We are deeply saddened to hear that Sharon Begley, one of the most exemplary science journalist of our times, died on Saturday, January 16th.
She was always full of curiosity, high standards and excellent writing about all things science, with a longstanding interest in brain and mind research. May she rest in peace, and may her mindfulness remain with us all. [Read more…] about “Never stop wondering” — Sharon Begley, science journalist, RIP
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During the past two decades, more and more scientists have studied mindfulness—a Buddhist-inspired collection of practices aimed at helping us to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment. Their early findings triggered an enormous amount of enthusiasm for meditation.
Sometimes, however, journalists and even scientists (who should know better) have overstated the physical and mental health benefits, which has fed growing skepticism about mindfulness. [Read more…] about The State of Mindfulness Science: 10 Key Research Findings to Encourage and Guide your Meditation Practice in 2018
Marine study examines stress, brain behavior (Lemoore Navy News):
“A recent study led by Naval Health Research Center shows that brain behavior, or mechanisms related to stress, can be modified in Marines prior to deployment [Read more…] about Study: Mindfulness can modify stress-related brain behavior
We’re having a good conversation among SharpBrains Summit participants, prompted by the blog post Lifelong brain wellness and performance–not medical disease–drives growing demand for digital brain health solutions. In what is a beautiful example of the need to see both the forest and the trees [Read more…] about Maximizing brain fitness and mental well-being improves both public health and individual quality of life
Over and over again—in natural disasters, after the SARS epidemic, following the loss of a child or spouse—Bonanno’s longitudinal studies on loss and trauma revealed the exact same pattern at the population level. No matter how bad the trauma, rates of PTSD never exceeded one-third, and rates of resilience were always found in at least one-third and never more than two-thirds of the population.
“This pattern of response is so ubiquitous, and so consistent, it begs the question: Why are we, as a species, designed this way?” asks Bonanno.
One possible answer is that the design ensures that there is always at least a sizable minority, or even a majority, to take care of those deeply affected by a trauma. [Read more…] about Understanding, and Nurturing, Resilience and Adaptability
If you believe most self-help books, pop-psychology articles, and television therapists, then you probably assume that how people respond to significant life events is pretty predictable. Most of us, according to the “experts,” are affected in just about the same way by a given experience—there is a grieving process that everyone goes through, there is a sequence of events that happens when we fall in love, there is a standard response to being jilted, and there are fairly standard ways almost every normal person reacts to the birth of a child, to being unappreciated at one’s job, to having an unbearable workload, to the challenges of raising teenagers, and to the inevitable changes that occur with aging.
[Read more…] about The Emotional Life of Your Brain: One Brain Does Not Fit All
