Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
MP tricked into condemning a fake drug called ‘Cake’ on Brass Eye has been put in charge of scrutinising drugs policy in the UK Parliament, reports The Independent. What starts as satire is so often reborn as policy.
Narratively takes a look at the human stories behind the alarming rates of prescription opioid addiction in Appalachia.
Mental health research makes good economic sense, argues The Economist.
American Civil Liberties Union are suing the psychologists who developed the CIA torture programme.
Before 6 months, babies don’t relate touch to an event outside of themselves. We’re calling this “tactile solipsism”. Interesting Brain Decoder piece.
Mashable reports that Sesame Street debuts its first autistic Muppet. And try watching that What My Family Wants You to Know About Autism video without welling up.
‘Mental patient’ Halloween costumes: a scientific guide to dressing accurately. Important evidence-based Halloween advice on Brain Flapping.
The Scientist looks back at Camillo Golgi’s first drawings of neurons from the 1870s.
Mind Hacks 
“MP tricked into condemning a fake drug called ‘Cake’ on Brass Eye has been put in charge of scrutinising drugs policy in the UK Parliament”
That’s absurd. When will governments learn that doctors and perhaps scientists (psychopharmacologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, etc) should have a bigger role in drug policy? It should, first and foremost, be a medical/scientifically-based policy, not one rooted in politics or law enforcement. It would make far more sense to have a panel of knowledgeable physicians and researchers than career politicians that are out of their league.