Neuroeconomics has gained attention in recent years. While it’s not exactly news, research continues to lift the veil on the mental processes behind people’s choices. Why would anyone, particularly a savvy investor, continually try to defy biases rooted within our neurobiology? read more »
Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor of nutrition at Harvard, likes to challenge his audience when he gives lectures on obesity.
“If you want to make a great discovery,” he tells them, figure out this: Why do some people lose 50 pounds on a diet while others on the same diet gain a few pounds?
Then he shows them data from a study he did that found exactly that effect.
After a mother killed her four young children and then herself last month in rural China, onlookers quickly pointed to life circumstances.
The family lived in extreme poverty, and bloggers speculated that her inability to escape adversity pushed her over the edge.
Can poverty really cause mental illness? read more »
Newswise — Following a landmark report by the U.S. Surgeon General calling substance use disorders of multiple types a public health crisis, a nationally-recognized Virginia Tech addiction expert says the country must start treating the issue as a legitimate medical problem deserving of treatment rather than a criminal one always deserving of prison.
Increased stigma and discrimination can affect circadian HPA-axis functioning.
Cortisol is a life sustaining adrenal hormone essential to maintaining the natural balance of the body. It is often referred to as “the stress hormone,” as cortisol influences, regulates, and modulates many of the changes that occur in the body in response to stress.
Diurnal cortisol studies measure the level of cortisol in the body at various times during the day to examine possible adrenal imbalances. The majority of these diurnal cortisol studies have been conducted among white heterosexuals, with very little research examining HPA-axis functioning between different minorities. However, individuals who identify as both sexual and racial minorities may experience increased stigma and discrimination that can affect this HPA-axis functioning.
Eat too much over Thanksgiving? Holiday tables can certainly strain with overabundance. Now that the holiday is over, we can go back to living without tempting food directly and unavoidably in our faces. Right?
Well, the answer may depend on where you live.
Certainly, the amount and type of food available at home matters, as well as the calories found away from home—say at school or at work. But it is the space in between home and other destinations that people often think less about. And it turns out there is a lot of tempting food there.
I do research on food sources around where people live, work, and learn. Through my work, I have come to appreciate that food sources are much more numerous, diverse, and unexpected than most people realize—even other researchers in the field.
