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Robert Provine, an Authority on Laughter, Is Dead at 76
Dr. Robert Provine was studying nerve cells for eight hours a day in a windowless lab when he made a keen observation that would alter his life, and the shape of social science: I am getting tired of this.What Drives People to Mass Shootings?
On Monday morning, President Donald Trump made his first televised statement about the mass murders committed over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. He called for action to “stop mass killings before they start,” citing what he said were a number of contributing factors: the contagious nature of mass murder; the glorification of violence in video games; and the need to act on “red flags” to identify and potentially confine the “mentally ill monsters” that he said commit the cri...Were U.S. Diplomats Attacked in Cuba? Brain Study Deepens Mystery.
In late 2016, dozens of U.S. diplomats working in Cuba and China began reporting odd mental symptoms: persistent headaches, vertigo, blurred vision, hearing phantom sounds. Since then, scientists and commentators have groped for plausible explanations. Deliberate physical attacks, involving microwaves or other such technology? Or were psychological factors, subconscious yet mind-altering, the more likely cause?Were U.S. Diplomats Attacked in Cuba? Brain Study Deepens Mystery.
In late 2016, dozens of U.S. diplomats working in Cuba and China began reporting odd mental symptoms: persistent headaches, vertigo, blurred vision, hearing phantom sounds. Since then, scientists and commentators have groped for plausible explanations. Deliberate physical attacks, involving microwaves or other such technology? Or were psychological factors, subconscious yet mind-altering, the more likely cause?Drug Agency Calls for Strong Warning Labels on Popular Sleep Aids
Federal health regulators announced on Tuesday that they would require manufacturers of sleeping pills such as Ambien and related drugs to post strongly worded warnings in boxes on labels and patient guides. The Food and Drug Administration, in what it called a safety announcement, noted that the drugs’ side effects included risky behaviors, such as sleepwalking and sleep driving, that can lead to injury and even death.In month after '13 Reasons Why' debut on Netflix, study finds teen suicide grew
Ever since its premier, on March 31, 2017, the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why,” about a teenage girl’s suicide, has alarmed many health experts, who believe it glamorizes the topic for some young people. The show also has impressed critics, along with viewers young and old, who see it as an honest portrayal of adolescent distress.Scientists Create Speech From Brain Signals
“In my head, I churn over every sentence ten times, delete a word, add an adjective, and learn my text by heart, paragraph by paragraph,” Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote in his memoir, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” In the book, Bauby, a journalist and editor, recalled his life before and after a paralyzing spinal injury that left him virtually unable to move a muscle; he tapped out the book letter by letter, by blinking an eyelid.Scientists Create Speech From Brain Signals
Thousands of people are reduced to painstaking means of communication as a result of injuries suffered in accidents or combat, of strokes, or of neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, that disable the ability to speak.Scientists Create Speech From Brain Signals
“In my head, I churn over every sentence ten times, delete a word, add an adjective, and learn my text by heart, paragraph by paragraph,” wrote Jean-Dominique Bauby in his memoir, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” In the book, Bauby, a journalist and editor, recalled his life before and after a paralyzing spinal injury that left him virtually unable to move a muscle; he tapped out the book letter by letter, by blinking an eyelid.Dr. Richard Green, 82, dies; challenged psychiatry's view of homosexuality
Dr. Richard Green, one of the earliest and most vocal critics of psychiatry’s classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, died on April 6 at his home in London. He was 82.Doctors use electrical implant to aid brain-damaged woman
More than 3 million Americans live with disabling brain injuries. The vast majority of these individuals are lost to the medical system soon after their initial treatment, to be cared for by family or to fend for themselves, managing fatigue, attention and concentration problems with little hope of improvement.Doctors Use Electrical Implant to Aid Brain-Damaged Woman
More than 3 million Americans live with disabling brain injuries. The vast majority of these individuals are lost to the medical system soon after their initial treatment, to be cared for by family or to fend for themselves, managing fatigue, attention and concentration problems with little hope of improvement.Doctors Use Electrical Implant to Aid Brain-Damaged Woman
More than 3 million Americans live with disabling brain injuries. The vast majority of these individuals are lost to the medical system soon after their initial treatment, to be cared for by family or to fend for themselves, managing fatigue, attention and concentration problems with little hope of improvement.To Improve Memory, Tune It Like an Orchestra
(Mind)To Improve Memory, Tune It Like an Orchestra
Anyone above a certain age who has drawn a blank on the name of a favorite uncle, a friend’s phone number or the location of a house key understands how fragile memory is. Its speed and accuracy begin to slip in one’s 20s and keep slipping. This is particularly true for working memory, the mental sketch pad that holds numbers, names and other facts temporarily in mind, allowing decisions to be made throughout the day.Beyond Biden: How Close Is Too Close?
(Mind)Doctors Welcome New Depression Drug, Cautiously
Doctors welcomed federal approval this week of a new, fast-acting nasal spray for depression. But also they expressed concerns about its cost and long-term effects, as well as the logistics of administering it in accordance with safety requirements.How to quit antidepressants: Very slowly, doctors say
Patient-advocacy groups demanded a public retraction; psychiatrists, in the United States and abroad, came to the defense of the Royal College.When the bully is the boss
The presumption that tough bosses get results — and fast — compared with gentler leaders is widespread, and rooted partly in the published life stories of successful CEOs.Dr. Theodore Rubin, High-Profile Psychoanalyst, Is Dead at 95
Dr. Theodore Rubin, a psychoanalyst and a prolific writer whose short novel “Lisa and David,” about two teenagers finding love at a therapeutic school, was made into an Academy Award-nominated movie, and who became the public face of psychotherapy in postwar American popular culture, died Saturday in a nursing home in Manhattan. He was 95.