About the Author

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Sharon Begley (1956-2021) was the lead science writer for STAT, the Boston Globe's life sciences publication, when she passed away in January 2021. Previously, Sharon was Senior Health and Science Correspondent at Reuters (2012-2015), Science Editor and Science Columnist at Newsweek (2007-2011), Science Columnist at The Wall Street Journal (2002-2007), and Science Editor of Newsweek (1981-2002). She started out as a researcher at Newsweek in 1977. She received a bachelor's degree in combined sciences from Yale University in 1977. She is the author of the 2017 book Ca n't Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions; she co-authored (with Richard J. Davidson) the 2012 book The Emotional Life of Your Brain; author of the 2007 book Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain; and co author (with Jeffrey Schwartz) of the 2002 book The Mind and the Brain. Sharon received numerous awards for her writing, including an honorary degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville for communicating science to the public, the San Francisco Exploratorium Award for Public Understanding of Science, the Victor Cohn Award (2017 ) and the Kavli Award for science journalism/online category from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2019). She spoke to numerous audiences on scientific writing, neuroplasticity, and scientific literacy, including at Yale University, the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Sciences. www.sharonlbegley.com