We all know that subsisting on cheeseburgers and pizza is bad for our waistlines and our heart health, and we’ve been told from an early age to “Eat your vegetables (or there will be no dessert!).” When we consider that two thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese [ … ]
When you think of “creativity,” you might conjure up images of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” or of a writer spending long hours agonizing over her next novel, hoping to be the next Joyce Carol Oates. While these are certainly monumentally important creative endeavors, this knee-jerk reaction [ … ]
For a century, we’ve heard that IQ is the end-all, be-all measure of an individual’s intelligence. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that the results of IQ tests may be misleading — they simply don’t tell the full story. (An anecdote to drive this point home: I took two online IQ tests. [ … ]
If you’re a parent of a toddler, then there’s one monosyllabic phrase that undoubtedly punctuates your days: “Mine!” Children are good at many things that might give grown-ups green horns — such as touching their toes and falling asleep anywhere, to name just a few — but it seems that sharing [ … ]
Consider this: nearly a quarter of Americans suffer from depression or anxiety in any given year. Given this statistic, it is imperative that we find innovative solutions to alleviate mental suffering. One approach in particular that has shown promising results in recent decades is ACT. [ … ]
Ask a handful of people if they believe in the abilities of psychics, and you will find a bitter divide between several distinct camps: some put full faith in a psychic’s capacity to predict the future, while others are staunch in their skepticism. The subfield of science that seeks to gather empirical evidence [ … ]
As unique and diverse as all human beings across the globe may be, they all came to the world in the exact same way: a gradual progression from zygote to fetus to infant. And all of us grew in the womb of a female host — our mothers. The first and most primal of relationships is not only experienced [ … ]
Life expectancies of average Americans have reached unprecedented highs, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of us are capable of living past their 79th birthday. While this sounds promising, we shouldn’t just assume that longevity will [ … ]
The foregoing is an excerpt from Frances Jensen’s book, “The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults.” So what did Jensen find out about that murky and mysterious organ, the adolescent brain? More than anything, she discovered that teenagers [ … ]
We’ve learned about the consequences associated with spending too much time indoors —looking at screens, in urban cities — so let’s examine the positive effects of nature on our psychological and emotional lives. We’ve already discovered the link between increased rates of mental illness [ … ]
We often think of bacteria as something dirty and dangerous, something that has the potential to cause us harm; and, while this is true in some cases, bacteria are fundamental to human existence. In fact, “single-celled organisms — mostly bacteria — outnumber our own cells 10 to one [ … ]
Anyone who has ever attempted to meditate can vouch for the fact that while it is theoretically simple, it is extremely challenging in practice. In fact, its simplicity is what makes it difficult, and it is also what makes it worthwhile. “Mindfulness meditation” (the practice most popular in the United States) [ … ]
Flash cards, outlining, mnemonic devices — all of these are certainly useful learning techniques. However, effective studying strategies can only take you so far. There are other lifestyle components that make a difference in your ability to learn — and retain — information. [ … ]
According to Tierney Thys of National Geographic “As of 2010, we have officially become an urban species. More of us live in cities than don’t, and that is a trend that is continuing and accelerating … The average North American and European spends 90 percent of their time indoors.” [ … ]
The prolific author Neil Gaiman once said, “The first problem of any kind of even limited success is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover you.” Surprisingly, Gaiman suffers from impostor syndrome. [ … ]
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