ResearchBlogging Editor's Selections
jgoldman | June 28, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
To start us off this week, Neuroskeptic discusses a new study that attempted to use a computer to translate therapists' notes into psychiatric diagnoses. Could it be that certain language used by therapists or their clients could predict the severity or duration of a mental illness? The study has problems, but it's an interesting idea to consider, more generally. Machine-Readable Psychiatry.
It is well known, according to Daniel Ocampo Daza of the Ego Sum Daniel blog, that "smokers tend to have a lower body-mass than non-…
jgoldman | June 21, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
Social hierarchies are pretty complicated to navigate...so why have them at all? Read about The Status Paradox at Psych Your Mind.
ADHD well known, but how might an ADHD diagnosis interact with being an athlete? What should practitioners of sports medicine know about it? Bill Yates discusses this at his Brain Posts blog: ADHD and the Athlete.
Do fish feel pain? It's not a trivial question, especially if you are aware of what is on the dinner table. At the Fish Addict blog, grad student David discusses a new report on pain and…
jgoldman | June 14, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
"Most neuroscientists would subscribe to the sensorimotor hypothesis, according to which brains mainly evaluate sensory input to compute motor output," writes Bjorn Brembs. But is it possible that the sensorimotor hypothesis is just the result of some laboratory artifacts?
"What happens to a pig if it has a gene for autism?" This is the question that Neuroskeptic addressed earlier this week. Do Pigs Get Autism?
What is it that makes an invasive species so successful at invading a new ecosystem? At NeuroDojo, Zen Faulkes asks if…
jgoldman | June 7, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
Snacking on fertilized duck eggs features prominently in the first editor's selection for this week. Food-related disgust and moral disgust: are they related? Find out at this Genealogy of Religion post, Foreign Ideas & Moral Indigestion
Jon Brocks outlines a proposed change for the upcoming DSM-5, which would recategorize kids who were previously given a "Pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified" as having "social communication disorder." Well worth the read, at Cracking the Enigma.
"Many studies in…
jgoldman | May 31, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
You're running down a corridor in a castle that's under attack by terrorists. Or are their neuroscientists, trying to figure out just how it is that people get involved in the narrative "flow" of a video game? Neuroskeptic explains how your brain gets in on the game.
Reality TV might be good for more than just entertainment. Is it possible that reality TV could actually engender romance among the participants, even on shows (like American Idol) that aren't about romance itself (like The Bachelor)? At the new PsySociety blog,…
jgoldman | May 17, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
The first selection this week comes from Chad Orzel at Uncertain Principles. "But wait," you say. "A psychology post in a physics blog?" Yes! Active Engagement Works: "Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment Physics Class"
Autism diagnosis in cultural context. Dorothy Bishop reviews a recent book on autism, and in doing so, reviews quite a bit about autism itself. A great read!
That's it for this week... Check back next week for more great psychology and neuroscience blogging!
jgoldman | May 10, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
Are you an inattentive superhero? Bradley Voytek thinks so, and explains why in this fantastic post at Oscillatory Thoughts.
Does visual perception for the actions of others alter perception of the passage of time? Mo Costandi at Neurophilosophy describes a recent paper addressing this very question.
Can having lots of choices in life make us more selfish and less empathic towards others? At Not Exactly Rocket Science, Ed Yong writes about a series of experiments that suggest the answer is yes. Also, there's bacon.
That's it for…
jgoldman | May 3, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
What can the spinal cord teach us about learning and memory? A lot, it seems. Bjorn Brembs has the scoop.
How do box jellyfish hunt their prey? With each of their TWENTY-FOUR eyes! Mo Costandi explains at Neurophilosophy.
That's it for this week... Check back next week for more great psychology and neuroscience blogging!
jgoldman | April 26, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
To start with, is there anything that might help with exposure therapy for specific phobias? Michelle from C6-H12-O6 describes a paper that suggests that the administration of cortisol might!
While many people claim to not be able to dance, if pressed, most could dance to a beat. Nearly all of us can at least identify when others are on or off rhythm. Over at Neuropoly, DJ discusses a newly discovered form of congenital amusia: beat deafness.
If there is anything cooler than a retina grown in a dish, I'm not sure what it is.…
jgoldman | April 19, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
To start things off, Krystal D'Costa of Anthropology in Practice discusses the science of women's shoes.
Was the "Gay Caveman" really gay? Or even a caveman? Eric M. Johnson takes his blog tour to David Dobbs's Neuron Culture blog: The Allure of the Gay Caveman.
It is often suggested that differences in neural connectivity or wiring may underlie some psychopathologies. Here's some evidence from Neuroskeptic that this may indeed be the case, at least for schizophrenia. Maybe.
What are the ten most cited papers in Neuroscience?…
jgoldman | April 12, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
Liberals Are Conflicted and Conservatives Are Afraid and Colin Firth is published in Current Biology. From the Neurocritic.
Despite what beer commercials tell you, not everyone responds to alcohol in the same way. The Science Life blog discusses the science of drinking.
How does an octopus integrate its visual perception with its motor actions in order to navigate? Seems simple, but a great post at Cephalove suggests that it might not be as easy as it sounds. If you're an octopus, that is.
jgoldman | April 5, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editors Selections for this week:
Is there a relationship between the taste of certain foods and moral decision-making? Maybe. At The Jury Room: Make them eat brussel sprouts.
In a somewhat related post, Dr. Stu of his eponymous blog asks if your music selection can make your food taste better or worse. The answer might surprise you.
What is the relationship between conscious awareness and the experience of pain? Flavia di Pietro of Body in Mind explores the question. Nociception by any other name will hurt, or not hurt, just as much.
Finally, and for the second…
jgoldman | March 29, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
From Jon Brock at Cracking the Enigma: How do siblings influence theory of mind development in children with autism?
Did your gut bacteria make you read this post? From Mo at Neurophilosophy: Gut bacteria may influence thoughts and behaviour.
A short, but interesting, post from Dr. Shock: Is Sexting a Form of Attachment Anxiety?
Finally, from the eHarmony Labs: My partner and I are opposites. Now what?
jgoldman | March 22, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
Dr. Sharma asks, at his eponymous blog, what are the psychological effects of exercise on adolescents?
M&Ms as a strategy to overcome fear of dogs. No, really. Neurocritic has the details.
Doctor Zen writes, "We're smart. Octopuses are smart. But we have different kinds of smart." Learn about it: Hand-hand-hand-hand-hand-hand-hand-hand-eye coordination.
jgoldman | March 15, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
What should you talk about on your first date if you want a second? Not films, apparently. Find some answers at the B Good Science Blog.
There is a period between "clinical death" and "brain death" called the "gap period," during which a person may not be breathing or have a pulse -- but still has (diminishing) neurological function. It is during this time that they might have what is called a "near death experience." Learn about it at The Genealogy of Religion blog.
There's good research on how teenagers perform on their…
jgoldman | March 8, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
Embodied cognition never ceases to amaze and entertain. Mo Costandi of Neurophilosophy has the latest - Tough and tender: How touch affects sex categorization.
Emily Anthes of the Wonderland blog describes an interesting paper investigating the record-keeping of Dr. Harvey Cushing. Mistakes Were Made (Inside Your Brain)
From the Music Matters blog: Can Infants Recognize Melodies Heard in the Womb? The answer might surprise you.
Finally, Alex Konkel of the ionpsych blog tells us about the relationship between body and brain.…
jgoldman | March 1, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week.
"Whether it's a raised eyebrow or curl of the lip, we usually think of emotions as conveyed through facial expressions and body language," writes BPS Research Digest's Christian Jarrett. But, how well can we communicate emotions purely through touch?
A great explainer post from the Neurobites blog. Exploring Phobias in the Brain. An Introduction.
Can fruit flies use their antennae to sense temperature? The answer seems to be yes, and the HighMag blog has the pictures to prove it.
jgoldman | February 22, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
To start us off, a pair of killer posts by tag-teaming science-blogging super-duo Kate Clancy and Scicurious. First, check out The cerebellum and premenstrual dysphoric disorder at Sci's place, and then read Kate's take on the same research at Context and Variation. Or read Kate's first and then check out Sci's...either way.
Richard Landers tells us that There Are Four Kinds of Social Media Users. What kind are you?
Doctor Zen of NeuroDojo asks a question we've all been wondering: are cows magnetic sensors? What I want to know…
jgoldman | February 15, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
I believe this is the first time I've featured a cartoon in my weekly editor's selections. Learn all about the Dunning-Kruger effect at Lost in Transcription.
Krystal D'Costa of Anthropology in Practice asks, Is A Kiss Ever Really Just A Kiss? and provides a nice taxonomy of flirting styles.
Finally, in honor of Valentine's Day, here's a post on hate. Yes, you read that right. By Melanie Tannenbaum at the ionpsych blog.
jgoldman | February 8, 2011Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:
Let's start out with something particularly morbid (though potentially the best lede ever): "What effect do thoughts of death have on a typical person's desire for sex?" This fascinating post by Christian Jarrett of BPS Research Digest asks, when is death an aphrodisiac?
If death is an aphrodisiac, then tons of sex should be occurring in Pittsburgh right now, since When Your Super Bowl Team Goes Down, Your Death Risk Goes Up. David Berreby of Mind Matters explains.
I'm not sure why death is such a prominent theme this week, but…