May 11, 2009 1
Encephalon #70: on Mysteries and Ilussions
By: Alvaro Fernandez
Welcome to the 70th edition of Encephalon, the blog carnival that offers some of the best neuroscience and psychology blog posts every other week.
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Mysteries of Brain and Mind
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Cognitive Daily, |
Guys on dates want to know: Is it really impossible to ignore an attractive face? Recent research seems to demonstrate that, indeed, attractive faces can distract us from a variety of tasks. Dating Tip of the Week: what about impressing your date with a homecooked dinner next time and avoid potential misunderstandings? |
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Neuroanthropology, |
BIG NEWS: First Neuroanthropology Conference! The first Neuroanthropology Conference will be held 8 October 2009 at the University of Notre Dame. Great theme, great speakers. Will it offer a cross-cultural analysis of the research mentioned above? |
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On Neurons, Journeys, and Chemical Friends
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BrainHealthHacks,
by Ward Plunet |
The power of one – neuron We have all been told about the power one person, that one person can make a difference. Well, does the general principle also hold true about a single neuron? Can a single neuron make a difference – change your sleep state, motor movement, or induce a behavior? |
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Neurophilosopher, |
New cells in the adult brain migrate long distances by crawling along blood vessels The journey undertaken by newly generated neurons in the adult brain is like the cellular equivalent of the arduous upstream migration of salmon returning to the rivers in which they were hatched. |
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Neurotopia,
by Scicurious |
The elegant logic of dopamine What do we know about the formation of dopamine neurons and the regulation of gene expression?. A simple and elegant recent study provides some much-needed, critical information that could drastically affect how we pursue new therapies dopaminergic diseases such as Parkinson’s. |
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Brain Stimulant, |
Brain Synapse Computational Capacity Evolution has exploited multiple avenues to increase the brain’s computational capacity. This is great news for all humans, except perhaps for those trying to model the mind exactly by building computer brain simulations, since they will likely have to model all of these protein interactions to function in a manner similar to a real brain. |
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On Brain Functions
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SharpBrains,
by Tracy Alloway |
10% Students may have working memory problems: Why does it matter? In screening of over 3000 school-aged students in mainstream schools, 1 in 10 was identified as having working memory difficulties. Why does this matter? Clue: Working memory seems to be even more important to learning than other cognitive skills such as IQ. |
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Neurotopia, |
Cake or Death? It’s all a matter of self-control, and your vmPFC A recent MRI study helps pinpoint where signals for self-control may originate, and could be a big deal clinically. Not necessarily as a diet aid, but rather for problems where there’s a lack of self-control, as in addiction. |
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The Mouse Trap,
by Sandy Gautam |
Low Latent Inhibition, high faith in intuition and psychosis/creativity What is the relationship between low latent inhibition (brain’s capacity to screen from current attentional focus stimuli previously tagged as irrelevant), high faith in intuition and psychosis/creativity? |
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Frontiers in Perception
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Dr. Deb,
by Deb Serani |
Can You Find The Twelve Faces?
How many faces can you see in this image? |
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Mind Hacks, |
Deeper into the neuroscience of hypnosis A new article from Trends in Cognitive Sciences explores how cognitive neuroscientists are becoming increasingly interested in understanding hypnosis and are using it to simulate unusual states of consciousness in the lab. Might hypnosis help you see the Twelve Faces above? or perhaps 25 of them? |
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Next edition will be hosted by Neuroanthropology on Monday, May 25th. If you can’t wait until to read more, you may be interested in the new in-depth feature, Cognitive Monthly, offered by Cognitive Daily blog for $2/ month. This month’s issue, “The Illusion of Theater,” discusses the “remarkable science behind what theatrical professionals seem, to laypeople, to do intuitively: create an environment that encourages us to believe that what we see on stage is a true representation of reality.”
and gathering steam. We have prepared this “revival” edition just for you, so you can be well informed and impress us all during the upcoming 
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