New research suggests MDMA could be used to treat alcoholism

Yet another study shows the potential efficacy of psychedelics in treating addiction.

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  • MDMA could help alcoholics break their addiction (and not relapse) suggests a new study in the UK.
  • Ketamine became the first FDA-sanctioned psychedelic for use in treating depression earlier this year.
  • The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) organization hopes to have legally prescribed MDMA on the shelves by 2021.
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The impact of diet on brain and body health

Part Two of an interview with Dr. John Ratey.

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  • Harvard Medical School professor John Ratey says diet and exercise are both needed for optimal brain and body health.
  • Ratey believes meat alternatives will be helpful in the future, but the science is not there yet.
  • He also advises exercise as a necessary component of addiction recovery.
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Why it’s so hard to stop obsessing about things — and what to do about it

Try not to think about your hands. Now enjoy a few minutes of not being able to stop thinking about them.

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  • The "white bear problem" describes that situation in which we can't stop thinking about something no matter how hard we try.
  • Your mental process at such times pits two parts of your brain against each other.
  • Research support a few ways to exit this maddening hamster wheel.
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Octopus arms can make decisions on their own

The remarkable distributed nervous system of the octopus is discussed at an astrobiology conference.

Image source: Kondratuk Aleksei/Shutterstock
  • Unlike vertebrates, two-thirds of an octopus' neurons are in its tentacles.
  • Tentacles respond to the surrounding environment without help from the head's brain.
  • If something this weird is here on our own Earth, what could be out there in space?
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Researchers were surprised to find bungee jumpers' cognition was enhanced after a jump

Think adrenaline leaves you unable to think clearly? Think again.

It's well-established in psychology that intense emotion and physiological arousal interfere with people's ability to think straight.

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