Screwed up parents, screwed up kids!* (Chers lecteurs Francophones. SVP, voir la note plus bas. Merci) Screwed up parents almost always produce screwed up kids but screwed up kids don’t always have screwed up parents. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had the ability to ensure our children turned out well-adjusted, functional and happy? I [...]

(SVP, voir plus bas pour une version Française) An article in the paper two weeks ago quoted a researcher who claimed that 98% of anti-depressants and other psychiatric medication prescriptions could be stopped with no ill effects. As much as I agree that they can sometimes be over-prescribed, I certainly don’t think his statement makes [...]

Publié le 27 janvier, 2015: Journal Métro. SVP, voir plus bas pour la version Française. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were easy to ask for what you wanted? Being able to assert yourself is a necessary skill. It ensures that our rights are respected and that we are treated as equals in relationships. But [...]

The foster mother (SVP, voir plus bas pour la version Française) We are blessed by the mother who gave up the child. – Lucinda Williams. As an adoptive father, that lyric makes me cry every time. My last two trips to the United States were to Burlington, Vermont and New York City. Both times we [...]

I was hospitalized with an eating disorder when I was 15. By 16 I was cutting myself and tying nooses, and by 17 I had experimented with a panoply of SSRIs and anti-anxiety medication. Seven years later I lead a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. Here is my story. ∞ I was a pretty lucky [...]

Neuroscience is uniquely suited to investigate the biological underpinnings of the features and traits that make us human. These include morality, complex emotions and higher-order cognition. However, as we continually learn more about our behaviour and its origins, one unavoidable and startling possibility is frequently made clear; many quintessentially 'human' characteristics may not be unique to ourselves.

The now-infamous hit by Zdeno Chara on Max Pacioretty resulted in a serious concussion, as well as a fractured C4 vertebra. Amid the controversy regarding the hit and whether further disciplinary action should be brought against Chara, the incident brings the seriousness of concussion injuries back into the public eye.

A recent editorial by Dr. Royce Murray, editor of the journal Analytical Chemistry, has garnered significant attention in its attacks on informal dissemination of scientific information to the general public. Given the topics I've written about previously, I thought it merited a response here.

An essential but often neglected aspect of science is the effective communication of scientific findings and principles to a general audience.

I put together a second 'bonus' version of my first post (below), after someone let me know I’d written about popularizing science education close to a recent related ‘holiday’ without mentioning someone relevant.