Reference Terms
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Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a range of techniques which use only dialogue and communication and which are designed to improve the mental health of a client or patient, or to improve group relationships (such as in a family). Most forms of psychotherapy use only spoken conversation, though some also use various other forms of communication such as the written word, art work or touch. Commonly psychotherapy involves a therapist and client(s) - and in family therapy several family members or even other members from their social network - who discuss their issues in an effort to discover underlying problems and to find constructive solutions.
Therapy may address specific forms of diagnosable mental illness, or everyday problems in relationships or meeting personal goals. Treatment of everyday problems is more often referred to as counseling but the term is sometimes used interchangeably with "psychotherapy".
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July 3, 2026
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July 1, 2026 A surprising discovery is overturning a long-held assumption about how the brain’s movement center works. Researchers found that two key cerebellar cell types—thought to be tightly linked—often ...
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June 30, 2026 Creatine is best known as a muscle-building supplement, but scientists are now investigating whether it could also help treat depression by boosting the brain's energy supply. A new review examined five randomized clinical trials involving 238 ...
June 29, 2026 Fish oil supplements successfully delivered omega-3s to the brain, but a two-year study found no meaningful benefits for memory, cognition, or Alzheimer’s-related brain changes. The results ...
June 29, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a surprising clue that may help explain why multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses rapidly in some people but not others. In brain tissue from patients with severe MS, researchers found large numbers of “foamy” immune cells ...
June 28, 2026 Scientists at UCLA have linked long-term exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos with a sharply increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. People exposed to the chemical near their homes were more than ...
June 27, 2026 Teens who use cannabis may face a substantially greater risk of developing serious mental health conditions, including psychotic and bipolar disorders, according to a study of more than 463,000 ...
June 27, 2026 Researchers have identified a vitamin B12–based compound that can cross the blood-brain barrier and home in on glioblastoma tumors. In animal studies, the compound accumulated preferentially in tumor tissue and delivered sustained nitric oxide ...
June 26, 2026 A new study found that fructose and glucose may look the same on a nutrition label, but the brain treats them very differently. In mice, glucose strongly reduced activity in hunger-promoting brain cells, while fructose had a much weaker effect. ...
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July 1, 2026 What if Sigmund Freud was onto something that modern neuroscience is only now beginning to explain? A new paper argues that today's leading theory of the brain—as a prediction machine constantly ...
June 28, 2026 The unconscious brain appears to be far more capable than scientists once believed. Researchers found that patients under general anesthesia could still process language at a sophisticated level, ...
June 25, 2026 How does a single cell build a brain with billions of precisely organized neurons? Researchers suggest that brain cells use their lineage—their cellular family tree—as a kind of positional map. ...
June 25, 2026 Healthy older adults experienced measurable improvements in memory, physical performance, and stress after taking placebo pills for just three weeks. The most surprising finding was that the placebo ...
June 24, 2026 What if consciousness isn’t limited to brains like ours? Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in many different forms of life, even in beings built ...
June 24, 2026 Scientists have discovered a tiny group of neurons in an ancient brain region that acts like a built-in focus filter, helping the brain ignore distractions and zero in on what matters most. When ...
June 23, 2026 A new study suggests that learning and remembering speech relies more on how the brain processes sounds and sensations than on the areas that control mouth and face movements. The discovery could ...
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June 21, 2026 Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine may have uncovered a promising new way to combat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Instead of trying ...