If you want to know if there’s something wrong in the brain, it seems obvious that you need to take a look at the brain itself. There are some particularly annoying conditions that don’t show up on any kind of scan, but when the issue is structural, that’s when neuroimaging comes into play. You’ve probably …
It’s that time of the year when everything’s damp, cold and generally gloomy, and it makes sense that you might be gloomy, too. However, if you start experiencing the symptoms of depression at the same time every year, it may be more than a natural response; it could be a medical condition known as seasonal …
It’s all very well saying we want to take care of brain health, but do we know what brain health actually means? The brain is a very complicated organ responsible for a lot of different roles in the body. How do we define a healthy brain, or assess when it goes wrong? Every organization seems …
Your brain is incredibly complicated and responsible for all sorts of different things. When it has problems, whether they’re physical or mental, you can feel it in all aspects of your life. There’s an intangible quality to mental illness, even when it does have a physical cause, and that can make it easy to forget …
Brains are complicated. Of course, pretty much every aspect of human bodies and health can be considered complicated, but the brain often seems exceptionally complicated. One consideration is its physical condition and performance, but there’s also a lot of less tangible psychological, social and emotional stuff. We’ve barely begun to scratch the surface. In this …
You may not be able to “cure” anxiety and depression or magically make the stressful things in your life go away, but if you want to improve the overall state of your mental health, having the right mindset is a key starting point. Evidence suggests that having a so-called “growth” mindset, where you believe your …
If there’s one thing people have learned in recent years, it’s the value of being able to go outside. Whether you live in the middle of the woods or in a big city, stepping into the fresh air, finding some green space, and just getting out of the house can have a powerful effect on …
Everyone has trouble motivating themselves sometimes, but what if your brain is specifically wired to struggle with attention, memory, impulse control and planning? People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often face additional challenges when it comes to motivation, which means different management strategies are needed. Many people think of ADHD as just meaning someone …
Children learn things almost by default. It’s a combination of not knowing anything to start with and having the open-mindedness that makes it much easier to pick up new things. For adults who’ve developed habits and whose brains have literally become more set in their ways, getting in the right learning mindset is a bit …
When it comes to mental illnesses that have a bad reputation, few are more stigmatized than personality disorders. Depression and anxiety are becoming more widely acknowledged, but personality disorders are tricky things that can be difficult to understand. Part of this is because personality disorders aren’t about measurable experience, like schizophrenic hallucinations or bipolar mood …
