July 31, 2005
New series of BBC All in the Mind:
Last Tuesday saw a new series of the BBC version of All in the Mind hit the airwaves.
It's broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and hosted by psychiatrist Raj Persaud, and is quite separate from the ABC Radio National version - also called All in the Mind - just to add to the confusion.
The BBC version has a different format to the Radio National All in the Mind, as it typically covers several topics in one week, sacrificing depth for breadth and variety.
All of the editions of the BBC programme are archived on the website as realaudio streams, and the first programme covers the psychology of negotation, happiness and a relatively new method of brain scanning called magnetoencephalography or MEG.
Link to BBC Radio 4 'All in the Mind' website with realaudio archive.
—Vaughan.
July 30, 2005
Psychiatry's dark debate, 1942:
The latest issue of the History of Psychiatry journal contains an article by psychologist Jay Joseph, discussing a disturbing debate in a 1942 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, over whether the 'feebleminded' should be killed.
The debate was held between neurologist Robert Foster Kennedy, one-time president of the American Neurological Association, and psychiatrist Leo Kanner, famous for his work on autism.
In an article entitled 'The problem of social control of the congenital defective: education, sterilization and euthanasia', Kennedy made the argument that 'defective' or 'feebleminded' children, reaching the age of five, should be examined by a medical review board and if found to have 'no future or hope of one', should be killed, suposedly for the good of society.
Kanner argued strongly against this position in a reply entitled 'Exoneration of the feebleminded', although Joseph notes that he did believe sterilisation was appropriate for those 'intellectually or emotionally unfit to rear children'.
Perhaps most shocking was an unsigned editorial in the same issue, siding with Kennedy's ideas in the debate.
Joseph is a stark critic of genetic research into mental illness, and so perhaps it is not surprising that he finishes the article warning that such research could support similar views today.
Whatever you think of Joseph's take on the issue, however, it is surprising to learn that respected clinicians in America were supporting eugenics during the the time of World War Two.
Link to summary of the paper 'The 1942 ‘euthanasia’ debate in the American Journal of Psychiatry'.
—Vaughan.
July 29, 2005
2005-07-29 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
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.
July 28, 2005
Drug use in 2025:
The U.K.'s Office of Science and Technology Foresight programme has published a free report "Drugs Futures 2025?" that seeks answers to how we can best manage the use of psychoactive substances in the future for the betterment of society. The report points to three areas that will be affected by our rapidly growing understanding of how substances act in the brain: treatment for mental health, drug addiction and the use of cognitive enhancers like modafinil and ritalin. The report draws on 15 state-of-the-science reviews, from experimental psychology, to genomics, to social policy that are also free to download.
—christian.
iPods increase likelihood of musical hallucinations?:
Psychiatrist Victor Aziz has suggested that some iPod users are experiencing musical hallucinations owing to the constant repetition of favourite songs.
Dr Aziz was recently featured in a New York Times article discussing musical hallucinations. This story was touted as 'brain becomes an iPod' because musical hallucinations can take the form of complete songs or melodies.
In an interesting twist, however, Aziz suggests the use of personal music players may lead to musical hallucinations in some people.
This is not as far fetched as it sounds. A recent brain scanning study used a technique where songs were silenced for short intervals when played, and showed that the auditory cortex remained active when people continued 'hearing' the silenced tune.
The constant repetition of the same music may produce a similar effect, perhaps leading to the hallucinations.
In July's issue of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Aziz and colleague Nick Warner reviewed 30 cases of musical hallucinations in older people and found the hallucinations could be very specific and distinct:
The hymn 'Abide with me' was clearly the most frequent music heard. In 2/3 of cases religious music predominated, with Christmas music also common. In most cases the music took the form of solo voice (male or female) with instrumental backing. Two people could identify the singer (George Formby and Luciano Pavarotti).
Link to story 'IPod hallucinations face acid test'.
Link to story 'iPods could make you hallucinate' from the London Evening Standard.
Link to New York times article 'Neuron Network Goes Awry, and Brain Becomes an IPod'.
—Vaughan.
NewSci special on deception:
For the third week in a row, New Scientist is full of mind and brain articles. This week, a special on the science of lying and deception.
The issue covers the psychology of lying, but also deception in the wider sense.
Mediums and fortune tellers are put under the spotlight. Even if some mediums are genuine, there must be many who aren't, and yet still seem successful to their clients. One article analyses 'cold reading' and considers the techniques that could be used to give the impression of supernatural insight.
Another article looks at the psychology of stage magic, and the interview puts Derren Brown, television mind-manipulator (and Bristol University psychology graduate), in the hot seat.
Also for the third week in a row, none of the article are online, so it's hard cash or the library for this one.
Link to New Scientist contents.
—Vaughan.
July 27, 2005
Scientist posts own brain-tumour surgery pics:
Scientist David La Puma recently had brain surgery to remove a meningioma. He describes the experience on his blog, and has uploaded pictures of the operation as a Flickr photo set.
As you might expect from a dedicated and inquisitive scientist, the photo set is fully commented, and in the more 'anatomical' of the pictures (this one is great), all the parts of the brain are labelled.
Wishing you a speedy recovery David. Many thanks for a fascinating project.
Photo set 1 and photo set 2 of brain tumour removal surgery.
Link to David La Puma's blog.
—Vaughan.
Psychology's top 10 misguided ideas:
Here's one we can all join in on. Psychology Today magazine has a column from earlier this year on The Loose Screw Awards which gives out (notional) prizes for 'psychology's top 10 misguided ideas'. This includes "The P.T. Barnum Medal for Mass-Market Potential" (which goes to the Mozart effect), "The Idea That Launched a Thousand Suits" (recovered memories) and "Most Bureaucratic" which goes to the idea that terminally ill people go through five distinct stages of dying (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) and that any deviation from this strict pattern is detrimental to the patient. It has been claimed that the theory was based on interviews with patients who hadn't been told that they were terminally ill. Which would explain their anger and denial - they were being lied to by the very people who were supposed to be looking after them!
Fun as the list in the article is, I can't help feeling that there are a few ideas that missed out on prizes, or at least on honourable mentions. What about a "Scientific Gold-Rush Prize" (Neuroimaging?). Or a "Delusions of Grandeur Trophy" (Evolutionary Psychology? Psychoanalysis? Could be a close race...). Maybe the "Restating the Obvious in Esoteric Jargon Medal" (we'd probably need a gold, silver and bronze for this one).
A few years ago a poll of 200 psychiatrists produced a similar list of bad ideas in mental health. The Independent ran an article on it ('Ten Things That Drive Psychiatrists To Distraction') and there's quite a few items (psychosurgery, electroshock therapy) that I'd put in my top ten. All in all, a sharp reminder of the sad history of ideas in psychology. Anyone got any other nominations?
—tom.
Dalai Lama to lecture on neuroscience amidst protests:
Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, is to give a lecture to an international neuroscience conference, despite protests from some of the delegates.
His lecture on the neuroscience of meditation, and participation in a discussion on the 'Science and Clinical Applications of Meditation', is planned for the prestigious annual conference of the Society for Neuroscience, to be held in Washington DC in November.
The Dali Lama has a longstanding interest in neuroscience, having founded the Mind and Life Institute, to promote dialogue between science and buddhism.
The Institute has regular meetings between the Buddhist leader and leading neuroscientists, which has resulted in research collaborations and a number of books that have included transcripts and analyses of the gatherings.
His talk also comes at a time when therapies based on Buddhist 'mindfulness' techniques are being found to be increasingly effective for treating physical and mental distress in well-controlled scientific studies.
Some potential delegates are protesting his appearance, however, suggesting science and religion should not be mixed and declaring his views to be in 'poor scientific taste'. Neuroscientist Jianguo G. Gu has reportedly started a petition against the Dalai Lama's lecture.
The Society for Neuroscience have defended their decision and noted that the Dalai Lama will not be talking about 'religion or politics'.
Link to Guardian article 'Plan for Dalai Lama lecture angers neuroscientists'
PDF (5.5Mb) of programme for Society for Neuroscience Annual conference. Details of Dalai Lama's participation on p8 and p27.
Link to Mind and Life Institute.
Link to scientific paper 'Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice'.
Link to information on mindfulness therapy from Cambridge University's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.
—Vaughan.
July 26, 2005
Epilepsy surgery on TV:
BBC One is showing a television programme on Wednesday 27th July at 9pm on the work of neurosurgen Chris Chandler, as he completes an operation to prevent life threatening seizure in a 19 year-old woman.
19-year-old Sarah has epilepsy and suffers over 20 fits a day. Harry is seven, and his fits are so severe they can stop him breathing. Surgery is their only hope of a normal life, but the risks are high.
Brain surgeon Chris Chandler, who works at King's College Hospital in London, is one of only a handful of surgeons able to perform this complex surgery. Their lives are in his hands.
UPDATE: BBC News has a story about the programme online.
Link to BBC TV listing.
—Vaughan.
Execution rests on IQ test:
The BBC are reporting that convicted murderer Daryl Atkins may be executed by the state of Virginia, based on a recent IQ test where he scored 74, four points above the legal definition of retardation, which had previously excluded him from the death penalty.
When first tested in 1998, his IQ measured 59, well below the 70 points cut-off level. The cut-off of 70 is significant, owing to design of the IQ test.
Intelligence shows a specific sort of distribution in the population, and follows a common pattern, known as a normal distribution.
Rather than design a test with arbitrary figures, modern IQ tests have been created with specific statistical properties to make them easier to interpret: the average IQ is 100, and the standard deviation (the average variation from the average) is 15. Click here to see a graph of this in a pop-up window.
The cut-off of 70 is two standard-deviations below the average. It is known that 95% of the population will score within two standard deviations on either side of the average. This makes the legal definition of retardation, at least in Virginia, as having an IQ score in the bottom 2.5% of the population.
There is no easy explanation as to why someone's IQ score might rise during a 7-year period. Prosecutors are arguing that he 'pulled-punches' on the original test, the defence argue that his interaction with lawyers has raised his IQ - although many factors, such as distraction, the skill and reliability of the tester, and familiarity with the tests can affect the score.
Interestingly, the prosecution are arguing that his IQ is actually 76, 2 points higher than the defence claim. Why quibble over two points?
Possibly because of another statistical property of IQ. It has a standard error of measurement (the average error in assessing the presumed true score) of 5 points.
Even taking into account a standard error of measurement of 5 points, a score of 76 would definitely be above the level of retardation - making Atkins eligible for the death penalty, whereas a score of 74 is still ambiguous.
Interestingly, it was a supreme court decision, based on Atkins case, that first made it illegal to execute convicts considered legally retarded.
Statistical properties aside, the whole concept of IQ itself is still controversial among some psychologists, and was most notably criticised in Stephen Jay Gould's book The Mismeasure of Man.
Link to BBC News story.
Link to story from Daily Telegraph.
—Vaughan.
July 25, 2005
Cognitive neuroscience quilts:
The Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art has a collection of scans from brain imaging studies - reproduced as lush hand-stitched fabrics.
The detail on the work is intricate and enthralling, and includes the reinterpretation of both PET and MRI scans.
Link to The Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art.
UPDATE: Thanks to an email from their creator, I can tell you that the quilts were made by psychologist Marjorie Taylor, whose work on children's imaginary friends has been previously featured on Mind Hacks. Thanks Marjorie!
—Vaughan.
July 24, 2005
All in the Mind: The Intimate Unconscious:
ABC Radio's All in the Mind has so many good shows, we almost require a permanent feed. This week is no exception with an excellent edition on 'An Intimate History of the Unconscious'.
Our minds are wayward beasts. Many of the quirks of our conscious experience go unexplained. Could our conscious mind be but the tip of an iceberg, underpinned by the seething underbelly of the unconscious? Freud famously thought so. The Ancients appealed to gods, the gremlins and the underworld to explain our strange ways. Cognitive scientist Guy Claxton has unearthed the unconscious throughout history. Despite the exciting triumphs of neuroscience, he argues that mystical metaphors of the hidden mind still have their place.
Guy Claxton has written a book on the same topic, entitled The Wayward Mind: An Intimate History of the Unconscious, and shares some of the insights he discovered while writing it.
mp3 or realaudio to programme audio.
Link to transcript.
—Vaughan.
July 23, 2005
NewSci on speed, fatigue, denial and terrorism:
This week's New Scientist has a mixed bag of articles on psychology and neuroscience, covering the effects of amphetamine on the brain, and developments in understanding chronic fatigue syndrome, anosognosia and suicide bombers.
The effects of amphetamine are a hot topic at the moment, owing to recent sharp increases in its use, illegally - in the form of street speed, particularly methamphetamine or 'crystal meth', and on prescription - in the form or dexamphetamine and ADHD drug Adderall.
New Scientist has one of its lead articles on the debates over the potential damaging effects of amphetamine, and what this means for recreational users and the millions of children prescribed amphetamine-like drugs.
One worry is a lack of long-term studies into the effects of using such stimulant drugs in childhood, on adult health and functioning.
Another, shorter article, in the same issue, discusses a condition called anosognosia, where a brain-injured patient may be unaware of, or seem to deny, sometimes quite striking disabilities - for example, being blind or paralysed.
Other short articles tackle the social psychology of terrorism and the role of intra-group declarations of commitment in motivating suicide bombers, and recent findings on contributory genes for the still, largely mysterious, chronic fatigue syndrome.
None of the articles are online (grumble grumble), but your local library may have it if your newsagent doesn't.
Link to New Scientist contents page.
—Vaughan.
July 22, 2005
2005-07-22 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
A thought-controlled voice synthesiser might be the next logical step for 'neuroprosthetics'.
Marketing companies are developing software to profile personal characteristics from blogs.
One we missed from the week before: Great Cognitive Daily article on research into eliciting false confessions.
Wired looks at the research of the 'Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research program' who investigate whether mental events can affect machines.
Children as young as 7 can detect self-interest in a speaker's claims.
Scientific American takes a look at how neuroscience is advancing treatment for Parkinson's disease.
Adolescent girls show changes in slang and colloquial language before boys.
Architects and designers are starting to use findings from neuroscience to design better buildings.
Researchers claim to have found one of the genes that increase risk for autism.
Study finds 80% of 14-16 year old girls want to crash diet to "attract boys' attention and achieve self-confidence".
—Vaughan.
July 21, 2005
Understanding 'Aha!':
To this day, psychologists understand little about ‘insight’ – that Eureka moment when a long-sought answer suddenly jumps to mind. These “Aha!” experiences range from the trivial – suddenly solving a crossword clue, to the profound – like Kary Mullis’s Nobel-Prize-winning invention of the polymerase chain reaction, the basis of which occurred to him while driving home one day.
According to Edward Bowden and colleagues writing in the latest issue of Trends in Cognitive Sciences, insight is achieved via the right-hemisphere (cf. Hack #69 ) which “engages in relatively coarse semantic coding, and is therefore more likely to maintain diffuse activation of alternative meanings, distant associations and solution-relevant concepts”. Unfortunately, by its nature this diffuse activation is often weak and beyond conscious reach of the struggling thinker.
In support of this they’ve shown, for example, that when people are presented with the solution to a problem they couldn’t solve, they’re quicker at reading this solution aloud when it’s presented to their left visual field (right hemisphere) than to their right visual field (left hemisphere). This suggests the right hemisphere had been closer to reaching the solution than the left. Moreover, brain scans of solutions reached by insight revealed more activity in the anterior superior temporal sulcus of the right hemisphere, than did solutions not reached by insight. So, perhaps you should do tomorrow’s Suduko while looking out of the left corner of your eyes!
Bowden’s team believe research in this area has been hampered by psychologists always asking people to try and solve so-called ‘insight problems’ (see (a) at end of post) that can supposedly only be solved through insight. But Bowden’s team say these so-called insight problems can be solved piecemeal fashion (i.e. without insight) and are often too long and difficult to be used in brain-imaging research. They believe insight research will benefit from using lots more examples of a shorter, easier kind of problem (see (b)), more suited to brain imaging and EEG research, and by asking participants to say whether they solved them by insight or by working them through.
One question they pose for future research is: “Is the ‘Aha!’ of self-discovery qualitatively different from the ‘U-Duh!’ of having the solution presented to you?”.
(a) If you have black socks and brown socks in a drawer, mixed in a ratio of 4 to 5, how many socks will you have to take out to make sure that you have a pair of the same colour?
(b) Each of the three words in (i) and (ii) below can form a compound word or two-word phrase with a solution word. (i) Falling, actor, dust; (ii) Manners, round, tennis.
From: Bowden, E.M., Jung-Beeman, M., Fleck, J. & Kounios, J. (2005). New approaches to demystifying insight. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 322-328.
—christian.
Art, mind and belief:
The Haunch of Venison Gallery in London has a show that has collected art on the themes of mind and belief. It has pieces by a number of renowned contemporary artists, and includes an intriguing piece by Nathan Coley, who focuses on the Jerusalem syndrome.
This controversial condition was first identified by psychiatrist Yair Bar El, who claimed some people who ended up in psychiatric care in Jerusalem, were previously stable tourists who had become overwhelmed, and had distinct religious delusions that seemed to abate when they left the area.
Others have disputed the fact that these people were mentally stable beforehand, and argue that this was simply a case of pre-existing psychosis flavoured by the environment.
Coley's contribution to the exhibition is a video about the syndrome, including interviews with psychiatrists who have encountered presumed cases in Jerusalem.
The show runs from 7th July to 25th August.
PDF of press release for show 'Changes of Mind: Belief and Transformation'.
Link to story from The Guardian on the exhibition.
Link to Haunch of Venison Gallery.
—Vaughan.
July 20, 2005
Social science research forum launches:
An internet discussion board has been launched to allow psychologists and social scientists to swap advice, queries and concerns about research into human behaviour.
It's free to join and should be a useful resource for researchers wanting advice on anything from ethics and implementation, to statistics and presentation.
Link to the 'Research Companion Forum'.
—Vaughan.
Attack of the porno-zombies:
The Guardian reports on psychologist Judith Reisman, who argues that pornography is an 'erototoxin' that damages the brain, impairing cognition and rational thought:
"According to Dr Judith Reisman, pornography affects the physical structure of your brain turning you into a porno-zombie. Porn, she says, is an "erototoxin", producing an addictive "drug cocktail" of testosterone, oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin with a measurable organic effect on the brain."
In the first instance, she's right. Pornography does physically affect the brain. In fact, everything we experience physically changes the brain in some way.
What Reisman is trying to do, is portray this physical effect as 'damage'. Furthermore, she argues the damage could be so severe, that an affected person would not be rational enough to engage in 'free speech' (notice the leap?).
Unfortunately, her self-published paper The Psychopharmacology of Pictorial Pornography Restructuring Brain, Mind & Memory & Subverting Freedom of Speech (PDF) is highly selective when reviewing the published neuroscience research.
Many of her arguments are based on one-reference claims, and some only on what she calls "extensive documentation". One unmentioned implication is the fact that, if sexual arousal from pornography causes 'brain damage', then so will real-life sex!
Critics note that Reisman is associated with the Lighted Candle Society, a right-wing Christian organisation aiming to promote 'moral values' and fund anti-porn brain scanning studies.
Ironically, her paper is prefaced by a note saying it is restricted to adults over 18, as it contains 'graphic images from mainstream pornography'.
Link to Guardian piece 'Sex on the brain'.
PDF of 'The Psychopharmacology of Pictorial Pornography Restructuring Brain, Mind & Memory & Subverting Freedom of Speech' by Judith Reisman.
Link to critical piece on Reisman's work.
Link to story from Desert News on the funding of anti-porn MRI studies.
—Vaughan.
July 19, 2005
Review in BBC Focus Magazine:
The August edition of BBC Focus magazine includes this favourable review of Mind Hacks - Four out of five, which means 'great' by their scale!
—tom.
What on earth is 'brain sex' ?:
On Sunday night, the BBC ran the first part of their Secrets of the Sexes series which claimed to rank the show's participants by 'brain sex', on a scale from 100% male brain to 100% female brain.
The trouble is, there is no objective measure of the sex of the brain, making the whole idea of 'brain sex' questionable.
During the show, a number of participants complete various tasks, and their performance allows them to be placed along the scale. The BBC even has an online test allowing you to rate yourself.
The rating of 'brain sex' seems to be based on Simon Baron-Cohen's theory that males and females are likely to differ in skills he calls empathising and systemising.
Empathising is described as the ability to understand and relate to others' emotions, systemising the tendency to understand things in terms of rules or component parts.
Females tend to score higher on Baron-Cohen's test of empathising, and males on systemising. So how does this get transformed into the concept of a 100% male or female brain ?
Firstly, it assumes that Baron-Cohen is correct about his theory. This is a big assumption as it is still controversial. Among others, psychologist Elizabeth Spelke has noted several important objections.
Secondly, it involves making an absolute statement (e.g. 'there is a 100% female brain') from relative data - e.g. 'females have a tendency to score higher on the empathising test'.
By using another test, however, alternative differences between males and females can be found. In other words, the rating of how 'male' or 'female' a person's brain is, depends on what test is used - something which seems to rubbish the idea of describing any brain as a particular sex.
Instead of describing someone as having a '50% female brain', it is more accurate to say, "compared to everyone else's performance, on these tasks you scored mid-way through the range of typical female scores".
Some might say the BBC are just trying to communicate science in a straightforward way, but consider how misleading this sounds: "You have a 50% female foot". Oversimplified to the point of confusion.
Link to BBC 'Secrets of the Sexes' website.
—Vaughan.
July 18, 2005
Are antidepresssants any better than placebo ?:
A review article in this week's British Medical Journal questions whether antidepressants have any more effect than placebo.
The report, authored by psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff and psychologist Irving Kirsch, analyzes data used in previous healthcare recommendations, concerning a class of antidepressants called SSRIs, of which Prozac is the most famous.
They argue that the improvements found in previous reviews of the data have either been so small that they are clinically insignificant, or have been due to errors or biases in analysis.
In response, Darrel Reiger from the American Psychiatric Association is quoted as saying the researchers have "written an article that selectively pulls out negative studies and conveniently ignores or mischaracterizes positive studies."
Link to BMJ article 'Efficacy of antidepressants in adults'.
Link to story from Yahoo News.
Link to story from WebMd.com
—Vaughan.
July 17, 2005
Wisdom, old age, and maintaining the brain's edge:
Mind Hacks favourite All in the Mind has an special on wisdom, learning and the development of the brain through the lifespan:
None of us are getting any younger. As our bodies show signs of wear, so do our brains. We get forgetful, are confronted by new ideas and perplexed by new technologies. The world appears to be moving way too fast, as we sink into memories of the good ol' days. Eminent neurologist and author Elkhonon Goldberg argues we have no excuse. His message - make your brain sweat if you want to enjoy your mental life to its fullest. And his suggestion is that the two hemispheres of our brain age differently as we wise up.
mp3 or realaudio of programme.
Link to programme transcript.
Link to ABC Radio National 'All in the Mind' website.
—Vaughan.
July 16, 2005
Coldwar nuclear fallout used to date brain cells:
A paper in science journal Cell reports on a technique for carbon dating brain cells, based on the rise in atmospheric radiation from the testing of nuclear weapons during the Cold War.
This testing resulted in a large rise in world-wide levels of environmental radiation, peaking in the mid-1960s. Because this radiation was absorbed via CO2, the decay of radioactive carbon in the DNA of neurons can be used to date when these cells were 'born'.
The study, led by neuroscientist Kirsty L. Spalding, examined the age of neurons in the occipital cortex - an area at the back of the brain important for the visual system.
The researchers found that the cells in this area were as old as the people studied, suggesting that new neurons are not created there.
Until a few years ago, it was thought that humans did not grow new brain cells after birth. It was discovered, however, that neurons regenerate in an area of the brain called the hippocampus, a structure known to be crucial for memory.
It is still unclear whether other areas of the brain regenerate, although this study suggests that, in the occipital lobe at least, neurons are not created anew.
Link to summary of study 'Retrospective Birth Dating of Cells in Humans'.
—Vaughan.
July 15, 2005
2005-07-15 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
The Guardian has an article on the ethics and technology of 'smart drugs'.
National Geographic on findings that dopamine boosting drugs for Parkinson's disease can lead to compulsive gambling, sex and drinking.
Why are auditory hallucinations ('hearing voices') usually male ? Sheffield researchers think they have the answer.
Thinking about an allergen free environment can reduce allergy symptoms by a third, report researchers studying self-hypnosis.
During ovulation, women prefer the scent of 'alpha males' compared to other times in the menstrual cycle.
Smithsonian hosts exhibition inspired by synaesthesia (via BoingBoing).
People with the genetic condition William's syndrome often seem fearless and 'overfriendly'. Researchers suggest differences in amygdala function may explain it.
Forwarding entertaining emails is a form of informal gift economy.
British government ignores psychiatrists, service users to develop new mental health laws.
Petra Boyton's guide on how to take part in sex research.
—Vaughan.
NewSci on music, depression and brain-cooling chips:
This week's New Scientist has three articles relevant to mind and brain science: An interview with controversial psychiatrist Peter Kramer, an article on the evolution of music, and an article on the development of brain-cooling anti-epilepsy chips.
The chips are being developed by neurologist Steven Rothman and work on the principle that brain cells stop working when cooled.
Some epilepsy is triggered by the activity of a small identifiable area, known as the foci, and spreads to the rest of the brain with catastrophic effect.
The idea is to implant a microchip that can detect when seizure activity starts, which subsequently starts a cooling device to temporarily deactivate the area of brain, stopping the seizure before it spreads.
The other articles include an interview with champion of biological psychiatry, and author of Listening to Prozac - Peter D. Kramer, and an article on evolutionary explanations for the existence of music.
Unfortunately, none are available online, although locked articles are occasionally freed-up after a few days, so we'll link to them if they appear. Otherwise, it may require a trip to the newsagents or the local library.
Link to contents of New Scientist
—Vaughan.
July 14, 2005
Another look at mindsight:
Last year, psychologist Ronald Rensink at the University of British Columbia proposed that some people have an alternative mode of visual experience – one that involves sensing but not ‘seeing’ – what Rensink dubbed ‘mindsight’. Now his claims have been forcefully rebutted by Daniel Simons and colleagues who argue it’s far more mundane than that: it’s all to do with how cautious people are in deciding whether or not they’ve seen something.
Rensink had performed a kind of change blindness experiment (see Hack #40) that involved participants reporting when they spotted a subtle change between two pictures. He invited participants to press one key when they ‘sensed’ a change between the pictures and to press another key only when they could ‘see’ the change and knew where and what it was. Rensink reported in Psychological Science that a subset of participants (30 %) showed evidence of what he dubbed ‘mindsight’: on a minority of trials they would report sensing the change at least a second earlier than they reported seeing it. “This mode of perception involves a conscious (or mental) experience without an accompanying visual experience”, Rensink explained. “The results presented here point towards a new mode of perceptual processing, one that is likely to provide new perspectives on the way that we experience our world”, he said.
But in this month’s issue of Psychological Science, Daniel Simons and colleagues at the University of Illinois dismiss Rensink’s findings. “Provocative claims merit rigorous scrutiny”, they said. “We rebut the existence of a mindsight mechanism by replicating Rensink’s core findings and arguing for a more mundane explanation…”.
Simons team argue that it’s all to do with how people interpret the instructions for ‘sensing’ and ‘seeing’ – that people who show Rensink’s mindsight are trigger-happy when it comes to saying they’ve sensed a change, but very cautious when it comes to saying they’ve seen exactly what that change is. By contrast, non-mindsighters interpret 'sense' and 'see' similarly, and are far more cautious about pressing the 'sense' button. In support of this, Simons' team found that so-called mindsight participants (those sometimes showing a significant lag between sensing and seeing) were far more likely than non-mindsighters to wrongly report sensing a change on 'catch-trials' when there wasn't actually a change between the pictures. What’s more, Simons' team said, Rensink’s criteria for what constitutes mindsight are arbitrary anyway (he chose a lag of 1 second between ‘sensing’ and ‘seeing’ but if, for example, he’d chosen 1.5 seconds, far fewer subjects would have been classified as showing mindsight). All in all, mindsight is starting to look more like a guess than a new mode of seeing!
—christian.
The psychology of terrorism:
In the wake of suspicion that the London bombings were carried out by British nationals, many have asked what motivates acts of terror. Psychologist Andrew Silke studies the psychology of terrorism to try and find out.
Despite the insanity of the acts, one of the most common myths is that terrorists are mentally unbalanced in some way. In an article written shortly after 9/11 (PDF) he noted that even for suicide bombers, evidence for psychopathology or personality disorders is scant.
Work on the impact of terrorist attacks has been most recently focused on the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Silke notes in a more recent article (PDF), that although, in general, being closer to the Twin Towers was related to higher levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for other people, stress was related to exposure to television reporting.
The effects on people's desire for revenge was, perhaps, contrary to expectation:
It was interesting to note, however, that Johll and Brant (2002) also found that New York City residents actually reported a lower need for
vengeance than other Americans. As one firefighter in their study put it: "I wouldn't wish what happened to us on anyone."
Suggesting that experience of terrorist attacks, can make people less likely to want more violence to return.
Needless to say, the psychology of terrorism and terrorists is now being heavily researched, as very little was known about it before 2000.
PDF of 2004 article 'Terrorism, 9/11 and Psychology' by Andrew Silke
PDF of 2001 article 'Terrorism' by Andrew Silke
Link 1 , link 2 and link 3 to coverage from PsyBlog on psychology of terrorism.
Link to summary fof 2004 conference from BBC News.
—Vaughan.
July 13, 2005
Health Report on coping with negative emotions:
The latest edition of ABC Radio's Health Report focuses on coping with negative thoughts and emotions, and the differing responses to fear in the brains of men and women.
The programme also discusses research into how well young people can spot the signs of clinical depression and psychosis, an approach to helping people cope with suicidal thoughts, and how depression can affect people through generations.
One highlight is an interview with Dr Simon Bridge, an australian GP with a special interest in mental health, and who has experienced suicidal thoughts himself as a part of his experience with bipolar disorder.
He developed a pamphlet that gives advice on coping with suicidal thoughts which is available online as a PDF.
Link to Health Report website.
mp3 or realaudio of programme audio.
—Vaughan.
July 12, 2005
Musical hallucinations:
The New York Times has an article on people who experience musical hallucinations.
This form of hallucination is interesting, because they are often the only unusual experience a person will have, unlike in psychosis, where hallucinations may be part of a range of anomalous beliefs and experiences.
Patients reported hearing a wide variety of songs, among them "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Three Blind Mice." In two-thirds of the cases, the music was religious; six people reporting hearing the hymn "Abide With Me." Dr. Aziz believes that people tend to hear songs they have heard repeatedly or that are emotionally significant to them.
Neurologist Tim Griffiths has been brain scanning people who experience these hallucinations. He has found that similar areas of the brain are active when a person is hallucinating music, compared to when they are actually listening to music, except for an area called the primary auditory cortex. This is the area of the brain just behind the ears, and is responsible for the initial processing of sounds.
Interestingly, musical hallucinations are often triggered by deafness.
These music-processing regions may be continually looking for signals in the brain that they can interpret, Dr. Griffiths suggested. When no sound is coming from the ears, the brain may still generate occasional, random impulses that the music-processing regions interpret as sound. They then try to match these impulses to memories of music, turning a few notes into a familiar melody.
Link to reg free New York Times article on musical hallucinations (originally via BrainBlog).
UPDATE: There's a good piece by Carl Zimmer on musical hallucinations here.
—Vaughan.
The science of sleep paralysis:
Science News has a major article discussing sleep paralysis, the state in which a person can wake, but remains in the paralysed state used to stop movements during dreaming.
Sleep paralysis, sometimes called 'awareness during sleep paralysis', to distinguish it from the normal muscle inhibiting function of REM sleep, is now attracting a substantial amount of research.
One paper by researchers Katharine Holden and Chris French (PDF) even suggested that some 'alien abduction' experiences may be due, in part, to terrifying sleep paralysis episodes.
Little is known, however, about the exact brain mechanisms which control sleep paralysis (although parts of the brain stem are known to be important) meaning it is has traditionally been difficult to make educated guesses about why paralysis sometimes remains after waking.
Link to Science News article 'Night of the Crusher'
—Vaughan.
July 11, 2005
All in the Mind on the 'orgasmic brain':
ABC Radio's All in the Mind has a special on the neuroscience of orgasm and the use of brain scanning in understanding this complex event.
The programme focuses on work being carried out by a Dutch team, who are now one of a number of research centres who are studying the neuroscience of orgasm and sexual response after it has been neglected for so many years.
Their work has been reported on Mind Hacks before (here and here) but this includes an interview with the lead researchers and commentary from a number of other experts.
mp3 or realaudio of programme audio.
Link to programme transcript.
—Vaughan.
The Secret Life of the Brain on PBS:
American TV channel PBS have a lush website to accompany their series 'The Secret Life of the Brain', with many of the video segments online.
They have an episode by episode guide, that examines the development of the brain from birth, through the process of growing up, and into adult years and old age.
Plenty of supplementary material has also been made exclusively for the web, including a Flash driven 3D brain atlas, a guide to current brain scanning technologies and an illustrated history of brain science.
Link to PBS website to accompany 'The Secret Life of the Brain'.
—Vaughan.
July 08, 2005
Afternoon play on Richard Dadd:
BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play from last Tuesday was on artist Richard Dadd, who spent most of his life in the wing for the criminally insane in Bethlem Hospital.
It is 1854. In the Criminal Wing of Bethlem Hospital for the Insane, painter Richard Dadd and poet Emily Clayton are caught in the middle, as two rival doctors seek to reform the treatment of the mentally ill.
The audio of the play is online until next Monday.
Realaudio of play 'Talk' by Mark Wilson.
—Vaughan.
Wired feature article on sexual neuroscience:
Wired has a feature article online about research into the neuropsychology of female orgasm and the approach of current lab based studies.
This sort of research is important, because so little is known about the neural basis of sexual function. In particular, the article describes some intriguing findings, that not all nerves involved in genital arousal route through the spinal cord, some may go more directly to the brain.
Unfortunately, the article frames much of the research in terms of drug development for sexual dysfunction, which is so often the case in these sort of pieces. This is perhaps because much of the research may be funded by drug companies.
This shouldn't mean however, that journalists should uncritically reproduce the assumptions that these sources promote - mainly that sexual dysfunction is defined in terms of someone else's arbitrary criteria, and is best treated by (usually expensive) pharmaceuticals.
Link to Wired article 'The Coming Boom'.
Link to an alternative take on sexual neuroscience by sex psychologist Petra Boyton.
—Vaughan.
Cafe Bar Scientifique in Cardiff, 9 July:
Myself and Alex will be helping out at a Cafe Scientifique-type event in Cardiff tomorrow evening (Saturday the 9th), as part of the Cardiff Festival of Science.
The gig is at The Social, upstairs, from 6pm. There'll be a discussion of material from the BBC's 'The Human Mind' show (which overlaps quite a lot with some of the contents of Mind Hacks) and then a free-form Q & A session. It sounds like it's going to be lots of fun, so if you have any questions or answers about the mind, brain or Mind Hacks, and can make it, it would be great to see you there.
—tom.
2005-07-08 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
Children who snore are more likely to have attention and hyperactivity problems.
Man links his Parkinson's Disease with a sudden emergence of musical talent.
The Salt Lake Tribune discusses the crossover between cases of 'possession' and psychosis, and the role of psychiatry in treating the condition.
The effects of hypnosis on the brain are being teased apart with brain scanning studies.
"Guess I should have studied instead of watching Wrath of Khan" - Watching TV linked to poor academic performance in children.
The first melatonin based anti-depressant is released, suggesting a further link between the sleep cycle and depression.
Lab study suggests bisexual men do not show equal attraction to men and women. Is this a good analogy for sexual attraction in a complex social setting though?
Psychiatric Times has an article on "Are Genius and Madness Related? Contemporary Answers to an Ancient Question".
Sleepwalking girl wakes up after climbing 130ft up a crane.
PsyBlog has a timely piece on the psychology of terrorist bombings.
—Vaughan.
July 07, 2005
Time compression:
This could be a long shot, but if you're really enjoying yourself and you don't want time to go too fast, try keeping your eyes as still as possible. Concetta Morrone, John Ross and David Burr have just reported in Nature Neuroscience that subjective time is compressed around the onset of a saccadic eye movement. Saccades are the rapid, jerky eye movements that we perform thousands of times every day (see Hack #17) to align targets of interest with the high-acuity fovea at the centre of our eyes.
Morrone’s team asked participants to compare the time interval between two horizontal bars that were flashed up around the onset of a saccade, with the interval between a second pair of horizontal bars flashed up after the saccade. Participants said the intervals felt the same when the gap between the first two bars was 100ms and the gap between the second pair was 50ms – that is, subjective time was speeded up by a factor of two near the saccade onset.
This finding complements earlier research showing that space is also compressed around the onset of a saccade. These perceptual distortions are probably caused by remapping processes in the brain’s lateral intraparietal area that are meant to compensate for the visual disruption caused by making so many jerky eye movements all the time (again, see Hack #17).
So how does this research tie in with the ‘stopped clock illusion’ (Hack #18), in which subjective time is extended for stimuli perceived after a saccade? The phenomena may be related, but the researchers pointed to some key differences: the stopped clock effect also occurs for auditory and tactile stimuli, and is dependent on the size of the saccade. In contrast, the time compression reported here only occurred with visual stimuli, not with auditory clicks, and was largely independent of saccadic size.
—christian.
Evolutionary psychology takes a knock:
Scientic American has an interview online with philosopher David J. Buller who attacks current research in evolutionary psychology.
Buller has recently written a critical book on the subject, Adapting Minds, that analyses much of the evidence on which evolutionary theories of the mind are based, and finds many of them lacking.
His interview tackles many of his concerns in this area, and outlines his main objections to the core theories in evolutionary psychology.
There are three foundational claims that it makes. One is that the nature of [evolutionary] adaptation is going to create massive modularity in the mind--separate mental organs functionally specialized for separate tasks. Second, that those modules continue to be adapted to a hunter-gatherer way of life. And third, that these modules are universal and define a universal human nature. I think that all three of those claims are deeply problematic.
If anything the evidence indicates that the great cognitive achievement in human evolution was cortical plasticity, which allows for rapidly adaptive changes to the environment, both across evolutionary time and [across] individual lifetimes. Because of that, we're not quite the Pleistocene relics that Evolutionary Psychology claims.
Link to David J. Buller interview in Scientific American.
Link to information and reviews of the book Adapting Minds.
—Vaughan.
July 06, 2005
Reactive Colours and the autistic community:
Reactive Colours is an innovative project that is developing software to promote enjoyment and social interaction in severely autistic children.
In contrast to existing packages, it is using a non-commercial open source development model, and is aiming to include the autistic and Asperger's community as developers and contributors to the project.
I caught up with project leader Wendy Keay-Bright at London's Autistic Pride Day to ask her about the project.
Your background is in animation and multimedia. So, what got you interested in working with people with autism and Asperger's spectrum?
Animation is a truly expressive medium, bringing together all the qualities of drawing with movement, music, narrative, spatial dynamics, choreography, and more. These are the things that have always inspired me. Reactive Colours synthesises many of my experiences in animation, and also my interest as a lecturer in Graphic Communication and Interactive Media.
While my childen were very young I spent a lot of time learning software programmes at home and tried to involve them by designing games. Inspired by John Maeda I became fascinated by 'reactive graphics' and so began looking into experiential design and technology, particularly as a process for exploratory learning.
To cut a very long story short - I decided to focus on Special Educational Needs and undertook a feasibility study which strongly indicated that this therapeutic way of working with computers could have particular resonance for children on the autistic spectrum.
Discovering the work of Dinah Murray and Mike Lesser provided the motivation and incentive to actively develop Reactive Colours and continues to provide a theoretical framework for the project.
There's plenty of software packages aimed at helping people with autism or Asperger's. Why is Reactive Colours different ?
The design of the software prioritises the computer as a medium. The computer becomes an environment where exploration and play, which are vital in the learning process, can occur spontaneously. This contrasts with the generally accepted notion that the mouse, keyboard, screen and even programming code, are purely functional components in a system.
Many computer programmes for autistic children focus on task or making progress, and this in some cases, can lead to the feeling of failure or children can become 'locked in' to a task and resist communication with others.
A highly significant goal in autism education is the achievement of joint attention tunnels. With this in mind it has been encouraging to witness children share their Reactive Colours activity session (which we are calling 'Reactivities') with their peers in monitored classroom environments.
This has been most dramatic in a multi-sensory environment using the interactive whiteboard where children use their hands and bodies to choreograph stunning visual effects.
Multi sensory stimuli can be alarming for some children, however the Reactivities reward touch and sound with simple forms - colour, shape and words and deliberately avoids sensory overload.
You mention on the website that you have been using early versions of some of the activities with children with autism. What has the reaction been like ?
The most encouraging and consistent responses to early trials which we have been evaluating using video, questionnaires and interviews, have been that the Reactivities software is calming and reduces anxiety.
High levels of anxiety are very commonly found in children on the autistic spectrum. The experience of playing with Reactivities on the computer is entirely intuitive; the reactive graphics focus on spontaneous mark-making and cause and effect.
Expressive mark-making can relieve tension and outwardly represent inner experiences. Rhythm, sound, space, velocity, colour, shape and movement are created and controlled by the individual as they experiment with the mouse, keyboard and microphone input devices. This expression of creativity is personal, unique and ultimately satisfying.
Children are content to choose and explore, take turns and co-operate with others, all of which are significant for individuals on the autistic spectrum. The capacity to have fun is an almost universal human coping mechanism for dealing with stress, however for many autistic children this vital tool for releasing energy is not realised.
From our early experience of developing Reactive Colours with young autistic children we have seen opportunities for structured and parallel play that may help to create a calm environment for participatory learning.
You've opted to open license much of the project. How do you think this will help the project ?
We are choosing to utilise a significantly extended meaning of the phrase 'open source' not only to delineate a licensing scheme, but rather to invite participation from the autistic community in the design, research, implementation and future of the project.
Opportunities for user-focused development and iteration will be enhanced through the availability on the Reactive Colours website of the programming code. This code will provide individuals keen to experiment with computation, access to the tools needed to customise the software and to share their Reactivities with others.
The opportunity to adapt content has particular significance for users of the website as one of the features of autism is the capacity for structured thinking, logic and creativity. There is a strong possibility that should the code be made accessible, the emphasis on ownership will be with the users and design can be a demoncratic process.
How can the autism and Asperger's community get involved ?
Although the Reactive Colours website has not yet been officially launched, (we are aiming to do this Spring 2006 when the Reactivities have been completely iterated with users) we would encourage anyone interested in the project to post their details on the forum and visit the site regularly for updates.
Teachers, parents and advisors who would like to participate in evaluating the prototype software can email me (wendy [at] reactivecolours.org) with their contact information.
Disclaimer: Vaughan advises the project on open licensing.
—Vaughan.
July 05, 2005
Knickers in a twist over 'brainstorming':
According to an article in The Observer, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) in Belfast have been told to avoid using the word 'brainstorming' as it may be offensive to people with epilepsy. Instead they've been asked to use the term 'thought-showers'.
Apart from verging on self-parody, it seems based on a false idea that epilepsy involves chaotic or random brain activity, when in fact it is usually the result of brain cells inappropriately synchronising.
Unsurprisingly, the charity Epilepsy Action seem to have a more sensible take on the matter:
We are often asked about the word 'brainstorming' and whether its use is acceptable. Our view is that it depends upon the context: if the word is being used to describe a meeting where participants are suggesting ideas, then its use is not offensive to people with epilepsy. However, it should not be used to describe a seizure or the electrical activity within the brain during a seizure.
Link to Observer article 'Brainstorms turn to showers'.
Link to Epilepsy Action.
—Vaughan.
Oliver Sacks discusses his work on Book Club:
This month's BBC Radio discussion programme Book Club is on The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, neurologist Oliver Sacks' popular and influential book of unusual cases.
The Man Who Mistook... describes a number of patients Sacks has worked with, and describes the strange experiences that can sometimes arise from injury to the brain.
The title refers to a man with visual agnosia, a condition where the ability to perceive or understand objects is lost, despite otherwise normal vision.
Sacks' writes in the style of influential neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, who described his writing as 'romantic science' - aiming to capture both the scientific importance and the human impact of the disorders he studied.
Sacks himself is a guest on the programme, and members of the audience include doctors, neuroscientists, students and people who have experienced brain injury.
Link to Book Club webpage.
Realaudio of Book Club on The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
—Vaughan.
July 04, 2005
The BIG questions:
To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Science magazine in America has published a series of free articles counting down the 125 biggest questions facing science in the next quarter century.
In second place is: "What is the biological basis of consciousness?". Other top-25 entries of particular interest to Mind Hackers are: "How are memories stored and retrieved?", and "How did cooperative behaviour evolve?".
—christian.
Christian:
Hi, I'm a writer based in Brighton, contact me on christian[@]psychologywriter.org.uk
—christian.
Brain Connection columnists:
Brain Connection is a quality website discussing developments in neuroscience and psychology, and one of its highlights is the monthly column section.
The columnist, currently Robert Sylwester, tackles a different topic each month, and aims to relate current findings in neuroscience to everyday life.
Although Sylwester's column has a slight slant towards the educational applications of recent research, the topics are diverse enough to interest the most eclectic of readers.
Brain Connection as a whole is a hugely useful site, as it not only explains many principles of cognitive science in an accessible manner, but has lots of free-to-use resources online for anyone wanting to add graphics, animations or useful links to their own presentations.
Link to BrainConnection.com
Link to BrainConnection columists.
—Vaughan.
July 01, 2005
2005-07-01 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
Cornell researchers propose a move to a more 'organic' model of the mind.
Psychologists, writing in Current Directions in Psychological Science, give three reasons not to believe in an autism epidemic.
PsyBlog has a satirical take on Tom Cruise's comments on psychology and psychiatry.
A team has developed a way of using fMRI to do pre-surgery assessment of people with life-threatening epilepsy, instead of having to implant electrodes into the brain.
Hypnosis can help overcome our automatic responses and seems to alter the function of the regulation and control areas in the brain.
BrainBlog points to some fantastic online resources for understanding and analysing fMRI data.
Piece from the Guardian on the neuropsychology of belief.
WTF ? : Erotic telepathy.
—Vaughan.
