Category: Linkage

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

Polyamory or having relationships with multiple, mutually consenting partners, is discussed in a feature article in Newsweek.

Copenhagen Business School are running an online survey asking for your opinion on the use of neuroscience in business and marketing.

Experimental philosophy and our moral intuitions are tackled in an article for The Psychologist.

H+ Magazine has more on morality and impressing the rules of war on autonomous <a href="Teaching Robots the Rules of War
http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/robotics/teaching-robots-rules-war”>soldier robots.

Malcolm Gladwell discusses the psychology of overconfidence in an article for The New Yorker.

Slate has a somewhat polemic article on the recent dust-ups over the DSM-V ‘new improved flavour’ diagnostic manual due out in 2012. The Psychiatric Times blog also joins the fray.

A quarter of teenage girls mentally ill? Mental Nurse examines a recent article by the statistically challenged psychologist Oliver James.

The Guardian has a review of British psychologist Richard Bentall’s new book on the trouble with psychiatry.

NPR Radio’s Science Friday has a programme on the science of decision-making.

Neuroskeptic has some excellent coverage of a new Cochrane review finding that common plant St John’s Wort is as effective as antidepressants, but seemingly, only if you’re German.

A good cry doesn’t always make you feel better. The not-always-cathartic process of crying is discussed by Jesse Bering in his great SciAm column.

The Boston Globe tackles the cognitive science of driving and how the ageing brain manages the mental demands of the road.

Sports psychology and the mental preparations of top class swimmers are covered by The New York Times.

Discover Magazine asks what urban sounds do to your brain, init?

Calendar calculating savants with autism – how do they do it? asks the brilliant BPS Research Digest.

The Guardian charts the rise of celebrity psychologists and quotes blogger Dr Petra.

Time-space synaesthesia – A cognitive advantage? Interesting new paper in Consciousness and Cognition.

Artist Kerry Tribe has some excellent photos from an exhibition on famous amnesic patient HM.

Time magazine has a piece on how family doctors can often miss <a href="Study: Doctors Don't Always Spot Depression
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1913312,00.html?xid=rss-health”>depression in their patients.

TV can reduce loneliness, says research covered by SciAm’s Mind Matters blog.

Cognitive Daily has some excellent coverage of an experiment that suggests we remember scenes by creating 3D models of them in our minds.

Psychologist Susan Blackmore has a thought-provoking if not somewhat speculative article in New Scientist on autonomous electronic machine memes.

Channel N finds a TED talk by Alain de Botton on the philosophy of tragedy and success.

The moral associations of colours are explored in research covered by The Economist.

Language Log finds a funny comic strip on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and Eskimos.

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

Neurological injuries from the accident-waiting-to-happen activity ‘car surfing‘ are covered by The Neurocritic.

Technology Review discusses an innovative new neurosurgery technique using ultrasound from outside the skull.

The University of Western Ontario has a list of ‘Top Ten Things Sex and Neuroimaging Have in Common’. I would also refer to Lord Chesterfield’s multi-purpose quote: “the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable”.

PsyBlog lists Mind Hacks as one of ’40 Superb Psychology Blogs’. Still no contact from Shakira, clearly shy.

The UK Government’s Cabinet Office release a remarkably good report on the psychology of crowd behaviour.

Psychiatric Times has an interesting debate on the validity of PTSD. For and against and still lots of political arguments.

There’s an excellent piece on madness and creativity on the Nou Stuff blog.

SciAm’s Mind Matters blog has more on creativity and the benefits of psychological distance.

There’s an interesting interview with Mind Wars author Jonathan Moreno over at the consistently excellent Developing Intelligence.

The New York Times has an obituary for influential child psychologist Sidney Bijou.

Speaking without Broca’s area was one of many excellent pieces on this week’s BPS Research Digest.

Health Report from ABC Radio National had a special on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Are British men useless at romance? asks Dr Petra as she covers a recent media friendly vapourware study.

New Scientist covers the case of a girl with half a brain who retains full vision. A visual cortex serving both sides of space has developed on one hemisphere only.

A new study potentially solves the mystery of why the problematic protein in Huntingdon’s disease is affected in only certain brain cells when it’s present throughout the body. Excellent coverage from The Neuroskeptic.

Psychology Today has a feature article by Jonah Lehrer on neuroaesthetics and the brain science of art.

The public place of anthropology and the problems with the meme theory are discussed over at Neuroanthropology. Also see their earlier critique of memes, probably one of the best ripostes to the idea on the net.

Ockham’s Razor from ABC Radio National has an interesting opinion piece on why medical diagnoses don’t always cut the mustard in people with complex health and psychological problems.

To the bunkers! Press release from robot company: “We completely understand the public‚Äôs concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population…”

Not Exactly Rocket Science covers research on the neuroscience of escaping predators. Like corpse feeding futurist robots perhaps?

Exposure to traffic pollution linked to reduce IQ in children, according to a study reported by Science News.

Neuro Times has a brilliant post on Nobel-prize winning neuroscientist Charles Sherrington’s classic The Integrative Action of the Nervous System’

The psychology of happiness or the psychology of saying you’re more happy? The Splintered Mind looks at the problem of self-reporting mental states in happiness studies.

American Scientist has an excellent review of two new books on embodied cognition and how our minds might extend to our environments.

“…staying in the parental home is a stronger risk factor for young men‚Äôs violence than any other single factor”. Conclusions from an interesting study covered by Neuronarrative.

Science News has a piece on how a spinal fluid test may help predict who will develop Alzheimer’s disease.

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

NPR has a good piece on the vagaries of analysing functional brain scans.

Philosopher Pete Mandik features Mind Hacks as a ‘Top 10 mind and brain blog’ for blogs.com. Shakira yet to call.

The Independent covers the debate on clozapine – the best antipsychotic available that treats mortality-reducing schizophrenia but which causes potentially fatal white blood cell collapse in 10% 1-2% of patients. Choose your poison. Discuss.

Psychiatric-service dogs, especially trained to assist patients with mental illness, are discussed by the Wall Street Journal.

BBC News has an opinion piece by always thought provoking against-the-grain psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff on why psychotropic medication should be considered separately from mental illnesses. Frontier Psychiatrist has a thoughtful response to the debate.

The side-effects from sugar pills nocebo effect is covered by Brain Blogger

Neuroskeptic has a good complimentary piece on the placebo effect in prescribed medication.

There’s a good piece on ‘How chaos drives the brain’ on New Scientist. I always assume chaos is just a sign of caffeine deficiency.

Neurotopia covers a brain imaging study on a ‘super memoriser‘.

The kazillion dollar war on some drugs is featured in a special issue of Mother Jones magazine.

Schizophrenia Forum has a fantastic discussion from some of the world’s leading schizophrenia researchers on the significance of the recent high profile whole genome studies.

Anthropology, teaching and the great student swindle is discussed in an insightful article on Neuroanthropology.

The Wall Street Journal has a piece on the Blue Brain project. Neglects to mention that it becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th.

Crypto ninja Bruce Schneier discusses the interesting concept of privacy salience and the psychology of online service design.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a piece on how autism and academia can go hand in hand, while BBC News covers a software company that specifically looks for employees on the autism spectrum.

A cute but gimmicky sleep monitor is covered by The New York Times. It describes it as recording ‘brain waves’ but it looks like it uses near infrared spectroscopy to measure blood flow. See what you’re missing ladies.

Nassir Ghaemi is a well known research psychiatrist who writes an increasingly excellent blog called Mood Swings

New Scientist covers the “first-ever neurobiological study of honesty and cheating“, apparently by a journalist with amnesia for all the other studies.

Ding ding. Round 3. More DSM-V bun fighting on Psychiatric News: “I wish to call attention to the imperiousness, arrogance, and secrecy…”

Neurophilosophy covers researching finding that swearing increases pain tolerance.

Jonah Lehrer reviews ‘You Are Here’, a new book on spatial perception and intelligence for The New York Times.

The excellent Situationist blog has a fantastic article on the legal implications of implicit biases.

Dr Shock discusses a recent thought-provoking article on neuroscience and architecture.

The 73rd edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival is here with a specially video enriched version, this time ably hosted on Channel N.

A couple of my favourites include Neurocritic tackling the myth of the depression gene and Providentia on the visionary psychosis surfer Emmanuel Swedenborg.

There’s many more excellent articles and a video to match each one so head on over and enjoy.

Link to Encephalon 73.

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

PsyBlog covers the numerous studies that have found your name influences your performance or preferences.

Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield thinks that her increasingly bizarre warnings about the ‘neurological dangers’ of Twitter are equivalent to when people first starting saying smoking caused cancer. Except they had evidence, and understood what they were talking about.

The New York Times has an interesting piece on why some of the counter-intuitive findings of behavioural economics don’t work when people have to use their own money.

There’s an awesome post on Developing Intelligence about how the famous 40hz ‘consciousness’ oscillations in the brain may have really been eye movements affecting the signal – the debate continues.

I do is apparently a blog written by someone describing their experience of locked-in syndrome.

Emotional robots: Will we love them or hate them? asks New Scientist. Depends if they know their place, I suggest.

If you don’t read Neurophilosophy (and if you don’t, why not?) you’ve missed two excellent articles recently on the evolutionary origins of the nervous system and the neuroscience of hypnotic paralysis.

BBC Radio 4 had an excellent programme on the criminal mind that will shortly be sucked into archiveless oblivion. Enjoy it while you can license paying suckers.

A recent study on how your self-view skews your mood is discussed by Neuronarrative.

Scientific American has an excellent piece on the evolutionary origins on left and right brain hemisphere differences.

There’s an excellent post on genius and madness on Frontier Psychiatrist.

Scientists create eerie ambient music using human brains, MRI machines, reports GizModo with video. I’m waiting for musicians to create eerie brain scans using drum machines though.

The New York Times has an excellent piece on the psychology of intrusive perverse thoughts. My favourite type, as it happens.

Employees are promoted until they reach their level of maximum incompetence, according to a new study on arXiv covered by Tech Review.

Psychiatric Times has created an online forum (i.e. mud slinging arena with ring-side seats – hotdog anyone?) to cover the development of the DSM-V.

ABC Radio National’s 360 programme has an excellent piece on how the public relations industry works. Eye opening stuff.

New Scientist has an excellent piece on the origins and anthropology of war.

Acid techo. The history of how LSD inspired scientists and tech pioneers is discussed by the HuffPost. Includes a letter from Albert Hoffman to Steve Jobs.

New Scientist has an awesome article on the memristor and the future of artificial intelligence. NewSci is totally on fire this week.

Sweet and salty. Frontal Cortex discuss why they taste so good together.

The Neuroskeptic covers on a study on the effect of affirming statement on people with low self-esteem that has been widely and incorrectly reported as ‘self help harms people’.

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

The ‘men agree on female attractiveness, women don’t on male attractiveness’ story has been a little exaggerated. There was consensus in both groups, just more in men than women.

The British Journal of Psychiatry has started putting fantastic art on its covers with a brief discussion of the piece. This month ‘Welcome to my <a href="Welcome to My Psychosis
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/vol195/issue1/cover.dtl”>Psychosis‘.

A piece from BBC News on psychologists studying their own children to understand language development is clearly ripped off the New York Times, but it’s still very good.

The Economist reports on a study finding that depression is linked to how willing someone is to give up their goals.

Divorce rates are dropping. Is marriage being rehabilitated asks The New York Times. Jonah Lehrer also mans the marricades.

New Scientist discusses spite and theories on the function of social punishment.

Ten key studies that tell us about group behaviour are covered by PsyBlog.

Advances in the History of Psychology covers a US legal case that was a key moment in the history of eugenics for mental disability.

There’s an excellent neuroimaging study in PLoS One finding that brain areas linked to social cognition (described rather grandly as ’empathy’ areas) are activated more by sweat from anxiety than sweat from sport.

Big Picture magazine is an awesome resource for teachers that gives neuroscience activities and materials. Latest issue on ‘Music, Mind and Medicine’.

An anthropologist working for Intel discusses her work on ABC Radio National’s Future Tense.

In Our Time, the excellent BBC Radio 4 history of ideas programme has a discussion on <a href="Logical positivism
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot/”>logical positivism.

Neurotech market analyst Zack Lynch gives an interview on emerging commercial neuroscience markets and participates in a discussion about cognitive enhancers on Canadian TV show The Agenda.

The Frontal Cortex finds an entertaining interview with Oliver Sacks on US comedy programme

A list of Top 10 psychology feeds on Twitter is on PsychCentral and there’s also a follow-up with a few more. Mostly therapist focussed but a good collection.

The Independent sends one of its reporters to try out a number of ‘legal highs‘. But I thought love was the drug?

There’s a tale of two suppressed studies at the Neuroskeptic.

Deric Bownds’ MindBlog has been excellent recently. Go check it out!

A ‘treat violence like a disease’ safer streets project is discussed by New Scientist.

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica has started some surprisingly good psychiatry podcasts.

There’s a segment on brain cancer on ABC Radio National’s Health Report.

Danvers State Insane Asylum is a wonderful website on the history of this imposing gothic asylum built in 1878.

Two-year-olds possess grammatical insights according to a study covered by New Scientist.

Analysis from BBC Radio 4 has a good programme on experimental philosophy and morality. Grab the mp3 before it gets sucked into the black hole of their butchered archiveless website.

We have larger responses in brain areas linked to social cognition when seeing people of our own race in pain, according to a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Neuron Culture covers a fascinating study finding that the effect of Ritalin may partly be due to a placebo effect in the parents.

My mate Rich at PC Advisor riffs on the Troublemaker’s Fringe and the ‘Facebook causes cancer’ panic.

Dr Shock has an excellent post on placebo response in transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Picasso or Prosopometamorphopsia? asks a fantastic post on The Neurocritic on a neuropsychological disorder where faces seem distorted.

The Neuro Times is a fantastic new blog about the history of neurology written by a historian with a passion for the development of brain science.

The author is Stephen T Casper, whose own work has focused on how the US-UK collaborations and rivalries during the 20th century shaped our understanding of the brain.

Although the blog has a similar 20th slant it also casts its net a little wider making it a wonderful historical resource.

It has book reviews, profiles of influential neuroscientists from times past, and discussions of key moments and debates.

Excellent stuff.

Link to The Neuro Times (via @mocost)

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

The Wall Street Journal vaguely thinks about the benefits of daydreaming and a wandering mind for creativity.

There’s more video of Philip Zimbardo discussing the psychology of time over at Fora.tv

The Independent reveals that some people use drugs to enhance the mind because they’ve never been used in this way, ever, in history and we are being challenged with a dilemma so new it can barely be conceived by the human mind.

Is it acceptable for people to take methylphenidate to enhance performance? asks the British Medical Journal. A two part debate.

The Boston Globe has an interesting piece on how American college students choice of major is influenced by what their friends have chosen.

Sleeping on a complex decision may be a bad choice, reports New Scientist covering new research aiming to rehabilitate conscious decision-making.

Cognitive Daily covers a rare instance where single language speakers perform better than bilinguals – in spatial negative priming experiments. A chat-up line for a million Italian exchange students is born.

Metafilter collects a bunch of evidence on domestic violence by women suggesting that it happens at an equal rate to domestic violence by men,

Unconscious science stereotype associations predict size of science gender gap across 34 countries, according to a study covered by Not Exactly Rocket Science.

The Atlantic has an article on technology and the brain which doesn’t suck. It’s not great – it just assumes that we suffer from information overload without any evidence and doesn’t mention a single study in the area – but it doesn’t pretend to be anything different.

People are more likely to comply with requests into the right ear, suggests a study in a night club covered by Wired Science. Sadly, the researchers were just asking for cigarettes.

New Scientist reports on a study of business communication that found email exchange patterns can predict impending doom.

Who do senior psychiatrists go to for psychological help? asks The New York Times. To Boston, it seems, where apparently they’re all still psychoanalysts.

Is it me, or did this study find that breast implants cure depression? Should make for an interesting randomized controlled trial. I’m trying to imagine the placebo condition.

Somatosphere has a thought-provoking post about why psychiatry researchers are reluctant to reveal their own use of medication.

Language may be key to developing the ability to understand other people’s minds, says research on deaf signers covered by New Scientist. There’s actually much previous research on this. A great 1999 study on this is available as a pdf.

Bad Astronomy has a fully <a href="Optical illusion
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/06/24/the-blue-and-the-green/”>awesome visual illusion!

ABC Radio National’s Late Night Live has a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2009/2596450.htm
“>discussion on mind enhancing drugs in universities. Has a funny informal style and a question that starts “If you were trying to become a big swinging dick at Harvard…”

New Scientist discusses a study on how celebrities stay famous regardless of talent. Illustrated with a picture of Paris Hilton, which is more ironic than they realise.

Innovative social psychologist John Bargh is interviewed over at Edge.

Talking of which, Bargh fires the first salvo in a Psychology Today debate on free will. Uber social psychologist Roy Baumesiter takes up the challenge.

Rock Stars of Science PR stunt pairs up biomedical scientists with rock legends for awkward photo shoots. Get me Porn Stars of Science and I might raise an eyebrow.

To the bunkers! Domestic robots built to have a taste for flesh according to New Scientist.

The Smithsonian Magazine discusses whether the cross-species von Economo neurons are specially tuned for social interaction.

US seniors are ‘smarter’ than their UK counterparts, finds new study reported by New Scientist. Ours make better tea though, and I know what I prefer.

Scientific American has an article on the science of economic bubbles and busts.

Mind Hacks’ Tom has a excellent looking article in this month’s Prospect Magazine on the links between improvisation and post-brain injury confabulation that been jailed behind a pay wall. Anyone seen a copy in the wild?

neuro images is a regularly updated website of beautiful neuroscience images run by Neurophilosophy blogger Mo Costandi.

It’s a Tumblr blog, so is a pretty no frills affair, but it’s the perfect platform just to let the pictures shine.

There are already some stunning images on there, from ancient illustrations to cutting edge scans, so keep an eye on it for more neural eye candy.

Link to neuro images.
Link to Neurophilosophy.

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

PsychCentral awards its 2009 Online Mental Health Journalism Awards. Mind Hacks makes the list. Still no word from Shakira.

The wonderful Dr Mezmer’s Psychopedia of Bad Psychology is released as a full free edition.

The Economist on a study finding that repeating positive statements to oneself has a negative effect of people with low self-esteem. Is this the death of Émile Coué?

An excellent article on the curious pharmacological properties of the curious hallucinogen salvia divinorum is on Terra Sigillata.

BBC News covers a new call to rethink how courts should handle eyewitness testimony in the light of the science of memory.

Stereotypes about the drivers of certain cars affect our perception of how fast we think the car is going, according to a study covered by BPS Research Digest.

The Guardian Book Club podcast discusses Steve Pinker’s The Blank Slate.

There’s an excellent special issue of ye olde Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society on predictions in the brain – using our past to prepare for the future.

The Telegraph wees itself in public.

Mental time travel and the importance of remembering forward in time are discussed by the ever excellent Neurophilosophy.

The New York Times has a rough guide to borderline personality disorder.

Patients with schizophrenia least likely to commit suicide after being treated by young female psychiatrists, according to a study in Schizophrenia Bulletin. Via the excellent Spanish language blog Nietos de Kraepelin.

Frontier Psychiatrist has an excellent piece on the complexities and depression and antidepressant prescribing.

Can a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/can-lack-of-sleep-drive-you-mad-1705954.html
“>lack of sleep drive you mad? asks The Independent. Correlation-causation warning applies for some of the points.

The New York Times reports on a recent study finding a higher rate of mental illness in the Chinese population than previously thought.

Hooked on a feeling. Newsweek discusses the science of placebo.

Rethinking Autism has produced a series of sexy videos to promote sensible science on autism. A strange brew indeed.

Booze to brain in six minutes. Live Science covers a study of people getting pissed in brain scanners.

An article for the ACLU Blog delves into the history of the American Psychological Association’s collusion with war-on-terror interrogation / torture / shadyness. You may be interested to know that the APA are currently focussed on backpeddling.

The New York Times tackles the ‘a glass of wine a day is good for you‘ meme, which doesn’t actually have a lot of solid evidence backing it up.

There’s a good in-depth review of Flynn’s new book on intelligence and the Flynn effect over at American Scientist.

The Kinsey Institute has a twitter feed! Make your own coming thick and fast jokes. I’m above that sort of thing.

A dodgy study that, despite its claims, didn’t find antipsychotic aripiprazole is particularly associated with increased subjective well-being is tackled in an excellent analysis by Neuroskeptic.

Discover Magazine has an excellent Carl Zimmer article on the benefits of the wandering mind and the brain’s ‘default network’.

A Harvard psychiatrist writes a spoof article on zombie neurobiology – sadly we only have a secondhand <a href="http://io9.com/5286145/a-harvard-psychiatrist-explains-zombie-neurobiology
“>write-up from io9. If only those scientists in Day of the Dead had a copy, maybe it wouldn’t have turned out so bad.

Neuron Culture has the best write-up anywhere on the recent metanalysis of the link between the 5-HTTLPR gene and depression: The (Illusory) Rise and Fall of the “Depression Gene”.

To the bunkers! New Scientist covers a plan to teach military robots the rules of war. Don’t you realise, that’s exactly what they want you to believe!

The Splintered Mind has a philosophical dream.

A slightly belated selection of quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

If you’re a mental health professional from a low or middle income country you can apply for a grant to attend the Global Mental Health Summit happening this September in Greece. Applications need to be in by June 20th.

The mood we are in affects the way we see things by modulating the activity of the visual cortex, according to a new study expertly covered by Neurophilosophy.

Discover Magazine has a brief look at some EEG kit that aims to integrate both electrical activity from the brain with human action recording.

Altruism may have resulted from a form of natural selection caused by a state of near-continual warfare, according to a study covered by the Independent. Hang on, isn’t that the plot of 1984?

Time magazine has an article on complexity theory that doesn’t seem to have a punchline as such but is an interesting tour through various studies that can be understood on various level of explanation.

Ignore the title and skip the first line and the Boston Globe has an interesting article on the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to study the neuropsychology of autism. The ‘testing reflexes’ bit is a minor part of it.

New Scientist covers a study that finds we prefer advice from a confident source, even when the person has a poor track record.

This is an absolutely fascinating study covered by the BPS Research Digest. We seem to have a ‘blind spot’ for our own body language.

The New York Times has an brief piece on how new guidelines on whether young athletes should return to play after a concussion are causing controversy.

Anthropology in crisis – what, still? The excellent Culture and Cognition blog looks at why anthropology is still a contested field.

New Scientist covers a wonderfully elegant study on what causes ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ just can’t remember that word experiences.

The excellent Channel N mind and brain video blog has moved. Update your bookmarks!

Neuronarrative covers some interesting research on how fictional depictions of organ donations on medical dramas affect whether people want to sign up for this life saving option.

The work of a burqa wearing Islamic <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/world/middleeast/06dubai.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all
“>sex therapist who practices in Dubai is covered by The New York Times.

Furious Seasons covers a new study on how antidepressant paroxetine (Serpxat / Paxil) is linked to sperm damage in some men.

An excellent piece by an epilepsy doctor and researcher asking for a better understanding of the seizure disorder is on the BBC News site.

Wired Science reports that the Pentagon are investigating pills for PTSD prevention.

Time moves too slowly for hyperactive boys, reports New Scientist. Don’t I just know it.

The excellent philosophy of mind blog Brain Hammer has moved. Update your bookmarks!

Another big name psychiatrist gets in hot water for undeclared payments from Big Pharma. The Wall Street Journal blog has the story.

Search Magazine has an article on the neuroscience of forgiveness. It misses a study on exactly this that recently appeared in Neuropsychologia.

Excessive use of “neuro” in a book title: Neuropsychological Neurology: Neurocognitive Impairments of Neurological Disorders (thanks @sarcastic_f!)

Evidence for Freudian projection inadvertently found in a study of whether dogs can have a guilty expression or not – turns out, owners just perceive the expression when they think the dog has done something wrong but the canine face doesn’t change. BBC News is on the case.

Not Exactly Rocket Science finds an intriguing study showing that five-month-old babies prefer their own languages and shun foreign accents.

There’s a review of an interesting-looking new book and ethnographic study on heroin injectors and crack smokers on the streets of San Francisco over at Neuroanthropology.

The 72nd edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has seemingly been taken over by Apple and transformed into the iCephalon carnival, which is much the same but costs more and has a hipster fan club.

A couple of my favourites includes a damning review of the new US psychiatric drama ‘Mental’ from The Neurocritic, and news that while tall people have higher status, high-status individuals also look taller, from Neurotopia.

There’s a whole range of shiny new text products being introduced so head on over to Cognitive Daily who are the generous hosts for this fortnight’s edition.

Link to Encephalon 72.

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

Carriers of 5-HTTLPR gene version have higher rates of addiction but teen counselling nullifies the risk, reports Wired Science.

Science News reports on a study finding that people who feel pressure to look attractive are more fearful of being rejected.

Neurotech booster Zack Lynch is summarising the punchlines of his recent academic article on ‘The future of neurotechnology innovation’. Part one neuroimaging and disease treatment, part two on crossing the blood-brain barrier.

The Wall Street Journal discusses the highs and lows of nicotine vaporising ‘electronic cigarettes‘. Will the UK version be called e-fags I wonder?

Antipsychotics for kids effective but with substantial risks according to FDA briefing covered by Furious Seasons.

UK iPlayer viewers can still view BBC documentary ‘A World of Pain: Meera Syal on Self-Harm’ online.

Confabulatory hypermnesia. A case of a patient who believes, falsely, to have perfect recall, is expertly covered by Neurophilosophy.

68% of task-force members for upcoming DSM-V psychiatric diagnosis manual report taking money from drug companies, report USA Today. Good to see psychiatry cleaning up it’s act. Oh no, my mistake.

Reuters covers the latest book by Will Elliott, who wrote an acclaimed debut novel about a clown with schizophrenia. Elliot has apparently been diagnosed with the condition himself.

Staying together ‘for the sake of the kids’ doesn’t necessarily help them, says a study reported by Science Daily.

Talking Brains asks whether fMRI adaptation can demonstrate or refute the existence of mirror neurons in response to Iacoboni’s comments on our recent post on the topic.

A new series of BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind has just launched on the newly decimated, information scorched BBC website. Permanent audio archive? Useful programme guides? So last season.

Time magazine looks at the psychology of ‘conspicuous altruism‘.

The fantastic ‘culture and compulsion‘ series is rounded-up in one handy place on Neuroanthropology.

BPS Research Digest reports that girls attract American men best with direct chat-up lines.

Presumably, this includes the situation when the whole process is reduced to a tick box. Talking of which, during speed-dating women become less choosy when they, rather than men, move from table to table, according to a new study reported on by Nature News.

Scientific American has a brief article on how to tap the wisdom of the crowd in your head. Tap their wisdom? I just want them to stop throwing popcorn at the screen.

Can psychotherapists detect liars? Better than average but only very slightly, according to a study covered in Psychotherapy Networker magazine.

Wired Danger Room reports that the US military still getting funded for their sci-fi science fantasies. This time the Air Force looks for the ‘core algorithms‘ of human thought. As the article says “Good luck with that, guys.”

A whole load of great links on how music works, and the psychology of the tune, on Metafilter.

The LA Times reports that a third of US kids with autism are prescribed SSRI drug citalopram while a new study find it’s no better than placebo and has worse side-effects.

UK readers. The BPS Research Digest has an excellent Twitter feed that keeps you up-to-date with TV shows, radio programmes and events about the mind and brain.

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

HBO launches the awesome Alzheimer’s Project online. Video, documentary, facts, stories. Very nicely put together.

Teen mental health and mindfulness are the focus of a recent ABC Radio National Health Report.

The LA Times has more on the ongoing <a href="Psychiatrists rewriting the mental health bible
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-mental-disorder26-2009may26,0,3081443.story”>revision of the psychiatrists diagnostic manual, the DSM.

God bless ’em. The British Journal of Psychiatry publish a letter (scroll down) in which I complain about people ignoring research when talking about ‘internet addiction’ and other fictional monstrosities. The original authors write a lovely reply and I feel a bit sheepish.

The BPS Research Digest has a great post on simulating déjà vu in the lab.

If you haven’t seen it somewhere else, the excellent Mary Roach does a fascinating TED talk on ’10 things you didn’t know about orgasm‘ (although she doesn’t mention that the case of toothbrushing triggered orgasm was due to epilepsy).

People are universally optimistic according to a survey of over 140 countries reported in Science Daily. “At the country level, optimism is highest in Ireland, Brazil, Denmark, and New Zealand and lowest in Zimbabwe, Egypt, Haiti and Bulgaria.”

New Scientist has an interesting ‘science of the female orgasm’ series but drops the ball (if you’ll excuse the pun) with a ‘brain shuts down during female orgasm because I can’t critically evaluate the results of brain imaging studies’ piece.

There’s an interesting discussion on differing conceptions of the self, Jekyll and Hyde, and the modern of historical concept of criminal responsibility on ABC Radio National’s The Philosopher’s Zone.

New Scientist has an excellent article on eight ancient writing systems that still haven’t been cracked. Where’s Fairlight when you need them?

An article on how meditation alters brain activity and structure appears in Scientific American.

Frontier Psychiatrist has an excellent piece on the concept of a rational suicide.

It’s raining fantastic essays on mind, brain and culture over at Neuroanthropology!

The New York Times has an article on the recent ‘super-recogniser‘ research on people who have spectacularly good memory for faces.

Graph theory slinging, network mongering, sociologically inclined mathematician Steven Strogatz has an excellent short piece in The New York Times on the mathematics of love.

New Scientist reports on a twin study that suggests intellectual confidence is inherited, predicts grades, and is independent from IQ.

The better trust and communication style between father and daughter, the better it is likely to be between the daughter and her partner, according to research reported by the new-to-me but seemingly excellent Child Psychology Research Blog .

The Times Higher Education Supplement notes concerns over the falling numbers of UK medical students who start training to be psychiatrists.

A big budget TV drama series about psychiatrists called ‘Mental‘ has just launched and you can watch the first episode online. Apparently being filmed in Bogot√°, Colombia.

Scientific American has another Jesse Bering column, this time on adolescent girl social aggression, or, in more colloquial terms, bitchyness.

Women are more likely than men to suffer feelings of inadequacy at home and at work and have perfectionist tendencies, according to a US study reported by BBC News.

Cerebrum, Dana’s excellent neuroscience magazine, has a great piece on the limits of neuroimaging.

Replicant Roy Kurzweil furiously responds to recent Newsweek article that apparently contained inaccuracies over his predictions, opinions, incept date.

Advances in the History of Psychology discovers that Harvard psychologist Dan Wegner has posted an electrogroove mashup that incorporates sampled snippets of the recordings of Stanley Milgram‚Äôs famous obedience experiments of the early 1960s. Like a disturbing social psychology 70’s porn soundtrack.

The 71st edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been served in the welcoming surroundings of the stylish Neuroanthropology blog.

A couple of my favourites include a podcast interview with neuropsychologist Chris Frith from the Brain Science Podcast blog, and a post on the development of early language from Babel’s Dawn.

There plenty more on the menu, so you should find something to suit every taste. Bon appétit!

Link to Encephalon 71.

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

Neuroanthropology has a great article on identity formation and internet booze show-offs. A neat bit of online anthropology.

Psychopathic traits in children associated with severe deficits in emotional empathy across all ages for males, but not females, finds new study published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Scientific American has a short but interesting piece on how hand movements during discussion may aid cognition. I would do the ‘sounds a bit handy wavy’ joke but I suspect I’ve been beaten to the punch.

Actually, I’d just like to apologise for the pun in the line above while I have the chance.

Science Daily reports that intelligence and physical attractiveness are both related to income. Which explains a lot about my current situation, actually.

Doctor saves young lad’s life by drilling into his brain with a power drill, reports the Aussie News site. The embedded video seems to have been made by The Onion though.

PsyBlog rounds up its recent excellent series on functions and dysfunctions of attention in one handy place.

Psychiatrist bemoans the ignorance about the benefits of lithium treatment among junior doctors in The New York Times.

Science News reports another in a long line of studies suggesting the benefits of meditation. In this case, that it’s linked to increased grey matter in key emotion areas.

Lacan’s florid and Byzantine model of the unconscious is covered in two posts by Somatosphere.

The Harvard Gazette reports on ‘super-recognisers‘, people with exceptionally good face recognition abilities. See this 1999 study for a report of a super-over-recogniser.

Musicians have better memory not just for music, but words and pictures too, according to a study expertly covered by Cognitive Daily.

The Economist looks at a recent study that finds that living abroad can increase creativity.

Risk of violence in schizophrenia almost entirely explained by illicit drug use, finds new study reported on by PhysOrg.

Science News reports that people who have a higher alcohol tolerance are more likely to become alcoholic.

The summer fundraiser for Phil Dawdy, the world’s only publicly funded psychiatry-dedicated investigative reporter kicks off on Furious Seasons.

The New York Times has an excellent piece on the ‘super memory club‘, people who live beyond the age of 90 with sharp-as-a-razor cognitive abilities.

A study investigates the typical psychological traits of people who believe in conspiracy theories, which is covered by Science News.

Science Daily reports on a freaky ass robot intended to improve social skills, presumably built by researchers who have spent too much time in the lab.

The excellent Situationst blog has a must-read piece on the controversy over implicit bias, one of the most heavily researched aspects of our unconscious.

To the bunkers! Time magazine reports that replicant Ray Kurzweil is still at large.