February 13

Oxytocin, bonding, and breastfeeding

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Valentine’s Day is a time for expressing love, and while its title may initially conjure up socially normative images of candle-lit dinners, long-stemmed roses, and canoodling with a romantic partner, I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about the kind of love that prevents our species from dying out: that of a mother and […]

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February 12

Please Please Me

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I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, but let’s face it- Valentine’s Day is all about pleasure.  Whether it comes from a special meal, a box of chocolates, a sappy card or a night with a significant other, millions of people devote time on their Valentine’s Day to things that please them.  So before you […]

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February 11

Struck by Cupid?

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Venus, the Roman deity that embodies love and sexuality, calls upon her winged son Cupid to say: “My dear son, punish that contumacious beauty; give your mother a revenge as sweet as her injuries are great; infuse into the bosom of that haughty girl a passion for some mean, unworthy being, so that she may […]

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January 30

[title goes here]

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Here’s a confession- I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about when I signed up for today’s post.  I assumed that, as in the past, inspiration would come to me with time to spare. I was wrong. I wracked my brain.  I read weeks’ worth of Science and Nature emails searching […]

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January 16

Cannabis, Creativity, & The Cortex

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I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown. – Jim Morrison The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world. – Carl […]

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January 09

Reefer Madness?

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The recent legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington makes this is a good time to think about the potential risks of marijuana consumption. Marijuana has a long and storied history of recreational use in humans (earliest evidence of its use is 4000 BC in China1). The popular image of marijuana today is as a […]

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January 03

Help the Hoarders!

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I am—like most of my neuroscientist and psychologist colleagues, I’m sure—a mental hypochondriac. As a nervous perfectionist and self-proclaimed weirdo with a laundry list of mild psychiatric conditions (professionally and personally diagnosed), my interest in neuroscience has always been driven by a selfish desire to know more about myself and my strange brain (link art […]

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December 31

12 drinks a day make the brain go away

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More alcohol is consumed on New Year’s Eve than any other day of the year. That bottle of champagne may seem like the perfect way to ring in another year of health and happiness, but is it really the smartest choice for optimal brain health? Tales abound that drinking alcohol rots the brain and is […]

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December 24

Neuro-Gifting

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‘Tis the season…for a lot of things. No matter what holiday you celebrate, December tends to be a month to get together with family, give each other gifts, and if you’re still feeling generous, give money to charity. The end of this month also tends to involve the consumption of a great deal of alcohol…stay […]

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December 19

Reclaiming stability with Deep Brain Stimulation

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Ever since I can remember, my grandmother has had shaky hands. Although shakiness and aging often go hand-in-hand, her unsteadiness was diagnosed as an essential tremor (ET), the most common form of pathological tremor (1). ET affects about 4% of people over 40 years old (2), and is characterized most often by a tremor of […]

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