Catrin Zharyy

Behavioral Neuroscience // Class of 2023

Opinion: What indigenous communities teach us about mental health care

Opinion, Psychology, World / /

The historical and current exploitation of resources, systemic oppression, and forced assimilation that has been part of the colonization of indigenous homelands have taken an enormous toll on the health of indigenous communities around the world. Today, modern healthcare in colonized lands is not fulfilling its responsibilities to provide indigenous people with equal access to […]

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Opinion: How research about culture and the brain runs into racism and the importance of cross-disciplinary communication

Opinion, Psychology / /

Academics mostly keep to themselves. They stay in their offices or labs, and they venture out to classrooms or conferences with (hopefully) interested audiences and other people who understand their passions and frustrations. They spend months or years collecting evidence and formulating theories to be able to share them with their colleagues and advance the

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Stay in with Mom or go out with friends? Hyenas weigh in. A new study on spotted hyenas teaches us that early life social experiences could have effects into adulthood.

Biology, Psychology / /

In the next decade or two, when adults unpack the lasting impact of their childhood experiences, research on these facetious creatures could be the reason why therapists have such astute insights into the topic.  A 2021 study published in Nature Communications used 28 years of data on wild spotted hyenas’ social habits, genetic composition, and

Stay in with Mom or go out with friends? Hyenas weigh in. A new study on spotted hyenas teaches us that early life social experiences could have effects into adulthood. Read More »

Remember your past to secure your future: How decisions about refugee status rely on the brain’s unreliable memory system

World / /

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, in 2020, 82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes, almost double the number in 2010. Forty-two percent of displaced people in 2020 were children. The number of refugees worldwide is rising, but the United States is accepting less and less. In Barack Obama’s last full

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Storing memory with light: How 50 years of research and innovation have brought us closer to efficient and dynamic information storage

Technology / /

What comes to mind when one thinks of physics and what comes to mind when one thinks of biology seem quite distinct. But over time, the two fields continue intersecting, especially as scientists try to replicate biological systems using electrical circuits. This is an enormous challenge because biologists first need to map and understand the

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Ecological boomerang: How man-made climate change is biting back

Environment / /

Over the past few years, a new moral code including owning up to one’s mistakes and vowing to “do better” has swept mainstream American culture. Not only have people taken personal oaths to hold themselves to a higher standard, but they’re expecting more out of their neighbors, law enforcement, local elected officials, global leaders, and

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