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July 29, 2005

2005-07-29 Spike activity:

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

spike.jpg

New York Times on going through all the stages of a relationship through the medium of text messaging.

An elegant study shows that the brain 'shuts down' certain areas when we blink.

A writer's perception of the psychology of the London Underground in the wake of the bombings.

A guy with synaesthesia produces images of music and maps out colours of letters on a keyboard. Thanks Simon!

Old skool neuroscience tech up for sale on ebay (via BoingBoing).

Tyneside to lead stroke research in UK.

Review of Mind Hacks from the MaineE Linux Users Group. Thanks Brian!

Article on developments in understanding chronic fatigue syndrome.

A slew of great articles from PsyBlog this week:
* No performance enhancement from caffeine?
* Psychological differences between men and women. Take note BBC!
* Link to a Guardian piece on the psychology of stage magic.

Researchers think that hand gestures are linked to better recall of language skills during speaking.

Propranolol, a drug usually used to treat high blood pressure, may block out traumatic memories.


UPDATE: Programme on NPR radio discusses the neuroscience of meditation as discussed previously on Mind Hacks. Thanks David!

—Vaughan.

Posted at July 29, 2005 08:00 AM

Comments

Christopher Specker says:

While this is just a personal anecdote, maybe someone can test it for themselves, or even try a study:
My personal experience with caffeine is that
a)too much is worse than not enough
b)Taking caffeine after sleep to be more alert, or taking caffeine as a substitute for sleep are both ineffective, but if I drink tea or coffee just before falling asleep, I seem to feel much better in the morning. Are the effects of caffeine during sleep somehow different from the effects while I'm awake, or am I normally a bit groggy in the morning just because I've been deprived of caffeine for 5-8 hours?

It would be interesting to see a study comparing the effects of caffeine administered before, during, and after sleep.

Comment posted at July 29, 2005 07:07 PM

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