
The Serious Need for Play
Free, imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed

The Serious Need for Play
Free, imaginative play is crucial for normal social, emotional and cognitive development. It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed

The Potential of LSD, Heroin, Marijuana and Other Controlled Substances in Brain Research
Imagine being an astronomer in a world where the telescope was banned. This effectively happened in the 1600s when, for over 100 years, the Catholic Church prohibited access to knowledge of the heavens in a vain attempt to stop scientists proving that the earth was not the center of the universe. ‘Surely similar censorship could [...]


Creativity, Madness and Drugs
San Diego—Would we have Poe’s Raven today if the tormented author had taken lithium to suppress his bipolar illness? Not likely, considering the high frequency of psychiatric illnesses among writers and artists, concluded psychiatrist Kay Jamison of Johns Hopkins Medical School speaking last week at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

Did Your Daddy Raise You to Sing Like That?
When most of us hear birds twittering away in the trees, we hear it as background noise. It’s often hard to separate out one bird from another.

The Myth of Executive Stress
How tough is it, really, to be the boss?

Stress Makes Gorilla Glass Stronger
Gorilla Glass's residual stress can be explained by observing how the motion of individual atoms affects the entire system of the material

Why Rituals Work
There are real benefits to rituals, religious or otherwise

How to Retrain Your Bladder
House Call Doctor: Quick and Dirty Tips for Taking Charge of Your Health

Tragedy Leads to Study of Severe Child Neglect
The plight of orphaned Romanian children reveals the psychic and physical scars from first years spent without a loving, responsive caregiver

The Age of Anxiety, 1963

Humans Can Feel Terror Even If They Lack Brain's "Fear Center"
A growing body of work shows that the brain has different systems and mechanisms to respond to certain kinds of threats and physiological changes in the body

Rising Use of Corn Ethanol Stresses Midwestern Aquifers
Underground water supplies are being pumped at an unsustainable rate thanks to corn ethanol