Why Buying an Animatronic Second Head Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

An Expert on the Neuroscience of Impulse Control Explains His Craziest Purchase

Everybody has one head. I’ve got two!

One sits atop my neck, the other stares back at me. A constant reminder of my craziest-ever impulse buy.

Let me explain.

A few years ago, I impulsively purchased a life cast head fitted out with electronics. My animatronic doppelgänger can blink, wink, and move its lips in sync with my recorded voice. It is an altogether strange and rather disturbing companion that each time we exchange glances makes me wonder what ever possessed me to buy it in the first place.

I tell …

By David Lewis | June 21, 2016

What Constant Screen Time Does to Kids’ Brains

Internet Exposure Can Improve Children's Learning—but It's Still No Substitute for Real-World Experience

April 21, 2016

An 8-year-old American child has never known a world without an iPhone. For today’s kids, smartwatches, video chats, and virtual reality aren’t harbingers of the high-tech future that adults have …

Fielding a Daily Fantasy Sports Team Is No Different Than Playing Online Poker

Websites Like DraftKings and FanDuel Bear All the Hallmarks of Gambling—Including Addiction

By Timothy Fong | April 4, 2016

Tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball championship will also crown the champion in millions of fantasy pools. As the nation gets ready for the excitement or frustration that this game will bring, …

Technology Doesn’t Ruin Health, People Do

If We Want to Think Clearly and Stay Fit, We Are the Ones Who Have to Unplug, Say UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Other Researchers

By Jia-Rui Cook | March 29, 2016

As we hurtle with delight into a future where a wristwatch can tell us how many steps we’ve taken each day and a few taps on a screen can bring …

Smartphones Make Us Sick, No Matter How Many Health Apps We Download

While Our Favorite Handheld Companions Count Our Steps, They’re Also Triggering Obesity, Addiction, and Car Accidents

March 25, 2016

Last November, a national survey by New York University’s Langone Medical Center found that 58 percent of adult respondents have downloaded health apps on their smartphones—and that almost half these …

The Shaman Who Transformed My Schizophrenic Son

After a Decade Cycling Through Hospitals and Drugs, a Trip to Africa and a Foray into Tribal Medicine Gave Our Family Hope

by Dick Russell | March 18, 2015

At the age of 17, after a wonderful summer of fishing and learning to surf, my son, then in his junior year at a Boston high school, told me one …

psychology