Have you ever had a patient who, when trying to excuse some behavior or condition, blamed it on their genes? We tend to see genes as the determining factor for everything from our weight to our propensity to develop certain neurological diseases and while genes can play an important role in many areas of health, […]
Your Brain is What You (and Your Mother) Eat
There have been lots of studies showing that kids are more likely to be overweight or “sugar-holics” if their parents, particularly their mothers, are. Many of these studies have based their conclusions on the role that mothers play in selecting foods for the household and in building awareness (or the lack thereof) of good nutrition […]
What’s Happening in the Brain During Meditation?
We’ve talked a lot about meditation for general health and even for neuroplasticity. And yet . . . . . . have you ever been curious about what is actually happening in the brain during meditation? This was addressed by a recent study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Jim Lagopoulos, PhD, […]
Could Mindfulness Cure Road Rage and Other Indulgences in Righteous Indignation
I just read another article on road rage. Let’s face it . . . some drivers are incompetent and that can be annoying . . . but violence? over someone else’s driving? Could mindfulness “cure” road rage and help the rest of us calm our righteous indignation? Probably not wipe it out altogether, but . […]
Your Teenager’s Brain IS Different
Many of us look back at our teenage years and realize that while often turbulent, these years laid the groundwork for who we are today. We learned incredible amounts of information, not just in terms of academics but also in terms of who we were as individuals. But why were these years so turbulent? At […]