Fitness
The Problem with Pain Scores
Physicians often ask you to rate your agony on a scale from one to 10—but the response doesn’t necessarily say anything useful
Stories by Daniel Barron
Behavior
Health Care Workers Don’t Want to Be Heroes
We’re forced to fill that role because our government has failed to mount an adequate response to COVID-19. Meanwhile our cities burn, and police assault the very citizens that fund their existence...
Medicine
Has Telemedicine's Day Finally Come?
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote medical consultation seems like a no-brainer—but it’s not that simple
Policy
Why Doctors Are Drowning in Medical School Debt
A resident physician investigates the causes of skyrocketing tuition
Mental Health
Psychiatry’s Inevitable Hubris
Can clinicians help their patients even in the absence of certainty?
Mental Health
Should Mental Disorders Have Names?
After nearly a century of effort, psychiatry's best diagnoses leave much to be desired
Mental Health
Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?
Some psychiatrists think it might be, but the data are still too sparse to be sure
Policy
How Freely Should Scientists Share Their Data?
The Open Science movement champions transparency, but how much and how quickly is a matter of dispute
Mental Health
Who Are You Calling Normal?
Neuroscientists are increasingly convinced that using the term restricts our understanding of the brain and behavior
Cognition
Mindfulness Under the Sea
When you go free diving, physical strength is not enough
Mental Health
Can We Measure Delusions?
There might be a way—and if so, we could use it to detect and treat them in the earliest stages, before they become debilitating
Behavior
What Makes Us Vibe?
We like other people in part because they think the way we do—but we may also think alike as a result of being friends
Cognition
Why Don't Babies Smile from Birth?
Their facial muscles work fine, but the neural networks that let them recognize the feeling of happiness take a while to develop
Neurology
The Chronification of Pain
When physical agony persists without an evident cause, the culprit may be how the sufferer’s brain is wired
Public Health
The Economics of Paid Parental Leave
A California experiment shows it can actually save businesses money
Cognition
The Neuroscience of Paid Parental Leave
Having parents present is crucial during an infant’s first weeks of development—but institutions that train physicians don’t always seem to care ...
Policy
Scientists, Break Out of That Ivory Tower
Political activism is traditionally off-limits for academics, but policy needs to be informed by knowledge and expertise
Neurology
New Hope for Children Who Nearly Drown
Though the brain damage can be severe, a recent study shows that areas involved in language, emotion and memory are evidently spared
Policy
The U.S. Supreme Court Stymies Science
On the last Monday in June I ran into my lab mate, close collaborator and friend, Mehraveh Salehi. We were at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping Conference in Vancouver.
Mental Health
What Do “Emotion” and “Mood” Actually Mean?
We throw these terms around casually, but in a clinical setting they might be too vague to be useful
