Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
BBC science programme The Material World has a great feature on the blood-brain barrier. I love the blood-brain barrier!
In light of the recent resurgence of a penis theft panic in Congo, here’s a link to an old article of mine on the psychology of penis theft beliefs.
Sharp Brains rounds up a fantastic series of interviews with neuroscientists.
Professor Semir Zeki has a posse, sorry… blog.
The Times has a review of a new book on the behavioural genetics of personality.
A remarkably comprehensive article on the drug industry’s underhand tactics with antipsychotic drugs is published by the St Petersburg Times.
Cognitive Daily looks at the desensitising effect of violent video games.
Research to test human brain implants to control robot arms is submitted for review in Japan, reports Pink Tentacle.
The New York Times has an interview with Daniel Gilbert on the curious psychology of happiness.
Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg writes about brain science and the biology of belief.
ABC Radio National have had a couple of good shows on food and the evolution of the brain; and hearing, lip reading and language perception.
Does language shape cognition? The New York Times re-examines the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in light of new research.
Discover Magazine has an interesting short article on how earthquake prediction algorithms also apply to epileptic seizures.
The ‘top ten mind myths‘ series is concluded by PsyBlog.
Frontal Cortex has a fascinating discussion of how society regards MRI scans, compared to the limits of the science.
Current tools are not very good at identifying ‘kiddie psychopaths‘, reports the BPS Research Digest.
Treatment Online looks at a study that tracked how the balance of genes and environment differs on women’s paths to alcoholism.
Some recent books on consciousness are discussed by My Mind of Books.
Mind Hacks 