Monthly Archives: January 2011

The myth of the tongue map

January 7, 2011 – 3:51 am

I have just discovered Wikipedia’s page on a ‘List of common misconceptions’ that includes, among many other wonders, a great piece about the myth of the tongue taste map. Different tastes can be detected on all parts of the tongue by taste buds, with slightly increased sensitivities in different locations depending on the person, contrary […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Integrating | Comments (7)

Bogotá neuronaut

January 6, 2011 – 10:55 pm

Some futuristic brain graffiti found in the centre of Bogotá. You may remember I found some futuristic brain graffiti in the centre of Colombia’s second city, Medellín, in 2009. Coincidence, I think not.

By vaughanbell | Posted in Graffiti, Nonsense | Comments (2)

Science and the legal high

January 6, 2011 – 12:36 pm

Nature News has an article by a psychopharmacologist whose experimental drugs appeared on the street – with fatal consequences in some cases – even though he’d only mentioned them in initial scientific studies. The scientist is David Nichols who was working on drugs chemically related to MDMA or ‘Ecstasy’. However, the compounds he created were […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Inside the Brain, News | Comments (2)

The new year in sex and science

January 5, 2011 – 12:11 am

Dr Petra has her traditional review of the year in sex and sex reporting and makes her predictions for the coming year. You probably won’t find a better summary of the sex and psychology highlights from 2010, with both the highs and lows of how the media managed their restless desires. If you read nothing […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Togetherness | Leave a Comment

Words about The Scream

January 4, 2011 – 11:55 am

January’s British Journal of Psychiatry has another short article in its fantastic ’100 words’ series, this time on Edvard Munch’s classic painting ‘The Scream‘. The image is perhaps one of the most iconic artworks of the 20th century and has spurned as many parodies and light-hearted take offs as straight-up tributes. However, the BJP piece […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Integrating | Leave a Comment

The war of the manual of mental illness

January 4, 2011 – 1:25 am

Wired covers the battle raging over the next version of the ‘manual of mental illness’ – the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5. The piece discusses how the chief editors of two previous version of the manual, Robert Spitzer and Allen Frances – who edited the DSM-III and DSM-IV, have heavily criticised the proposed new manual for […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in News, Theory | Comments (9)

Change of pace

January 3, 2011 – 6:33 pm

Mind Hacks posts may be a little irregular in the future as I’ve just moved location and job. I’ve left the wonderful city of Medellín and am now living in Colombia’s impressive capital, Bogotá. I’ve also started working as a psychologist for Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders if you’re American) and, as you might […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in News | Comments (20)
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