2010-05-07 Spike activity

Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

Wired Science covers a rather nasty case of the consequences of long-term laughing gas abuse.

Washing your hands reduces cognitive dissonance according to a new study covered by the Brainstorm blog.

Scientific American has another one of Jesse Bering’s excellent columns – this time on the mystery of pubic hair.

Different types of synaesthetic experiences involve different brain mechanisms. Great coverage of a new study by Neurophilosophy.

New Scientist covers a new study finding that methylation markers used in protein expression from immune system genes were different in people diagnosed with PTSD.

Forgiving yourself eases procrastination, according to the BPS Research Digest. I’ve put it on my list for tomorrow.

Lingua Franca, the ABC Radio National language programme, discusses the psychological links between our written names and our identities.

Apparently there is a working torrent for PBS behavioural economics documentary Mind Over Money here.

BoingBoing has the cognitive bias song. I assume everyone is singing it these days.

Simon Baron-Cohen writes an article for The Guardian saying that it’s not sexist to accept that biology affects behaviour. Although he does seem to have a bit of an odd definition of determinism.

Neuronarrative has an excellent interview with cognitive scientist Mark Changizi. “Everything We Knew About Human Vision is Wrong”.

Optogenetics and the control of the brain with fibre optics is the focus of an article in this week’s Nature.

Ingenious Monkey reports on a study finding that a touch from a woman increases financial risk taking in both sexes.

Another study finding that computer games damage the brain. No wait, my mistake, it’s another one finding cognitive benefits. This time for multisensory processing.

Sensory Superpowers blog discusses how blind people can play ‘beep baseball‘.

Data-logging your life is covered in an article from The New York Times on obsessive personal empiricism.

Inkling Magazine discusses technology-related delusions and paranoia, partly inspired by one of my first academic papers.

What do English speaking philosophers study? The Splintered Mind has the low down.

The Science Network has a streamed version of the neuroscience and philosophy documentary ‘The I of the Vortex’.

Another study finding detrimental effects for toddlers watching lots of television is covered by BBC News. As have been found previously.

The Economist sounds a note of caution on television viewing studies, however, as measures of TV viewing time are notoriously unreliable.

A study comparing the DNA of identical twins with multiple sclerosis finds little to explain why the disease develops according to an article in Science News.

Scientific American tackle a study finding that men can suppress food cravings better than women. Just think of England honey.

Although autism is usually thought of as a disability, a New Scientist article discusses the fact that the condition can be associated with various cognitive advantages.

To the bunkers! BBC News reports on a study on robot-inflicted injuries. Next, a study on spanner-inflicted malfunction.

The Loom has great coverage of the recent study finding evidence for ‘Neanderthal genes‘ in our DNA.

There’s a great short article on the origin of the ‘disease model‘ of addiction over at Addiction Inbox.

PLoS One has a remarkable scientific paper “on the existence of a sort of second law of thermodynamics for sentimental relationships”. Our love ‘aint nothing but tamed chaos baby.

The talents of the middle-aged brain are explored on the New York Times well blog.

New Scientist discusses the evolution of handedness.