Neuroscientist Amir Raz shares decades of research and case studies to show how suggestion changes the brain and shapes our behavior—and how we can protect ourselves from and harness suggestibility in our own lives.Suggestions can make cheap wine taste like Château Margaux, warp our perception of time, and alter our memories—and in an age where disinformation has impacted our personal lives and our politics, the power of suggestion is worth even more attention....

Brain training is all the rage. Commercial and clinical initiatives capitalize on trailblazing interdisciplinary research that spans domains such as education, psychological and brain science, cognitive remediation, and mental health. Promotional materials boast that we can learn to think and respond faster, focus better, and control our emotions; companies and authors market techniques to boost memory, increase confidence, and overcome cognitive impairments. 'How (not) to Train the Brain'...

Most people find colorful brain scans highly compelling—and yet, many experts don't. This discrepancy begs the question: What can we learn from neuroimaging? Is brain information useful in fields such as psychiatry, law, or education? How do neuroscientists create brain activation maps and why do we admire them? Casting Light on The Dark Side of Brain Imaging　tackles these questions through a critical and constructive lens—separating fruitful science from misleading neuro-babble. In a bree...

Research over the past decade has helped to demystify hypnosis and meditation, bringing these practices into the scientific and clinical mainstream. Yet, while hypnosis and meditation overlap on many levels, few scientific accounts have explored their complementary rapprochement. Despite cultural and historical differences, hypnosis and meditation share common phenomenology, cognitive processes, and potential therapeutic merits. This book provides a synthesis of knowledge concerning the br...

Why do red placebos stimulate whereas blue placebos calm? Why do more placebos work better than few? And why do more expensive placebos work better than cheaper ones? These are some of the key questions that often come to mind when we consider the slippery and counterintuitive field of placebo science. Rather than consider placebos through the narrow narrative of "sugar pills" in clinical trials, this book provides various perspectives on how psychosocial parameters - such as interpersonal...

Neuroscientist Amir Raz shares decades of research and case studies to show how suggestion changes the brain and shapes our behavior—and how we can protect ourselves from and harness suggestibility in our own lives.Suggestions can make cheap wine taste like Château Margaux, warp our perception of time, and alter our memories—and in an age where disinformation has impacted our personal lives and our politics, the power of suggestion is worth even more attention....

Discover the power of (finally) getting unstuck, claiming your clarity, and becoming the person whose life you want to live–all through a simple self-care practice you can build into your daily routine.For anyone who's trying to make sense of their life, who wants to get unstuck from the patterns that hold them back, hear this incredible news: everything you need for the freedom you want is entirely within reach. This practice and pathway is free,...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERMore people than ever before see themselves as addicted to, or recovering from, addiction, whether it be alcohol or drugs, prescription meds, sex, gambling, porn, or the internet. But despite the unprecedented attention, our understanding of addiction is trapped in unfounded 20th century ideas, addiction as a crime or as brain disease, and in equally outdated treatment.Challenging both the idea of the addict's "broken brain" and t...

**One of NPR’s 2025 “Books We Love”“Delano’s story is compelling, important and even haunting. . . . Her memoir evokes Girl, Interrupted for the age of the prescription pill. . . . In Unshrunk, she tells her own story, and she tells it powerfully.” —Casey Schwartz, The New York Times Book Review“An unsparing account. . . . What makes Unshrunk so valuable is not that Ms. Delano’s mental-health struggles are unusual. Just the opposite: Her ...

In this stirring and beautifully written wake-up call, psychiatrist Daniel Carlat writes with bracing honesty about how psychiatry has so largely forsaken the practice of talk therapy for the seductive—and more lucrative—practice of simply prescribing drugs, with a host of deeply troubling consequences.Psychiatrist Daniel Carlat has noticed a pattern plaguing his profession. Psychiatrists have settled for treating symptoms rather than causes, embracing the apparent...

Written in a lively and entertaining style*, Facts and Fictions in Mental Health* examines common conceptions and misconceptions surrounding mental health and its treatment. Each chapter focuses on a misconception and is followed by a discussion of related findings from scientific research.A compilation of the authors' "Facts and Fictions" columns written for Scientific American Mind, with the addition of six new columns exclusive to this bookWritten in a l...

People frequently say that the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. Yet from a bird’s eye point of view it has similarities with other pandemics, even other illnesses, and with other stresses and traumas. In fact, each situation of stress and trauma illuminates all the others.We are on the cusp of a science of stress and trauma. In this book we indicate how the current pandemic interweaves with that science, both benefiting and contributing to it. In other words, though in this pandemic eac...