Nothing like a cool key lime pie on a hot summer day!

• The girl who walked out on Freud!

“Without a few unusual people, human behaviour would have remained a mystery – ordinary people whose extraordinary circumstances provided researchers with the exceptions that proved behavioural rules. Claudia Hammond revisits the classic case studies that have advanced psychological research.”

• killer whale evolution

‘Orcas, commonly known as killer whales, are still evolving, and quickly.”

• Hooked on headphones?

“Personal listening devices like iPods have become increasingly popular among young — and not-so-young — people in recent years. But music played through headphones too loud or too long might pose a significant risk to hearing, according to a 24-year study of adolescent girls.”

• early puberty

“Girls are hitting puberty earlier and earlier. One recent study found that more than 10 percent of American girls have some breast development by age 7. This news has upset many people, but it may make evolutionary sense in some cases for girls to develop faster, according to the authors of a new paper published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.”

• willing to take a survey? it may be in your genes!

 ”A new study from North Carolina State University shows that genetics play a key factor in whether someone is willing to take a survey.”

• attractive therapy

“Treatment of severe depression with magnetic stimulation is moving beyond large mental health centers and into private practices nationwide, following more than two decades of research on the treatment. Yet even as concern about its efficacy fades, one potential side effect—seizures—continues to shadow the technology.”

My daughter Kristin sent these lovely flowers on my birthday yesterday!

Here is what I am reading today:

• Oh to be young and feel loves keen sting!  — Albus Dumbledore

“Breaking up really is hard to do, and a recent study conducted at Stony Brook University found evidence that it may be partly due to the areas of the brain that are active during this difficult time.”

• autism and schizophrenia and family history

“An international study led by University of Montreal scientists suggests family history may not be a good predictor of the presence of mutations predisposing to autism or schizophrenia.”

This year, I felt completely spoiled. In spite of my protestations, my family insists on going all out to celebrate on my behalf. Karla contributed one of her drawings to mark the occasion. She captured my ever-present coffee cup, too.

Karla's Rendition of a Freberg Birthday Party

To top it all off, my horoscope for the year says that this coming year, people might start to perceive me as “wise.” In spite of the obvious irony of being “wise” and reading horoscopes at the same time, I like that possibility.

Here I am holding something amazing... nothing quite as remarkable as the human brain

Here is what I am reading today:

• older adults and social media

“Social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older has nearly doubled — from 22% to 42% over the past year.”

• smoking and teen depression

“While some teenagers may puff on cigarettes to ‘self-medicate’ against the blues, scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal have found that smoking may actually increase depressive symptoms in some adolescents. Published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the findings are part of the long-term Nicotine Dependence in Teens (NDIT) study based at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre.”

• with the right partner – two heads are better than one

“In the new age of coalition governments, the question of whether two heads are better than one is more relevant than ever. In a study published in the journal Science, neuroscientists from UCL (University College London) and Aarhus University, Denmark, shows that two heads can be better than one — but only if you have the right partner.”

• research shows our best and worst momments are in social relationships

“ In the first study of its kind, researchers have found compelling evidence that our best and worst experiences in life are likely to involve not individual accomplishments, but interaction with other people and the fulfillment of an urge for social connection.”

• walking boosts brain connectivity

“ A group of “professional couch potatoes,” as one researcher described them, has proven that even moderate exercise — in this case walking at one’s own pace for 40 minutes three times a week — can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks.”

We all look different 38 years ago!

Here is what I am reading today:

• do-gooders are unpopular team members

‘”Unselfish workers who are the first to offer to help with projects are among those that co-workers like the least, according to four separate social psychology studies.In the most recent study, entitled “The Desire to Expel Unselfish Members from the Group,” psychologists found that unselfish colleagues come to be resented because they “raise the bar” for what’s expected of everyone. As a result, workers feel the new standard will make everyone else look bad.’

• spouses do not grow alike

“Instead, people tend to pick their spouse based on shared personality traits, the researchers report in the latest issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.”

• controling fear

“Fear can make you run, it can make you fight, and it can glue you to the spot. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy and GlaxoSmithKline in Verona, Italy, have identified not only the part of the brain but the specific type of neurons that determine how mice react to a frightening stimulus.”

I thought Anna did a terrific job of capturing the main points of our study, and although Bing Translator has some rough spots, you can get the general idea of the article here. If you are fluent in Swedish, of course, I recommend the original site.

Anna warned me that the article had generated quite a bit of response from Swedish psychology students, and told me to expect to hear from them. That would be a pleasure!

Oh yes, it's almost time for another birthday!

Here is what I am reading today:

• language as a window into sociability

“People with Williams syndrome-known for their indiscriminate friendliness and ease with strangers-process spoken language differently from people with autism spectrum disorders-characterized by social withdrawal and isolation-found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.”

• yoga and mood

“Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that yoga may be superior to other forms of exercise in its positive effect on mood and anxiety. The findings, which currently appear on-line at Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, is the first to demonstrate an association between yoga postures, increased GABA levels and decreased anxiety.”

• mystery of beer goggles solved?

“…To find out if alcohol interfered with the ability to distinguish faces where the left and right sides were uneven, he and his colleagues designed an experiment involving images of faces that were tinkered with to make them perfectly symmetrical or subtly asymmetrical….”

• ADHD and pesticides

“…Chemicals on our produce may contribute to behavior problems in our kids, suggest three new studies….”

Happiness is: Cracker bread made especially for me!

Here are a couple of interesting articles I found today:

• oxytocin: it’s a mom and pop thing!

“ The hormone oxytocin has come under intensive study in light of emerging evidence that its release contributes to the social bonding that occurs between lovers, friends, and colleagues. Oxytocin also plays an important role in birth and maternal behavior, but until now, research had never addressed the involvement of oxytocin in the transition to fatherhood.”

• self control does not burn sugar

“Contradicting a popular model of self-control, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist says the data from a 2007 study argues against the idea that glucose is the resource used to manage self control and that humans rely on this energy source for will power.”

In lovely San Diego, conventioning and seeing friends!

Here is what I am reading today:

• autism linked to multisensory integration

‘The study, which appears in the August 17 online issue of Autism Research, supports decades of clinical and anecdotal observations that individuals with ASD have difficulty coping with multiple sources of sensory information. The Einstein finding offers new insights into autism and could lead to objective measures for evaluating the effectiveness of autism therapies.”

• veggies and diabetes

“In an analysis of six studies into fruit and vegetable intake, only food including spinach and cabbage was found to have a significant positive effect. A portion and a half a day was found to cut type 2 diabetes risk by 14%, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports.”

Here I am at the Psychology Archive with the famous Bandura BoBo Doll. CLICK on the picture to read about Bandura's experiment in 1961.

Here is what I am reading today:

• Chimps, behavior and their genes

“Thirty-five years ago, researchers studying chimpanzees in the wild noticed that neighboring communities had distinct grooming behaviors that could not be explained by differences in their environments. They contended that these behavioral idiosyncrasies were learned, or “cultural,” and other scientists soon began noting group-specific tool uses and courting behaviors that also didn’t appear to be environmental. But in a new study, researchers say some of these behaviors may be genetic after all.”

• Football season is here: what about linebacker’s neurons?

‘The N.F.L.’s sudden interest in neuroscience is just the latest sign that we, as a society, are finally taking brain injuries more seriously”…

• ovulation changes a woman’s behavior

“When a woman is ovulating, her behavior changes in a startling number of ways from the way she walks, talks and dresses to the men she flirts with, according to new research.”