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The “Fight or Flight” Idea Misses the Beauty of what the Brain Really Does
Lisa Feldman Barrett is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University. She is the author of several books, including How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. When a person views a photograph of a hairy, looming spider or a slithering snake in a laboratory experiment, scientists usually see markers of increased electrical activity deep in that person’s brain, in a region called the periaqueductal gray (PAG). When a caged mouse smells a cat and freezes, scientists observe similar changes in the mouse’s PAG. What’s the obvious conclusion? The PAG controls fight-or-flight responses of mammals in threatening situations.
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Americans’ Struggle with Mental Health
It is no mystery why rates of anxiety and depression in the United States climbed in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. But then life began a slow return to normal. Why haven’t rates of distress returned to normal, too? ... The share of young adults reporting anxiety and depression had been rising for about a decade before Covid struck. That continued throughout the pandemic — and did not ease as quickly when vaccines became available. This is likely because their symptoms were tied to problems other than the virus, like economic precarity, the housing crisis, social isolation and political turmoil, said Emma Adam, a psychologist at Northwestern.
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Is Bed Rotting Bad for You?
Burnout is steadily rising worldwide—and people are coping in very different ways. Some deal with their stress and exhaustion by binge-watching Netflix shows, hitting the gym, meditating, or crafting. As for others? They try bed rotting. ... Resting regularly is good for you, but bed rotting for too long or too often can indicate a deeper mental-health issue. “It can be difficult to disentangle what is a self-care day from what is a low or major depression, and when should you seek help?” says Stephanie Preston, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.
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The Benefits of Everyday Math for Kids
Podcast: APS’s Özge Gürcanlı Fischer Baum chats with Melissa Libertus from University of Pittsburgh about her new article about interventions to increase math learning in children.
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The Worst Feature Apple Ever Made
Screen Time is a curious thing: an Apple feature designed to help people be more mindful about using their Apple gadget. First launched in 2018, Screen Time provides daily and weekly reports on how long you’re spending on your iPhone or iPad, broken down by app. ... The problem is that Screen Time—the Apple tool, and the broader fixation—doesn’t seem to help. The main issue is that it flattens phone usage into a single number. “We treat screen time as this unitary experience,” Nicholas Allen, a psychologist at the University of Oregon and the director of its Center for Digital Mental Health, told me. “And of course, it’s an incredibly diverse experience.
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Think You Are Sick? It May Be the Nocebo Effect.
Have you ever walked out of a jam-packed concert or restaurant with a scratchy throat, worried that you just caught a virus? Or swallowed a medication and felt immediately unwell? If yes, you’re personally familiar with the nocebo effect, though you probably didn’t know that’s what it’s called. The nocebo effect is the opposite of the placebo effect — “the evil twin or the dark side of the placebo effect,” said John Kelley, distinguished professor of psychology at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., and deputy director of the program in placebo studies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
