| Every year in March, the Dana Foundation hosts Brain Awareness Week—a “global campaign to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science.” This year, it’s coming up from March 15-21. It’s a good time to dedicate to thinking about your own brain health. What will you do to celebrate? Here’s a list of some real-world activities and how they help your brain that you might find interesting. |
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 Best regards, Jeff Zimman
Co-founder
Posit Science |
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| | | A Call to Action on Alzheimer’s For decades, scientists have been hard at work figuring out the riddle of Alzheimer’s. While they have learned a lot, the end goal—comprehensive prevention and/or treatment—has remained elusive. Alzheimer’s activists Maria Shriver and George Vradenburg have some suggestions for the new presidential administration on how to move more effectively towards this goal. Among other things, they suggest drawing on the lessons learned from COVID-19. Learn more. |
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On "Terminal Lucidity" Anecdotal stories abound on “terminal lucidity”—when a person with dementia is near death, and suddenly snaps back to coherence for a short time. It can be a rewarding time for families, who have a last chance to connect with a loved one long lost to them. Now, scientists funded by the National Institute on Aging are digging into the phenomenon, hoping that learning more can shed light on the neurobiology of dementia and potential therapeutic interventions. Learn more. |
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New Tools in Mental Health Scientists and therapists have been hard at work developing new tools for treating a host of mental health issues. One of these tools is electrical stimulation, which research shows can help with obsessive-compulsive urges and depression. Another is virtual reality, which may help people address PTSD, anxiety, and phobias. Learn more about how electrical stimulation and virtual reality may ameliorate mental health maladies. |
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Black History Month: Alexa Irene Canady It wasn’t until 1981 that the U.S. had its first Black woman neurosurgeon: Dr. Alexa Irene Canady. “The greatest challenge I faced in becoming a neurosurgeon was believing it was possible,” she has said. A specialist in pediatric neurosurgery and winner of numerous honors, Dr. Canady acted as chief of neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Michigan from 1987 until retiring in 2001—though she wasn’t done with her work yet. Learn more about the groundbreaking work of Dr. Canady. |
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Coffee Is Confusing There have been a lot of studies on drinking coffee, and whether it is helpful or harmful for the brain. A new study suggest drinking coffee physically changes the brain, shrinking parts of it. But is that bad, or could it be good? Learn more in this article, which links to different results. |
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An Anatomy of Pain: How the Body and the Mind Experience and Endure Physical Suffering (2021)
Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen
People tend to think that pain lives in the body: you break your arm, and your arm hurts. But it’s actually the interaction between the body and the brain that produces the sense of pain—which has repercussions for how we understand and treat pain and those in pain. Using his own experiences as a doctor as a base, Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen shares insights into the science of pain, the state of pain management, and the future of the field. Purchase book. |
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