All posts tagged: Neuroscientist

9 Expert Habits to Improve Your Relationships From Neuroscientist Amir Levine

9 Expert Habits to Improve Your Relationships From Neuroscientist Amir Levine

Published by Jenni Sidey

Create a shorthand of expectations “The five pillars of a secure life are: consistent, available, responsive, reliable, and predictable—or CARRP. I have a friend, we’ve been friends for a really, really long time. Around COVID time, there were times when we had ups and downs in that friendship. But now we have this new language of CARRP. “Because of this book launch, I’ve been so busy, and I think he called me twice, and I hadn’t responded. I hadn’t called back. And he called me again the other day, and he said, ‘Well, you haven’t been as responsive. You haven’t been CARRP lately.’ And I owned it. I immediately apologized, and I said, ‘You’re totally right.’ I explained what was going on, and that I’m so sorry. “He said, ‘No, no, it’s fine.’ But, in the past, without having this language, he might have sulked and not said anything. And if he had said something, I probably would’ve responded defensively. And there were periods of our friendship, we’ve been friends for 20 years, that we …

UK parents urged to curb fast-paced screen content for small children – neuroscientist who advised government explains why

UK parents urged to curb fast-paced screen content for small children – neuroscientist who advised government explains why

Published by skeptic

The UK Department for Education has just released guidance for parents on early years screen use, which I advised on as an expert. It includes recommended limits on the time children spend on screens. It also advises avoiding fast-paced content for younger children. Recent research from the UK Department for Education suggests that over half of two-year-olds now spend over two hours a day watching screens. For the top 20%, that figure approaches five hours daily – more than a third of their waking life. These changes have occurred rapidly, particularly since the introduction of smartphones. In 2009, children aged five to 15 spent around nine hours a week – about 1.3 hours a day – watching screens. But the nature of what children watch has shifted just as dramatically as the amount of time they spend doing so. Fifteen years ago, close to half of UK preschoolers tuned into CBeebies – BBC content aimed at children aged six and under – each week. Today, children’s engagement with content produced by TV companies is almost …

The neuroscientist who wants us to be nicer to psychopaths

The neuroscientist who wants us to be nicer to psychopaths

Published by skeptic

Think of a psychopath and you probably picture someone dangerous, someone whose ruthless self-interest leads to great harm for others and considerable success for themselves. Perhaps unsurprisingly, while only around 1 per cent of people in the general population have psychopathy, roughly 1 in 5 men in prison show signs of it, and research has also found a link between corporate leadership and psychopathic traits. But just as it is painful to know a psychopath, it isn’t necessarily fun to be one either. Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University in Washington DC, studies those with psychopathic traits who largely lead ordinary lives among us. She has uncovered something surprising: many don’t want to be psychopathic at all. Researchers are still honing the precise definition, but psychopathy is characterised by callousness, a lack of empathy, glib social charm and impulsivity. Checklist screening tools assess for behaviours including pathological lying, a sense of grandiosity, manipulative tendencies and a constant need for stimulation. Studies have found psychopaths are hyper-focused on their goals and …

The neuroscientist who wants us to be nicer to psychopaths

This neuroscientist says some psychopaths wish they were nicer

Published by skeptic

Think of a psychopath and you probably picture someone dangerous, someone whose ruthless self-interest leads to great harm for others and considerable success for themselves. Perhaps unsurprisingly, while only around 1 per cent of people in the general population have psychopathy, roughly 1 in 5 men in prison show signs of it, and research has also found a link between corporate leadership and psychopathic traits. But just as it is painful to know a psychopath, it isn’t necessarily fun to be one either. Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University in Washington DC, studies those with psychopathic traits who largely lead ordinary lives among us. She has uncovered something surprising: many don’t want to be psychopathic at all. Researchers are still honing the precise definition, but psychopathy is characterised by callousness, a lack of empathy, glib social charm and impulsivity. Checklist screening tools assess for behaviours including pathological lying, a sense of grandiosity, manipulative tendencies and a constant need for stimulation. Studies have found psychopaths are hyper-focused on their goals and …

The best white noise machines, tried and tested with advice from a neuroscientist

The best white noise machines, tried and tested with advice from a neuroscientist

Published by Sam Flores

There are some things in life that money can’t buy – but a good night’s sleep isn’t necessarily one of them. When sirens, traffic and loud neighbours disrupt your bedtime peace, the best white noise machines can block out the racket with a steady sound of their own. From the fuzz of a de-tuned radio to the replicated drone of an industrial fan, these little gadgets emit white noise sounds to help you drift off to dreamland. “White noise contains all frequencies of sound at the same volume, like static,” explains Dr Lindsay Browning, a chartered psychologist and neuroscientist at Trouble Sleeping and author of Navigating Sleeplessness with a doctorate in insomnia from the University of Oxford. “It can be quite unpleasant to listen to, so there are other options including green, brown and pink noise that have quieter high frequencies.” You can read more about the different types of white noise, along with expert advice from Dr Browning, in the FAQ section below. First though, here’s a quick look at my top five: The …

6 Expert Habits to Keep Your Mind Sharp From Neuroscientist Dr. Majid Fotuhi

6 Expert Habits to Keep Your Mind Sharp From Neuroscientist Dr. Majid Fotuhi

Published by Jenni Sidey

“The other one I like is the ma-ta-sa-ba, where you put your hands in front of you, and then you get your thumb and you rub your pinky and say ma, ma, ma, ma, ma about 10 times. Then you do your ring finger and say ta, ta, ta, ta. And then you go to your middle finger, sa, sa, sa, and then you go to the index finger and say ba, ba, ba. “Now why do I do this? Because there’s actually research that shows this kind of exercise improves brain health. So it’s not like hokey-pokey stuff. As a neurologist who’s reviewed the literature, I know what’s good for me and what’s questionable. And so I know that slow breathing and what I just told you are really powerful techniques for brain health. And I use it myself. I wouldn’t use other things. Don’t obsess over a good night’s sleep “If you wake up in the middle of the night, you shouldn’t toss and turn, toss and turn, toss and turn. If you’re …

As A Neuroscientist, I Quit These 5 Morning Habits As Soon As I Learned What They Did To My Brain

As A Neuroscientist, I Quit These 5 Morning Habits As Soon As I Learned What They Did To My Brain

Published by Jenni Sidey

Your mornings offer a unique opportunity to maximize brain function for the rest of the day. What you do (or don’t do) during the first 60–90 minutes after waking will influence your mood and cognitive performance over the following hours. But the painful truth is: most people unknowingly sabotage their brains before 9 am and wonder why they’re unable to concentrate or feel stressed all the time. The following five morning habits are common, and I engaged in them myself in the past. Let’s examine them from a neuroscience perspective and explore better alternatives for each. I quit these 5 morning habits as soon as I learned what they did to my brain: 1. Checking your phone first thing in the morning This habit is extremely common. 84% of the US population checks their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up: Why it’s problematic: Within the first 30–45 minutes after waking, the Cortisol Awakening Response occurs. It’s a strong increase in your cortisol levels in the morning. A healthy Cortisol Awakening Response prepares you for the …

Neuroscientist reveals how the brain functions without a mind’s eye

Neuroscientist reveals how the brain functions without a mind’s eye

Published by José Betancourt

PsyPost’s PodWatch highlights interesting clips from recent podcasts related to psychology and neuroscience. On Wednesday, January 28, the Speaking of Psychology podcast, hosted by Kim Mills, released an episode featuring Joel Pearson. Pearson is a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at the University of New South Wales, where he directs the Future Minds Lab. The episode investigates the science of aphantasia, a condition characterized by a blind “mind’s eye,” and examines how researchers verify this invisible experience. At roughly the 3-minute mark, Pearson defines aphantasia as the inability to voluntarily create mental images. He notes that while the concept was first described by Francis Galton in the 1880s, it was only formally named in 2015. This new label sparked a wave of public interest, leading many people to realize for the first time that their lack of internal imagery was not the norm. Pearson estimates that this condition affects at least 4 to 5 percent of the population, though the real number could be higher. He explains that standard questionnaires often fail because people with aphantasia …

A Neuroscientist on the Limits of the “Cutting Edge” of His Field

A Neuroscientist on the Limits of the “Cutting Edge” of His Field

Published by Jenni Sidey

Neuroscientist Dr. Joseph Green likes to describe his field as still growing up. In this week’s Mind Matters podcast episode, he explained that sciences like physics and chemistry are considered mature because they offer strong mathematical theories that make accurate predictions. But neuroscience isn’t quite there yet. Scientists know a lot about the brain — its parts, how neurons fire, and how brain areas communicate — but they don’t yet have a complete theory of how our thoughts, feelings, and experiences come from brain activity. Green compares the situation to the early days of studying electricity and magnetism: before James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) created equations to describe them, scientists could observe what was happening but didn’t really understand the underlying rules. Neuroscience, he says, is in a similar position. Researchers can collect huge amounts of data, but they don’t yet know the “mathematical magic” that will tie it all together. The brain, with its billions of interconnected neurons, is likely the most complicated system humans have ever tried to understand. New tools for understanding the …