Series
Deja vu, panic attacks, trauma: Where do they come from?
Our Explainers demystify conditions that touch thousands of Australians, and offer insights into the latest research – and we explore some peculiar neurological traits such as lucid dreaming.
- Explainer
- Art
They ‘see’ music, smell colours, feel flavour. What’s it like to have synaesthesia?
Zinia is a composer who literally sees her music take shape. But it’s not just artists who experience this rare “crossover of the senses”. How does it work?
- Jackson Graham
- Explainer
- Daylight saving
Is it better to be a night owl or an early bird?
Some of us are early birds, others are night owls. But is that down to your genes or modern life?
- Angus Holland and Gemma Grant
- Explainer
- Healthcare
What is a panic attack and why do we have them?
Two in five Australians will have a panic attack at some point in their life. Why do they start? What’s happening in your brain? And are they dangerous?
- Sophie Aubrey
- Explainer
What’s it like to remember every single day of your life? Does photographic memory exist?
It’s a classic movie trope: the spy or detective who recalls vivid detail after a glance. But does such a skill exist in real life? And what’s a “highly superior autobiographical memory”?
- Sherryn Groch
- Explainer
What is deja vu, and what’s happening in the brain when we feel it?
Scientists are still untangling why we get deja vu. But there’s much it could teach us about the brain and the nature the memory.
- Sherryn Groch
- Explainer
‘I’m so OCD’ is a throwaway refrain. What actually is OCD, and how does it feel?
More than half a million Australians suffer with OCD. How does it affect their everyday lives, and what are the treatments?
- Billie Eder
- Explainer
‘At one with the universe’: How can psychedelic drugs help treat suffering?
The active ingredient in magic mushrooms is one of the “trippy” drugs showing promise in treating depression, end-of-life terror and more. What might psychedelics reveal?
- Samantha Selinger-Morris
- Explainer
This neuroscientist accidentally discovered he was a psychopath. How can you pick them?
People might diagnose their “psycho” boss but occasionally, someone is actually diagnosed with psychopathic traits. How are they detected? And what’s it like to live with a psychopath?
- Sherryn Groch
- Explainer
‘Panic began to creep in’: Why do adults sleepwalk, and is it dangerous?
In a twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness, ‘walkers’ go about their strange business. What do scientists know about this unsettling phenomenon?
- Angus Holland
- Explainer
What’s ADHD and why are more adults being diagnosed with it?
Being unable to focus can feel like a normal symptom of modern life. But ADHD is more than being distracted.
- Mary Ward
- Explainer
Scientists spoke to people in their sleep. They responded. What’s lucid dreaming?
Some of us “wake up” in our dreams and can even direct the action, Inception style. What is this strange state of dreamwalking? And can you learn to do it?
- Sherryn Groch
- Explainer
What is trauma and how can it get ‘stuck’ in the mind?
Faced with a life-threatening event, we fight, flee or freeze. But the horror can remain, splitting life into ‘before and after’. Why? And what can help?
- Sherryn Groch
Other series
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026
This year’s laugh fest has kicked off, with more than 2000 performers stepping up to the mic. Here, our writers take a closer look
- 10 stories
Hate of origin: Inside football’s most intense rivalry
Essendon and Hawthorn have hated each other for more than 40 years, from some old-fashioned thuggery and a fake drug scandal in the mid-80s to last year’s failed bid by the Hawks to poach the Bombers’ captain.
- 5 stories