Skip to main content

Mind & Mood Archive

Articles

Fostering healthy relationships

While positive interpersonal relationships can boost health, the opposite is often true when it comes to problematic relationships. Chronic emotional stress may put a person at higher risk for a number of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and even bone-related problems. If a relationship is unhealthy, strategies such as setting boundaries, communicating clearly, and limiting interactions with the person can help.

How can you manage anxiety during pregnancy?

During pregnancy it's completely normal to experience a certain amount of anxiety about the baby, giving birth, and becoming a new parent. But for some women this worry takes over their thoughts and becomes debilitating. There are treatments available that may or may not involve medication, depending on the individual situation.

Back to the future: Psychedelic drugs in psychiatry

There is a renewed interest in the potential for psychedelic drugs to be used for medical purposes in the treatment of a variety of psychiatric conditions. Broadly, these drugs are able to induce altered thoughts and sensory perceptions, and research has found them to be beneficial in treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and they can also be helpful for some people in end-of-life situations.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia by telemedicine: Is it as good as in-person treatment?

Chronic insomnia affects between 10% and 15% of adults in the US. A specific form of cognitive behavioral therapy for treatment of insomnia is becoming more accessible because it can be delivered remotely. A recent study investigated how this therapy delivered via telemedicine compared to the same form of therapy delivered in person.

Sleep to solve a problem

Are you the sort of person who gets into bed and fixates on a problem or an interaction you may have had that day? It's better to let your thoughts go and try to fall asleep — even though that might not be easy — because our brains are made to process and synthesize information while we are sleeping.

More movement, better memory

Regular exercise is known to boost cognitive function and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. This protection occurs because the hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory) is especially sensitive to the effects of exercise. A study investigated whether older adults who participated in an exercise program could improve nerve connections in their brains.

Can mindfulness change your brain?

A lot has been written about the benefits of mindfulness, but does it actually work? Can it produce detectable changes in the brain? Researchers in Australia investigated whether mindfulness training improved a person's ability to pay attention

Sleep well — and reduce your risk of dementia and death

Although it has been known for some time that individuals with dementia frequently have poor, fragmented sleep, two new studies suggest that if you don't get enough sleep in midlife, you are at increased risk for dementia later in life.

Put your brain to the challenge

New experiences stimulate pathways that improve memory.

Our brains have the capacity to improve as we age. "The mechanisms in place may slow over time, but the brain's ability to change doesn't wane," says Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, medical director of the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health at Harvard-affiliated Hebrew SeniorLife.

Just as when you work to strengthen aging muscles, though, you need to put in extra effort to keep the "muscle" inside your head in top condition. Among the best ways to do this is to learn new things that continuously challenge your mind.

Free Healthbeat Signup

Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!

Sign Up
Harvard Health Publishing Logo

Thanks for visiting. Don't miss your FREE 32-page gift worth $29.95.

PLUS, don’t miss out on your 25% off promo code.

Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle—You’ll discover powerful, research- backed strategies for health longevity drawn from Harvard Medical School experts—ways to eat for a longer life, build strength and flexibility to stay independent, protect your bones, heart, and brain as you age, and even cultivate the habits linked with “super-agers” who stay sharp and active well into their 80s and 90s—all delivered to your email box FREE.

Harvard Health Publishing Logo

Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.

Plus, get a FREE copy of Living Longer, Living Well!.

Harvard Health Publishing Logo

Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.

Plus, get a FREE copy of Living Longer, Living Well.