How the Heart Can Heal the Brain

Alexis Camins / Truthdig Dec 14, 2018 "The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog" is a powerful testament to how the brain can heal, through loving relationships, from even the most extreme cases of trauma. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

How Can a Scientist Make Sense of the Religious Impulse?

Steven Gimbel Apr 6, 2018 Physicist Alan Lightman ponders this and other questions in his new book, "Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine." Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Scientists Link Having a Purpose in Life to a Good Night’s Sleep

Staff / Truthdig Jul 10, 2017 Having trouble catching zzz's? It could have something to do with your sense of purpose, or lack thereof. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Linking Alzheimer’s to Pollution, Study Finds Toxic Nanoparticles in Human Brains

By Nika Knight / Common Dreams Sep 7, 2016 “Abundant” quantities of magnetite and other nanoparticles deemed toxic were found in the brains of people from Mexico City and Manchester, U.K. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Scientists Find Possible Link Between Brain Development and Anti-Social Behavior

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2016 Brain scans by scientists at Cambridge University have highlighted “striking” structural differences between the brains of young men diagnosed with anti-social behavioral problems and those of their better-behaved peers. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Psychologist: Mental Illness Is a Result of Intolerable Circumstances, Not Defective Genes (Video)

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 27, 2016 The health professions make a grave mistake when they treat mental illnesses as “discrete brain conditions that are largely genetically determined and barely influenced by the slings and arrows of misfortune,” writes clinical psychologist and researcher Richard Bentall. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

High Doses of Cocaine Can Cause the Brain to Eat Itself

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jan 20, 2016 Mice given high doses of the recreational drug exhibited a destructive version of a condition known as autophagy, in which brain cells digest and excrete essential parts, rather than just waste. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Jewish Extremists Have a Lot in Common With Islamic State

Staff / Truthdig Dec 29, 2015 Violent Jewish extremism in Israel, like Islamic State, needs to be confronted and destroyed; corporate crimes abounded in 2015; meanwhile, a neuroscientist has come up with theories about why daily rhythms change as one ages. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Oliver Sacks, Neurological Innovator and ‘Awakenings’ Author, Dies at 82

Kasia Anderson / Truthdig Aug 31, 2015 Hollywood might have granted him fame, but the renowned psychiatrist's valuable work deserved to be amplified, however the means. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Mad Science: First Human Brain Grown in Lab, Researchers Claim

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 19, 2015 Scientists at Ohio State University claim to have taken the unprecedented step of growing an almost fully formed human brain in a lab, an achievement that could transform the medical community's understanding of neurological disease. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Look What Austerity Does to a Child’s Brain

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 7, 2015 The stressful conditions of poverty—“overcrowding, noise, substandard housing, separation from parent(s), exposure to violence, family turmoil”—can permanently diminish the ability to think clearly and calmly. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

On the Move

By Annie Murphy Paul May 22, 2015 Since the 1985 publication of “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," neurologist Oliver Sacks has been enlightening readers with sharply observed, generously humane medical case studies. In his latest book, "On the Move: A Life," Sacks presents an extended study of the patient he knows best: himself. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )