In other news
sb admin | January 6, 2010Here's this week's list of notable posts from Psychology and Neuroscience at ResearchBlogging.org.
Is autism really surging? Michelle Dawson wonders whether the recent rise in autism rates can be traced to methodological differences in studies tracking autism rates.
We know many men are attracted to younger women, but what does it mean to look younger? Wayne Hooke looks at a recent study and concludes that looking younger may be a matter of looking less masculine.
Ever had a song that you just can't get out of your head -- an "earworm"? You'd think that psychologists would be all over…
dmunger | January 6, 2010Here's this week's list of notable posts from Psychology and Neuroscience at ResearchBlogging.org.
Is autism really surging? Michelle Dawson wonders whether the recent rise in autism rates can be traced to methodological differences in studies tracking autism rates.
We know many men are attracted to younger women, but what does it mean to look younger? Wayne Hooke looks at a recent study and concludes that looking younger may be a matter of looking less masculine.
Ever had a song that you just can't get out of your head -- an "earworm"? You'd think that psychologists would be all over…
sb admin | December 24, 2009Television can have a huge influence on our lives. But the most important influences may be the ones we don't even notice. I discuss several fascinating studies about television in my latest column on Seedmagazine.com. Here's a snippet:
Travis Saunders, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa who studies the impact of sedentary lifestyles, questions whether a little exercise can make up for hours of inactivity. He refers to a study led by G.F. Dunton of the University of Southern California and published in October in the International Journal of Obesity. The researchers conducted a phone…
dmunger | December 2, 2009In case you missed them, here are my picks of psychology/neuroscience posts from ResearchBlogging.org from the past two weeks:
The fatter we get, the less we seem to notice. Peter Janiszewski examines changing perceptions of what it means to be "overweight."
Barn owls use feathers to find sounds. A new study confirms that the facial ruff of barn owls is used to locate the origin of sounds.
How to build a criminal line-up. Fake features on the distractors, not the suspect.
Birds do generate new brain cells -- but only in the wild. A fascinating study on wild versus captive birds.
If brain…
dmunger | November 11, 2009This week on SEED, I'm writing about Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a promising new way to treat clinical depression. Here's a snippet:
In DBS therapy, one or more electrodes the size of a spaghetti strand are precisely positioned in the patient's brain, then connected by wire around the skull and through the neck to a pacemaker-like device, a neurostimulator, just below the collarbone. The neurostimulator is activated and deactivated by a magnet that the patient carries, so if a tremor is beginning to become disruptive, DBS can be self-administered in an instant, with near-instantaneous…
dmunger | November 4, 2009My SEED column this week focuses on artificial sweeteners. Can switching to artificial sweeteners help solve the obesity problem in the U.S.? Here's a snippet:
Saunders says an August report from the American Heart Association (AHA) made it quite clear that excessive sugar consumption is dangerous, and he argues that sugar should be seen as a toxic substance. But how much is too much? The new AHA guidelines suggest limiting added sugar to no more than half of discretionary calories--calories consumed after basic nutritional needs are met. For the average male, Saunders says, this works out to…
dmunger | October 28, 2009Over at SEEDMAGAZINE.COM, my column discusses the recent flurry of blog posts and media reporting on the placebo effect. Here's a snippet:
This is the primary misconception about placebos: that the placebo itself is somehow "working" to treat a medical condition. You can see it even in the headline for an otherwise well-crafted article that appeared in Wired last August: "Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why." As internist and medical professor Peter Lipson noted on the Science-Based Medicine blog, placebos by definition have no medical effect. The "…
dmunger | October 21, 2009In case you missed them, here are my picks from ResearchBlogging.org's Psychology and Neuroscience posts from the past week.
Mice navigate a virtual-reality maze. Go for the amazingly cute video. Stay for the science!
Brain imaging for lie-detection doesn't live up to the hype. Remember all those stories about fMRI lie detectors a couple years back? BPS Research Digest shows why fMRI is no better than an old-fashioned polygraph.
How good are you at trading stocks? Apparently the length of your fingers can do a good job predicting your success as a stock trader. Honest.
Many people (…
dmunger | October 13, 2009In case you missed them, here are my picks this week for psychology/neuroscience posts from ResearchBlogging.org.
Viewers of videos synchronize their blinking. It's true. When people watch videos in a group, they tend to blink at the same time. Steve Genco explains why.
The goal really does seem bigger when you're kicking well. Mo explains the research, which involves an extremely cute miniature adjustable field goal.
People work harder when they believe their work is "meaningful." A cool experiment involving Legos explains why adult video store clerks are the surliest people in the world (…
dmunger | October 7, 2009In case you missed them, here are my picks of the week from psychology and Neuroscience from ResearchBlogging.org:
Ever wondered how brain cells manage to form synapses only with other cells, and not with themselves? Neuroskeptic describes a fascinating study demonstrating how neurons avoid getting tangled up in themselves.
Benefits of attending weight-loss camp go beyond losing those pounds. Travis Saunders explains how the psychosocial benefits of weight loss camp are probably more important than losing weight.
Resting state brain networks are stable. BPS Research Digest shows how one of…
dmunger | September 30, 2009Here are my picks this week for the best psychology/neuroscience posts on ResearchBlogging.org.
Who feels pain after surgery...LONG after surgery? As many as 50 percent of patients report pain long after surgery. Healthskills examines a paper exploring some of the reasons why.
Speaking of pain, how do you study whether overweight people feel "less full" than average-weight people? Have them swallow a condom and inflate it in their stomachs. Eew! Scicurious examines the science.
Kids know Batman doesn't play with Spongebob, but do they keep the imaginary worlds they make up for games separate…
dmunger | September 23, 2009My column on SEEDMAGAZINE.COM today addresses the definition of "addiction." Does it make sense to lump all dependence on substances and even all habits under the umbrella of "dependence?" Here's a selection:
We often think of true addicts as street junkies who prostitute themselves or steal from others to support their habits, but in reality there's a wide variety of behaviors associated with abusing mind-altering substances. They can range from the casual drinker who sometimes has a few too many martinis, to the pothead who still lives in his mother's basement, to a talk-show host zoned out…
dmunger | September 16, 2009My column for SEEDMAGAZINE.COM today covers the fascinating research on perceptual illusions. While these illusions are often amazing in their own right, what's more important is what they tell us about the visual system, and how common they really are:
Are you sitting in a swivel office chair as you read this article? Would you like to see a remarkable visual illusion? Just push yourself back from your desk and spin around four or five times from right to left with your eyes open. Then look back at this screen. You'll probably notice that now the onscreen text appears to be moving from left…
dmunger | September 9, 2009In case you missed them, here are the posts I chose as "Editor's Selections" yesterday for ResearchBlogging.org.
The amazing malleability of our body image. Volunteers felt real pain watching someone hurt a fake hand.
Can we use EEG to predict whether an antidepressant will be effective? Maybe, but only if researchers are allowed to test the proprietary "magic numbers"
What's your brain doing during a lucid dream? William Lu discusses a recent study, and links to a page describing how to induce your own lucid dreams.
Finally, I think I wrote a pretty good post last week too. Decide for…
dmunger | September 2, 2009My column on SEEDMAGAZINE.COM today discusses recent research on acupuncture:
The science behind acupuncture is dubious. It's difficult to properly control an acupuncture study because its practitioners--and those receiving treatment--are heavily invested in the results. In a Norwegian study of acupuncture as treatment for hot flashes during menopause, 80 out of 535 volunteers dropped out because they were randomly assigned to the "no treatment" group. As Euan Lawson, a general practitioner in Cumbria, UK, explained in his analysis of the research, acupuncture is quite popular in Norway, with…
dmunger | August 26, 2009In case you missed them, here are my selections from the psychology and neuroscience posts on ResearchBlogging.org for the past week:
Confronted with fake video evidence, nearly everyone confesses. In a simulated "crime," researchers were able to induce false confessions -- but fewer people were willing to rat out others.
Second language changes the way bilinguals read in their native tongue. Learning a new language makes you read differently in the old one, suggesting you don't just "switch on" a different language.
Children with autism do understand emotions. While autism does seem to…
dmunger | August 19, 2009In case you missed them, these are my picks from ResearchBlogging.org's psychology and neuroscience categories. Neat stuff!
Neurological basis for desire for amputation. This post explains why some people have a seemingly rational desire for a healthy limb to be removed.
Are humans genetically predisposed to cheat on their mates? An anthropologist examines the evidence, based on the sex habits of chimps, bonobos, and gorillas.
Is this a smile :) or is this a smile ^_^ ? The Neurocritic examines a study demonstrating that facial expressions aren't universal.
Do you have to be religious to be…
dmunger | August 12, 2009Over at Seedmagazine.com, my new column "Research Blogging" debuted today. Every Wednesday I'll be discussing what's new in the research blogosphere, and this week I cover a fascinating post by Jeremy Yoder about lactose tolerance in adults. Here's a sample:
The researchers say the lactase gene evolved in Europe because Europeans don't get enough sun to produce Vitamin D, which in turn is needed for humans to take in calcium. Since lactose also assists in the uptake of calcium, adult milk drinking helped northern Europeans meet that deficiency.
Gerbault's team developed a computer model…
dmunger | August 4, 2009Over at ResearchBlogging.org, in addition to my other duties, I'm serving as the Psychology/Neuroscience editor. Every week starting today, I'll be making "Editor's selections" -- choose the top posts in these fields. For your convenience, I'm also sharing them here. Enjoy!
Here's one for your boss: Computer Games at Work are Good For You. With a few caveats, of course. Before you schedule the conference room for a 9-5 LAN party, you might want to read the post.
Have you ever found yourself driving to the grocery store when you were actually supposed to be headed out to dinner with your in-…
dmunger | May 25, 2009Encephalon, the biweekly collection of the best psychology and neuroscience posts on the web, is now available at Neuroanthropology.
In addition to great science, there's a collection of clips from a classic movie about Italian food, "Big Night." Here's my favorite: