Sensitivity in the News
There’s a virtual explosion of interest in the press on topics implicitly touching on sensitivity. These subjects include perception, consciousness, emotion, stress, trauma, memory, subliminal awareness, psychosomatics, mind-body, and spirituality.
A selection of such articles, dating from 2007, is presented below. Many of these are referenced in The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion, where they are discussed specifically in relation to sensitivity.
2008
- The Placebo Effect: Not All in Your Head
ScienceNOW Daily News, December 2, 2008 - Ghost Stories: Visits from the Deceased
After a loved one dies, most people see ghosts Scientific American, December 2, 2008 - The Placebo Effect: Not All in Your Head
ScienceNOW Daily News, December 2, 2008
- Stress warps brains and behavior, researchers say
PhysOrg.com, November 19, 2008
- The psychology of déjà vu
PhysOrg.com, November 18, 2008
- Music to Your Heart
HealthScout.com, November 14, 2008
- Joyful music may promote heart health
PhysOrg.com, November 11, 2008
- Fibromyalgia Can No Longer Be Called the ‘Invisible’ Syndrome
ScienceDaily, November 4, 2008
- Ghost Lusters: If You Want to See a Specter Badly Enough, Will You?
Researchers set up "haunted" room to prove an electromagnetic theory of ghost sightings
Scientific American, October 27, 2008
-
Warm Hands, Nonjudgmental Brain
A Study Shows Physical Comforts, Like Warm Coffee, Can Sway Your First Impressions of People
ABC News, October 23, 2008
- New understanding of how we remember traumatic events
PhysOrg.com, October 23, 2008
- Emotion and scent create lasting memories – even in a sleeping brain
PhysOrg.com, October 16, 2008
- ‘Musicophilia’ Examines Music in the Mind
An interview with neurologist Oliver Sacks and an excerpt from his book
Fresh Air on National Public Radio, October 10, 2008
- Hypnosis, Memory and the Brain
Scientific American, October 7, 2008
- Musicians Think Differently from the Rest of Us
Scientific American, October 6, 2008
- Scientists Study Out-of-Body Experiences
25 Hospitals in the U.K. and U.S. Will Take Part in Study of Near-Death Experiences
ABC News, September 30, 2008
- Metaphors of the Mind: Why Loneliness Feels Cold and Sins Feel Dirty
A social psychologist explains how abstract concepts can create physical feelings
Scientific American, September 25, 2008
- What Happens When We Die?
An interview with near-death experience researcher Sam Parnia
Time, September 18, 2008
- Spiritual Medicine
HealthScout.com, September 12, 2008
- World's Largest-Ever Study of Near-Death Experiences
Medical News Today, September 11, 2008
- Trauma, PTSD Followed by Reduction in Region of the Brain Involved with Memory
ScienceDaily, August 27, 2008
- Cool hand illusion reveals mind-body lin
New Scientist, August 27, 2008
- Trauma, PTSD Followed by Reduction in Region of the Brain Involved in Memory
Science Daily, August 27, 2008
- Sleep Selectively Preserves Emotional Memories
ScienceDaily, August 14, 2008
- Seeing is Hearing: New Type of Synesthesia Discovered
Scientific American, August 5, 2008
- Why Migraines Strike
Scientific American, July 21, 2008
- Brain Cells Related To Fear Identified
ScienceDaily, July 11, 2008
- Mixed Feelings Not Remembered As Well As Happy Or Sad Ones
ScienceDaily, June 27, 2008
- Hallucinogen Gives Lasting Spiritual Boost
HealthScout.com, July 2, 2008
- Meditation, Yoga Might Switch Off Stress Genes
HealthScout.com, July 2, 2008
- Stress during childhood increases the risk of allergies
PhysOrg.com, June 18, 2008
- Are Panic and Inability to Express Emotions Related?
ScienceDaily, June 5, 2008
- Brain's Gray Cells Appear to Be Changed by Trauma of Major Events Like 9/11 Attack
ScienceDaily, June 4, 2008
- Fibromyalgia Pain Linked with Central Nervous System Disorder
ScienceDaily, June 3, 2008
- The Neural Buddhists
David Brooks’ column inThe New York Times, May 13, 2008
- Fibromyalgia Affects Women More Often Than Men
ScienceDaily, April 26, 2008
- Biological Link Between Pain and Fatigue Discovered
ScienceDaily, April 9, 2008
- Men are from Mars
Neuroscientists Find that Men and Women Respond Differently to Stress
ScienceDaily, April 1, 2008
- Why Are Some People Unable to Express Their Emotions?
ScienceDaily, May 27, 2008
- Music as Medicine
Music therapy can help reduce anxiety and improve physical health
HealthScout.com, March 22, 2008
- Past Child Abuse Plus Variations in Gene Result in Potent PTSD Risk for Adults
Science Daily, March 20, 2008
- Changing stress levels can make brain flip from ‘desire’ to ‘dread’
PhysOrg.com, March 19, 2008
- Does Stress Damage the Brain?
ScienceDaily, March 19, 2008
- Gene May Help Explain Stress Disorder
Associated Press, March 18, 2008
- Seeds of PTSD Planted in Childhood
ScienceNOW Daily News, March 18, 2008
- Past child abuse plus variations in gene result in potent PTSD risk for adults
PhysOrg.com, March 18, 2008
- Fighting Cancer with a Pen
Research finds that ‘expressive writing’ helps to ease patients’ burden
HealthScout.com, March 14, 2008
- A matter of the heart
Depression and negative emotions seem to worsen cardiac health, whereas a good laugh might improve blood vessel function
Nature Medicine 14, pp. 231-233 (March 8, 2008)
- Aromatherapy Falls Short, Study Finds
It didn’t heal wounds, relieve pain or boost immune status
HealthScout.com, March 5, 2008
- Flesh Made Soul
Can a new theory in neuroscience explain spiritual experiences to a non-believer?
Science & Spirit, March 1, 2008
- How the immune system fine-tunes the brain
New Scientist, March 1, 2008
- Sex Differences in the Brain’s Serotonin System
ScienceDaily, February 17, 2008
- Abuse History Affects Pain Regulation in Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome
ScienceDaily, February 3, 2008
- Allergic Disease Linked to Irritable Bowel Syndrome
ScienceDaily, January 31, 2008
- Brain Response Differences in the Way Women with IBS Anticipate and React to Pain
ScienceDaily, January 12, 2008
- Understanding Role of Stress In Just About Everything
ScienceDaily, January 11, 2008
2007
- Perspectives: Life on the wheel of consciousness
New Scientist, December 22, 2007
- Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a Physical or Psychological Affliction?
ScienceDaily, December 19, 2007
- One Gene Variant Puts Stressed Women at Risk for Depression
Has Opposite Effect in Men
ScienceDaily, November 30, 2007
- Even Sham Acupuncture Eases Low Back Pain
HealthScout.com, September 24, 2007
- Trauma Earlier in Life May Affect Response to Stress Years Later
ScienceDaily, November 21, 2007
- Brain Imaging Shows How Men and Women Cope Differently Under Stress
Science Daily, November 20, 2007
- Is the Inability to Express Emotions Hereditary?
ScienceDaily, November 19, 2007
- Asthma Linked to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
ScienceDaily, November 16, 2007
- Fibromyalgia Pain Caused by Neuron Mismatch, Suggests Study
ScienceDaily, November 2, 2007
- Meditation a Quick Fix for Stress
HealthScout.com, October 11, 2007
- Searching for God in the Brain
Scientific American, October 3, 2007
- Meditation May Help Rheumatoid Arthritis Sufferers
HealthScout.com, September 28, 2007
- Adult Offspring of Parents with PTSD Have Lower Cortisol Levels
ScienceDaily, September 4, 2007
- We Remember Bad Times Better Than Good
ScienceDaily, August 28, 2007
- Out-of-Body Experiences
European Scientists Say They Have Induced Out-of-Body Experiences in Labs
ABC News, August 27, 2007
- Experiments Get Close to ‘Out-of-Body’ Experience
HealthDay News, August 23, 2007
- The Science of Out-of-Body Experiences
Time, August 23, 2007
- Out-of-body experiences are ‘all in the mind’
New Scientist, August 23, 2007
- Illusion mimics out-of-body experiences
Camera trickery shows how easy it is to fool the mind
news@nature.com, August 23, 2007
- Sleights of Mind
Some magicians have intuitively mastered some of the lessons being learned in the laboratory about the limits of cognition and attention.
New York Times, August 21, 2007
- The Memories You Want to Forget Are the Hardest Ones to Lose
ScienceDaily, August 16, 2007
- A Gene to Better Remember Traumatic Events
Scientific American, July 30, 2007
- Cat plays furry grim reaper at nursing home
Oscar has predicted 25 deaths by curling up next to patient in final hours
Associated Press, July 27, 2007
- Fibromyalgia: The Misunderstood Disease
ScienceDaily, June 2, 2007
- What is consciousness? Study aims to settle debate
Research would also subject claims of “out of body” experiences to strict test
World Science, May 20, 2007
- Traumatic Events, but Not Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Common in Childhood
ScienceDaily, May 10, 2007
- Traumas Like Sept. 11 Make Brains More Reactive to Fear
ScienceDaily, May 8, 2007
- Hearts & Minds
Since Plato, scholars have drawn a clear distinction between thinking and feeling. Now science suggests that our emotions are what make thought possible.
Boston Globe, April 29, 2007
- Spirituality Influences Health, Most U.S. Doctors Say
HealthScout.com, April 10, 2007
- Hearing Voices
A review of Daniel B. Smith’s book Muses, Madmen, and Prophets
New York Times, April 8, 2007
- Voices carry
The message and mystery of auditory hallucinations, from Moses to modern times
Boston Globe, March 25, 2007
- Overly Anxious and Driven People Prone to Irritable Bowel Syndrome
ScienceDaily, February 26, 2007
- What a Headache: Migraines in Women Are Linked to the Blues
Scientific American, January 9, 2007
- Patients with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Experience Less Pain Sensitivity
ScienceDaily, January 3, 2007