Do you remember when this game first came out? Well, most college students weren’t even born yet.
Here is what I am reading today:
“Although the study did not determine why relationships that started online were more successful, the reasons may include the strong motivations of online daters, the availability of advance screening, and the sheer volume of opportunities online. “These data suggest that the Internet may be altering the dynamics and outcomes of marriage itself,” said the study’s lead author, John Cacioppo, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago. “
“When people learn to do a task well, but are asked to keep doing it while receiving deliberately misleading feedback indicating that their performance is perfect every time, their actual performance will gradually get worse.
It had been assumed that the decline was due to the decay of memories in the absence of reinforcement, says Reza Shadmehr, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.”
“”Although we’ve known that meditation can reduce anxiety, we hadn’t identified the specific brain mechanisms involved in relieving anxiety in healthy individuals,” said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., postdoctoral research fellow in neurobiology and anatomy at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study. “In this study, we were able to see which areas of the brain were activated and which were deactivated during meditation-related anxiety relief.””
““While the study sample was small and further research is needed, the results further validate that dogs with CCD (Canine Compulsive Disorder) can provide insight and understanding into anxiety disorders that affect people,” Nicholas Dodman, a professor of clinical sciences at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University who worked on the study, said in a press release.”
“The results, published in Nature Neuroscience today, provide the first direct evidence of the link between epigenetics and monogamous bonding in voles. The results could have implications for other types of neurotransmitter-related behaviors or for bonding in other apparently monogamous species, like humans. Just don’t expect a love drug for your significant other anytime soon.”
“Facial expressions have long been thought to be reliable indicators of a person’s true feelings. Indeed, in his book “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” Darwin suggested that such expressions have evolved precisely because they serve this important function.”
“He and his colleagues — Omri Amirav-Drory, founder of synthetic-biology software firm Genome Compiler in Berkeley, California, and Kyle Taylor, a former biology graduate student at Stanford University in California — set out to make Arabidopsis glow because the feat seemed achievable in a simple garage lab. “There are some people in synthetic-biology circles who would yawn at what we’re doing,” Evans says.”
“Recent high-profile incidents have drawn attention to “bath salts” as a new and potentially hazardous type of recreational drug. Addiction medicine specialist Dr Erik W. Gunderson of University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and colleagues, review available data on the use and effects of these designer drugs in this issue of JAM. The paper provides a timely update including implications for medical management and drug policy.”
“To increase their share of leadership positions, women are expected to tick a range of boxes — usually demonstrating improved negotiation skills, networking strengths and the ability to develop a strategic career ladder. “But even these skills are not enough,” maintains Professor Isabell Welpe of TUM’s Chair for Strategy and Organization. “They ignore the fact that there are stereotypes that on a subconscious level play a decisive role in the assessment of high achievers. Leaders should be assertive, dominant and hard-lined; women are seen as mediators, friendly, social.””
“”The way we move our eyes across a new individual’s face affects our ability to recognize that individual later,” explains Jennifer Heisz, a research fellow at the Rotman Institute at Baycrest and newly appointed assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University.
She co-authored the paper with David Shore, psychology professor at McMaster and psychology graduate student Molly Pottruff.
“Our findings provide new insights into the potential mechanisms of episodic memory and the differences between the sexes. We discovered that women look more at new faces than men do, which allows them to create a richer and more superior memory,” Heisz says.”
13 Comments
jnearnes16 · June 6, 2013 at 1:30 pm
Perspective is Everything
I found that really interesting because I wasn’t aware that scientists though that decay was to blame. I always thought that if we were to be told we did something perfectly every time we just got lazy. Which is kind of related to how they now believe that it’s selection. Especially over a short period of time, it seems silly to me to think neural decay would be at fault because it wouldn’t happen that fast.
jnearnes16 · June 6, 2013 at 1:49 pm
OCD in Dogs and People
This article leads me to wonder if dogs can have all the disorders we can. For instance, can dogs get Schizophrenia? Can they get Bipolar Disorder? Can they get Autism? Also, will this study lead to a possible excuse to use dogs to test new medications and such for OCD?
jnearnes16 · June 6, 2013 at 1:49 pm
OCD in Dogs and People
This article leads me to wonder if dogs can have all the disorders we can. For instance, can dogs get Schizophrenia? Can they get Bipolar Disorder? Can they get Autism? Also, will this study lead to a possible excuse to use dogs to test new medications and such for OCD?
deykholt · June 6, 2013 at 3:25 pm
“OCD in Dogs and People”
After watching a video in class about dogs with sleep disorders, I went off to find videos of dogs with OCD. It’s interesting that no one really thinks about animals with similar disorders and conditions that humans experience. I suppose we overlook this because humans tend to set what “normal” behavior is for a dog. For example, when they eat, when they go out, how they act… OCD is a disorder where there are positive symptoms as opposed to negative symptoms so it is easier to see in dogs.
I think research will be interesting when it comes to dogs and psychological conditions that resemble that of humans. From the article, we know that the dogs hav similar brain abnormalities with gray matter. However, from a treatment standpoint I wonder if certain therapies that work on humans would work on dogs as well.
deykholt · June 6, 2013 at 3:35 pm
“Are cheerful women perceived as good leaders?”
This article interests me, as it is a topic extremely common in my major and the tech industry. Women do have a lot of stereotypes that expect them to be motherly, nurturing, and like the article said, mediators. They don’t seem as interested in leadership and management roles.
Honestly, before coming to college I hadn’t really heard of many of these stereotypes. Perhaps I was privileged to go to a school where it wasn’t uncommon for a girl to be in an honors math or science class. By hearing about these stereotypes, I think I have become more susceptible to portraying them, and being self conscious regarding the aspects that are often pointed out.
Yes, the stereotypes do exist, as this article points out. However, I think women need to break these stereotypes individually. The more examples we have of strong, powerful women in leadership roles, the more likely it will be for the next generation’s women to do the same, and the next, and the next, until society accepts it as normal.
rileywenger · June 6, 2013 at 4:31 pm
After reading the article about updates on the designer frug bath salts, I am surprised at how prevalent it is becoming in the united states. The article stated that it has similar psychoactive effects as cocaine, yet has side effects that usually induce violence. This makes me question why people who have interest in recreational drugs would do a drug that would disembody you so much you to the point that you would attempt to viciously eat another person (from other article). The article also states that this drug is often ordered from the internet, therefore a way to monitor these purchases better should be implemented.
rileywenger · June 6, 2013 at 4:46 pm
While reading the article about women in leadership roles, I was most surprised at the finding that it was more women than men to not prefer a female leader in certain situations. Women generally say that they want more women leaders, but when it came down to it, they often prefer men over a woman with the same qualities. I also found it interesting that women who were cheerful were not perceived as to be good leaders, where women who were proud were perceived to be good leaders.
mrabie · June 7, 2013 at 5:08 pm
“meeting online can lead to happier more enduring relationships”
Reading this article, I noticed that the statistics between relationships initiated online and the relationships initiated in person were not significantly different from each other. This made me contemplate whether the questions in the survey were somewhat biased or skewed. However, it does make sense that dating websites could increase the satisfaction of relationships or marriages because there is selectivity in the spouse. Before making any decisions, the users choose what kind of person they hope to find–canceling out any individuals with characteristics that they feel would not bring satisfaction to a relationship.
mrabie · June 7, 2013 at 5:18 pm
“Remembering a Face. Who Does It Better? Men or Women?”
As a freshman at Cal Poly, I’ve met new people every day since day one. This article was of great interest to me because people would look familiar to me around campus while others not so familiar after a follow-up confrontation. I believe that these findings also correlate with interest. I find myself to be more observant when I have an interest in the person’s personality, characteristics, physical appearance etc. Individuals, including myself, naturally feel embarrassed when they are not remembered. I feel this is because they feel that the other person had no admiration or interest towards them and it is taken as an insult.
lcolon · June 7, 2013 at 7:51 pm
re: are cheerful women perceived as good leaders??
As a business major I was particularly drawn to this article because there is a lot of gender bias in the business world. I found the results of this study to be very much in sync with the perceptions of women in today’s society, because “some female stereotypes are more reinforced in the minds of women” I think as long as society gives women these stereotypes women will naturally reinforce them.
lcolon · June 7, 2013 at 7:54 pm
Never Forget a Face? Researchers Find Women Have Better Memory Recall Than Men
– I agree with the research findings of this study because of personal experience. It all seems to make sense that the more we study a face, or anything in that matter, the better we retain its features. Furthermore, I did not find it appalling that women are better at remembering faces because women do tend to remember a certain someone they find attractive far more easily. In addition I think this can easily be applied to everyday life, especially during finals and reviewing lecture notes—just like we study faces
rshade714 · June 7, 2013 at 8:41 pm
Smile: You are about to lose
As someone who somehow ends up laughing or smiling when I’m angry with another person, this makes a lot of sense. If I were in a physical fight with any of the people I was angry with, I would lose. Definitely will have to look for smiling any time I watch a gift in the future.
rshade714 · June 7, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Never forget a face:
I think it’s fascinating that we’re now finding that memory has the potential to be taught. I always thought that people either had good memories or bad memories.