuroscience make some even more surprising disco ..read more

The Impact of Technology on Modern Education: Enhancing Learning or Hindering Progress? As modern education continues to evolve, technology has become a key influencer in its transformation. Its integration into the academic realm has sparked a significant transformation, redefining how teaching and learning occur. From elementary classrooms to prestigious universities, the digital revolution has left no stone unturned, prompting educators and students alike to adapt to these changes. The role of technology in education is multifaceted and complex, offering a wealth of opportunities yet prese ..read more

Henry David Thoreau is quoted as saying, “Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” I would revise this statement by replacing “happiness” with “sleep” — it seems the more ardently you pursue some shut-eye, the harder it becomes to fall asleep. Advertisements More and more Americans are not getting the recommended seven to eight hours of zzz’s a night. Indeed, “About one-third of people living in first world countries are required to wake up two hours before t ..read more

To be human is to be kind. Selfishness is learned. Researchers from Oxford to UCLA, Michigan and beyond are proving this and that the brain has areas for smiling and empathy, but not cruelty — which is always a disorder. Kindness — throughout human existence, science tells us that this has always been the mechanism that ensures our survival. Advertisements A bestselling book, “The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World” by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, revolves around that topic. These octogenarians point out — and science is now proving — that the more we activate ..read more

Have you ever stayed in a bad relationship or repeatedly returned to an ex even when you knew it wasn’t a good idea? When you’re in a committed relationship do you wonder if you’ve chosen the right one? Have you ever fantasized about someone from your past, thinking you should have kept them around? If you answered “yes” to any of the above, you just might be addicted to love. Advertisements It may sound ridiculous, but love addiction is a thing, and it can be as destructive, at least emotionally, as substance abuse. Love addicts enter each relationship with desperate hopes and constant fear ..read more

A recent neuroimaging study published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science offers a new look at the connection between the emotion of anger and the functional architecture of your brain’s neural networks. This research has now revealed an array of interconnecting brain regions that are all somehow associated with variations in how we experience and deal with the trait anger. Advertisements “Trait anger reflects a person’s dispositional tendency to more easily experience frustration and anger in a wide range of situations. For example, when someone cuts you off in traffic, it’s almos ..read more