Learning! Roundup: Alcohol Cleanses the Brain, Self-Control is for Cheaters, Introducing the All-Powerful Liver, and More!

Learning roundup! Alcohol (one at a time) is good for your brain!
Photo by Justin Aikin.

Alcohol Cleans the Brain

It's been known for a while that light drinkers (one drink a day) are at lower risk of dementia. Now we know why! Low levels of alcohol help your glymphatic system, the system that flushes your brain of metabolites, including the ones associated with dementia.

Self-Control

People with better self-control experience body states like hunger less intensely. So basically, they don't ACTUALLY have better self-control, they just don't NEED that much self-control. Cheaters!

Liver Facts

Did you know that the liver is both a gland and an organ? That it can regrow with only 25 percent of its original tissue? That your brain function depends on a healthy liver? Learn that and more, here!

Savant Syndrom

Usually, when we think of savants, we think of young kids who pick up a paintbrush and reveal themselves to be extraordinary. But that's not the only way a person can suddenly reveal incredible skill. Adults who suffer a stroke, head injury, or central nervous system injury can suddenly wake up and realize that art or mathematics just "makes sense" to them. They are savants!

You've Lost That Joyful Feeling

Anhedonia is a condition some people suffer from where they are unable to experience joy. It's a common symptom of depression as well as schizophrenia, and as you can imagine, takes a lot of their motivation out of life. There is also no current treatment for this particular experience. A new therapy is being tested, however, that gives people with anhedonia concrete tasks to do that are (theoretically) pleasurable and linked to their personal values. It might bring the joy back!

Paternal Post-Partum Depression

New evidence is showing that about 10% of new dads experience postpartum depression as well as moms. This is in part because they also experience hormone fluctuation after having a child, as well as the other life and emotional upheaval that goes on.


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