I have always been a fan of the Christmas ghost story. I think more so since moving to the northern hemisphere. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, the dark nights draw in, and we get more of those chilly days with that strange pale light that never really blooms into…
The last few years have seen an incredible increase in the discovery of genetic variants associated with depression. In this Mythbusters blog, Kirstin [EDIT Lab PhD student] and Joni [SGDP Postdoc] describe this recent progress, and explain why there isn’t just a single gene for depression.
If we start this blog post with the statement that “people differ from each other”, you will probably snort with derision thinking of snowflakes and popular cheesy quotes about being unique like everyone else, but it is true. People do differ and in so many ways. This week Elena and…
Heritability is the proportion of variation in a given population that is due to genetic differences. If a trait is highly heritable, it is more likely to be shared between individuals of close genetic relatedness, regardless of whether they share the same environment. This concept can be difficult to wrap…
Fear is an emotional response vital for our survival. However, overwhelming fear can lead to excessive avoidance of situations that are not actually dangerous, causing distress and impairing daily functioning. Here, we give an overview of fear, explaining when it becomes pathological and how it can be studied experimentally.
Sometimes you find yourself stumbling across little titbits of surprising information. Those moments that stop and make you go “Huh”. Some of these moments are more surprising than others. So today, for your blog enjoyment, I present you with a carefully curated series of things I learned this week. Things…
A book about how James Watson and his sidekick Francis Crick won the Nobel Prize. Also there was Maurice Wilkins. Oh – and some woman who wouldn’t wear lipstick (but was handy with a camera).
Information that challenges our own views can make us uncomfortable. As a result, consciously or otherwise, we often go to great lengths to avoid exposure to such information. But maybe being driven to re-examine the evidence behind our beliefs and practices is a good thing – and something we need to…
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