This blog post was inspired by the recent London Marathon, who’s official charity was Head’s Together (a charity set up by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, which aims to reduce the stigma of mental illness) making it the first mental health marathon. As well as raising millions of pounds for charities … Read more
I’m sure you’ve all been there – earning a promotion, getting into uni or finding your dream job. All your hard work and sacrifices have paid off, and you should feel on top of the world. And for most of the time, you do. You feel happy and accept people’s congratulations of “I knew you … Read more
Today’s post is for eating disorder awareness week, which this year has a focus on early detection and intervention. Often, sufferers are unable to access treatment until they have been ill for some time, which makes recovery so much harder than if treatment happened once symptoms first began. As well as having obvious benefits for … Read more
Today’s blog post is about one of the most studied individuals in psychology and neuroscience. By studying him, scientists were able to massively expand their knowledge of how to human brain is structured, and how different abilities (or “functions”) are located in different cortical areas. H.M. was born in 1928, and was 10 when he first … Read more
In Theresa May’s recent speech to parliament she stated that she wanted to end the stigma of mental illness and improve the state of mental healthcare in the UK. As a researcher into mental health services for children and adolescents, I hear often about the struggle parents have to get an appointment for their child to … Read more
Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterised by repeated seizures. Seizures are caused by electrical activity in the brain, although may appear differently from person to person (not all seizures involve convulsions, despite what you might think). As with many conditions there is not a single cause that can be identified as a precursor to epilepsy. … Read more
I’m sure you’ve all experienced that feeling where you find yourself thinking that things you are currently experiencing have happened before. Déjà vu (meaning ‘already seen’) can feel kind of creepy, but why does it happen? Déjà vu has been reported to occur in about 60-80% of the healthy population (e.g. Adachi et al, 2003), … Read more
Today’s post is about a visual illusion which at first looks like there is some type of CGI or editing – but I promise it’s just how our brains interpret visual information! Have a look at this image below.. In this ‘Ames Room illusion’ the girl appears to be much bigger when in the right … Read more
This week’s post is about a technique used as part of cognitive behavioural therapy for people with depression. As you probably know already, symptoms of depression include low mood, low self-esteem, feelings of anxiety and helplessness, and having low motivation and interest in activities which they previously enjoyed. Behavioural activation focuses on the ‘B’ of … Read more
Hi everyone, I’m back after a bit of a break – will try and get back in the routine of regular posts! This week’s post is something I’ve been wanted to blog about for ages: the Placebo effect. This is well known, having been the subject of films, TV documentaries, and a televised experiment by … Read more