dmunger | June 26, 2006The 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 on July 9 at A Blog Around the Clock, so if you missed this one, make sure you get your submissions ready for the next time around.
dmunger | June 23, 2006Jonah 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 foundations of his theories."
As I've said before, I agree with much of what Jonah is saying, especially when it comes to Gladwell's over-reliance on anecdote and over-generalizations about experimental results. And I'm certainly impressed, as Jonah is, with Gladwell's insightful analysis of current events and politics…
dmunger | June 23, 2006The 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, another part can sometimes fill in the gaps.
Yet some disorders do cause intractable problems. People with autism, for example, have difficulty recognizing personality traits in others. While the specific neurological cause of autism has yet to be isolated, one hypothesis suggests that the key is an inability to develop episodic memory. If you can't recall the…
dmunger | June 22, 2006P. 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:
dmunger | June 21, 2006Since polls and surveys are always some of our most popular posts, we decided to post today's gentle reminder in the form of a poll:
To donate, just click on the box to the left... or click here. It's completely legit to donate before you respond!
dmunger | June 21, 2006Here's this week's Ask a Scienceblogger question:
How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically?...
Funny you asked. It's actually rather a long story. You see, about a year and a half ago, I had this idea to write a book. But, I thought to myself, my problem is that I'm not really an expert in anything. If only I had a real expert who could help me out with, you know, facts and things, I think I could write an excellent book.
After racking my brain trying to figure…
dmunger | June 21, 2006I've spent the morning looking around the Web to bring you today's news snippets, but then I came back to ScienceBlogs and realized that the best posts on cognitive science are being made right here.
Jonah Lehrer has an excellent analysis of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. Having just finished the book myself, I tend to agree with most of what Jonah says. "Instead of delving into the scientific details," Jonah says, "Gladwell always goes with the telling anecdote."
I might add to that: I've caught Gladwell in at least one muff of the details. When discussing Nalini Ambady's work with thin-slicing…
dmunger | June 19, 2006Last week's article on the Aymara language and metaphorical depictions of time generated a lot of discussion. I think part of the confusion there had to do less with the specific example and more with basic questions about metaphorical representations of time, so today I'm going to cover some of the research that led up to the Aymara research.
In the article, we conducted a poll where we asked participants a simple question: If your Wednesday meeting is "moved forward two days," what day is it on now? About half the respondents said "Friday," and the other half said "Monday."
How is that…
dmunger | June 19, 2006Breastfeeding is the topic of the day here at Scienceblogs, inspired by a New York Times article on the subject.
I want to make the case that breastfeeding isn't always the best choice. As the Times article points out, research isn't exactly on my side: Breastfeeding is associated with higher IQ, decreased risk of obesity, lower rates of infections, and even better health for mothers of breastfeeding babies.
Some of these effects, especially regarding rates of certain infections, are dramatic. But others are not so much. The obesity research, for example, cites a reduction in BMI of about .05…
dmunger | June 19, 2006I heard about 20 minutes' worth of today's Diane Rehm show about childhood obesity on NPR. The program was motivated by Bill Clinton's recent deal with the soft drink industry to ban sales of some soft drinks in schools.
The plan will be implemented by 2009, and will include the following provisions:
No sugared carbonated beverages
No full-fat milk or chocolate milk
No artificially sweetened fruit juice
No sports drinks at elementary/middle school level
Of course, this still leaves plenty of unhealthy options at both elementary and middle schools, as well as in high school. There are no…
dmunger | June 16, 2006Greta and I -- and the kids -- had fun watching the movie Bride and Prejudice, which told the story of Jane Austen's renowned novel Pride and Prejudice, only Bollywood style: the "Elizabeth Bennet" character's angstings about her parent's plans to arrange her marriage with an intolerably dull cousin were punctuated with colorful Indian-pop dance numbers. As in the 1813 novel, her parents wanted her to marry for long-term companionship and security, not flash-in-the pan romantic love. While arranged marriages seem a quaint relic in twenty-first century America, they are still quite common in…
dmunger | June 16, 2006We're off to a great start in the ScienceBloggers' Donors Choose fundraiser for teachers, but we've still got a long way to go. Now there's even more great news: SEED magazine will match all the funds we raise up to $10,000. Add that to my and Greta's offer to do a 10 percent match if Cognitive Daily reaches its goal of $1,000, and there's never been a better time to donate. Give $25, and it's like giving $52.50. Give $100, and it's like giving $210. Give $100 million, and send Dave and Greta to the poor house -- or at least determine the limits of our generosity -- either way, it's a nifty…
dmunger | June 16, 2006The Canadian Automobile Association is proposing a ban of all distracting electronic devices for new drivers. It's an interesting approach -- instead of a global ban on cell phones, for example, this ban would target only new drivers.
"It is also our hope that a preventative measure like this one will create a generation of motorists who recognize the severe implications of driver distractions -- and work towards reducing them where they can," Flewelling said.
It looks to me like they've done a pretty good job of taking the relevant research into account. For example, we've discussed…
dmunger | June 15, 2006I've just got time for two quick links on women's brains and sex.
First, Vaugan at MindHacks points to a new study showing that women's brains respond more quickly to erotic images than non-erotic images.
Now all we need is a study on how quickly women can respond when their lovers glance at other attractive women.
Second, Jake at Pure Pedantry cites a preprint article about PET scans of women's brains during sexual climax. At climax, activity fell in nearly the entire brain. For men, brain activity at climax was undetectable. In the comments, Shelley warns that this is a pre-printed article…
dmunger | June 15, 2006The New York Times has an article about the influence of genetics on behavior. It's a synthesis of a number of recent studies implicating a genetic relationship between predispositions for a number of different phenomena, from "wild streaks" to obesity.
ScienceBlogs' own Jonah Lehrer has already written an impressive response, noting that most of the genetic effects described in the article are small and unreliable.
Even more interesting, the Times article actually cites a blog post inspired by our own Razib. This is probably the most heavily linked New York Times article I've ever seen -- is…
dmunger | June 15, 2006Greta and I love what we do here at Cognitive Daily, and we'd love to see more people getting excited about careers in cognitive psychology. But before you can become a scientist (or a science writer), you need a good background in the basics. Unfortunately, for too many children, that education is just out of reach. They've got great teachers, but the teachers don't have the resources to provide them with the learning experience that will help them not only build skills, but get excited about science.
That's where you come in. We're participating in the ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose raise-money-…
dmunger | June 14, 2006Just a quick shoutout to Shelley at Retrospectacle, who has a great analysis of our cell phone ringtone poll results. Also, take a look at her commentary on the Southern Baptist convention's threat to remove their children from public schools. Retrospectacle is fast becoming one of my favorite blogs.
dmunger | June 14, 2006Yesterday's Can you hear this post attracted plenty of interest -- apparently nearly all of our readers can hear the ringtone that's supposedly only audible by kids. But two of our commenters noted that the sound published by the New York Times wasn't actually 17 kHz, the range studies have shown kids are sensitive to; it was closer to 15 kHz. So much for trusting the New York Times.
To correct their (and our) error, we convinced our friend Dan Boye, a physicist and professional opera singer, to create a more accurate audio stimulus. The sound file he created has two tones: the first is at 17…
dmunger | June 14, 2006In many ways, my career has been dominated by efforts to make "work" bear as much resemblance to "having fun" as possible. Today's article only confirms that rule. Yesterday afternoon, I spent an hour watching a World Cup soccer match, and for once I could claim that it was completely relevant to work. I could still remember Diego Maradona's stunning 1986 run through the center of the English defense as vividly as if it happened yesterday, and was hoping to form a similarly vivid memory. Unfortunately, yesterday's lackluster 0-0 tie between France and Switzerland didn't provide me with…
dmunger | June 14, 2006An emailer pointed me to a great description of research on the Aymara language, a language where the metaphoric representation of time is reversed compared to all known languages, claim the researchers. When an Aymara speaker wishes to indicate something in the past, she points ahead of herself, whereas something in the future is gestured by flicking the hand over the shoulder.
Equally fascinating is the article's discussion of how the researchers concluded that the metaphor for time is actually reversed:
There are also in English ambiguous expressions like "Wednesday's meeting was moved…