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Saul Loeb/Getty Forget Calories
Counting calories is misguided. The focus belongs on food.
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Lucy Nicholson/Reuters How Neuroscience Reinforces Racist Drug Policy
Brain scans do not speak for themselves. The seemingly objective science of neuroimaging can be used to justify a moral argument for or against legal marijuana—to show it as a legitimate medicine, or as a danger to your health.
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Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters What Happens to the Brain During Spiritual Experiences?
The field of neurotheology uses science to try to understand religion, and vice versa.
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Daniel Aguilar/Reuters The Power in 'Choosing to Be Gay'
It is a big leap from thinking that homosexuality is a deep part of one's sense of self to asserting that particular sexual formations and desires are biologically predetermined.
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Jae C. Hong/AP The Isla Vista Shooter: This is Not the Autism Spectrum
The mass murderer displayed malignant narcissism, envy, and entitlement that are not typical with his reported autism spectrum diagnosis. Misunderstanding mental illness introduces potential for misplaced fear.
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ksayer/flickr Science Breaks Down Facebook Jokers
How and why people turn to medical issues to elicit electronic laughs
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Chris Helgren/Reuters The Ethics of Erasing Bad Memories
Though the emerging possibility of deleting traumatic memories could provide some people relief, the question remains whether it would fundamentally change who they are.
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AP Stressful Relationships vs. Isolation: The Battle for Our Lives
If a fraught relationship might be significantly shortening your life, are you better off alone?
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Shutterstock Study: Opportunities in Young Adulthood Linked to Later Narcissism
People who come of age during a recession are less likely to be narcissists later in life. The humbling experience of struggling through a down economy as a young adult seems to leave its mark.
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Shutterstock What Happens When You Trust Too Much
For people who are pathologically innocent, as is often the case in Williams Syndrome, how do you hold down a job?
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Mick Tsikas / Reuters But What Would the End of Humanity Mean for Me?
Preeminent scientists are warning about serious threats to human life in the not-distant future, including climate change and superintelligent computers. Most people don't care.
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centralasian/flickr Have Compassion for Yourself
How one author breaks the cycles of self-loathing
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rosmary/flickr An Injection of Young Blood Improves Memory in Older Mice
Researchers are aiming for a clinical trial in humans next.
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spDuchamp/flickr Study: Bullied Kids at Risk for Mental Health Problems 40 Years Later
Frequent and occasional bullying were both associated with a higher risk for depression, psychological distress, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety disorders in middle age.
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Adam Hunger/Reuters The Doctor Who Coaches Athletes on Sleep
As the NBA and NHL playoffs start, a Harvard sleep specialist advises rest, not more practice, for championship teams.
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Oswaldo Rivas / Reuters Dogs (and Cats) Can Love
Neurochemical research has shown that the hormone released when people are in love is released in animals in the same intimate circumstances.
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Kelly Sikkema/flickr Prescribing Mushrooms for Anxiety
A New York University research team is using hallucinogenic experiences to help patients come to terms with their mortality.
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Natesh Ramasamy/flickr/Olga Khazan Meaningful Activities Protect the Brain From Depression
A new study of adolescents found that those who derive joy from selfless deeds were less likely to be depressed over time.
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Shutterstock/The Atlantic Postpartum Depression Can Happen to Any Parent
The baby blues aren’t just the domain of birth mothers: fathers, adoptive parents, and nonbiological mothers are also at risk.
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AP/Amin/Hamblin Who Will Watch You Fall? A Radar Detection Program for the Elderly
With age comes risk of serious injury or death related to falling down. In the next three decades, the number of Americans over 65 will double. Many want to live at home indefinitely. One man has a solution.
