Mind Hacks: Linkage Archives

May 02, 2008

2008-05-02 Spike activity:

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

Interesting Scientific American article looks at the how infections can increase risk for mental illness but suffers from some rather irresponsible and sensational statements in the summaries.

A classic study on how children learn the world isn't flat, covered by PsyBlog.

Science Daily reports on research suggesting that the key language areas of the brain 'shift' as we age.

Some wonderful examples of 19th century Japanese brain art are discovered by In Two Minds.

Neuroscientifically Challenged has an excellent short piece on a brain scanning study on social hierarchy in humans.

The excellent Dana magazine Cerebrum has an article on the link between the heart and brain function. Healthy heart, healthy brain.

The Neuroethics and Law Blog rounds up some recent reviews of neuroethics books.

BBC News has a remarkably good article on 'sex addiction' and why it's not an addiction, even if it's a problem.

A coooool visual illusion is discovered by Cognitive Daily.

Booze reduces the brain response to fearful faces finds study reported by Science News who seem to have had a few when they wrote the first rather over-generalised sentence.

The Frontal Cortex has a thoughtful piece on madness and creativity.

Female voices sound sexier when they're at the peak of fertility in the menstrual cycle, reports New Scientist.

The latest research on deep brain stimulation for treatment resistant depression is covered by PsychCentral.

Scientific American has an article on whether age-related cognitive decline may be caused by a breakdown in connections between different brain systems.

The anthropology of Grand Theft Auto! A thinly veiled excuse to play video games at work leads to an interesting article on why Liberty City is such as success.

Furious Seasons on why new data reveals that the famously corrupt Paxil Study 329 is actually worse than we thought. Hard as that is to believe.

McGill University has some funky neuroscience images (thanks Sandra!).

Unix, Lacanian psychoanalysis, anarchy, David Cronenberg, the unconscious and Stanislaw Lem - together at last!

BPS Research Digest covers a curious debate over whether psychotherapy is over-hyped where a frankly delusional psychopharmacologist ignores evidence and seemingly makes up figures about levels of therapist abuse. He references his own paper, which quotes a different figure.

—Vaughan.

April 28, 2008

Encephalon 44 wants you!:

The 44th edition of the psychology and neuroscience writing carnival Encephalon has just been released by the ever-excellent Cognitive Daily.

What with the flurry of recent interest in neuroscience studies predicting the imminent death of our concept of free will, this edition has a slyly satirical slant on your ability to resist.

A couple of my favourites include a post by Cognitive Daily on a remarkable study that found that priming students to believe that free will doesn't exist increases levels of cheating (!), and a provocative article from The Mouse Trap on whether God is just the result of humans making a Type I error - i.e. detecting a false positive.

Of course, another alternative is that God is significant but just has a very small effect size. Epicurus is that you?

Link to Encephalon 44.

—Vaughan.

April 25, 2008

2008-04-25 Spike activity:

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

BBC science programme The Material World has a great feature on the blood-brain barrier. I love the blood-brain barrier!

In light of the recent resurgence of a penis theft panic in Congo, here's a link to an old article of mine on the psychology of penis theft beliefs.

Sharp Brains rounds up a fantastic series of interviews with neuroscientists.

Professor Semir Zeki has a posse, sorry... blog.

The Times has a review of a new book on the behavioural genetics of personality.

A remarkably comprehensive article on the drug industry's underhand tactics with antipsychotic drugs is published by the St Petersburg Times.

Cognitive Daily looks at the desensitising effect of violent video games.

Research to test human brain implants to control robot arms is submitted for review in Japan, reports Pink Tentacle.

The New York Times has an interview with Daniel Gilbert on the curious psychology of happiness.

Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg writes about brain science and the biology of belief.

ABC Radio National have had a couple of good shows on food and the evolution of the brain; and hearing, lip reading and language perception.

Does language shape cognition? The New York Times re-examines the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in light of new research.

Discover Magazine has an interesting short article on how earthquake prediction algorithms also apply to epileptic seizures.

The 'top ten mind myths' series is concluded by PsyBlog.

Frontal Cortex has a fascinating discussion of how society regards MRI scans, compared to the limits of the science.

Current tools are not very good at identifying 'kiddie psychopaths', reports the BPS Research Digest.

Treatment Online looks at a study that tracked how the balance of genes and environment differs on women's paths to alcoholism.

Some recent books on consciousness are discussed by My Mind of Books.

—Vaughan.

April 18, 2008

2008-04-18 Spike activity:

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

The economics of MILF! Slate explores how economics and game theory explain the shortage of available, appealing men in the 30s and beyond.

Has a selection bias found in the 'Monty Hall problem' affected findings in certain types of cognitive dissonance research? NYT's TierneyLab blog investigates.

Some old school video footage of B.F. Skinner is discovered by Channel N.

PsychCentral looks at a new study on farm animal therapy. No, really.

I don't smoke that heavy shit. Terra Sigillata on recent poisoning caused by dealers adulterating marijuana with lead.

While we're on the subject of strange trips, Neurophilosophy celebrates the 65th anniversary of LSD.

MIT's TechReview on how new genetic mapping tools are helping understand the neuroscience of autism.

BBC News reports on a nice two way interaction as the anaesthetic sevoflurane gas selectively reduces memory for high-emotion images.

The 'I know I know it but can't bring it to mind' tip-of-the-tongue state gives an insight into the psychology of language, as detailed in an article from American Scientist.

The NYT considers the possibility of having silicon memory chips implanted into our brain to boost our memory capacity.

To the bunkers! The Guardian discusses the future of robots with personalities for everyday tasks. Call-Me-Kenneth is that you?

Treatment Online looks at recent research linking brain size to the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Forensic psychology or medicalisation of a super-villain? You decide as psychologist Tim Stevens looks into the mind of the Green Goblin for Marvel News.

The Boston Herald looks at the behavioural economics of banking and long-term finance.

Better living through neurological self-tampering. The NYT looks at the history of altering our brain chemistry.

The Guardian has a first-person account of one writer's experience of group therapy for depression.

This is your brain on free choice. Mixing Memory has a good retrospective on studies that use brain scanning to 'mind read'.

A couple more good articles on emerging technologies from MIT's Tech Review: one on modelling surprise and another on connectomics.

The BPS Research Digest has a piece on a fascinating but difficult-to-explain finding: fold your arms to boost your performance.

To the bunkers! The Washington Post on artificial intelligence technology being deployed for population monitoring and control.

The Neurocritic has a great roundup of studies that have looked at the effect of sexy pictures of male reasoning.

—Vaughan.

April 15, 2008

Encephalon 43 lands on the virtual doormat:

A beautiful new edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been published on GNIF Brain Blogger and contains the best of last fortnight's online mind and brain writing.

A couple of my favourites include an article on how the brain encodes sound and another one on Alzheimer's disease, and there's plenty more to enjoy in the latest edition.

Link to Encephalon 43 at GNIF Brain Blogger.

—Vaughan.

April 11, 2008

2008-04-11 Spike activity:

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

The scientist brain doping results are in! Neuroanthropology looks at the findings from the recent Nature survey.

Prospect Magazine has an excellent article on whether the recent upsurge in bipolar diagnoses is due to a better understanding of mood disorders or a new marketing fad.

Science writer Carl Zimmer writes in Wired discussing the remarkable unreliability of ion channels, essential components of neural signalling, and notes what little effect this seems to have on global brain functioning. Viva redundancy!

.CSV has a great post on new techniques in quantitative sociology including social network analysis.

The vagaries of behavioural genetics studies, particularly inlight of a recent study on the genetics of 'ruthlessness' are carefully dissected by Pure Pedantry.

Wired has a run-down of his Top 5 recreational drug studies in the scientific literature (sadly misplacing the brain-scanner bong at number 5).

Like shooting fish in a barrel. Internet addiction nonsense comes in for more criticism from psychologists Petra Boyton and Cory Silverberg.

Newsweek looks at the theory that Western individualism and Eastern collectivism differences may have resulted from adaptive social strategies to deal with different diseases.

My Mind on Books collects some blog reports on the recent conference "Toward a Science of Consciousness".

Cognitive neuroscientist extraordinaire Michael Gazzaniga asks whether human brains are unique in an article for Edge.

Neurophilosophy reports on a man who had his compulsive gambling treated with a deep brain stimulation implant.

Popular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are a form of participatory surveillance and voluntary social voyeurism, argues an article from First Monday.

Six pack models in men's magazine have a similar negative effect on self-esteem to stick thin models on women's magazine, according to research reported by the BPS Research Digest.

"If we mistrust the real world so much that we're prepared to fill the next generation's heads with a load of gibbering crap about "brain buttons", why stop there? Why not spice up maths by telling kids the number five was born in Greece and invented biscuits?" Very funny article in the The Guardian about Brain Gym foolishness currently sweeping British schools.

PsyBlog has been running a fantastic series on the psychology of money and economic decision-making.

Long-term methamphetamine use has serious long-term neurological effects on the brain, according to new research discussed by Treatment Online.

—Vaughan.

April 04, 2008

2008-04-04 Spike activity:

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

The Economist looks at Jeff Hawkin's work on making computers more brain-like: from palmtops to brain cells.

Yet another study on the benefits of meditation is covered by Scientific American.

Cognitive Daily has a cool summary of a study on how we decide whether to walk or run. Not how busy we want to look apparently.

All in the Mind's Natasha Mitchell reviews a new book on the history of Freudian thought and therapy in The Australian.

Not Exactly Rocket Science covers an interesting study where electric shocks were used to increase discrimination between two previously identical seeming smells.

The New York Times has an article describing the important phenomenon of change blindness.

Neuron earrings! Jewellery inspired by our favourite above-the-neck cells (thanks Sandra!).

The Boston Herald looks at research on the psychology of decision-making and poverty.

Sidewalk psychiatry. Although I certainly wouldn't want a psychiatrist who asked these sorts of questions.

The Economist looks at how blood sugar levels can affect decision making.

Daily caffeine 'protects brain', reports BBC News. But who protects your daily caffeine I ask?

The Frontal Cortex has an interesting snippet on the fact that the infinity mongering Argentinian writer Borges had a brain injury.

Poltergeists are due to the quantum effects of brain function, apparently. The freaky ghost cousin of Roger Penrose is invoked in New Scientist.

Wired reports that griefers attack epilepsy discussion board with flashing graphics. Accusations about Anonymous and Scientologists being linked to the attack fly about, but it's happened on a previous occasion, before either were at war, so it's likely just idiots.

Comfortably Numb, a new book on society and depression, is reviewed by Furious Seasons.

The New York Times discuss the runner's high.

The psychology of religion and morality is discussed by psychologist Paul Bloom and philosopher Joshua Knobe on Bloggingheads.tv

Bad Science has video of the Brain Gym nonsense being ably addressed by Paxo and the Newsnight team.

—Vaughan.

April 01, 2008

Encephalon 42 arrives in style:

The latest edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just arrived online, with this issue seemingly hosted by Paris Hilton.

Personally, I don't believe it for a second as we all know that Ms Hilton is largely concerned with physical medicine research.

A couple of my favourites include a history of lithium chloride, the simple salt that is also widely prescribed as a treatment for bipolar disorder, and a short exploration of the science and experience of synaesthesia.

Link to Encephalon 42.

—Vaughan.

March 28, 2008

2008-03-28 Spike activity:

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

PsychCentral tackles the recent internet addiction nonsense and asks What's That Smell? It turns out it's Internet Addiction Disorder in The News.

BBC Radio 4's excellent history of ideas programme In Our Time has recently had editions on the philosopher Kierkegaard and early computationalist Ada Lovelace.

The BPS Research Digest explains a new study on frustrating tip-of-the-tongue states with bonus bit on how to overcome them.

Psychedelic artist extraordinaire, Alex Grey, is interviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle about his art and tripping (thanks Laurie!)

Dr Petra Boyton looks at international headlines linking anger, mental illness and Britain and notes that they're based on a rather dodgy market research survey.

The limits of certainty in diagnosis and medicine are explored by The New York Times.

Neurophilosophy looks at a comparative study on the possible evolutionary development of a key language pathway in the brain.

Removing brain tumours can be tricky at the best of times, especially when the operation is on a 7-year-old-girl. The New York Times has an article and video on one such procedure.

Scientific American Mind looks at the effects of the surprisingly common occurrence of postpartum (post-pregnancy) depression beyond the individual effect on the mother.

In praise of booze. The New Humanist shings the praises of the world's favourite fight enabler.

The New York Times has a review of the Willard hospital suitcase exhibition we featured the other day.

The application of shoe smell to epileptic seizures. No really. Neurocritic has some fantastic coverage of an upcoming scientific article on the phenomenon.

New Scientist reports that belly fat linked to increased risk for dementia. Not particularly startling, but emphasises the point that one of the best ways of keeping your brain healthy is to look after your cholesterol, blood pressure and cardiovascular fitness.

The six degrees of autism. Discover Magazine has a funky network analysis of schizophrenia, bipolar and autism comorbidity.

Wired reports that Pfizer computers have been hacked to send out, wait for it, v1agra spam.

A thorough debunking of determining personality from handwriting can be found on PsyBlog.

The New York Review of Books has a megareview of several books on happiness.

Sharp Brains has a fantastic article by neuroscientist Shannon Moffett on sleep, Tetris, memory and the brain.

—Vaughan.

March 21, 2008

2008-03-21 Spike activity:

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

Medication is the least effective way of treating children with conduct problems, according to a recent review.

Truth serum art chaos! The Arts Catalyst has a secret psychology art-science project you can participate in on March 29th in Liverpool.

The New York Times has a rather timely election themed article on the psychology of rumours.

"You know, just the other day, on this very blog, I swore I would never read another imaging paper again..." Evidence we are helpless to resist (the colours! the colours!) as Mixing Memory discusses a recent brain imaging study on the influence of language on colour perception.

Child-like intelligence created in Second Life. Surely this isn't news?

Treatment Online examines a study which has found differences in a gene linked to neural connectivity in people with autism spectrum diagnoses.

The New York Times has an article on the popularity of sewing wild oats throughout the animal kingdom.

The key Freudian concept of transference captured in the lab, and reported by Cognitive Daily. See an earlier Mind Hacks post for more on the science of transference.

The Guardian reports that the Pentagon delayed mild brain injury screening in an attempt to prevent medicalisation of psychogenic problems.

Sleepwalking is more likely to occur when people are recovering from sleep deprivation, reports BBC News.

As a nice complement to our recent post on authenticity, Psychology Today's Matthew Hutson discusses the psychology of authenticity in the art world.

Is someone at New Scientist trying to win a bet over how many times they can get the word 'telepathy' into print? This time an article about a possible US military 'telepathic' ray gun' that has nothing to do with telepathy. Sadly.

Imminent gnome attack! Wired report on how World of Warcraft could be used to study terror tactics.

Channel N has a remarkably well-explained video introduction to body dysmorphic disorder.

It is better to give than receive. At least in terms of your happiness, reports Not Exactly Rocket Science.

—Vaughan.

March 18, 2008

Encephalon 41 arrives:

The 41st edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just been published online, and this time it's ably hosted by Pure Pedantry.

A couple of my favourites include Providentia on one of A.R. Luria's most fascinating cases and the PodBlack Blog on magical thinking in politicians.

There's plenty more, so have a look through for some of the best mind and brain writing of the last fortnight.

Link to Encephalon 41.

—Vaughan.

March 14, 2008

2008-03-14 Spike activity:

Slightly late quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

Neurophilosophy posts a 'best of' collection of its many excellent articles online.

The Kinsey Institute for sex research have started their own blog and regular podcast on all matters sexual.

Social networks are like the eye. Edge has a video lecture on an evolutionary take on the development of society.

The New York Times reviews the recent discussion on whether it's wrong for scientists to take cognitive enhancers. Not like it hasn't been happening for four millennia already.

When can children make the distinction between jokes and lies? The BPS Research Digest has a piece on some fascinating new research and the APA Monitor has a past article on research on child humour from the same team.

Skeptic magazine has a great review of some of the key concepts in consciousness research in an article entitled 'consciousness is nothing but a word'.

Psych Central discusses the recent news stories about a possible biological test for mood disorders.

To the bunkers! Simple nanotech experiment will one day lead to swarm of microscopic brain creatures, suggests BBC News article.

BBC News reports on a study that found that breathing engine exhaust fumes alters brain function. Full text available from PubMed entry.

Nominative determinism strikes again. The New York Times looks at the limits of the effects of our name on how we're perceived.

Neuroanthropology has a piece on the anthropology of prisons and prisoners.

The New York Times again on differences in the DNA of identical twins, with the newly discovered copy number variations playing a key role.

The joy of boredom. The Boston Globe looks at the most undirectional of mental states.

The increasingly excellent Treatment Online discusses a recent study on genetic interactions in people with depression.

Jealousy in romantic relationships is associated with the height of partner, according to a study covered by New Scientist.

The excellent Simply Psychology has relaunched with a huge amount of psychology resources online.

The brain of Dionysus. Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield discusses what the Ancient Greek tragedies can tell us about the brain in The Telegraph.

—Vaughan.

March 07, 2008

2008-03-07 Spike activity:

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

Faces in the static. An interesting study looks at brain activation associated with seeing illusory faces in visual noise.

Neuroanthropology discusses recent research looking at the cognitive neuroscience of poverty.

How your name influences your decisions and preferences. The Psychologist has a fascinating article on 'nominative determinism'.

The Phineas Gage Fan Club gives a concise summary of the relatively recently discovered 'grid cells'.

Industrial psychology may have been invented by mistake. Advances in the History of Psychology tracks down the typo.

Carl Zimmer video interviews neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga on how discoveries about the brain are challenging our understanding of law.

PsyBlog discusses why psychology is not just common sense.

The Wall Street Journal asks what makes Finnish kids so smart?

Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder and Time magazine investigates the high suicide rate in people diagnosed with the disorder.

Language Log does another fantastic job of debunking dodgy sex difference research.

Pete Mandik is posting entries from his upcoming book 'Key Terms in Philosophy of Mind'. The first is 'emergence'.

Not Quite Rocket Science has one of the most sensible articles you're likely to read on the recent interesting but over-interpreted 'brain scan mind reading' research.

After the series of recent studies on unpublished drug company data, the UK government intends to bring in a mandatory trials data register. In contrast, the USA seems largely unconcerned.

The Thinking Meat Project has been really good recently. Check it out.

Drunk on water. Frontal Cortex finds a great example of the fantastically powerful influence of suggestion.

Wired has an article on Jill Bolte Taylor, neuroscientist who wrote about her own stroke.

The Neurocritic takes the biscuit, sorry, doughnut, with a write-up of a new study on the neuroscience of eating Krispy Kremes.

—Vaughan.

March 03, 2008

Encephalon 40:

Welcome to the 40th edition of the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival.

This edition covers some of the best of the last fortnight's mind and brain writing from around the net, so kick back, relax and see what fires you up.

We start with an announcement of a birth. The neuroscience blogs OmniBrain and Retrospectacle are gone but not forgotten because the two authors have combined forces to jointly write for their new project Of Two Minds which launches today!

While we're enjoying the nostalgia and looking toward to the future what better time to remind ourselves that the history of the cognitive sciences is an essential method for understanding the past, present and the road ahead.

Advances in the History of Psychology has recently had a series examining the limits of what we should include in the history of our collective discipline. A Wikipedia user recently added a huge amount of material on medieval Islamic scientists to the history of psychology entry, inspiring an article and a remarkably thoughtful discussion from historians about what counts as 'our history'.

In a similar vein, Lehrer's recent book, 'Proust was a Neuroscientist', sparked an analysis on whether he's 'doing history', if we can easily say what it means to do history at all.

In an exploration of the more recent past, Channel N hosts a video lecture by Dr. Claudia Wassmann on the history of neuroimaging from the nineteenth century to the present, and its applications in psychiatric research.

Perhaps thinking more about preserving our personal history, Sharp Brains sifts fact from fiction from the recent media hype surrounding cognitive training for the ageing brain with a guest article from Josh Steinerman.

From the same source comes an article on one of the key concepts in understanding how the brain changes and adapts, namely brain plasticity. Remaining mentally flexible is also thought to be important to cognitive fitness and a final article looks at the importance of breaking our mental routines as part of a brain health programme.

While these articles tackle cognitive decline through normal ageing Brain Blogger describes a journey of recovery from brain injury and the process of dealing with the subsequent deficits in a six part series (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) that tackles everything from detection to techniques for managing the difficulties.

Remaining in the clinical world, The Mouse Trap tackles some new science surrounding the historical connections between schizophrenia and autism, suggesting that they are opposite disorders of the social brain. Looking this time at addiction, a further post discusses the famous 'rat park' experiment on possible environmental factors in addiction.

Finally, the Mouse Trap looks at the effect of colour labels in Russian on colour perception suggesting a possible re-birth of the hypothesis that language shapes our world.

On a lighter note (excuse the pun) World of Psychology finds a webcomic that touches on the use of light therapy to treat mood disorders and uses the opportunity to discuss some of the scientific research behind this little known but effective treatment.

From sight to scent as The Neurocritic covers a study that used fMRI to investigate the effect of perfume on the brain and its links to sexual arousal. The experiment used the iconic perfume Chanel No. 5, one of the most well-known brands in the world, and in a subsequent post, The Neurocritic tackles the use and abuse of cognitive neuroscience in 'neuromarketing'.

Staying within the corporate realm, Ionian Enchantment takes a critical look at recent attempts to explain corporate behaviour with the principles of evolutionary psychology and concludes that when you have a hammer, everything seems like a nail, even when you might be better off with another tool altogether.

Perhaps more informative might be a study covered by Not Exactly Rocket Science where similar brain activation was found in a brain scanning study of both humans and chimps during vocal communication, suggesting our speech areas might not be quite so unique after all.

On a completely different note, Adam Kolber (who you may know from the Neuroethics and Law blog) has written a couple of guest articles on the psychology of punishing crime. The first looks at whether we should take into account the subjective experience of the punishment on the convicted. For example, should a someone who is claustrophobic be given a shorter prison sentence because it would be additionally unpleasant? The second article discusses what implication follows from the recognition that the same punishment might not be equal for all.

Finally, the mighty Cognitive Daily looks at a whether children are better than adults in their ability to recognise faces from other races. The findings give an interesting twist to the 7 Seconds lyric "And when a child is born into this world, it has no concept of the tone of skin it's living in".

J'assume les raisons qui nous poussent de changer tout,
J'aimerais qu'on oublie leur couleur pour qu'ils esperent.

The next edition of Encephalon will be at Pure Pedantry on March 17th.

—Vaughan.

February 29, 2008

2008-02-29 Spike activity:

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

"Chewing gum and context-dependent memory: the independent roles of chewing gum and mint flavour": A lovely forthcoming paper from The British Journal of Psychology.

Bloggingheads.tv has a video debate on natural *cough*, sorry, experimental philosophy.

Pure Pedantry investigates the neurological basis of the "runner's high".

Have you been in psychotherapy doctor? The New York Times has an article on the dying tradition of psychiatrists being in therapy.

A new book on 'neuroarthistory' is picked up by My Mind on Books.

Bolding going back to 1962. The Sunday Herald reports on a recently discovered neuroreceptor link found between psychosis and effects of LSD.

Parapsychologist Dean Radin is interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle.

We respond differently to babies' faces within 150 milliseconds. Cognitive Daily covers a MEG study of face recognition responses in the brain.

BBC News reports that poor diet is linked to bad behaviour in children.

To the bunkers! $24 billion spend predicted to developed autonomous robot armies. You have 20 seconds to comply!

The first human nerve tissue transplant has been completed. Next step, Robocop (we hope).

Wired reports on a psychologist leading the competition to develop a film recommendation algorithm and win the Netflix Prize.

How do psychologists study what we know about ourselves? Psychologist Virgina Kwan writes a guest article for the BPS Research Digest

Against compulsory happiness: The LA Times discusses the miracle of melancholia and BBC News asks is depression good for you?

First Monday ponders whether whether the increasingly media obsessed world needs to be understood as an attention economy.

Deric Bownd's has a primer on executive function in the prefrontal cortex.

—Vaughan.

February 22, 2008

2008-02-22 Spike activity:

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

The New York Times tackles the debate about whether psychiatric drugs can increase suicide in some instances.

To the bunkers! Agent Kurzweil at work again: Machines to match man by 2029. Virtuality and reality to merge.

Yale psychiatrist Charles Barber argues in the Washington Post that healing a troubled mind takes more than a pill.

PsychCentral covers a new guide on how to apply research findings to treatment with psychological therapies.

How the Media Messes with Your Mind: Scientific American has a brief article on how recognising two common fallacies can help you separate fact from media fiction.

Neuroanthropology asks whether studies on culture and neuroscience are all brain and no culture?

Philosopher and New Mysterian Colin McGinn reviews Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia in the New York Review of Books.

The non-sight senses of blind people are not more acute but they may develop new skills to compensate, reports PsyBlog.

Vivid but inconclusive examples vs ambiguous scientific data: The New York Times on the renewed debate over drug side-effects in light of latest school shooting.

In some very limited circumstances a laser could be used to transmit sound to the ear with a recently uncovered military technology, reports Wired.

Artists create a humanoid robot which uses brainwave activity recorded during sleep to playback an interpretation of your dreams.

Powell's has an in-depth review of 'The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow Into Depressive Disorder'.

The end of the Flynn effect? The BPS Research Digest on a study that found a decline in IQs when measured in 2004.

Cognitive Daily looks at a study which asks whether music preferences are a guide to personality.

—Vaughan.

February 18, 2008

Encephalon: the new dawn:

If you've been wondering what happened to the Encephalon psychology and neuroscience writing carnival, it's been on a brief hiatus while its management has been passed on to new hands.

It was previously managed by Mo at Neurophilosophy, whose time has now been largely captured as a neuroscience postgrad.

Luckily, the ever capable Alvaro Fernandez from Sharp Brains has taken the helm and just published the first edition of its return.

Fittingly, it's a bumper issue, and contains articles on everything from Renaissance brain look-alikes to whether robots can feel emotions.

The next edition will be hosted on Mind Hacks on March 3rd so if you want to submit an article, just email a link to

encephalon{dot}host{at}gmail{dot}com

and we'll feature it.

Link to new Encephalon.

—Vaughan.

February 15, 2008

2008-02-15 Spike activity:

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

Psychiatrists and the fashion for corduroy suits - Fronter Psychiatrist says don't do it kids!

Sharp Brains looks at the benefits of teaching kids mindfulness meditation in schools.

Language Log has found the headline of the year. Genius!

Campaigners want to put health warnings about cannabis on Rizla papers. Presumably, we should also put health warnings about crack on Coke cans.

The New York Times on an interesting study that found that girls' self-perception of popularity predicted later weight gain.

An article in the The New York Times discusses the art of persuasion and the psychological research behind it.

Some thoughts really do require language. Cognitive Daily covers a study that tackles the controversial issue of whether thought and language are dependent upon each other.

Yes darling, you're unique. Just like everyone else. Another article on the psychology and speed dating suggests it's a maverick scientific approach when it's already been used many times. This week, Nature joins the list of suitors.

If you're still waiting for PBS's The Lobotomist to appear online, it's become available as a torrent for the impatient.

Deric Bownd's examines a study that developed a computer-based face recognition system with 100% accuracy.

New study attempts to answer why orgasms are better when you love your lover.

More in orgasm news: Frontal Cortex looks at a real-life orgasmatron.

The wonderful Felice Frankel thinks about how to represent ideas visually in American Scientist.

Acceptance, not distraction, is the way to deal with pain. The BPS Research Digest has a fantastic complement to Lehrer's article on the psychology and neuroscience of pain.

Eric Schwitzgebel has more reflections on his fantastic project that asks why don't ethics professors behave better?

Psychoanalysts on love. Treatment Online captures some of their insights.

—Vaughan.

February 08, 2008

2008-02-08 Spike activity:

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

Is V1agra spam getting you down? Fear not, get more sex with V1tamin C!

OmniBrain discovers a long lost film on 'Frightening Diseases of the Mind'.

How good is Neurofeedback for treating attention deficits? Sharp Brains has a great review of the evidence.

The fantastic Furious Seasons hosts a pdf of a recent academic article on the increasing overdiagnosis of child bipolar disorder.

The New York Times has the shocking news that brilliant discoveries typically need years of hard word.

Subliminal images of drug paraphernalia can trigger cravings in addicts, according to a new study reported by Treatment Online.

Pregnancy 'does cause memory loss' according to a new study covered by The Guardian.

Discover Magazine asks if Osama's only 6 degrees away, why can't we find him? I've asked a similar question about Shakira myself.

10 reasons people lie to their psychotherapists. World of Psychology rounds up an informal survey.

The 'Google generation' a myth according to a new study. Susan Greenfield and chums take note.

A Blog Around the Clock interviews psychologist Vanessa Woods, who goes into the jungle to observe the behaviour of bonobos.

"Colin Blakemore: An organ so complex we may never fully understand it". A poorly worded headline unintentionally describes the head of the Medical Research Council as an organ.

More headline innuendo pleasure from The New York Times: "Drop Down and Give Me More Than She’s Doing". Sadly, about the psychology of exercise.

Metapsychology reviews a book that documents medical complicity in torture during the war on terror. So truly awful that words fail to describe it adequately.

More from The New York Times with an article and audio reading from an upcoming book on obsessive-compulsive disorder.

PsyBlog looks at the limits of cognitive dissonance, one of the most important theories in social psychology.

Don't breath the pig brains. Sound advice from Neurophilosophy.

Developing Intelligence looks at how gestures during speech affect what we communicate.

School of Everything! Want to learn something or have something to share. Fine out who can teach you in your local area.

How to Study. The BPS Research Digest has a guest feature looking at the psychology of optimum learning.

Deric Bownds discusses how blindsight has been created in people without brain damage, using TMS.

—Vaughan.

February 01, 2008

2008-02-01 Spike activity:

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

Best Life magazine has probably one of the most sensible articles I've yet come across on back pain. Another good read by Jonah Lehrer, who you may know from the Frontal Cortex blog.

Morons and Idiots Buy a Brain! Omni Brain finds an odd hip-hop video that encourages us to purchase a new cerebrum.

Sharp Brains has a fantastic review of its most popular recent articles.

Mobile phones disrupt sleep (lectures, movies, funerals).

The San Francisco Chronicle discusses the new exhibits at the SF Exploratorium that allow you to watch your own mind at work.

People use the internet to confirm their pre-existing beliefs. So, no different from any other source of information then.

SciAm discusses 'evolutionary economics' and what it tells us about how we reason about money.

A fantastically comprehensive article on the treatment of multiple sclerosis made it to the front page of Wikipedia this week.

Cognitive Daily has an article on the cognitive psychology of film. Interestingly, in the Richard Gregory talk I linked to the other day, he notes very little is known about how we comprehend film across shots. This post covers exactly this process!

This history of theories about mind over medical matters and the psychology of illness is covered in an article from Slate.

BBC News reports on a new study that has found that world-wide, the risk of depression peaks at 44, except in America.

The Wall Street Journal look at studies that cite head injuries as a factor in antisocial behaviour, offending and other social ills.

Salon has a polemic piece on antidepressants and the 'medicalisation of misery'.

A special infrared hat that cures Alzheimer's? Respectful Insolence has a rightly sceptical look at the odd contraption.

The Phineas Gage Fan Club discusses a recent study showing suggesting that sleep 'disconnects' the brain's emotional circuits.

National Geographic has a fun and beautiful interactive brain demo.

An article in The Atlantic argues that multitasking is dumbing us down and driving us crazy.

Frontiers in Neuroscience is a new open-access neuroscience journal. Bravo!

—Vaughan.

January 25, 2008

2008-01-25 Spike activity:

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

The fantastic Claudia Hammond explores the curious psychology of disgust on BBC Radio 4's science programme Frontiers.

Advances in the History of Psychology notes the passing of Paul D McLean, creator the the "Triune Brain Theory". Every time you hear the phrase 'reptilian brain', that's McLean at work.

AI learns to play Ms Pac Man. Presumably, it will soon by driven insane by the annoying music.

To the bunkers! Charmingly wide-eyed transhumanists discuss the 'singularity' - supposedly when computers will overtake the abilities of the human mind.

No really, to the bunkers! Israel intend to deploy an AI-controlled missile system that "could take over completely" from humans. Not that anyone would notice if it went bezerk I guess.

Neurophilosophy looks at a case of epilepsy triggered by hip-hop. As we noted back in October, the Beastie Boys created hip-hop triggered by epilepsy.

Dave Munger of the mighty Cognitive Daily reviews the new book by the Blakeslees on embodied cognition over at The Quarterly Conversation.

Which self-help books for depression do psychologists recommend for depression? PsyBlog looks at an interesting study on the most effective bibliotherapists.

A link between walking speed and mental quickness in the elderly is reported in an intriguing study covered by the BPS Research Digest.

The philosophy of friendship is discussed in a podcast from Philosophy Bites

Cognitive Daily examines the 'remember / know' distinction, one of the most important ideas in long-term memory research.

The myth of the mid-life crisis? An article in The New York Times questions one of our most persistent cultural clichés.

The Frontal Cortex has an interesting meta-piece on whether neuroscience is being overly popularised.

Dr Pascale Michelon writes her first article as one of Sharp Brains expert contributors on neuroimaging and the 'cognitive reserve'.

Scientific American's Mind Matters blog discusses how to create out of body experiences in the lab.

Immanuel Kant, or can he? Fragments of Consciousness has a great post on philosophy teams.

—Vaughan.

January 18, 2008

2008-01-18 Spike activity:

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

The BPS Research Digest covers some more amazing studies that find that our names are linked to our choices and performance.

Games console chip to be used for MRI analysis reports io9. Mostly cool for the beautiful MRI tractography image.

Furious Seasons covers a new study that finds placebo outperforms antipsychotics in treating aggression in patients with learning disabilities.

A series of studies that suggest we have little conscious access to the workings of our own mind are collected by PsyBlog.

Time magazine has a great article on how siblings of autistic children adapt and interact in the family.

Why should not old men be mad? 3QuarksDaily has a poignant W.B. Yeats poem.

Science News covers two novel studies into the genetics of autism.

Tracing the history of syphilis. Advances in the History of Psychology covers a recent controversy over the origins of what was once one of the major causes of madness.

The Observer covers the case of Howard Dully, who had a lobotomy at the age of 12 and later created a moving, powerful and unmissable radio programme about his experiences.

Deric Bownd's looks at an interesting argument that cooperation and choosiness necessarily evolved together.

Film footage of the ice pick lobotomy, which Dully was subjected to, is discovered by Neurophilosophy, as part of an upcoming documentary.

Phenomenology and Cognitive Science makes a special double issue on Dennett's heterophenomenology freely available online.

The BrainWave neuroscience and arts festival kicks off in New York in April and The Neurocritic has a preview.

The Onion report an astounding case where neuroscientist discover that half of a 26-year-old's memories are Nintendo-related.

Does too much dreaming lead to depression? The Mouse Trap discusses an intriguing hypothesis.

The first chapter of a new book The Philosophy of Social Cognition has been posted online.

My Mind on Books lists some recent and forthcoming books on the self to look forward to.

Can artificial life help us solve the mind-body problem? Brain Hammer investigates with a link to Pete Mandik's full-text paper.

Cognitive Daily has another fantastic demonstration on how older people adapt to blurred vision.

—Vaughan.

January 11, 2008

2008-01-11 Spike activity:

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

A neuroimaging study on ESP! The Neurocritic looks at a recent study that investigated parapsychology using brain scanners.

Drug companies approximately spend $30 billion dollars promoting drugs in the US - twice as much as they spend on research and development, according to a new study in PLoS Medicine.

Scientific American reviews the year in robots. To the bunkers!

Sociologist Laura Maria Agustin argues that double standards in how we think about rich and poor people who cross borders is clouding the debate on 'sex trafficking' in Reason magazine.

Harvard Magazine has an article on the genetics of autism and why the condition is being increasingly thought of a spectrum of traits rather than a cut-and-dry diagnosis.

Mirror Neurons - Rock Stars or Backup Singers? Neuroscientist Gregory Hickok argues against the mirror neuron hype on SciAm's Mind Matters blog.

Professor of Robert Sylwester is interviewed on Sharp Brains on the cognitive science of learning.

Could a computers have a conscience? The Buffalo News ponders the possibilities.

PBS has a full programme and website on the debate over the increasing trend for medicating children with psychiatric drugs.

An article in Wired argues that the next victim of climate change will be our minds.

New hope for tinnitus sufferers as BBC News article discusses some new treatments in the pipeline.

Intelligence and working memory may be the key to identifying the genes for schizophrenia, suggests new research.

Furious Seasons has a careful analysis of one of the most important studies of treating depression yet completed.

How do we know we're not dreaming? Eric Schwitzgebel looks at the possibilities.

Cognitive Daily has a fascinating article on whether your name affects your performance and preferences (something known as nominative determinism).

—Vaughan.

January 04, 2008

2008-01-04 Spike activity:

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

San Francisco Science Cafe puts video online of a talk on the neuroscience of meditation.

AP News reports US Military apparently not recording suicides in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Was the development of cooking a kickstart to the evolution of the modern human brain? SciAm investigates.

The New York Times has an interesting piece on the use of dissociation ('splitting off' areas of consciousness) in endurance sports people.

Glossy Autism magazine now available on newsagent shelves (also covers Aspergers, ADHD etc). Not sure how I feel about that.

Retrospectacle has neurosurgical tools of the 19th century! To only be used with a large bottle of brandy (by the patient, not the surgeon, although by the look of the tools, it probably didn't make a huge amount of difference).

Hypothalmus activity may be crucial in migraines, reports BBC News.

The New York Times on a study where researchers stimulated a single dendritic spine in a neuron (wow).

The mighty Fortean Times discusses the Wellcome Collections' new exhibition on sleep and dreaming.

More from the increasingly cognitive New York Times: an article on synaesthesia induced by a brain injury.

The Guardian covers a slightly tongue-in-cheek study that notes the similarities between images in Renaissance paintings and brain structures.

The mind is a control structure for an autonomous agent. The Science and Consciousness Review has a feature article on modelling unconscious perception in artificial intelligence.

Studying the anthropology of depression during motherhood. The New York Times looks at the work of Dr. Marian Radke-Yarrow.

The BPS Research Digest on a study that found that students who endorsed sex stereotypes showed more biased recall of their past exam performance (e.g. girls thought they did worse at maths, boys worse at art, than they actually did).

Cognitive Daily looks at research which attempts to answer the question 'does test-taking help students learn?'

Psychologist Carol Dweck is interviewed about her work on praise, motivation and achievement in children.

Bad Science has an mp3 of Ben Goldacre giving the President's Lecture at the British Pharmacology Society's annual conference: More than molecules – how pill pushers and the media medicalise social problems.

Certain brain injuries (that, unsurprisingly, affect parts of a key anxiety circuit) may prevent PTSD, reports Treatment Online.

Deric Bownds looks at the role of nature vs nurture in the visual cortex.

The Neurotech Industry Organisation both reviews 2007 and looks forward to 2008.

PsyBlog gets philosophical with articles on the relationship between happiness and the work of Schopenhauer and Epicurus.

—Vaughan.

December 24, 2007

2007-12-24 Spike activity:

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

BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed has discussions on myths about sex trafficking and the history of hunger.

Science and Consciousness Review has a feature on whether Theory of Mind is dependent on episodic memory?

Omni Brain finds a spoof video on installing a DIY brain-computer interface.

There's a great review of new book 'Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind' on Metapsychology that looks at some of the skeletons in the psychoanalytic closet.

An article for the Washington Post describes one of Stanley Milgram's lesser known but enormously endearing experiments.

Oliver Sacks describes the case of Mrs O'C and her musical hallucinations for NPR Radio. He first described her in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and updated her story in Musicophilia. He presents the complete version in this short programme.

On the same theme, Scientific American had a good 'music and the brain' article in November's issue that I missed earlier.

Bad headline but interesting sleep study. A better headline would be 'quality of sleep influences how the brain stores memories' - a subtle but important difference.

The New York Times reports that adverts aiming to 'promote awareness' about childhood psychiatric disorders are cancelled after complaints about scaremongering and insensitivity.

A genetic test for genes that may alter response to antidepressant drugs becomes commercially available, and Corpus Callosum has a great analysis of its limitation and significance.

Is it possible to be too happy? Cognitive Daily discusses a study which investigated whether there is an optimal happiness level.

—Vaughan.

December 18, 2007

Encephalon 38 flies in:

The 38th edition of psychology and neuroscience writing carnival Encephalon has just arrived online and this fortnight it's ably hosted by Not Exactly Rocket Science.

A couple of my favourites include an excellent article (how did I miss it before?) from Pure Pedantry reviewing the evidence that show mental illness is a poor predictor of violence in light of recent shootings in the US, and another on the functions of the hippocampus from Memoirs of a Postgrad.

There's a whole stack more in the same edition, so have a look through for the latest and greatest from the last two weeks.

Link to Encephalon 38.

—Vaughan.

December 14, 2007

2007-12-14 Spike activity:

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

Novelist A.S. Byatt (who has had a long-standing interesting in brain science) writes an article in The Times arguing that 'neuroscience is helping us to understand how art works – and it may offer us a way out of narcissism'.

We perceive music differently depending on how we dance to it. A completely fascinating study covered by the inimitable Cognitive Daily.

Tonometric is a website where you can take musical perception tests which contribute to studies on the neuroscience of music.

Developing Intelligence looks at work which suggests IQ can be predicted by a simple reaction time test.

How would you complete the word jo_? Students who had been asked to contemplate their own death were more likely to form positive words (like 'joy') than others. More evidence for a positive cognitive bias in the face of death, reported by the BPS Research Digest.

The Literary Review gets stuck into a new book on Freud's last year.

Wired reports that Sega and NeuroSky are to make mind-controlled toys.

SciAm's Mind Matters blog discusses some recent work on 'stereotype threat', an interesting effect where people perform worse if they think the test might confirm a stereotype about them (e.g. black people are academic under-achievers, white men are athletic under-performers etc).

PsyBlog asks you to vote now for your favourite in its weird psychology studies series.

Repeated Exposure to Media Violence Is Associated with Diminished Response in an Inhibitory Frontolimbic Network. Important research published in PloS One.

Corpus Callosum discusses a case of personality change caused by a brain tumour in a 28-year-old male-to-female transsexual patient that was recently reported in the NEJM.

The New York Times discusses the phenomena where parents look back and realise they may have elements of conditions such as autism or ADHD after their children are diagnosed.

The Neurocritic has a fantastic article on altered self-perception in people with body dysmorphic disorder.

Remarkable savant Daniel Tammet, is profiled in The New York Times.

Why do I feel like I'm falling when I go to sleep? Pure Pedantry digs up some fascinating work on this curious and common experience.

Infiltrating the waiting room: 'Information leaflets' in doctor's surgeries could be drug company advertising according to an article in The Guardian.

Crap headline but interesting story about decoding the neural code of neurons involved in visual recognition.

Neurophilosophy collects four parts of his essay on axon guidance in a single post and gets confirmation of what we already knew.

—Vaughan.

December 07, 2007

2007-12-07 Spike activity:

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

Chewing gum and context-dependent memory: The independent roles of chewing gum and mint flavour. A paper currently 'in press' for the British Journal of Psychology.

Sharp Brains has an interview with Prof Robert Emmons, a psychologist who studies gratitude.

In light of the recent UK case of a supposedly dead man who turned up claiming he couldn't remember the last five years of his life (now under arrest for fraud!) the BBC has an article on why men go missing, and neuropsychologist Dr Eli Jaldow discusses whether this type of amnesia is likely, in The Times.

PsyBlog starts a fascinating series on the unconscious.

A fantastic 'turning tables' visual illusion is discovered by Living the Scientific Life

Science News reports on a new theory on the neuroscience of the organisation of thinking. Abstract of scientific paper here.

The influence of eye disorders on the development of impressionist art is discussed by Neurophilosophy

How America Lost the War on Drugs: a fantastic Rolling Stone article on how billions were spent in a futile attempt to stop people taking drugs.

Frontal Cortex looks at a possible link between business acumen and dyslexia.

Partial Recall: Why Memory Fades with Age. Scientific American looks at the neuroscience behind memory decline in normal ageing.

Guantanamo detainee attempts suicide by slashing himself with a sharpened fingernail. When will these terrorists acts of asymmetric warfare cease?

Cognitive Daily looks at kids' misconceptions about numbers - and how they fix them.

—Vaughan.

November 30, 2007

2007-11-30 Spike activity:

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

The Washington Post has an article on the ongoing trial using MDMA ('Ecstasy') assisted psychotherapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Babies learn how to make social evaluations in the first few years of life, according to a new study reported by BBC News.

The Guardian has an article on combining a high-flying career with ongoing mental illness.

For men the brain activation in the ventral striatum is dependent not only on the size of reward, but also how it compares to other people's rewards.

Google in your brain? PageRank as a semantic memory model: Developing Intelligence examines an interesting view on memory for facts.

Is the beauty of a sculpture in the brain of the beholder? Stupid headline, interesting study.

A great post from Mixing Memory on a favourite experiment: research on schema (like mental frameworks) for memory.

Is the famous Christian poem 'Footprints' a case of cryptomnesia: the unconscious copying of another creative work? Rachel Aviv for the Poetry Foundation investigates.

Cognitive economics comes to the aid of football goalkeepers, via the BPS Research Digest.

The University of Virginia has a great 'Psychedelic Sixties' online exhibit.

Neurophilosophy finds a wonderful image generated from a supercomputer simulation of brain microcircuitry.

The Dana Foundation has an excerpt from Sandra and Matthew Blakesee's new book 'The Body Has a Mind of Its Own' available online.

Are rocks conscious? Arguing no is harder than you think, and the New York Times covers controversy.

Probably one of the most important emerging fields in biology is epigenetics. Corpus Callosum tackles a new study on the epigenetic transmission of PTSD risk markers.

—Vaughan.