January 31, 2006
A man walks into a bar...:
As Tom said, Valentine's is fast approaching. Just in time, Christopher Bale and colleagues have published a study in Personality and Individual Differences on what 142 female and 63 male undergraduates thought of 40 different chat up lines as featured in mini stories about a man attempting to woo a woman.
It was thumbs down to jokes, empty compliments and sexual references ("Well hey there, I may not be Fred Flintstone, but I bet I can make your Bed Rock!") and thumbs up to lines revealing helpfulness, generosity, athleticism, culture ("It's a fine instrument wouldn't you say? A Steinway concert grand if I'm not mistaken", he said pointing to a nearby piano) and wealth ("Hi, my name's William, I'm one of the owners here, would you like to dance?").
The student participants gave their verdicts by saying how likely the woman was to continue the conversation.
Surprisingly perhaps, the male and female participants tended to agree on which lines were likely to be successful.
The poor ratings for jokey chat up lines were unexpected but the researchers said that could be due to their failing to give different categories to wit - "spontaneous jokes that fit the context exactly, are genuinely funny, and require intelligence" and humour - "the pre-planned jokes and one-liners which were ineffective and do not demonstrate intelligence".
Link to abstract.
Link to Christopher Bale talking about the work (last five minutes or so of the recording).
—christian.
Cajal and the history of the synapse:
American Scientist reviews two new books on the scientific history of the synapse and the early work on neural communication, particularly focusing on the life and work of pioneering Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
In his Nobel Prize winning work, Cajal discovered the synapse and first argued that the neuron was the fundamental unit of the nervous system. Although this is now accepted as fact, at the time it was highly controversial.
The review is more than simply an opinion on the two books, but is actually a fantastic summary of his life and times, and the scientific discoveries which changed the world.
Link to review entitled 'A Lot of Nerve'.
—Vaughan.
January 30, 2006
Revolutionary child brain database launches:
A database of MRI scans of normally developing children has been launched that could revolutionalise the understanding of childhood brain function, injury and disease. It includes brain scans of 500 children from 7 days to 18 years-old and aims to be representative of the population at large.
The understanding of child brain function is still a grey area, despite the fact that the young brain can show remarkable properties.
For example, a 2001 book by Antonio Battro (sample chapter: pdf) describes a three year old boy named 'Nico' who had the whole of his right hemisphere removed to control life-threatening epilepsy.
Nevertheless, he has developed with very little impairment and has turned out to be a bright and engaging child, despite the fact that a similar operation in adults would be profoundly disabling.
One difficulty with many current studies of brain development in children is there is no precise reference for what constitutes 'normal' development.
The database will provide a wealth of data for clinicians and researchers to make accurate comparisons, rather than relying on detecting the presence of abnormalities by eye, or by comparison with small or ad-hoc control groups.
The journal NeuroImage just published a early-release copy of the article describing the development and potential uses of the data. The project has been realised by a huge list of individuals, listed as the 'Brain Development Cooperative Group', and by neuroscientist Alan Evans.
Link to NeuroImage abstract 'The NIH MRI study of normal brain development'.
Link to summary from NIH.
—Vaughan.
January 29, 2006
Polish Mind Hacks - 100 sposobów na zgłębienie tajemnic umysłu:
Mind Hacks has been published in Polish as 100 sposobów na zgłębienie tajemnic umysłu. You can order it here, and at kognitywistyka.net, the polish cognitive science website, you can read an interview Matt and I did. The interview is available in English and in Polish and is part of a series of three (the next two will shortly be available in the same place).
And so, to any polish readers - welcome to mindhacks.com!
The details of the new translation, in Polish, below the fold
100 sposobów na zgłębienie tajemnic umysłu
Autorzy: Tom Stafford, Matt Webb
Tłumaczenie: Ewa Borówka, Daria Kuczyńska-Szymala
ISBN: 83-7361-893-7
Tytuł oryginału: Mind Hacks
Format: B5, stron: 384
Data wydania: 01/2006
Cena książki: 39.90 zł
koszty wysyłki / informacje o księgarni
oceń książkę / zgłoś erratę
poinformuj znajomego o książce
wydrukuj opis / opis i spis treści
Dodaj do koszyka
Spis treści
Poznaj sekrety funkcjonowania mózgu
* Procesy zachodzące w mózgu
* Selekcjonowanie informacji odbieranych zmysłami
* Sposoby przyswajania wiedzy
Badania ludzkiego mózgu przeprowadzane przez ostatnich 20 lat dowiodły, że porównywanie zasad jego funkcjonowania do działania komputera jest dużym błędem. W wyniku tych badań dostrzeżono, jak ogromną rolę w procesach myślowych odgrywają emocje. Sposób przetwarzania informacji przez mózg to niezwykle skomplikowany proces, którego nie da się porównać z jakimkolwiek procesem obliczeniowym realizowanym przez komputer. Badaniami sposobu funkcjonowania ludzkiego mózgu zajmuje się neuropsychologia kognitywna. Dzięki niej możemy dowiedzieć się, w jaki sposób nasz mózg interpretuje sygnały docierające do niego ze zmysłów, jak przyswaja wiedzę i jak selekcjonuje informacje, które zapamiętujemy. Taka wiedza jest przydatna nie tylko psychologom. Jeśli poznamy tajniki działania umysłu, będziemy mogli projektować witryny WWW, które będą zapadać w pamięć, aplikacje, których obsługa nie przysporzy problemu użytkownikom, i reklamy, których treść będzie oddziaływać na właściwe ośrodki mózgu.
Książka "100 sposobów na zgłębienie tajemnic umysłu" to przegląd wyników badań naukowców zajmujących się neuropsychologią kognitywną. Przedstawia nie tylko sposób funkcjonowania ludzkiego mózgu, ale również powiązania pomiędzy jego działaniem a naszymi zachowaniami. Podpowiada metody rozwiązywania różnych problemów z wykorzystaniem określonych właściwości naszego mózgu. Czytając tę książkę, dowiesz się, jak działa mózg, w jaki sposób filtrujemy i przyswajamy informacje oraz jak funkcjonuje nasza pamięć. Nauczysz się lepiej wykorzystywać swoje możliwości intelektualne oraz uwzględniać zasady funkcjonowania umysłu podczas projektowania aplikacji i witryn WWW, pisania tekstów oraz rozmawiania z ludźmi.
* Sposoby badania ludzkiego mózgu
* Przetwarzanie informacji wzrokowych
* Koncentracja
* Procesy zachodzące w mózgu podczas słuchania i mówienia
* Łączenie informacji pochodzących z różnych źródeł
* Zapamiętywanie informacji i wyciąganie wniosków
Ta książka pozwoli Ci w pełni wykorzystać możliwości Twojego umysłu.
—tom.
Imagination as torch bearer:
"It is singular how soon we lose the impression of what ceases to be constantly before us. A year impairs, a luster obliterates. There is little distinct left without an effort of memory, then indeed the lights are rekindled for a moment - but who can be sure that the Imagination is not the torch-bearer?"
Lord Byron in the Ravenna Journal, 1821-22.
—Vaughan.
January 28, 2006
Cracking the neural code:
There's a piece in this month's Adbusters magazine on 'cracking the neural code' as part of a feature on 'Big Ideas of 2006':
Chances are you have never heard of the neural code. And yet, from both a practical and philosophical perspective, the neural code is the most important remaining scientific mystery. Analogous to the machine code of a digital computer, the neural code is the software, set of rules, syntax, that transforms electrical pulses in the brain into perceptions, memories, decisions. A solution to the neural code could – in principle – give us almost unlimited power over our psyches, because we could monitor and manipulate brain cells with exquisite precision by speaking to them in their own private language.
The article is full of sci-fi speculation, but notes that it is grounded in current scientific developments and particularly the developing field of neuroprosthetics.
Link to 'We're Cracking the Neural Code, the Brain's Secret Language'.
—Vaughan.
January 27, 2006
Zero wings:
A recent news story has noted the consequences of drinking popular energy drink Red Bull in excess as a UK driver was booked for dangerous driving after drinking 20 cans (20 cans!) of the product.
Interestingly, the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry published a case report in 2001 suggesting that excessive intake triggered a manic episode in a gentleman with bipolar disorder.
Red Bull has had several papers published on it in scientific journals. It is often not referred to by brand, but often by the euphamism of 'energy drink [with taurine and caffeine]' or 'functional energy drink'.
Despite the marketing hype, it has been genuinely shown to improve mental performance for a short duration, and particularly usefully, to counteract dangerous driver sleepiness during tests with a driving simulator.
...when taken in sensible doses, of course.
—Vaughan.
2006-01-27 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
Researchers find gene linked to the chance of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
The Telegraph talk up psychology and neuroscience, arguing that 'The Future is All in Your Head'.
The evolution and function of laughter is discussed in Seed Magazine.
Brainscan Blog hails the opening of a new fMRI lab to study the neuroscience of sign language.
Behind every great genius - is another great genuis, claim Live Science.
Philosopher Daniel Dennett in a fairly content-free interview in the New York Times discusses his forthcoming book on the biology of religious belief.
Members of a remote Amazon tribe can solve basic problems in geometry, despite never having seen a math book, suggesting geometric ability may be innate.
The New York Times article 'This Is Your Brain on Schadenfreude' discusses the neural response to others' displeasure.
"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged". No big surprises from studies of the neuropsychology of political affiliation.
A gene which regulates the enzyme CYP2A6 - known to be involved in the metabolism of nicotine - may be key to understanding the genetics of cigarette addiction.
—Vaughan.
January 26, 2006
With our thoughts, we make our world:
Wired magazine examines the recent interest in the neural basis of meditation and the political storm caused by the Dalai Lama's speech at the last Society for Neuroscience conference, in a recently published online article.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader's presentation was the subject of much protest and counter-protest even before it began, which guaranteed that it would be one of the hottest tickets at SfN 2005.
One accusation levelled at some of the scientists involved in this research is that they are being unduly influenced by the religious aspects of Buddhism and are losing their scientific objectivity.
The Wired article looks at both the research on meditation and the Dalai Lama's enthusiam for science and considers whether the science is indeed being affected.
Link to 'Buddha on the Brain'.
—Vaughan.
neuroscience & the media:
The recent column from Ben Bad Science Goldacre is on the widely reported, and improbable, neuroscience of why the novels of Agatha Christie are so successful (column here). The neurobabble used to obfuscate the fact that she wrote quite well is astounding. No, her books did not directly alter your brain chemistry to make the novels 'literally unputdownable' - except in the boring everyday sense that everything you do and think alters your brain chemisty. The best bit is the man who originated the misleading reports claims that it was all some sort of post-modern in-joke with readers and viewers (who were supposed to know they were being lied to). Goldacre's strongly worded conclusion:
So I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the public are confused about science, for the simple reason that the media is full of grandiose humanities graduates, acting as self-appointed experts and science communicators, who construct their own parody of what they think science is: and then, to compound their crime, they go on to critique science, as if their parody was the reality
... Can we have some science on telly, please.
And on that note, I've heard good reports for this programme, on BBC2; a short series looking at claims for alternative medicine like acupuncture and faith healing. Any science broadcast that takes in the need for experimental trials, control groups, placebo effects (Hack #73 incidentally) and the dangers of overgeneralising findings is good by me. Although the BBC News report is disappointingly titled Acupuncture 'deactivates brain' and subtitled 'Acupuncture works by deactivating the area of the brain governing pain, a TV show will claim'. Oh well, at least they used the scare quotes.
—tom.
January 25, 2006
Is that a brain charm in your pocket?:
I've just discovered Brain Mart, an online shop for everything (and I mean everything) brain-related. They sell a great deal of educational material as well as a range of 'brain novelties'.
These stretch from the classic (a phrenonology bust) to the anatomically correct 'brain cap' ("Flip up the brim and expose the words, Think, think, think...") to the slightly worrying 'Brain Charms', for adding to a necklace or bracelet.
Link to Brain Mart.
—Vaughan.
Gallagher on action, body image and psychosis:
Philosopher and cognitive scientist Shaun Gallagher sits in the hot seat and is interviewed by Science and Consciousness Review who quiz him about how the body and its actions shape our thoughts, and how this can break down to produce bizarre experiences of being controlled by outside forces.
Gallagher draws on the neuroscience of action and the philosophy of consciousness in his interview, in line with much of his previous work.
I think these experiences of ownership and agency [of actions] are manifested at the level of the level of first-order, pre-reflective, phenomenal consciousness. That is, I don't need to reflect on what I'm doing to generate these experiences. Rather, they are part of and implicit in what my movement feels like.
Link to 'An Interview with Shaun Gallagher'.
Link to Shaun Gallagher's homepage.
—Vaughan.
January 24, 2006
Foxtrot on ad hoc psychological testing:
A recent edition of Bill Amend's FoxTrot comic strip has a nice twist on the notional glass half-full / glass half-empty psychological 'test'. The test also features in a Gary Larson Far Side strip entitled 'The Four Basic Personality Types' that adorns the doors of hundreds of psychologists across the globe.
(Thanks Nathan!)
—Vaughan.
Men, women and ghosts:
Open-access science journal PLoS Biology has published an article by biologist Peter Lawrence where he suggests that the under-representation of women in science is not because they are biologically unsuited to scientific thinking (as some have controversially suggested), but because employers undervalue those attributes more likely, but not exclusively, to be present in female researchers.
Here I will argue, as others have many times before, that men and women are born different. Yet even we scientists deny this, allowing us to identify the "best" candidates for jobs and promotions by subjecting men and women to the same tests. But since these tests favour predominantly male characteristics, such as self-confidence and aggression, we choose more men and we discourage women. Science would be better served if we gave more opportunity and power to the gentle, the reflective, and the creative individuals of both sexes.
Link to 'Men, Women, and Ghosts in Science'.
—Vaughan.
January 23, 2006
Ajatus (Finnish Mind Hacks):
The translations come thick and fast! Ajatus (which means "Thought", I understand) has now been released by publishers readme.fi in Finland, in hardback no less. Many thanks to Chris Heathcote for picking a copy up for me in Helsinki. He took a photo of the book too, if you'd like to see.
Grab Ajatus at readme's website if you fancy it, and I've put the blurb (in Finnish) below the fold.
I'll stop with the hard sell now, sorry! I just get excited about these things.
Ajatus
Stafford, Tom, Webb, Matt
Kustantaja: Readme.fi
Julkaisupäivä: 2005
ISBN: 9525592251
Hinta: 44.00
Saatavuus: Saatavilla suoraan myymälästä
Kieli: Suomi
Sivuja: 400
Tuotemuoto: Kovakantinen, sidottu tai koteloitu
Julkaisumaa: Suomi
Esittely
Otatko kaiken irti siitä, mitä sisältäsi löytyy?
Mietipä, mitä kaikkea tapahtuukaan tätä tekstiä lukiessasi: kuinka silmäsi liikkuvat keskittykseen sen sanoihin, kuinka pystyt samaan aikaan ajattelemaan ja rapsuttelemaan laiskasti käsivarttasi, ja kuinka paljon liikettä, ääniä ja muita huomiotasi vaativia häiriötekijöitä suodatat kaiken aikaa pois. Kaikki tämä tuntuu tapahtuvan automaattisesti kuin taianomaisella tavalla. Mutta kulissien takana työskentelevät uupumattomasti omat aivosi, pelottavankin monimutkainen tiedonkäsittelyn ympäristö, joka muistuttaa enemmän ekosysteemiä kuin tietokonetta.
Ajatus on tiedusteluretki aivojemme jokahetkiseen toimintaan. Sen tavoitteena on opettaa meitä ymmärtämään hieman paremmin itseämme ja hyvin todellisessa mielessä sitä, mikä meidät pitää käynnissä. Kirjan aiheita ovat muun muassa:
* Aivojen maantiede – nähtävyydet ja maamerkit
* Näköjärjestelmän toiminta silmien liikkeestä kuvien muodostamiseen
* Huomiota huomiointiin – informaation suodattaminen ennen tiedostamista
* Näkö-, kosketus- ja muiden aistimusten integrointi sekä kielen vaikutus – ja mitä tapahtuu, kun nämä aistit ovat ristiriidassa keskenään
* Vilkaisu aivojen kehonkuvaan, joka poikkeaa erittäin paljon siitä, mitä näemme peilistä
* Järkeilyn soveltaminen jokapäiväisiin käytännön ongelmiin – opimme myös, missä logiikkamme pettää
* Objekteista muodostamiemme mielikuvien jakaminen osasiinsa – miten mieli yhdistää syyn ja seurauksen
* Oppiminen alkeista käsitekokonaisuuksiin – ja väärien muistojen tallentamiseen
* Kanssaihmisten ymmärtäminen – miten luemme heidän kasvojaan ja tunteitaan ja onnistumme tiettyyn rajaan asti pääsemään sisälle heidän mieleensä
Ja paljon muuta!
—Matt.
start the week with neuroscience:
Today's 'Start the Week' on BBC Radio 4 features Steve Rose discussing advances in neuroscience, in drug treatments (for illnesses or mind-enhancement) and the ethical issues that the public will have to increasingly deal with.
Andrew Marr, the presenter, uses this lovely metaphor for brain scanning. It is like, he said (i paraphrase), looking at the outside of a darkened house at night, a house which contains someone moving from room to room turning on and off lights as they do. So when we look at an fMRI scan we might know which neural and/or mental 'room' they are in, but we've no idea what they're doing there. Steve Rose agreed: "I don't believe we'll ever be able to tell what a person is thinking from a brain scan" (although he added that some of his colleagues would disagree with him).
If you'd like to hear the show, you can listen again here
—tom.
Art and cognition:
Interdisciplines is an organisation that aims to link the humanities with the cognitive sciences and their latest online conference focuses on art and cognition.
New and original papers are regularly published on their website and are opened for commentary. The latest in the Art and Cognition workshop and is by philosopher John Hyman who examines the ongoing work on art and neuroscience.
This is a topic which has become increasingly popular in the last decade owing to a number of high profile scientists pondering the issue (with mixed success, it has to be said).
Hyman's paper is notable as it criticises the current trend of suggesting that adequate theories of aesthetics must, in essence, be neurologically based.
Link to ' Art and Neuroscience' by John Hyman.
Link to Interdisciplines Art and Cognition Workshop.
—Vaughan.
January 21, 2006
La Rochefoucald's note on mental complaints:
"Everybody complains of their memory, but nobody of their judgement".
French writer François de La Rochefoucauld comments on the limits of human insight.
—Vaughan.
Wired report on LSD conference:
A conference on the science and culture of LSD was recently held to honour the 100th birthday of discoverer Albert Hoffman (as reported previously on Mind Hacks). Wired magazine sent one of their reporters to the gathering and have published a story discussing the event and its impact.
The article particularly focuses on the number of technologists who have claimed that the drug is beneficial to their creative thought, and the increasing research focus on the use of psychedelics in therapy for psychological trauma.
Link to article 'LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug?'
—Vaughan.
January 20, 2006
Japanese-language Mind Hacks:
Mind Hacks has been available in Japanese since December 2005, and according to the reviews on Google's translation of the Amazon.co.jp page, the book's been exceptionally well translated. (Also, very well received which is gratifying!) I believe this is the translator's blog and, if so, thanks very much and well done.
Looking at a few more translated pages, including that blog again and the O'Reilly Japan news page, it seems that Mind Hacks sold out at the end of 2005 and has now been reprinted. That's testament to what must be a great job in translating and re-working the book--and, since I now have the finished object in my hand, some beautiful book design. The binding and production is really good. Congratulations folks! It really is exciting to see Mind Hacks do this well... and very odd to see photos of Tom and me and all other others in the book floating off around the world.
Any Japanese readers out there who'd like to buy the book: Please see the links here and the O'Reilly Japan book page for some sample hacks. Also please do report back!
I've tucked a couple of photos below the fold...
I've loved looking at Japanese books, even though I can't read them, since I was young, so please forgive me the indulgence of posting these photos.
The book cover is very glossy, and is actually a dust jacket too.
Inside, the pages are on thin paper and very slightly yellow. It's high quality and easier to read than very bleached paper. The Theodore Zeldin quotation from the front of the English version has been translated too, which is pleasing.
These pages are from the mirror and curtain pole hack, and there I am with much longer hair than I have now.
—Matt.
neurovalentines:
February the 14th is fast approaching, St. Valentines day. What can the considerate neuroscientist get his or her loved one?
I think I've just had a brilliant idea, and it shouldn't be too hard to sort out. All you need is a few well-connected neuroimaging buddies and probably four or five hundred pounds to afford the scanning time. Sit yourself in the scanner looking at picures of your beloved, or maybe listening to the song that was playing when you first met. Some quick image analysis later, and a trip to the printers, and - viola! - you have a customised Valentines Day card showing your brain and the activity of your brain as you contemplate the love of your life. The inscription? "Thinking of you" should do it!
—tom.
2006-01-20 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
Scientific American ask 'What's all that gray matter good for, anyway?'
Exercise may significantly reduce the risk of developing dementia, especially in those who are frail.
'Jonathan Edwards looks into... Memory' in a rather luke warm radio documentary from the BBC (despite some interesting sections on sports psychology).
The Mental Health Foundation launches a campaign to highlight the link between diet and mental health. Their campaign seems a a bit obsessed with fish oil, however. Omega-3 fatty acids can also be found in certain vegetable oils.
Researchers discover that mood is inversely related to the number of meetings you attend.
Men show less activation in the areas related to understanding others emotions when "maintaining justice and issuing punishment" or "witnessing retribution" (take your pick!) according to a new study.
—Vaughan.
January 19, 2006
I'm not feeling myself today:
More radio goodness abounds as WNYC's Radio Lab discusses how the self is represented in the brain and how it can be radically and idiosyncratically altered after brain injury.
The programme is beautifully produced and was really a pleasure to listen to. The first ten minutes even has an audio representation of a firing neuron, skittering through the background.
It includes contributions from the a number of scientists including V.S. Ramachandran, Paul Broks, Julian Keenan and Robert Sapolsky.
The 'self' has been a nebulous concept for thousands of years and neuroscience is discovering that it is more curious than was ever imagined.
A free excerpt from the book The Self in Neuroscience and Psychiatry also covers some of the recent developments in this emerging field of research.
Link to Radio Lab 'Who am I?' with audio archive.
Link to info and excerpt from The Self in Neuroscience and Psychiatry.
—Vaughan.
January 18, 2006
New York Times on 'hikikomori':
A few days after our post on 'hikikomori' - the extreme social withdrawal increasingly seen in Japanese adolescents - the New York Times published an in-depth article on the controversy surrounding the phenomenon.
Coincidence? Well... yes. But an interesting and well-timed one nonetheless.
For all the attention, though, hikikomori remains confounding. The Japanese public has blamed everything from smothering mothers to absent, overworked fathers, from school bullying to the lackluster economy, from academic pressure to video games. "I sometimes wonder whether or not I understand this issue," confessed Shinako Tsuchiya, a member of Parliament, one afternoon in her Tokyo office.
Link to article 'Shutting Themselves In'.
—Vaughan.
I want my NTV:
To follow on from a recent post on videos of neuroscience talks available online, the National Institutes of Health have an additional 129 neuroscience lectures available as streaming video.
The topics cover everything from Dopamine and Motivated Behaviors to A Different View of the Primary Visual Cortex.
Some of the talks are on topics completely new to me, like one on 'ghrelin' - which sounds like something you'd find in a health food shop - but I'm sure all will become clear.
Link to NIH Neuroscience Videocasting.
—Vaughan.
January 17, 2006
Programme on PKD's altered reality:
Science fiction author Philip K. Dick experienced unpredictable altered states of consciousness and his work contains some of the best descriptions of psychosis you are likely to find anywhere.
BBC Radio 4 just broadcast a programme, archived online, that discusses PKD's kaleidoscopic and life-changing "2-3-74" experience, where he believed he was being contacted by an interdimensional entity called VALIS and that 1970's California was just an illusion disguising the fact that the 1st century Roman empire still existed.
Link to programme 'Confessions of a Crap Artist' (via BoingBoing).
Link to PhilipKDickFans.com
—Vaughan.
Tourette syndrome:
The term "involuntary" used to describe Tourette syndrome tics is a source of confusion since it is known that most people with TS do have some control over the symptoms. Before tic onset, individuals with TS experience what is called a "premonitory urge," similar to the feeling that precedes yawning.
What is recognized is that the control which can be exerted from seconds to hours at a time may merely postpone and exacerbate outbursts of symptoms. Tics are experienced as irresistible as a yawn and must eventually be expressed. People with TS often seek a secluded spot to release their symptoms after delaying them in school or at work.
Typically, tics increase as a result of tension or stress (but are not solely caused by stress) and decrease with relaxation or concentration on an absorbing task. In fact, neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks has described a man with severe TS who is both a pilot and a surgeon.
Fascinating section from the Wikipedia article on Tourette syndrome.
Link to Tourette Syndrome Association (UK).
—Vaughan.
January 16, 2006
Susan Greenfield in conversation:
ABC Radio's Science Show hosts a wide-ranging and engaging conversation with neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, where she discusses the latest scientific and ethical implications of brain science.
Professor Greenfield is constantly involved in drawing out science from the sometimes stuffy world of academia into the public eye and is one of the liveliest figures in contemporary neuroscience (I still have fond memories of her presenting the Christmas Lectures in a red leather cat suit).
She also has an extensive knowledge of philosophy and history, meaning she often has a different perspective from other researchers in the field.
mp3 or realaudio of Susan Greenfield at the Sydney Writers' Festival.
Link to transcript of programme.
—Vaughan.
January 15, 2006
Autism Diva:
Autism Diva is the name of an author who comments on the science and politics of autism. On her blog she maintains a distinctly positive view of the condition, is unashamedly critical of many mainstream views and keeps tabs on the developments in the research world.
She presumably has an autistic spectrum diagnosis herself and certainly has a child with autism. The blog is far from a dispassionate analysis but is an engaging example of the thoughtful activism being promoted by a growing number of the autistic community.
One part of the blog, Autism Diva's profile page, reminded me of the wonderfully straightforward way of communication that many people with autism prefer and made me laugh out loud:
About Me
Autism Diva loves the truth.
Interests
autism, the truth
Link to Autism Diva's blog.
Link to Wikipedia article on autism.
—Vaughan.
January 14, 2006
The madness of James Tilly Matthews:
A psychoanalyst once proposed that 'madness is when you can't find anyone who can stand you'. This is not such a flippant definition as it might first appear. In practice, the mad are created when those around them can no longer cope with them, and turn them over to specialists and professionals. They are people who have broken the ties that bind the rest of us in our social contract, who have reached a point where they can no longer connect.
But by this definition James Tilly Matthews, paranoid schizophrenic or not, was not mad. It is striking that throughout his story, even at the prodigious heights of his delusions, there are always those around who trust him, and he consistently inspires sympathy, affection and love.
From Mike Jay's The Air Loom Gang: The Strange and True Story of James Tilly Matthews and his Visionary Madness (ISBN 0593049977, p58).
Matthews had previously been involved in peace negotions between France and England and returned believing himself controlled by a mysterious 'air loom'. Also believing the government to be under its influence he shouted "treason!" in the House of Commons.
After his arrest and confinement at 'Bedlam' Hospital, he became the subject of the first ever book-length psychiatric case study in 1810. John Haslam, the hospital apothecary, wrote-up his case as part of an effort to embarass the medical establishment who he believed, contrary to their claims, did not understand either madness or Matthews' case.
Link to article on James Tilly Matthews and the 'air loom' by Mike Jay.
Link to John Haslam's 1810 'Illustrations of Madness'.
—Vaughan.
January 13, 2006
2006-01-13 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
Fantastic Time article on the recent burst of research on the psychology and neuroscience of meditation.
An article in Salon discusses the impact of traumatic brain injury on American soldiers serving in Iraq.
Study reports that babies that acquire certain infections during birth may be more likely to develop cerebral palsy.
The superior temporal cortex (part of the 'auditory cortex') kicks in during expectant listening, even during silence.
Nice pointer to some of the good work philosophers are now doing in the cognitive sciences: Jeffrey Foss writes an insightful article about consciousness in the Toronto Globe and Mail.
A third of people with schizophrenia who stop their medication do because of poor response suggests new study.
Stats monger The Economist investigates the increasing popularity of bayesian statistics in theories of brain function.
"My Brain Is a Walnut". I know the feeling. Slate investigates the science of neuroimaging.
—Vaughan.
Why the brain has grey and white matter:
A new paper in PLoS Computational Biology by Quan Wen and Dmitri Chklovskii reports on a computer model that would naturally separate into grey and white matter if asked to produce the optimum design for a brain that needs high interconnectivity and short conduction delays.
Computational models are often good ways of developing theories, and this research might help explain the purpose and role of the different cell types in the brain.
Unfortunately, my maths isn't good enough to grasp the mechanics, but there's some fascinating reading in there nonetheless. Published as an open access article. Share the computational biology love.
Link to 'Segregation of the Brain into Gray and White Matter: A Design Minimizing Conduction Delays'.
Link to PLoS Computational Biology.
—Vaughan.
January 12, 2006
Neuroscience a target for fundamentalism?:
A letter in today's Nature from neuroscientist Kenneth Kosik makes an interesting point about the possible theological implications of neuroscience and suggests that it may become a new battleground in the ongoing tussles between scientific theory and religious fundamentalism:
The argument over evolution versus intelligent design, discussed in your News story "Day of judgement for intelligent design", is a relatively small-stakes theological issue compared with the potential eruption in neuroscience over the material nature of the mind.
Siding with evolution does not really pose a serious problem for many deeply religious people, because one can easily accept evolution without doubting the existence of a non-material being. On the other hand, the truly radical and still maturing view in the neuroscience community that the mind is entirely the product of the brain presents the ultimate challenge to nearly all religions.
Link to full text of letter.
—Vaughan.
Mente Locale (Italian Mind Hacks):
Mente locale: Esperimenti, giochi, consigli per conoscere il proprio cervello e usarlo meglio di Tom Stafford, Matt Webb has been available since November 2005, it turns out. That's the Italian translation of Mind Hacks, in case you didn't guess. It has been translated by Anna Airoldi (who spotten an appropriate error in the English translation). Welcome Italian readers!
You can buy Mente Locale here, and I've put the Italian blurb for the book below the fold
Mente locale
Esperimenti, giochi, consigli per conoscere il proprio cervello e usarlo meglio
di Tom Stafford, Matt Webb
Uscita: Novembre 2005
Pagine: 448
Formato:
Prezzo: 19.00 Euro
ISBN: 88-503-2363-8
Collana: ApogeoSaggi
Disponibilita': No
State leggendo queste parole. I vostri occhi si muovono rapidamente seguendo i segni sulla carta, che interpretate come frasi dotate di un significato; intanto vi grattate un orecchio e riflettete su quel che leggete, mentre filtrate movimenti, suoni, rumori, odori e altri elementi che potrebbero distrarvi. E tutto sembra avvenire automaticamente, quasi per magia. Ma dietro le quinte c’è il vostro cervello che lavora instancabilmente, un ambiente di elaborazione delle informazioni estremamente complesso: qualcuno lo paragona a un computer, ma in realtà è molto più simile a un ecosistema.
Questo libro propone cento "esperimenti" (che chiunque può condurre con mezzi molto semplici) che permettono di sondare il funzionamento del cervello e, così, di capire meglio noi stessi e il nostro comportamento quotidiano. Dai meccanismi della vista e dell’udito, dal linguaggio al ragionamento, dal movimento all’integrazione di segnali di natura diversa: questi cento esperimenti costituiscono una piacevole e sorprendente introduzione alla psicologia e alle scienze cognitive.
Gli autori
Tom Stafford ha ottenuto un dottorato in Psicologia all’Università di Sheffield. Ricercatore in Psicologia, si occupa in particolare di neuroscienze. Ha lavorato anche presso la BBC come ricercatore documentarista.
Matt Webb è ingegnere e progettista. Lavora per la BBC Radio & Music Interactive e in vari progetti per la realizzazione di software di utilità sociale.
—tom.
The 'hikikomori' phenomenon:
Wikipedia has a fascinating article on the phenomenon of hikikomori - where large numbers of Japanese adolescents are socially withdrawing, often to the extent of seeking extreme isolation and self-confinement, presumably due to various personal and social difficulties.
Although the article hints that hikikomori is considered a phenomenon of medical concern, there's very little written about it in the medical literature catalogued on PubMed.
This may suggest that the (largely Western) medical literature has not touched on the subject, or that the phenomenon is not usually considered of psychiatric importance, even in Japan.
There's plenty of links to news sources discussing the phenomena on the Wikipedia page, but I've not been able to find many substantial english language articles written for scientific or academic publications.
Any pointers greatfully received...
Link to Wikipedia article on 'Hikikomori'.
—Vaughan.
January 11, 2006
Does cannabis cause psychosis?:
PsyBlog has picked up on a recent article in The Independent that discusses the debate over cannabis and the risk of developing psychosis. This is currently topical in the UK in light of an expected government report about the legal re-classification of the drug.
Previously, it was known that there is an association between cannabis and psychosis, although it was not clear whether cannabis contributed to psychosis, or whether people with psychosis were simply more likely to 'self-medicate' with cannabis in an attempt to feel better.
A 2004 article in the British Journal of Psychiatry reviewed studies which allow a causal link, rather than simply an association, to be inferred, and sparked a debate (see PubMed entry) which has now led the goverment to think again about the recent downgrading of the legal penalties for possessing cannabis.
Although many psychiatrists and researchers now believe that cannabis is a causal factor in psychosis, the effect is still thought to be small in most people. Genetic studies have reported, however, that people holding certain versions of the COMT gene may be more likely to develop psychosis when cannabis is used.
Nevertheless, an alternative debate centres on whether public education and health services benefit for such a widely used drug to be outlawed, when other, potentially more harmful substances, are legally sold.
Link to Independent article 'Cannabis: Can it really drive you mad?'
Link to PubMed entry of 2004 debate in the BJP (link to free full text articles).
—Vaughan.
January 10, 2006
Love in the asylum:
A stranger has come
To share my room in the house not right in the head,
A girl mad as birds
Bolting the night of the door with her arm her plume.
Strait in the mazed bed
She deludes the heaven-proof house with entering clouds
Yet she deludes with walking the nightmarish room,
At large as the dead,
Or rides the imagined oceans of the male wards.
She has come possessed
Who admits the delusive light through the bouncing wall,
Possessed by the skies
She sleeps in the narrow trough yet she walks the dust
Yet raves at her will
On the madhouse boards worn thin by my walking tears.
And taken by light in her arms at long and dear last
I may without fail
Suffer the first vision that set fire to the stars.
'Love in the asylum' by poet Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953).
—Vaughan.
Neuroscience lectures on your desktop:
Neuroscientist Michael Kilgard has found videos of leading mind and brain researchers giving lectures on their areas of interest, and created an online directory so you can view the talks at your leisure.
The speakers include language researcher Steven Pinker, memory afficianado Endel Tulving and attention pioneer Michael Posner.
This list includes almost 50 lectures in total, with topics ranging from drug addiction to vision.
Popcorn anyone?
Link to 'Online Neuroscience Lectures'.
UPDATE: Grabbed from the comments page... "The article seems to be missing lectures from Christof Koch about consciousness". (Thanks Mxr!)
—Vaughan.
January 09, 2006
LSD discoverer turns 100:
Albert Hofmann, discoverer of LSD, is 100 this week and discusses his controversial discovery in an article in the New York Times.
Hofmann's birthday is being marked by a symposium in Switzerland, where scientists, visionaries and artists are meeting to discuss the impact of the compound on society and how it may be put to good use in the future.
Link to article "Nearly 100, LSD's Father Ponders His 'Problem Child'".
UPDATE: The Independent has another (probably better) article on LSD, Hofmann and the symposium.
—Vaughan.
January 08, 2006
William James on laughing gas:
"There are no differences but differences of degree between different degrees of difference and no difference."
Psychologist and philosopher William James writes under the influence of laughing gas, as reported in his essay on the subjective effects of nitrous oxide.
—Vaughan.
January 07, 2006
Brain in a vat:
If you ever wanted to recreate scenes from movies like The Brain That Wouldn't Die or The Man with Two Brains, now's your chance with a plastic version now being sold online.
On a more serious note, one of the most famous thought experiments in contemporary philosophy is about a brain in a vat and is used as a way of enquiring about the nature of reality and how much we can trust our senses.
Link to fully working 'brain in a vat'.
—Vaughan.
January 06, 2006
Mind Hacking at the gym:
Most of the time it feels as though our perception of the world is based on what’s out there, what psychologists call ‘stimulus-driven’ or ‘bottom up’ processing. But in reality, our perceptual experience is a seamless mixture of both what really is out in the world and what we expect to be out there (so-called ‘top down’ or ‘concept-driven’ processing). Tom gave an elegant example of this in a recent post, describing how so many people hadn’t noticed the erroneous use of the word ‘conservations’ in the Mind Hacks book, when it should have said ‘conversations’ – in this case readers saw what they expected, not what was written.
I was struck by a couple of similar examples in recent visits to the gym. On the first occasion I’d just finished on the running machine where I have to really crank up my MP3 player volume to drown out the loud music played over the public speakers. When I sat down in the far quieter weights section, the volume on my headphones suddenly felt painfully loud in this quieter environment, and so I quickly jabbed the volume down a few notches. I felt such a relief as the music gradually softened and my eardrums were saved. It was only much later that I realised my MP3 player’s controls were in the lock position – I hadn’t turned the volume down at all. My expectations had overridden the true information arriving at my senses.
On my next visit I proudly grabbed two 14kg (don’t laugh!) dumbbells for some bicep curls. I’d worked up to this weight over recent months and considered it my limit. I was pumping away but my left arm was really struggling, which I put down to it being my weaker arm. Still, I persevered and did my usual number of reps. It was only when I went to replace the dumbbells that I saw the weight in my left arm was 18kg! – someone had put the weights in the wrong places… Well, I thought, maybe I’ve not been pushing myself enough, but no, later on when I went to try out some curls with 18kg weights, it was hopeless: when I ‘knew’ what the weight was it ‘felt’ too heavy!
Anyone got some other examples?
—christian.
Artful dodges:
"...no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge."
From the novel Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.
—Vaughan.
2006-01-06 Spike activity:
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
Brain Waves considers the role of 'bonding hormone' oxytocin and the potential for a love spray.
Town tries soft lighting to calm violent drinkers.
In contrast to one of last year's controversial claims, a new study provides evidence that suicide risk does not increase when adults start using antidepressants.
The development of anorexia linked to earlier birth problems.
Mental health think tank demands major overhaul to UK psychiatric services.
New York Times on the psychology and neuroscience of cuteness.
Blog The Genius discusses theories from a recent book on the neuropsychology of memory.
A couple of good articles from Wired (via BoingBoing):
* Man with a cochlear implant hacks his own device to allow him to listen to music again.
* The new technology of brain scan lie detection raises new ethical concerns.
On a related note, New Scientist reports on a drive to develop 'a lie detector that can be used without the subject knowing they are being assessed'. Best of luck.
Newsweek discusses the popularity and effectiveness of 'e-therapy' (online version is accompanied by advert titled 'find out happy you really are' - wtf?)
Cognitive Daily discusses research on 'How do kids decide robots are worth talking to?'
—Vaughan.
January 05, 2006
Sex review and predictions - '05 to '06:
Sex and relationship psychologist Petra Boyton has just posted her review of sexual health, science and media trends of 2005 as well as her predictions for 2006.
As the media is increasingly keen on psychological angles to sex stories and pharmaceutical companies are now starting to push the pills and ills of sexual behaviour in earnest, it's worth being aware of where the evidence could stop and the spin begins:
2006 is going to be the year of the sex addict.
Many new television series in the pipeline that will be outlining this condition – either showing it to be an epidemic or offering training for men who are 'cheaters' to curb their behaviour. Despite no agreement on sex addiction, or concern from the psychiatric and medical professions of sexual behaviour being pathologised or misdiagnosed, television researchers are ignoring this evidence and making programmes anyway.
Petra also mentions Mind Hacks as 'not always about sex, but very good nonetheless', which is probably one of the most unusual complements we've had in a while.
Link to 'Sex Review of 2005'
Link to 'Sex Predictions and Trends for 2006'
—Vaughan.
Survivors of stroke:
ABC Radio's Health Report has a special on stroke - where the blood supply is cut off by damage or obstruction to blood vessels in the brain - and interviews two survivors about their experiences: Robert McCrumb, the literary editor of The Observer newspaper and Ishbel, a 9 year old girl who suffered a stroke when she was 7.
The stroke survivors describe the immediate effects, the treatment, the aftermath and their own tips for coping with stroke-related brain injury.
Robert McCrumb wrote a book about his experiences called My Year Off (ISBN 0330352407), and wrote an insightful article for The Observer marking ten years since it first occurred.
The programme also talks to Roger Rees, a professor of disability research, who talks about the impact of the disorder on the mind and brain, and medical approaches to recovery.
mp3 or realaudio of programme audio.
Link to programme transcript.
Link to Robert McCrumb's article 'Memoirs of a survivor'.
Link to 'What is a stroke?' from the Stroke Association.
—Vaughan.
January 04, 2006
Information integration and consciousness:
There's a raft of new articles just appeared on Science and Consciousness Review, including a speculative but fascinating article on information states in the brain and consciousness.
The article by Henri Montandon discusses the ideas and implications of researcher Giulio Tononi who argues that an entity is more conscious the more information it can bring to bear on life experiences.
There's plenty more news stories just been added as well, so have a wander through and enjoy.
Link to Science and Consciousness Review.
—Vaughan.
January 03, 2006
PsyBlog returns:
You spend all day waiting for a bus, then two come along at once... PsyBlog has risen from its slumber to rub its eyes and stare 2006 in the face. A welcome return.
—Vaughan.
Dangerous ideas:
Online boffin brigade Edge have asked a wide range of contemporary thinkers to outline their own 'dangerous ideas'.
The list includes a number of cognitive scientists, and an even wider selection of authors commenting on mind, brain and culture. Most of them, although fascinating, don't strike me as very dangerous. A few did make me particularly prick up my ears though:
Cognitive neuroscientist Stephen Kosslyn offers a set of hypotheses concerning a scientific theory of God, anthropologist Helen Fisher suggests SSRIs affect love and predicts of dire consequences for society as a result and philosopher Barry Smith argues cognitive science may have limited relevancy for everyday life.
...and once you've read all the commentaries, dig those photos!
Link to The Edge Annual Question 2006: What is your dangerous idea?
UPDATE: The newly returned Mixing Memory has some interesting comments on some of the cognitive science ideas.
—Vaughan.
January 02, 2006
Brain police:
Aahh ah ahahahaaa, aahh ah ahahahaaa
What will you do if we let you go home,
And the plastic's all melted,
And so is the chrome?
Who are the brain police?
One of the deeper questions in neuroscience, posed by Frank Zappa in the lyrics of the song 'Who are the brain police?'. As far as I know, Frank never got a clear answer to his question.
—Vaughan.
Nothing to see here!:
I've taken advantage of the holidays to have a big server move and shift mindhacks.com to a different machine... If you see this post, it worked! If you notice any glitches around the site, please do let me know at matt at mind hacks dot com. Thanks!
—Matt.
Tantalizing science:
Neuroscience, the investigation of brains, is a child of the Enlightenment, born of the belief that nothing is out of bounds to science. Like her sister, genetics, she grew up in the twentieth century, overshadowed by their older sibling physics, who has changed all our lives and has blood on her alter to prove it. Genetics promises even greater accomplishments, boasting of how she will one-day conquer the world. Compared to these shadowy teenagers, neuroscience is a quiet Cinderella. But some say that she will outstrip her sisters, changing not only the world we live in, not only the bodies we are born with, but the thoughts and selves and cultures we create.
Stirring words from physiologist Kathleen Taylor in her fascinating book on the history and science of 'Brainwashing' (p105, ISBN 0192804960).
Link to previous post on Brainwashing.
—Vaughan.
January 01, 2006
Explaining religion:
Last Saturday’s Guardian featured an essay by Andrew Brown on science’s attempt to explain why so many people the world over are religious.
Brown says that many religions have existed without a belief in eternal life, thus undermining the argument that by promising an afterlife, religion evolved as a way for humans to cope with their mortality.
A more plausible explanation, he says, is that religion is a by-product of an aspect of our minds and behaviour that evolved for some other purpose. According to biologist David Sloan Wilson, one such purpose could be coherent and successful group behaviour. Consider how lust inspires us to mate, which has the evolutionarily advantageous knock-on effect of producing babies. Similarly, the pursuit of the sacred inspires us to religion, which has the evolutionary advantageous knock-on effects of causing us to form coherent groups and to follow rules.
Link to Guardian essay.
—christian.
Mixing Memory returns:
I assumed cognitive science blog Mixing Memory had gone missing in action during October, only to have it burst back into life after a mysterious period of radio silence. It's one of my favourite reads on the net so it's great to see it back again.
Link to Mixing Memory.
—Vaughan.
All in the Mind on autism and autistic pride:
The lastest edition of BBC All in the Mind is a special on autism, discussing the experience, science and politics of the condition.
The programme talks to scientists and people affected by autism, including Wendy Lawson, a member of the growing Autistic Pride movement - which is trying to reframe autism as a part of normal neurodiversity rather than as a pathology in itself.
It also discusses the latest findings and theories of autistic abilities, disabilities and experience from the cognitive and neurosciences with psychiatrist Anthony Bailey and neuroscientist Helen Tager-Flusberg.
Link to All in the Mind autism special webpage.
Realaudio archive of progamme.
Link to previous post on Autistic Pride.
—Vaughan.
