The Conversation

A sudden and lasting separation from a parent can permanently alter brain development

Written by Jacek Debiec, Assistant Professor / Department of Psychiatry; Assistant Research Professor / Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan

A boy stares out of a heavily tinted bus window leaving a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, Tuesday, June 19, 2018, in McAllen, Texas. AP Photo/Eric Gay

At birth, the brain is the most underdeveloped organ in our body. It takes up until our mid-20s for our brains to fully mature. Any serious and prolonged adversity, such as a sudden,...

Corporate CEOs' political voice growing louder as they criticize Trump policies like separating migrant children

Written by Jerry Davis, Professor of Management and Sociology, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Children wait at a private charity after being released by Customs and Border Protection.AP Photo/Eric Gay

America’s CEOs have become increasingly active on political issues that they would have shunned in prior years.

The latest example came in response to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy...

Why our brains see the world as 'us' versus 'them'

Written by Leslie Henderson, Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology, Dean of Faculty Affairs, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College

What are your in-groups and out-groups?ksenia_bravo/Shutterstock.com

Anti-immigrant policies, race-related demonstrations, Title IX disputes, affirmative action court cases, same-sex marriage litigation.

These issues are continually in the headlines. But even thoughtful articles on these subjects seem always to devolve to pitting warring factions...

Sitting and diabetes in older adults: Does timing matter?

Written by John Bellettiere, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California San Diego

Sitting can do more than give you a headache. It is linked to diabetes and obesity. Stockfour/Shutterstock.com

Adults are sitting more than ever, and few pay attention to how they sit throughout the day.

Take a moment to think about all the reasons we sit. First off, you’re probably sitting while reading this. Some of the most common sitting...

What the US can learn from other countries in dealing with pain and the opioid crisis

Written by Marcia G. Ory, Regents and Distinguished Professor, Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives, Texas A&M University

The U.S. has the highest daily opioid use rate in the world.Kimberly Boyles/shutterstock

With all the recent news on opioid overuse in the U.S., it’s not surprising that Americans consume the vast majority of the global opioid supply. Daily opioid use in the U.S. is the highest in the world, with an estimated one daily dose prescribed for...

How the Trump Foundation could undercut the public trust in charitable giving

Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University

Donald Trump gave this $100,000 check from his foundation to a charity during an Iowa campaign event in 2016.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

When New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood recently sued the Donald J. Trump Foundation and four Trump family members who serve on its board of directors, she alleged the foundation was “little...

After volcano eruption, Guatemalans lead their own disaster recovery

Written by Walter E. Little, Professor of Anthropology, University at Albany, State University of New York

Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Ortiz are still searching for relatives who disappeared in San Miguel Los Lotes during Guatemala's June 3 Fuego volcano eruption. The government's rescue mission has now ended.AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

The Fuego volcano puffs smoke against a clear blue sky, as it has done for centuries.

Here in Antigua, 10 miles away, people go...

How refugee children make American education stronger

Written by Shawna Shapiro, Associate Professor of Writing and Linguistics; Director of Writing & Rhetoric Program, Middlebury College

Schools are seeing declines in refugee children under the Trump administration.Jan Andersen/www.shutterstock.com

In recent years, there has been a great deal of public angst about refugee resettlement in the U.S. and Europe. Americans are deeply divided on the issue. For instance, a Pew Research Center study published in May of this year found that...

Opioids don't have to be addictive – the new versions will treat pain without triggering pleasure

Written by Tao Che, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

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The problem with opioids is that they kill pain – and people. In the past three years, more than 125,000 persons died from an opioid overdose – an average of 115 people per day – exceeding the number killed in car accidents and from gunshots during the same period.

America desperately needs safer analgesics. To create...

Breaking up families? America looks like a Dickens novel

Written by Sarah Bilston, Associate Professor of English, Trinity College

Almost 1,500 immigrant boys, aged 10 to 17, were separated from their parents and brought to stay at Casa Padre in Brownsville, TexasDepartment of Health and Human Services

The news has been full these past few weeks of disturbing stories from the nation’s borders. The Trump administration has separated immigrant children from their parents...