"A scientific study of more than 10,000 therapy cases showed that therapy follows a dose-response curve. It takes more than 20 sessions for 50% of patients to show clinically meaningful improvement, and 40 sessions for 75% of patients to show improvement"
https://t.co/cYvYXxa535
We just made the most scientifically complete #NuclearWar simulation to date, from fires to famine. As you can see, about 99% die in the US, Europe, Russia & China. Winner: nobody.
SUPERB article by Jerry Coyne & Luana Maroja. Scientists, publishers & editors should grow a spine & call the bluff of dogmatic adolescent bullies. Skeptical Inquirer bravely stood up when other publishers wouldn't touch it.
https://t.co/FvpGgqLBVy
Psychedelics induce neuroplasticity resembling the effects of clinically approved antidepressants, which bind to TrkB, the receptor for BDNF. LSD and psilocin directly bind to TrkB with affinities 1,000 fold higher than those for antidepressants.
https://t.co/wEVZUKXXOG
I'd like say something about my research on human intelligence:
I've found that while IQ is very predictive of rate of learning new and complex information, IQ within the normal range does not necessarily *preclude* the capacity to learn and to create.
Perhaps more importantly, I've found that intellectual curiosity matters much more than IQ for long-term creative achievement, and that conscientiousness can help everyone persevere despite learning setbacks to get better at whatever someone is attempting to learn.
My thoughts on IQ are nuanced in that I have published papers showing that IQ does predict speed of on-the-spot reasoning for things that make strong demands on working memory, but I also like to emphasize to people that depth of reflection, curiosity about learning new things, thinking divergently, and having the willpower to stick with learning is what fills in a full existence and are all attributes that should be rewarded in schools and in the workplace.
People with schizophrenia found to have higher levels of ketones without any change in diet.
Presumably, their brains are deprived of energy from glucose, so ketones are trying to save the day.
What happens if we help this process along with a ketogenic diet?
Higher dose vitamin D supplementation (1200 IU vs 400 IU) in the first two years of life reduces the risk for internalizing mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety, by the ages of 6- 8.
https://t.co/SewPIeb1ml
Some interesting research came out recently on the relationship between people with left-wing authoritarian politics, narcissism and psycopathy.
Interestingly, it seems to vindicate many earlier thinkers who theorised about the connection between leftism and pathology.
1/10 🧵
I believe so much in destigmatizing mental struggles and offering accessible mental health care to as many people as possible. However...
I really disagree with a lot of the predominant approaches to improving mental health I see these days. I do not believe in coddling, appeasing, and placating people. I believe we are living in a culture where fragility is rewarded and given a special moral status, where the focus is solely on past trauma and not on a person's hope for the future.
I advocate a mental health approach that validates a person's experience as the start, not the end goal, and which works with a person with acceptance and loving-kindness to help them move forward with their lives with courage and growth.
"Contrary to the deterioration hypothesis, we find that market-oriented societies have a greater aversion to unethical behavior, higher levels of trust, and are not significantly associated with lower levels of morality." https://t.co/DycEfWBgiB
Alder’s Razor.
"If something can't be settled by experiment or observation, it's probably not worthy of debate. Because, without empirical evidence, it is just "your word against mine," and everyone wants the last word.
Following this rule will save so much time." — @G_S_Bhogal
The definition of addiction as the narrowing of pleasure (and stimuli that elicit pleasure) might be the most useful and hands-on definition of a concerning (pathological) behavioral pattern there is. @hubermanlab