Our esteemed faculty often share their expertise with the broader public through news stories! Here’s a roundup of the most recent articles featuring our faculty members:

Dr. Nicole Dudukovic wrote an article for Psychology Today about plagiarized memories. She explained how people can unintentionally form rich memories of events that they never experienced. Sometimes people even confuse things they see or read about with their own actual experiences.

In an article by Huffpost, Dudukovic explains how memories contribute to our sense of identity and gives some tips on making new core memories by using retrieval cues and processing the memory deeply.

In an article by Slate, Dr. Kate Mills expressed skepticism for the popular idea that the brain doesn’t reach full maturity until age 25, explaining that neuroscience doesn’t have a perfect grasp of what a fully mature brain looks like.

Dr. Alayna Park contributed to an article about “energy leaks”, described as the invisible ways in which we lose energy throughout the day. Park described how to combat that energy loss by identifying the causes, setting timers on draining tasks, and rewarding yourself after completion.

Dr. Jennifer Pfeifer cautions against moral panic against social media in a New York Times article about how social media changes teenagers’ brains. She explained that it’s not remarkable that social media impacts the brain since “all experience accumulates and is reflected in the brain.”

Dr. Dare Baldwin contributed to an article by Eos about what social media posts after the Tongan eruption reveal about human responses to natural disasters. Dare described how critical this insight is: “It’s important to understand the diversity of reactions so we can tailor education and early warnings to different people.”

Huffpost sought out Dr. Chanel Meyers’ perspective on the effect of discrimination on mental and physical health. She describes some of the consequences of discrimination – depression, anxiety, trauma – and how to reduce the harm.