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Small, Easy Acts of Joy Mean Big Gains in Happiness
... Our research began as a spin-off from a film called Mission: Joy—Finding Happiness in Troubled Times, in which the 14th Dalai Lama and the late archbishop Desmond Tutu talked about their friendship and offered lessons on creating joy for oneself and others regardless of circumstances. The film’s producer and co-director Peggy Callahan and impact producer Jolene Smith teamed up with psychologists Elissa Epel and one of us (Simon-Thomas) to develop a meaningful way for people to act on the film’s messages.
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‘Gray Rocking’ Is A Way To Deal With Difficult People
... It could be a reasonable strategy to “be a gray rock” when dealing with someone you interact with only occasionally, such as an annoying neighbor or co-worker,“but when there is a narcissist in your house, that’s different,” said Sandra Graham-Bermann, the director of the Child Resilience and Trauma Lab and a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan. In situations where you don’t feel unsafe but do have to interact with a difficult person, the gray rock method is “just good advice on how you manage” them, Graham-Bermann said. “You don’t give extra attention; limit your engagement and protect yourself.”
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These Stunning Images Show Every Nerve in a Mouse
Your peripheral nervous system (PNS) is crucial to navigating daily life. It lets you walk, controls your eye movements, and rings your brain’s alarms when you step on a Lego brick. Yet researchers have never built a complete map of this essential network in any mammalian body. Now a study published in Cell shows a complete, three-dimensional map of every single nerve fiber threading through a mouse. It completes the first-ever mammalian “connectome,” a flowchart of an entire nervous system, beyond just the well-researched brain and spinal cord.
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Why We Should Thank Pigeons For Our AI Breakthroughs
... If computers can do all that with just a pigeonlike brain, some animal researchers are now wondering if actual pigeons deserve more credit than they’re commonly given. “When considered in light of the accomplishments of AI, the extension of associative learning to purportedly more complicated forms of cognitive performance offers fresh prospects for understanding how biological systems may have evolved,” Ed Wasserman, a psychologist at the University of Iowa, wrote in a recent study in the journal Current Biology.
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What Many Parents Miss About the Phones-in-Schools Debate
... all of this digital social worry doesn’t seem to be helping teens become more interpersonally adept. Sitting in an airport with my 18-year-old and her friend, on the way to check out a college campus this past spring, I wondered aloud why her younger sister kept calling me from school during passing periods, even though she didn’t seem to have anything to say. My older daughter saw nothing amiss; apparently she, too, often faked an urgent need to consult her phone to avoid talking with people in the halls. “Everyone” does, she said.
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A Guide To Being Brave In Relationships
From sustaining a marriage to making new friends, forming connections requires courage. This hour, TED speakers guide us through being brave during the most difficult moments in relationships. Guests include writer and podcaster Kelly Corrigan, journalist Allison Gilbert and clinical psychologists Julie and John Gottman.
