The exercise pill: How exercise keeps your brain healthy and protects it against depression and anxiety

  As with many other physicians, recommending physical activity to patients was just a doctor chore for me – until a few years ago. That was because I myself was not very active. Over the years, as I picked up boxing and became more active, I got firsthand experience of positive impacts on my mind. I also started researching the effects of dance and movement therapies on trauma and anxiety in refugee children, and I learned a lot more about the neurobiology of exercise.

Vitamin deficiency may be why you’re so tired – a nutritional neuroscientist explains how to kickstart your energy by getting essential nutrients in a well-rounded diet, along with more sleep and exercise

  Feeling drained and lethargic is common: A 2022 national survey found that 13.5% of U.S. adults said they felt “very tired” or “exhausted” most days or every day over a three-month period.

  Women ages 18 to 44 had the highest rate of fatigue – just over 20%.

  Being tired is linked to something deeper than just overwork or a sign of the times. I’m a registered dietitian and nutritional neuroscientist. My research, along with the work of others in the field, shows that your diet and lifestyle choices may contribute to your struggles. These two factors are closely interconnected and could be the key to understanding what’s holding you back.

Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life

  Imagine it’s Monday morning, too cold and too dark, but once that alarm goes off, you know you’ve got to rally. The kids have to get to school. You’ve got to get to work. And, of course, your ever-growing to-do list hangs over your head like a dark cloud, somehow both too threatening to ignore and too threatening to start its tasks.

  On days like this, you may be grateful simply to make it through. But then it begins, all over again.

How to use habit science to help you keep your New Year’s resolution

  More than 80% of people who make New Year’s resolutions have already given up on their goals by February.

  While there’s a lot of resolution advice on the internet, much of it fails to highlight the crux of behavioral change.

  To make individual decisions – whether it’s what to wear or which gift to buy for someone – you draw on brain systems involving executive control. You make the decision, add a shot of willpower and, voilà, it’s done.

How to overcome your device dependency and manage a successful digital detox

  Life in the digital world can be rewarding. It’s convenient to order groceries for pickup, share photographs or music, and keep in touch with family and friends, no matter the distance. However, it can also be draining. The feeling of being constantly “on” and productive has driven people to reconsider their balance in the saturated digital world.

  More than 70% of American adults are concerned about how technology affects their mental health and personal relationships. This worry is reinforced through media that point to people’s unhealthy habits with social media and phones.

Five ways Christmas affects your brain

  Christmas is a time of year like no other; gifts are exchanged, little-spoken-to relatives are contacted, and appetizing treats are consumed with great gusto. Christmas can be both a time of stress and a time of relaxation. But whether you love or hate Christmas, it’s pretty difficult to avoid – and so your brain may be altered by the experience one way or another. Here are some of the main facets of the Christmas experience and how they might affect your brain.

Curing America’s loneliness epidemic would make us healthier, fitter and less likely to abuse drugs

  A national health advisory issued by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on May 3, 2023, sheds light on the urgent public health issues of loneliness and isolation.

  The report reflects Dr. Murthy’s personal and professional experience with the damaging health impacts of loneliness. As surprising as it sounds, social isolation and loneliness have the same effect on human health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, which is to say, it can shorten life span by up to 15 years.

Meditation and mindfulness offer an abundance of health benefits and may be as effective as medication for treating certain conditions

  Many people look to diet trends or new exercise regimens – often with questionable benefit – to get a healthier start on the new year. But there is one strategy that’s been shown time and again to boost both mood and health: meditation.

  In late 2022, a high-profile study made a splash when it claimed that meditation may work as well as a common drug named Lexapro for the treatment of anxiety. Over the past couple of decades, similar evidence has emerged about mindfulness and meditation’s broad array of health benefits, for purposes ranging from stress and pain reduction to depression treatments to boosting brain health and helping to manage excessive inflammation and long COVID-19.

Pushing ‘closure’ after trauma can be harmful to people grieving – here’s what you can do instead

  From the breakup of a relationship to losing a loved one, people are often told to find “closure” after traumatic things happen.

  But what is closure? And should it really be the goal for individuals seeking relief or healing, even in these traumatic times of global pandemic, war in Ukraine, and mass shootings in the U.S.?

  Closure is an elusive concept. There is no agreed-upon definition for what closure means or how one is supposed to find it. Although there are numerous interpretations of closure, it usually relates to some type of ending to a difficult experience.

Feeling connected enhances mental and physical health – here are 4 research-backed ways to find moments of connection with loved ones and strangers

  A woman and her fiancé joke and laugh together while playing video games after a long day.

  A college freshman interrupts verbal harassment aimed at a neighbor, who expresses gratitude as they walk home together.

  A man receives a phone call to confirm an appointment and stumbles into a deep and personal conversation about racism in America with the stranger on the other end of the line.

How exercise keeps your brain healthy and protects it against depression and anxiety

  As with many other physicians, recommending physical activity to patients was just a doctor chore for me – until a few years ago. That was because I myself was not very active. Over the years, as I picked up boxing and became more active, I got firsthand experience of positive impacts on my mind. I also started researching the effects of dance and movement therapies on trauma and anxiety in refugee children, and I learned a lot more about the neurobiology of exercise.

  I am a psychiatrist and neuroscientist researching the neurobiology of anxiety and how our interventions change the brain. I have begun to think of prescribing exercise as telling patients to take their “exercise pills.” Now knowing the importance of exercising, almost all my patients commit to some level of exercise, and I have seen how it benefits several areas of their life and livelihood.

Laughing is good for your mind and your body – here’s what the research shows

  Amusement and pleasant surprises – and the laughter they can trigger – add texture to the fabric of daily life.

  Those giggles and guffaws can seem like just silly throwaways. But laughter, in response to funny events, actually takes a lot of work, because it activates many areas of the brain: areas that control motor, emotional, cognitive, and social processing.

How hope can keep you healthier and happier

  Hope can erode when we perceive threats to our way of life, and these days, plenty are out there. As we age, we may struggle with a tragic loss or chronic disease. As we watch the news, we see our political system polarized, hopelessly locked in chaos. The coronavirus spreads wider daily; U.S. markets signaled a lack of hope with a Dow Jones free fall. Losing hope sometimes leads to suicide.