Deric Bownds
These articles, from Deric's MindBlog at http://mindblog.dericbownds.net report new ideas and work on mind, brain, and behavior - as well as random curious stuff.
MY BLOGS
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Deric Bownds' MindBlog
http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/
This blog reports new ideas and work on mind, brain, and behavior - as well as random curious stuff.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 2494 )
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Meditating Mice!
Here is an interesting twist from Weible et al., who find that inducing rhythms in the mouse anterior cingulate cortex similar to those observed in meditating... Read more
Posted on 10 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
A Higher-order Theory of Emotional Consciousness
LeDoux and Brown offer an integrated view of emotional and cognitive brain function, in an open source PNAS paper that is a must-read for those interested in... Read more
Posted on 09 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
We Look Like Our Names.
An interesting bit from Zwebner et al.: Research demonstrates that facial appearance affects social perceptions. The current research investigates the reverse... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Trump Vortex - Social Media as a Cancer
Manjoo does a piece on his effort to spend an entire week without watching or listening to a single story about our 45th president. I discovered several truths... Read more
Posted on 07 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Crony Beliefs
I want to mention a rambunctious essay by Kevin Simler, "Crony Beliefs," that a MindBlog reader pointed me to recently. It deals with the same issue as the... Read more
Posted on 06 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Evolutionary Psychology Explains Why Facts Don't Change People's Minds.
A number of articles are now appearing that suggest that the ascendancy of Donal Trump, the devotion of his supporters, their indifference to facts (which are... Read more
Posted on 03 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Opposite Effects of Recent History on Perception and Decision
Here is a fascinating bit of work by Fritsche et al.: Highlights •Recent history induces opposite biases in perception and decision •Negative... Read more
Posted on 02 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Theory of Cortical Function
Heeger presents a simple and lucid framework for a unified theory of cortical function that he suggests should be useful for guiding both neuroscience and... Read more
Posted on 01 March 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Universality of the Cognitive Architecture of Pride.
An international collaboration of evolutionary psychologists suggests that a universal cognitive architecture underlies the emotion of pride, and that the... Read more
Posted on 28 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Monday Morning Schubert
On Sunday Feb. 19 I gave a recital dedicated to the memory of David Goldberger, who I had performed with in several four hands recitals several years ago. Read more
Posted on 27 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) Protects from Glaucoma
A number of anti-aging elixirs contain vitamin B3, or niacin, which is a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a key molecule in mitochondrial... Read more
Posted on 24 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Scientific Curiosity Counters Politically Motivated Reasoning.
Jasny points to work by Kahan et al. (open source) showing that science curiosity (of the sort shown by MindBlog readers!) promotes open-minded engagement with... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Will the “Anthropocene Era” Concept Slow Or Accelerate Human Impact on Our...
Wesley Yang does a nice piece in the NYTimes Magazine, which notes that the concept of an anthropocene era, as a new stage of the geological time scale leaving... Read more
Posted on 22 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Decision-making: Judges' Decisions Not So Legal
An article by Spamann and Klöhn in The Journal of Legal Studies presenting an experiment with real judges showing that justice is less blind and less... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Musical Evolution in the Lab Exhibits Rhythmic Universals
Ravignani et al. have managed to grow the rhythmic universals of human music in the laboratory, suggesting that they arise from human cognitive and biological... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Purpose of Sleep? To Forget.
In two recent Science papers de Vivo et al. and Diering et al. probe the nightlife of the synapses that control the signalling between cells in our brain. Read more
Posted on 17 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Hacking the Brain to Overcome Fear
Schiller does a brief review of work by Koizumi et al., which points to a method for reducing defensive responses without consciously confronting the threatenin... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Gender Stereotypes Emerge Early.
Bian et al. (open source) find that children at age five do not consider boys and girls different with respect to being 'really, really smart' - the childhood... Read more
Posted on 15 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
How Our Brains Make Meaning, with the Help of a Little LSD
Interesting work from Preller et al: Highlights •LSD-induced effects are blocked by the 5-HT2A receptor antagonist ketanserin •LSD increased the... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
An Emotional Experience Can Enhance Future Memory Formation.
Tambini et al. show that neural effects of an emotional experience can persist, and bias how new and unrelated information is encoded and stored by our brains:... Read more
Posted on 13 February 2017 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE