By Charles Montgomery — 2013
Our brains are constantly, subtly being primed in fascinating ways by our physical surroundings.
Read on www.theatlantic.com
CLEAR ALL
Millions suffer from conditions without known causes. Some contend with constant pain, many live with unrelenting mental anguish. None of them know why.
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As a science journalist whose niche spans neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion, I knew at the time that it didn’t make scientific sense that inflammation in the body could be connected to — much less cause — illness in the brain.
A new understanding of long-overlooked cells called microglia is challenging the assumption that body and brain function are completely independent.
When physicians help patients come to the profound revelation that childhood adversity plays a role in the chronic illnesses they face now, they help them to heal physically and emotionally at last.
When a team of scientists in Finland asked people to map out where they felt different emotions on their bodies, they found that the results were surprisingly consistent, even across cultures.
A weekly routine of yoga and meditation may strengthen thinking skills and help to stave off aging-related mental decline, according to a new study of older adults with early signs of memory problems.
Empathy is divided into cognitive, emotional and applied empathy, all of which are valuable. For empathy to truly be useful to the human condition, our kids must have applied empathy, or compassion.
To treat depression, the neurons which control the hormones serotonin and dopamine in our brains seem to get all the attention.
It seems that psychedelics do more than simply alter perception. According to the latest research from my colleagues and me, they change the structures of neurons themselves.
Our brains are hard-wired to make poor choices about harm prevention in today's world. But we can fight it.