Laura’s Psychology Blog

"The Family that Researches Together" -- a nice article appearing on this year's APS convention web site! CLICK on the picture to read more!

Here is what I am reading today!:

• Java drinkers live longer?

“One of life’s simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn’t matter.”

• leaky blood vessels, Alzheimers and ApoE4 gene

“Common variants of the ApoE gene are strongly associated with the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but the gene’s role in the disease has been unclear. Now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that in mice, having the most risky variant of ApoE damages the blood vessels that feed the brain.”

• obesity, autism and schizophrenia

“What can a fish tell us about human brain development? Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth.”

• robotic arms for people with paralysis

“In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own – for the first time in nearly 15 years – by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial is evaluating the safety and feasibility of an investigational device called the BrainGate neural interface system. This is a type of brain-computer interface (BCI) intended to put robotics and other assistive technology under the brain’s control.”

• college education — cost vs. benefit

“Among adults of all ages, 82% say it’s harder for today’s young adults to find a job than it was for their parents’ generation. Only 5% say it’s easier now to find a job, and 12% say finding a job is about the same as it was a generation ago.”

I hope all the mothers had a wonderful day yesterday! My daughters 3 all gave me something beautiful"

Here is what I am reading today:

• controlling neurotransmission

“Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that the single protein — alpha 2 delta — exerts a spigot-like function, controlling the volume of neurotransmitters and other chemicals that flow between the synapses of brain neurons. The study, published online in Nature, shows how brain cells talk to each other through these signals, relaying thoughts, feelings and action, and this powerful molecule plays a crucial role in regulating effective communication.”

• neurobiology of free will?

“Free will—or rather the question of whether it exists—has been the topic of heated debate among philosophers for millennia. For many neuroscientists too, the idea of freedom poses a dilemma: if what we do is caused by brain processes—which follow the laws of nature—our behaviour is determined by those laws and is not free.”

• supporting people who have depression with social media

“Online communities enable people to talk, share experiences and recognize that they are not alone, says Dr Tim Anstiss”

• Eastern Island heads have BODIES (pictures)!

“Excavations of the bodies have been going on for many years, you can find out more from the Easter Island Statue Project.  It’s generally accepted that the statues were made sometime between 1250 and 1500 AD. There is controversy surrounding why the bodies are buried. Was it time and erosion, or were they buried on purpose?  Aliens?   The soil surrounding the bodies for so long has preserved interesting carvings (petroglyphs, or rock markings)..”

• restoring sight

“The development of retinal implants has been dogged by problems of unwieldiness since the first implantable stimulator for vision restoration was developed in 1968. Sticking a mess of electronics, with wires, cables and inductive coils, into the human visual system was always going to be a tricky business.

James Loudin and his colleagues at Stanford University in California have developed a solution that overcomes many of these problems by the use of special glasses that fire infrared signals into the eye and onto an implanted array of silicon photodiodes. The system simplifies what needs to be implanted and both transmits visual data and power directly to the implants, eliminating the need for any bulky external power source. Their work is published today in Nature Photonics¹.”

• cookie season is coming: Snow White Cookie Cutters!

“Our enchanted cookie cutters make it easy for little fairytale fans to bake these very same treats in their own kitchen. These spring-loaded tools create cookies in the shapes of four legendary storybook characters: Snow White, Grumpy, Dopey and the Wicked Queen.”

One of my colleagues at another university mentioned to me that she had been going through statisticians at an alarming rate. She quipped that she never thought of ‘spawning’ one! My daughter Kristin (middle) is an instructor at West Point and my favorite statistician and my daughter Karen (on the left) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville and my cherished social media colleague. We love to present together when we can!

A couple of presentations for this year! Please come on buy and say 'Hello!'

If you can’t make to our presentations, come on by to the CENGAGE Publisher’s booth and see me with our new textbook: “Discovering Psychology – the Science of Mind”! John Cacioppo and I wrote something that is more than a textbook and incorporates John’s philosophy of  Psychology is a HUB Science™.

Come Join us in Chicago!

Here I am with my daughters and fellow researchers at last years APS Convention!

Here is what I am reading today:

• changing brains for the better

“The study reflects a major transition in the focus of neuroscience from disease to well being, says first author Richard Davidson, professor of psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  The brain is constantly changing in response to environmental factors, he says, and the article “reflects one of the first efforts to apply this conceptual framework to techniques to enhance qualities that we have not thought of as skills, like well-being. Modern neuroscience research leads to the inevitable conclusion that we can actually enhance well-being by training that induces neuroplastic changes in the brain.”"

• autism

“Getting an autism diagnosis could be more difficult in 2013 when a revised diagnostic definition goes into effect. The proposed changes may affect the proportion of individuals who qualify for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, according to a study by Yale Child Study Center researchers published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Ac”…

• what can influence how we remember

“We all have them — positive memories of personal events that are a delight to recall, and painful recollections that we would rather forget. A new study reveals that what we do with our emotional memories and how they affect us has a lot to do with our gender, personality and the methods we use (often without awareness) to regulate our feelings.”

• the brain’s zoom lens

“Notice that, even as you fixate on the screen in front of you, you can still shift your attention to different regions in your peripheries. For decades, cognitive scientists have conceptualized attention as akin to a shifting spotlight that “illuminates” regions it shines upon, or as a zoom lens, focusing on things so that we see them in finer detail. These metaphors are commonplace because they capture the intuition that attention illuminates or sharpens things, and thus, enhances our perception of them.”

• positive feelings and cardiovascular health

“”The absence of the negative is not the same thing as the presence of the positive. We found that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness are associated with reduced risk of CVD regardless of such factors as a person’s age, socioeconomic status, smoking status, or body weight,” said lead author Julia Boehm, research fellow in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at HSPH. “For example, the most optimistic individuals had an approximately 50% reduced risk of experiencing an initial cardiovascular event compared to their less optimistic peers,” she said.”

A fun article for the APS Observer with two of my three daughters! CLICK on the picture to read more!

Here’s part of the write up:

“This family research team – sisters Karen Freberg, Kristin Graham, and mother Laura Freberg – enjoy “dressing” for their poster presentations each year at APS Conventions. Last year, they wore Slytherin (of Harry Potter fame) shirts for their study of CEOs and psychopaths, which they referred to as the “Snakes in Suits” study. This year, they chose shirts with a military theme for their generals study, and marching across those shirts were formidable Lego soldiers. What’s in store for next year?”

APS observer article

The fun thing for all of us is that we are also teaching!