How Thinking About the Future Reshapes Your Brain

Have you ever noticed that simply imagining something positive happening in the future can instantly brighten your mood? Thinking about an upcoming vacation or an event you’re really excited about? That’s not just optimism at work—it’s your brain changing in real-time. Recent neuroscience shows us that when you intentionally think about positive possibilities ahead, you’re […]

How Forgiveness Changes You and Your Brain

What does forgiveness look like in the brain? As a neuroscientist, I am always looking for the biological underpinnings of mental processes—not as an effort to distill mystery into molecules, but to understand rich and complex psychological experiences as combinations of simpler building blocks. Breaking things down in this way can shed light on how […]

How Poetry Changes You and Your Brain

It’s National Poetry Month this April. Is it worth celebrating? After all, poetry doesn’t seem to be doing much to alleviate the tension in our communities. Ask some of the middle schoolers I’ve taught in the past, and they might say a whole month dedicated to poetry is a time for mourning, not celebration. In […]

How Blood Sugar Impacts Your Brain Health

Source: Austin Perlmutter/DALL-E To think, act, and feel in any way, your brain requires access to large amounts of consistent energy. For most of us, that energy comes in the form of blood sugar (glucose), which is transported into the brain and used by our brain cells. While it’s been well known that very high […]

National Trends in Obesity and How It Affects the Brain

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently funded an analysis of obesity in the U.S. The analysis highlighted the fact that obesity rates vary in different states. The results are disturbing. About 75 percent of all Americans are currently overweight or obese. In 2021, over 15 million children and young adolescents and 172 million adults […]