Psychologist Jesse Bering is best known for his often risqué (and sometimes NSFW) Bering in Mind blog for Scientific American, which examines human behavior — frequently of the sexual sort. But he’s also the director of the …
‘Mind Reading’
Q&A: Can We Protect Ourselves from the ‘Superbug’ MRSA?
You’re going to want to wash your hands after you read this post. Author Maryn McKenna, or “Scary Disease Girl,” as she’s known to her colleagues, talks about MRSA — a potentially lethal bug that has jumped from hospitals into …
Q&A: How the New Science of Adult Attachment Can Improve Your Love Life
People tend to think of “attachment” and “bonding” as the subjects of child psychology, but in fact, these factors are just as important to adult health and happiness. So what defines the healthy adult relationship — is there such a thing as too “clingy” or “dependent?” — and can people change in order to find lasting love?
Q&A: Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran on ‘Unlearning’ Pain
Even before the discovery of “mirror neurons” — brain cells activated when we observe the actions of others that enable empathy — Dr. V.S. Ramachandran was using real mirrors to change the brain and relieve pain.
Q&A: Geneticist Misha Angrist on Publishing His Genome. TMI?
Would you want to know the secrets of your own genome, perhaps discovering that you are at risk for a disease like Alzheimer’s, for which there is no cure? If you did find out what lies in your genes, would you ever decide to …
Q&A: The Art of Comforting
With research suggesting that today’s college students may be 40% less empathetic than their predecessors of just a few decades earlier, I was delighted to come across a book that provides useful tips on kind behavior.
Q&A: Dr. Ben Goldacre Wants His Book to Ruin Your Christmas
Dr. Ben Goldacre is best known for his “Bad Science” column in the British newspaper the Guardian, in which he skewers, with almost unseemly glee, misguided science reporting and the misleading marketing of medical treatments and …
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.
Q&A: Terrorism Expert Jessica Stern on Her Own Terror and Trauma
For decades, Jessica Stern had been one of the nation’s leading experts on terrorism. She served on the staff of President Clinton’s National Security Council and on the Council on Foreign Relations.
Q&A: Do Humans Prefer Free Love Over the Bonds of Nuclear Family?
Is monogamy unnatural? Is the nuclear family bad for people’s mental health? Can a child have more than one biological father?
Q&A: An Interview with Oliver Sacks
Dr. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and professor at Columbia University Medical Center, may be better known to many as a literary pioneer. His books, which include Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, introduced …
Q&A: What It’s Like When You Can’t Recognize Anyone
Imagine being unable to recognize the faces of the most important people in your life — even your own husband. Every social interaction becomes a minefield if you can’t tell your best friend from your worst enemy.
Q&A: An Author Takes Back Her Accusation of Incest
Mind Reading is TIME Healthland’s new series of talks with authors of “brainy” books. Following is a conversation with journalist and author of My Lie, Meredith Maran, who falsely accused her father of molesting her.
