Learning! Roundup: This is Your Brain on Meditation, Pregnancy-Related PTSD, Abortion Impacts, and More!

A black woman seated and meditating. Her hands are in prayer position, her eyes closed.
Photo by Madison Lavern.

This is Your Brain on Meditation


Regular meditation really does seem to change your brain: people who participated in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program not only reported that they felt reduced stress in their lives, but brain scans showed increased grey matter in their amygdala and hippocampus (the brain regions responsible for emotions and memory). This was compared to a control group who had none of these impacts. Now... these participants did an average of 27 minutes a day - do you think I can get the same benefit on my 10-minutes-most-days-but-definitely-not-always practice?

Pregnancy-Related PTSD


This is another scientific discovery for the "it's obvious for the people who have experienced it" file: women who have miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies are more likely to have depression and PTSD. This stuff has a huge impact on your life.

Abortion Impacts


Speaking of pregnancy-related science, a new study looked at how women feel about their abortions, both immediately afterwards and years later. They found that there is often a powerful mix of emotions (including guilt and relief) in the immediate aftermath, and that over time all emotions basically fade away. They also found that right away, 97.5% of women think they have made the right decision, and after 5 years, that number goes up to 99%.

On Track for Climate Change


A new study confirms that models of climate change have been very accurate, and we are right on track for all the disastrous degrees of warming predicted. This ain't good!

Why Narcissists Hurt the Ones They Love


You know how narcissists will say incredibly cruel things to the people they love during a fight? This is because they lack object constancy, which is the ability to retain a positive emotional bond with something while simultaneously being hurt or angry with them. This might be borne out of early trauma.

The Rich Live Forever


Okay, not forever, but a new study found that in both the US and the UK, higher socioeconomic status was associated with longer disability-free life. The rich actually get 5-9 more years without disability in old age. Interestingly, the study's intention was to see if UK residents have an advantage over Americans, I assume due to the more equally-distributed healthcare in the UK, but wealth was a greater indicator.


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