’Survivors of intimate partner violence suffer traumatic brain injuries at alarming rates. Yet science overlooks us.…’

Via Undark.org

It’s time to accept the limits of how we think.

’In wondering what can be done to steer civilization away from the abyss, I confess to being increasingly puzzled by the central enigma of contemporary cognitive psychology: To what degree are we consciously capable of changing our minds …about major personal and social issues that should unite but invariably divide us? As a senior neurologist whose career began before CAT and MRI scans, I have come to feel that conscious reasoning, the commonly believed remedy for our social ills, is an illusion, an epiphenomenon supported by age-old mythology rather than convincing scientific evidence.…’

Via Nautilus

’Jazz, Martin Luther King declared, was the ability to take the “hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.”…’

Via JSTOR Daily

How a classic Tweety Bird cartoon became a mainstay in linguistics research

’Already a cartoon classic, Canary Row became an unlikely fixture of linguistics research. Over the years, linguists have used clips of Canary Row to examine hand gestures in at least a dozen languages—and many aspects of signed languages. There are studies that compare gesticulation across languages; studies on gestures by language-learners and by multilinguals; and studies about gestures that accompany signed language. Experts in these topics say the cartoon is the most frequently used study stimulus in their fields.…’

Via JSTOR Daily

Why I and other doctors are not eager to prescribe benzodiazepines for long-term use: 

’…We have a Hippocratic oath to “first do not harm.” I sometimes tell patients who insist on getting benzos: “I am not paid differently based on the medication I prescribe, and my life would be much easier not arguing with you about this medication. I do this because I care about you.”…’

Via The Conversation

I share the concerns raised in this piece and such reasoning has always guided my prescribing practice. Unfortunately, not enough psychiatrists and general practitioners are similarly concerned.