1: Researchers at Harvard and MIT analyzed the moods and behaviors of 28,000 smartphone users.

What did they learn?

“When people felt down,” Rachel Barr writes in How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend, “they tended to seek out activities that promised instant gratification, like watching TV or drinking wine.”

When the participants were in a good mood, however, “they leaned toward more productive activities,” Rachel notes, “that … continue reading

1: Ever eaten every French fry in the bag, even though we knew from the first bite they weren’t very good?

Me, too.

Turns out chasing pleasure isn’t always the key to feeling good.

“That’s not a moralistic perspective; it’s a neurobiological one,” Rachel Barr writes in How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist’s Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life.

“To understand why, let’s go beyond … continue reading

1: Rachel Barr‘s experience at college wasn’t great.

“After a string of unfulfilling jobs left me yearning for more, I ventured into university life a little later than my peers,” she writes in her book How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist’s Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life.

“It was supposed to be a fresh start,” she notes.

It wasn’t.

“Soon into my undergraduate degree, … continue reading