Science Articles
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"The biology of the mind is the central scientific challenge of the twenty-first century." - Eric Kandel, 2000 Nobel Laureate Thomas Kuhn, Paradigms, and Psychiatry
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Knowledge is Necessity. The key to recovery lies in knowing about how the inside of our head reacts to whatever is going on outside our head. This isn't esoteric academic knowledge. Our lives are at stake.
Scientific discovery holds out hope of effective and safe new treatments. More important, it is validating recovery techniques that we can apply right now.
Here you are likely to find more questions than answers, as every apparent answer yields hundreds of questions. Nothing in science is a closed case. Enquiry is always open-ended, reaching into the unknown. So please do not worry if you find yourself scratching your head. As long as you're asking questions, you are in the right place.
Treat this section as a good beach read and enjoy.
The pic to illustrate Science is a close-up of Dali's "Exploding Raphaelist Head." Dali was equally fascinated with Freud and the quantum building blocks of existence. This painting says it all.
The Big Picture
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Thomas Kuhn, Paradigms, and Psychiatry Has psychiatry outlived its useful purpose? Yes, says just about everyone. |
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Forget chemical imbalance. The brain is more like an ecosystem. |
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Robert Sapolsky outlines the intellectual challenges to our understanding. |
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Is there an adaptive advantage to depression, mania, and anxiety? |
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Countries like Nigeria experience a lot less mental illness. Huh? |
Genes and Brain Science
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Two landmark studies are changing how we think. |
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These days we know better than to search for a depression or bipolar gene. |
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Genes make no sense without consideration of the environment they operate in. |
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Our Favorite Neurotransmitters They've already changed your life. Now find out why. |
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When your neurons are sparking, something else is making your blood boil. |
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Dopamine, Serotonin's Secret Weapon A smart dopamine med may work wonders for you. The problem is one doesn't exist. |
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Neurotransmitters work outside the neuron. Let's open up the hood. |
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A single molecule may be the brain's Rosetta Stone. |
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It's not a neuron. It's not a neurotransmitter. It's a - uh ... |
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Brain Networks and Mental Illness A new way of analyzing bran scans is yielding extraordinary new insights. |
Understanding Behavior
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We need our feelings to make the right decisions. |
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The thinking part of our brain comes in handy. Pity we don't use it more often. |
Brain Science and Recovery
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Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight How a near-fatal stroke transformed a certain brain scientist. |
The Blood-Brain Barrier
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The blood-brain barrier stands in the way of new drug development. |
Clinical Trials
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The Trouble With Clinical Trials - I The strange but typical case of a study that tells us nothing. |
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The Trouble With Clinical Trials - II If we asked the right questions, maybe we would find some real answers. |
