In 1998, the Internet was in its infancy but growing fast. So, too was a mental health phenomenon called hikikomori — a name for extreme social withdrawal and isolation — that the rise of the Internet may well have helped feed. That same year, Tamaki Saito coined the term from the Japanese “hiki,” which means pulling inward or withdrawing, and “komori,” which means being confined or being inside. Saito first applied it to a patient who had socially withdrawn for six months, then popu ...read more
A new fossil find pushes back both the age and the size of the ancestors of the so-called Hobbits. Bones from the diminutive protohumans named Homo floresiensis were first found in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 and dated back about 50,000 years. Researchers now report in Nature Communications finding similar fossils on the island — but at an open-air site 46 miles from the cave — dating back 700,000 years. The findings include the smallest ever human arm bone.“This very ...read more
From the CIA’s secret mind control program, MK Ultra, to the stuttering “Monster” study, American researchers have a long history of engaging in human experiments. The studies have helped us better understand ourselves and why we do certain things. These four experiments did just this and helped us better understand human behavior. However, some of them would be considered unethical today due to either lack of informed consent or the mental and/or emotional damage they caused.1. Cognitive ...read more
Worms wriggling around in your brain — it’s a particularly gruesome image that sounds like it came straight from a B horror movie. But several parasites can and do infect the central nervous system. The most common of these is Taenia solium, aka the pork tapeworm. Gross as it sounds, infection with a pork tapeworm usually doesn’t cause much harm. Tapeworms get into the intestines when people eat undercooked pork that is contaminated with the larvae of the tapeworm. While in the intestinal ...read more
Magnesium is an important element for the body’s basic functioning. Its effects are broad and numerous, including helping with blood pressure control, bone growth, and heart rhythm regulation. The element is also key to blood sugar control and to the production of DNA and protein. It’s particularly important for those who struggle with poor sleep and mental health disorders like anxiety and depression because magnesium plays an important role in brain health. Here’s a closer look at why m ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine