Brain & Behavior
March 8, 2010
A Blog Around The Clock
Welcome the newest SciBlings! Go say Hello to Travis Saunders and Peter Janiszewski, the newest bloggers on the Scienceblogs.com network at Obesity Panacea. They cover health, physiology, nutrition and exercise - something we did not have here on the network before, at least not...
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Pay it forward? Cooperative behaviour spreads through a group, but so does cheating An act of generosity can apparently ripple through a group of strangers, but so can an act of deception.
The Frontal Cortex
Marriage One of the hazards of writing a book on decision-making is getting questions about decisions that are far beyond the purview of science (or, at the very least, way beyond my pay grade). Here, for instance, is a question that...
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
Praying Mantis Attacks Hummingbird Sandy Lizotte, the Ventura Hummingbird Lady, captures a rare and remarkable moment where a praying mantis was waiting patiently at a hummingbird feeder to ambush a hummingbird. As you'll see in this video, the mantid succeeds.
March 6, 2010
Terra Sigillata
Science with Moxie's Princess Ojiaku: PLoS Blog Pick of the Month this week, on tour with band next week Bassist, singer, blogger, grad student kickin' it.
March 5, 2010
The Frontal Cortex
More on Depression I thought it's worth addressing this article one last time. Dr. Ronald Pies (professor of psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse) has written three eloquent and extremely critical blog posts about the article and the analytic-rumination hypothesis. Here's...
Guilty Planet
Another Reason for the Russian Bride Phenomenon Russian women are constantly and increasingly cooperative compared to Russian men and Italians, according to a 2005 study.
A Blog Around The Clock
ScienceOnline2010 session videos - Science and Entertainment Part 6 Science and Entertainment: Beyond Blogging Saturday, January 16 at 2 - 3:05pm D. Science and Entertainment: Beyond Blogging - Tamara Krinsky and Jennifer Ouellette Description: Over the past several years, the Internet has tangibly changed the way that movies...
bioephemera
Iconic? "Science" says your brain doesn't buy it. . . at least according to Campbell's Campbell's is redesigning their iconic red-and-white soup packaging. Why? The answer's in your brain - or so they think: Campbell's said traditional customer feedback wasn't telling the company why soup sales weren't doing so hot. "A 2005 Campbell analysis...
A Blog Around The Clock
New and Exciting in PLoS ONE There are 19 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services...
Neurotopia
Friday Weird Science: Do Your Balls Hang Low? Sci came across this abstract via NCBI ROFL, the aggregation site with some truly hilarious studies on it, many of them worthy Friday Weird Science materials. And of course this one is EXTRA worthy. It's from the Journal of Medical...
March 4, 2010
Framing Science
Breaking Down the Climate Change Communication Problem A good synthesis of applicable research and principles...
The Frontal Cortex
Inequality Aversion The ultimatum game is a simple experiment with profound implications. The game goes like this: one person (the proposer) is given ten dollars and told to share it with another person (the responder). The proposer can divide the money however...
Omni Brain
Can you guess what this model is for? Here's a snippet of some of the relevant text from the article describing the model below: show attribute/state-oriented functions. Type7. [Useful Attribute/State]: 2.3) Change of structure or object directly make a useful "attribute" including "ability". Type8. [Attribute/State]àInteractionà[Useful State]: 2.4) Change of structure or object makes interaction between its "attribute/state" and...
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
TEDTalks: Daniel Kahneman Talks About The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory What does getting a colonoscopy have to do with choosing a vacation? Listen to this fascinating TEDTalk where Daniel Kahneman talks about the riddle of happiness: our experience of it versus our memory of it
March 3, 2010
Omni Brain
My dissertation in pictures Sorta... Can you guess what it's about? and even better my conclusions?...
Omni Brain
This is why I'm taking a nap right now I have lots of work to do, including my preliminary dissertation defense tomorrow, but I'm justifying a nap because of this: If you see a student dozing in the library or a co-worker catching 40 winks in her cubicle, don't roll your eyes. New research from the University of California,...
Omni Brain
My Pet Fat (tm) Trying to lose weight? Need extra motivation? Don't want to spend 1000's on a diet program and personal trainer? Afraid of drugs or cutting big chunks out of your intestine? This might just be the most important diet craze to sweep the nation and solve our obesity problem. Read on...
Neurophilosophy
The ability to recognize faces is inherited Two new studies provide strong evidence that the ability to recognize faces is inherited independently of other cognitive functions
Mike the Mad Biologist
Actually, It Matters How Liberals Are Smarter Where do the differences between liberals and conservatives arise: is this primarily knowledge, abstract reasoning, or a general difference?
The Frontal Cortex
Mood and Cognition One of the interesting subplots of this new research on the intellectual benefits of sadness - it seems to bolster our attention and make us more analytical - is that it helps illuminate the intertwined relationship of mood and cognition....
A Blog Around The Clock
New and Exciting in PLoS ONE There are 25 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services...
March 2, 2010
The Frontal Cortex
More Questions I've received a few emails along this line: "How does this new theory about depression enhancing problem-solving relate to all the studies that have shown cognitive deficits in people with depression?" That's a really good question. I tried to address...
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Not Exactly Pocket Science - panic aboard the Titanic, the rise of polar bears and emasculated frogs News bites on behaviour aboard sinking ships, the evolution of polar bears, and the pesticide that chemically castrates frogs.
The Corpus Callosum
Dietary Practices, Depression and Anxiety The January 2010 American Journal of Psychiatry has two articles pertaining to the relationship between dietary practices and mental health. One article presents the results of a study; the other is an editorial. Association of Western and Traditional Diets With...
