How to maintain a healthy brain
Adopt these lifestyle changes and you will not only sharpen your mind today but also reduce your risk of dementia later on
by Kailas Roberts
Neuroscience
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
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
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
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
How the buildings you occupy might be affecting your brain
Cutting-edge research in the field of neuroarchitecture is revealing the public health implications of building design
by Cleo Valentine & Heather Mitcheltree
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
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
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
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
When does the first spark of human consciousness ignite?
We can’t ask babies what they’re feeling, but ingenious new methods are shedding light on the origins of subjective awareness
by Joel Frohlich
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
Self out of joint
Sudden amnesia untethered me from my past. Was I the same person or had I become someone else?
by Steven Hales
The brain’s twilight zone: when you’re neither awake nor asleep
Neuroscientists are demystifying this in-between state, uncovering its role in memory processing and its creative potential
by Célia Lacaux
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
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