The Pandemic Disrupted Adolescent Brain Development
Early research presented at the leading brain conference suggests that the pandemic changed the brains of teenagers
Stories by Gary Stix
Gary Stix, Â鶹´«Ã½AV's neuroscience and psychology editor, commissions, edits and reports on emerging advances and technologies that have propelled brain science to the forefront of the biological sciences. Developments chronicled in dozens of cover stories, feature articles and news stories, document groundbreaking neuroimaging techniques that reveal what happens in the brain while you are immersed in thought; the arrival of brain implants that alleviate mood disorders like depression; lab-made brains; psychological resilience; meditation; the intricacies of sleep; the new era for psychedelic drugs and artificial intelligence and growing insights leading to an understanding of our conscious selves.
Before taking over the neuroscience beat, Stix, as Â鶹´«Ã½AV's special projects editor, oversaw the magazine's annual single-topic special issues, conceiving of and producing issues on Einstein, Darwin, climate change, nanotechnology and the nature of time. The issue he edited on time won a National Magazine Award.
Besides mind and brain coverage, Stix has edited or written cover stories on Wall Street quants, building the world's tallest building, Olympic training methods, molecular electronics, what makes us human and the things you should and should not eat.
Stix started a monthly column, Working Knowledge, that gave the reader a peek at the design and function of common technologies, from polygraph machines to Velcro. It eventually became the magazine's Graphic Science column. He also initiated a column on patents and intellectual property and another on the genesis of the ingenious ideas underlying new technologies in fields like electronics and biotechnology. Stix is the author with his wife, Miriam Lacob, of a technology primer called Who Gives a Gigabyte: A Survival Guide to the Technologically Perplexed (John Wiley & Sons, 1999).
Are You a Lucid Dreamer?
A sleep researcher who studies what dreams can tell us about the possible onset of some mental disorders believes lucid dreamers might hold a lot of answers in their head.
Heavy Cannabis Use Linked to Schizophrenia, Especially among Young Men
A huge Danish study shows that up to 30 percent of psychosis diagnoses in young men could have been prevented if these individuals hadn’t used marijuana heavily
How the Psychology of Silicon Valley Contributed to a Bank Collapse
Venture capitalists and start-ups don’t mind losing money, but dealing with a bank run is a whole different story
A Neurologist Answers Questions Patients Might Have about the New Alzheimer’s Drug Lecanemab
What a patient and family members can expect from the recently approved drug lecanemab—and what more is needed to help stop Alzheimer’s dementia
This Year’s Most Thought-Provoking Brain Discoveries
Neural circuits that label experiences as “good” or “bad” and the emotional meaninglessness of facial expressions are some standouts among 2022’s mind and brain breakthroughs
Many People with Bipolar Disorder Use Cannabis. It May Sometimes Help
Diminished risk-taking behaviors and other benefits may explain why many people with bipolar disorder keep consuming cannabis despite some dire downsides
Quantum Tunneling Makes DNA More Unstable
The freaky physics phenomenon of quantum tunneling may mutate genes
A Cure for Vaccine Hesitancy Could Start in Kindergarten
Teaching simple basics in school about masks, handwashing and ethics can stave off misconceptions in adulthood
Abortion Access Allowed Us to Have a Happy, Healthy Family
Canceling Roe means that other parents with high-risk pregnancies will not have the options that we had
How Â鶹´«Ã½AV Might Sow Chaos in the Brain
SARS-CoV-2 appears to travel widely across the cerebral cortex
Â鶹´«Ã½AV Expanded the Boundaries of Personal Space—Maybe for Good
Our physical safety perimeters have widened, a study suggests
Pandemic Year One Saw a Dramatic Global Rise in Anxiety and Depression
In hindsight, 2020 witnessed a disproportionate mental health burden on women and young people
Experimental Brain Implant Could Personalize Depression Therapy
Symptoms subsided for one woman after a carefully targeted neural circuit was stimulated
To the Brain, a Tool Is Just a Tool, Not a Hand Extension
Recent findings have implications for the design of prostheses. Care for a third thumb, anyone?
Evolution Could Explain Why Psychotherapy May Work for Depression
Persistent rumination may be an attribute that lets us think our way out of despair—a process enhanced through talk therapy
Â鶹´«Ã½AV Is on Track to Become the U.S.’s Leading Cause of Death—Yet Again
This winter the novel coronavirus may kill more people than heart disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s or diabetes
From Rapping Robots to Glowing Frogs: Our Favorite Fun Stories of 2020
It has been a tough year, but science still brought us some weird, cool and quirky findings
Can My Blood Really Help Â鶹´«Ã½AV Patients?
I’m not certain the antibodies it contains are any more therapeutic than Trump’s favorite unproven drug, hydroxychloroquine
Â鶹´«Ã½AV-19 Is Now the Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.
It kills more people than the flu, contrary to Trump’s claims, and also surpasses stroke, Alzheimer’s and diabetes
Watch a Robot AI Beat World-Class Curling Competitors
Artificial intelligence still needs to bridge the “sim-to-real” gap. Deep-learning techniques that are all the rage in AI log superlative performances in mastering cerebral games, including chess and Go, both of which can be played on a computer. But translating simulations to the physical world remains a bigger challenge.
A robot named Curly that uses “deep reinforcement learning”—making improvements as it corrects its own errors—came out on top in three of four games against top-ranked human opponents from South Korean teams that included a women’s team and a reserve squad for the national wheelchair team. (No brooms were used).
One crucial finding was that the AI system . “These results indicate that the gap between physics-based simulators and the real world can be narrowed,” the joint South Korean-German research team wrote in Science Robotics on September 23.
Emotional Labor Is a Store Clerk Confronting a Maskless Customer
The preeminent sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild discusses the control over one’s feelings needed to go to work every day during a pandemic
How Dozens of Languages Help Build Gender Stereotypes
Usage patterns shape biases worldwide, whether in Japanese, Persian or English
World War II’s Warsaw Ghetto Holds Lifesaving Lessons for Â鶹´«Ã½AV-19
An outbreak of typhus in the densely packed walled enclosure was countered by adopting all-too-familiar public health measures