Category: Linkage

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

The Guardian asks whether the internet encourages insidious and bullying behaviour? Well, does it, punk?

We typically don’t remember our early years but it turns out this amnesia develops over time, as a brilliant piece on ‘The shifting boundary of childhood amnesia‘ at Psychology Today recounts.

BBC Radio 4 had a good documentary on the influence of Freud on British culture. Only three more days to listen – annoying, I know.

There’s a brilliant post on consciousness, mental time travel and the brain over at the consistently excellent Neuroskeptic.

BBC News report on the switch to short-acting barbiturate pentobarbital for the death penalty in the US. “a sedative typically used to put down animals” says the BBC, although they don’t mention it’s also used in the acute treatment of epileptic seizures.

Science News covers a new study on the intriguing but not very pleasant hallucinogen salvia divinorum.

Dan Ariely’s blog Irrationally Yours looks at how perception of value relates to worker effort not results.

The woman with no fear (and no amygdalae). Coverage from Not Exactly Rocket Science and Neurophilosophy outdid all the mainstreams.

The New York Times has a Bayesian take on Julian Assange: “…from the standpoint of Bayesian reasoning, to think we can separate out the merits of the charges from their political motivations.”

Footage of Freud and psychoanalysis – from the 1940s. Advances in the History of Psychology finds two archive gems.

The Guardian science blog covers an interesting study that tested whether sleep deprivation can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder.

For the first time, marijuana use is more common in American kids than cigarette smoking. The excellent Addiction Inbox has a great write-up.

Macleans has a great piece on fashionable paranoias. Nothing to fear but wifi and fluoride.

There’s an excellent analysis of how top flight science journals handle studies on language over at Child’s Play. In brief, they don’t.

The New York Times has a long but rewarding piece on ‘embodied cognition‘ by philosopher of mind Andy Clark.

The top 10 psychology studies of 2011 have been selected with excellent taste by Neuronarrative.

You all know the excellent Brain Ethics blog has just been relaunched right? New pieces on how to teach neuromarketing and whether genes make up your mind.

The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law has a thoughtful piece by a psychiatrist reflecting on Foucault, forensic psychiatry, and committing patients to hospital against their will.

We believe we have more free will than other people. Neurotic Physiology feels compelled to cover this fascinating new study.

The Guardian science blog has an eye-opening piece about the discrepancy between which childhood neurological disorders get the funding and which are most common.

The way in which data is collected for a psychology study affects the sort of people who volunteer. The BPS Research Digest covers the subtle effects of research design.

New Scientist has the best books of 2010 as chosen by neuroscience Steven Rose.

Psychologically inclined filmmaker Adam Curtis finds a social history gem on his BBC blog The Medium and the Message: a 1969 British documentary on the office Christmas party.

Seed Magazine looks at the science of interconnectedness and understanding risk in a connected world.

Contrary to lay wisdom, high trusters were significantly better than low trusters were at detecting lies. Barking up the Wrong Tree covers a counter-intuitive study.

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

The New York Times has an article on the sociology of the hipster. Sell outs.

Voodoo correlations – two years later. The Neurocritic looks back at the famous paper on problems with fMRI analysis and what, if anything, has changed in neuroscience as a result.

The Guardian has a piece from neuropsychopharmacologist David Nutt on how ‘the government cannot think logically about drugs’. Or education, as it turns out.

How an why do parents lie to their children? The brilliant Evidence Based Mummy covers some fascinating findings – for example – ‘parents who were more punitive in their response to their children lying were actually more likely to lie to their children.’

Time has a brief interview with Antonio Damasio on his new book on consciousness.

Curb those food cravings by imagining yourself eating lots of food. Not Exactly Rocket Science covers a counter-intuitive study on desire and imagination.

The Wall Street Journal has a great Dan Ariely article on the role of guilt in buying gifts. ’tis the season to feel slightly uncomfortable.

There’s an interview with neuropsychologist Suzanne Corkin, long time researcher with amnesic patient HM, over at Neurophilosophy. See the matching article on HM over at Dana.

New Scientist covers a study finding how your social ties can be worked out from coincidences in photos you upload to the internet.

Why is uncertainty so dangerous? The Frontal Cortex has an excellent piece on who fear of uncertainty can affect our decision-making.

Slate analysis the data grabbed from Firefox users to give an insight into our online behaviour.

The mighty Neuroskeptic covers a new study finding mindfulness meditation based therapy is as effective as anti-depressants in prevent relapses of depression for some patients.

Discover Magazine has a piece on the psychology of how not to choke under pressure. And no, it doesn’t mean getting your friend to do it for you.

Why does pot make you puke? Addiction Inbox looks at the neuroscience of cannabis and severe vomiting.

The New York Times looks at the neuroscience of solving ‘light bulb suddenly coming on the head and illuminating the answer’ problems. Otherwise known as insight problems.

There’s level-heading continuing coverage of the flap over the American Anthropological Association dropping “science” from its long-range plan statement over at Neuroanthropology.

All in the Mind from ABC Radio National had a challenging and thought-provoking programme on rethinking suicide by a researcher who has also attempted it.

Six haikus about psychology from Notably Conventional Delivery. Based on blog posts from the mind and brain blogoshere!

Scientific American has a thought-provoking and important article on whether psychedelic therapy exploits the placebo effect.

An originally designed study on paranoid explanations for others’ actions is discussed by the BPS Research Digest.

The Daily Beast has an excellent analysis of the silliness surrounding the so-called ‘slut gene’ and other over-interpreted genetic findings.

The German Admiral’s orgy and the breaking point of British WWII propaganda. PsyWar covers an interesting chapter in the history of PSYOPs.

The Guardian has a brilliant satirical piece on the sinister threat to our language and brains.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. I suspect the car manufacturer didn’t count on their statement being analysed by a philosopher of mind who specialises in perception. The Splintered Mind does us proud.

The Herald has a powerful account of the last minutes 2000AD and Judge Dredd comic artist John Hicklenton’s life as he visits the Dignitas assisted suicide service in Switzerland.

Does repetition really makes us believe people more? PsyBlog covers the evidence.

Wired Science covers and study on how being watched by a photograph of staring eyes can be enough to make us behave more responsibly.

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

The Wall Street Journal has a piece on how neuroscience is apparently being used to design kitchens. No, you haven’t just been slipped some acid – the article is real.

The sleeper effect: how a persuasive message can kick in months after it’s delivered. A great piece on persuasion and propaganda from PsyBlog.

Scientific American has an excellent piece on how Pfizer and Lundbeck published biased data to promote antidepressant reboxetine and how a new analysis of all the data show it doesn’t work and is possibly harmful. A ‘headdesk’ moment in science indeed.

Off-the-wall neuroblog OmniBrain is back. Inflatable brain? Don’t mind if I do.

The Boston Globe has a fantastic on the early history of ‘information overload’ panics. The printing press – oh my god – think of the children!

The problem is, which more intelligent AI should we build? The Nature, Brain, and Culture blog has an excellent critique of techno-utopianism and the ‘singularity’.

NeuroPod from Nature Neuroscience just released a new podcast with a particularly good section on the mix of genes and environment in schizophrenia.

Can psychology help combat pseudoscience? The BPS Research Digest covers a fascinating new study on applied cognitive bias busting.

Der Spiegel investigates what it’s like to be a captain of a cocaine smuggling submarine and talks to a former smuggler.

How to fool a lie detector brain scan. Neuroskeptic covers a study that found one type of scan can be misdirected with a surprisingly easy technique.

The New York Times reports on how Narcissistic Personality Disorder is likely to be removed from the DSM-5.

The American Anthropological Association just eliminated the mention of science from its ‘long-range plan statement’. Neuroanthropology has one of the most sensible takes on the subsequent shit-storm.

Scientific American has an excellent piece on the classic ‘mirror test’ of self-recognition and why ‘failure’ on the test doesn’t necessarily mean the participants have no sense of self.

The Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies is shortly to hold a conference and Addiction Inbox covers the intriguing line-up.

The LA Times describes how ‘erasing traumatic memories may soon be possible’ and discusses the ethical implications if the technology because reliable.

A new study reported that family income wasn’t related psychological development in children. Evidence Based Mummy asks ‘if money isn’t directly related to children’s development, what is?’

The Guardian reports on a new ban on the export of UK-manufactured sodium thiopental for use in US executions.

Seizures triggered by strawberry syrup. More tasty goodness from the ever-excellent Neurocritic.

Discover Magazine has an engaging piece on the mathematics of terrorism. Finding patterns amid the chaos.

So, there’s been loads of good stuff on the Advances in the History of Psychology blog recently. Don’t believe me? How about some history of female madness?

Contemporary Psychotherapy is a high-quality, open and online magazine for psychotherapists and new edition has just hit the virtual shelves. Good stuff.

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

The New York Times has an excellent piece by wide-thinking neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky: This Is Your Brain on Metaphors. Want more metaphors? This week’s ‘In Our Time’ had a history.

The web’s best optical illusion videos from io9.

The Guardian has an excellent piece covering some of the latest findings in the neuroscience of synaesthesia.

Thank you LanguageLog for the keeping it real coverage of The New York Times’ odd anecdote-led ‘Your Brain on Computers’ series.

New Scientist on a New York exhibition of Franz Messerschmidt’s sculptures – a series of “character heads” whose distorted facial features he believed had the power to ward off the demons that tormented him by pinching his thighs and abdomen.

Waiting for the sky gods of brain science. Oscillatory Thoughts takes a critical look at headline-making blue-sky-and-bluster neuroscience projects.

ScienceNews covers new research on bomb blast brain protection finding helmet visors may prevent shock waves entering through the face.

What makes a good gift? Irrationally Yours discusses how to select a present for maximum guilt-alleviating impact.

NPR has a brilliant piece on siblings, personality development, genetics, environment and why two people who grow up together can be so different.

A 15-minute writing exercise closes the gender gap in university-level physics according to research expertly covered by Not Exactly Rocket Science. Now someone hurry up and invent one for psychology so I look less of a klutz in front of my female colleagues.

The Morning News has a brilliant first-person account of someone caught up in compulsive gambling.

A diagnosis of schizophrenia exited the body of a white housewife, flew across the hospital, and landed on a young Black man from the housing projects of Detroit. Brilliant In the News piece on recent research on ‘how schizophrenia became a black disease’.

BBC Radio 3 had an surprisingly engrossing programme on when Freud met the composer Mahler. You have only two days left to listen to it and streaming only. Public funding in action.

Does having children really make us less happy, despite the contrary stereotype? Evidence Based Mummy has an excellent piece that delves into the detail.

The Wall Street Journal has a piece by VR pioneer Jaron Lanier on the psychology of being an avatar.

The ‘smell of fear’ makes us dangerous. The BPS Research Digest covers a piece on how the scent of anxious people encourages risk taking.

APA Monitor magazine for December has just arrived online. Lots of psychology goodness from the American Psychological Association.

A mirror neuron dance party for autism spectrum disorders. The Neurocritic tackles a funky if not wildly speculative treatment for ASD.

The New York Times covers the increasing use of virtual reality in psychological treatment.

The psychiatric hospital best known as the site for the filming of the 1975 movie “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” will soon be reopened for patients. Providentia has the news.

Time magazine has a piece on how posh people are worse at reading emotion in faces. Better manners though, and that’s what counts.

Do guns make violence more likely? Barking Up the Wrong Tree tackles a relevant study.

The Guardian has an important and interesting piece on false memory, unsound convictions and a legal system that still relies on the vagaries of recall.

‘Synthetic cannabis’ has been given an immediate and temporary ban in the United States. Addiction Inbox, as always, has brilliant coverage.

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

The now expanded megalist of ‘Psychologists on Twitter’ is going strong over at The BPS Research Digest.

New Scientist has a special section that collects coverage from the recent Society for Neuroscience annual megaconference. From orgasms to virtual reality.

The debate over the earliest use of tools by humans has become all scowls and flying handbags. Not Exactly Rocket Science has brilliant coverage of the heated debate.

Discover Magazine covers a technical but fascinating phenomenon called the ‘psychological refractory period’ – sort of like your brain’s recovery zone – and what it tells us about how your brain manages cognitive load.

There’s a really fantastic piece on the neuroscience of time perception over at io9.

The New York Times on covers how children as young as 3 are less likely to help a person after they have seen them harm someone else – suggesting an early development of the ability to understand intention.

This may be one of the most enraging pieces you read all week. OpenMedicine covers how AstraZeneca buried negative findings on its antipsychotic drug Seroquel. Taken from company emails that came to light in a recent court case.

Time covers a fascinating study on stoners, stereotype threat and the cognitive impact of marijuana.

A Swedish girl developed all the major symptoms of autism at 14, following a viral infection. Another wonderful post from Neuroskeptic covers the case.

Discovery News has a piece on how some ancient Peruvian temples may have been designed with acoustics designed to interact with mind-altering drugs.

Mental illness suspected in ‘fairy abduction’. Another curious case covered by the wonderful Providentia blog.

The Guardian has a great piece on the latest development in optogenetics – light control of neurons – hot from SfN.

Neurowriter Jonah Lehrer is one of Salon’s sexiest men of 2010 (aftershave coming soon). I suspect because of this brilliant analysis of the recent ‘precognition’ study.

The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the psychological strain of art school and why it has specific mental health needs.

There was lots of misleading coverage of the genuinely interesting ‘Tetris and trauma’ study. The Neurocritic discusses what was actually done.

Is a roller coaster and a Red Bull a smart first date? asks Barking Up the Wrong Tree. I didn’t know there was any other type to be honest.

All in the Mind from ABC Radio National had a good discussion from two authors from recent ‘brain gender myth’ books.

Does money matter when raising children? More from the ever-fascinating Evidence Based Mummy.

The Economist has a fantastic piece on the ‘uncanny valley’ of robot eeriness.

The Phenomenology of Being a Jerk. A deadpan but genuine attempt to discusses the phenomenon over at The Splintered Mind.

Wired Science covers a fascinating network analysis of the economic entities in the run up to the 2008 crash.

There’s a fantastic piece on the Changizi Blog on the philosophy behind scientific inference.

CNET News says that the human brain has more switches than all computers on Earth. I would like to add that the interfaces are also much better.

The history of photography in the study of madness. Wonderfully illustrated post from Academitron.

The New York Times has an in-depth article on the high-fat ketogenic diet which has been proved to help control epilepsy.

I’ve just been really digging the h-madness history of psychiatry blog recently. Great stuff.

RadioLab has audio from a recent talk on whether technology can be thought of as an active component in evolution. A more subtle idea that I first assumed.

The bright side of the “depression-risk gene”. David Dobbs is developing an important and innovative view of psychiatric genetics, this is a great example from his Neuron Culture blog.

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

Nature has put all of their schizophrenia special issue articles, features and podcast in one handy accessible page.

There’s an extensive list of psychologists on Twitter over at The BPS Research Digest. Where else do you get to ask psychologists to free associate?

Slate has an excellent piece on why diagnoses of ‘child bipolar disorder’ are skyrocketing in the United States.

A history of cigarettes being edited out of famous photos for modern audiences. Addiction Inbox on tobacco-inspired history editing. Still hungry for, er… less? See the follow-up.

Science News on how minds wander 30 percent of the time during all activities except sex – when we lie back and think of England. God save the Queen.

Missed this last week: ‘What is psychopathology?’ A mini blog carnival hosted by The Thoughtful Animal hits the wires.

The New York Times reports on how the Chinese government are increasingly using psychiatric hospitals to silence dissidents.

The psychology of immersion in video games. An excellent post from the Psychology of Video Games blog covers who games achieve that little touch of the Matrix.

Wired looks back on how the world’s first lobotomy was performed 75 years ago today.

The next step in research showing how a visual-spatial puzzle like Tetris after emotional upset could prevent PTSD-like flashbacks is covered at Not Exactly Rocket Science.

BBC News has video on a robot actress who makes her debut in Japan – who I actually quite fancy until it moves. My eyes! My eyes!

Genes to brains to minds to… murder? The wonderful Neuroskeptic looks at some unusual claims made by a new case study.

BoingBoing has a copy of one of Elvis’s prescriptions. Note to dead Elvis: balanced medical care does not mean uppers and downers in equal proportions.

Want to prove a point about electrical activity in the scalp muscles being confused for brain activity? Why not use an Amazonian neurotoxin to paralyse yourself? Oscillatory Thoughts covers the amazing study.

Discover Magazine has a piece on an interesting theory that a virus may be causing some cases of schizophrenia.

Would you get a tattoo if it was offered free? Perhaps after downing a few beers. Irrationally Yours discusses a curious instant study on a strange promotional offer.

Analysis, the BBC Radio 4 documentary programme, discusses a new UK scheme to rehabilitate offenders funded by bonds. Essentially, you get make money on your investment if re-offending is cut – like betting on social interventions.

A new evidence-based approach to radically re-understanding mental illness from the ground up is covered by an excellent piece at The Neurocritic.

The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses art school and mental health.

Literacy may have stolen brain power from other functions, says Ars Technica. In my case, my sense of style.

All in the Mind, the Aussie one that is, had a brilliant programme on a modular approach to understanding the development of the mind.

Balanced arguments are more persuasive. PsyBlog covers research on how too much rhetorical bias turns us off.

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

The science of makeup. An excellent piece on the psychology of how cosmetics enhance allure over at Observations of a Nerd.

The New York Magazine has an excellent piece on how the psychology of narcissism affects politics. Widens from its initial focus on current US politics.

We’re more persuaded when we see similarities between ourselves and others, according to research covered by PsyBlog.

The Onion reports on a hot new relationship book that warns women: Wake Up! He’s A Shapeshifter.

A fascinating history of the “you can’t tell by looking” message in adverts about sexually transmitted infections – by Dr Petra.

Scientific American has another excellent instalment of Jess Bering’s Bering in Mind column on the evolution of obesity.

Retinal implant partially restores sight to blind. The cyber future is here and Not Exactly Rocket Science has an excellent piece on the science.

Wired on a call from US neurologists for strict sports-concussion guidelines after recent research showing long-term dangers.

Does how masculine or feminine a person is predict sexual orientation? asks Barking Up the Wrong Tree

The Lancet has a study on the effect of a recent UK ban on the stimulant mephedrone: still available and twice the price.

Does torture work? asks The Lay Scientist. Does it matter, is probably more to the point.

Science News reports on how the first stone tools in Africa may have been made perhaps 50,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Is there such a thing as a ‘culture of poverty‘? Neuroanthropology take a considered look at the concept.

The New York Times has a piece on how there is an increasing drive to diagnose autism in younger children to try and apply therapy to improve outcome.

What economists refer to as “anomalies” are actually what everyone else would call “real life”. Emorationality on how anomalies in traditional economic theory are actually normal psychology.

Seed Magazine discusses how what goes into placebo pills is barely documented in clinical trials, despite the fact that the ingredients might have an impact.

A new study on brain damage suggests cognition isn’t a localisable as we like to think. Oscillatory Thoughts covers his own study. I think we need more scientists blogging their own research. Good stuff.

Time covers new research finding a specific link between the CNTNAP2 gene and the extent of inter-cortical connections in the brain of people with autism.

There’s a great piece on new ‘designer drug’ mephedrone over at Addition Inbox.

CNN reports on the unusual case where a group of kids saw their dead schoolmate’s brain in a jar on a school trip to the medical examiner’s office.

The designer of the Psychology Today 1970’s ‘racism board game’ comments on our recent post about the product. Some fascinating context.

Gizmodo has some rough Facebook data that shows what time of year relationship breakups are more likely to occur.

The neurochemistry of mood and sleep changes are covered by the excellent Neuroskeptic. Also see his coverage on the ‘bionic eye’ news.

The Varsity has an excellent piece on the psychological management of the trapped Chilean miners.

Dan Ariely on his Irrationally Yours blog lists the ‘Seven Most Powerful New Economists’.

Wired Danger Room reports on how the US Air Force wants neuroweapons to overwhelm enemy minds.

A ‘koro’ penis shrinking panic strikes an Indian labour camp and Providentia has the write-up.

The Independent reports on new revelations on how modern art was used as CIA Cold War propaganda.

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

Two words: Zombie Neuroscience. Oscillatory Thoughts on the strange tale of how the author became one of the world’s most sought after neuroscientists for the undead.

Scientific American on how graphic warnings on cigarette packets put off occasional smokers but heavy smokers react by taking even harder drags.

When people are faced with scientific research that clashes with their personal view, they try a range of strategies to discount the findings. Excellent BPS Research Digest interview.

Esquire has a feature article on amnesic patient HM. Neuroscience served with a ‘Women We Love’ gallery – what more could you want? I can hear some of you saying a ‘Men We Love’ gallery.

Do sisters make us happier? asks The Frontal Cortex.

The Guardian has an exasperated article about the rent-a-quote psychologists and pseudo-psychologists happy to spout all kinds of nonsense about troubled footballer Wayne Rooney.

There’s a fantastic in-depth discussion about the role of cooking in human brain evolution over at Neuroanthropology.

The Boston Globe covers philosopher Peter Hacker’s block rocking challenge to neuroscientists: make sense! There’s an expanded piece where he attacks more sacred cows over at The Philosopher’s Magazine.

This week’s editor’s selection from ResearchBlogging.org focuses on psychology and neuroscience posts.

Seed Magazine has an excellent article asking ‘do smoking bans work?’

The misconduct case against Marc Hauser may be looking shaky, or it might not. Neuroskeptic covers the machinations.

The Science Show from ABC Radio National has a short but excellent discussion on how rational and human reasoning differ.

The official bloggers have been announced for the Society for Neuroscience conference and hardly any of them seem to have a blog. Fear not, Functional Neurogenesis has a list of both official and unofficial bloggers covering the event.

Newsweek has a good piece on how researching premature babies can help us understanding neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.

The excellent Addiction Inbox covers a new report by the UN on the world-wide use of synthetic highs and the ‘designer drugs’ trade.

Time has a photo essay by a photographer who has created a ‘photographic conversation’ with his autistic son.

The Encephalon mind and brain blogging carnival is back from the dead! You can read it over at Cephalove.

Discover Magazine has an excellent piece on consciousness, tinnitus (‘ringing in the ears’) and how it be treated by tweaking the brain’s tone map.

Ace forensic psychologist Karen Franklin who normally blogs at In the News has started a new blog called Witness aimed at introducing people to forensic and criminal psychology.

New Scientist has and interesting illusion that aims to combine a perceptual distortion with a beauty perception quirk.

The text of the latest annual ‘State of the Regiment’ address to the US military PSYOP units is up over at the PSYOP Regimental Blog.

The Lancet has a critical essay on genetics, the media and claims that new psychological disorders are suddenly ‘biological’.

What’s the chance that a man’s kids are not really his, biologically? Barking Up the Wrong Tree looks at the statistics.

The Atlantic has more images from the ‘Portraits of the Mind’ book on the history of depictions of the brain that we featured recently.

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

Scientific American Mind’s Bering in Mind has two unmissable pieces on the psychology of suicide – the first taking a critical look at the idea that suicide might be adaptive in some cases, the second looking at the individual psychology of the suicidal person.

Why shaking someone’s beliefs turns them into stronger advocates. Not Exactly Rocket Science covers a new study on the endlessly fascinating effects of cognitive dissonance.

The Lancet has an excellent open essay on neuroethics and brain science.

Speakers with a foreign accent are perceived as less credible – and not just because of prejudice. The BPS Research Digest reports on some disappointing data to follow last weeks news about reduced libido in foreign countries.

New Scientist has a good series on the science of morality which has some paywalled pieces which, annoyingly, aren’t well marked.

Journalist Carl Zimmer is interviewed about his new neuroscience e-book, Brain Cuttings, and the electronic future of science writing over at Neurotribes.

The New York Times has an interactive feature on how psychology is being applied to school cafeteria design to encourage healthy eating

To the bunkers! Popular Science reports on the first fully automated robot surgery to removed a prostate. Today, a prostate, tomorrow your frontal lobes.

Seed Magazine has a short but through-provoking piece wondering whether vaccine quackery in autism is partly supported by cognitive biases that under-value ‘sins of omission’ in causal explanations.

Light swearing at the start or end of a persuasive speech can help influence an audience according to a new piece from PsyBlog. Welcome, new dawn of evidence-based swearing.

CNN reports on the 20-year-old female criminology student whose just been made police chief in a dangerous Mexican town shortly after the mayor was murdered.

Emos rejoice! Feeling sad makes us more creative, according to research covered by a great Frontal Cortex piece. OK, stop rejoicing, you’ll lose that artistic edge.

Science News covers an intriguing new study finding that we value potential purchases more highly and are more likely to buy if they’re physically present.

A study covered by Barking Up the Wrong Tree reports that you have a 6% chance of shagging someone you meet at a speed-dating event. What’s the standard deviation you ask? Doesn’t say but my guess is spanking.

Wired Danger Room takes a critical look at the US Army’s ‘breakthrough’ blood test for brain injury and notes that there’s more than a little hype in its announcement.

Contrary to the researchers’ expectations people with autism were more susceptible to magic tricks than neurotypical folks. Great write up on the Cracking the Enigma blog.

BBC News has pictures of the Mexican authorities burning 105 tons of marijuana. Think 50 Cent gig without the baseball caps.

There’s an excellent piece on how the concept of risk became central to psychiatry over the Frontier Psychiatrist.

RadioLab has an excellent short podcast on communication patterns embedded in animal calls.

[Honestly dear], receiving a massage increases trust and co-operation in a financial game. Dan Ariely’s excellent Irrationally Yours blog covers an interesting study that also works as a good excuse for executives.

The Economist argues that the Mexican drug war could be curtailed with better police in Mexico, stricter gun laws in America and legal pot in California. Best of luck with that.

Got a solution? Well, have we got a problem to sell you. Pharmalot interviews author of new book ‘Sex, Lies & Pharmaceuticals’ on the invention of female Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and the new pills that are supposed to treat it.

The British Psychological Society are looking for a freelance blogger to write about occupational and business psychology. Interested?

On the controversy that ripped anthropology asunder – the trashing of Margaret Mead. Great coverage of a new book by Savage Minds.

NPR Science has a piece on a fascinating anthropological study of Japanese teens finding that most electronic messages they send have no ‘news’ – they’re just signalling their social connectedness.

A history of psychology post-doc is blogging her tour of US asylums past and present over at Asylum Notes.

There’s a great interview with broad thinking perceptual psychologist Mark Changizi over at Neuroanthropology.

GQ has a compelling, tragic and enraging feature article on the man shortly to stand trial accused of encouraging suicidal people to kill themselves online by pretending to enter into suicide pacts. Great journalism on a dreadful case.

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

Anti-depressant reboxetine has been found to be ineffective and potentially harmful. How come nobody knew, you ask. Well, because Pfizer hid 74% of the trial data. Link to scientific study here and Neuroskeptic’s take here.

The Telegraph has an excellent article on free will and the brain that has a deadpan photo made unintentionally hilarious by an odd caption.

Mind Hacks was kindly chosen as one of six notable science blogs by The Times Eureka Magazine. If you don’t remember The Times, it’s a British newspaper that locked itself out of the internet but you can read the piece here on selector Alice Bell’s blog.

The Wall Street Journal on how the White House have a policy of not sending condolence letters to families of soldiers who commit suicide and the campaign to change their medieval policy.

A round-up of the last three months of the excellent Evidence Based Mummy blog is now available online.

e! Science News covers a meta-analysis of more than a million people finding that females are equal to males in maths skills.

There’s more on the fascinating topic of unconscious expertise over at Barking up the Wrong Tree blog that asks whether experts can play chess without thinking.

Wired Science covers an interesting study finding that love makes you increasingly ignorant of your partner. Thankfully doesn’t affect those of us with the character depth of a dry puddle.

There’s some rough data gay / straight myth busting over at the blog of the OkCupid dating site which crunches their millions big database of members.

Science News reports on a study finding that a slow release implant of the drug buprenorphine helps heroin users kick the habit.

Philosopher Joshua Knobe and psychologist Lera Borodoitsky discuss whether language shapes thought on bloggingheads.tv via 3 Quarks Daily.

Cerebrum, the excellent online neuroscience magazine from The Dana Foundation has a great piece on the brain’s default network: Your Mind, on Its Own Time

Receiving a massage increases trust and co-operation in a financial game. Great coverage of a fascinating study from Dan Ariely’s Irrationally Yours blog.

The New York Times discusses the interesting proposition that happiness is not a state of mind.

A six-week science programme for two to three-year-old children boosted their exploratory ‘science-like’ play according to a study brilliantly covered by the BPS Research Digest. Timmy, take Tabatha’s hand out of the particle accelerator please.

New Scientist covers a study finding that for men, moving country can affect the libido. Once I get hold of the scientific paper, I fully intend to find fault with irrelevant details in this clearly misguided study.

There’s a completely fascinating discussion of language, context and its use in experimental philosophy over at Child’s Play.

The New York Times has an obituary for Philippa Foot, moral philosopher and inventor of the trolley problem.

Why are the effects of marijuana so unpredictable? asks The Frontal Cortex.

The LA Times asks whether bilingualism can improve your brain’s multitasking power? Je ne sais pas is the answer.

The Online Society: 50 Internet Psychology Studies. Great round-up of a slew of great studies on the net by the ever-excellent PsyBlog.

New Scientist has a piece on a fascinating study finding it’s possible to spot cases of flu by looking for changes in the movement and communication patterns of infected people by using data from the mobile phone network.

A study finding a correlation between screen time and psychological difficulties in children is ably de-hyped by Carmen Gets Around.

The Wall Street Journal looks at how marketing companies are building profiles by scraping data from internet forums.

Science you never knew you needed from NCBI ROFL: Detection and management of pornography-seeking in an online clinical dermatology atlas.

Wired Science covers a fascinating study suggesting that cultures evolve in small increments but collapse quickly.

Just loads of great stuff on Neuroanthropology this week. You’re best just heading on over and having a browse.

Only forensic psychology blog In the News could bring you news of an exciting new sex offender treatment model.

The LA Times covers a recent consensus giving guidelines on which patients with Parkinson’s disease should be eligible for deep brain stimulation surgery.

The US Army are getting concerned about the use of the new generation of synthetic cannabinoids among their rank and file, according to some great coverage by Addiction Inbox.

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

New York Magazine has an excellent article on the psychology of why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit.

The ever-incisive Neuroskeptic covers a fascinating study on retaliation and cycles of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Technology Review covers the launch of a massive new ‘connectome‘ project to map the connections of the brain on a massive scale.

Is there any evidence for the “porn-addicted brain”? Neurocritic hits it out of the park, if you’ll excuse the expression, with a great critical piece.

The New York Times covers how antipsychotics became some of the biggest selling drugs on the planet on the back of dodgy marketing and illegal sales practices. The lawsuits are now raining down.

A new 3D film by Werner Herzog on what the Chauvet cave paintings tell us about the mind of the creators gets a great write-up on The Beautiful Brain.

The Philosopher’s Zone had a fantastic discussion on the ‘extended mind hypothesis’.

Some excellent coverage of the recent ‘genetics of ADHD’ study and why genes are not a good answer to the stigma of mental illness over at Bad Science.

The Times has an excellent piece on the hidden dangers of ‘black box research’ where high-level algorithms shape our view of the world without us understanding what they’re doing. The article is paywalled but the author, Aleks Krotoski, has put a full version online.

Best forensic psychology blog on the net, In the News, discusses a radical proposal to apply ad-hoc ethics to managing violent sexual offenders.

The Dana Foundation has an excellent piece on what makes some people more vulnerable to stress and trauma than others.

How to form a habit. A truly fascinating piece from the BPS Research Digest – “the average time to reach peak automaticity was 66 days”.

The Economist reports on a new device for paralysed patients that allows them to communicate by sniffing.

Christine O’Donnell says scientists have made “mice with fully functioning human brains”. Wiring the Brain sardonically investigates this blinding scientific insight.

Scientific American Mind has a great piece on how researchers are measuring the beating of the heart to understand the mind.

Remind me to read Dan Ariely’s blog more often, it’s bloody brilliant. In this post there’s a copy of one of Hitler’s voting papers with a behavioural economics style nudge.

The New Yorker asks what we can learn about the mind from studying procrastination.

The history of ADHD is covered in a fantastic piece by the Child’s Play blog which is just getting better and better.

American Scientist has an in-depth review of the ‘Invisible Gorilla’ book on change blindness which looks very good.

There’s some fantastic coverage of the high cannibidiol, low memory impact cannabis study over at the mighty Addiction Inbox.

CNN has a great interview with Michael J. Fox on life and Parkinson’s disease.

Is epigenetics the fashionable new all-purpose woolly scientific explanation? asks a great post on Gene Expression.

The New York Times has an article exploring how memory biases lead us to think that are failings were in the distant past while our successes were only recent.

Diffusion Spectrum Imaging brain scans are really beautiful.

New Scientist covers the discovery of tattoos on an ancient Peruvian mummy that seemed to have a healing purpose.

The recent story on ‘the pill is changing women’s brains’ story is made coherent by a great post on Neurotic Physiology. Hint: the menstrual cycle has a similar effect.

Time has a fantastic piece marking the 30th anniversary of a newspaper report about an 8-year-old heroin addict that won the Pullitzer Prize – and was subsequently revealed as a fake.

October 10th is World Mental Health Day. Providentia has the low down.

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating piece on how women are more likely to be rewarded at work if they’re thin, men as they rise in weight up to the point of 207 pounds! NB: Correlation, causation etc etc.

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

The science of choking under pressure is discussed in a brilliant piece on Neuron Culture.

New Scientist has a debate on whether psychoanalysis should have a place in London’s Science Museum. Although getting science in London’s Freud museum would be the real challenge.

The performance of young children on the ‘mirror self-recognition test’ varies hugely across cultures, according to an bull-in-the-china-shop study covered by the BPS Research Digest.

TED has a great talk from neuroscientist Sebastian Seung on the ‘connectome‘ – the project to understand the brain’s ‘wiring diagram’ and what it means. Quite speculative in places but good fun.

Macho financial stereotypes affect female financial behaviour making women more risk averse. An intriguing study looking at how ‘stereotype threat’ impacts on economic behaviour elegantly covered by Not Exactly Rocket Science.

The Wall Street Journal has an article on ambivalence. Not too bad.

The idea that the time in the womb is one of the most powerful shapers of your life hits Time. See the essential background from Neuroanthropology.

Wired Science covers the under-researched area of group intelligence, finding that emotional awareness, not individual intelligence, contributes most to group problem-solving power.

A fascinating study explaining why self-touch on the site of an injury reduces pain but a touch from someone else on the same spot can be excruciating is covered by Nature’s The Great Beyond blog.

The Independent has a good piece on ‘blindsight‘ patients who are consciously blind who can be avoid obstacles.

To the bunkers! Largest ever swarm of flying robots takes to the sky. Wired UK pre-warns us of the threat from above.

A cherry picking lesson from Big Pharma, via Neuroskeptic.

The New Yorker has a big Malcolm Gladwell article on online social networks and damp squib activism. Don’t take without two fantastic commentaries: one from The Atlantic and another from The Frontal Cortex.

A first translation of the 18th century French Royal Commission Report on ‘animal magnetism‘ (i.e. ‘mesmerism’) is covered by Advances in the History of Psychology.

Time asks why do heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers?

Every time you reach for something, there’s a squabbling match in your brain, according to a study covered by Not Exactly Rocket Science. Often, my brain keeps squabbling afterwards.

Discover Magazine has a short piece by Oliver Sacks on his hopes on how neuroscience will develop in the next thirty years.

There’s a fascinating look at the life and ideas of prison reform theorist Kenneth Hartman over at In the News. Unlike most other thinkers in the area, he’s currently serving life.

The Lancet has a fantastic piece on the psychology of selecting medical students to be good professional doctors. Science grades, it turns out, count for shit.

Fulfilling your child’s desires may help them understand those of others. An intriguing study covered by Evidence Based Mummy.

Slate has a fascinating piece on the history of male-female friendships, noting that before the 20th century, friendship was single-sex.

A new World Health Organisation report on mental health and mental illness in the developing world is covered by Providentia. “…over 80 per cent of people in need have no access to psychological or psychiatric treatment”.

New Scientist has an excellent piece on how handbags are flying over the science of evolved altruism.

Our brain connections become more sparse and sharp with aging. Deric Bownds’ MindBlog covers a new scanning study on inevitable decline – has some lovely images.

BBC News reports that US executions are delayed because of a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental.

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

The Guardian has a great piece on the attempts to create a brain-wave-based criminal-catching lie detector and why the technology hasn’t yet matched the hype.

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the excellent NeuroShrink blog recently. The latest post explores the link between Viagra and a transient but poorly understood form of amnesia.

Wired UK has a brief piece on how ‘scientists can read your face like a data-filled book’. In other words, slowly and only when asked to by the lab boss.

Fascinating cases of ‘sociopathic dementia‘ and their neurological explanations are discussed by the ever-excellent Neuroskeptic.

Scientific American has a great piece on the the neuroscience of selfhood that riffs on some of the unusual neurological cases of self-distortion we touch on recently.

There’s an in-depth but rewarding discussion on Child’s Play that challenges the orthodoxy that learning theories can’t explain how children acquire language because kids are often not corrected when they talk incorrectly.

Discover Magazine has an excellent article about how problems with understanding the spatial layout of the outside world after brain injury are helping us understand the neuroscience of space perception.

There odd and frankly stomach churning experiments of neurologist Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard are described in an eye-opening piece from Oscillatory Thoughts.

Seed Magazine looks at the popularity of the concept of the soul and how it relates to what we know about the neuroscience of integrated experience.

A professor of forensic psychology specialising in violence rails against a new proposed US law to restrict violent video games as a “waste of taxpayer money.” In the News covers his statement with a nice summary of the science.

The Atlantic asks ‘Where does music come from?’ and discusses possible reasons behind the existence of one of humankind’s more puzzling inventions.

JFK was killed by a neurotoxin deployed with a rocket launching umbrella, at least according to a theory published in the eccentric uncle of the science world – Medical Hypotheses. The Neurocritic covers the novel and unusually illustrated theory.

Salon has an amazing interview with someone who believed they had a ‘recovered memory’ of childhood abuse but later came to realise they’d falsely accused their father.

A great resource for films on medical anthropology available online is published on Somatosphere.

Scientific American’s Bering in Mind discusses the psychoactive effects of human semen. Insert your own ‘mind blowing’ jokes at will.

The excellent Wired the Brain blog has a great piece on the ancient origins of the cerebral cortex and the evolution of the brain.

The Guardian has a funny article on how the author almost got jailed for cocaine smuggling, why tests need to control for false positives, and why drug testing children is a bad idea.

Denglish, the German version of Spanglish, is covered in a delightful post over at LanguageLog.

The Sydney Morning Herald has an excellent interview with neuroscientist Olivier Oullier on emotion, rationality and decision-making.

How can we cultivate a positive attitude to homework in children? Evidence Based Mummy reviews the research that has directly tackled the question.

The Guardian covers the conviction of US-trained Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui. Who disappeared for years only to reappear in American custody. Her case raises more questions than answers.

There is a brief but excellent interview with Derren Brown on appearance and reality over at Philosophy Bites video.

Nature News covers a brilliantly conceived study where self-touch altered illusory pain owing to changes in body representation.

The man who animated the madness for the upcoming film about Ginsberg’s Howl is interview over at NeuroTribes.

Scientific American has a short piece on why we are less trusting of words said in a foreign accent.

By what age do children recognise that plagiarism is wrong? By the time they start school, it turns out, from a study covered by BPS Research Digest.

The Atlantic has a fantastic piece on the anthropology of hackers.

Philosopher and blogger Peter Mandik from Brain Hammer designs the cover for philosopher and blogger Eric Schwitzgebels’s new book on consciousness. Cool.

BBC World Service kicks off a promising new series on mysteries of the brain.

What are the ethical implications for the possible creation of a device to indicate whether someone is conscious or not? Neuron Culture picks up the baton.

All in the Mind from ABC Radio National had a brilliant interview with a philosopher of mind who has experienced psychosis.

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

There’s a fantastic discussion and video interview on America’s first prison for drug addicts, “the world’s most famous – and infamous – center for the treatment and study of drug addiction”, over at Neuroanthropology.

The Guardian has a piece by psychologist Susan Blackmore on why she’s changed her mind on the idea that religion works like a ‘meme virus’.

How political beliefs affect racial biases. Neuron Culture covers an intriguing study on how both liberals and conservatives show racial biases but in opposite directions in moral reasoning tasks.

Time has a beautiful gallery of photos depicting how different types of booze look under a microscope. Brings a whole a new meaning to the term ‘beer goggles’.

The paradoxes of pharmaco-psychiatry are discussed in excellent coverage from Neuroskeptic. If you read only one piece on mental health this week, make it this one.

The Globe and Mail discuss how popularity influences how infectious diseases spread, discussing new research showing that the cool kids get the flu first .

Why are women often chosen to lead organisations in a crisis? Fascinating counter-intuitive sex bias covered by the BPS Research Digest. Bonus dispiriting last paragraph.

Science News covers a study on how video games damage the… Sorry, my mistake, it’s another study on how action video games lead to generalisable cognitive benefits.

There’s another good piece on Evidence Based Mummy about how kids’ ability with numbers is strongly linked to how often their parents talk about numbers. I love the phrase ‘number talk’.

The New York Times publish a full-on retraction for an unrealistic story about how future Alzheimer’s could be detected with 100% accuracy. The Neuroshrink blog had called bullshit two weeks ago.

The ever-excellent forensic psychology blog In the News covers another academic attack on criminal profiling as “so vague as to be meaningless”.

Wired Science covers an interesting legal bias finding, for crimes of toxin exposure, more severe punishments are handed out for crimes with fewer victims.

I found an interesting video on YouTube where a self-identified face-taste synaesthete describes what tastes different famous faces evoke. No Shakira, but I suspect her face tastes like a choir of angels weeping gently on your tongue.

The LA Times on how endocrinologists are calling out two widely discussed conditions without a medical basis, ‘adrenal fatigue’ and ‘Wilson’s temperature fatigue’, as “internet diseases”. I suspect, without knowing what internet disease is slang for.

The Oxford English Dictionary now has a definition taken from Language Log immediately opening a recursion hole in the fabric of space and time.

University of Texas press release on a study finding that placebo improves ‘low sexual functioning’ in 1-in-3 women. “For more information, contact: Jessica Sinn”

A new study on how modern psychosurgery lifts mood in chronically depressed patients is covered by The Neurocritic.

The Sydney Morning Herald covers a study on how people who are better at introspection have structural differences in the anterior prefrontal cortex.

There’s a podcast discussion with neuroscience-inspired artist Garry Kennard over at The Beautiful Brain.

VBS.TV has a fantastic interview with Alexander Shulgin, psychedelic chemist and researcher extraordinaire.

There’s a fantastic piece on how we unintentionally ‘mirror’ other people’s speech patterns during conversation over at Sensory Superpowers.

BoingBoing interviews the Perez Hilton of Mexico’s drug war – the anonymous writer behind Blog De Narco.

There are 10 psychological insights into online dating taken from the scientific literature over at PsyBlog.

Discover Magazine has an opinion piece by tech psychologist Sherry Turkle on her vision for the near future of human society.

Can we all become delusional with hypnosis? Brief but good piece by philosopher Lisa Bortolotti on The Splintered Mind.

Seed Magazine has an intriguing piece on the psychoactive effects of food.

Perceptual and perceptive psychologist Mark Changizi guest posts on PLoS Blogs about a proposal for the ‘Red Club for Men’.

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

Neuroscience hip-hop. The Beautiful Brain discovers a new track from Prince Ea where he waxes lyrical about the cortex. The neurobiological microphonist discusses the track here.

The New York Times says to forget what you know about good study habits and discusses where the cognitive science of learning conflicts with teacherly advice.

The future of reading and how tweaking fonts could cause us to process text differently are discussed over at The Frontal Cortex. See also a piece riffing on the recent study on mobile phone half-a-logues.

BBC News has an in-depth article on cutting drugs and how the supply of adulterants to illicit dealers has become a big business in its own right.

Problem drug users are possibly the most stigmatised group of patients. Addiction Inbox looks at how drug policy needs to change to take these social obstacles into account.

Slate has an excellent analysis of ‘HauserGate‘ and why the drive for evidence can be a Siren’s call.

The first medical cannabis advert airs in the US, advertising cannabis for, er, just about any illness you can think of. Dosenation has the video.

NPR has a short radio piece on the top five things parents worry about and the genuine top five dangers to children. There is no overlap.

There’s a fantastic piece on the subtle reaping by carbon monoxide poisoning over at Speakeasy Science.

Wired Danger Room reports on the record number of US troops taking psychiatric medication.

If you read only one piece on oxytocin this week make it this great piece from Wonderland that looks at the differing effects of the hormone and male and female parents and skips the ‘hug drug’ stereotype.

The Guardian has a fantastic piece on the remarkably problem solving abilities of slime moulds. The B-movie version is in the works.

The excellent Providentia blog has a great piece on Thomas de Quincey “one of the high priests of the literary drug culture” – famous for his book ‘Confessions of an English Opium Eater’.

The Psychologist is looking for new voices and brand new talent for its pages. If you’ve not published much, or anything before, but have a passion for writing, this could be your chance.

The woman whose new memories are erased each night. The BPS Research Digest covers an intriguing and unusual form of amnesia.

BBC News has some fantastic coverage of the biomechanical analysis of attractive male dancing styles study. Although, according to the conclusions of the research, the funky chicken should be sexual dynamite.

A new meta-analysis debunks the link between psychopathy and violence and In the News has the low-down.

New Scientist has a lamentable article were they ask the head of the UK’s first and only private internet addiction clinic whether ‘internet addiction’ really exists. Next week, head of Eli Lilly asked which is the best pill to treat depression.

How the mind counteracts offensive ideas. Great review of how we mentally push back against things we don’t like.

All in the Mind from ABC Radio National discusses climate change and the psychology of mass behaviour change for the collective good.

There’s an interesting project developing at the History of Madness blog where they’re publishing the syllabus from a number of university courses on the history of psychiatry from around the world.

The New York Times has an in-depth article that asks can preschoolers be depressed?

A fascinating look at supposedly new slang like ‘gonna’ and ‘shoulda’ over at LanguageLog digs up the fact that they have a fine vintage in the English language.

Nature News has a feature article on the science of nurture and epigenetics.

Maximum amount of alcohol consumed in 24 hours by parents predicts mental health problems in teenagers. Another fascinating look at recent research by Evidence Based Mummy.

The New York Times Opinionator blog has a piece introducing the concept of ‘experimental philosophy’.

The latest edition of the American Psychological Association’s Monitor magazine is online and open.

Newsweek discusses the many facets of alcoholism and why abstinence isn’t always the only solution.

The environmental influence on the heredity of intelligence is discussed over at Spiegel which is one of the few mainstream articles that seems to get the idea that genetic influence isn’t fixed.

The Washington Post discusses the popularity of hallucinogenic ayahuasca ceremonies for Peruvian tourists.

Britney Spears’ tongue. As LanguageLog notes “It’s not very often that an observation about articulatory phonetics goes viral.” Exactly what I was thinking.

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

More on our psychedelic drugs and psychiatry series: Nature’s The Great Beyond blog has an introduction to the series and The Guardian has a great overview from our very own Mo Costandi.

Time magazine asks why do heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers? Your mileage may vary.

How good are we at estimating other people’s drunkenness? asks The BPS Research Digest.

IEEE Spectrum magazine has a good piece on attempts by commercial companies to get still-not-very-good ‘fMRI lie detection’ accepted into court.

There’s an excellent analysis of the recent study that found only 23% of people are without ‘personality disorder symptoms’ over at Neuroskeptic.

Wired Science covers research on how behaviour change spreads more rapidly through online networks when they’re more densely connected than real-life social networks.

Fake patients and simulated symptoms are discussed in an engaging analysis of the (in)famous Rosenhan experiment at Frontier Psychiatrist.

BBC Radio 4 has a documentary on on the ‘Pont St Esprit affair’ where a French town went strange for a few days with the CIA suspected of spiking the townspeople with LSD. More commentary on the documentary maker’s blog here.

There’s an excellent essay on taking the science vs post-modernism debate beyond extremism over at Fistful of Science.

Wired Dangerroom notes that the head of the US Military in Afghanistan has been making snide comments probably referencing the Human Terrain System – the military’s crack team of ‘weaponized anthropologists’.

Zipf’s law, the long-tail and the pattern of common and lesser-spotted words in language are tackled over at Child’s Play.

The New York Times has an extensive article asking can preschoolers be depressed?

You know those visual illusions that are two pictures at once but you seem to be only able to see one at a time and ‘flip’ between them? New Scientist discusses how the brain makes the switch.

Spoonful of Medicine briefly covers a study finding that regular cannabis smokers are more sensitive to pain than non-smokers.

My brief piece on strange objects that get stuck in MRI scanners is up at Wired UK: “An MRI machine disarmed an off-duty US police officer… The gun was pulled by the magnetic force, jamming her hand between the pistol and the machine and trapping the officer.”

Frontal Cortex covers the identifiable victim bias, where we’re more likely to have sympathy with individual victims than groups, in light of the trapped miners in Chile.

People who do ‘mental work-outs’ seem to get Alzheimer’s later than other people, but they can be hit harder when it strikes, according to new research covered by Science News.

Neuroanthropology has one of its last posts on its old site on how the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (words shape our thoughts) gets inappropriately bashed as ‘dead science’. You know the blog has moved right?

There’s a piece on Bronze Age brain surgery over at New Scientist.

Advances in the History of Psychology blog is back after its summer recess.

All hail the launch of Philosophy TV. Looks great.

The Beast File has a brilliant video giving a visual guide to the history of MDMA / Ecstasy.

Experimental philosophy is discussed by Joshua Knobe, one of the field’s founders, over at Philosophy Bites.

The Human Edge over at National Public Radio asks if believing in God is evolutionarily advantageous.