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Concerning anxiety: art meets neuroscience

December 5, 2016 Leave a Comment

Brian Hyland in conversation with artist (& occasional poet) Mike O’Kane

okaneIn the corner of my office, I have a sculpture on loan from artist Mike O’Kane. It confronts me every day with a wonderful juxtaposition of the themes of my work in neuroscience: how the brain works, and the personal experience of conditions that strike to the sense of self and the equilibrium of mood and emotion. An extremely prevalent example is anxiety disorder. Many of us have either personally experienced this, or know of someone who has.

Mike built the sculptural piece in response to a family member’s experience of anxiety with panic attacks, to explore the possibility of achieving a therapeutic in(ter)vention through art. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Art, Essay, Mental health, Poetry, Science, Technology Tagged With: Art, Essay

The poetry of protein biochemistry

October 24, 2016 1 Comment

Shereen Asha Murugayah

Interpreter of Maladies, jhumpa LahiriHello. I am a protein biochemist, researching ways to prevent infections in surgical implants. I am also a poet. I have been writing poetry since I was eleven (so, about half is adolescent angst) and have been a laboratory scientist for the last four years.

The first time I experienced the joy of poetry was when a teacher dissected “Monsoon History” by Shirley Lim Geok-Lin. It was about sex—lol. The first time I believed I could write poetry was when I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies. Big game-changer.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Poetry, Science Tagged With: Essay, Poetry, Science

Chemical legacies: Thalidomide in New Zealand

July 11, 2016 Leave a Comment

Susanne M. Klausen

William Osler once said ‘one of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine’.[1] Tragedies have unfolded when physicians and pharmacists, wooed by pharmaceutical companies as to the wonders of their products, have not heeded this advice.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: History, Pharmacy, Science Tagged With: History

Science is not enough

June 13, 2016 1 Comment

Dr Anna Holmes

To be healed is to be made whole. This wholeness is not just about the body, but about the harmony of connections of body, mind, spirit and relationships that are part of each human person. Healing is not the same as cure. Cure is focused on returning the physical body to its proper functioning or removing causes of disease or dysfunction.  It is not possible to cure chronic diseases or those who are dying.

Healing happens in the relationship between patient and carer. It is about trust, empathy, enabling hope and bearing witness to suffering. It is possible to be healed without being cured as well as to be cured without being healed.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Science, Spirituality Tagged With: Art, Education

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Image of Hippocrates - Samuelis Chouet 1657. Monro Collection, University of Otago

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