Category: Linkage

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

The New York Times discusses the recent case in India where a controversial ‘brain scan lie detection’ test was used to convict someone for murder.

Screaming energy! A fan site that reviews energy drinks with, rather predictably, excessive levels of enthusiasm.

“Thinking about Not-Thinking”: Neural Correlates of Conceptual Processing during Zen Meditation. Fantastic study published in open-access science journal PLoS One.

Sharp Brains has an interview with the wife of Bob Woodruff, a reporter who has made and written about his recovery from brain injury.

Do recent neurological studies prove once and for all that homosexuality is biological? Salon has an interview with neurologist and gay activist Jerome Goldstein.

Not Exactly Rocket Science covers new research suggesting political beliefs can be reflected in more fundamental cognitive processes.

The Frontal Cortex continues the theme with a study that provides a lovely example of motivated reasoning and bias in judging political contradictions.

A reporter for Popular Mechanics throws himself out of a plane as part of an experiment on the psychology of fear.

The New York Times has a surprisingly uncritical article on ‘child bipolar disorder’. Furious Seasons has a good counterpoint.

Even music played before or after a film character is shown affects our perception of their emotion. Fascinating piece of research covered by Cognitive Daily.

Time magazine looks at the US Military’s plans for advanced brain-computer interface controlled weapons systems.

ABC Radio National’s Philosopher’s Zone has a great discussion on the concept of love while the The LA Times looks at the psychology of commitment and infidelity.

Neuroanthropology has a video discussion from behavioural economist and ‘Nudge’ author Richard Thaler.

Neuropsychiatrist and ex-English literature professor Nancy Andreasan is interviewed by The New York Times.

The 54th edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just arrived, this fortnight hosted by its originator at the Neurophilosophy blog.

A couple of my favourites include an article by Neuronism on how IBM’s ‘Blue Brain’ large scale neural simulator is showing 40hz gamma band oscillations (oh my God – it’s becoming conscious. To the bunkers!), and another from The Neurocritic on how viewing beautiful artwork reduces the perception of pain.

The Neurocritic piece also finishes on the fantastic line “Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, it modulates pain-related activity in the anterior cingulate cortex”.

There’s plenty more news, new material and discussion from the last two weeks in mind and brain science, so do check it out.

Link to Encephalon 54.

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

The theories of the legendary John Hughlings-Jackson are the topic of an excellent post on The Mouse Trap. See also this fascinating paper on the philosophy of JHJ.

The Boston Globe has an interesting piece on the psychological benefits of <a href="http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/09/07/the_secret_benefits_of_fandom/?page=full
“>being a fan.

Triple J’s Hack radio show has had some interesting sections on the mind this past week (thanks Michael!) some of which are rounded up by the All in the Mind Blog.

Dr Petra has a great post on the widely reported but hardly definitive study on if you can tell whether a woman has vaginal orgasms by the way she walks.

Chauvinists are less unnerving than ambiguous men, suggests tits in office study reported by New Scientist.

Sharp Brains discusses the future of computer-assisted cognitive therapy.

The way players approach online multi-player games is innately scientific, suggests a new study covered by Wired Games.

BBC News has the amusing story of the British MP stopped by armed police in the Colombian jungle and made to eat coffee whitener to prove it wasn’t cocaine.

More from Dr Petra – good summary of two recent sex studies on attraction and eye contact, and the shocking normality of the BDSM folks.

A Wired reporter discusses his experience of taking part in an fMRI experiment on the neuroscience of fear.

An essay on the shaking palsy. One of the foundational studies in neurology and Parkinson’s disease is covered by Neurotopia.

The Frontal Cortex discusses an interesting example of financial herd behaviour.

40% of people think they remember film footage of the London 7/7 bombing which has never existed, according to a wonderfully conceived real-world false memory study reported by The Guardian.

The New York Times covers the fact that personality tests show men and women are more different in more egalitarian societies but skates over the fact that some sex-stereotypical characteristics are exaggerated by self-report measures and virtually disappear in observational studies.

Man on a mission US Senator Charles Grassley uncovers yet another psychiatry researcher with undeclared financial payments from drug companies, reports Furious Seasons.

Great chat up lines in science #3: I can see with my skin.

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks what makes people vote Republican at Edge and George Lakoff frames the Obama campaign at the HuffPost.

Artist with ‘multiple personality disorder’ Kim Noble has an exhibition of paintings by each of her alters in London. The Guardian has some of the pictures online.

Brain-Based Lie Detection Leads to Murder Conviction in India? The Neuroethics and Law Blog discusses an interesting case with a comment by the researcher who doubts the reliability of the technique used in this case.

Neuroanthropology covers ‘Great Diagrams in Anthropology’. Gotta dig the tree man picture.

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

To the bunkers! AI system enables <a href="http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/september10/helicopter-091008.html
“>robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly stunts by watching other helicopters – with video.

The BPS Research Digest covers an interesting neuroimaging study on whether we assign mental states to robots.

I get my four minutes of fame on the Nature podcast [mp3]. Mainly remarkable because I use the words Iron Maiden and temporal lobe epilepsy in the same sentence.

Wired News on a study suggesting humans can learn from subliminal cues alone.

Non-coding DNA section may have contributed to the evolution of manual dexterity, according to New Scientist.

Advances in the History of Psychology returns after its not very well enforced summer break.

Soldier suicide rate in the US Army may set record again, reports AP News.

The Neurocritic has a sarcastic report on a new study that finds that chewing gum may help reduce stress – funded by a chewing gum company.

Great sections of Recollections of My Life by the legendary Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal is quoted by Sharp Brains.

BBC News reports that music linked to personality. Not the first time, nor the last I suspect.

Happiness could add 10 years to your life, according to a study reviewed by PsyBlog.

Neuroanthropology discusses how colour is constructed in the brain.

5% of American kids prescribed psychiatric medication, according to new government figures found by Furious Seasons.

Cognitive Daily asks is there a separate memory region for location of sound?

The 53rd edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival comes to us from the beautiful continent of Africa and has all the latest from the last fortnight in mind and brain news.

A couple of my favourites include an article from the appropriately named Brain Stimulant on the experience of a person with Asperger’s who took part in a TMS experiment, and another from Neuronism on the expert perceptual judgements of players vs wannabees in basketball.

This fortnite’s Encephalon is hosted by Ionian Enchantment a blog which I’d not discovered before but looks very good and is updated remarkably frequently.

Link to Encephalon 53.

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

Choreography and Cognition is a project examining the cognitive science of dance. Try this for some experimental data. Get down.

The myth of undecided voters is tackled head on by Frontal Cortex.

Gin, Television and Cognitive Surplus. No, not a traditional English weekend, an Edge article by Clay Shirky on the internet and mental aggregators.

PsychCentral’s Sandra lists her Top 10 online psychology experiments.

ABC Radio National’s Life Matters explores out relationship to colour.

Corpus Callosum has an interesting role reversal art project where a psychiatrist has painted his emotional impression of patients.

Epigenetics or the ‘Ghost in Your Genes’ is a new TV programme and is linked to and discussed by Neuroanthropology.

The Smart Set review a book on loneliness.

The Guardian’s examination of the supposedly mandatory but widely ignored drug company gift registers for UK doctors, shows (can we guess) widespread soul selling.

Be sure to check ABC Radio National’s All in the Mind blog for extended comments and extra audio from the recent programme on the mind, markets and morality.

Wired Sciece on why early stone tools suggest Neanderthals were equally as intelligent as early humans, contrary to popular belief. Researchers now exploring lack of style, poor personal hygiene as reason for extinction.

The rubber hand illusion is accompanied by a drop in temperature of the ‘displaced’ hand. Another from Wired Science.

The BPS Research Digest reports a interesting study that finds we tend to overestimate the size of our own heads, but not those of others.

The three critical techniques for stage magic discussed in the recent paper on the cognitive science of magic are summarised by PsyBlog.

Harvard Magazine has an article on ‘A Work in Progress: The Teen Brain‘. Due to be completed shortly after Duke Nukem Forever.

July’s Neuropod appeared and we didn’t even notice. Still, the programme has been eerily quiet since then.

The Times reports that more sex by braver soldiers suggests an evolutionary explanation for rhubarb, hat stands, pink elephants, blah blah blah…

Why Are ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada’ a Baby’s First Words? Sounds obvious but it’s actually an interesting study into developmental phonetics.

BBC News reports that the drug rasagiline may may actually slow down Parkinson’s disease according to an early study.

Cool photo on Flickr appropriately called ‘applied radiology‘.

Cannabis use went down in the UK after it was reclassified as a ‘softer’ drug, reports of The Guardian. Buckets of urine at the ready to be flung into the wind when government shortly re-reclassifies it as a ‘harder’ drug.

Interesting experimental philosophy paper makes it into the top 10 philosophy papers of the year.

Furious Seasons catches two interesting antipsychotic news nuggets: Nature Neuroscience editorial says credibility lacking in child psychiatry after recent payments scandal / BMJ reports antipsychotics really, really bad in older folks.

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

If you’re after a level-headed discussion of the ‘contraceptive pill makes girls go for Mr Wrong’ story, Dr Petra has a great review.

SciAm Mind Matters has a great article by the Cognitive Daily duo on how tone deafness and bad singing may not go hand in hand.

A gentleman with extensive frontal lobe damage ‘loses’ his memory and identity, leading to a curious medical mystery – covered by Frontal Cortex.

ABC Radio National’s Health Report has a fantastic programme and video report on the ongoing problem of adolescent PTSD after the Bosnian conflict.

PsyBlog finds some vintage ‘candid camera’ TV footage illustrating social conformity with a too-good-to-be-true ending.

The burgeoning research on the use of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of medical conditions is covered by The Guardian – with brief podcast discussion.

Facial Frontier – sounds like the title of a porn movie but actually an article on the psychology of facial expression from The National Post.

The Guardian has a great podcast about music and the brain.

A number of new doom and gloom books about the effect of the internet on relationships, mind and brain and due out, report Wired. I predict many words, no hard evidence.

Live Science on a new study on how the ‘visual cortex’ is used in hearing and sound processing.

Another cool example of ‘hijacking intelligence‘ is covered by the Boston Globe that discusses the innovative use of CAPTCHs to solve difficult OCR problems.

We look at faces differently depending on our cultural background, according to new research covered by Wired Science. Full text of study in PLoS One.

The Times has a video of creepily lifelike avatar face animation which apparently ‘heralds new era for computer games’

Cool interactive brain games and learning suite from McGill University.

Science News on how dopamine has been a ‘forgotten’ neurotransmitter for sleep regulation. Forgotten? Huh? Amphetamine?

Levels of <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14563-aggression-written-in-the-shape-of-a-mans-face-.html
“>aggression can be partly predicted from face structure in ice hockey players, reports New Scientist.

MSN Lifestyle has a spectacularly bad and clich√©d article that is full of scientific misappropriation – rather ironically titled ‘The Male Brain, Explained’.

The 52nd edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just arrived, this time hosted by the excellent Ouroboros.

A couple of my favourites include a post on the latest science of ‘grandmother cells‘ at the combining cognits blog (the new name for the excellent ‘Memoirs of a Postgrad’) and another on neuroimaging and social attachment style on the new-to-me but engaging Neurotic Physiology.

There’s plenty more article in this fortnight’s edition, so have a look and see what sparks your curiosity.

Link to Encephalon 52.

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

Sharp Brains has a thoughtful piece on the hoped-for demise of dementia.

Peter Donnelly gives an excellent TED talk on how juries are fooled by statistics.

Channel N finds an interesting video lecture on the conditioned fear response and combat resilience in the armed forces.

Apparently we’re a ‘Top 100‘ Mental Health and Psychology Blog.

The Frontal Cortex has an interesting summary of a study on basketball pros and the mirror system. A nice complement to a study on ballet dancers and capoeira experts.

Is being gay in your biology? All in the Mind investigates.

The Situationist has an interesting piece on “The Psychology of Barack Obama as the Antichrist”. Cor blimey!

An interesting project to visualise sound to help deaf people interact with sound is covered by BBC News – with video of it in action.

Wired Science picks up on a new study that finds that placebos work better in children.

Cool! Artwork that displays separate images under different lighting conditions – with videos.

Furious Seasons has an excellent investigative piece on the fact that the FDA seem to be validating new psychiatric diagnoses off their own backs.

The most conceptually confused headline of the year? “Nature Or Nurture: Are You Who Your Brain Chemistry Says You Are?” Actually a study on addiction.

Is psychoanalysis equivalent to a spiritual practice? A commonly made link between psychoanalysis and religion is explored rather deftly in an article for The Immanent Frame.

The BPS Research Digest has an interesting piece on disaster psychology and why so many people perish needlessly in emergencies.

More from the Hot Spanish Psychologist. ¬°Vaya chica!

Not Exactly Rocket Science covers a fascinating study showing that referees have a tendency to award more points to competitors wearing red.

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

Language Log has an excellent piece on another reason why the amphetamine methylphenidate (Ritalin) may be popular as a study drug – apart from its boost to wakefulness it might actually improve some forms of learning.

Genes for schizophrenia uncovered. Again!

Scientific American reports on how our moral decision-making can be altered by distraction and additional cognitive effort.

Neurologist Robert Burton has a good piece in Salon on the placebo effect in conventional medicine.

Can cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce the risk of dementia? Newsweek examines evidence from a new study.

Furious Seasons on reports of people faking schizophrenia to get sleep-inducing antipsychotic drug quetiapine (Seroquel). God knows why.

US psychiatrists are deserting psychotherapy in favour of a sole focus on medication management, reports AP News. Original study here.

Edge presents A Short Course in Behavioural Economics. Scroll down past the chummy restaurant photos to get to the interesting bit.

Human brains have evolved a particularly strong capacity to detect what neuroscientists call ‚Äúerrors‚Äù. A sentence from a dreadful article on the ‘neuroscience’ ‘of’ ‘leadership’.

The New York Times discusses the benefits of boredom.

Researchers develop robots that learn to move themselves, reports BBC News. But the video shows they’re not just moving, they’re break dancing! Hey You The Robot Steady Crew, show em what you do, make a break, make a move.

Neuroanthropology has an excellent article on the sex differences and the ‘<a href="http://neuroanthropology.net/2008/08/07/girls-closing-math-gap-troubles-with-intelligence-1/
“>maths gap‘.

Daniel Dennett publishes an extract from his autobiography. No mention of inspiration for Santa-like beard yet.

Scientific American has an article on the neurological basis of genius.

The ‘torture debate‘ among US psychologists rumbles on and is covered by PsychCentral.

NPR Radio has an excellent piece on novelist Virginia Woolf and the psychology of the self, inspired by Jonah Lehrer’s recent book. Wonderfully produced in the unique RadioLab style.

Neuroscientist Shitij Kapur does the warm up for Gladys Knight with a lecture on dopamine and psychosis. No really. Channel N has the scoop.

The rather poetic 51st edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been published online and is graciously hosted by The Mouse Trap.

It has a distinctly poetic theme on this occasion, with a set of cognitive science haikus enlivening proceedings.

A couple of my favourite posts include one on the continuing mirror neuron hype and another on the cultural feedback loop between psychiatry and our expression of mental distress.

Link to Encephalon 51.

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

Awesome Developing Intelligence post gives a remarkably concise review of cognitive science and discusses what this tells us about the best targets for cognitive enhancement.

BookForum looks at two memoirs that recount the psychological and physical intricacies of illness of the body and brain.

The mighty Language Log has a great analysis looking at the fallacies of yet another popular piece on sex differences in mind and brain.

The Economist has an article on the science of cognitive nutrition.

The ideas behind ‘critical neuroscience‘ are discussed by Neuroanthropology.

Eric Schwitzgebel on the Wittgensteinian puzzle of whether philosophy solves problems with language or problems with the world.

ABC Radio National’s The Philosopher’s Zone has an interesting discussion on the philosophy of moral dilemmas.

While we’re on the subject of morality the NYT Freakanomics blog has two guest posts on moral hypocrisy.

Sharp Brains has a special on mind and brain haikus.

ABC Radio National’s In Conversation looks at the anthropology of sisters, mothering and motherhood across the world’s cultures.

Dr Petra has the most sensible post you’ll read about the recent news reports on Viagra supposedly increasing sexual function in women who take antidepressants.

Advances in object recognition around age 2 may herald symbolic thought, reports Science News.

Pure Pedantry has an interesting commentary on the merits of postponing your alcoholism.

Perpetually falling woman learns to balance with her tongue. The Telegraph has a story about a woman who has lost her sense of balance owing to brain injury.

The Primary Visual Cortex is an excellent new blog on vision science and perception.

A robot that “resembles the love child of a monkey and an iMac”. The Times has an excellent piece on robots designed to emotionally interface with humans.

Not Quite Rocket Science looks at a new study on language evolution in the lab and Wired Science has some further in-depth analysis.

A new book called ‘Brain Research for Policy Wonks’ is reviewed by Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

New Scientist has a special article and video report on the somewhat recursively titled ‘Seven Reasons Why People Hate Reason‘.

The psychology of motivation – when passionate interest becomes a business – is discussed by The Washington Post.

The New York times examines the methods and motivations of web trolls.

An eye-tracking study that compared how individuals with Williams syndrome (“hyper social”) and autism (“hypo social”) view pictures of social scenes is covered by The Neurocritic.

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

Neurophilosophy has a beautiful quote from the great Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal.

The miseries of losing one’s sense of smell are covered by an interesting Slate article on this neglected sense.

Cognitive Daily looks at a study which attempts to answer the question ‘Why do more Asians have perfect pitch?‘.

Two novels on identity theft are touched on by My Mind on Books.

The New York Times has an excellent multimedia feature on ‘The Voices of Bipolar Disorder’ where people affected by the condition discuss their experiences.

Delusions reflect Hollywood movie ‘The Truman Show‘.

Nature reviews the latest Disney animated feature about an artificially intelligent robot Wall-E.

The Female Brain or one female’s perspective? Neuroanthropology reports from a recent ‘critical neuroscience’ conference and a discussion about popular books on sex difference.

Scientific American on why anecdotal evidence can undermine scientific findings for most people.

SciAm’s Mind Matters blog on the neural energy drain of decision-making.

The BPS Research Digest looks at a study that reports novelty seekers have a right-sided spatial bias.

The neuroscience of insight is discussed in a tantalising excerpt from a New Yorker by The Frontal Cortex.

Psych Central has an interview with the insightful psychiatrist Daniel Carlat.

BooYaa! Straight-talking judge has some hard words for Eli Lilly in the ongoing court case over antipsychotic olanzapine (Zyprexa).

The 50th edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has arrived, with the best of the last fortnight’s mind and brain writing ably hosted by the excellent Sharp Brains.

Alvaro stars with a tongue-in-cheek request to remind people of the benefits of participating and hosting Encephalon at your blog.

If there’s a particular post your proud of and want to spread the word, or you’re interesting in getting exposure for your blog by hosting the high traffic festivities, just drop an email to encephalon dot host at gmail dot com.

A couple of my favourites from this edition include a completely fascinating post on the compulsive collecting of televisions reported in the medical literature, and another on the function of fearful faces.

The next edition will be hosted on the primed and ready Mouse Trap.

Link to Encephalon 50.

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

One I missed before – The New York Review of Books has an extended and thoughtful review of a stack of cognitive science books and Neurophilosophy has a great commentary.

The New York Times reports on the challenges of $600-a-session patients. Interesting to note it’s all described in terms of psychoanalysis – a therapy strangely ghettoed among the well-to-do.

TV producer creates a video documentary about his brain surgery for Parkinson’s disease.

Neuroanthropology discusses the best way of going about studying neuroanthropology and the problems you might face from other researchers worried about this crazy new mix of neuroscience and culture.

The history of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test is covered by Advances in the History of Psychology.

Wired notes that victims of ‘mind control‘ are to gather in Connecticut for a annual conference.

Fluoxetine for Fido. The New York Times examines the growing trend for using psychiatric drugs on pets.

To the bunkers! Channel N has a video on neurorobotics.

The BPS Research Digest finds a video discussion between psychologist Jonathan Haidt and political scientist Will Wilkinson on the psychology of morality.

Research finding <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/infants_remember_more_by_chunking_groups.php
“>memory ‘chunking’ in infants is covered by the excellent Not Quite Rocket Science.

SharpBrains has one of its bi-weekly round-ups of its interviews and all that’s new in the world of cognitive enhancement.

More from The New York Times, this time on the commercial release of the Emotiv Systems ‘brain reading’ gamer’s headset.

Cognitive Daily report on how playing video games can improve visual acuity.

Wall-E and and the evolution of emotion expression is discussed by Frontal Cortex.

Some slightly belated links from the past week in mind and brain news:

Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science follows up the piece on the ‘mobile network causes suicide’ nonsense, plus an interesting additional section on the plausibility effect.

Not Quite Rocket Science discusses the ‘Lady Macbeth effect’ and how physical cleanliness moral cleanliness are linked.

The recent study on mapping the brain’s white matter network is discussed in a short video by Scientific American.

The Boston Globe has an article about the recovery of child psychologist Seymour Papert, who suffered a serious brain injury 18 months ago.

My Mind on Books lists some forthcoming cognitive psychology books for 2008.

A career in forensic psychology is discussed by US psychologist Stephen Diamond.

The science of how melody and harmony combine to produce music is covered by Seed Magazine.

The New York Times reviews the debut novel of medic Rivka Galchen which seems to be about the Capgras delusion.

Better golfers see bigger holes according to research covered by PsyBlog.

Neuroanthropology looks at the work of anthropologist Felicitas Goodman on the connection between trance states and body posture which has some interesting parallels between work on hypnotisability and body posture.

Genes implicated in learning may also be linked to autism, reports Scientific American.

The Situationist has a video of Sam Gosling discussing his new book Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You.

Call-Me-Kenneth prototype the Care-o-Bot is profiled by the AI and Robots blog.

The Neurocritic discovers the newly launched photoshopped ‘Journal of Speed Dating Studies’. No, really. No, not at all it seems!