A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Four Steps Toward Forgiveness The process of forgiveness can be a liberating experience. One that if practiced proactively can lead to a wonderful experience of life. Interestingly, forgiveness can only occur because we have been given the gift of the ability to make choices. We have the choice to forgive or not to forgive and [...]
Women who are anxious, jealous, or moody and distressed in middle age may be at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life, according to a nearly 40-year-long study. "Most Alzheimer's research has been devoted to factors such as education, heart and blood risk factors, head trauma, family history and genetics," said study author Lena Johannsson, [...]
The more curious we are about a topic, the easier it is to learn information about that topic. New research publishing online October 2 in the Cell Press journal Neuron provides insights into what happens in our brains when curiosity is piqued. The findings could help scientists find ways to enhance overall learning and memory [...]
Physical exercise has many beneficial effects on human health, including the protection from stress-induced depression. However, until now the mechanisms that mediate this protective effect have been unknown. In a new study in mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show that exercise training induces changes in skeletal muscle that can purge the blood of [...]
Last week I wrote about the dangers of finding ourselves in what Carol Dweck terms a Fixed Mindset. This week I want to explore the concept of a Growth Mindset a little more. Much of the work I do in schools is around enhancing engagement. Often I’m asked what should ensure all kids and teachers [...]
The mere sight of a slice of gooey chocolate cake, a cheesy pizza, or a sizzling burger can drive us to eat these foods. In terms of evolution we show preference for high calorie foods as they are an important source of energy. We tend to crave these rich, tasty foods not only when we [...]
Why is it that when people are too stressed they are often grouchy, grumpy, nasty, distracted or forgetful? Researchers from the Brain Mind Institute BMI at EPFL have just highlighted a fundamental synaptic mechanism that explains the relationship between chronic stress and the loss of social skills and cognitive impairment. When triggered by stress, an [...]
Generation after generation, one thing parents can count on is being baffled or confused by their children’s behavior. While new generations of teenagers have access to things their parents did not--Google Glass and Apple’s newly announced iWatch could be the smartphones of tomorrow--this does not explain why teenagers, regardless of generation, continue to behave in [...]
Our brains might be adapting to an emoticon-filled world by processing them differently. Today emoticons are so pervasive that behavioral science has taken an active interest in how people use them. Among the evidence (recently surveyedby Roni Jacobson at the great new Science of Usblog), we find that women use more emoticons than men, that using [...]
In the last 10 years, a new field of neuroscience has mapped the mental zone that can literally change the brain to quiet an overly active stress response system and simultaneously pave the way for higher brain networks to perform at optimum. The more we function from this mental zone, the less we stress, and [...]
