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
"stress"
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 Unexpected Dog Killer
For some, it happens in the bathroom. For others, it's the living room. All across America, as fireworks go off on July 4th, many dogs experience varying degrees of fear and stress.
Aging: Too Much Telomerase Can Be as Bad as Too Little
How do I knock off thirty years from my age? Faust, the protagonist in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous play, poses this question to Mephistopheles in the chapter Hexenküche (Witches' kitchen)...
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 [...]..
Is there joy in missing out?
Researchers talk about our attachment to social media in terms of the fear of missing out (FOMO). We can’t look away from our mobile devices because we might miss the possibility to make or enhance a connection...
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...
Are You Mentally Tough?
Forty seconds before round two, and I'm lying on my back trying to breathe. Pain all through me. Deep breath. Let it go. I won't be able to lift my shoulder tomorrow, it won't heal for over a year, but now it pulses, alive, and I feel the air vibrating around me, the stadium shaking [...]..
Less Sleep Means More Stress for Teens
Teens stay up late at night and sleep late into the morning, a result of a natural shift in their circadian rhythms. That biological schedule puts them at odds with the adult world, as well as early start times for high school...
Would Your Dog Make a Good Cadaver Detection Dog?
Sitting on the couch, with your dog curled up by your side looking ever-so-peaceful, maybe youve been overcome by the thought, Gosh, wouldnt Banjo make the most perfect therapy dog!?
The Growing Economic Burden of Depression in the U.S.
Depression in America costs society $210 billion per year, according to the newest data available, yet only 40 percent of this sum is associated with depression itself.
Who Needs Stimulants for ADHD?
In 1970, 150,000 U.S. children were taking stimulant medications. By 2007, that number had risen to 2.7 million, according to pediatrician Sanford Newmark of the University of California, San Francisco...
