Category: The Mind

  • Holy Frijoles! Swearing is a natural pain-killer

    Stubbing your toe has to rank as one of the most painful experiences ever. Beaten only, perhaps, by a bonnet lid falling on your head or trying to pass a kidney stone. Such agonies momentarily wrack the senses, making us see red while focusing our entire being on our toe – or head – or…

  • The curious case of the phantom vibrating phone

    I’ve only been back in the UK a matter of hours and it’s already started. After a few days abroad, I am taking a stroll through the beauty of Wiltshire’s county town to remind myself how good it is to be back in good ol’ Blighty. And then suddenly – and without warning – my reverie…

  • It’s ‘Stoptober’ – but 28 days isn’t long enough to change a habit

    A month feels a very long time when you’re trying to give something up. Crikey, if you’re trying to give up cigarettes then even a weekend seems an eternity. And now that October is upon us, scores of smokers are going cold turkey on the fags for a 28 day stint. It’s all part of…

  • Meet ALS sufferer Jason Becker: more inspiring than a bucket of icy water

    You probably haven’t heard of Jason Becker. In the late 1980s he was God’s gift to rock fans. With frizzy black hair and a shiny leather jacket, he was a virtuoso performer whose guitar solos silenced head-bangers in awe. Today he is still considered to be one of the world’s most gifted guitarists – even…

  • Life with autism: it’s not what you think

    Imagine a world where the clink of a coffee cup chimed louder than Big Ben. Imagine what it would be like if a muttering crowd sounded louder than a World Cup roar. Envisage a desk lamp that burned brighter than the sun; or suppose a whiff of rotten fish lingered with you all day long.…

  • Smells can help restore memories

    Freshly cut grass, rain falling on sun-baked tarmac, the cologne of your first love… we all have smells that stir up special, personal memories. For me, the smell of wood smoke evokes memories of camping as a child. A close friend told me that, for him, even the faintest whiff of a burning mosquito coil…

  • Why playing a musical instrument is good for you

    A horrifying screech is coming from 221B Baker Street. Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson look at each other despairingly. Sherlock is practicing his violin. Again. The character depicted in the recent BBC series, Sherlock, has no musical ability. (Although the literary version was a good musician). He would scratch his fiddle to unwind and help his mind solve the latest case.…

  • Take the smartphone addiction test! Are you hooked to your iPhone?

    It’s dinner time and the log fire is burning. My wife and I sitting in a pub on a rainy day and we are eyeing the menus – the seafood looks nice. Yes, this is the stuff of an English holiday by the sea: sitting on wooden chairs near an open fire with harassed-looking bar…

  • The science behind a midlife crisis: are you having one?

    Rock concerts, fast cars and beach holidays – a midlife crisis sounds like a dream. If you happen to be a child of a parent going through a 40-something identity crisis – then you’re probably in for a great time. Just because you’ve bought a ridiculously overpriced motorbike and you’re over 35, does it mean…