Ed. Note: To coincide with Independence Day celebrations, we’re offering an educational 4-part series “Saluting our Soldiers.” We’re taking a closer look at the mental health issues facing today’s soldiers and veterans—and sharing the latest research news affecting military personnel. Overview: Official military figures report that about 115,000 troops have experienced a traumatic brain injury [...]

Ed. Note: To coincide with Independence Day celebrations, we’re offering an educational 4-part series “Saluting our Soldiers.” We’re taking a closer look at the mental health issues facing today’s soldiers and veterans—and sharing the latest research news affecting military personnel. Overview: A recent analysis found that the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) rate among troops serving [...]

I recently read an interesting article on CNN about all of the ways that spending too much time online can affect the brain. As a webmaster by trade, I certainly spend a lot of my days and nights on the internet. Is it all turning my brain to mush? Some interesting findings reported in the [...]

Someone very close to me is absolutely terrified of going to the dentist, so my interest was piqued when I saw a report about a German study on the varying effectiveness of treatments for dental anxiety. The study concluded that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is more effective in treating dental phobia than standardized hypnosis or general [...]

I love to travel, and I somehow manage to squeeze in a lot more trips than most people I know. So when I see hard and fast research supporting the health benefits of vacation, it really piques my interest. I recently read a somewhat unscientific article that talked about why vacation is good for your [...]

I recently read about a study that had some good news in it for me–researchers recently found that people, especially men, who actively watch or participate in sports and cultural activities are happier and healthier than those who stay at home. As an avid participant in athletics (softball, basketball, and golf), watcher of sports (season [...]

I was recently reading an article about the psychology of architecture on one of my favorite neuroscience blogs, The Frontal Cortex by Jonah Lehrer. I was particularly drawn to his mention of a study conducted in 2009 by Ravi Mehta and Rui Zhu that compared people’s performance on different types of tasks whether they were [...]

I’ve just gotten back from a very exciting scientific meeting in Greece (yes, the life of a brain scientist occasionally has its perks!) I had the opportunity to visit our collaborators in the Long-Lasting Memories consortium. This research group, with members in Greece, Spain, Austria, France, and Cyprus, is working to develop a combined brain [...]

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, debilitating disease that attacks the neurological system, affecting both body and brain function. A recent study of Canadian MS  patients revealed that fewer than half of them consistently use MS medications for 2+ years.  The drugs, known as DMDs (disease-modifying drugs) have been proven to slow the progress of [...]

Do you remember the part in The Princess Bride when Miracle Max pronounces Westley to be “only mostly dead,” instead of entirely dead? “Mostly dead,” he continues, “means slightly alive.” It’s a little unexpected , because we usually think of “dead” and “alive” as mutually exclusive. But just as Westley can be “slightly alive” even [...]