By Douglas LaBier, Ph.D. Science continues to demonstrate the active interconnection between all “parts” of ourselves and the physical/social environment that we experience and deal with throughout life. In my view, this is more than “brain-behavior” or “mind-body” connection: We are biological/psychological/ spiritual/social beings. A recent study reveals a new connection between a specific personality trait—cynicism—and the likelihood of dementia.…
If you’re over 40, you’re not going to like this (and if you’re not yet 40, get ready for a reality check): Early in your fifth decade, researchers believe, your cognitive brain performance peaks. From there, it’s a downhill slide for the remaining years of your life. The good news is that the brain is highly adaptable; it responds to…
Last year my friend Sarah got pregnant and immediately kicked into mother mode. She switched to only organic products, researched natural childbirth, began training with a hypno-birth program, and started a regimen of vitamin supplements to ensure the baby’s physical, mental, and intellectual health. This kid was going to have the best possible head start. After 10 weeks, when her…
By Douglas LaBier, Ph.D. In a previous post I described new research showing that a sense of purpose in life is linked with greater longevity. That’s just one of an increasing number of studies that add to the recognition that we are biological-psychological-spiritual-social beings. All dimensions—internal and external—interact with each other and shape our total experience of life: our overall health, level…
How can anyone not love magnets? They’re about as close as we can get to magic, with their ability to move things around invisibly and defy gravity by picking up nails right off the floor. And how about the North Pole, which manages to make a tiny compass needle thousands of miles away point toward it? Physicists long ago determined…
Writing about visiting her mother who has Alzheimer’s disease, Priscilla Warner observes, “I try not to go with expectations, but that’s hard, since… I want my visits to go well. But it’s hard to define ‘well’ when my mother doesn’t know who I am.” Watching her mother deteriorate over time, Warner sometimes forgets herself and asks (then immediately regrets), “What…
We know that stress—especially of the traumatic variety—can affect the shape and function of structures in the brain. For example, studies on survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reveal that the amygdala (the almond-shaped threat and danger detection center of the brain) can actually enlarge in the presence of an ongoing, unmitigated survival response. Conversely, the hippocampus (a horseshoe-shaped entity…
