Category Archives: Decision-Making

September 19

Solving the Puzzle of Addiction

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According to the United Nations’s World Drug Report of 2024, the number of people who use drugs worldwide had risen to 292 million in 2022, a 20 percent increase over the past 10 years (1). Further more, an estimated 64 million of those people suffer from a substance use disorder (addiction). The study of addiction […]

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July 18

Operation PTSD

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The full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started in 2021 has had devastating impacts on the daily lives of those in Ukraine, and this includes a dramatic increase in those suffering from PTSD in this war-torn country. Although 2021 was not the beginning of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine (1), as the war rages on, […]

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January 18

New year, same old new me: The science of making resolutions and (hopefully) keeping them

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Already given up on New year’s resolutions? Some useful tips from psychology and neuroscience of habit formation might help!

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July 07

The Forgotten:

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Image source: “New Awakenings: The Legacy & Future of Encephalitis Lethargica (EL)” (Sparacin 2012) Some call it “the sleepy-sickness”, others encephalitis lethargica. This mysterious disease, lost to time, bears its colloquial name because those who contracted it entered an “all-enveloping trancelike sleep” (1); and some of those who entered this sleep, did not awake for […]

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May 13

WHAT DO SCIENTISTS DO APART FROM SCIENCE?

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When most people think about science in general, what comes to mind first is the traditional image of a scientist in a white lab coat, crouched over a table in the lab, looking at a colorful solution through big protective goggles. And for the most part, if we refer to the work that is being […]

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February 27

Choosing a neuroscience graduate program

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TL;DR talk to current students & trust your instincts

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November 07

Knowing when to hold and fold ’em: the explore/exploit dilemma

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I’ve been staring at the menu for over 10 minutes. I can feel the server’s eyes boring holes into the back of my head, urging me to hurry up and pick something. Still I sit and ponder; should I get my old favorite, the California burrito? Or maybe I should try something new like a […]

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June 27

NeurosciANTS

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[En español] You probably walk past thousands of ants every day and give them no more than a passing glance, but the ecological impact of an entire ant colony is comparable to that of enormous animals like elephants. Together in colonies that can surpass 300 million individuals, ants have a profound effect on the landscapes […]

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January 17

What are habits?

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Have you ever been driving and been so lost in thought that you aren’t even consciously aware of what you are doing? For a well-practiced skill like driving (and especially for a well-practiced commute) you might even find yourself arriving at your destination with little recollection of all the steps you took to make it […]

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April 06

THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC: A SOBERING VULNERABILITY OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

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Opioids are a class of powerful psychoactive drugs that are often prescribed for pain relief, but can produce an intense euphoria that has proven remarkably addictive.  Opioid use disorder, a diagnosis characterized by compulsive opioid use and withdrawal, affects or has affected approximately 3 million Americans and 16 million people worldwide.  According to the Centers […]

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