Schauer Thoughts

This week on Schauer Thoughts we’re discussing two rising trends: going analog and online gambling! These near-anagrams are causing quite the concern so we’re pulling back the Schauer curtain to take a better look at the nasty bits while also addressing solutions to scummy business practices.

This is a judgement free zone - if you are struggling with any addiction issues I’ve linked resources below. Also as someone who has gotten sober (albeit after 10+ tries) I would strongly encourage you give yourself some grace. Grace is not forgiveness, it’s freedom of movement, and considering that people with addictions often hide away, grace is necessary to come out into the light and see hope on the horizon. 

No need to rush, the others and I will just be listening to “No-No Song” by Ringo Star on the record player I got in college.

Books from MIT Press (Not Sponsored - Please Sponsor Me)

Decolonizing Design - Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall

Sweet and Deadly - Murray Carpenter 

Lucretius and the Bat with Blue Eyes - Andrea Moro

Phenology - Theresa M. Crimmins

Letterlocking - Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith

General Resources:

Scientists Finally Figured Out the Math Behind How You See Color

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a70784732/color-theory-schrodinger/ 

Analog is back, and my millennial heart couldn’t be happier

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/17/analog-is-back-and-my-millennial-heart-couldnt-be-happier 

The Analog Life Project: Some Things To Know Before We Get Started 

https://substack.com/home/post/p-181708555

Creative Reuse Centers

https://artofrecycle.org/our-neighbors

$230 notebooks, digital cameras and tiny dollhouse furniture: How Gen Z’s desire to get offline is a boon for businesses

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/03/going-analog-gen-z-desire-to-get-offline-small-business-boost.html#:~:text=Part%20of%20%22going%20analog%22%20involves,of%20the%20University%20of%20Pennsylvania.

Fortune Business Insights - Art & Craft Materials Market Size, etc.

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/art-craft-materials-market-109031

Celebrities at the Super Bowl: The ‘Who Will Attend the Big Game? Prediction Market

https://www.covers.com/entertainment/celebrities-at-super-bowl-prediction-market

Gambling Addiction Help Resources 

European Safer Gambling Week (Nov. 17-23)

https://safergambling.eu/get-support/#:~:text=please%20contact%20us.-,Helplines,0)%2078%2015%2010%2020

Help by State

https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/help-by-state/     

SMART Recovery

https://smartrecovery.org/gambling-addiction

Evive 

https://www.getevive.com/

Gamban

https://gamban.com/ 

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Happy Women’s History Month! This week we’re discussing the wonderful women of STEAM (yes, we include the arts here) that have had their work stolen, co-opted, or overlooked by men and the dominant culture. Thank you to all the women in academia, research, creative fields, business, politics, etc. who persist, push back, and put men in check - I absolutely cannot wait to read your stories and studies, I know they’ll be *chefs kiss.*

I know I mispronounced a lot in this episode, as always feel free to shoot me a DM or comment with correct pronunciation, I really do appreciate the help.

Also yes, I meant to say “retrograde menstruation” not “reverse menstruation” - the world simply escaped me.

Make sure to like and subscribe on Youtube, rate me 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, any place you’re listening to this podcast. Y’all are the best.

Resources:

Music as a scientific metaphor for mind and brain

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763426001004

Prescriptive and Descriptive Grammar: Functions, Distinctions, and Pedagogical Relevance 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400585909_Prescriptive_and_Descriptive_Grammar_Functions_Distinctions_and_Pedagogical_Relevance 

Women’s History Month: Celebrating Trailblazing Women in Science and Advancing Women’s Representation in STEM

https://ssp.org/news/womens-history-month/ 

Matilda effect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_effect 

Woman As An Inventor 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25118273?seq=7

19 Groundbreaking Discoveries by Women That Were Credited to Men

https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g5026/female-discoveries-credited-to-men/

The patent system is failing women when over 90 percent of patents are held by men 

https://newrepublic.com/article/132327/patent-system-failing-women-90-percent-patents-held-men

The theft of women’s art

https://www.varsity.co.uk/arts/29055#google_vignette

These discoveries saved billions of lives

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2018/03/the-50-most-important-life-saving-breakthroughs-in-history/

Why Storytelling Is a Leadership Superpower, According To Neuroscientists 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2026/03/22/why-storytelling-is-a-leadership-superpower-according-to-neuroscientists/ 

The women who made modern vaccines work

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/the-women-who-made-modern-vaccines-work

Repeatedly occurring retrograde menstruation intensifies central sensitization driven by neuroinflammation in endometriosis models

https://www.jci.org/articles/view/194136 

Books:

Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read - Stanislas Dehaene 

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert M. Sapolsky

A Philosophy of Shame - Frederic Gros

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America - Laila Lalami

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We’ve arrived at the fourth and final installment of the creating your own self-curriculum series, this week we’re getting into reframing our concept of time to enable us to effectively and efficiently manage it. I hope you’ve enjoyed all these Schauer Thoughts and I hope you feel inspired or at least just a little bit better about pursuing self-education, I believe in you.

Here comes a barrage of books and resources, can’t wait to chat next week!

Learn for Fun or Free or Fun & Free Substack:

https://substack.com/@sarahschauer/note/p-175242020 

Resources:

Decisionscape: How Thinking Like an Artist Can Improve Our Decision-Making - Elspeth Kirkman 

Future Tense: Why Anxiety is Good for You (Even Though It Feels Bad) - Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, PhD

The Secret Lives of Color - Kassia St. Clair 

This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: How the Pill Changes Everything - Sarah E. Hill, PhD

The Menopause Brain - Lisa Mosconi, PhD

The Cancer Journals - Audre Lorde 

The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis - Maria Smilios

Hate: The Uses of A Powerful Emotion - Seyda Kurt

A Philosophy of Shame - Frederic Gros 

Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time by Natalie Hodges

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszemtmihalyi 

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert M. Sapolsky

The Order of Time - Carlo Rovelli

The Emotional Calendar - John R. Sharp, MD

Freedom is a Constant Struggle - Angela Davis

The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker

Attention: Beyond Mindfulness - Gay Watson

The Hoarders - Scott Herring

Why Every Power Player Uses Military Time (and You Should Too)

https://sociallifemagazine.com/the-archive/military-time-power-players-precision/#:~:text=The%20Cognitive%20Rewiring%20That%20Creates,that%20capacity%20toward%20strategic%20thinking.

Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory - https://www.thetimeparadox.com/zimbardo-time-perspective-inventory/ 

Websites for Studying with Others:

StudyStream - https://www.studystream.live/ 

Study Together -https://www.studytogether.com/

Flow Club - https://www.flow.club/vs-focusmate?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google-ads&utm_campaign=Kaya%20Competitors&utm_term=focusmate%20adhd&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21294453254&gbraid=0AAAAAon1RgHarc25k-ISGhCvY-DiMpHv2&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9-PNBhDfARIsABHN6-1FzBTKoNGfimPRsQqzvMy9IinNjZmghxFAESMlE9fKJ79PD_194ecaAjciEALw_wcB 

Cool App for Binaural Beats: Moongate

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We’ve discussed healthy habits, desire and interception, but now is the time to focus our artist eyes! This week on Schauer Thoughts we’re going over an abridged understanding of design elements and factors to consider when creating your own course curriculum. I strongly encourage mood boarding this episode but taking notes or just listening are fine as well. Enough chit chat - to the communal Schauer we go!

My Substack Post: How To Start Researching as a Hobby

https://substack.com/home/post/p-168506463 

Resources to Learn for Fun & Free (or Fun & Free)

https://substack.com/home/post/p-175242020 

Resources:

Ruth Asawa and the Artist-Mother at Midcentury - Jordan Troeller

To Photograph Is To Learn How To Die - Tim Carpenter

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose - Constance Hale

The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know  - Shawn Coyne

Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People - G. Richard Shell

This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

The Psychology of Fashion - Carolyn Mair

Your Brain on Art - Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art - James Nestor

Decisionscape: How Thinking Like an Artist Can Improve Our Decision-Making - Elspeth Kirkman

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think In Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions - Temple Grandin 

The Activism of Art: A Decentered Anthology - Dipti Desai and Stephen Duncombe

The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone - Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach 

The 7 Principles of Design and How To Use Them (w/ Infographic) 

https://www.vistaprint.com/hub/principles-of-design#:~:text=The%20principles%20of%20design%20are,Proportion%2C%20Movement%20and%20White%20Space

Chronic Back Pain Makes the World Sound Harsher

https://neurosciencenews.com/chronic-pain-sound-sensitivity-30237/ 

Scientists have found a fascinating link between breathing and memory

https://www.psypost.org/scientists-have-found-a-fascinating-link-between-breathing-and-memory/

Nature Exposure Triggers Brain Reset 

 https://neurosciencenews.com/nature-brain-reset-30204/

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Strap in guys, we’re taking a deep dive into the realm of want, desire, and interoception. This week on Schauer Thoughts the mind is taking a back seat to the bodies inner-workings and process - we’ll be giving a voice to the beautiful being that gives us a voice. I hope you enjoy listening to me or at least yourself. 

Link to my Substack post:

How To Be The Type of Person Who Loves Reading and Learning Substack Post - https://substack.com/home/post/p-179871707 

Make sure to check out the wonderful researcher who inspired this episode:

Dr. Nai’a on Tiktok

https://www.tiktok.com/@naia_papaia/video/7611265785910103310?_r=1&_t=ZT-94GFOua6P4X 

Resources:

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions - Temple Grandin

Enshitification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It - Cory Doctorow

This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

Companies Are Desperately Seeking ‘Storytellers’ 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-are-desperately-seeking-storytellers-7b79f54e?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqemQvxYgchwXwkzI9btEgTEnCSu86tEActGU6LXgOMv_Hmjc9gknGlTvT3KbvI%3D&gaa_ts=69a75f83&gaa_sig=k0Vp1rLUO3Z7LSgPcCMAOXqD3Xwkwt6oGQR-mZgHdTaYRvYA6SwJR71JTTOmOpyQN3FLt-RNuAiAtTU1_snLAQ%3D%3D 

Why the Polyvagal Theory is Untenable

https://www.clinicalneuropsychiatry.org/download/why-the-polyvagal-theory-is-untenable-an-international-expert-evaluation-of-the-polyvagal-theory-and-commentary-upon-porges-s-w-2025-polyvagal-theory-current-status-clinical-applications-and/ 

A Clinician’s Perspective on the Polyvagal Controversy

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/well-connected/202602/a-clinicians-perspective-on-the-polyvagal-controversy 

When Looking ‘Hot’ Means Not Feeling Cold: Evidence that Self-Objectification Inhibits Feelings of Being Cold

https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjso.12489 

Objects Do Not Suffer: An Impact on Mechanistic Dehumanization on Perceptions of Women’s Suffering and Lack of Justice in Domestic Assault

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37815050/ 

The psychological mechanism of self-objectification: the interaction between sociocultural pressures and self-esteem

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12517067/ 

Body image disturbance, interoceptive sensibility and the body schema across female adulthood: a pre-registered study

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1285216/full 

Interoception: A Multi-Sensory Foundation of Participation in Daily Life

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9220286/

Why You Do the Things You Do 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thinking-more-affectively/202512/why-you-do-the-things-you-do

The Affective Side of Interoception 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thinking-more-affectively/202512/the-affective-side-of-interoception

The Affective Side of Certainty

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thinking-more-affectively/202512/the-affective-side-of-certainty/amp

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The time is now! This week we’re discussing how to create your own individual curriculum, an endeavor I happen to have extensive experience with. We will be breaking this series into parts as I want to readjust some understanding, reframe some concepts, and give insight into best practices to maintain longevity. Please have your notebooks out and your listening ears on or just relax tbh (we value personal choice in the communal Schauer) because this refresher will be heavy. 

Don’t worry, next week will be on creative execution! Make sure to like, subscribe, rate me 5 stars, and follow along, you may learn something new. 

Please follow Elizabeth! —> https://www.tiktok.com/@xparmesanprincessx 

Resources:

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think In Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions - Temple Grandin 

The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics - Tim Harford 

This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

Decisionscape: How Thinking Like an Artist Can Improve Our Decision-Making - Elspeth Kirkman

Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline - Lori L. Desautels, PhD

Slideshow for “Applied Educational Neuroscience/Brain, Adversity and Resiliency

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ceee1ee9cd4360001a1cfca/t/5d8e307c5a5a131029422a4d/1569599618600/Desautels+PowerPoint.pdf

Struggling to Find a Hobby That Sticks? Try a “Personal Curriculum”

https://theeverygirl.com/personal-curriculum-tiktok-trend/

How to Start Researching as a Hobby

https://substack.com/home/post/p-168506463 

How to Be The Type of Person Who Loves Reading and Learning

https://substack.com/home/post/p-179871707

How Words Shape Consciousness: New Research Reveals The Deep Link Between Language and Awareness

https://thedebrief.org/how-words-shape-consciousness-new-research-reveals-the-deep-link-between-language-and-awareness/ 

No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/no-brain-no-gain-neuronal-activity-enhances-benefits-exercise

No Child Left Behind: What Worked, What Didn’t

https://www.nhpr.org/education/2015-10-27/no-child-left-behind-what-worked-what-didnt 

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It’s time! We’re discussing the ever so popular trend on Tiktok called the “Divorce Effect.” If you’re new to any of my content, this is a topic near and dear to my heart - I support anyone breaking from the systems and roles at be, especially if it’s causing mental and physical unwellness. We’re covering a lot of ground this week, from neuroscience to psychology to the immune system, we’ll also be taking a brief trip to the 80’s and then back to present day with a refreshed perspective on glowing up post marital dissolution. Thank you all for listening and joining me, I’m so happy you’ve joined this week’s communal Schauer.

More Information on Book Club: https://substack.com/home/post/p-186705166 

Resources:

Reading in the Brain - Stanislas Dehaene 

Behave - Robert Sapolsky 

Thinking in Systems: A Primer - Donella Meadows 

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System - Matt Richtel

Decisionscape: How Thinking Like An Artist Can Improve Out Decision-Making - Elspeth Kirkman

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle - Emily Nagoski

Beyond the Blood-Brain Barrier: New “Smart Gate” Shielding the Brain 

https://neurosciencenews.com/base-barrier-cells-neuroscience-30092/

Researchers Identify Novel Gatekeeper Cell in the Brain

https://bioengineer.org/researchers-identify-novel-gatekeeper-cell-in-the-brain/

154 Visual Phenomena & Optical Illusions with Explanations - Michael Bach 

https://michaelbach.de/ot/index.html 

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Uh-oh, the communal Schauer is getting intimate this week, intellectually intimate that is. We’re going over the new sensation sweeping the nation ~intellectual intimacy~ so get ready for a smattering of everything - from psychology to neuroscience to what’s happening in my relationship, no pumice stone will go unturned. Time to sit back and relax (to the best of your ability) because we’re starting with the gnarliest knots this nation has failed to address, welcome to Schauer Thoughts.

Additionally:

I do really apologize for this week’s sort of choppy presentation, there’s a Vyvanse shortage and my brain was truly struggling to organize thoughts. I hope everything made some semblance of sense. <3

Thank you to all the people who send me DMs, helpful commenters, resourceful individuals, and those who just further meaningful conversation along, you all give me hope for the future. I appreciate your efforts to much and I’m wishing you nothing but the best.

NEW Book Club 

https://open.substack.com/pub/sarahschauer/p/new-book-club?r=3yb1cq&utm_medium=ios

Resources:

Radical Intimacy - Sophie K. Rosa

Frames of Mind: Theta Theory of Multiple Intelligences - Howard Gardner

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert Sapolsky

Quote From Substack

https://substack.com/@afterdinnerconversation/note/c-151186676?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=3yb1cq 

Role of Intellectual Intimacy in Psychological Well-Being: The Cognitive Connection

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/387520981_Role_of_Intellectual_Intimacy_in_Psychological_Well-being_The_Cognitive_Connection

Neurodivergent Mind: When Your Common Sense Is Not Common

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-with-emotional-intensity/202602/neurodivergent-mind-when-your-common-sense-is-not

The archeology of intimacy 

https://substack.com/home/post/p-173747521 

To be intimate with someone who is flawed requires us to expose our own flaws

https://substack.com/home/post/p-183443032

“I’m Not Terribly Lonely”: Advancing the Understanding of Intimacy Among Older Adults

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9163450/

It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask: Question-Asking Increases Liking

https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/Huang%20et%20al%202017_6945bc5e-3b3e-4c0a-addd-254c9e603c60.pdf 

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Gather round my gaggle of geeks and gays, we’re tackling “womb envy” yet again! Huzzah! A commentary on the ills patriarchy has bestowed upon society, we are blessed to carry their cognitive loads to term and birth new stress-related ailments for all to acquire. 

No but seriously, this week we’re discussing the new research I’m drooling at the faucet over as well as wrapping up our short series on “womb envy.” Make sure to wear sandals to this week’s communal Schauer, I mean it IS what Jesus would do.

Nuance: I don’t actually think that researchers and writers at Scientific American are writing articles and doing studies just for me - that was a joke. Sometimes people who aren’t men can make jokes too.

Information for New Book Club: https://substack.com/home/post/p-186705166

Immigration Resources Substack: https://substack.com/home/post/p-185913344 

Stay tuned for the magazine club! 

Resources: 

Scientists Cure Pancreatic Cancer Using New Therapy That Eliminated Tumors with No Major Side Effects

https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/01/scientists-cure-pancreatic-cancer-breakthrough-treatment/

Selective Sound: Why Do Some People with Schizophrenia Hear Voices?

https://static.scientificamerican.com/dam/m/5de541c65719ff73/original/SciAm_02_2026.pdf

What Are Binaural Beats?

https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-are-binaural-beats

Detecting Dementia Using Lexical Analysis: Terry Prachett’s Discworld Tells a More Personal Story

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399826710_Detecting_Dementia_Using_Lexical_Analysis_Terry_Pratchett's_Discworld_Tells_a_More_Personal_Story 

Cancer might protect against Alzheimer’s - this protein helps explain why

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00222-7

Womb envy: The cause of misogyny and even male achievement? 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251547431_Womb_envy_The_cause_of_misogyny_and_even_male_achievement

Understanding the Characteristics of Envy and How to Grow Past It

https://www.healthline.com/health/relationships/characteristics-of-an-envious-person

Europe’s Journal of Psychology

https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/110/110.pdf

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Welcome to the wonderful, winding world of Schauer Thoughts! This week we’re meandering through new research from MIT on the rest and digest system, as well as making a sharp turn into “womb envy.” Is the rest and digest system related to womb envy? Not really. I mean, potentially? There is definitely a glandular route through the endocrine system, but I’m not taking that road today! Today I’m just covering two separate topics because I wanted to! Huzzah.

“Wait, so what are today’s separate topics?”

Rest & digest and then “womb envy.”

Thank you again for joining me in the communal Schauer! There’s a joke to be made about “womb envy” and a “baby Schauer” - please let me know if you come up with anything solid! Enjoy the episode. 

Nuance for why I “don’t want to get philosophical,” spoiler! It’s not because I don’t like philosophy, it’s because we’re going to get into “zero-sum” thinking and game theory and this is where people are going to argue about what economic systems are the “best” and people feel *compelled* to play devil’s advocate. 

Resources: 

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert M. Sapolsky

Could It Be ADHD or… Narcolepsy? - Discover Science, November/December 2025 Edition

Cancer Spreads at Night - Lea Milling Korsholm, Exploring Science

Squishy Math - Kelsey Houston-Edwards, Scientific American, Ultimate Math Edition, Fall/Winter 2025

The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker 

Your brain does something surprising when you don’t sleep

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260119234937.htm

Attentional failures after sleep deprivation are locked to joint neuromuscular, pupil and cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02098-8

Parietal alpha frequency shapes own-body perception by modulating the temporal integration of bodily signals 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67657-w

Scientists Found the Brain Rhythm that Makes Your Body Feel Like Yours 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260114080325.htm#:~:text=Researchers%20at%20Karolinska%20Institutet%20studied,sense%20of%20self%20is%20disturbed.%22

REM alpha rhythm: diagnostic for narcolepsy? (2006 - a bit dated)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16751726/ 

FDA Clears First Blood test Used in Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-clears-first-blood-test-used-diagnosing-alzheimers-disease 

Europe’s Journal of Psychology

https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/110/110.pdf

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