RANDOM FACT OF THE DAY
Like
fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
(psst... there's another random fact hidden in
your news below!)
TODAY's GLIMPSE
(top headline from each source)
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Off
task - Free hugs (published on Mon, 23 Oct 2006
05:34:00 +0000)
This is WAY off task for this blog.I
ran across one of the more popular videos being viewed
on YouTube and it hit a personal chord (Free Hugs
Campaign). Don't ask me why. I think the music (by Sick
Puppies) resonated to something inside me. Also, given
all the partisian political bickering (here in the US)
as we approach the mid-term elections and the stuff
going on in the world (Iraq, N. Korea, [...] |
Recent
literature of interest 10-23-06 (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 05:13:00 +0000)
This weeks recent
literature of interest can be found by clicking here.I'm
now experimenting with listing the references by journal
title...I find it easier when looking up articles via
the university library.Technorati tags: teaching tool.
psychology. educational psychology. school psychology.
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Neuroimaging
of interval timing: Special issue of Cognitve Brain
Research
I just ran across a special issue of
Cognitive Brain Research devoted to "neuroimaging of
interval timing.". The editorial introduction reference
is listed below, along with a link to the editorial. A
copy of the table of contents can also be found by
clicking here.If any readers of The IQ Brain Clock blog
would like to examine any of the particular articles, I
would willing to provide a copy, in exchange for [...] | |
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Cogmed’s
Working Memory Training in CHADD (ADD/ ADHD)
Am
getting ready for CHADD conference in Chicago later this
week. Will ge great to meet the Cogmed team, including
Dr. Torkel Klingberg, coming from Sweden for the
ocassion. A number of people have asked me for some
preliminary information from the replication studies
done based on Cogmed’s Working Memory Training Program.
Here you have a [...] |
Clint
Eastwood’s fountain of Youth: Learning
See this
interview today. Quote: “By 76, most directors have
put their heavy lifting behind them, their pace slowing,
the quality of their films waning. Not Clint Eastwood.”
Clint Eastwood: “My father always said you’ve got to
keep learning, keep expanding or you will decline the
other way. I’ve always adhered to that.” Wise words. I
would add that [...] |
Brain
Coach Answers: Do I really have to eat my
vegetables? (published on Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:15:14
+0000)
Short answer … yes! Now the longer answer …
“On measures of mental sharpness, older people who ate
more than two servings of vegetables daily appeared
about five years younger at the end of the six-year
study than those who ate few or no vegetables.” The
Associated Press reported on this Chicago-based,
6-year study of healthy seniors aged 65 and
[...] |
Is
there such thing as GOOD stress? (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 01:01:03 +0000)
It really wreaks havoc on
your mind, mood, and body.Keep in mind though, there is
a difference between the pre-game or pre-performance
anxiety or stress that you feel that helps you deliver
the performance of your life.... This is the kinds that
can be helped through meditation, yoga, tai chi,
developing a plan to address the problem, or nurturing
your friendships.Eduardo from the Happy Mind - Happy
Mood blog has some great posts on [...] |
Marian
Diamond and the Brain Revolution (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 00:12:23 +0000)
I have been recommending,
in this blog and in “real” life, the wonderful book
Magic Trees of the Mind: How to Nurture Your Child’s
Intelligence, Creativity, and Healthy Emotions from
Birth Through Adolescence, by Berkeley’s Marian
Diamond and Janet L. Hopson. In case you want to
familiarize yourself with Marian Diamond’s work, which
provides the cornerstone for Brain
[...] | |
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Why
We Still Need Teachers
Thanks to Stephanie from
Idealawg.com for the hat tip about this Rocky Mountain
News column from Seebach. Seebach is commenting on a
recent USC-Utrecht paper entitled Why Minimal Guidance
During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of
Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential,
and Inquiry-Based Teaching here.From the RMN: "The idea
that the most effective way to teach students is to give
them problems to solve, with only minimal guidance, has
been around for half a century [...] | |
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Generalization
and Symbolic Processing in Neural
Networks
Cognitive modeling with neural networks
is sometimes criticized for failing to show
generalization. That is, neural networks are thought to
be extremely dependent on their training (which is
particularly true if they are "overtrained" on the input
training set). Furthermore, they do not explicitly
perform any "symbolic" processing, which some believe to
be very important for abstract thinking involved in
reasoning, mathematics, and even language.However,
recent advances in neural network modeling have rendered
[...] |
Review:
I of the Vortex (published on
2006-10-23T13:59:01Z)
What is the "self" in neural
terms? Few would be bold enough to claim an answer to
that question. Yet in "I of the Vortex: From Neurons to
Self," Rodolfo Llinas sketches a very compelling picture
of how the self, consciousness, and intelligence may
arise in the brain. Essentially, Llinas's argument goes
as follows. First, brains are really only found in
animals that move (so, obviously, plants do not have
brains). In [...] |
What
Matters for Theory of Mind? (published on
2006-10-23T14:08:36Z)
At around 5 years of age, most
children are able to demonstrate they understand that
others' can have lasting counter-factual beliefs. For
example, if 5-year-olds are told that Joey's mom moved a
candy that Joey had previously placed on the counter,
they can correctly state that Joey thinks the candy will
remain on the counter. 3-year-olds will tend to say that
Joey thinks the candy is wherever his mother had moved
it, even though Joey [...] | |
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Neuropsychology
of hypnosis
Seed Magazine discusses how
researchers are exploring the neuropsychology of
hypnosis to understand this curious state of mind.
Hypnosis fell out of favour in psychological circles as
it got taken up by 'stage hypnotists', and researchers
found out that, contrary to the movie stereotypes,
hypnosis actually increases the number of false memories
recalled, rather than making remembering more accurate.
Furthermore, 'hypnotherapy' seems not to be hugely
effective on the current evidence. For example, trials
of hypnosis for [...] |
Encephalon
9 arrives
The latest edition of the Encephalon
psychology and neuroscience writing carnival has just
arrived on the net with plenty of musings on the mind
and brain to keep you occupied. Favourites include an
article on the balance of activation in the cortical
hemispheres and the link to paranormal experiences, and
a discussion of a recent critical article on the
cognitive neuroscience of education. |
Night
Waves (published on Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:00:00
+0000)
Assuming all goes well, I should be on Radio
3's Night Waves this evening talking about the
neuropsychology behind the Gallery Space Recall project.
UPDATE: What an odd experience that was. I sounded like
a robot and got vastly outclassed by a poet. Story of my
life. |
SciAmMind
on microexpressions and gestures (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 08:00:00 +0000)
A new issue of Scientific
American Mind has arrived on the shelves with a couple
of freely accessible articles on microexpressions and
communication through gestures available online.
Microexpressions are like any other facial expression,
but they are very subtle and occur incredibly quickly,
coming and going in several hundred milliseconds. Paul
Ekman, largely known for his discovery that many facial
expressions of emotion were universal, has been
particularly keen on researching microexpressions in
recent years. It is thought [...] |
Update:
Art, psychology or empty room? (published on Mon, 23
Oct 2006 07:45:00 +0000)
Looks like the story about
Gallery Space Recall has been picked up by a few places
(see previous post on Mind Hacks). Probably the best
coverage is from The Independent which attempts to look
at both the context and content of the work, while BBC
News has a short piece, and The Mirror and The Daily
Record have even shorter
pieces. | |
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A
Framing Analysis Research Project: Update
(UPDATED)
OK, the initial response to my
quesitons about the internet study was overwhelmingly
positive, so I'm going to go ahead with it. I just need
one more thing from you. Ordinarily with a study like
this, I would run a pilot study to figure out exactly
what concepts to include in the final version, but since
this is my first time doing this web thing, I don't want
to have a bunch of people spread [...] |
 Who Will Win Control of Congress In November?
Statisticians Make a Prediction (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 20:02:25 -0500)
If you're not reading the
Columbia University stats blog, Statistical Modeling,
Causal Inference, and Social Science, you're missing a
lot of great stuff. For example, today's post by Andrew
Gelman discusses the paper "Forecasting House Seats from
Generic Congressional Polls" by Bafumi, Erikson, and
Wlezian. From the paper: This paper is intended to
provide some guidance for translating the results of
generic congressional polls into the election outcome.1
Via computer simulation based on statistical analysis of
[...] |
A
Framing Analysis Research Project (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 18:36:13 -0500)
I'm working on writing up
a lengthy description of an alternative to Lakoff's
political theory, mostly because I feel guilty about
doing little more than trashing it without offering
anything positive to the discussion. My approach is
based on, well, actual research, and unlike Lakoff's, it
won't be designed to prove the superiority of one
political party over any other. If it works, it would be
equally useful to anyone of any political bent. Part [...] | |
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The
long-term effect of streaming on children's se...
(published on 2006-10-23T16:38:43.812Z)
Those against
academic streaming point to the stigmatising effect on
children of being placed in a lower ability class. But
now a study by researchers in Singapore has found that
in the long-term, streaming may actually protect the
academic self-esteem of children placed in lower ability
classes.In Singapore, children are separated into
ability streams based on their performance in public
examinations they take before starting secondary school
at age 12. Liu Woon Chia and colleagues [...] |
Educational
TV must overcome young children's 'vid... (published
on 2006-10-23T16:37:45.198Z)
Designers of educational
television for young children face a major stumbling
block: two-year-old children tend to ignore information
presented to them on a TV screen.For example, in an
initial study by Georgene Troseth and colleagues,
two-year-olds told face-to-face where a toy was going to
be hidden went and found it in the first place they
looked 77 per cent of the time, whereas those told by
the same researcher via a video-recording found the toy
[...] |
Why
season of birth is related to childhood intell...
(published on 2006-10-23T16:37:12.941Z)
Countless
studies have found that children’s intelligence appears
to be related to the time of year they were born in.
Some investigators have argued this is because
seasonally varying environmental factors like
temperature and infections can affect brain development.
But now Debbie Lawlor and colleagues have analysed data
from 12,150 children born in Aberdeen between 1950 and
1956, and they’ve concluded that the effect of season of
birth is almost entirely explained by the age [...] |
Bullying
still too narrowly defined by some teache...
(published on 2006-10-23T16:36:41.641Z)
A minority of
teachers may still have an overly-narrow conception of
what constitutes bullying, according to Paul Naylor and
colleagues. They asked 225 teachers and 1,820 pupils
(aged between 11 and 14) from 51 schools to write down
what ‘they think bullying is’. Despite the fact the
participating schools all had high-profile anti-bullying
policies, 33 per cent of pupils and 10 per cent of
teachers restricted their definition to direct physical
or verbal abuse, failing [...] |
Testing
times (published on
2006-10-23T16:35:35.811Z)
"It's all in the reflexes",
Kurt Russell drawls in the 80s martial arts romp Big
Trouble in Little China. He could be right - according
to scientists in Scotland, people with quicker reactions
are more likely to live longer.Ian Deary and Geoff Der
measured the IQ and reaction times of 898 people
(average age 55 years) in 1988 and then noted which of
them had died by 2002 (185 had). They also recorded
information on [...] | |
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Links
for 2006-10-23 [del.icio.us]
www.naho.ca/inuit
PDMS-Recovery Road ScienceDirect - Pharmacology &
Therapeutics : Novel anticonvulsant drugs |
Links
for 2006-10-22 [del.icio.us] (published on
2006-10-23T00:00:00-05:00)
Psychiatry Research:
Neuroimaging Orbitofrontal correlates of aggression and
impulsivity in psychiatric patients Psychedelics Could
Treat Addiction Says Vancouver Official :: thetyee.ca
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Bob
Woodruff to Report His Story on ABC News
ABC News
has announced that their anchor, Bob Woodruff, will tell
the story of what happened to him in Iraq on Jan. 29 in
a special broadcast. Through interviews with
eyewitnesses and the medical teams who saved his life,
Woodruff will report on his injuries and his
rehabilitation. In this special prime time hour,
Woodruff will also report on the heroic efforts of the
military medical teams that have saved thousands of
soldiers' lives and [...] |
Participants
needed in Buffalo, New York to study ways of improving
emotion recognition following brain injury
I have
been asked by researchers at the Erie County Medical
Center in Buffalo, New York to post this information on
a research project where they are testing the
effectiveness of 2 training programs designed to improve
emotion recognition in persons with TBI. Impaired
emotion recognition can be a very debilitating deficit
for people with TBI, contributing to poor social
outcomes. They are looking for more participants in
Buffalo region and feel that feel that [...] |
Can
electrical stimulation assist in recovery from semi
conscious state?
Deep brain stimulation has been
reported to be effective in restoring functioning to
persons in a semi conscious state according to research
presented at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience
in Atlanta on Sunday. The research at this time is
extremely limited and much more investigation needs to
be undertaken to determine if, indeed this is a viable
treatment. Apparently, this is the first time that this
form of therapy has been tried on [...] |
More
research and validation is needed for brain injury
rehabiltation programs
In 1998, the National
Institutes of Health sponsored a Consensus Conference on
Rehabilitation of Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury.
The conference identified 30 different areas areas of
research that needed to be addressed in order to guide
the rehabilitation of persons with TBI. (The full
conference report's findings and conclusions can be
found in the Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA) 1999; 282; 994-983.) Since that report was
published, much research and attention has [...] |
Support
The Needs of Children With Brain Injury & Their
Families
A one day symposium is being sponsored
by the Brain Injury Association of New York State for
professionals working with children with brain injury
and their families. The educational program is scheduled
for November 8, 2006 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM at North
Shore University Hospital, 300 Community Drive,
Manhasset, New York. As President of the Brain Injury
Association of New York State, I am pleased to have been
asked to deliver the opening [...] | |
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Self-portraits
of an Artist with Dementia
From The New York
Times:Self-Portraits Chronicle a Descent Into
Alzheimer’s By DENISE GRADYThe New York TimesPublished:
October 24, 2006 When he learned in 1995 that he had
Alzheimer’s disease, William Utermohlen, an American
artist in London, responded in characteristic
fashion.“From that moment on, he began to try to
understand it by painting himself,” said [...] | |
Over 8 years, this happened 284
times: "Cosmo" Kramer went through Jerry Seinfeld's apartment
door.
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Whipping
therapy
Siberian scientists believe that
addiction to alcohol and narcotics, as well as
depression, suicidal thoughts and psychosomatic diseases
occur when an individual loses his or her interest in
life. The absence of the will to live is caused with
decreasing production of endorphins - the substance,
which is known as the hormone of happiness. If a
depressed individual receives a physical punishment,
whipping that is, it will stir up endorphin [...] |
Brain
Recipe (published on 2006-10-23T04:43:48Z)
Ahh
Halloween - when neuroscientists find all sorts of fake
brains for sale and recipes to create them. Here's the
recipe for brains....BRAINS! This recipe was inspired by
the one Alton Brown did a few years back. I liked the
idea but wasn't thrilled with the recipe, so I came up
with my own. By the way, I would suggest getting this
mold - it looks a lot more lifelike. [...] | |
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Block
on Preventive Psychopharmacology (published on Mon,
23 Oct 2006 15:09:26 -0400)
Jerald Block posts at the
Hastings Center's Bioethics Forum on the ethics of
experimental research into preventive
psychopharmacology.... | |
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Urban
PRIDE
In Boston (MA, US), an organization called
“Urban PRIDE” provides a variety of services and support
for families of children with disabilities. Here’s a
snip from the organization’s about-us: Urban Partnership
Resources and Information on Disability and Education
(Urban PRIDE) is a not-for-profit organization and
community resource center founded in 1997 to empower and
support parents
[...] | |
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The
New Atheism
Via Hit and Run, a Wired article:
Battle of the New Atheism. The author talks with Dawkins
and Dennett. |
More
neuronal microRNAs on the way
One poster at the
SFN conference last week described a microRNA (miR132)
discovered using a novel screening technique for
learning related genes that controls dendrite growth and
production of new synapses. The method is called Serial
Analysis of Chromatin Occupancy (SACO). The team that
first produced SACO in 2004 focused on a transcription
factor called CREB (CyclicAMP Response Element
Binding |
Dawkins
v. Colbert
In case you were asleep. Dawkins may
be right, but Colbert won anyway. Update from Razib:
Dawkins on the radio. |
Regulatory
or protein-coding change?
I just came across
another argument for why the regulatory changes vs.
protein coding changes argument is inane-- sometimes
protein-coding changes are regulatory changes. Ok, maybe
RPM made that point in the comments on that post I
linked, but here's a great example, from a recent paper:
The authors looked for local regulatory variation in a
number of genes, and found one instance where the |
Leprosy
and Scandinavian babes (published on
2006-10-23T05:21:55Z)
Speaking of the ubiquity of
recent selection, I'm in the middle of looking at the
recent selection of various traits that have to do with
sexiness in different parts of the world. The primary
selection pressure concerning physical attactiveness is,
of course, pathogen prevalence -- what stronger force
could there be for making us care about how hot a person
is? Since the sexiest birds evolved
in | |
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Anxiety
& Physical Health
CBS News carried a report
on a new study today that links anxiety disorders and
physical health problems. The idea is not new,
particularly because it is widely known that many poeple
have physical symptoms with anxiety, and that stress
resulting in anxiety can be very taxing on the body.
Essentially, the study found that [...] |
“Engineering”
Autism (published on Mon, 23 Oct 2006 01:48:40
+0000)
I relocated to Atlanta, Georgia two years ago
from snow capital USA; otherwise known as Buffalo, NY
(you may recall it from the recent early snow storm
which made headlines nationwide). For the most part, I
love the Atlanta weather and the new possibilities that
a bigger city has afforded me. However, there
[...] | |
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4 year olds study for
the Otis Lennon IQ Test: What happened to play and
creativity for toddlers? (published on Mon, 23 Oct
2006 12:48:12 +0000)
Frenzy Begins for Gifted,
Talented As Tots Prepare for New Testing Anxious
parents preparing their 4-year-olds for the city’s
competitive Gifted and Talented kindergarten programs
have a new tool for coaching their children this year: a
practice test complete with the multiple choice bubbles,
analogies, and word problems the youngsters will face on
the real thing. The
[...] | |
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Improbable
Research shows in Illinois
If you’re near
Champaign, Illinois, come to the Improbable Research
show on Wednesday, October 25, at 3:00 pm at the Beckman
Institute. It will feature Ig Nobel Prize winners Dan
Simons (attention and gorilla suits) and Theo Gray (the
periodic table table) , and Ig Nobel winner George
Goble’s colleague Joe Cychosz (the world’s quickest
[...] |
Oxford
indulgence
It’s the headline someone at the
University of Oxford press office could not resist
writing: Great tits challenge evolutionary theory
(Thanks to investigator Kristine Danowski for bringing
this to our attention.) |
Allen
Seftel, Allen Seftel,… (published on
2006-10-23T04:01:38Z)
Investigator Claudiu I. Muntele
writes, “Doing some literature search I came across this
entry and I thought you could use it for something”:
SEXUAL FUNCTION AND DYSFUNCTION • ABSTRACT The Journal
of Urology, Volume 164, Issue 5, November 2000, Pages
1851-1859 Allen Seftel, Allen Seftel, Allen Seftel,
Allen Seftel, Allen Seftel, Allen Seftel, Allen Seftel,
Allen Seftel,
[...] | |
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