Understanding the mind through challenge, change, and recovery.
The genetics of bipolar disorder are complex and difficult to unravel. Researchers identified brain, cognitive, and behavioral traits associated with the disorder that may help scientists trace the biological pathways involved.
Some childhood misbehavior is just being a kid—some of it isn’t. New neurogenetics research helps tell the difference. Psychologist Luke Hyde shows how genes, environment, and brain chemistry combine to reveal which kids are truly at risk.
Eating disorders in boys may be more common—and look different—than many parents and clinicians realize. Research suggests that a focus on muscularity rather than thinness can lead some boys toward unhealthy behaviors that traditional eating-disorder assessments may miss.
Children with autism show elevated antibodies to gluten, a new study finds, especially those with GI symptoms. But researchers stress this immune marker isn’t at all linked to celiac disease.
Not all trauma is created equal—betrayal by someone close cuts deeper than almost anything else. Research shows trauma inflicted by a trusted family member produces more severe psychological symptoms, complicating survivors’ need to both connect and protect themselves.
Building on previous research suggesting that people who suffer from complicated grief have difficulty recalling many of the specific memories of their past, this study looked at whether complicated grief affects thinking about the future. Their findings suggest a possible component to help facilitate recovery.
Combat alone doesn’t explain who develops PTSD—what happened before the war matters just as much. A study of Vietnam veterans found childhood abuse and pre-war psychological vulnerability were just as predictive of lasting symptoms as combat severity itself.
Autism and schizophrenia genes may only switch on during a narrow window of early brain development, mouse research shows, reinforcing that both conditions likely originate before birth, not after.
For some soldiers with PTSD, the real trauma may have started long before they ever saw combat. A study of Danish troops found childhood violence—not battlefield experience—best predicted which soldiers developed lasting symptoms after deployment.
A father recounts the snake-oil economy that sprang up around autism treatments, and the simple test he used to separate real help from expensive false hope: where are the autistic adults endorsing it?
You don’t have to be a therapist to help a traumatized child heal. An educator specializing in childhood trauma shares practical strategies—from safe routines to healthy stress outlets—that caregivers and teachers can use alongside professional treatment.
Trauma doesn’t just hurt a child emotionally—it can reshape the architecture of their developing brain. An educator explains how early abuse disrupts brain development and shapes lasting patterns of fear and disconnection, and why new relationships can help reverse the damage.
