Sean Carroll

Cosmic Variance

What Defines Happiness?

Ayahuasca being gathered. (Image Credit: ICEERS, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))

Setting, Acute Reaction and Mental Health History Shape Ayahuasca's Longer-term Psychological Effects

Prior mental health conditions, as well as the environment in which ayahuasca is taken and the people around participants can all impact the outcome.

Psychedelic Ayahuasca Could Produce Either Positive or Negative Mental Health Effects 

(Image Credit: Aleksandar Malivuk/Shutterstock)

Patient in nature

Learn how new research reveals how nature can ease pain, benefiting both the body and mind. 

Experiencing Nature Both in Reality and Virtually Could Ease Pain

An edited version of a figure from the research shows the ventral tegmental area, highlighting dopamine-associated neurons in green and one that connects to the posterior amygdala (magnified in inset) in red. (Image Credit: Tonegawa Lab/MIT Picower Institute)

Dopamine source

Learn how dopamine helps encode and extinguish fear in the brains of mice. 

Mice Forget Their Fears Thanks to the Flow of Dopamine Through Their Brains

What Defines Happiness?

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