- November 1, 2016
- 04:09 AM
- 160 views
On the "increasing evidence for an association between vitamin D insufficiency and depression"
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
The quote titling this brief post - "increasing evidence for an association between vitamin D insufficiency and depression" - comes from the review by Parker and colleagues [1] who seem to be no strangers to reviewing evidence on a possible link between the sunshine vitamin/hormone and depression [2].Affiliated to the Black Dog Institute in Oz ('black dog' being used as a metaphor for depression for quite a few years), the authors surveyed the quite voluminous peer-reviewed research literat........ Read more »
Parker GB, Brotchie H, & Graham RK. (2016) Vitamin D and depression. Journal of affective disorders, 56-61. PMID: 27750060
- October 31, 2016
- 07:36 PM
- 167 views
The Morning After: What We Learn from Halloween
by Aurametrix team in Aurametrix Blog
What can we learn from Halloween? A lot, judging by numerous scientific studies and less scientific surveys. Halloween could help to collect a wide range of extreme facial expressions, including highly negative situations when children discover their parents ate up all their Halloween candy. This is what was done in the recent study and an ongoing youtube challenge. Smile! You are being watched [...] ... Read more »
Wenzler S, Levine S, van Dick R, Oertel-Knöchel V, & Aviezer H. (2016) Beyond pleasure and pain: Facial expression ambiguity in adults and children during intense situations. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 16(6), 807-14. PMID: 27337681
Diener, E., Fraser, S., Beaman, A., & Kelem, R. (1976) Effects of deindividuation variables on stealing among Halloween trick-or-treaters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33(2), 178-183. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.33.2.178
Woolley, J., Boerger, E., & Markman, A. (2004) A visit from the Candy Witch: factors influencing young children's belief in a novel fantastical being. Developmental Science, 7(4), 456-468. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00366.x
Jamison, J., & Karlan, D. (2016) CANDY ELASTICITY: HALLOWEEN EXPERIMENTS ON PUBLIC POLITICAL STATEMENTS. Economic Inquiry, 54(1), 543-547. DOI: 10.1111/ecin.12233
- October 31, 2016
- 05:36 AM
- 152 views
HBOT and autism systematically reviewed again (and the same results?)
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"To date, there is no evidence that hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves core symptoms and associated symptoms of ASD [autism spectrum disorder]."So said the results of the review by Xiong and colleagues [1] (open-access available here) completed under the auspices of the Cochrane Collaboration, leaders in the science and publication of systematic reviews (see here for another example).Looking at the collected peer-reviewed science on the topic of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for aut........ Read more »
Xiong T, Chen H, Luo R, & Mu D. (2016) Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. PMID: 27737490
- October 31, 2016
- 04:30 AM
- 116 views
Repetitive Head Impacts in Mice Suggest Cumulative Affliction
by Jane McDevitt in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Mild repetitive blows resulted in Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) like conditions in mice. Additionally, as number of head impacts increased balance coordination declined, and depressive symptoms progressed.... Read more »
Barry, G., van Schaik, P., MacSween, A., Dixon, J., & Martin, D. (2016) Exergaming (XBOX Kinect™) versus traditional gym-based exercise for postural control, flow and technology acceptance in healthy adults: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 8(1). DOI: 10.1186/s13102-016-0050-0
- October 31, 2016
- 02:03 AM
- 138 views
Room 33 Revisited
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In my post about the recent radiocarbon dating of macaw remains from Chaco Canyon, I mentioned another paper I’ve been meaning to post about. Published in 2010 by Steve Plog and Carrie Heitman of the University of Virginia, it takes a close look at burial practices at Chaco, particularly focusing on the northern burial cluster […]... Read more »
Plog, S., & Heitman, C. (2010) Hierarchy and social inequality in the American Southwest, A.D. 800-1200. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(46), 19619-19626. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1014985107
- October 30, 2016
- 08:54 PM
- 142 views
Haunting Delusions of Identity
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Bugs Bunny in Hyde and Hare (1955)Delusional misidentification syndromes have fascinated filmmakers and psychiatrists alike. Afflicted individuals suffer under the false belief that persons or things around them have changed their identities or appearance. Classification schemes have varied, but a general outline includes:Capgras delusion Fregoli delusion Intermetamorphosis Subjective doublesfrom Table 1 (Ellis et al., 1994). Classification and description of the four principal delusional miside........ Read more »
Courbon, P., & Tusques, J. (1994) Illusions d'intermetamorphose et de charme. History of Psychiatry, 5(17), 139-146. DOI: 10.1177/0957154X9400501711
Ellis, H., Luauté, J., & Retterstøl, N. (1994) Delusional Misidentification Syndromes. Psychopathology, 27(3-5), 117-120. DOI: 10.1159/000284856
Malliaras DE, Kossovitsa YT, Christodoulou GN. (1978) Organic contributors to the intermetamorphosis syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135(8), 985-987. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.135.8.985
Silva, A., Leong, G., & Shaner, A. (1991) The Syndrome of Intermetamorphosis. Psychopathology, 24(3), 158-165. DOI: 10.1159/000284709
Silva, A., & Leong, G. (1994) Delusions of Psychological Change of the Self. Psychopathology, 27(6), 285-290. DOI: 10.1159/000284885
- October 30, 2016
- 04:00 PM
- 146 views
The science behind real life zombies
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
In the spirit of Halloween we bring you the science fact and fiction behind the undead. Zombies, those brain loving little guys, (and girls) are everywhere. Sure, we are all familiar with the classic zombie, but did you know that we aren't the only zombie lovers out there? It turns out that nature has its own special types of zombies, but this isn't a science fiction movie, this is science fact! Sometimes fact can be scarier than fiction, so let's dive in.
... Read more »
Lafferty KD. (2006) Can the common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, influence human culture?. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society, 273(1602), 2749-55. PMID: 17015323
Vyas A, Kim SK, Giacomini N, Boothroyd JC, & Sapolsky RM. (2007) Behavioral changes induced by Toxoplasma infection of rodents are highly specific to aversion of cat odors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(15), 6442-7. PMID: 17404235
Passamonti L, Crockett MJ, Apergis-Schoute AM, Clark L, Rowe JB, Calder AJ, & Robbins TW. (2012) Effects of acute tryptophan depletion on prefrontal-amygdala connectivity while viewing facial signals of aggression. Biological psychiatry, 71(1), 36-43. PMID: 21920502
Thomas, F., Schmidt-Rhaesa, A., Martin, G., Manu, C., Durand, P., & Renaud, F. (2002) Do hairworms (Nematomorpha) manipulate the water seeking behaviour of their terrestrial hosts?. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 15(3), 356-361. DOI: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00410.x
W. Wesołowska T. Wesołowski. (2014) Do Leucochloridium sporocysts manipulate the behaviour of their snail hosts?. Journal of Zoology , 292(3), 151-155. info:/10.1111/jzo.12094
- October 30, 2016
- 12:44 PM
- 117 views
How to dismantle the web of lies
by Sergio Graziosi in Writing my own user manual - Sergio Graziosi's Blog
In the previous post, I’ve concluded, with Ben Walters, that we need to “make art that wins hearts and arguments that win minds“. The aim is to contrast the rise of populism, or, following the current slang, fight against post-fact…Read more ›... Read more »
Fernbach, P., Rogers, T., Fox, C., & Sloman, S. (2013) Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding. Psychological Science, 24(6), 939-946. DOI: 10.1177/0956797612464058
Tuller, HM., Bryan, CJ., Heyman, GD., & Christenfeld, NJS Volume 59, July 2015, Pages 18–23. (2015) Seeing the other side: Perspective taking and the moderation of extremity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 18-23. info:/10.1016/j.jesp.2015.02.003
- October 29, 2016
- 04:08 AM
- 145 views
Living with severe autism: families share their experiences
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
Appreciating that the autism spectrum is truly a wide and heterogeneous one (or even several?), I'd like to direct your attention today to the findings reported by Jocelyn Bessette Gorlin and colleagues [1] on the topic of "the experiences of families living with a child with severe autism."In particular, I'd like to highlight the six areas that emerged from the "29 interviews with 22 participants from 11 families" related to family experiences and how, minus any sweeping generalisations, m........ Read more »
Bessette Gorlin J, McAlpine CP, Garwick A, & Wieling E. (2016) Severe Childhood Autism: The Family Lived Experience. Journal of pediatric nursing. PMID: 27720503
- October 28, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 135 views
Choosing your jurors: On bias, curiosity and wisdom
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Earlier this week, we wrote on the question of whether those who have a higher score on the Need for Cognition Scale are just lazy (and the answer was no, not really). If you read this blog regularly, you know that bias is where we work and focus. We also like a curious juror (sometimes) […]
Related posts:
Uncommon Wisdom: Lessons from Patent and IP Mock Jurors
Choosing to either disgust your jurors or tick them off
Choosing science over beliefs: Frequency of dog bites and feelings of........ Read more »
Kahn, Landrum, Carpenter, Helft, & Jameson. (2016) Science curiosity and political information processing. . Advances in Political Psychology. info:/
- October 28, 2016
- 06:14 AM
- 134 views
Lack of Tsc2 in Mesenchymal Cells Causes Kidney Cysts and Defective Lung Alveolarization
by Joana Guedes in BHD Research Blog
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder that shares clinical similarities with BHD. TSC results from germline mutations in the Tsc1 or Tsc2 gene, affecting multiple organs, including the kidney and lung. In the kidney, lesions such as multiple renal cysts and renal cell carcinoma can occur. In the lung, patients can develop multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia and LAM. TSC proteins are negative regulators of the mTORC1 pathway. The mechanisms of organ........ Read more »
Ren S, Luo Y, Chen H, Warburton D, Lam HC, Wang L, Chen P, Henske EP, & Shi W. (2016) Inactivation of Tsc2 in Mesoderm-Derived Cells Causes Polycystic Kidney Lesions and Impairs Lung Alveolarization. The American journal of pathology. PMID: 27768862
- October 28, 2016
- 05:15 AM
- 151 views
Lower autism rate under DSM-5 (yet again)
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
So: "Results indicate that individuals diagnosed with PDD [pervasive developmental disorder] by DSM-IV-TR criteria may not be diagnosed using DSM-5 criteria."That was the conclusion reached by Ferhat Yaylaci & Suha Miral [1] following their study of 150 children (3-15 years old) diagnosed with PDD "by DSM-IV-TR" whose symptoms/presentation were "reviewed through psychiatric assessment based on DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 criteria." The percentage figure they arrived at (19.3%) indicat........ Read more »
Yaylaci, F., & Miral, S. (2016) A Comparison of DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 Diagnostic Classifications in the Clinical Diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2937-8
- October 28, 2016
- 05:00 AM
- 30 views
Friday Fellow: Sun Beetle
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Who says beetles cannot be cute? Take a look at those guys: These little fellows are beetles of the species Pachnoda marginata, commonly known as sun beetle or taxi cab beetle. Native from Africa, they reach up … Continue reading →... Read more »
Larsson, M. C., Stensmyr, M. C., Bice, S. B., & Hansson, B. S. (2003) Attractiveness of Fruit and Flower Odorants Detected by Olfactory Receptor Neurons in the Fruit Chafer Pachnoda marginata. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 29(5), 1253-1268. DOI: 10.1023/A:1023893926038
Stensmyr, Marcus C., Larsson, Mattias C., Bice, Shannon, & Hansson, Bill S. (2001) Detection of fruit- and flower-emitted volatiles by olfactory receptor neurons in the polyphagous fruit chafer Pachnoda marginata (Coleoptera: Cetoniinae). Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 187(7), 509-519. info:/
- October 27, 2016
- 10:08 PM
- 134 views
Dogs Do as You Do, Not as You Say
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Italy's school for water rescue dogs, the Scuola Italiana Cani Salvataggio, has trained hundreds of animals in canine heroics. The dogs work on Italian police and coast guard boats, and with fire departments and the navy. They can even jump into the ocean from a hovering helicopter to save a person.
They're pros at taking commands from humans. So researchers wondered if the dogs could help them understand what kind of command works best: Words? Or gestures?
Biagio D'Aniello, a biologis... Read more »
D'Aniello B, Scandurra A, Alterisio A, Valsecchi P, & Prato-Previde E. (2016) The importance of gestural communication: a study of human-dog communication using incongruent information. Animal cognition, 19(6), 1231-1235. PMID: 27338818
- October 27, 2016
- 11:14 AM
- 38 views
Advances in the Psychology of Passing the Salt
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
I just came across a remarkable new paper on the science of salt-passing behavior: Expected Results Show that a Longer Nose Means Slower Times for Passing the Salt and Pepper: A Second Report
The article, which I have no doubt is entirely serious in nature, lists as its authors Canadian researchers Minér Patrick, Léon Le Néz and Pat Minér.
Here's how Patrick et al. describe their work:
Eighty female student subjects were tested by being asked to pass salt or pepper by another stud... Read more »
Patrick M, Le Néz L, Minér P. (2016) Expected Results Show that a Longer Nose Means Slower Times for Passing the Salt and Pepper: A Second Report. Dual Diagnosis: Open Access. info:/
- October 27, 2016
- 06:19 AM
- 180 views
Climate change, the long view
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Now and forever, or at least for a very long time By 2050, sea levels will have risen this much. If we don’t act, average global temperature will rise x degrees by 2100. These are the things we all hear in the discussion concerning climate change and its consequences. But beyond the turn of the […]... Read more »
Clark, P., Shakun, J., Marcott, S., Mix, A., Eby, M., Kulp, S., Levermann, A., Milne, G., Pfister, P., Santer, B.... (2016) Consequences of twenty-first-century policy for multi-millennial climate and sea-level change. Nature Climate Change, 6(4), 360-369. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2923
- October 27, 2016
- 05:00 AM
- 141 views
Autism and inborn errors of metabolism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I'd like to think that the review article by Annik Simons and colleagues [1] (open-access) highlights some pretty strong evidence to suggest there being at least some connection between some autism and some of the collected inborn errors of metabolism. Indeed, when people generally talk about 'not knowing what causes autism' if we perhaps consider a more plural view of 'the autisms', there is a case to be made to say we might know what causes 'some' autism and some of it might lie in this area.......... Read more »
Simons A, Eyskens F, Glazemakers I, & van West D. (2016) Can psychiatric childhood disorders be due to inborn errors of metabolism?. European child . PMID: 27695954
- October 27, 2016
- 02:30 AM
- 151 views
What makes foreigners weird? A quick guide to orientalism
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
One of the central arguments of my book Intercultural Communication is that, even today, much intercultural communication is approached from...... Read more »
Piller, I. (2011) Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. info:/
- October 26, 2016
- 10:30 AM
- 152 views
Study Shows Just How Stressed Dogs Are at the Vet's
by CAPB in Companion Animal Psychology Blog
Most dogs show signs of impaired welfare at the vet, according to their owners.A survey of 906 dog guardians in Italy found most people report their dog as being stressed at all stages of the visit to a vet clinic, from being in the waiting room to being examined by the vet. 6.4% of dogs had actually bitten their guardian at the vet and 11.2% had growled or snapped at the vet.The report by Chiara Mariti (University of Pisa) et al draws important conclusions about what owners and vets need to do ........ Read more »
Mariti C, Pierantoni L, Sighieri C, & Gazzano A. (2016) Guardians' Perceptions of Dogs' Welfare and Behaviors Related to Visiting the Veterinary Clinic. Journal of applied animal welfare science : JAAWS, 1-10. PMID: 27712096
- October 26, 2016
- 07:42 AM
- 158 views
'Super-parenting' improves children's autism: headline fail as PACT re-emerges...
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
The title of this post is partially taken from the BBC take on the findings reported by Andrew Pickles and colleagues [1] detailing a long-term follow up (and slight adjustment to the calculation of behavioural scores) of the Preschool Autism Communication Trial (PACT). PACT by the way, is a strategy based on the important tenet of shared attention where: "The approach aims to help parents adapt their communication style to their child’s impairments and respond to their child with enhance........ Read more »
Pickles, A., Le Couteur, A., Leadbitter, K., Salomone, E., Cole-Fletcher, R., Tobin, H., Gammer, I., Lowry, J., Vamvakas, G., Byford, S.... (2016) Parent-mediated social communication therapy for young children with autism (PACT): long-term follow-up of a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31229-6
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.