My picks from ScienceDaily

Groups Share Information In Workplace, But Not The 'Right' Information:

From the operating room to the executive board room, the benefits of working in teams have long been touted. But a new analysis of 22 years of applied psychological research shows that teams tend to discuss information they already know and that "talkier" teams are less effective.

Racial Biases Fade Away Toward Members Of Your Own Group:

White people don't show hints of unconscious bias against blacks who belong to the same group as them, a new study suggests. But this lack of bias only applied to black people in their group, according to the findings. Most white people in the study still showed evidence of some unconscious bias towards blacks who were in an opposing group, or who were unaffiliated with either group.

Food Choices Evolve Through Information Overload:

Ever been so overwhelmed by a huge restaurant menu that you end up choosing an old favourite instead of trying something new? Psychologists have long since thought that information overload leads to people repeatedly choosing what they know. Now, new research has shown that the same concept applies equally to hundreds of animal species too.

Listening To Pleasant Music Could Help Restore Vision In Stroke Patients, Suggests Study:

Patients who have lost part of their visual awareness following a stroke can show an improved ability to see when they are listening to music they like, according to a new study published March 23 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Brain Wave Patterns Can Predict Blunders, New Study Finds:

A distinct alpha-wave pattern occurs in two brain regions just before subjects make mistakes on attention-demanding tests, according to a new study. From spilling a cup of coffee to failing to notice a stop sign, everyone makes an occasional error due to lack of attention. Now a team led by a researcher at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with the Donders Institute in the Netherlands, has found a distinct electric signature in the brain which predicts that such an error is about to be made.

Financial Security, More Than Money Alone, May Be Key To Happiness, Study Says:

A study of the mental state of the modern American woman by a Princeton University psychologist has found a powerful link between concerns over financial security and satisfaction with one's life.

Link Between Religious Coping And Aggressive Treatment In Terminally Ill Cancer Patients:

In a new study of terminally ill cancer patients, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that those who draw on religion to cope with their illness are more likely to receive intensive, life-prolonging medical care as death approaches -- treatment that often entails a lower quality of life in patients' final days.

The Human Brain Is On The Edge Of Chaos:

Cambridge-based researchers provide new evidence that the human brain lives "on the edge of chaos", at a critical transition point between randomness and order. The study provides experimental data on an idea previously fraught with theoretical speculation.

Drug Being Used To Improve Cognition Affects Dopamine, Suggesting Potential For Abuse:

Preliminary research in healthy men suggests that the narcolepsy drug modafinil, increasingly being used to enhance cognitive abilities, affects the activity of dopamine in the brain in a way that may create the potential for abuse and dependence, according to a study in the March 18 issue of JAMA.

Stroke Survivors Improve Balance With Tai Chi:

Stroke can impair balance, heightening the risk of a debilitating fall. But a University of Illinois at Chicago researcher has found that stroke survivors can improve their balance by practicing the Chinese martial art of tai chi.

Gulf War Veterans Display Abnormal Brain Response To Specific Chemicals:

A new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers is the first to pinpoint damage inside the brains of veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome - a finding that links the illness to chemical exposures and may lead to diagnostic tests and treatments.

Fear Or Romance Could Make You Change Your Mind, Study Finds:

Each day people are confronted with innumerable pieces of information and hundreds of decisions. Not surprisingly, people seldom process each piece of information deeply, instead relying on quick mental shortcuts to guide their behaviors. For example, people often use the conformity-based mental shortcut of following the crowd.