Q&A: How Humans — and Some Animals — Develop a Sense of Self
Neuroscientist Dr. Antonio Damasio has taken on the big questions — of consciousness, of self and of the nature of the mind — both in experiments and in bold, unifying scientific theories.
Szalavitz's latest book is Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential — and Endangered. It is co-written with Dr. Bruce Perry, a leading expert in the neuroscience of child trauma and recovery.
Maia Szalavitz
Maia Szalavitz is a neuroscience journalist obsessed with addiction, love, evidence-based living, empathy and pretty much everything related to brain and behavior. She is the co-author of Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential — and Endangered (Morrow, 2010) and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog (Basic, 2006), both with Dr. Bruce D. Perry. Her 2006 book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (Riverhead, 2006) is the first book-length exposé of the “tough love” business. Szalavitz has been published in TIME Magazine, the New York Times, Elle, Scientific American Mind, the Washington Post, New Scientist and Psychology Today, among many others. She has been awarded the American Psychological Associations Division 50 Award for Contributions to the Addictions and the Media Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Articles from Contributor
Could Lack of ‘Tummy Time’ in Babies Hurt School Performance in Teens?
The national Back to Sleep campaign prompted parents to put infants to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or “crib death,” and it successfully cut the rate of SIDS deaths by 50%, …
Study: Older Antidepressants, But Not SSRIs, Linked with Heart Disease
Depression may literally break your heart. Research has long connected the disorder with increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and similar concerns have been raised about medications to treat depression.
New Version of an Old Drug Could Treat Autism (and Addiction Too)
One night in 2006, Kathy Roberts rushed her autistic daughter, Jenny, to the hospital. Nothing had been able to stop the young woman, then in her mid-20s, from vomiting. Jenny had recently suffered several major seizures and her …
Don’t Feel Like Calling Dad? You May Be Ovulating
Here’s a curious data point for those who are obsessed with plotting their fertility: at their most fertile times of the month, women are half as likely to call their fathers, according to a new study published in the prestigious …
‘Love Hormone’ Oxytocin Enhances Men’s Memories of Mom — Good or Bad
Oxytocin has been called the “cuddle chemical” and the “love hormone” — the glue that bonds parents to children and lovers to each other.
Do Dental Scans Put Your Child at Risk of Cancer?
In case you missed it, the New York Times ran this week a stunning expose of the overuse of new X-ray technology in children’s dentistry. The article was part of the paper’s ongoing investigation into problems with the use of …
Like Some Arsenic With That Bird? You Got It.
When sitting down to for your Thanksgiving feast Thursday evening, you probably don’t expect to eat some arsenic — unless perhaps you are a member of the Borgia family.
The Rich Are Different: More Money, Less Empathy
Looking for empathy and support? You’re more likely to get it from a poor person than you are from a rich one, according to new research published in Psychological Science.
Portugal’s Drug Experience: New Study Confirms Decriminalization Was a Success
From the perspective of drug warriors, the criminal laws against drug possession are all that protect Americans from a deluge of drugs, an orgy of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine use that would kill children, …
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According to a Brown University press release:
The report doesn’t just count impacts overall. It also provides a breakdown by player position. The researchers measured not only how many hits the running backs or linebackers endured, but also the location the hit on the helmet. Where a hit occurs can make a big difference in how
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It’s World Toilet Day: Celebrate with Squats
In America, we tend to think of squats as exercises, but for the 2.5 billion people worldwide who have no access to toilets, they’re practiced for an entirely different reason. About half the world’s population has no access to …
Are Stoners Really Dumb, or Do They Just Think They Are?
If you’re acting stupid because you’re a stoner, you might just be playing to type. That is, it may be your expectations about marijuana’s long-term cognitive effects — rather than any real effect of the drug itself — that is …
