Survivor Mystery

The Afterlife Of A Brain Trauma Survivor

Mike Mariani | Wired | 16th August 2022 | U

After a traumatic brain injury, "a quiet, easygoing young woman fell into a weeklong slumber and woke up talkative, tempestuous, and inscrutable". Her executive function and inhibition control were utterly changed. After years of trying to regain her former self, she came to reject the notion of innate identity and embrace the idea of a self formed by external circumstance (4,315 words)

The Evolutionary Mystery Of Menopause

David P. Barash | Nautilus | 9th August 2022 | U

The "how" of the menopause has long been understood, but why it is that the endocrine system ends the fertility of women with several decades of good life remaining has long been elusive. Evidence is now gathering for "the grandmother hypothesis", which posits that there is an evolutionary advantage to having non breeding, experienced females available to nurture young (2,461 words)