Brain Health

Timing is everything. For early risers and late-nighters alike, listening to your internal clock may be the key to success. From the classroom to the courtroom and beyond, people perform best on challenging tasks at a time of day that aligns with their circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms are powerful internal timekeepers that drive a person’s […]

Humans need less sleep than our closest evolutionary relatives. However, we often sleep less than we need. Needing less sleep is a consequence of our ancestors’ choices to remain awake longer — a behaviour that led to evolutionary benefits. Sleeping less than we need is the result of our modern-day choices to remain awake longer, […]

The time fathers devote to child care every week has tripled over the past 50 years in the United States. The increase in fathers’ involvement in child rearing is even steeper in countries that have expanded paid paternity leave or created incentives for fathers to take leave, such as Germany, Spain, Sweden and Iceland. And […]

The health benefits of physical activity are undeniable. Yet, a recent study based on data published over the past 30 years challenges the famous adage Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body) and questions the importance of exercise for both brain health and cognition. A few days after that study […]

My first experience with motion sickness was as a college student, standing on the back of a marine research vessel looking at interesting things dredged from the seafloor off the California coast. It was a day trip, the weather was good and the sea was calm. I was unaware of the boat’s gentle pitching and […]

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. Have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Send it to CuriousKidsCanada@theconversation.com. What happens to your brain if you don’t get enough sleep? — Avery, age 7, Napanee, Ont. Sleep may be the single biggest factor in maintaining a healthy brain and positive mental […]