In the 1950s and 60s, researchers at the forefront of neuroscience and psychology experimented with LSD for PTSD and depression. Despite the positive effects of treatments (which came in small doses in controlled environments) the drug and corresponding research on its therapeutic benefits were banned in North America in the late sixties. Newly published research which used MRI for [...]
Adolescents are known for their risk taking. Health experts in privileged countries like ours cite preventable, often self-inflicted mishaps as the biggest risk to teenage well-being. But while the negative effects of peer pressure are well-known, less known are the more positive characteristics (faster learning and self exploration) attributed to the risks associated with group [...]
What is so disturbing about screams? Aside from the obvious--that they represent a fellow human's pain or fear of mortal peril? While it may seem clear on an emotional level why a scream is an upsetting sound to hear, scientifically, it appears that screams and other rapid changes in volume trigger the fear centres within [...]
Did you know there are conferences for lucid dreamers? Or dedicated post-secondary researchers on the subject, such as the folks at the Stanford Sleep Lab? People are curious about the phenomenon--the ability to come to conscious awareness in the dreaming state. Perhaps they would like to learn how to swallow fire or visit the sun, [...]
A good education begins at home, long before kindergarten, according to a new MRI study. While anecdotal evidence is in agreement (many parents have made this claim!) there has never before been a scientific study correlating early childhood reading sessions with future literary success, until now. The findings of the study, entitled Parent-Child Reading Increases [...]
Do you tweet while you watch TV? Surf the net while you Skype? Work on multiple screens simultaneously? If the answer is yes, you may want to consider a device detox--new MRI research has shown lowered gray-matter volume in such multi-taskers. The study, entitled Higher Media Multi-Tasking Activity is Associated with Smaller Gray-Matter Density in [...]
In a scientific landscape where "Survival of the fittest" is as accepted as biological fact, a certain group of humans behaving benevolently--altruists--has puzzled scientists for years. An altruist will go so far as to endanger their own self to help another, even a complete stranger. A new study called Neural and cognitive characteristics of extraordinary [...]
Getting an adequate night's rest of eight hours is a no-brainer for dieters. Studies have long shown that insufficient sleep spikes levels of stress hormone cortisol, and when the body is stressed, it holds on to excess weight. Now, new MRI research has shown that sleep deprivation affects an individual's ability to maintain a healthy [...]
The science of MRI has officially confirmed what many people had already deduced for themselves--there is nothing funny about being tickled. Researchers at the University of Tuebingen in Germany used magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of 18 subjects, recording neural responses of three types of laughter: humorous and joyful laughter, mean-spirited, mocking laughter [...]