Dr Dean Burnett
@garwboy.bsky.social
9.5K followers 650 following 3.4K posts
"Top egghead neuroscientist" - The Daily Star Author, science communicator/pundit, former psychiatry lecturer, occasional wit, frazzled parent, balding Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/theneuroscienceofeverydaylife
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garwboy.bsky.social
Reminder that, if you're getting your kid a phone for Christmas (or know a kid who's getting one), an ideal companion gift is my latest book.

Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It

amzn.eu/d/2zxc9BR

So why not be the cool adult this festive season?
garwboy.bsky.social
When Imitation Is the Opposite of Flattery

thecosmicshamblesnet...

When a billion-dollar tech company is openly stealing your work to train its pet AI, it is... rather annoying.

#AI #Meta #Plagiarism?
When Imitation Is the Opposite of Flattery
It seems that Meta is 'learning' a lot of Shambles authors books and papers and it's made Dean Burnett very mad.
thecosmicshamblesnetwork.substack.com
garwboy.bsky.social
Earl of Sandwich: "I put something in my mouth one time and now that's all I'm known for!"

Duke of Fellatio: "OH MY HEART BLEEDS!"
garwboy.bsky.social
304: Are phones really that bad for our kids? With Dr Dean Burnett

pod.link/680583512/e...

My guest appearance on the Scummy Mummies podcast. Even though I am definitely not one of those things.

The other is... debatable. Depends on who you ask.
garwboy.bsky.social
Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It

amzn.eu/d/3fZN0ev

Approximately one year on from since publication, in the wake of the 'Adolescence' drama series, proposed phone/social media bans, my latest book has only got MORE relevant, if anything.

#Book #Phones
garwboy.bsky.social
Catch up with Dr Dean Burnett in conversation

For the 'Why aren't I writing?' Substack/podcast

suwca.substack.com/p...

An in-depth chat about all things writing career, when that wasn't what you had planned in the slightest.

#Writing #Books #Career
Catch up with Dr Dean Burnett in conversation
Dean talked about how he started his writing career, how his first book came about, how he came to meet Whoopi Goldberg, and more!
suwca.substack.com
garwboy.bsky.social
Psycho-Logical: Why Mental Health Goes Wrong – and How to Make Sense of It

www.amazon.co.uk/Psy...

One of, if not THE most comprehensive books about mental health and neuroscience that I've ever written and published in 2021.

#Mentalhealth #brains #books
garwboy.bsky.social
Alcohol can actually improve your memory (sometimes)

metro.co.uk/2016/02/...

A Metro article inspired by The Idiot Brain (my debut book), which makes it definitely correct.

#Brains #Memory #Article
Alcohol can actually improve your memory (sometimes)
... so get a round in, yeah?
metro.co.uk
garwboy.bsky.social
What makes even your strangest dreams feel familiar, explained by a neuroscientist

www.sciencefocus.com...

Because it's weird, right? You're dreaming of being upside down in a flaming boat made of fingernails, talking to a bat who's also your mother, and be all like "Yup, this is fine"

Here's why
What makes even your strangest dreams feel familiar, explained by a neuroscientist - BBC Science Focus Magazine
Our sleeping brains weave a patchwork out of our memories in complex, baffling ways.
www.sciencefocus.com
garwboy.bsky.social
Surprisingly, if the feedback I've had is anything to go by, yes
garwboy.bsky.social
Why Your Parents Are Driving You Up the Wall and What To Do About It

amzn.eu/d/iBgVTcv

When a book's been an Amazon bestseller pretty much constantly for... [checks watch] six years and counting, that's usually a good sign that it's worth getting.

#Parents #Book #Teens
garwboy.bsky.social
Pets have a weird stalemate going on

Dog constantly wants to play with the cat

Cat strongly objects

Cat hits dog

Dog withdraws, but is too dense (mentally and physically) to be actually bothered by a swatting from the lightweight creature

Dog wants to play with cat again

Repeat ad nauseum
garwboy.bsky.social
Is mental health 'awareness' backfiring?

theneuroscienceofeve...

Some analysis of the data which suggests that mental health awareness campaigns aren't having uniformly positive outcomes for those they're meant to be helping.

#MentalHealth #Awareness #Data
Is mental health 'awareness' backfiring?
It's mental health awareness week, again. But the latest data shows that mental health stigma is increasing, not decreasing. What's going on there? And has mental health awareness gone 'too far'?
theneuroscienceofeverydaylife.substack.com
garwboy.bsky.social
How Long Should You Keep Taking Antidepressants?

thecosmicshamblesnet...

A science-based retort to the constant refrain that you need to 'get off those pills' if you take antidepressants.

#Depression #MentalHealth #Medication #PillShaming

How Long Should You Keep Taking Antidepressants?
For as long as you NEED to says Dr Dean Burnett.
thecosmicshamblesnetwork.substack.com
garwboy.bsky.social
Catch up with Dr Dean Burnett in conversation

For the 'Why aren't I writing?' Substack/podcast

suwca.substack.com/p...

An in-depth chat about all things writing career, when that wasn't what you had planned in the slightest.

#Writing #Books #Career
Catch up with Dr Dean Burnett in conversation
Dean talked about how he started his writing career, how his first book came about, how he came to meet Whoopi Goldberg, and more!
suwca.substack.com
garwboy.bsky.social
I admit there are some upsides to this bizarre biological development
garwboy.bsky.social
Maybe we don't know why men would have reduced zinc? Maybe there is no known process whereby significantly high concentrations of zinc would leave the typical man's body on a regular basis?

Or maybe someone just didn't have the balls to flag it up? [Pun intended]

3/3
Zinc in human semen
D Canale, M Bartelloni, A Negroni, P Meschini, P L Izzo, B Bianchi, G F Menchini-Fabris
PMID: 3570537 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2605.1986.tb00909.x
Abstract
Seminal zinc was measured in normospermic and infertile patients by a new colorimetric method. Analysis of semen from 5 patients with bilateral agenesis of the vas deferens showed high levels of zinc (mean value 1411.2 micrograms/ml). Lower levels were found in 6 patients with monolateral congenital or acquired obstruction (695.2 micrograms/ml). The seminal zinc level in 6 patients who had had a vasectomy or who had an epididymal blockage (125.7 micrograms/ml) was approximately the same as in 41 controls (134.6 +/- 42 +/- SD). Zinc levels were reduced in hypogonadal patients.
garwboy.bsky.social
It's a weird inconsistency. The intimate biological process for why women have less iron in their systems has to be specified. But, in the same sentence, men having reduced zinc is to be accepted at face value.

This is an official scientific paper. Either the details matter, or they don't.
2/3
garwboy.bsky.social
A rather bizarre example of the gender bias in academic/scientific publishing.

This is is from a systematic review of the efficacy of nutritional supplements.

I flag it up because the reason women may need more iron is specified: menstruation.

But men may need more zinc... just because?
1/3
Men and women have different nutritional requirements [64]. For instance, women may need more iron due to menstruation, while men may require more zinc.

Excerpt from a published journal article on the validity of nutritional supplements