Neurofeedback
Across a human life span, changes in cognition are expected to occur as individuals grow older. Most of the changes experienced in aging are related to a decline in fluid intelligence, defined as the capacity to solve problems and articulate ideas, to navigate new situations, and to acquire knowledge. On the other hand, crystallized intelligence, …
Continue reading "use it or lose it: neurofeedback brain training & cognitive aging"
Psychiatric and neurological diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally. Despite their shared neural origin, they have distinct underlying pathogenic entities and are classified separately in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). However, the degree to which they share an etiological basis and genetic influences is unclear. Psychiatric disorders have a neurobiological …
Continue reading "nature or nurture: neurobiology and psychiatry overlap"
Beneath every “fact” lies a series of assumptions that cannot be proven. Like it or not, even science requires a leap of faith. Can Science be True if it has no Faith? Bill Nye, the ‘Science Guy,’ affirms that his “point of view is based on the facts of life” and not on faith-based “suppositions of life.”1 For …
Continue reading "faith: the axis on which the wheel of science turns"
When a group of people share neurodivergence in common, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are all the same or even relate to each other that well…very far from it…since as the saying goes, when you have met one autistic person you have met one autistic person; we are all divergently divergent, being each divergent in …
Continue reading "neurodivergent relationships: big picture thinking + acceptance"
High-quality sleep and adaptive cognitive emotional regulation strategies can help to promote resilience to depression and anxiety when faced with negative or stressful experiences, according to new research published in the scientific journal Cortex. The researchers were interested in understanding why some individuals experiencing chronic stress develop mental health problems, while others do not. They believed …
Elevated inflammation is a risk factor for many psychiatric (e.g., depression) and somatic conditions (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis). Inflammation is influenced by psychosocial processes such as emotion regulation. Characterization of which emotion regulation characteristics impact inflammation could help refine psychosocial interventions aimed at normalizing health-harming inflammatory activity for individuals with psychiatric and somatic illnesses. We systematically reviewed the …
Scientists have identified specific patterns of brain network reconfigurations that occur when people take both classical and non-classical psychedelic drugs. Their findings, published in NeuroImage, shed new light on how psychedelics affect the brain and consciousness. The authors behind the new study wanted to better understand the neurobiology of the psychedelic experience by examining the common …
In part III of our article on vagus physiology, we look at the treatment for these, until recently, little-known but critically important and widespread conditions of the vagus nerve which are the root cause of many illnesses for millions of people worldwide. In parts I and II of this article, we have laid a basic …
Students of human history are very aware of patterns and cycles that define our intergenerational experiences. The hope is that by discovering the systemic causes of failures in the past we can prevent or reduce the consequences of failures in the current age. Karl Marx hypothesized that the important cycles of history were the ones …
Continue reading "the next great awakening: convergence of science & religion"
Students whose brainwaves are more in sync with their classmates and teacher are likely to learn better than those lacking this “brain-to-brain synchrony,” shows a new study by a team of psychology and education researchers. The findings, which appear in the journal Psychological Science, offer new insights into the learning process. “This is the first study …