Emanuela Brun Psychologist Msc

The strawman fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone responds to an argument by misrepresenting, oversimplifying, or exaggerating it and then attacking this distorted version instead of addressing the original position. This can create the impression that the initial argument has been successfully refuted, when in reality, the discussion has shifted toward a position that the other person may never have expressed. A simple example would be someone saying, “I thi

Beta-amyloid (amyloid-β or Aβ) is a small peptide that is naturally produced in the brain. It has become one of the most extensively studied molecules in neuroscience because of its strong association with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative processes. Although beta-amyloid is often discussed as something inherently harmful, its presence in the brain is not abnormal. The important question is what happens when certain forms of beta-amyloid begin to accumulate and

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) has received increasing attention in psychology, psychiatry, and trauma research. The term is generally used to describe a pattern of psychological difficulties associated with prolonged, repeated, or inescapable traumatic experiences. However, there is often confusion about whether C-PTSD is an “official” diagnosis. The answer depends on which diagnostic system we are talking about. C-PTSD is officially recognized in the Intern

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, commonly known as fMRI, is a neuroimaging technique that allows researchers to investigate brain function while it is happening. While a conventional MRI is primarily used to examine the structure of the brain, fMRI provides information about changes associated with brain activity. This has made fMRI one of the most widely used tools in modern neuroscience. Researchers can use it to investigate what happens in the brain while a person pe

Neuromelanin is a dark pigment found naturally in specific populations of neurons in the human brain. It is particularly concentrated in areas such as the substantia nigra and the locus coeruleus, two regions involved in important neurotransmitter systems and functions including movement, attention, arousal, and responses to stress. Despite the similarity in their names, neuromelanin is not the same as melanin. Melanin is the pigment primarily responsible for the coloration o

The substantia nigra is a relatively small but extremely important structure located in the midbrain. It is closely connected with the basal ganglia and plays a major role in movement, learning, action selection, motivation, and dopamine signalling. Its name literally means “black substance,” referring to its characteristically dark appearance in the human brain. That dark appearance comes largely from neuromelanin, a pigment that accumulates in many dopamine-producing neuron

The basal ganglia are a group of interconnected structures located deep within the brain that play an important role in movement, habit formation, learning, motivation, and reward-related behaviour. Although the name can make them sound like a single brain region, the basal ganglia are actually a collection of nuclei that communicate with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, brainstem, and other neural systems. For a long time, the basal ganglia were primarily discussed in relation

The Superego is one of the three components of personality in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche, alongside the Id and the Ego. While the Id represents our instinctive drives and desires and the Ego helps us navigate reality, the Superego represents our internalized moral standards, values, ideals, and expectations. In simple terms, it is closely connected to the internal voice that tells us what we should and should not do, but also what kind of person we believe

In everyday language, when we say that someone “has a big ego,” we usually mean that they think very highly of themselves, seek admiration, or have an exaggerated sense of importance. In psychology, and particularly in Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the Ego means something very different. The Ego is the part of the personality that helps us navigate reality. It develops as we gradually understand that our desires cannot always be satisfied immediately, that other peop

The Id is one of the three components of personality in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche, alongside the Ego and the Superego. According to Freud, the Id represents the most primitive and instinctive part of our psychological functioning. It is present from birth and contains our basic drives, impulses, desires, and instinctual needs. The Id operates according to what Freud called the pleasure principle. Its primary goal is simple: seek pleasure, satisfy needs, a

Why do we pursue some needs before others? Why is personal growth difficult when we do not feel safe? And why can our priorities change so dramatically depending on our circumstances? In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a theory of human motivation that would later become one of the most recognizable models in psychology: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The basic idea is relatively simple. Human beings have different categories of needs, and more fundamental n

We often talk about the self as if it were one unified voice. But psychologically, our internal experience is rarely that simple. One part of you may desperately want change, while another resists it. One part wants intimacy, while another creates distance the moment someone gets too close. One part wants to rest, while another tells you that slowing down means you are lazy or falling behind. This is the basic idea behind parts-oriented therapy: rather than understanding thes

Egocentrism is the tendency to perceive and interpret the world primarily from our own point of view, while having difficulty fully recognizing that other people may have different thoughts, emotions, knowledge, needs, or perspectives. It does not necessarily mean that someone is selfish, arrogant, or narcissistic. Instead, egocentrism is fundamentally about perspective. We all experience reality from inside our own minds. We have direct access to our own thoughts, emotions,

Color is not simply something we see, but something the brain interprets. Physically, what reaches our eyes is light. Different wavelengths of visible light stimulate photoreceptors in the retina in different patterns, and this information is transmitted through the visual system. The brain then constructs what we experience as color. But recognizing a color is only part of the process. The brain also connects colors with previous experiences, memories, emotions, environmenta

Androgens are a group of steroid hormones commonly described as “male hormones.” However, this definition is an oversimplification. Androgens are present and biologically important in both men and women. While their concentrations and patterns of production differ between the sexes, they influence much more than sexual development and reproduction. They also interact with the brain, muscles, bones, metabolism, skin, and several aspects of behaviour. The best-known androgen is

Estrogen is often described simply as a “female sex hormone,” but this definition does not really capture how much it actually does. Estrogens are a group of steroid hormones that influence the reproductive system, brain, bones, cardiovascular system, metabolism, skin, and many other tissues. And importantly, estrogen is present and biologically important in both women and men. The three main forms of estrogen are estradiol, estrone, and estriol. Estradiol is generally the mo

When something makes us anxious, uncomfortable, or afraid, the brain naturally wants to move away from it. And from a survival perspective, this makes perfect sense. Our brain is constantly trying to predict what is safe and what might represent a threat. When something has previously been associated with fear, pain, rejection, or uncertainty, threat-related neural systems can become activated before we have consciously decided how we want to respond. So we avoid. We avoid th

Forensic psychology is the field where psychology and the legal system intersect. It applies psychological knowledge, research, and assessment to questions that arise within criminal and civil law. And despite what movies and crime series often suggest, forensic psychology is not simply about “getting inside the mind of a criminal.” It is a much broader field. A forensic psychologist may work with offenders, victims, witnesses, lawyers, courts, correctional institutions, or l

The Troxler effect is a fascinating example of just how selective our brain is with the information it processes. If you stare at one specific point for long enough, without moving your eyes much, you may notice that some elements in your peripheral vision gradually begin to fade or even disappear. Of course, they haven’t actually disappeared. Your brain has simply started paying less attention to them. This phenomenon is known as Troxler fading, and it is associated with neu

“How you do anything is how you do everything” means that the way you approach the small things in life often reflects the behavioral patterns you bring into the bigger ones. If you constantly postpone something small because “it doesn’t really matter,” procrastination will probably not exist only in that one area of your life. If you tend to quit the moment something becomes uncomfortable, you may have learned to respond to discomfort with avoidance. If, on the other hand, y