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 ( 2497 )
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MindStuff: A Guide for the Curious User
When I am trying to collect together some ideas to form a lecture or longer piece of work, I frequently think “Haven’t I seen that before?” …. Read more
Posted on 02 March 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Neurochemistry of Music.
I want to point to an interesting review article by Chanda and Levitin, that summaries studies showing how music engages four of our bodies' fundamental... Read more
Posted on 27 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Twitter Predicts Mortality from Heart Disease!
Here is an interesting item from Eichstaedt, Seligman, and collaborators: Hostility and chronic stress are known risk factors for heart disease, but they are... Read more
Posted on 26 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Metacognitive Mechanisms Underlying Lucid Dreaming.
Metacognition is the ability to observe, reflect on, and report one's own mental states during wakefulness. Dreaming is not typically accessible to this kind... Read more
Posted on 25 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
The Neuroscience of Motivated Cognition.
I want to point to this interesting open source article by Hughes and Zaki, who review research from social psychology and cognitive neuroscience that provides... Read more
Posted on 24 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
MindBlog's 9th Anniversary
I realize that I have let MindBlog's 9th birthday slip past without note. The Feb. 6, 2006 post that started the blog, Dangerous Ideas, is no less relevant toda... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
What is Different About the Brains of "SuperAgers"
We all probably know some people well into their 80's and 90's who seem to maintain crystal clear intelligence, presence, and memory. Read more
Posted on 23 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Training the Mind Not to Wander with Brain Feedback.
deBettencourt and collaborators at Princeton University have placed student subjects in an MRI machine while they were performing a sustained attention task. Read more
Posted on 20 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
An Informative Genetic Grammatical Impairment - the Biological Basis of Language
A fascinating article from van der Lely and Pinker: •Specific language impairment is a heterogeneous family of genetic developmental disorders that affect... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Psilocybin as a Key to Consciousness.
Michael Pollan offers an engaging article "The Trip Treatment" in the Feb. 9 issue of The New Yorker magazine that describes the resurgence of interest and... Read more
Posted on 18 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
A Sense of the Unfolding Digital Age.
I've just spent an hour following web links in the New York Times article on a recent course offered by recently deceased media columnist David Carr. Read more
Posted on 17 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Music Training Offsets Decline in Speech Recognition on Aging.
From Bidelman and Alain: Musicianship in early life is associated with pervasive changes in brain function and enhanced speech-language skills. Read more
Posted on 17 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
MindBlog Experiments with a Brain Enhancer.
I have done two previous posts on my personal experiments with compounds meant to promote longevity or vitality. The first dealt with resveratrol, a potential... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
How Musical Sound Becomes Rewarding - Predictions and the Brain
I would like to point out this review in Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Seeing more than the summary below does require a subscription or other access. Read more
Posted on 13 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Changing Bodies Changes Minds.
A fascinating review by Maister et al. notes studies showing that inducing illusory ownership over the body of a different race, age, or gender person changes... Read more
Posted on 12 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
MindBlog's Other Lives - a Piano Concert
I thought I would share with MindBlog readers this video made at my piano recital last Sunday in Fort Lauderdale by Rex Coston, an amazing 90+ year old guy,... Read more
Posted on 12 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Watching Large Scale Brain Network Interactions in Cognitive Control.
We frequently face situations in which we must override our ongoing behavior to react to a situational demand, a process that is impaired in many patients with... Read more
Posted on 11 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Causal Emergence in Our Brains
I recently came across an important paper that I didn't spot when it first appeared in 2013. Tononi and collaborators question the common assumption that knowin... Read more
Posted on 10 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Expensive Drugs Work Better Than Cheap Ones.
Bakalar points to work published in the journal Neurology that found that when Parkinson's disease patients were told they were testing two new drugs, one... Read more
Posted on 09 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE -
Computers Judge Personality More Accurately Than Humans.
This is a bit scary, from Youyou et al.: Judging others’ personalities is an essential skill in successful social living, as personality is a key driver behind... Read more
Posted on 06 February 2015 PSYCHOLOGY, SCIENCE