To Ease Pain, Reach For Your Playlist
Music can energize, soothe or relax us. And it can also help reduce pain. Researchers found that listening to a favorite song or story helped children manage pain after major surgery.
Mental Health
Auditory Hallucinations May Vary Across Cultures
For people with schizophrenia, hearing voices can be terrifying. But that's not necessarily true everywhere in the world. Stanford University anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann tells NPR's Arun Rath about her research, which suggests that people with psychotic disorders hear voices differently, depending on their social and cultural environments.
Why Some Teen Brains May Be Hardwired To Make Risky Choices
Individual differences in the brain's working memory could help explain why some teens are especially impulsive about sex. Having engaged parents helps reduce the risk.
Science Of Sadness And Joy: 'Inside Out' Gets Childhood Emotions Right
Pixar's animated fantasy takes viewers inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Riley. Psychologists say the film offers an accurate picture of how emotions and memories help make us who we are.
Editing The Climate Talkers: Punctuation's Effect On Earth's Fate
The littlest things — punctuation, precise word choice and grammar — can hold tremendous power in worldwide climate negotiations. This year in Europe, editors get a chance to help make history.
More Evidence That Parents' Ages Could Influence Autism Risk
A large, international study found that kids born to older parents had higher rates of autism. Having a teen mom or parents with a large gap between their ages also increased the autism odds.
Do Creativity And Schizophrenia Share A Small Genetic Link? Maybe
The notion goes back to the ancients — that minds given to flights of fancy are on the healthy side of a spectrum that includes what we today call psychosis. An Icelandic gene study offers new clues.
To Beat Insomnia, Try Therapy For The Underlying Cause Instead Of Pills
A review of the medical evidence finds that therapy can break the cycle of chronic sleeplessness by addressing the anxieties that cause many people to stay awake.
Placenta Pills Gain Fans Among New Moms, But Benefits Are Elusive
If Kourtney Kardashian and Mayim Bialik do it, is it good for you? Pills made from a woman's placenta are being promoted for postpartum depression. But there's no evidence they help, a review finds.
Pregnant Women With Depression Face Tough Choices, No Easy Answers
Andrew Solomon, the author of The Noonday Demon, discusses the challenges of pregnancy for women who are depressed. The long-term effects of antidepressants taken during pregnancy are unclear.