June 30, 2006
Category: General / Site news
The next Encephalon neuroscience carnival will be published on Monday, July 3, at The Neurophilosopher. If you have a blog post or article to contribute, send your submissions to encephalon.host@gmail.com....
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Posted by Dave Munger at 4:05 PM • 0 Comments
Category: General / Site news
In just one day, we've funded nearly one third of the amount required for "The Shocking Simplicity of Electric Circuits" project. We can give these kids the passion for science with just a few more donations -- and today is...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 8:20 AM • 0 Comments
June 29, 2006
Category: Attention • Color perception • Research
One of the amazing things about the Stroop Effect is how much good research is being done based on this simple phenomenon, over 70 years later. One of the neatest recent experiments was created by Peter Wühr and Florian Waszak....
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Posted by Dave Munger at 3:15 PM • 7 Comments
Category: News
A team of researchers in Japan has built a device that is capable of reproducing an impressively large array of smells, says a report in New Scientist. The system will use 15 chemical-sensing microchips, or electronic noses, to pick up...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 1:26 PM • 0 Comments
Category: News
There's been a decent amount of press lately about the struggles of boys in education. More women than men go to college, and more graduate. But Jay Matthews of the Washington Post is skeptical. He cites an Education Sector report...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 11:19 AM • 10 Comments
June 28, 2006
Category: General / Site news
We've got just three days left for our Donors Choose Challenge. Based on the poll we conducted last week, the primary reason (short of being broke) for not donating is not seeing a worthwhile project. I've now added one more...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 5:35 PM • 0 Comments
Category: Memory • Perception • Research • Video Games / Technology
When I play video games with my son Jim, I'm generally at a tremendous disadvantage. Most of the time, Jim has had more experience with the particular game we're playing, but even when we try a brand-new game, he just...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 11:52 AM • 1 Comments
Category: News
Small Gray Matters is a new blog which claims to be "about brains and minds. What else do you need to know?" For starters, I'd like to know who's writing it, but I'm prepared to be swayed by good content....
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Posted by Dave Munger at 7:05 AM • 0 Comments
June 27, 2006
Category: News
In case you're reading this on RSS, or have trained yourself to ignore the links immediately to the right, I wanted to point you to Paul Bloom's excellent article on Seedmagazine.com. Why does an fMRI brain scan suddenly make a...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 11:25 AM • 7 Comments
Category: News
The BBC has an article about the latest computer "mind-reading" technology. It's not as sinister as it sounds: the computer is programmed to monitor human facial expressions and attempt to recognize the corresponding emotion. Peter Robinson, professor of computer technology...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 7:03 AM • 7 Comments
June 26, 2006
Category: Intentionality • Perception • Research
Developmental psychologists since Piaget have been interested in how well children are able to take the perspective of another. Piaget's laboratory had a large table with elaborate models on top; children who were able to take the perspective of a...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 5:01 PM • 1 Comments
Category: News
Brainethics has a summary of a recent Science Magazine article about cross-cultural sharing behavior. The study set up three different sharing scenarios, then examined how cultures with different values with respect to sharing behaved: These results demonstrate that there is...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 1:30 PM • 0 Comments
Category: General / Site news
The first edition of The Synapse is up over at Pure Pedantry. Jake Young has spearheaded the formation of this brand-new carnival, assembling a worthy collection of neuroscience posts. Be sure to check it out. The next edition will be...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 9:36 AM • 0 Comments
June 23, 2006
Category: Opinion
Jonah Lehrer now has two posts slamming Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. The second post, currently ScienceBlogs' most emailed story, offers the ultimate slam, proclaiming that Gladwell is the "new Freud," a mere "prose stylist" who "wasn't particularly interested in the neurological...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 12:45 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Memory • Research • Social
The brain can be a good multitasker, using the same systems for unrelated functions. For example, the sensorimotor system may be used for imagining objects and concepts. What's more, when one part of the brain fails to do is job,...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 11:06 AM • 7 Comments
June 22, 2006
Category: Fun and games
P. Diddy probably doesn't have to worry about this group horning in on his territory, but I bet the U of Oregon grad students had a lot of fun making this video:...
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Posted by Dave Munger at 12:37 PM • 5 Comments