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Size really does (grey) matter
It’s the size of the matter that matters, according to the results of a new study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, snappily entitled ‘Significant grey matter changes in a region of the orbitofrontal cortex in healthy participants predicts emotional dysregulation.’ Effective regulation of the emotions seems to be an increasingly prized commodity, with soaring…
The value of humility
How much do you think you know? And would you be right in your assessment? A new piece of research places into question the seemingly straightforward task of judging one’s own knowledge on a particular subject, and suggests that those who think they ‘know it all’ are more prone to lies and deception. Psychological scientist…
Surveillance – a new treatment for depression
In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a revolution going on. The rise of the machines, you might call it, or perhaps technology on steroids. Nowhere is this more evident than in the brave new world of healthcare, where technology-enabled clothing and accessories can monitor your heart rate, contact lenses can detect blood sugar for diabetics…
How to spot a psychopath
Most people, if you ask them, will tell you that a psychopath is someone at the extreme end of the mental health spectrum. Which is true, but we tend to assume they are easily identifiable by the crimes they commit (most notoriously, murder). Many who commit murder are indeed psychopathic, but the number of…
Sniffing around for answers to autism
Some time in the last ten years, it seems that autism has made its way into the public mind. A bit like ‘bipolar’, it is now not uncommon to meet people (that is, children) who suffer from the condition. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in America, one in every 68 children is…
Inflammatory stuff
You know what it’s like – some days everything just seems to go awry. The boiler starts leaking, your child gets sick and has to be picked up from school, and when you step out to get into the car you realise you’ve had a flat tyre. These are the sorts of daily stressors that…
What happens when even our mental health provision is depressed?
From ‘Addressing the Deterioration in Public Psychotherapy Provision’ (UKCP/BPC) A recent report published by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) entitled ‘Addressing the deterioration in public psychotherapy provision‘ leaves us in no doubt as to the state of government provision of mental health services. Some of the more…
Pesticides go incognito
At no other time in world history have we been exposed to such a heady cocktail of chemicals which, while supposedly making our lives easier, also put us at risk. From the fumes we inhale in traffic-choked cities to the plastic residues we ingest on cling-filmed foods, we are arguably being bombarded. Pyrethroid insecticides are…
