Dean Burnett: ‘Happiness shouldn’t be the default state in the human brain’

The neuroscientist and author of The Idiot Brain on the difficulty of trying to explain happiness and what he learned from Charlotte Church

Natural Causes by Barbara Ehrenreich review – wise words on real wellness

The author and activist’s sharp critique of what she calls an ‘epidemic of overdiagnosis’ is a joyous celebration of life

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore: ‘It is, strangely, acceptable to mock and demonise teenagers’

The neuroscientist, who has written a book on the teenage brain, on the turmoil of adolescence and whether mindfulness can help

Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology; Unthinkable: The World’s Strangest Brains – review

Books by Suzanne O’Sullivan and Helen Thomson offer fascinating insights into the ‘maverick brain’ and rare mental conditions

What can we learn about our wellbeing from memoirs of ill health?

Simon Gray, Christopher Hitchens, Joan Didion ... some of the most vivid memoirs have been accounts of illness. But what can they teach us about being well?

Female-dominated Wellcome book prize shortlist spans Victorian surgery and modern Nigeria

Titles vying for £30,000 award for books on health and medicine include Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s novel Stay With Me and Sigrid Rausing’s memoir Mayhem

In brief: Grief Works; Love After Love; Mothers – review

Bereavement case studies from therapist Julia Samuel, a cautionary tale of infidelity by Alex Hourston, and short stories by Chris Power

The Beautiful Cure review – immunology and the heroes of the resistance

An engaging study of the field by Daniel M Davis shows how it has transformed medicine

Susie Orbach’s guide to books to understand yourself

The celebrated psychotherapist explores the works that help you get to grips with your psyche

The Strange Order of Things by Antonio Damasio review – why feelings are the unstoppable force

What the body feels is every bit as significant as what the mind thinks, a neuroscientist argues. Turn to emotions to explain human consciousness and cultures