Sharon Begley

Sharon Begley, our longtime science columnist, died of cancer on January 16, 2021, at age 64. Our thoughts and good wishes go out to her family and her wide circle of colleagues, for whom she was an exemplar of the highest standards of the journalistic profession. Sharon was a senior science writer with The Boston Globe Media Group, author of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, and coauthor with Richard Davidson of The Emotional Life of Your Brain.

How Mindfulness Shifts Our Perception of Time
The passage of time seems to speed up as we get older—but research finds this unnerving phenomenon may be allayed by learning to more attentively savor all the familiar details of our lives. Read more
  • Feb 4,2021
  • Sharon Begley
Empathy Fatigue is All Too Real
Feeling empathy for others’ pain is innately human, but it can be stretched too thin. Here’s why we get numbed to horrific events—and how to preserve our tenderness and our desire to help. Read more
  • Jan 27,2022
  • Sharon Begley
Good News: Our Emotions Aren’t Set In Stone
Emotions are changeable and culturally constructed—which means we get to choose how we feel about how we feel. Read more
  • Nov 23,2021
  • Sharon Begley
How Much Self-Knowledge is Too Much?
Sharon Begley explores the science of self-insight and the research on how much you should know about yourself before it becomes detrimental to your health. Read more
  • Nov 23,2021
  • Sharon Begley
The Science of the Bystander Effect
Writer Sharon Begley explores the research on why decent people will watch someone in trouble, possibly even film it, rather than step up to help. Read more
  • Jan 27,2022
  • Sharon Begley
How Our Minds Tell Fact from “Fake News”
In a world of “alternative facts” and identity hackers, science writer Sharon Begley explores the science of how our minds determine if something is true. Read more
  • Dec 17,2019
  • Sharon Begley
How to Deal with Toxic Competition
Our competitive nature becomes toxic when we’re motivated by others’ success, rather than our own self-mastery. Read more
  • Oct 22,2019
  • Sharon Begley
The Research On White Privilege Blindness
Seeing the Truth of Inequality: We all want to believe that we’ve earned what we have, but true equality begins when we’re willing to see how the circumstances of our birth have helped us along. Read more
  • Feb 3,2020
  • Sharon Begley
What the Brains of Selfless People Teach Us About Empathy
Why do some people put their lives at risk for the sake of strangers? Research is uncovering the traits that lead to extreme altruism. Read more
  • Nov 15,2021
  • Sharon Begley
Why Is It So Hard to Apologize?
“I’m sorry.” Those two little words can be so hard to say. Research reveals why we struggle to apologize. Read more
  • Jan 3,2023
  • Sharon Begley