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Here's What Bears Can Tell Us About The Science Behind 'Spring Fever'

Wikimedia Commons | Yathin S Krishnappa

From Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Early Spring” to Frank Sinatra’s cover of “It Might As Well Be Spring,” writers and singers have waxed poetic for centuries about the emotional high warmer temperatures seem to bring — a phenomenon colloquially known as “spring fever.”

But does this feeling of elevated mood when warm weather hits actually have any scientific basis?

To find the answer, I spoke with Dr. Rif Al-Mallakh, who is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Louisville, where he is also the head of the mood disorders research program. You can listen to our full conversation — which covers Seasonal Affective Disorder, artificial sunlight and bears — in the audio player above.