-
Gratitude Really Is Good for You. Here’s What the Science Shows.
In 2022, Stacy Batten said, her “whole year was on fire.” Her husband died of cancer, and her father died after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer. And she moved across the country from Seattle to Fairfield County, Conn., after selling the home that she had lived in for 26 years. In her devastation, she noticed that she felt better when she looked for the good parts of each day. So she took a large Mason jar and turned it into a “gratitude jar,” which she now keeps on her night stand. Every night, she writes down a few things that she is grateful for on a scrap of paper and drops it inside.
-
Uncovering the Mystery of Why Dogs Might Look Like Their Owners
Whether you’re at the dog park or just taking a stroll around the block, you’ve surely seen this before: A pup who looks — almost uncannily — like a miniature version of the human holding its leash. Maybe it’s the muscular pit bull who resembles its similarly-buff owner. Or the prim-and-proper poodle whose coiffed fur is a perfect match for its human's stylish hairdo. You may have even suppressed a chuckle at the basset hound whose mellow demeanor mirrors that of its droopy-eyed handler's. So why do so many dogs appear to be tiny, hairier versions of their owners? Perhaps surprisingly, the conundrum has been well-studied by scientists.
-
Carl Hart on Clinicians’ Bias Toward Drug Use
Podcast featuring Carl Hart, a neuroscientist at Columbia University who has studied the behavioral and neuropharmacological effects of psychoactive drugs in humans. His lab attempts to understand factors that mediate drug use, to develop effective treatments, and to translate that knowledge into more humane drug policies.
-
That Tip-Of-The-Tongue Feeling May Be an Illusion
Sometimes you know there's just the right word for something, but your brain can't find it. That frustrating feeling is called the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state—and for decades psychologists assumed it was caused by a partial recollection of the answer. But new research suggests this experience may be largely an illusion. Being sure you know something doesn't mean you actually do. In a series of experiments published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, college students attempted to answer 80 general knowledge questions with one-word answers.
-
The Epidemic of Isolation Is as Harmful as Smoking
Your doctor’s orders for staying healthy might include a daily routine of eating your broccoli, going to the gym and getting a good night’s sleep. Now, the US surgeon general would like to add another action item to the list: Reach out to a friend. In a new report, Vivek Murthy says that the US is experiencing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation that can be as harmful to our health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Murthy also offers practical fixes: public policies and spaces that bring people together, as well as simple things like texting a friend or volunteering.
-
Your Brain Has Tricked You Into Thinking Everything Is Worse
Perhaps no political promise is more potent or universal than the vow to restore a golden age. From Caesar Augustus to the Medicis and Adolf Hitler, from President Xi Jinping of China and President “Bongbong” Marcos of the Philippines to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” and Joe Biden’s “America Is Back,” leaders have gained power by vowing a return to the good old days. What these political myths have in common is an understanding that the golden age is definitely not right now. Maybe we’ve been changing from angels into demons for centuries, and people have only now noticed the horns sprouting on their neighbors’ foreheads.
