Monthly Archives: February 2013

Hallucinema Paradiso

February 7, 2013 – 8:49 pm

The Barbican Centre in London has a Cinema and Psychosis event on the 17th March where we’ll discuss how the silver screen can represent the altered states of psychosis. Rather than focus on ‘how films depict mad people’, which usually just involves appalling stereotypes, we’re interested in how cinema can depict delusions and hallucinations. The […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in News | Comments (1)

The dark patch of death

February 5, 2013 – 10:17 pm

We’ve covered some dodgy neuroscience journalism in our time but The Daily Mail has such as amazing piece of tosh, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be serious or the result of huffing bathroom cleaner. Now I try and avoid writing about The Daily Mail because it’s so science impaired it’s a bit like […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Nonsense | Comments (19)

BBC Column: The psychology of the to-do list

February 5, 2013 – 2:30 pm

My latest column for BBC Future. The original is here. Your mind loves it when a plan comes together – the mere act of planning how to do something frees us from the burden of unfinished tasks. If your daily schedule and email inbox are anything like mine, you’re often left a state of paralysis […]

By tomstafford | Posted in Reasoning | Comments (3)

Death of a booty chemical

February 3, 2013 – 10:09 am

I’ve got a piece in The Observer about why dopamine isn’t a ‘pleasure chemical’ but how this idea is likely to stay because it’s too useful for the media. It provides a simplified explanation for a whole range of behaviours and sexes-up science stories, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. If there were […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Inside the Brain | Comments (1)

Previously unrecognised drugs scourge

February 3, 2013 – 9:14 am

At last, the scourge of catnip has got the attention it deserves with this hard-hitting film. It reveals the mind-bending effects and devestating impact of this feline street high. Do you know where your kitties are?

By vaughanbell | Posted in Nonsense | Comments (2)

Emotions are included

February 1, 2013 – 11:18 pm

New Republic has an interesting piece on how corporations enforce ‘emotional labour’ in their workforce – checking that they are being sufficiently passionate about their work and caring to their customers. It focuses on the UK sandwich chain Pret who send a mystery shopper to each outlet weekly and “If the employee who rings up […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Theory, Togetherness | Comments (11)

2013-02-01 Spike activity

February 1, 2013 – 8:42 pm

Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news: Do amusing titles affect the perception of research? Some initial findings from Rolf Zwaan. The New York Times celebrates fifty years of The Feminine Mystique. Feminist classic or Britney album? You decide. Humans are flocking everywhere notes Wired Science. With a particular flocking tendency […]

By vaughanbell | Posted in Linkage | Leave a Comment
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