Addiction

Benedict Carey, When People Drink Themselves Silly, and Why
Addresses the links between heavy drinking and social context, quite a nice piece summarizing some key anthropological and social psychological research  

Jeneen Interlandi, What Addicts Need
The polar opposite of the Carey piece, arguing for a psychobiological approach to understanding addiction.

First Peek into Deepest Recesses of Human Brain
Advances in neuroimaging of the ventral tegmental area. 

Drinking Makes Heart Grow More Sorrowful, Study Finds
Drinking helps lock memories in place, at least in this rat research 

Radley Balko, Better Dead Than High
Death as a social deterrent, based on restricting access of naloxene for overdoses 

Jennifer Vineyard, ‘Harry Potter’ Is Addictive, Study Concludes
Withdrawal and craving after the series ends… 

Mental Health

Paige Parvin, Why Is This Man Smiling
The Dalai Lama and Emory scientists team up to examine happiness 

Mary Loftus, Visible Darkness
Emerging research on depression 

Craig Lambert, Trail of Tears, and Hope
Examining collective trauma and its impact on communities 

Animal Research

Carl Zimmer,
Sociable and SmartSocial intelligence among hyenas. 

Virginia Morell, Inside Animal Minds
The latest on research on animal intelligence, and the increasingly blurry line between human and animal intelligence 

Sarah Brosnan, Are Chimps More Rational Than Humans?
Chimps play the ultimatum game 

Other Interesting Stuff

Vaughan at MindHacks, Neuroscience of Jazz Improvisation
The title says it all…  

Edward Rothstein, Two New Shows Cast Light and Darkness on Early Cultures in the Americas.
Well done article on two new exhibitions on life and culture in Americas before the Spanish invasion.  An interesting discussion of the notion of “progress,” wrapped up in the choices and rhetoric of museum display.