Dear Readers, I am writing in response to the recent fires in northern California. I hope this email finds you safe and unscathed. In light of these circumstances, I have returned to studying the brain’s reaction to fire as well as ways to reroute this evolutionary reflex and better understand what many of us are experiencing. Simply put, instinctual systems in the brain and body are activated when the smell of unexpected smoke is detected. The stress hormones epinephrine an