Category: Linkage

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

Third time lucky? After the third time time, it’s seemingly not luck, because we think it’s a pattern, according to research covered by the BPS Research Digest.

Why has Steven Pinker studied verbs for 20 years? Discover magazine publishes an interview and sets up a great feed for a joke. If only I could think of the punchline. Answers on a postcard…

BBC News on findings that fearful faces are recognised faster that happy faces.

The science of truthiness: gossip triumphs over facts in people’s financial decision making, reports The New York Times.

The Phineas Gage Fan Club examines the psychophysics of audiophiles and the limitations of human hearing.

Blood flow may be part of the brain’s information processing system, suggests a new paper in the Journal of Neurophysiology.

ABC Radio National’s Ockham’s Razor on the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on doctors.

Neurophilosophy finds more of the wonderful neurology of Alice in Wonderland: depictions of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome in migraine art.

Friends not sympathetic about your hangover? Banish those easily dismissable subjective impressions with the first psychometrically valid hangover scale.

Cognitive dissonance, one of the most important findings in social psychology, is discussed by PsyBlog.

The LA Times looks at research which has found that we get happier as we age, contrary to media stereotypes.

Yahoo! News on a study that finds that swearing at work can boost team spirit and morale. Running in corridors found to improve productivity.

Psychiatric assessments via video link are just as accurate as face to face consultations, reports Treatment Online.

Language Log brings some sense to the Neanderthals had ‘speech gene’ story that’s been doing the rounds.

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

Alternatives to the ‘war on drugs‘ are discussed by Foreign Policy magazine.

Language Log picks up on a startling new discovery from Dr Alfred Crokus’s lab: the corpus callosum is the ‘caring membrane‘ in the brain. Will wonders never cease?

The Neurocritic has a fantastic article on the neuroscience of social norms.

ABC Radio National’s The Health Report has a special on drugs and the teenage mind.

Neurophilosophy discovers some beautiful and striking memory art.

Is shyness a mental illness? PsyBlog considers whether diagnosis has gone too far and discusses how to overcome shy feelings.

New Scientist reports on a study that has found that seemingly spontaneous brain activity causes spontaneous mistaykes.

BPS Research Digest reports on an interesting study that differing attitudes about an individual’s place in society in Asian and American people can affect reasoning about time and place.

Oliver Sacks’s soon-to-be-released book ‘Musicophilia’ is reviewed by Slate.

PsychCentral has some important information on signs that someone might be suicidal.

Research finds a link between certain genes and risk of suicide after antidepressant use, according to a piece in Science News.

Deric Bownd’s discusses an interesting new study on the neuroscience of consciousness.

Fox News headline “Brain Found in Bag Outside Virginia Apartment Complex“. Quite unlike all those simple ones that have been found recently.

A recent study on spontaneous laughing and crying that can occur after a stroke is discussed by Corpus Callosum.

Epilepsy drug topiramate helps alcoholics quit the bottle according to a new study picked up by New Scientist.

Treatment Online reports that people with anorexia may have an altered sense of taste.

Video games may reduce gender gap in spatial ability. Cognitive Daily find and explain another cool study.

The 33rd edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just appeared on GNIF Brain Blogger and has the latest in the last fortnight’s mind and brain debates.

A couple of my favourites include a discussion of a recent study on how doctors learn to control their empathy for others’ pain at crucial moments, and one on the possibilities of gene therapy for Huntingdon’s disease.

There’s plenty more in the latest edition so have a browse through to get the whole range of articles and commentary.

Link to Encephalon 33.

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

Frederick Frese, legendary Professor of Psychology and Clinical Psychiatry, discusses his life with schizophrenia.

Mathematical modelling of movement finds clear differences between people with and without depression, reports The Economist.

The Moustrap covers a study finding that the brain shows similarities in the way that it handles tunes that violate our expectations of melody, and words that violate our expectations of sentences.

Is Alzheimer’s disease a form of diabetes? A striking hypothesis based on new findings in brain physiology.

The New York Times reports on a new study finding that cognitive behavioural therapy is likely to be a key treatment for depressed children and adolescents.

Retrospectacle discusses the curious case of Phineas Gage.

Britain’s youngest female brain surgeon, Dr (Ms?) Gelareh Zadeh, 35, introduces day-patient neurosurgery to the NHS.

A fantastic child psychology triple bill:

1) Cognitive Daily has another wonderful try-it-yourself article: Infants perceive language sounds differently by age 6 months.

2) Are infants born with a spider detection mechanism? Mixing Memory continues the child psychology theme.

3) Developing Intelligence finds that children produce less false memories with a method that has a strong effect in adults.

Has the digital word altered how the brain reads text? An article in the International Herald Tribune ponders the question.

I am not a number — I am a free man! Raymond Tallis argues that free will is not an illusion in Spiked Magazine.

Furious Seasons notes that drug company Bristol Myers Squibb pays $515 million to the US Department of Justice to settle a case over unauthorised ‘off-label’ promotion of its flagship antipsychotic medication.

Can we selectively reduce the impact of traumatic memories? SciAm’s Mind Matters blog investigates.

Three-Toed Sloth has an in-depth discussion of the debate over whether IQ is inherited. If you’re in a hurry, the summary is at the end.

PsyBlog critiques a recent dodgy news report suggesting that ‘conscientiousness’ may ward off Alzheimer’s.

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

TechReview has an article on teaching computers to have meaningful conversations. Presumably, teaching humans is going to be the next step.

Neurons avoid talking to themselves by using 19,000 forms of one gene, reports Ars Technia.

How moving your eyes in a specific way can help you solve a complex problem without even realizing it. An interesting study tackled in an article by OmniBrain and one by Mixing Memory

The Boston News discusses how digital technology gives us an almost permanent and sometimes uncomfortably long surrogate memory.

Neurophilosophy covers a case where a stroke causes a woman to feel sounds.

Happiness is a Warm Electrode. Popular Science magazine discusses deep brain stimulation treatment for severe depression.

Cognitive Daily asks why aren’t there more women in science and maths by looking at three key studies.

The New York Times asks why men are happier than women. Language Log asks why the NYT are overselling the statistics.

PsychCentral picks up on what looks like a great event in NYC: Comedians for suicide prevention.

Law professor Elyn Sacks’ new book on her experience of psychosis is reviewed on PsyBlog.

Treatment Online features a fMRI technique that may help the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Is it rational to do no harm? The Phineas Gage Fan Club investigates.

Ouroboros reports back from a Cambridge conference on effective therapies for postponing and treating the problems of human ageing.

What influences false recall? Developing Intelligence looks at a recent study which picks apart the processes.

Edition 32 of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been published on Living the Scientific Life.

A couple of my favourites include an article on foreign accent syndrome and another on the cerebellum as the cause of dyslexia.

Head on over for plenty more scientific curiosities from the internet’s best mind and brain writers.

Link to Encephalon 32.

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

SharpBrains has an interview with cognitive behaviour therapy guru Judith Beck about using CBT for effective dieting.

Wired wonders whether EEG-based brain-to-game interfaces may mess with our heads.

Hard-up students: Aren’t there a lot of psychology textbooks on torrent servers these days? Just sayin’

Genes which raise risk for schizophrenia have likely been positively selected for during evolution, reports SciAm.

The BPS Research Digest reports that having a pen in your mouth impairs your ability to recognise emotions in others, as you’re not as good at mirroring their facial expression.

Sally Satel discusses the early rumblings over the new DSM (due out 2012) in The New York Times.

NPR has an interesting programme on the the application of mathematics to tracking social networks of terrorists.

A lovely snippet from Cognitive Daily: more evidence that everyone has a little synesthesia.

Pinker’s working the crowd: An NPR radio interview on the new book, and Discover Magazine interview on the same.

Can information be directed to different networks in the brain depending on the “transmission frequency“, like the channels on a TV? Developing Intelligence investigates.

Forget troubled teens. The New York Times reports on baby boomers behaving badly.

To the bunkers! Further evidence that Skynet is about to become sentient:
* AIs set loose in virtual worlds to ‘hone their skills’.
* Reason Magazine will be saying ‘I told you so’ when AIs keep us as pets!

OmniBrain notes that the 2008 Visual Illusion Contest is open and accepting entries.

Track the performance of the neurotech industry!

Dr Petra discusses a recent study that asked teens about their definition of virginity – which is remarkably variable.

US Government outsources their wacky mind-control fantasies to Russia.

Analyse the negative, bask in the positive. PsyBlog has some evidence-based advice for increasing life satisfaction.

PsychCentral notes that the APA have earmarked $7.6 million ($7.6 million!) to upgrade their website over the next two years. PsychologicalReviewTube to be launched in 2009.

Pure Pedantry has found some beautiful pictures of the pre-synapse.

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

Female drug reps turn up surprisingly often as contestants on reality TV. Likely due to the fact that pharma companies make a point of hiring persuasively beautiful young women, such as cheerleaders and beauty queens.

Review of Pinker’s new book slams ‘The Edifice of Pinkerism‘. What a great name for a metal band!

BBC News reports on a randomised controlled trial that found that common food additives increase levels of hyperactivity in children.

Also from BBC News, depression associated with worse overall health.

The New York Times looks at some recent studies which show shown a small but significant link between the reduction in antidepressant prescribing and increase in youth suicide. Other data is more mixed, however.

Yahoo! News has a remarkably in-depth article on the difficulties of US soldiers returning home with brain injuries.

The Wilson Quarterly has a review of ‘Second Nature: Brain Science and Human ¬≠Knowledge’ by neurobiologist Gerald M. Edelman.

Delusional social networkers: A study I did a while ago gets picked up by Three Toed Sloth.

The Menstrual Joy Questionnaire: The Guardian takes a look at one of the more curious corners of psychology research.

SciAm Mind Matters discusses ‘Saying no to yourself: the neural mechanisms of self-control‘.

Interesting reading pattern discovered: When reading, each eye is focused on a different letter for approximately 50% of the time.

The LA Times has more on Elyn Saks, a successful law professor who lives with schizophrenia.

Scientists Spot Brain’s ‘Free Willy‘ Center. Just the title made me laugh out loud. More from Neurocritic on the neuroscience of free will.

The technique is new, but the finding isn’t: 3D face scans show distinctive facial structure for certain genetic syndromes. Media mangle the science, scientist loses his rag.

AddictionInfo has a section of articles on the history of the ‘disease model‘ of addiction.

ScienceDaily with the rather optimistic headline ‘brain network related to intelligence identified’.

Brief description of Capgras Syndrome in the NYT. Contrary to the author’s surprise it’s actually fairly common in older people with dementia and psychosis.

PsychCentral lists the Top 10 bipolar blogs.

Charity Autism Speaks created the traumatic ‘Autism Every Day’ advert. Some people with autism reply with the sardonic ‘Neurotypicalism Every Day’ video.

PsychAntenna is a database of RSS feeds from psychology and neuroscience resources from all over the internet so you can search and gather sites news to create your own custom news channel.

It includes a wide selection of news websites, but also indexes podcasts, academic journals and blogs.

The site has been created by Australian psychologist Dr Gareth Furber – the same person behind the popular PsychSplash website.

Link to PsychAntenna.

Psychology and neuroscience carnival, Encephalon, has just been posted online by Dr Deborah Serani and contains some of the best in the last fortnight’s mind and brain writing.

A couple of my favourites include a piece on the possible natural selection of genes that increase risk for schizophrenia and an excellent analysis of the popular but simplistic ‘triune brain theory’ (it is responsible for the overused and largely meaningless phrase ‘reptilian brain’).

Whenever I hear something like “every time you get aggressive, your reptilian brain kicks in”, I think to myself, “that’s weird, I don’t own any reptiles”.

There’s many more insightful articles in edition 31, so have a browse and see what catches your interest.

Link to Encephalon 31.

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

ADHD is so last season: 4000% increase in US ‘child bipolar’ diagnosis.

BBC Radio 4’s science programme The Material World spends a week with students at the psychology summer school.

Science News lists caffeine levels in almost all the popular soft drinks.

I’ve been digging Deric Bownd’s MindBlog recently. You should too.

An article in The New York Times reports that a new schizophrenia drug that targets glutamate, rather than the traditional dopamine, shows promise in early trials.

Philosopher Colin McGinn, champion of the New Mysterian school of consciousness (aka the Private James Frazer approach) has a blog.

PsyBlog examines a fascinating study which examined the writing of poets who later killed themselves to get an insight into suicide.

Yet another speed dating study. This one suggests that men select every woman above an obtainable attractiveness threshold, women look for indicators of long-term security.

Science News tackles the effectiveness of school violence prevention programmes.

The BPS Research Digest discovers free full-text access to Sage neuroscience journals.

NPR Radio have a short segment on a recent brain scanning study of the placebo effect.

Time magazine reports that sleep deprivation in early life may lead to future behavioral and cognitive problems.

An article on social engineering tricks drug reps use to persuade doctors to use their drugs. Industry responds with ‘other industries do the same’ and ‘we just present the facts’ lines. Well, which is it?

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

First online mental illness support group in Hong Kong launches!

Cognitive Daily uncovers a lovely study that finds that conversational partners coordinate eye movements and nose-scratching.

Dr Petra analyses the recent research showing a link between breast implants and suicide.

The Guardian releases mp3s of the originals tapes of Susan Blackmore’s ‘conversation on consciousness’ with Daniel Dennett, Francis Crick and V.S. Ramachandran.

The New York Times beams light to alter brain function.

Flashing the cash or saving the world can both be ways of attracting a mate, reports The Economist.

More from The Economist: a short article on how the brain develops important networks during childhood and adolescence.

The Frontal Cortex picks out some interesting aspects of the Flynn Effect – the fact that IQ seems to rise from generation to generation.

Nick Bostrom’s at it again with his simulation argument: The New York Times asks whether we’re living in a computer simulation. AI to be renamed AAI.

Not cyber enough for you? The Times looks body and brain mods and labels us the ‘Blade Runner generation‘.

PsyBlog examines research on the hidden purpose of chat-up lines.

Zen and the Art of Coping With Alzheimer’s: The New York Times looks at ways of dealing with challenging behaviour in dementia.

The awkwardly named but excellent Ouroboros has been, well, excellent, recently.

10 out of 10 for the patronising headline: New Scientist reports that ‘puppy love makes teenagers lose the plot’.

The Wall Street Journal argues that too many studies use college students as participants.

Low voltage current delivered to the head can cut down alcohol craving, reports Neuromod Blog.

The 29th edition of psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been published on the ever erudite Memoirs of a Postgrad.

A couple of my favourites include a post on an American football team using the discredited ‘Mozart effect‘ to boost performance, and a review of a paper showing that caffeine perks you up more effectively as you get older.

This edition includes a wide range of articles, so check it out if you’re interested what’s been occupying the minds of cognitive science writers during the last fortnight.

Link to Encephalon 29.

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

NPR has a radio show about a new book on ‘cognitive dissonance’, the process that motivates us to resolve conflicts between our thoughts and actions.

Mixing Memory has a wonderfully insightful look at a recent study on mirror neurons, animacy, and gesture.

This is Your Brain on Love. The LA Times has an article on the neuroscience of attraction and companionship.

Scientific American has an article on how the brain parses music and pays attention.

An unusual skull boosts the human-neandertal interbreeding theory, reports National Geographic.

How optimistic should you feel about having your first baby? Cognitive Daily looks at how well expectant mothers are able to predict post-birth satisfaction.

BBC Radio 4 sociology programme Thinking Allowed investigates friendship networks in Amazon peoples and the social psychology of shame and stigma.

‘Brain boosting’ educational videos for babies and young children may actually slow vocabulary growth, reports Science.

Car Zimmer writes about cooperation as a principle of evolution in the New York Times.

The Economist profiles evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller

Dr Petra Boynton looks at a recent study that report self-professed reasons people gave for having sex.

Science tattoos! Carl Zimmer is collecting pictures scientists with work-related ink, including this image of a development psychologist auditory neurophysiologist with the Necker Cube on her arm.

In light of recent disturbance in the mortgage market, Frontal Cortex has an excellent analysis on the psychology of subprime mortgages.

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

RadioLab has an edition on time, which includes a section with Oliver Sacks talking about patients with altered time perception.

Cannabis likely raises the risk of psychosis. Nothing we didn’t already know and best to read the original paper [pdf] as the story went completely bizarre as soon as it hit the press. Also discussed on The Lancet podcast [mp3].

Scientific American covers a new theory about the role of spontaneous genetic mutation in risk for autism.

A Wired columnist tries online sex therapy and reports back.

Neurophilosopher has a great article on reconstructive memory and cinema.

My ex-gay life: New York Edge has an article by someone who went through modern-day ‘gay conversion therapy’.

PsychMinded reports that a £16 million campaign to combat stigma related to mental illness has been launched in the UK.

What is guilt for? PsyBlog looks at psychological research which might provide the answer.

Blog around The Clock picks out a great selection of recent psychology news stories.

Verbal reassurance can dull the effect of pain, but only if it’s from someone we identify with, reports the BPS Research Digest.

Retrospectacle has an excellent review of the neuroscience of ADHD.

The 28th edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been published at Bohemian Scientist.

A couple of my favourites include a review of two new books on neuroplasticity and a discussion of art, context and the brain.

There’s plenty more diverse and in-depth articles, so head over for the best of the last fortnight’s mind and brain analysis.

Link to Encephalon 28 at Bohemian Scientist.