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Five rising University of Maryland juniors are recipients of 2021 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings Scholarships, which recognize exceptional students in a broad range of STEM fields.

Since 2009, 47 UMD students have been awarded Hollings Scholarships, which provide about 120 students nationwide up to $9,500 in academic assistance for two years of study, plus a 10-week, full-time paid internship at a NOAA facility during the summer.

Reese Barrett, a chemical and biomolecular engineering major, is conducting research in Professor Akua Asa-Awuku's lab on the potential for weather conditions to affect incidence of Legionnaires disease, a type of pneumonia caused byLegionellabacteria.

Barrett is examining the effects of precipitation, humidity, temperature and latitude on average case counts and trying to discern patterns in the data.

"Im hoping to finish my data analysis and compile my work into a paper in the next few months, she said. For my junior year, I'm looking to combine my chemical engineering major with my minor in some form, but my research topic is still under development."

The sustainability studies minor has also interned for several summers, beginning as a high school student, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Environmental science and policy major Julia Kischkat is focused on combining her love for the environment with her interest in politics and policy. Shes interned this year with the U.S. Department of Energy, and hopes the Hollings Scholarship will provide a further opportunity to roll up her sleeves and immerse herself in research that could help shape a career path.

I want to gain as many hands-on experiences as possible to figure out what I want to do, Kischkat said. I just have an appreciation for our world and nature and everything it gives us. I have realized that a lot lately, especially during quarantine.

Kischkat first became interested in environmental science while completing a research project at her high school in Westchester, New York on how human behavior impacts fish populations in the Amazon. A service trip to the Peruvian Amazon reinforced her passion for protecting the planet.

I came back with a different mindset and wanting a career or path that embodies that, she said.

The interdisciplinary nature of planetary science drew Siobhan Light, an astronomy and geology dual-degree student, to the field.

Planetary science brings in astronomy, physics, geology, atmospheric science and so many different fields together, Light said. And I realized I dont have to trade one of my interests for another; I can find an intermediate path between space and Earth.

She interned with the National Museum of Natural History and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in high school and at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center during college. Each experience, including her on-campus research with the UMD Department of Geology, further solidified her passion for planetary science.

Lights research with NASA involves analyzing data from Titan, the largest moon of Saturn and second-largest natural satellite in the solar system. She measures Titans winds and compares measurements to form a more complete timeline of wind developments on the moon.

Biological sciences and government and politics dual-degree student Yulia Lim became interested in meteorology her freshman year through the weather and climate track in Carillon Communities, a one-year living-learning program where she took a class with Tim Canty, associate professor of oceanic and atmospheric science.

In 2020, Lim joined him and Ralph Kahn, senior research scientist at NASA Goddard, on their ongoing Active Aerosol Plume-Height (AAP) project. Lims work focuses on the 2020 wildfires in Siberia and California. Using a program developed by the AAP team at NASA, she downloads satellite imagery and reviews it for signs of wildfires. Once she identifies a wildfire by the smoke plume, she examines and analyzes the plume. Lim also branched out on her own to use satellite imagery to examine how certain types of clouds affect the warming of the planet.

A successful career for me is that whatever I choose, I can make an impact in helping our climate, Lim explained. Whether it be helping conserve the oceans or protecting marine eco-life, I have always been very interested in marine conservation.

Eric Robinson, a computer science and geographical sciences dual-degree student, plans to apply his coding skills in Earth studies to preserve wildlife and the natural environment.

Word of his Hollings Scholarship came just a couple of weeks after he learned that he was also selected for the 2021 William M. Lapenta NOAA Student Internship Programsetting him up to intern with NOAA for back-to-back summers in 2021 and 2022.

This summer, Robinson is creating a visualization package for the marine component of a new climate model, the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration. The marine component of the model is less developed than the atmospheric side, so Robinson is writing original code to simulate and predict the temperature, currents and salinity of the ocean.

The goal is that once the model is able to pop out a daily weather forecast based on the packages Ive written, in three minutes, they can create a bunch of different visualizations, Robinson said. Those visualizations help NOAA inform the public so they can see things more clearly instead of just a bunch of numbers in the forecast.

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Maryland Today | Five Terps Awarded 2021 NOAA Hollings Scholarships - Maryland Today

Human Behavior

A Texas-Sized Reading List 2021 – UT News – UT News – UT News – UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

July 18, 2021 medical

Reading Round-Up Returns to Campus This Fall

The Reading Round-Up is a popular summer book club that introduces new Longhorns to the college environment at The University of Texas at Austin. Over the summer, incoming freshmen choose from a large selection of books curated by faculty members. Then students and professors meet in small groups on campus the day before fall classes start. This beloved back-to-school tradition helps kick off the new academic year, connects students with one another and offers a more personal introduction to the outstanding faculty across departments.

Last year, the 2020 Round-Up gathered over video chat. This fall the reading groups will have a chance to meet up in person. This gathering will be a milestone moment in a return to normal for UT Austin. So far, 764 students have registered, and incoming students can still sign up. Its not too late. There are still lots of great books with seats open.

I love the Reading Round-Up and the chance to talk with new students about a book we all read over the summer, but Im especially excited to reopen campus and welcome our newest Longhorns to meet with me in person, says Brent Iverson, dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies, which hosts the event. Its always a worthwhile experience and a great way to kick off the fall semester, but because we are emerging from our COVID hibernations, this feels much bigger than normal, really special.

The event isnt open to the public, but the reading list of over 60 books is a great resource for anyone looking for the next worthwhile read. Whether you are interested in fiction, biographies or nonfiction, this list has something for everyone.

A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young

Join the legions of poets, scientists, politicians, and others who have learned to think at the invitation of James Webb Young's A Technique for Producing Ideas. This brief but powerful book guides you through the process of innovation and learning in a way that makes creativity accessible to anyone willing to work for it. While the author's background is in advertising, his ideas apply in every facet of life and are increasingly relevant in the world's knowledge-based economy. Young's tiny text represents an ideal start to university education with its tactics for viewing life through a new lens and its encouragement to look inside for a more creative version of ourselves.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Want to learn how to make positive changes in your life? Start your time at UT having learned simple ways to build positive habits and break up with those that arent helpful. Check out this book for simple yet powerful advice with practical tips you can implement right away.

Grit: The Power of Perseverance and Passion by Angela Duckworth

University of Texas first year students come from many backgrounds, but what we all have in common is a desire to succeed. This book reminds us that a fair bit of our success is in our willingness to give things our all.

In my years teaching college students, Ive learned just how important this concept is both inside the classroom and in life. The stories shared in this book will resonate with you, and they are an ideal way for you to think about your own success from the first day you become a Longhorn for life! If you would like, take the Grit Scale as you read this book.

Make it Stick, The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown

This is a well-written little book on learning. It reportsreal researchnot guesses, conjectures, and opinionsas most books of this sort have done in the past. The book is available as a paperback, audiobook, or ebook.

Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas by Jon Steel

Steel shares his experience and wisdom in crafting winning ad agency presentations. Steel, an irreverent Brit who has worked in the U.S. for many years, draws insights from a diverse range of persuasive experts including Johnnie Cochran vs. prosecutor Marsha Clark in the O.J. Simpson trial, Bill Clinton, and a London hooker. The applications of Steels insights extend to any situation where an audience or individual is the focus of a persuasive pitch. This is a lively, fun, and most revealing read.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

A timely and compelling message for students who are entering their college experiencewith a narrow definition of who they are, and who they want to be.Rangeis a fascinating case for the importance of coloring outside the lines, whetheryou're focusing on athlete development (like I do) or pursuing excellence in virtually any other field.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

This book tells the tales of patients afflicted with different neurological disorders. The stories are deeply human and highlight in bizarre and at times very comical ways the importance of the brain for our ability to interpret the world around us.

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

Is Google making us stupid? When Nicholas Carr posed that question in a celebrated Atlantic essay, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the internets bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

With The Shallows, a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction, Carr expands his argument into a compelling exploration of the nets intellectual and cultural consequences.

How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom by Matt Ridley

This book argues that we need to change the way we think about innovation. What if we saw innovation as an incremental, bottom-up process that happens to society as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan? This book tells the lively stories of scores of innovations, how they started and why they succeeded or, in some cases, failed.

Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber

Our Iceberg is Meltinguses a fable-like story about penguins to explain the complexities of creating organizational change in the face of uncertainty. Written in a style everyone can understand, the book acts as a crash course in change management based on the author's award-winning research. In our dynamic and turbulent world this interesting book, with its many levels, is a must read.

Rising Strong: The Reckoning, The Rumble, The Revolution by Bren Brown

Struggle, Brown writes, can be our greatest call to courage, and rising strong our clearest path to deeper meaning, wisdom, and hope. The physics of vulnerability is simple: If we are brave enough often enough, we will fall. The booktells us what it takes to get back up, and how owning our stories of disappointment, failure, and heartbreak gives us the power to write a daring new ending.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

A "black swan" is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.

This book changed how I view and approach the world. Fundamentally, humans think about the world and future events linearly. This is an adaption to survival on the savannah of Africa not at all suited for the complex universe and human affairs. The author is provocative and polarizing - this book will echo in your head for a long time to come.

The Gifts of Imperfection by Bren Brown

Nobodys perfect. So why are we so hard on ourselves when we dont achieve perfection? As a new student at a large, competitive university, the lessons found inside this insightful guide, which Forbes named one of five books that will actually change your outlook on life, may be exactly what you need. University researcher in human behavior and best-selling author Bren Brown shows us how to cultivate the courage and compassion to embrace your imperfections, overcome self-consciousness and fear, and live authentically.

The Strange Order of Things by Antonio Damasio

Antonio Damasio, a professor of neuroscience, psychology and philosophy, sets out to investigate why and how we emote, feel, use feelings to construct our selves and how brains interact with the body to support such functions." This book gives us a new way of comprehending the world and our place in it.

What the Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain

Want to know the secrets of college success, of achievingrealcollege success in these next four years? You can find the answer in this book, which is based on years of research. The best college teachers engage and challenge students and provoke impassioned responses. As a co-creator of your education, college success involves you seeking challenges and inspiration and digging into your passions. This book shows you how together, the best college teachers and the best college students lead to gaining the highest expertise and readiness to tackle your career, but also your life.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff

This best-selling memoir depicts a family's experience with addiction and covers a substantial portion of the author's son Nic's life and the struggles to live with, help, and understand the person with a substance use disorder. This book was #1 on New York Times best seller list,Entertainment Weeklynamed it the #1 Best Nonfiction Book the year it was published, Amazon named it "Best Book" in 2008, and it won the Barnes and Noble "Discover Great New Writers Award" for nonfiction as well.

Beautiful Boy is used as a text in the Young People and Drugs UGS Signature Course. It elegantly weaves the narrative and experience withthe best of the evidence-based science about addiction and recovery.The authors have visited our class in the past, so we can share insights beyond the written word. This book is an excellent vehicle to understanding addiction, recovery, and more about yourself in the midst.

Educated by Tara Westover

In this compelling memoir, author Tara Westover reflects thoughtfully on her experiences as a child in asurvivalist Mormon family. With no formal education until age 17, Tara defeats all odds by gaining admission to Brigham Young University and eventually earning her doctorate from Cambridge University. This book is compelling and thought-provoking, leaving readers to ponder the question: What does it really mean to be educated?

Factfulness by Hans Rosling

Factfulness presents data about the health, economic condition, and safety of the world today and how all those and other features have improved significantly. Most people are misinformed about the world situation, and most people believe that the world is in much worse shape than actual data about the world reveals. If you do not have time to finish the whole book, no worries, just watch some of Rosling's TED talks.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

If you've ever had a teacher that touched your life in a very positive way, this book is for you. Short, very readable, and yet, quite profound in its reflection, Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie describes rediscovery of that mentor and a rekindled relationship that goes beyond the classroom and brings us to lessons on how to live.

Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann

Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives. This is the memoir of Judith Heumann, an iconin the disability rights community, known for her leadership in the San Francisco 504 sit-ins. These sit-ins led to the signing and implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Judiths memoir is both a history lesson on disability rights activism in the United States and an intimate storytelling of her life from childhood to present. It is her story, but also the story of the history, movement, and future of disability justice.

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Edited by Alice Wong

In time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together a collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers.

From original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma, to blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, testimonies to Congress, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse of the vast richness and complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own assumptions and understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and past with hope and love.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didnt commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanshipand transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Just Mercy is an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyers coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller

Know My Nameis aNew York Timesbestseller and the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. In it, Miller challenges her depiction in the media as the anonymous "Emily Doe," who survived a Stanford undergraduate student's sexual assault in 2015. In her memoir, Miller reclaims the public narrative about her and asserts her full humanity while critiquing the criminal justice system and the treatment of sexual assault victims in the United States.

The Little Bach Book by David Gordon

The Little Bach Book is not a comprehensive biography of J. S. Bach but a collection of curious facts and observations about his life and the times in which he lived. It is light and fun reading for those who love the music of J. S. Bach but dont know much about him.

The Wizard and the Prophet by Charles C. Mann

This book looks into the future: How should we approach keeping earth livable for humans and the other organisms we share the planet with?Wizards rely on technology to help us, and prophets urge us to reduce the resources that we use.Few believe only one solution is the answer, but while complex answers are often correct, they do not always make for compelling arguments.We find people often arguing from one of these perspectives, maybe not recognizing the history behind them or the implications that they entail.So let's delve into these two seemingly opposed approaches to our future, understand their background, see how they have impacted us thus far, and try to discern what we should do moving forward.

Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

In September 1960, John Steinbeck embarked on a journey across America. He felt that he might have lost touch with the country, with its speech, the smell of its grass and trees, its color and quality of light, the pulse of its people. To reassure himself, he set out on a voyage of rediscovery of the American identity, accompanied by a distinguished French poodle named Charley; and riding in a three-quarter-ton pickup truck named Rocinante. His course took him through almost forty states.

This bookis an intimate look at one of America's most beloved writers in the later years of his lifea self-portrait of a man who never wrote an explicit autobiography. Written during a time of upheaval and racial tension in the Southwhich Steinbeck witnessed firsthanditis a stunning evocation of America on the eve of a tumultuous decade.

Eligible for Execution: The Story of the Daryl Atkins Case by Thomas G. Walker

On August 16, 1996, 18-year-old Daryl Atkins was involved, along with a co-defendant, in the murder of Eric Nesbitt, a young naval mechanic stationed in Virginia. Found guilty and then sentenced to death in 1998, Atkinss case was taken up in 2002 by the Supreme Court of the United States. The issue before the justices: given Daryl Atkinss reported intellectual disability, would his execution constitute cruel and unusual punishment? Their 63 vote said yes.

Despite the SCOTUS ruling, Daryl Atkinss situation was far from being resolved. The determination that Atkins actually had an intellectual disability, under Virginia law, occurred a few years latera process in which I (Jim Patton) was involved. Eligible for Execution gives readers a front row seat into the twists of the judicial process while addressing how disability, race, and other issues play into societys evolving view of the death penalty. Personal reflections, as an insider to a part of Atkins judicial process, will be shared.

Enlightenment Now:The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress by Steven Pinker

This book makes the argument that on every possible front, from health to education to equality, and even the environment, things have never been better, a lot better.A lot of historical data is offered up in supportfor example, world-wide life expectancyis 71, a number probably far higher than you might think, given the pessimistic nature of the media and humankinds need to focus on the negative.Pinker argues that instead of being so negative, we should spend our time celebrating reason, the science it has produced, and the progress that has been realized because of it.

Of course Pinker wrote this book unaware of the current pandemic, but I would imagine he would argue this moment in time is just a blip on a time-scale in which the world will continue to thrive and improve, with science once again carrying the day.Do you agree?

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, the Osage began to die...under mysterious circumstances.

In this last remnant of the Wild Westwhere oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the Phantom Terror, roamedmany of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organizations first major homicide investigations.

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals.

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad

One of the most frequently asked questions after a talk or training focused on racism is, "What can I do about it?" Robin DiAngelo often pushes back with another question, "How is it that you've managed to not know?"

In an information overloaded world, the question of what to do to undo racism still looms large because it's not just about external information, but about knowledge of self.

Layla F. Saad's work began as an Instagram challenge, and after thousands of challenge participants and downloads of her Me and White Supremacy Workbook, her most recent book carries that work forward by teaching readers to understand their privilege and participation in white supremacy using a step-by-step self-reflection process. This reflection is a necessary prerequisite to figuring out "what to do" about racism. After all, "You cannot dismantle what you cannot see. You cannot challenge what you do not understand." -Layla F. Saad

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston

The bestselling landmark account of the first emergence of the Ebola virus. A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus.

Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

During the height of the Great Depression, nine working-class college students on the University of Washington varsity crew team set off to do the impossible: defeat the German rowing team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It's one of those stories that I intentionally slowed my reading pace to savor every minute of it! (And, if you aren't knowledgeable about rowing, that's OK. But, I was surprised to find a new interest in the sport after reading this.) It is a compelling account of how these all-American underdogs beat the odds and found hope in the most desperate of times.

Christmas: A Candid History by Bruce David Forbes

Whether you love Christmas, hate Christmas, or have very mixed feelings about it, Christmas is an extremely strange holiday with a fascinating history. From reading this book and discussing it with Religious Studies professor Brent Landau, you'll learn: how Santa can squeeze down a chimney; why the Puritans banned Christmas; whether Jesus was really born in Bethlehem; and much more!

Icebound by Andrea Pitzer

Icebound is a narrative non-fiction account of Dutch explorer William Barents third expedition in the sixteenth century off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla.This is a great piece of reportage and writing for students interested in history, literary non-fiction, journalistic narrative, expedition tales and good, old-fashioned survival stories.

Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

A penetrating, acutely insightful, memoir and historical analysis of the importance of Juneteenth from the eminent Harvard University Professor and Pulitzer Prize Winner and Texas native Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed. This is a must read for those interested in Texas History and how that history intersects and, at times collides, with Black, LatinX, and Native American and indigenous histories. A must read for our students at UT especially.

Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP by Sarah Schulman

ACT UP, New York, a broad and unlikely coalition of activists from all races, genders, sexualities, and backgrounds, changed the world. Armed with rancor, desperation, intelligence, and creativity, it took on the AIDS crisis with an indefatigable, ingenious, and multifaceted attack on the corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals who stood in the way of AIDS treatment for all. Twenty years in the making, this book is a comprehensive political history of ACT UP and American AIDS activism. Discussion will focus on excerpts from this extensive book.

Letters to My White Male Friends by Dax-Devlon Ross

Note: The book is available for pre-order until its release date of June 15. The author will join us during our discussion session.

This book speaks directly to the millions of middle-aged white men who are suddenly awakening to race and racism. White men are finally realizing that simply not being racist isn't enough to end racism. These men want deeper insight not only into how racism has harmed Black people, but, for the first time, into how it has harmed them. They are beginning to see that racism warps us all. This book promises to help men who have said they are committed to change and to develop the capacity to see, feel and sustain that commitment so they can help secure racial justice for us all.

Ross helps readers understand what it meant to be America's first generation raised after the civil rights era. He explains how we were all educated with colorblind narratives and symbols that typically, albeit implicitly, privileged whiteness and denigrated Blackness. He provides the context and color of his own experiences in white schools so that white men can revisit moments in their lives where racism was in the room even when they didn't see it enter. Ross shows how learning to see the harm that racism did to him, and forgiving himself, gave him the empathy to see the harm it does to white people as well. Ultimately, Ross offers white men direction so that they can take just action in their workplace, community, family, and, most importantly, in themselves, especially in the future when race is no longer in the spotlight.

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder

As the worst days of the pandemic seem to be behind us, eviction moratoria will be lifted and hundreds of thousands of Americans will be houseless. In the meantime, many working Americans find themselves priced out of the housing market and unable to replicate the life of their childhood. In Austin, we have seen this issue play out in the debate about public camping and the current policy to ban it. The combination of low wages and high housing costs has created a class of Americans we might call nomads.

Transient older Americans have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads. Finding that social security comes up short and often underwater on mortgages, these nomads make up a new, low-cost labor pool for employers.

In a secondhand vehicle she christens Van Halen, Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. Accompanying her subjects from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economyone that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

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A Texas-Sized Reading List 2021 - UT News - UT News - UT News - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

Human Behavior

Will Utahs Paris Hilton-backed therapy reform bill make a difference? – Deseret News

July 18, 2021 medical

On an afternoon episode of his namesake show in late 2019, Dr. Phil recommended that two parents send their child to Turn-About Ranch. The program, located in Escalante, Utah, touts the ability to help troubled teens find their way.

Less than two years later, on Feb. 24, 2021, Hannah Archuleta, the teen who was sent to Utah from her home in Colorado at the behest of Dr. Phil, again appeared onscreen, this time alongside womens rights attorney Gloria Allred. She was there to announce a lawsuit against Turn-About. Archuleta alleged that a male staffer twice touched her inappropriately during her two-month stay at the ranch in 2019, and she wanted accountability.

The press conference coincided with the Utah Legislatures debate over SB127, a regulatory bill aimed at curbing abuse at the 100 or so troubled teen programs scattered across Utah.

Among other things, the legislation bans sedation without prior authorization and requires facilities to implement suicide prevention programs and report the use of a restraint or seclusion within one business day after the day on which the use of the restraint or seclusion occurs to the Utah Department of Human Services Office of Licensing. It also increases the number of yearly inspections both announced and unannounced from one to four, while increasing funding to the Office of Licensing to hire additional staff.

In short, its goal is to make abuses harder to perpetrate and hide in an industry thats been heavily criticized for its lagging government oversight. Its also an entrenched industry, worth more than $300 million in Utah alone, according to a 2016 research brief from the University of Utahs Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

The legislations most prominent supporter was heiress-turned-activist Paris Hilton, who in the mid- to late-1990s attended Provo Canyon School, a Utah troubled teen program.

Hilton says she was abused during her 11-month stay at the school. Bolstered by her own and similar testimony, the bill passed with near unanimity in the Utah House and Senate and was signed into law in March.

It was Utahs first attempt at enhanced regulation of the industry in 15 years, and increasingly influential activist groups applauded the effort. But as the state moves to implement the new regulations, is the industry in Utah and beyond capable of change? Or are abuses bound to recur?

The industrys roots in Utah go back to 1968, when a Brigham Young University professor named Larry Dean Olsen led a group of failing college students on a 30-day wilderness expedition that started near Green River and wound up heading south through Robbers Roost, then west into Capitol Reef and over Boulder Mountain. Hed convinced the school that a month in the wilderness could help the students get back on track.

He was so impressed by how the experience taught them to better approach challenges that he started a survival course at BYU. That course eventually became Boulder Outdoor Survival School, and Olsen eventually founded the Anasazi Foundation one of the most well-regarded teen wilderness therapy programs.

The natural beauty of the landscape (the thinking goes), combined with the bare-bones way of life results in a change in ones whole way of walking in the world, to borrow from early Anasazi Foundation literature. Since then, the industry has ballooned in Utah, with over 100 residential youth treatment programs taking root. Among them are established names like Second Nature wilderness therapy which also operates in Georgia as well as the Provo Canyon School. Thousands from across the country have attended.

Wilderness teen therapy programs and other residential youth treatment options exist in varying capacities, often with varying methods aimed at the same result: changing teens into who their parents want them to be.

Its only natural that Utah might hold the answer to such questions. The state has played a central part in the industrys development, given its wide-open spaces and laissez faire business regulations. In wilderness therapy programs across the state, teens hike, set up camp and hike some more. The idea of natural consequences is central: If you dont properly secure your tarp, for example, a storm might blow through and leave you soaked in the dark.

Wilderness participants are often sent against their will, taken from their homes with parental permission by transporters. They also have no idea how long theyll be staying, and often have limited, highly monitored contact with the outside world. This can lead to an atmosphere of exploitation, as exemplified by entrepreneur Steve Cartisano.

In 1988, the BYU dropout started a program called Challenger that blended the low-cost structure of wilderness therapy with military-style discipline and turned what had been relatively low-profit ventures into a bona fide industry. The idea, he liked to say, was to break kids down and build them back up.

His program flourished until 1990, when a Florida teenager named Kristin Chase died at Challenger. Cartisano was charged with negligent homicide and child abuse, but he was acquitted on all charges. Still, state regulators determined that the charges against him were so serious that he shouldnt be allowed to work with youth in Utah. His solution? He began operating programs under fake names in the Caribbean and Samoa.

He was never convicted of a crime and died in 2019. The Deseret News contacted Cartisanos former attorney, who stated, As for criminal cases, Im unaware of any convictions he had but I have no knowledge regarding what, if any, lawsuits he was involved with outside of the State of Utah.

Chase isnt the only teen to die, nor is Cartisano the only director accused of negligence. Stories of deaths by negligence in these programs are numerous, though the industry insists that they still amount to only a very small percentage of attendees.

They have a good reason to be really upset, says Scott Bandoroff, a psychologist with a private practice in Oregon who also does wilderness family intensives and is a longtime proponent of wilderness therapy, of parents whove lost kids in youth programs. But I think trying to shut down an industry is not the answer. The industry as a whole, I think, is pretty well policed these days internally.

Indeed, the wilderness therapy industry has tried to distance itself from images of hardcore discipline. But the troubled teen industry generally suffers from an abundance of cross-pollination.

Cartisanos programs, for example, combined boot camp with wilderness therapy, while others combine boarding school with boot camp, or residential treatment with ranching tasks. According to a Government Accountability Office report from 2007, boot camps are also sometimes called behavioral modification facilities. The industry became a catchall of program methodology and a murky pool of whats legitimately effective and whats harmful.

Its enormously difficult for families to get good information, says Joanna Bettmann Schaefer, a professor of social work and instructor of psychiatry at the University of Utah who has studied wilderness therapy programs. The majority of these programs are for-profit businesses, so theyre marketing themselves. Because they want students to come.

Turn-About has faced several lawsuits and allegations over its 30-year history. The most notorious involved a 2016 incident when a 17-year-old bludgeoned a staffer to death with a metal rod. The Deseret News reached out to Turn-About Ranch for comment, but representatives from the program did not want to speak on the record.

Another high-visibility incident occurred at a Cedar City program in June 2018, when a 17-year-old girl punched a staffer in an escape attempt and, as punishment, had her hands zip-tied and was forced to lie down in a horse trough a practice the program reportedly used regularly as a form of therapeutic discipline.

There seems to be a major problem in Utah at some residential facilities, attorney Gloria Allred said during the press conference. This bill will address some of the abuses suffered by children at these troubled teen facilities.

Some claim SB127 goes too far. I think that its motivated by good intentions, Ken Huey, executive director of Havenwood Academy in Cedar City, where the trough incident took place, said during an appearance on a local radio talk show, the Rod Arquette Show. But ... it really takes away the ability to take care of some of the tougher kids.

Legislators dont see it that way. When you have made-up therapy, and Ill call it that, for kids that really need help, its just ripe for abuse, said Sen. Mike McKell, the bills Republican sponsor. This significant industry has grown outside of a regulatory framework, and SB127 provides that framework.

House Minority Leader Brian King was more open to the potential benefits of teen residential programs, but he also recognized the need for the bill. Youve got state laws and regulations that protect individuals from inevitable human behavior, he said. I think every state ought to be looking hard at this.

But while states are moving legislation across desks and into effect, the federal government has yet to take action, despite attempts to create federal oversight of the industry. Former California Rep. George Miller introduced federal legislation in 2008 aimed at regulating the programs nationally. The proposed legislation was in response to a 2007 Government Accountability Office report that found thousands of allegations of abuse, some of which involved death, at residential treatment programs across the country and in American-owned and American-operated facilities abroad between the years 1990 and 2007.

The bill twice passed the House but was never taken up in the Senate. Its been reintroduced several times, most recently by California Rep. Adam Schiff in 2017, without much interest. But soon, the climate could be ripe for it or something like it to finally become law. When asked why it hasnt happened yet, McKell didnt mince words.

It will, he says. But so far, it hasnt.

Cynthia Clark Harvey knows almost too much about those failed efforts. When Congressman Miller began to push the issue, he invited her to testify before Congress. It was an easy decision, she says. She wanted the world to know about her first-born daughter, Erica.

In 2000, around Ericas 14th birthday, she started spiraling, experimenting with drugs and suffering from depression. The family tried everything antidepressants, psychiatrists, drug tests and nothing worked. The Harveys began searching for some sort of drug treatment program that would also be (at least somewhat) fun. But most places including the Anasazi Foundation refused to enroll a teen on prescription medication.

She was eventually accepted at Catherine Freer Wilderness Therapy Expeditions in Nevada. In 2002 they flew from Phoenix to Reno and dropped Erica off for a 21-day stay at a cost of over $11,000. The next day, they flew home and found a message awaiting them: Thered been an accident. Erica was dead. The autopsy reported that the cause of death was heatstroke and dehydration.

The Harveys eventually sued the program. We wanted to hurt them, Ill be honest about that, Harvey says. But the other part of it was always to find out what happened.

That desire to know more drove her activism and Congressional testimony. She wanted to help create a federal database that could track how many kids attend these programs, how many are injured and how many die. That, she figured, just seemed like common sense. But when the bill was never taken up by the Senate, she learned a lot about Americas legislative process. Theres this saying, she says. The Senate is where bills go to die.

The wilderness therapy industry has tried for several decades to fill research gaps to bolster its case of effectiveness and reduce the need for legislative intervention, but does science support wilderness therapy?

Critics say no or at minimum, we dont know. There needs to be more research, for example, to parse out which aspects of wilderness therapy, if any, are most effective. There should be randomized control trials, Bettman Schaefer says. There should be studies that really unpack what are the active ingredients of this kind of treatment. As in, what parts of the programs are most helpful? Nature? Time away from home? Chores? Isolation? Is the wilderness part really necessary?

In a 2017 meta-analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, researchers examined 50 treatments for adolescent disruptive behavior, which they defined as a wide range of significant adolescent problems (e.g., aggression, property destruction, running away from home, truancy, stealing) resulting in referrals to mental health specialists/clinics or juvenile justice authorities.

Their study found that two types of treatment Multisystemic Therapy and Treatment Foster Care Oregon were well-established, meaning they met the highest standards of proven efficacy or effectiveness. Four more treatments were labeled as probably efficacious, while everything else fell under possibly efficacious, experimental or questionable. In short, understanding treatments for troubled youth behavior is an ongoing process. As for mental illness, the best treatments vary depending on the illness such as treating bipolar disorder with medication, for example, versus treating substance abuse with cognitive-behavioral therapy or family therapy.

Many troubled teen programs claim they can treat both types of problems, as well as many of their subcategories. Turn-About, for example, boasts experience in treating everything from bipolar disorder, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to anger, bad grades and promiscuity. But these issues cannot be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach. It takes specialized professionals to assess the best treatment options. But history shows that since these businesses are in need of clients, theyll treat them regardless.

Some do make an effort to approach each students needs individually. The biggest change over the past 20 years in wilderness therapy has been an increased expertise in treating a wider range of issues that go beyond anger issues or substance abuse, Steve DeBois, the clinical director of Second Nature, a wilderness program based in Duchesne, Utah, says.

These include specialty groups to address anxiety, depression, learning differences, autism spectrum disorders, technology addiction and trauma. And they include a variety of therapeutic approaches, he says.

DeBois boasts the credentials to understand best practices; he has a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Tulsa. Many programs elevate someone of similar standing to head clinical operations, while sending licensed therapists to meet with kids at varying intervals. But most staffers are not trained mental health professionals theyre locals, or theyre recent college graduates who like working in the outdoors and want to help kids.

Your job is just to keep them safe, and to encourage and promote a good environment emotionally, physically, for them to safely go through all the things that theyre going through, says Laura Brigham, a former guide at the Anasazi Foundation who studied mechanical engineering.

But even if a program embraces the most up-to-date best clinical practices and hires the most qualified staff in the business, the markets saturation and fierce enrollment competition means that parents likely wouldnt be able to differentiate between a clinically focused program and one that embraces manual labor as punishment.

Meanwhile, Archuletas lawsuit against Turn-About Ranch continues, with Turn-About working to get the case dismissed. Whether the lawsuit goes forward or not, Archuleta is one among many continuing to blow the whistle on the troubled teen industry. For the moment, lawmakers appear ready to listen to the growing chorus of voices calling for change. But will enacting new laws be enough?

Phil Elberg one of the few lawyers to successfully sue troubled teen programs believes incremental changes like SB127 are a step in the right direction. However, What scares me about whats happening, he says, is that as we regulate it, we are institutionalizing something without challenging the basic premises on which the whole thing is based.

Additional reporting by Fendi Wang

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Will Utahs Paris Hilton-backed therapy reform bill make a difference? - Deseret News

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Amelia Rejected Link’s Marriage Proposal to Protect Him, Fan Theory Suggests – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

July 4, 2021 medical

Greys Anatomy, as one of the longest-running and most successful medical dramas of all time, is a show that has tackled many tough issues over the years.

From divorce and abortion to amnesia and child loss, fans have seen many troubling storylines over the years. However, the recent plotline involving Amelia and her addiction might be one of the toughest and most heart-wrenching yet. Amelia Shepherd is a character who has appeared in several shows in the Greys Anatomy universe, including Private Practice, and her struggles have been well-documented. It is her longstanding battle with addiction, in fact, that has given birth to an interesting fan theory, which could explain why Amelia rejected Links recent marriage proposal.

Amelia Shepherd is a character who first appeared in the series Private Practice, and although her sunny personality endeared her to fans, she has not had an easy journey. Over the course of her time on Private Practice, Amelia struggled with multiple addictions. First, she dealt with a crippling alcoholism problem, eventually switching over to pills, and finally, becoming hooked on heroin.

By the time Amelia Shepherd made the move to Greys Anatomy, becoming a part of the regular cast, she had left most of her problems with addiction behind her. Still, the pain that her drug use caused her has never quite left her, and she has been able to turn to her experience with addiction in order to help and guide other characters in Greys Anatomy over the course of the past season.

While Amelia hasnt reverted to hard drug use, recent episodes have shown that she has been struggling with the temptation to relapse especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans on Reddit have been speculating that Amelias urges could be why she made the shocking decision to reject Links recent marriage proposal.

i think at any other point in time, amelia wouldve been ready to marry link. but due to the pandemic, shes experiencing the urge to relapse and she isnt coping well. therefore, she doesnt want to drag Link (and another child) into the mess, one poster noted, going on to detail how she even said to link im wired for self destruction, meaning that she knows shes a ticking time bomb and is seriously close to relapsing. she isnt being selfish by not wanting to marry link, shes trying to protect him and scout. this makes me even more worried for her. Another fan wrote that Amelia has been very self aware of her addiction and her urges to fall back on that. I think so too that her saying no and not wanting any more kids is just her way of protecting her family because she knows she cant make Link really understand what shes going through.

While Amelias ongoing addiction issues could be one reason why she rejected Link, some fans also think that it could be a way of setting up a romance between Link and Jo. In the same Reddit thread, one fan wrote I think the writers just decided they want him to be with Jo now that shes single. Still, not everyone is on board with that theory one fan even noted that it just doesnt make sense why theyd make amelia & link have scout just for link to end up with jo.

Ultimately, its anyones guess what twists and turns Amelias storyline could take. Stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet for all the latest entertainment news!

RELATED:Greys Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Hints at the Shows Ending Im Not Trying to Stay on the Show Forever

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'Grey's Anatomy': Amelia Rejected Link's Marriage Proposal to Protect Him, Fan Theory Suggests - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Anatomy

Anatomy of San Francisco Now: Fewer People, Jobs, Tourists, & Businesses, But More Spending by the Hangers-on (But that Was Inflation) – WOLF…

July 4, 2021 medical

The recovery as it were, after everything went to heck but didnt.ByWolf RichterforWOLF STREET.

San Francisco is one of the most touristy cities in the US both for leisure and for business and it is also a tech and social-media center, a startup Petri dish, and the epicenter of working from home. During the Pandemic, the city has lost large chunk of jobs and a significant number of its residents. So here is an anatomy of the San Francisco economy where it currently stands, based on a report by the City of San Franciscos Office of Economic Analysis and based on some data from other sources that I added to the mix.

Despite the loss of jobs and population, the remaining residents in the city are doing what theyre supposed to do as good consumers: Theyre spending money. By May, credit card spending had fully recovered and was up 5% from the pre-Covid baseline in January 2020, according to credit card spending data, seasonally adjusted (Chart via the Office of Economic Analysis, citing data from the nonprofit Opportunity Insights and Affinity):

So locals spent 5% more with their credit cards than they did before the pandemic and this was just inflation since CPI jumped 5% year-over-year in May. And theyre spending less in brick-and-mortar retail stores, many of which remain shuttered, and more online, and theyre also spending at restaurants and other leisure activities.

There is now a thriving restaurant scene. Indoor dining is back, and now there are about 1,500 parklets where restaurants have created outside-dining areas on curbside parking spots, wide sidewalks, back patios, and public areas. Some restaurant streets are closed to traffic at night, and there have never been so many people visible on the street, milling around and sitting around in these parklets, as now. The whole ambiance has changed.

Restaurants with parklets now have more tables than they did before they built the parklets, and they can accommodate more business than before. And all kinds of new restaurants have sprung up.

But brick and mortar retail stores are in deep trouble. The sight of shuttered stores and for lease signs are everywhere. Nail salons and other services-based businesses are sprouting, but brick-and-mortar retail was already in trouble before the Pandemic, and so many stores were vacant and forming a blight that the city imposed a vacancy tax to incentivize landlords to find tenants.

As of June 2, 43% of San Franciscos small businesses remain closed, compared to the already beaten down baseline of January 2020 (green line), based on payment and payroll data from Opportunity Insights, cited by the Citys report.

Working from home is huge in the San Francisco metro, and office attendance is still minuscule. According to data from Kastle, which provides electronic access systems for office buildings, office attendance as measured by people entering offices in the five-county San Francisco metro (red line) was at 18% of the level in January 2020, meaning office attendance was still down 82%, but creeping up. For comparison, in Austin, TX (blue line), attendance is at about half the level compared to January 2020.

The number of residents in San Francisco who are working took a massive dive in April 2020 and has only partially recovered. In May, the number of working people was still down by 9.5%, or by 54,500 people, from February 2020, according to data from the California Employment Development Department (EDD). And as well see in a moment, some of those people have left San Francisco:

In early May, the California Department of Finance released its annual population estimate. By the end of 2020, the state of California had lost 182,000 people compared to a year earlier, the first population loss since the data had been tracked. San Francisco lost 14,800 people or 1.7% of its population (red column), now down to 875,000 (red line), the lowest since 2015:

Traffic across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco in May was down only 15% from the 2019 average. Traffic congestion on the freeways is back, and average speeds have slowed to pre-Covid averages of 31 mph, down from 60 mph in March and early April 2020. Lots of people are driving who had been taking mass-transit. And plenty of tourists from other parts of California or the US are driving into San Francisco. The weekend congestion is back. We live on a busy street, and its busy as heck, especially on weekends:

The Cable Cars are still shut down. Buses and streetcar lines operate at reduced levels. Ridership on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, the train system that links the East Bay to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, was still down 84% in May from May 2019. When people do go to work, theyre driving:

Despite the prevalence of working from home for office workers, and the near ghost-town atmosphere of the Financial District though its much less so now than last August when I documented the ghost town Financial District with photos many businesses are open and require workers to be there, from restaurants and repair shops to construction sites.

In addition, locals have discovered the beauty of outdoor areas, the parks and shore line while tourists were largely gone. I have never seen so many people swim in the Bay while pools were closed. Locals were doing lots of stuff and getting out. But many of them were just not going to work, but were working at home or were not working at all. Now the swim teams have returned to heated pools. But people are still not going to the office (chart via the Office of Economic Analysis, based on data from Google Mobility and Opportunity Insights):

Tourism, a huge industry in San Francisco, is still way down. The crucial tourism from Asia is still dead, and business tourism is also still dead. But domestic tourism is thriving, and these people drive from other places in California and from other states into San Francisco, as demonstrated by the traffic jams on weekends. But far fewer people are flying in.

According to data from the San Francisco International Airport, the number of people getting on a plane in April such as business and leisure tourists going home, and locals heading out was still at 31% from the 2019 average. Part of this is the collapse in traffic between San Francisco and Asia (chart via the Office of Economic Analysis):

The average daily room rate has risen to $160 per night. But thats only about half the average rate in 2019 of around $319 a night.

And hotel occupancy, which in 2019 averaged around 79%, was still only 35% in May. This is figured of total room inventory (TRI), which counts all hotel rooms whether or not the hotel had re-opened (chart via the Office of Economic Analysis):

So there are fewer people living in San Francisco and fewer people have jobs, and apartment vacancy rates are high, and there is a huge amount of churn, with tenants trying to get better deals and nicer apartments. This has been going on for over a year.

In June, the median asking rent for one-bedroom apartments was $2,790, according to Zumper, down 25% from July 2019, after having been down as much as 30%.

But these are asking rents. Theyre a way for landlords to find out what the market will bear. If the unit sits vacant long enough, theyll drop the asking rent or offer other inducements, such as two months free. Asking rents are not actual rents or effective rents. Theyre advertised rents; theyre the rents at which a landlord is trying to make a deal; theyre a form of price discovery, and in uncertain times like these, they can be all over the place.

So this is the economy of San Francisco. Fewer residents, fewer tourists, fewer jobs, fewer businesses, a still dead Financial District, lower rents, lower hotel room rates, near-empty BART trains, and lots of closed stores, but busy restaurants and lots of spending by the people that hung on.

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Anatomy of San Francisco Now: Fewer People, Jobs, Tourists, & Businesses, But More Spending by the Hangers-on (But that Was Inflation) - WOLF...

Anatomy

10 Greys Anatomy actors you forgot were on Law & Order – Monsters and Critics

July 4, 2021 medical

Ellen Pompeo, Kate Walsh and Chandra Wilson Pic credit: NBC

Over its seventeen seasons, Greys Anatomy has seen a score of actors pass through its walls. Some of them were unknowns when they joined the show while others were TV veterans.

Given their long histories, it should be no surprise that some Greys folks popped up in the other long-running TV franchise, Law & Order. Given that the shows been running since 1990 with several spinoffs, the odds of a few Greys actors dropping in on L&O is obvious.

It can be fun seeing some future Greys stars popping up in an L&O episode. There are also times when a former Greys star guested on L&O after leaving Seattle-Grace.

Whats more notable is that some of Greys actors didnt just do one appearance but multiple ones as different characters. At least one Greys star can claim a trifecta of L&O appearances and a few others are close behind.

Here are 10 Greys Anatomy stars fans may have forgotten were on Law & Order.

Isaiah Washington can be a controversial name for Greys fans. While his role as Burke was a key early role for the series, Washington got in trouble for some backstage comments made about his castmates that led to his exit.

Washington already had a good TV career with a brief stop in the second season L&O episode Out of Control. The detectives have to investigate a brutal attack on a young woman with Washington among the suspects.

After leaving Greys, Washington guest-starred in the L.A. spinoff. As with many L&O cases, what looked like a simple murder ended up more complex as the victim had been working on a controversial voting measure.

Washington was a worker of the victim, which lead to him being arrested. His reverend father (Charles S. Dutton) defended him in court, but it wasnt long before the cops figured there was a bigger case.

The actor was good, making viewers wonder if he was guilty or not, which added to the complexity that made Burke so divisive.

This season, Greys fans had to say goodbye to Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery left the hospital to become an advocate.

As it happens, Williams very first acting credit came with Law & Order. It was a brief role in the opening scene of America Inc.

Williams was among the friends watching a basketball game on TV when a bullet ripped through the set without warning.

It was from the shooting of a military contractor next door that sent the cops on a complex case. It got more complicated when McCoy faced the military and the state department on a possible terrorist attack.

It was just a few moments, but it did get Williams foot in the door on TV for a fun future famous face cameo.

The latest season of Greys had a brief return of Sarah Drews loveable and bright character April. She sure wasnt innocent in the SVU episode Responsible.

When a teenager died after too much drinking, the team found a pack of party-loving classmates. Drew played Becca, the more innocent of the bunch.

She was as shocked as the audience coming home and finding her boyfriend in bed with her own mother who was the one supplying the teens with alcohol.

As the case continued, it turned out Becca was an even bigger lush than any of her classmates which lead to tragedy.

Its a striking image of a more innocent-looking Drew who turned out to have a lot of darkness in her to fit this difficult case.

Greys fans have come to know Greg Germann as the arrogant Tom Koracick. But SVU fans got to love to hate him first in a few episodes as Derek Strauss.

He first arrived in Undercover Blue as a special prosecutor who focused on police-related cases. He tried Brian Cassidy for assault, pushing him as a true scumbag with the team barely able to prove Cassidys innocence.

Then in Amaros One-Eighty, Strauss tried to indict Amaro for a hate crime after he shot a suspect. Straus topped himself in Post-Mortem Blues by trying to indict Benson for murdering a suspect.

Season 18s Genes revealed Strauss had switched sides to become a defense attorney. Its thus possible that Germann returns to plague the SVU team once more.

Law & Order loves to cast actors from New Yorks vibrant Broadway community. That afforded Sara Ramirez a chance to appear on SVU.

At the time, the actress was a few years off from her Tony-winning performance in Spamalot. She had a brief role at the start of the SVU episode Chameleon as a worker at a party the cops busted up.

She claimed one cop felt her up, which got SVU involved. They figured the girl was just making it up to avoid jail time. But she got involved in areal case when another womans body was found on the scene.

It was a brief role that got Ramirez attention before landing the more familiar part of Callie on Greys, which made her a huge fan favorite.

Teddy Altman has been a great character on Greys from wrestling with feelings between Owen and David to personal drama. Kim Raver is a TV veteran of several series, so its logical a L&O appearance would be among them.

In Homesick, when an infant died, the police suspected his British nanny abused him. Raver played the boys mother, naturally grief-stricken, and wanted someone to pay for it.

As the case continued, it became clear the mother was more interested in her career than her child and the defense even suggested she was to blame.

Raver is gorgeous in the role but also had a cold side that leaves the audience guessing with the cops. Even if shes not the perp, its clear by the end she played a part in this tragedy.

Coming in as the first unpopular Addison, Kate Walsh won over fans to the point of earning her own spinoff, Private Practice.

Walsh had been bouncing around TV for a while and landed a spot in the L&O episode Navy Blues. As the title implies, it involved a murder of a Navy officer with Walsh as a possible witness.

It turns out she was having an affair with the victim and the cops suspected she killed him when he tried to cut it off.

With icy-blonde hair, Walsh was terrific as her pilot claimed it was self-defense, and shed been set up by the Navy. Even when she was found guilty, she continued her defense.

Its interesting seeing L&O tackle a case belonging to NCIS and Walsh as the villainess.

As the loveable and stunningly unlucky George OMalley, T.R. Knight won over fans who hoped the guy could catch a break.

His bad luck continued in his appearances in the Law & Order world. In the Criminal Intent episode F.P.S., Knight was one of the two bosses of a computer company suspected of killing their female partner.

Knight played mostly the sad-sack, but the cops realized he was far smarter than he seemed and might have been part of the murder.

After leaving Greys, Knight appeared on SVU. Rollins believed shed tracked down a rapist from an old case, and the DNA matched Knights family man. He protested his innocence and Amaro slowly believed him.

In a huge twist, the gang realized the actual perp was the twin brother the man never knew he had. Knight was terrific in both roles as the nice guy and a monster to truly put George behind him.

As the tough-as-nails but warm-hearted Bailey, Chandra Wilson has been with Greys since the start and not likely to leave soon.

Before that, Wilson can boast a trifecta of different L&O roles. In the second season L&O episode Cradle to Grave, she had a big role as a woman accused of being involved in the death of a child she was babysitting. Wilson was subdued in the role to leave the viewers guessing if she was guilty.

Wilson then made a cameo in the SVU episode Waste when the cops were investigating a woman in a coma who was pregnant. Her smart-mouthed nurse would remind fans of Bailey.

The later SVU episode 911 had Wilson showing up as an FBI tech who aided Benson in tracking down a kidnapped girl calling for help.

All three roles showed a different side of Wilson than Greys fans know.

As Meredith Grey, Ellen Pompeo has been the heart and soul of Greys since it began. Thats a far cry from her two L&O appearances.

In the Season 6 episode Savior, Pompeo was the victim of an attack on her family, which her father barely survived. The detectives suspected the man himself was behind this to salvage some lost money. Pompeo refused to believe it, which led to a dramatic courtroom showdown.

Pompeo then appeared in the Season 10 episode Fools For Love. A crime spree led the cops to catch a man who attacked and killed the sister of his girlfriend, played by Pompeo.

At first, she was heartbroken and rocked. But as the investigation continued, the cops began to suspect she might have been deeply involved in the scam.

Pompeos two roles are miles away from the warm-hearted Meredith either as a shell-shocked woman or a secret schemer.

Greys Anatomy seasons 1-17 on Hulu and Netflix. Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Peacock. Law & Order: Los Angeles on AppleTV.

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10 Greys Anatomy actors you forgot were on Law & Order - Monsters and Critics

Anatomy

Greys Anatomy: 10 Things Fans Love About Cristina (According To Reddit) – Times News Express

July 4, 2021 medical

Of all the main characters on Greys Anatomywho are no longer around, Cristina Yang is one of the most beloved and memorable. This strong, intelligent, determined doctor only ever wanted to be the best surgeon that she could be, and many fans became heavily invested in her friendship with Meredith Grey.

RELATED:10 Greys Anatomy Quotes That Live Rent-Free In Fans Heads

While not every fan thinks that Cristina is a great character, manyGreys Anatomyfans enjoy looking back on her best moments. Several have talked on Reddit about what makes her such a popular and significant part of the hospital drama.

A fan shared in a thread on Reddit that they related to Cristinas storyline about notwanting children. The fan said that shes well-written and explained, Cristina was one of the first characters on prime time television that really felt familiar to me and was written in a way that managed to (mostly) avoid clich.

Many fans appreciated that Cristina was honest about not wanting to be a parent and when she fell in love with Owen, their differing opinions became a big reason why they couldnt stay together. Cristina shared her feelings without apology, and this meant a lot to viewers who are going through the same thing.

Another fan noted on Reddit that they love watching Cristina care about her career. They praised her as a role model and said, She has always put her career first, and when love has found its way into her life she still found a way to balance her career and never lost her drive.

It was definitely exciting watching Cristina move up at the hospital, and since she always cared about her career, this made her romantic relationships more dramatic and compelling. She wasnt one to drop everything for a new partner, and viewers appreciate that about her.

AnotherGreys Anatomy viewer said that Cristina is blunt and open,and thats why they love her.

RELATED:10 Romances Nobody Saw Coming On Greys Anatomy

Fans love Cristinas strong and honest quotes. No matter what she was talking about, shealways sounded intelligent and perceptive. Cristina cared more about becoming a brilliant surgeon than making awkward small talk or being likable, and thats why she has gained such a huge fanbasein the years since her first appearance on the show. Its important to have a main character who tells it like it is, even if its not alwaysthe nicest thing to say, as it moves the plot and emotion in each scene forward.

A fan said that Meredith and Cristina are the true love story of the show, and this is a sentiment that many share. Its impossible to talk about Cristina without bringing up this epic friendship as the characters found each other as interns and leaned on each other.

Since theyre both strong, smart, ambitious people who dont suffer fools and dont get along with everyone, their bond makes a lot of sense, and its one that has endured. While Cristina is no longer on the show, it seems that she and Meredith are still close, and fans want to believe that they will always be in each others lives.

A fan mentioned the scene when Derek taught Cristina to fishand explained in a Reddit thread, It seems like other scenes with them together was them joining forces to help Mer. But this is just about Cristina and Derek helping her. Gets me emotional.

In the season 7 episode Adrift and At Peace, Derek brought Cristina fishing, and fans loved this episode as Derek taught Cristina to relax, stop thinking so much, and try to live in the moment.The fact that Cristina caught a huge fish was sweet and moving, andfans liked seeing the rare bond between Derek and Cristina.

AGreys Anatomyfan shared in a Reddit that they liked watching Teddy and Cristina. They wrote, I actually really love the Cristina/Teddy relationship that forms. The way she makes her get back to the basics, the dramatic moment when Teddys 1 condition is Owen.

When Teddy first arrived at the hospital, she was supposed to mentor Cristina, but it quickly became clear that she loved Owen. Owen wanted to be with Cristina, but Cristina said she would leave Owen if it meant she could learn from Teddy, which spoke to Cristinas constant desire to improve and keep her eye on the prize of her medical career. While this didnt happen, it would have been a huge sacrifice that not everyone would be willing to make.

According to this Reddit post from a fan, they love Cristina because shes so strong: they wrote, Cristina is such a complex, well-developed and uncompromising character who is pushing to be the absolute best in a male-dominated field.

RELATED:10 Friendships Nobody Saw Coming On Greys Anatomy

Indeed, Cristina doesnt do what other people want her to do, and she always remembers who she is. While many of the main characters on the show are strong and have good work ethics, Cristina stands out as she can be much tougher than the others around her. While sometimes Cristina can be stubborn, this is actually a good thing, and fans felt passionately about the storyline when Hahn didnt want to teach Cristina as it proved how deeply Cristina identified with her career.

A fan shared in a Reddit thread that they find Cristina to be a really funny character and they mentioned the season 6 scene when Cristina was working with Arizona and a little girl was hiding under the covers.

Arizona wanted to play hide and seek, and Cristina refused at first. When Arizona said that Mr. Bear wanted to look at the little girls scar, Cristina pretended to be the scary voice of Mr. Bear.This moment definitely stood out, as Cristina wasnt even trying to be funny, but she proved that she could be light-hearted at times.

In season 6, Lexie wore a diaper during surgery, and a fan mentioned in a thread on Reddit that they loved how Cristinafound it to be a brilliant idea. This was one of Cristinas best moments, and while it might have been a small scene in the grand scheme of the show, it stood out to viewers for a few different reasons.

For one thing, it proved that Cristina was both open-minded and also focused on anything that could help her become a more successful surgeon. And for another, it showed that Cristina cared about the other characters, as she was willing to praise Lexie and think outside the box.

The best acting often happens without any words at all, and thats something that a fan loves about Cristina. They wrote on Reddit that they like the scene when Bailey brought up the fact that Cristina was dating Burke and Cristina said a lot by just looking at Bailey.

The fan said that Cristinas face is expressive and All you can see is her eyes, but they are saying: Yes, me and Burke. Do you approve? I want you to approve of this, I need you to approve.' Fans are torn about Cristina and Burkes romance. Still, nomatter how someone feels about their love story, it was devastating when Burke left Cristina at the altar, and this is a classic moment that showed Cristinas vulnerability for one of the first times.

NEXT:The Most Shocking Things Meredith Ever Did On Greys Anatomy

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About The Author

Aya Tsintziras is a freelance writer who writes about pop culture and TV. She loves watching TV, (particularly 90s teen dramas and reality shows), coffee, barre classes, and avocado. She lives in Toronto with her husband.

UK Neuroscience Research Priority Area Brings Diverse Groups Together to Advance Studies – UKNow

July 4, 2021 medical

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 30, 2021) The University of Kentuckys Neuroscience Research Priority Area (NRPA) supports a "collaborative matrix," bringing together diverse groups of investigators, trainees and research groups from nine different colleges across the University of Kentucky campus.

The key underlying strategy of the NRPA is to provide broad-based support for basic, translational and clinical neuroscience-related research across campus, said NRPA Co-Director Dr. Larry Goldstein, Ruth Louise Works Endowed professor and chairman of UK College of Medicines Department of Neurology. We can uniquely bring together investigators from different laboratories or groups to develop synergies advancing collaborations and supporting trainees, particularly those from underrepresented groups.

The NRPA members collaborate as well as utilize valuable resources within the NRPA, including statistical support and UKs NeuroBank. The NeuroBank, one of the initial NRPA initiatives, collects a variety of biospecimens from subjects being evaluated and treated for neurologic conditions at the UK's Albert B. Chandler Hospital and the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute.

Dr. Tritia Yamasaki,assistant professor of neurology, focuses her research on Parkinson's disease and related neurodegenerative conditions. As a movement disorder specialist, she sees individuals in clinic with these conditions and shes in charge of UKs NeuroBank.

My role in NeuroBank has allowed me to work with a great group of people to promote research utilizing human samples, Yamasaki said. There is amazing research going on across campus by hundreds of neuroscientists.

Yamasaki meets with investigators to hear about the research they are conducting, and her team then helps figure out how to best support their projects with human samples. Often this involves thinking creatively about how to integrate sample collection into the clinical workflow to obtain the material needed for the research.

She says they do this by approaching patients in the ambulatory clinic and various hospital settings. Additionally, they work with the pathology department, neurosurgeons, the clinical laboratory, and the epilepsy monitoring unit to obtain patient consent and participation.

There are thousands of patients with neurologic diseases being seen by physicians in our hospitals and clinics daily, some with rare types of conditions about which very little is known, or others who are in desperate need of effective therapies to halt neurodegenerative conditions, Yamasaki said.

The NeuroBank leader says being able to combine resources in UKs clinical settings with the vast research community on campus, is an extremely effective way to advance their work in understanding neurological diseases and developing therapies. Animal models are a crucial part of research, but the ultimate test for any discovery about human disease will be whether the same phenomenon is also seen in the human condition, which is much more complex, given the interplay of genetic and environmental influences, said Yamasaki.

Ramon Sun, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of neuroscience in the UK College of Medicine and works with the Markey Cancer Center, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) and Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC). He is one of the researchers who knows firsthand the value of being a part of the NRPA and having access to resources in the NeuroBank.

The highly collaborative nature of the investigators in the NRPA allows for transdisciplinary, high-impact, cutting-edge research, Sun said. The rich resources of the NRPA that include equipment, banked human specimens, and core services allow for rapid advances in both basic and clinical research in neuroscience.

The collaborative work cultivated within the NRPA recently led Sun and Matthew Gentry, Ph.D., professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry and director of the Lafora Epilepsy Cure Initiative at the UK College of Medicine, to discover that glucose the sugar used for cellular energy production was not the only sugar contained in glycogen in the brain. Brain glycogen also contained another sugar called glucosamine. Thefull study was recently published in Cell Metabolism.

While looking at various components, factors and diseases of the human brain is what most people might think of when they hear neuroscience research, there is much more that plays into the far-reaching category including the Western honey bee.

It is a species with a deep behavioral research history, extensive neuroscience and genomics tools, and it has one of the most sophisticated social lives on the planet, said Clare Rittschof, Ph.D., assistant professor, UK College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment'sDepartment of Entomology.

Rittschofs research is focused on brain metabolic regulation, its links to behavior in the honeybee, and its links to human brain health. She says the NRPA has given her an exciting opportunity to grow a new and unusual area of her research.

Brain metabolic processes are best studied in a medical context as they are associated with neurodegenerative disease and dementia, Rittschof said. However, they are also tied to honeybee aggression, a behavior I have studied for about 10 years.

Thanks to the NRPA, Rittschof has been collaborating with colleagues in the UK College of Medicine, and together they have discovered that honeybee brain metabolism shares many of the features of metabolism in the brains of mammals and humans. However, there also may be key differences that can be leveraged to improve human brain function.

Working at a large research university with a medical college has been invaluable for me, said Rittschof. There are resources, and most importantly, scientists at UK that would not be available on a smaller, less diverse campus. I love working on projects that span discipline boundaries in unusual ways.

Rittschof and others like Josh Morganti, Ph.D., an assistant professor of neuroscience who works with SBCoA and SCoBIRC, also acknowledge the important role the NRPA plays in providing funds for the groundwork of their various research projects that then allows them to seek funding for their ideas from resources such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Morgantis lab recently received a large R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging of the NIH to examine how inflammatory responses of glia regulate age-related neurodegeneration following traumatic brain injury.

Being a part of the NRPA has allowed a great facilitation for collaboration and collaborative projects, which has helped in terms of funding as well as project completion using cutting-edge approaches across multiple labs, said Morganti.

While Morganti has been collaborating at UK for a few years now, the NRPA also benefits new researchers on campus like Lauren Whitehurst, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Arts andSciences'Department of Psychology.

The offerings of this office are really invaluable to the development of new faculty members like me, she said.

Whitehurst, who just completed her first year as a faculty member at UK, studies the importance of sleep for our health and well-being, while also trying to understand how stress and sleep interact to affect how we think, learn and remember information. In her first year, she says shes already engaged within the NRPA in multiple ways.

I submitted two pilot grants to support some new research in my lab examining sleeps role in neurodegenerative disease and its impact on memory in trauma-exposed women, Whitehurstsaid. I have also been fortunate to mentor an undergraduate student who received funding through the NEURO summer fellowship sponsored by the NRPA, as well.

Each of these researchers ongoing projects and personal experiences exemplify exactly what the NRPA was established for to build upon and leverage existing strengths and relationships while providing infrastructure and support to promote research collaborations and raise internal and external recognition of the depth of neuroscience-related research atUK. The NRPA is doing all of this with the goals of growing extramural support, increasing academic productivity, enhancing recruitment of faculty and trainees, and providing new knowledge to address the needs of the citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond.

The NRPA is a valuable part of the UK research community because it provides an infrastructure and resources that benefit neuroscience research broadly across the campus, said NRPA Co-Director Linda Van Eldik, Ph.D., SBCoA director, professor of neuroscience, and Dr. E. Vernon Smith and Eloise C. Smith Alzheimer's Research Endowed Chair. The NRPA is facilitating exciting new collaborations and interactions between basic/translational and clinical teams.

The NRPA is part of the UK Research Priorities Initiative, funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research. This initiative encompasses seven priority areas: cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes & obesity, diversity & inclusion, energy, neuroscience, and substance use disorder. These areas were chosen based onlocal relevance,existing funding strength, sustainability and disciplinary scholarly diversity.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers R35NS116824 and P01NS097197, the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award NumbersR01AG066653,R01AG062550 and R01AG070830, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes ofHealth under Award Number R01DK27221, andtheNational Cancer Instituteof the National Institutes of Health under AwardNumberP30CA177558. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Continued here:
UK Neuroscience Research Priority Area Brings Diverse Groups Together to Advance Studies - UKNow

Neuroscience

Neuroscience reveals social distancing effects on the brain – Fast Company

July 4, 2021 medical

With COVID-19 vaccines working and restrictions lifting across the country, its finally time for those now vaccinated whove been hunkered down at home to ditch the sweatpants and reemerge from their Netflix caves. But your brain may not be so eager to dive back into your former social life.

Social distancing measures proved essential for slowing COVID-19s spread worldwidepreventing upward of an estimated 500 million cases. But, while necessary, 15 months away from each other has taken a toll on peoples mental health.

In a national survey last fall, 36% of adults in the U.S.including 61% of young adultsreported feeling serious loneliness during the pandemic. Statistics like these suggest people would be itching to hit the social scene.

But if the idea of making small talk at a crowded happy hour sounds terrifying to you, youre not alone. Nearly half of Americans reported feeling uneasy about returning to in-person interaction regardless of vaccination status.

So how can people be so lonely yet so nervous about refilling their social calendars?

Well, the brain is remarkably adaptable. And while we cant know exactly what our brains have gone through over the last year, neuroscientists like me have some insight into how social isolation and resocialization affect the brain.

Humans have an evolutionarily hardwired need to socializethough it may not feel like it when deciding between a dinner invite and rewatching Schitts Creek.

From insects to primates, maintaining social networks is critical for survival in the animal kingdom. Social groups provide mating prospects, cooperative hunting, and protection from predators.

But social homeostasisthe right balance of social connectionsmust be met. Small social networks cant deliver those benefits, while large ones increase competition for resources and mates. Because of this, human brains developed specialized circuitry to gauge our relationships and make the correct adjustmentsmuch like a social thermostat.

Social homeostasis involves many brain regions, and at the center is the mesocorticolimbic circuitor reward system. That same circuit motivates you to eat chocolate when you crave something sweet or swipe on Tinder when you crave . . . well, you get it.

And like those motivations, a recent study found that reducing social interaction causes social cravingsproducing brain activity patterns similar to food deprivation.

So if people hunger for social connection like they hunger for food, what happens to the brain when you starve socially?

Scientists cant shove people into isolation and look inside their brains. Instead, researchers rely on lab animals to learn more about social brain wiring. Luckily, because social bonds are essential in the animal kingdom, these same brain circuits are found across species.

Another important region for social homeostasis is the hippocampusthe brains learning and memory center. Successful social circles require you to learn social behaviorssuch as selflessness and cooperationand recognize friends from foes. But your brain stores tremendous amounts of information and must remove unimportant connections. So, like most of your high school Spanishif you dont use it, you lose it.

Several animal studies show that even temporary adulthood isolation impairs both social memory, like recognizing a familiar face, and working memory, like recalling a recipe while cooking.

And isolated humans may be just as forgetful. Antarctic expeditioners had shrunken hippocampi after just 14 months of social isolation. Similarly, adults with small social circles are more likely to develop memory loss and cognitive decline later in life.

So, human beings might not be roaming the wild anymore, but social homeostasis is still critical to survival. Luckily, as adaptable as the brain is to isolation, the same may be true with resocialization.

Though only a few studies have explored the reversibility of the anxiety and stress associated with isolation, they suggest that resocialization repairs these effects.

One study, for example, found that formerly isolated marmosets first had higher stress and cortisol levels when resocialized but then quickly recovered. Adorably, the once-isolated animals even spent more time grooming their new buddies.

Social memory and cognitive function also seem to be highly adaptable.

Mouse and rat studies report that while animals cannot recognize a familiar friend immediately after short-term isolation, they quickly regain their memory after resocializing.

And there may be hope for people emerging from socially distanced lockdown as well. A recent Scottish study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that residents had some cognitive decline during the harshest lockdown weeks but quickly recovered once restrictions eased.

Unfortunately, studies like these are still sparse. And while animal research is informative, it likely represents extreme scenarios since people werent in total isolation over the last year. Unlike mice stuck in cages, many in the U.S. had virtual game nights and Zoom birthday parties (lucky us).

So power through the nervous elevator chats and pesky brain fog, because un-social distancing should reset your social homeostasis very soon.

Kareem Clark is a postdoctoral associate in neuroscience at Virginia Tech.

Neuroscience

The neuroscience behind why your brain may need time to adjust to ‘un-social distancing’ – The Conversation US

July 4, 2021 medical

Social distancing measures proved essential for slowing COVID-19s spread worldwide preventing upward of an estimated 500 million cases. But, while necessary, 15 months away from each other has taken a toll on peoples mental health.

In a national survey last fall, 36% of adults in the U.S. including 61% of young adults reported feeling serious loneliness during the pandemic. Statistics like these suggest people would be itching to hit the social scene.

So how can people be so lonely yet so nervous about refilling their social calendars?

Humans have an evolutionarily hardwired need to socialize though it may not feel like it when deciding between a dinner invite and rewatching Schitts Creek.

From insects to primates, maintaining social networks is critical for survival in the animal kingdom. Social groups provide mating prospects, cooperative hunting and protection from predators.

But social homeostasis the right balance of social connections must be met. Small social networks cant deliver those benefits, while large ones increase competition for resources and mates. Because of this, human brains developed specialized circuitry to gauge our relationships and make the correct adjustments much like a social thermostat.

Social homeostasis involves many brain regions, and at the center is the mesocorticolimbic circuit or reward system. That same circuit motivates you to eat chocolate when you crave something sweet or swipe on Tinder when you crave well, you get it.

And like those motivations, a recent study found that reducing social interaction causes social cravings producing brain activity patterns similar to food deprivation.

So if people hunger for social connection like they hunger for food, what happens to the brain when you starve socially?

One prominent effect of social isolation is you guessed it increased anxiety and stress.

Many studies find that removing animals from their cage buddies increases anxiety-like behaviors and cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Human studies also support this, as people with small social circles have higher cortisol levels and other anxiety-related symptoms similar to socially deprived lab animals.

Evolutionarily this effect makes sense animals that lose group protection must become hypervigilant to fend for themselves. And it doesnt just occur in the wild. One study found that self-described lonely people are more vigilant of social threats like rejection or exclusion.

Another important region for social homeostasis is the hippocampus the brains learning and memory center. Successful social circles require you to learn social behaviors such as selflessness and cooperation and recognize friends from foes. But your brain stores tremendous amounts of information and must remove unimportant connections. So, like most of your high school Spanish if you dont use it, you lose it.

Several animal studies show that even temporary adulthood isolation impairs both social memory like recognizing a familiar face and working memory like recalling a recipe while cooking.

Though only a few studies have explored the reversibility of the anxiety and stress associated with isolation, they suggest that resocialization repairs these effects.

Social memory and cognitive function also seem to be highly adaptable.

Mouse and rat studies report that while animals cannot recognize a familiar friend immediately after short-term isolation, they quickly regain their memory after resocializing.

So power through the nervous elevator chats and pesky brain fog, because un-social distancing should reset your social homeostasis very soon.

[Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week. Subscribe to The Conversations science newsletter.]

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The neuroscience behind why your brain may need time to adjust to ‘un-social distancing’ – The Conversation US