February 2010
7 posts
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The Lucifer Effect
theotherwindow:
There’s been a lot written about psychology professor Jerry Burger’s recent replication of the famous “obedience” experiments first carried out by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s. Here’s Burger’s paper in which he reports that obedience rates are almost the same today as they were nearly 50 years ago. Wikipedia’s page on this experiment has an excellent summary of the...
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January 2010
23 posts
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[I]n order to provide us with a deeper understanding of [structure-function...
– Stephan, K. E. (2004). On the role of general system theory for functional neuroimaging. Journal of Anatomy, 205, 443-470.
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December 2009
1 post
Live feed of sectioning of HM's brain →
HM was arguably one of the most famous neurological patients of all time. After surgery for epilepsy in his 20s, he lost the ability to form new long-term memories (anterograde amnesia). He recently passed away, and his brain is being meticulously preserved. The feed linked above gives live coverage of the on-going continuous sectioning of his brain at UCSD. They also host a fantastic blog...
November 2009
11 posts
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FMRI evidence in the courtroom?
“A defendant’s fMRI brain scan has been used in court for what is believed to be the first time. Brain scan evidence that the defense claimed shows the defendant’s brain was psychopathic was allowed into the sentencing portion of a murder trial in Chicago.”
From Wired; “Courtroom First: Brain Scan Used in Murder Sentencing”
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Why this is a horrible precedent to...
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“The existence of competitors is an advantage in learning, not an obstacle.” (p. 260).
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ABSTRACT—The prefrontal cortex is crucial for the ability to regulate thought and control behavior. The development of the human cerebral cortex is characterized by an extended period of maturation during which young children exhibit marked deficits in cognitive control. We contend that...
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Pertinent to neuroculture and underlying many of its relevant products is the...
– Frazzetto, G. & Anker, S. (2009). Neuroculture. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 815-821. doi: 10.1038/nrn2736
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Cells in mirror-neuron areas do not themselves hold meaning, and they alone...
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Damasio, A. & Meyer, K. (2008). Behind the looking-glass. Nature, 454, 167-168. doi: 10.1038/454167a
October 2009
10 posts
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"Apparition Hemorrhage" →
Ghost in the machine: an instance of pareidolia.
I want to question the equally pervasive acceptance of Piaget’s assumption that...
– Thelen, E. (2000). Grounded in the world: Developmental origins of the embodied mind. Infancy, 1, 3-28. doi: 10.1207/S15327078IN0101_02
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Mitosis in Epithelial Cells →
Gorgeous video of mitosis occurring in epithelial cells in the pig kidney.
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My view is that this gland is the principal seat of the soul, and the place in...
– From a letter by Descartes, dated 29 January 1640.
For more on early views of the pineal gland, see the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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