Inside the Mind

What are dreams really made of? Are humans the smartest animal? What causes schizophrenia? Travel inside the mind and find out how the human brain works.

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Despite our best intentions, sometimes we just make bad choices. Is it possible to fight your own worst instincts? Only if you can spot these flaws in your decision making process.

By Tom Scheve

If someone tells you he or she possesses the secret of happiness, that person may also have a bridge to sell you. The things that make some people happy may lead to utter despair in others. As it turns out, humans may have to look into themselves to find happiness.

By Josh Clark

What constitutes happiness? Is it the absence of pain or an abundance of pleasure? It is simply a fortunate function of the brain? If it's the latter, then we should be able to manipulate it -- perhaps in the form of a "happy pill." It may surprise you, then, to learn that we already have one.

By Josh Clark

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Happiness is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, it can also be elusive due to stress or depression. However, strategies abound that you can use to trick yourself into being happy. Ready for 10 of them?

By Josh Clark & Jessika Toothman

Addictions to substances such as drugs and alcohol have ruined the lives of people all over the world. Read about current views and ideas on addiction.

By Josh Clark & Sascha Bos

Antidepressants are the first line of treatment for depression. Sales of antidepressants total $50 billion annually, making this class of drugs one of the leading prescription medications. But are they effective?

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

Alien hand syndrome sounds like something from a B-grade horror movie, but it's a real condition. You could be completely at the mercy of your own renegade hand -- it could keep your other hand from functioning, punch you or even choke you.

By Charles W. Bryant

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A man in Cornwall, England, went 11 consecutive days without a wink of sleep. Find out how he did it, why he did it and why you shouldn't give it a try.

By Jacob Silverman

Your co-worker just yawned in a meeting, and now everyone on his side of the table is yawning, too. Learn about what might've caused him to do it in the first place and why you're likely to yawn right along with them.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Collective hysteria can spread when a fear exists of exposure to a disease, combined with a contained environment. Learn more about collective hysteria works.

By Jacob Silverman & Austin Henderson

Whether brain death is a result of cardiac arrest and lack of oxygen to the brain, or of a gunshot wound to the head, the diagnosis is the same. Learn what the term "brain dead" actually means.

By Leslie C. Olson

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Alcoholism can be difficult to spot. Learn the difference between heavy drinking and alcoholism, how alcohol affects the body, what factors may lead to alcoholism and what treatments are available for this addiction.

By Stephanie Watson

What exactly is fear? In this article, we'll examine the psychological and physical properties of fear, find out what causes a fear response and look at some ways you can defeat it.

By Julia Layton

Dreams combine verbal, visual and emotional stimuli into mystifying storylines. Should we bother to interpret them? Are they random brain impulses, or do they offer insight into our waking lives?

By Lee Ann Obringer & Yves Jeffcoat

You've been looking forward to your European vacation for months. But the first few days of your trip, you're grouchy, exhausted and brain dead. Is there some way to prevent or cure jet lag?

By Patrick J. Kiger

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Odd as it may seem, many antidepressants like Zoloft having warning labels about increases in suicidal thoughts. Why would that be? And how will you know if your medication is actually working?

By Laurie L. Dove

We often throw around the word "insanity" for acts that seem to have no rational explanation (like a teacher giving an insanely difficult test). Legally speaking, though, it's actually a narrow term that's very difficult to prove in court.

By Chris Opfer

Have you ever met someone with a unique first name, and then all of a sudden you hear the name everywhere you turn? That's the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at work. How did it get that handle?

By Kate Kershner & Austin Henderson

Are you a person who likes to be social but also values some alone time? You are? How did we guess without knowing you? Welcome to the Barnum effect.

By Kate Kershner

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Why does the experience of sleep paralysis often summon explanations of demonic visitations? Visit the place where dreams and reality overlap, and where science and myth attempt to interpret our hallucinations.

By Robert Lamb

Most of us don't intuitively classify electroshocks as therapeutic, but this 1950s-era treatment has changed a lot since it was first introduced. When and why do mental health experts now turn to it?

By Kate Kershner

When you see someone yawning, even in a picture, chances are a yawning urge will come over you, too. But is this also true of sneezing, and if so, why?

By Laurie L. Dove

You've just touched a hot stove -- and probably felt an immediate sharp pain, then a dull ache. How do we sense pain, and why does it eventually go away?

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

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That man dressed in animal skins and running around Jerusalem trying to baptize people isn't alone. Tourists in Jerusalem sometimes suffer from a strange conviction that they are Biblical figures. Are they mentally ill or is there more to it?

By Katie Lambert

Most people would recall every detail of being held up in a bank robbery but not so well the details of their last birthday party. The brain is wired for recalling trauma for a very good reason.

By Colleen Cancio