Mental | featured news

More than a decade of research hinting that magnesium supplements might boost your brain power is finally being put to the test in a small clinical trial. The research, led by biopharmaceutical company Magceutics of Hayward, California, began testing the ability of its product Magtein to boost magnesium ion (Mg2+) levels in the brain earlier this month. The trial will track whether the ions can decrease anxiety and improve sleep quality, as well as following changes in the memory and cognitive ability of participants. But critics caution that the trial in just 50 people is too small to draw definitive conclusions.

A slew of apps promise to encourage "lucid dreaming". So why is there such enthusiasm around the idea of controlling dreams, asks Sam Judah. "You're only bound by gravity if you believe in it," says Rory Mac Sweeney, impatiently. He is explaining the logic of a dream world which he not only visits each night, but apparently has active control over, flying at will through lush forests or launching himself upward into the night sky.

Researchers who have studied a woman with a missing amygdala — the part of the brain believed to generate fear — report that their findings may help improve treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders.

Teenagers respond differently to drugs than adults, and early use may lead to long-lasting effects on brain development, according ...