DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE SEPTEMBER 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. The United States is in the grip of an unprecedented public health crisis – and unfortunately one in which well-meaning doctors have played a part. Due to chronic pain health issues the sales of opioid drug painkillers on prescription has quadrupled between 1999 and 2014. […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE JULY 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Laughter is universal. It is a hardwired response that comes online early— in the first four months of life— regardless of culture or native language. Whether a child is raised in The Netherlands or Nigeria, Peru or Pakistan, his or her first laugh will delight […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE JUNE 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Laughter comes in many flavours: the giddy giggle, the mild chuckle, the lusty guffaw, the sarcastic “ha!” Its meaning is just as varied, signalling everything from amusement to discomfort to disdain. For researchers, understanding how our brain interprets this complex behaviour is serious business. […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE MAY 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Self-compassion, at its most basic level, means treating yourself with the same kindness and understanding that you would a friend. People who struggle with this concept, research shows, do not necessarily lack compassion toward others. Rather they hold themselves to higher standards than they would […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE APRIL 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Carolyn feels great these days. She exercises. She’s socially active. She spends as much time with her four grandchildren as possible. But it wasn’t always that way. A retired radiology film librarian from Pittsburgh, she began feeling apathetic and isolated seven years ago. She’d just […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE FEBRUARY 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Although few of us spend time contemplating the molecular messengers at work in our brain, we owe a tremendous amount to them—and to dopamine in particular. It plays a part in movement, motivation, mood and memory. But it also has a dark side. The neurotransmitter […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE JANUARY 2017 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. The fact that exercise improves physical health is so well known as to be a platitude. Decades of research demonstrate that regular exercise lowers the risk of many illnesses—heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer—and extends the average life span. In contrast, the benefits of exercise for […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE DECEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. This season brings varied and complex emotions: joy and nostalgia, love and loneliness. New research helps to explain how these feelings affect us—with some practical implications for making the season brighter and more meaningful. Embrace the Nostalgia:The bittersweet emotion increases feelings of vitality On holidays, […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE NOVEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Around the world, especially in industrial nations, over-worked employees and the scientists who study them are reaching similar conclusions. Overwhelming evidence now confirms that downtime of all kinds—whether it be a meditation session, lunchtime stroll through the park or a weeklong (or more) holiday—is crucial […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER including this month’s Freebie. Being alive is a smelly business. Our bodies constantly release by-products of the processes that go on inside us—and it is more than just a curiosity or a cause for dismay. A growing amount of research suggests that it might one day be possible to […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE AUGUST 2016 NEWSLETTER. Picture two female chimpanzees hanging out under a tree. One grooms the other, systematically working long fingers through fur, picking out bugs and bits of leaves. The recipient sprawls sleepily on the ground, looking as relaxed as someone enjoying a spa day. A subsequent surreptitious measurement of her levels […]
DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE JULY 2016 NEWSLETTER. Everbody seems to be doing it! What? Looking for love online. According to recent statistics for those looking for love then ‘everybody seems to be doing it online’. So for those of you looking for a bit of summer romance, then boost your odds of making a match […]