Philosophy Can Change Our Relationship with Pain
Razi Berry Dr. Sabrina Coninx from Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Dr. Peter Stilwell from McGill University, Canada, have investigated how philosophical approaches can be used to think in new ways about pain and its management. The researchers advocate not merely reducing chronic pain management to searching and treating underlying physical changes but instead adopting an approach […]
Hypnosis Can Aid in Complex Task Completion
Razi Berry Popular folklore and anecdotal evidence suggest that people in a hypnotic or suggestible state can experience sensory hallucinations, such as perceiving sounds and sights that are not actually there. Reliable scientific evidence of these experiences, however, has been notoriously challenging to obtain because of their subjective nature. New research published in the journal […]
Our Memory and Sense of Self Tied to Our Physical Perception of Our Bodies
Razi Berry Our sense of who we are is thought to be influenced by things like our childhood experiences, our interactions with others, and now, researchers say, our bodies. A study appearing August 26 in the journal iScience shows that, when pairs of friends swapped bodies in a perceptual illusion, their beliefs about their own […]
Smiling Does Change How the World Responds to You
Razi Berry From Sinatra to Katy Perry, celebrities have long sung about the power of a smile — how it picks you up, changes your outlook, and generally makes you feel better. But is it all smoke and mirrors, or is there a scientific backing to the claim? Groundbreaking research confirms that the act of […]
How is Breathing Related to ‘Free Will?’
Razi Berry Do you inadvertently make decisions because you are hungry or cold? In other words, does the brain’s processing of internal bodily signals interfere with your ability to act freely? This line of thinking is at the heart of research that questions our ability to act on thoughts of free will. We already know […]
Take my hand
Razi Berry In any stressed or painful situation – a visit to the hospital, a presentation at work, or a funeral for a loved one – it helps to have someone holding your hand. We all know this to be true. Recent experiments have validated our intuitive knowledge and provided explanations as to why having […]
The Likeness Between Love and Hate
Razi Berry Research Shows the More You Love Someone, the More You Can Hate Them Hatred is blind, as well as love. ~ Oscar Wilde It is said that the opposite of love isn’t hate, but rather apathy. Love, being such an all encompassing emotion of deep passion, and apathy being a complete lack of interest […]
Older Adults Less Able to Recognize Their Errors
Razi Berry Maybe there’s some truth in the adage, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” If those new tricks necessitate an awareness of mistakes made during the learning process, perhaps it is harder for older people to learn new things. At least this may be an implication of a recent study that shows […]
What Memories Can You Trust? All of them and None of them
Razi Berry What memories can you trust? “Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” – Oscar Wilde I have a hard time letting go of things. But I prefer to frame it this way: I like to hold on. Not in an unhealthy way, I’ve worked through that, but I love […]