Neuroscience
Emotion regulation
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The Stoics were right – emotional control is good for the soul
Both neuroscience and psychotherapy agree that you can change your mental framework as the Stoic Marcus Aurelius described
by István Darabán
Mind and brain
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To grasp how serotonin works on the brain, look to the gut
A new perspective uses an analogy between digestion and cognition to help explain the function of a key neurochemical
by James M Shine
Stigma and taboo
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Let’s avoid talk of ‘chemical imbalance’: it’s people in distress
The ‘chemical imbalance’ trope is appealing but dehumanising, and has heightened stigma towards people with mental illness
by Joseph E Davis
Spirituality and religion
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Spirituality is a brain state we can all reach, religious or not
Neuroscience shows that spiritual experiences are correlated with brain states that we can all aim for, religious or not
by Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan
Mind and brain
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Slow down, it’s what your brain has been begging for
It’s no small task to live a life of sustained attention. So slow down, and give your brain a break to do its work
by Teodora Stoica
Grief
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Seeing grieving as learning explains why the process takes time
Standard features of human memory and learning can help explain the disorientation that follows the death of a loved one
by Saren H Seeley & Mary-Frances O’Connor
Neuroscience
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The fascinating science of pleasure goes way beyond dopamine
Pleasure and happiness are too important for our mental health to be reduced to the single brain chemical dopamine
by Dean Burnett
The self
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A stable sense of self is rooted in the lungs, heart and gut
Exciting new research findings are validating ancient folk beliefs that root the sense of self deep in the body’s organs
by Alessandro Monti
The self
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Sudden amnesia showed me the self is a convenient fiction
Sudden amnesia let me experience what Buddhists and philosophers have been saying all along about the existence of the self
by Steven Hales
Brain interventions
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Mental disorders are brain disorders – here’s why that matters
The most vital quandary of mental health disorders and therapies today is not whether they change the brain but how
by Camilla Nord
Spirituality and religion
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How an intense spiritual retreat might change your brain
Whether through daily meditation or on a week-long retreat, the experience of spiritual enlightenment transforms the brain
by Andrew Newberg
Focus and attention
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Sometimes, paying attention means we see the world less clearly
Does attention distort knowledge, or am I overthinking it? What visual illusions say about the secret workings of the mind
by Henry Taylor