Phil HarrisJul 4, 20214 minThe God CircuitMore than 80 percent of people around the world consider themselves to be religious or spiritual. But research on the neuroscience of...
Phil HarrisJun 23, 20211 minHow to Hallucinate (Without Drugs)I felt I could reach through the screen to get to another place. Lasers became entire fans of light sweeping around, and then it felt as...
Phil HarrisMar 7, 20213 minWisdom vs LonelinessResearch over the last decade has shown that loneliness is an important determinant of health. It is associated with considerable...
Phil HarrisJan 31, 20214 minPerfect Diagnosis of ADHDA new study led by a University at Buffalo researcher has identified how specific communication among different brain regions, known as...
Phil HarrisOct 23, 20203 minWord Recognition is Pre-WrittenHumans are born with a part of the brain that is prewired to be receptive to seeing words and letters, setting the stage at birth for...
Phil HarrisOct 21, 20204 minFear vs Anxiety DebateAnxiety, the most common family of mental illnesses, has been pushed to epic new heights by the COVID-19 pandemic. A report by an...
Phil HarrisSep 11, 20203 minBinge Alcohol-Lose EmpathyPeople who binge-drink show more extensive dysfunction across their brains than previously realised, a new study from the University of...
Phil HarrisSep 10, 20205 minAdolescent Risk Taking: Key Brain Development IdentifiedAs any parent will tell you, no two children behave in exactly the same way. It is part of what makes each individual unique. So, why do...
Phil HarrisSep 10, 20202 minAlcohol Dementia RevealedA common consequence of chronically high alcohol consumption is a decline in cognitive function, which can even progress to full-blown...
Phil HarrisSep 10, 20204 minIs God a Pattern?In training and lectures on personality, I describe the five key traits of our temperament. One of these traits is Openness to...
Phil HarrisAug 19, 20202 minMechanism for Trauma Memory IdentifiedThe endogenous regulation of a specific gene is associated with a reduced risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder following a...
Phil HarrisJul 1, 20203 minTrauma: Distance MattersThe human brain operates on many levels. When we consider things which are distant in time, space or intimacy the rational brain tends...
Phil HarrisJun 15, 20205 minName Emotion Tame EmotionI was recently looking for some research on a separate project and came across this early pioneering study in language and emotional...
Phil HarrisMar 6, 20204 minSub-Types of Schizophrenia IdentifiedPsychiatrists led by Nikolaos Koutsouleris from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have used a computer-based approach to...
Phil HarrisFeb 12, 20203 minAI: Predicts Responsiveness to Depression TreatmentArtificial intelligence may soon play a critical role in choosing which depression therapy is best for patients. A national trial...
Phil HarrisJan 14, 20206 minInfection: What Role Does it Have in Schizophrenia?My first day back at work in 2020 was with a fantastic team of mental health housing workers. We had an extensive debate on the role of...
Phil HarrisDec 19, 20191 minPain: Is it a Personality Thing?Recent advances in neuroscience are unlocking how the major personality traits are linked to neural systems. One personality trait,...
Phil HarrisDec 12, 20194 minHow Nightmares Help UsDo bad dreams serve a real purpose? To answer this question, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and University Hospitals...
Phil HarrisOct 6, 20193 minHow to Control SadnessImpulsive shopping can be a costly vice for people who are eager to escape emotional pain, but researchers have now discovered a strategy...
Phil HarrisOct 3, 20193 minMen are from Mars....The amygdala and the hippocampus -- structures in the brain that are involved in emotion, learning, and memory -- have been found to play...