Trouble in Mind

A neuropsychologist muses on brains, books and being happy

Jenni Ogden Ph.D.

Playing the Game; Do You Care If You Win Or Lose?

New research finds happiness expands when we play infinite games where all are invited and no-one wins, over finite games, where membership is restricted and winning is the goal.

Why Do Many of Us Love Quiet Novels?

In today’s hectic, noisy, and stressful world we need to make time for quiet. Reading quiet books can provide this and give us an island of rest and happiness.

Family Festivities Are All About Family, Not Politics

You can’t prevent others getting into fraught discussions when everyone has gathered for the annual celebrations, but you can stop yourself being drawn into them!

Wean Your Kids and Yourself Off Fear

The obsession of iGen teens with safety is one cause of their unhealthy levels of anxiety and there's something adults can do something about.

Reading Minds Is a Skill We All Need to Work On

No one can read minds, but we can improve our ability to guess what people are thinking and feeling, and to know when what they say is not what they think.

Seek Your Whys and Find Happiness.

Simon Sinek’s mission to encourage us to find the work that makes us happy can be extended to everything we do.

Wilderness Psychology

Camping in the wilderness is an experience unlike any other. It has its downsides, especially in the Australian Outback, but the upsides include therapeutic bird watching!

Money and a Room of One’s Own

The Bank of England has unveiled a ten pound note celebrating Jane Austen. Virginia Woolfe also has some insightful messages, still relevant today, about money and women writers.

David and Goliath: When Sports Inspire National Pride

When a small country beats a massive country in sport, we can all take inspiration from that.

What’s the Best Age to Be?

Anecdotal evidence suggests that enjoyment of life is a common ingredient in those who still excel either physically or cognitively into their very old age.

Fatigue, the Brain and Therapists

Studies have found that debilitating fatigue is a common symptom of many types of brain damage and disorders, from mild head injury to benign pituitary adenoma to dementia.

What Makes Your Child Happy? Make It Part of Their Education

How can we enrich our children’s education to ensure they have the best options available throughout a constantly changing future?

Give Your Kids An IQ Boost For Christmas!

A new book lays bare the myths and facts about IQ and how we can increase or stifle it.

Writing the Truth With Empathy and Ethics

Rebecca Skloot’s masterpiece on Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa story is also a study in the difficult art of sticking to the facts.

Can Novels Influence Our Beliefs About Reality?

Joyce Carol Oates’s depiction of an amnesiac, loosely based on HM, perpetuates negative stereotypes about women scientists.

The Thin Line Between Fiction and Fact

A new novel about the relationship of Einstein and his wife Mileva, told from her point of view, strays too far from the truth.

A Tale of Science, Ethics, Intrigue, and Human Flaws

The NYT article heralding a controversial new book on amnesiac HM, the neurosurgeon who operated on him, and the scientists who studied him is a poor reflection of the whole truth.

Behave!

A series about the ethical standards of different fictional biographies and factual biographies of famous psychologists and scientists.The first is on John Watson & Rosalie Rayner

When Fear and Facts Collide

The US is high in the statistics for mass killings of their own citizens. Will it act on research from other countries who have shown it is possible to reduce carnage and fear?

We Need to Talk About Books!

Are you a reader of ‘light’ or ‘heavy’ books? Why do so many of us love books set in war time, yet that is the last place we would really want to be?

Prince Or His Music: Which Will You Miss More?

Steven Pinker famously said that music was simply “auditory cheesecake,” a pleasurable activity with no useful or adaptive qualities. Prince fans may not agree!

The Gene No Family Wants to Sing About: Huntington's Disease

Woody Guthrie died of the terrible genetic disorder Huntington’s Disease when little was known about it.Today fertilization technology can save the children of HD gene carriers.

Are You In Need of Bibliotherapy?

The allure of books has been recognized for centuries. But why is fiction so therapeutic? Can you take advantage of this and buy novels instead of therapy sessions?

Listen Up, Women! Super Strong Legs Make Super Strong Brains

Should we be cycling up steep hills every day to preserve our brain cortex as we age? Or is this just media hype?

How To Be Happy Living Off-Grid

Climate change is an important issues in today’s world. Living off-grid or partially off-grid is one way to limit our personal carbon footprint and bring us happiness as a bonus.

On Thanksgiving: Patients Who Gift Their Time to Research

In neuropsychology, functional MRI and other high-tech methods cannot give the detail single cases can provide. And the history of science, whatever the discipline, still has lessons for students and researchers in today's world.

Our Love Affair with Thrillers and Suspense

Thrillers and Psychological Suspense are two of the most popular fiction and film genres. Why are so many of us addicted to them, and what’s wrong with everyone else who isn’t!

The Normalization of Aging and How To Make It Matter

Aging is not a disease, but it can feel like one as the body wears out and the mind slows down. Staying alive too long can command a high price—pain, and an increasing dependence on others. When drastic medical intervention is the only option left to keep someone you care about alive, ask them what this would need to deliver that really matters to them now, at the end.

Creative Rehabilitation, Part 4: Dementia

Creative and individualized strategies to help a person with dementia retain some dignity and reasons for living are feasible in the early and mid-way stages of the disease, and support and therapy can help family members cope when their loved one is alive, as well as make the grieving process less painful.

Creative Rehabilitation, Part 3: Stroke

It is especially important to think outside the box when planning rehabilitation for victims of stroke who are young or members of a minority group.

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