‘Exercise, avoid bangs and invent fairy stories’: Henry Marsh’s guide to keeping brains healthy

The neurosurgeon spent decades making people’s brains better, but a scan led him to focus on the factors that stave off cognitive decline and boost quality of life

Don’t forget to floss: the science behind dementia and the four things you should do to prevent it

A picture is emerging of a healthy lifestyle which is key to the condition’s prevention – exercise, being sociable, and looking after your ears

A nose ring, a bicycle, a Radiohead album: I’m becoming a total cliche – and I quite like it

My scorn for convention hid a pit of insecurity. I was just another urban millennial, and never as singular as I imagined, says Novara Media editor Moya Lothian-McLean

You can’t just cheer up people who have depression. There’s a key role for antidepressants

The NHS is planning to offer patients art, music and gardening classes rather than antidepressants. Nice idea, but it won’t work, writes psychotherapist Lucy Cavendish

‘Lift the lid, and there’s a well of rage’: why women are mad as hell (and not afraid to show it)

Once upon a time, women showing their anger was frowned upon. But the gender anger gap is widening, and women’s wrath is on the rise, about everything from police brutality to domestic inequality

The joy of mediocrity: we need hobbies, even if we’re bad at them, to free us from perfection

When I focus on getting better at something, it creates room for failure. I want only carefree pleasure from my down time

Everyone is anxious, exhausted, in a flap. How can we help ourselves to get by?

It simply doesn’t help to worry constantly about the world – I do worry that I worry too much

What happens after you tell your story? That’s a story in itself

In these confessional times, we are all encouraged to share our experiences and journeys. But once the story is out it can take on a life of its own

The big idea: your personality is not set in stone

Think you’re stuck being scatty, or an introvert? The latest research suggests otherwise

I’ve always bought too many clothes, but my life was being ruined by hoarding

I’d spent years in a tearful cycle of shame and anxiety about my possessions and didn’t understand why – until I got help