Here I am in one of my Intro Psych classes this quarter! It is always fun!
Here is what I am reading today:
“They found that dominant and subordinate crayfish differ in their behavioral responses when touched unexpectedly, and that those differences correlate with differences in neural circuits that mediate those responses.
The article was published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research team included Edwards, Fadi A. Issa and Joanne Drummond of Georgia State, and Daniel Cattaert of the Centre de Neurosciences Integratives et Cognitives of the Universities of Bordeaux 1 and 2.”
“In a dog-eat-dog world of ruthless competition and ‘survival of the fittest,’ new research from the University of Leicester reveals that individuals are genetically programmed to work together and cooperate with those who most resemble themselves.”
“Scientists from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have shown for the first time that transplanting light-sensitive photoreceptors into the eyes of visually impaired mice can restore their vision.”
“New research using brains scans shows that many elderly people have over time either learned to not stew over things they regret or to not regret them at all. Those that don’t learn such skills tend to become depressed, say researchers from University Medical Center in Germany, who have been conducting research into regret and aging using brain scans. The team, led by Stefanie Brassen has published the results of their efforts in the journal Science.”
If you are planning to go to the WPA Convention, I will be there! I hope to meet you!
3 Comments
fnmagno · April 24, 2012 at 1:19 pm
After reading the article, “brain scans reveal differing levels of regret,” I wish to disagree that ruminating regret leads to depression. I feel that it would depend on what the individual is regretting that would indicate how severe their depression is. In this case, volunteers regret…in a sense..gambling imaginary gold away, either stopping too soon or wishing they had stopped sooner. If the thing they were regretting was something like saying no to a proposal or wishing instead to have taken a job, this may be bothering them much more than a simple bet. In this case, I would agree that this could lead to depression.
njbillin · April 24, 2012 at 5:12 pm
I found the article about elderly people learning not to regret things over time extremely interesting. I found it shocking that healthy teenagers and depressed seniors exhibited similar reactions to stress and the feeling of loss. I think maybe it is necessary for the brain to feel more remorse over loss while an individual is still active and developing. This feeling probably increases an individuals motivation and helps the brain learn from mistakes. Perhaps elderly people can afford to be more lenient with their mistakes because they have less to learn. They also have probably have accumulated more regrets throughout their life and need a healthy way to let them go.
Laura Freberg · April 25, 2012 at 1:37 pm
I like Sophia Loren’s approach–She says that she doesn’t regret the past because it made her the person she is today. At the same time, I think it’s typically useful to think about how you might feel about a decision five years from now….Will I look back on this and be proud? Or?
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