5 minute read Most of us have some intuitive sense of consciousness as a state of awakeness or awareness of internal or external mileius (APA, n.d.). Yet the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness as proposed by Australian cognitive scientist, David Chalmers, remains intractable. That question is: What makes a physical state conscious rather than unconscious, and […]
5 minute read It is curious that so many individuals are wary of artificial intelligence, given its widespread use. Most of us wouldn’t think twice about asking Siri for advice, yet ChatGPT is an entirely different story. Why do people feel perfectly comfortable keeping company with a virtual personal assistant, but not with a natural […]
3 minute read Having recently completed the coursework for a doctoral degree in behavioral health, I find myself reflecting on what that means, beyond any benefits to career advancement. Life is the greatest ocean of unknowns any of us will experience. We are thrust into it, unprepared except for the guidance of our parents, and […]
Original post available here. The placebo effect, defined as symptom improvement following delivery of an inert substance, is often cast in a negative light, as a confounder during research and indication of malingering among certain patients. However, studies indicate just the opposite: placebo can improve symptoms of pain and discomfort, due to specific neurochemical responses […]
Original post available here. Resilience is described as the ability to recover and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands (Deuster & Silverman, 2013). A lot of research about resilience has come from the US military, triggered a decade back by troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe emotional trauma. There is […]
Original post available here Our current medical system derives largely from the biomedical model, which focuses on physical causes for disease. The more recent bio-psychosocial model posits that other factors, including your emotional state, support system (friends and family), and the environment also play a role, both in the development of disease and its prognosis. […]
2 minute read As the field of artificial intelligence advances, health care providers express concerns about whether computers will at some point outperform us. Although machine learning and particularly deep learning has produced some impressive achievements, the way that the human brain develops and acquires knowledge cannot at this point be replicated. This does not […]
3 minute read Although there is consensus regarding importance of cultural competency in healthcare delivery (Hoge et al., 2014), our ethical framework is distinctly western. Beauchamp and Childress’ Principlism theory (2019), which forms the basis for this focuses on four concepts- respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice- all having cross-cultural relevance. However, the way […]
3 minute read Mobile phones are ubiquitous, with data from GSMA Intelligence citing 5.27 billion unique mobile phone users around the world (Datareportal.com, 2021), and the number of users growing at a rate of 2.3% per year. This represents 66.9% of the population (Datareportal.com, 2021). According to a 2021 report by Statista, the United States […]
3 minute read There is no question that precision medicine, defined as the use of genetic, genomic, and epigenetic information to ‘personalize’ therapeutic strategies is creating unprecedented opportunities for improving health care delivery (Denny et al., 2021). As the cost of genomic sequencing decreases, the speed at which such technologies are transitioning from ‘bench-to-bedside’ has […]
2 minute read The Cambridge dictionary defines mathematics as a system for the study of numbers, shapes, and space (Cambridge.org, n.d.). While most of us conceptualize mathematics as a method for computing complex functions, the true beauty of numbers lies in their ability to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers. Simply put, mathematics is the universal […]
2 minute read The role of mindfulness meditation in reducing stress, anxiety and depression is well established, with a 2017 meta-analysis linking such practices to better control of the sympathetic nervous system (Pascoe et al., 2017). Key to the practice of mindfulness is present-state awareness, also referred to as flow (Davis & Ludwig, 2018). In […]
3 minute read If neurons are the brain’s rock stars, then glia are its supporting cast. Although neurons are the only brain cells that can transmit electrical signals, glia maintain energy homeostasis via glycogen storage and regulation (Dienel & Carlson, 2019) and are intimately involved in the production and regulation of two essential neurotransmitters: GABA […]
3 minute read Behavioral economics, as proposed by Kahneman and Tversky, was created in response to neoclassical theories that endorse rational decision-making (Reuter & Montag, 2016). According to Nobel laureate, Daniel Kahneman, people make decisions based on heuristics and biases, which, depending on the situation, may or may not yield the greatest gain (Kahneman, 2011). […]
2 minute read It is no surprise that pandemic-related isolation has, for many, had pathological consequences. Hardly a day passes without some mention in the media of anxiety and depression. What has received less attention is how COVID-19 affected our furry friends. For my cat, Goober, it has been the greatest thing to ever happen […]
3 minute read The human brain constitutes about two percent of body mass yet consumes approximately 20% of available blood sugar (Mergenthaler et al., 2013). Unlike other major energy consumers such as muscle and liver cells, neurons store very little glucose, certainly not enough to avoid a shortage (Dienel & Rothman, 2019). In addition, while […]
2 minute read In a recent article for the New Yorker, physician/author Siddhartha Mukherjee discussed a surprising finding: that COVID-related deaths in a number of low-income countries are a fraction of the totals in developed nations such as the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy and Spain (Mukherjee, 2021). How could this be? Was this […]
2 minute read The current pandemic is the greatest healthcare crisis most of us have experienced during our lifetimes, with over half a million deaths from the novel virus in the US alone (CDC, 2021). Yet for those who journalist Tom Brokaw described as “The Greatest Generation” (Brokaw, 1998), COVID-19 is simply another roadblock. Brokaw […]
