readings in psychology for 12 february 2012

Italian Wedding Soups celebrates the wonderful marriage of delightfully delicious ingredients!

Here is what I am reading today:

• viewing the world differently – east vs. west

“Cultural differences between the West and East are well documented, but a study shows that concrete differences also exist in how British and Chinese people recognize people and the world around them. Easterners really do look at the world differently to Westerners, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).”

• we think differently when we play with others

“Researchers have found a way to study how our brains assess the behavior — and likely future actions — of others during competitive social interactions. Their study, described in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to use a computational approach to tease out differing patterns of brain activity during these interactions, the researchers report.”

• braincells created from skin cells? is it all the same?

“Cambridge scientists have, for the first time, created cerebral cortex cells – those that make up the brain’s grey matter – from a small sample of human skin.  The researchers’ findings, which were funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, were published today in Nature Neuroscience.”

• is it real or is it a placebo?

“Placebos reduce pain by creating an expectation of relief. Distraction — say, doing a puzzle — relieves it by keeping the brain busy. But do they use the same brain processes? Neuromaging suggests they do. When applying a placebo, scientists see activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. That’s the part of the brain that controls high-level cognitive functions like working memory and attention — which is what you use to do that distracting puzzle.”

• stim my brain, baby!

“A painless bit of electrical current applied to the brain helped some people play a video game, and someday it might help Alzheimer’s disease patients remember what they’ve learned, a small study suggests. “

• nerves and proteins used in long term memory discovered!

“A research team in Taiwan has succeeded in isolating two nerve cells in fruit fly brains that are believed to be the major players in allowing for the formation of long term memories. Furthermore, they’ve also found the genes that appear to be essential in creating related proteins that allow such memories to be saved. They have published a paper describing their work in Science.”

• deconstructing henry

“The goal of our project is to provide a window into the brain of the man who helped establish the scientific study of memory and unfailingly forgot the enormously generous contribution he made to medical research. “

• how our nervous system is wired

“Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers.”

• cars, crashes and cannabis

“Drivers who consume cannabis within three hours of driving are nearly twice as likely to cause a vehicle collision as those who are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol claims a paper published recently on the British Medical Journal website.”

• sleep, high school and test results

“Whether or not you know any high school students that actually get nine hours of sleep each night, that’s what U.S. federal guidelines currently prescribe.”