All posts from Last Month
- August 31, 2016
- 02:55 PM
- 104 views
Scientists show that a 'Superman' disguise could actually work
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Ever think it's silly that people don't recognize Clark Kent is actually Superman? Well as it turns out, glasses are actually a fairly good way to disguise yourself. In fact, researchers have shown that small alterations to a person's appearance, such as wearing glasses, can significantly hinder positive facial identification.
... Read more »
Kramer, R., & Ritchie, K. (2016) Disguising Superman: How Glasses Affect Unfamiliar Face Matching. Applied Cognitive Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/acp.3261
- August 31, 2016
- 10:58 AM
- 98 views
Why do we hate coriander?
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
In the morning you get up, trudge all the way to the sink, grab a bar of soap and rub it on your face. Sometimes, after you rinsed, you realize that some soap got into your mouth. The taste is nasty, pungent, more in your nose than on your tongue and it persists until you eat or drink something.
This sickening feeling doesn’t hit me only in my brightest mornings, but also every time in an ethnic restaurant or during a trip the cook decides to decorate my tacos or my curry with some chop........ Read more »
Eriksson, N., Wu, S., Do, C., Kiefer, A., Tung, J., Mountain, J., Hinds, D., & Francke, U. (2012) A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference. Flavour, 1(1), 22. DOI: 10.1186/2044-7248-1-22
Callaway, E. (2012) Soapy taste of coriander linked to genetic variants. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature.2012.11398
- August 31, 2016
- 04:30 AM
- 104 views
Patients’ Understanding of OA After Knee Injury
by Nicole Cattano in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Patients who suffered a knee injury have some understanding of their long-term risks. However, there is an astoundingly low number of patients who recall having conversations with health care professionals about the long-term risks after an injury. ... Read more »
Bennell, K., van Ginckel, A., Kean, C., Nelligan, R., French, S., Stokes, M., Pietrosimone, B., Blackburn, T., Batt, M., Hunter, D.... (2016) Patient Knowledge and Beliefs About Knee Osteoarthritis After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury and Reconstruction. Arthritis Care , 68(8), 1180-1185. DOI: 10.1002/acr.22794
- August 31, 2016
- 03:43 AM
- 78 views
Filicide and autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
"The choice of the victim was in line with emerging evidence indicating that children with disabilities in general and with autism in particular are frequent victims of filicide-suicide."The case report presented by Declercq and colleagues [1] reflects yet another uncomfortable topic discussed on this blog and how the 'deliberate act of murdering ones own child' is something unfortunately not unfamiliar when it comes to the label of autism. Declercq et al provide quite a raw account of........ Read more »
Declercq F, Meganck R, & Audenaert K. (2016) A Case Study of Paternal Filicide-Suicide: Personality Disorder, Motives, and Victim Choice. The Journal of psychology, 1-13. PMID: 27537187
- August 30, 2016
- 07:45 PM
- 98 views
Treatment for Zika may be in existing drugs
by vitul in Think, Ask and Resolve
After a massive screening of existing drugs, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found two classes of compounds that may work against the Zika virus.... Read more »
Xu, M., Lee, E., Wen, Z., Cheng, Y., Huang, W., Qian, X., TCW, J., Kouznetsova, J., Ogden, S., Hammack, C.... (2016) Identification of small-molecule inhibitors of Zika virus infection and induced neural cell death via a drug repurposing screen. Nature Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/nm.4184
- August 30, 2016
- 05:48 PM
- 88 views
How to Live a Life with More Positive Than Negative Feelings?
by Farid Pazhoohi in Epistemophil
Decision-making is the cognitive process of choosing a preferred option from among a set of options (Wilson and Keil 2001). Decision-making is present through every aspect of life, and making good decisions for every important occasion during lifetime is a human being’s constant endeavor (Garnham 2016). Historically, religion and philosophy have been the only domains […]... Read more »
Pazhoohi, F., & Arantes, J. (2016) How to Live a Life with More Positive Than Negative Feelings? A Review of Menelaos Apostolou, Feeling Good: An Evolutionary Perspective on Life Choices. Evolutionary Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1007/s40806-016-0069-1
- August 30, 2016
- 04:18 PM
- 78 views
Caffeine reverts memory deficits by normalizing stress responses in the brain
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A new study describes the mechanism by which caffeine counteracts age-related cognitive deficits in animals. The international teams showed that the abnormal expression of a particular receptor - the adenosine A2A, target for caffeine - in the brain of rats induces an aging-like profile namely memory impairments linked to the loss of stress controlling mechanisms.
... Read more »
Batalha, V., Ferreira, D., Coelho, J., Valadas, J., Gomes, R., Temido-Ferreira, M., Shmidt, T., Baqi, Y., Buée, L., Müller, C.... (2016) The caffeine-binding adenosine A2A receptor induces age-like HPA-axis dysfunction by targeting glucocorticoid receptor function. Scientific Reports, 31493. DOI: 10.1038/srep31493
- August 30, 2016
- 03:55 PM
- 67 views
Like mother, like daughter: why some animals teach their daughters more than they teach their sons
by Emily Makowski in Sextraordinary!
Why do some learned behaviors appear more frequently in daughters than in sons? I describe an article that attempts to answer this question by looking at dolphins, and briefly, chimpanzees.... Read more »
Zefferman, M. (2016) Mothers teach daughters because daughters teach granddaughters: the evolution of sex-biased transmission. Behavioral Ecology, 27(4), 1172-1181. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw022
- August 30, 2016
- 11:59 AM
- 74 views
Dyslexia Improvement in Medication Trial
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Dyslexia or developmental reading disorder is a common learning disorder affecting about 5% of the school age population.Treatment of dyslexia is difficult and typically is focused on special education classes and reading exercises.Medication treatment for dyslexia is nearly unheard of as no FDA-approved drug is available for the condition.However, a recent randomized clinical drug trial found evidence to support the potential use of atomoxetine for dyslexia.Atomoxetine is a drug approved for at........ Read more »
Shaywitz S, Shaywitz B, Wietecha L, Wigal S, McBurnett K, Williams D, Kronenberger WG, & Hooper SR. (2016) Effect of Atomoxetine Treatment on Reading and Phonological Skills in Children with Dyslexia or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Comorbid Dyslexia in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology. PMID: 27410907
- August 30, 2016
- 11:06 AM
- 94 views
When Less Is More: The Costs Of Corporate Control
by Yuliya Ponomareva in United Academics
Something smells fishy about corporate governance today... Read more »
Yuliya Ponomareva. (2016) Costs and Benefits of Delegation: Managerial Discretion as a Bridge between Strategic Management and Corporate Governance. Linnaeus University Press. info:other/978-91-88357-09-0
- August 30, 2016
- 03:47 AM
- 79 views
A prenatal 'unhealthy' diet and offspring ADHD?
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
'Scientists study link between unhealthy pregnancy diet and ADHD' went one media headline covering the paper by Jolien Rijlaarsdam and colleagues [1].The name of the research game was again to draw on data derived from ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) (yes, again) to look-see "the degree to which prenatal high-fat and -sugar diet might relate to ADHD [attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder] symptoms via IGF2 DNA methylation for early-onset persistent (EOP........ Read more »
Rijlaarsdam J, Cecil CA, Walton E, Mesirow MS, Relton CL, Gaunt TR, McArdle W, & Barker ED. (2016) Prenatal unhealthy diet, insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (IGF2) methylation, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in youth with early-onset conduct problems. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines. PMID: 27535767
- August 29, 2016
- 02:49 PM
- 84 views
Use it or lose it: Stopping exercise decreases brain blood flow
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
We all know that we can quickly lose cardiovascular endurance if we stop exercising for a few weeks, but what impact does the cessation of exercise have on our brains? New research examined cerebral blood flow in healthy, physically fit older adults (ages 50-80 years) before and after a 10-day period during which they stopped all exercise.
... Read more »
Alfini, A., Weiss, L., Leitner, B., Smith, T., Hagberg, J., & Smith, J. (2016) Hippocampal and Cerebral Blood Flow after Exercise Cessation in Master Athletes. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00184
- August 29, 2016
- 12:08 PM
- 72 views
Mediterranean Diet and Cognition
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
The evidence for a beneficial effect of a Mediterranean style diet (MedDiet) on brain health grows on a regular basis.For those interested in a good summary of the effects of the MedDiet on cognition, I recommend reading the free full text review recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.In this review, Roy Hardman and colleagues searched for research studies on cognition and the Mediterranean diet published between 2000 and 2015.A figure in the review proposed several mechanisms where com........ Read more »
Hardman RJ, Kennedy G, Macpherson H, Scholey AB, & Pipingas A. (2016) Adherence to a Mediterranean-Style Diet and Effects on Cognition in Adults: A Qualitative Evaluation and Systematic Review of Longitudinal and Prospective Trials. Frontiers in nutrition, 22. PMID: 27500135
- August 29, 2016
- 10:38 AM
- 80 views
Ancient Mars was warm and wet, suggest UCL-led research team
by vitul in Think, Ask and Resolve
After the recent discovery of extensive fossilised riverbeds on Mars, the idea that the Red Planet could have been habitable 4 billion years ago has gained more traction.... Read more »
Davis, J., Balme, M., Grindrod, P., Williams, R., & Gupta, S. (2016) Extensive Noachian fluvial systems in Arabia Terra: Implications for early Martian climate. Geology. DOI: 10.1130/G38247.1
- August 29, 2016
- 08:01 AM
- 72 views
Web of lies, policies and politicians
by Sergio Graziosi in Writing my own user manual - Sergio Graziosi's Blog
In the previous post in this miniseries I’ve used the example of Brexit referendum to explore how allowing lies to be systematically upheld in public discourse is poisonous for democracy itself. The bleak conclusion was that people voted Brexit on…Read more ›... Read more »
Aktipis, C.A., & Kurzban, R.O. (2004) Is Homo Economicus extinct? Vernon Smith, Daniel Kahneman and the evolutionary perspective. Advances in Austrian Economics, 135-153. info:/
Neblo, M. (2003) Choices, Values, and Frames, edited by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, New York: Cambridge University Press. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 22(3), 491-493. DOI: 10.1002/pam.10145
- August 29, 2016
- 04:30 AM
- 101 views
Osteoarthritis May Be Associated With More Than Just Joint Pain
by Jane McDevitt in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Former elite athletes with osteoarthritis are more likely to have symptoms of common mental disorders (distress, sleep problems, adverse alcohol use) compared to those without osteoarthritis.... Read more »
Schuring N, Aoki H, Gray J, Kerkhoffs GM, Lambert M, & Gouttebarge V. (2016) Osteoarthritis is associated with symptoms of common mental disorders among former elite athletes. Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. PMID: 27488101
- August 29, 2016
- 03:37 AM
- 64 views
The ketogenic diet and the BTBRT Tf/J mouse model of autism
by Paul Whiteley in Questioning Answers
I was rather interested to read the findings reported by Richelle Mychasiuk & Jong Rho [1] suggesting that the expression of certain genes might be affected by adoption of a ketogenic diet in one of the more familiar mouse models of autism (the BTBRT+Tf/J 'dangermouse').The ketogenic diet (KD), consisting of "a high-fat low-carbohydrate anti-seizure and neuroprotective diet" has been of some interest to autism research over the years (see here). Its potential usefulness has also been explore........ Read more »
Mychasiuk R, & Rho JM. (2016) Genetic modifications associated with ketogenic diet treatment in the BTBRT Tf/J mouse model of autism spectrum disorder. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research. PMID: 27529337
- August 28, 2016
- 07:30 PM
- 96 views
Biofuels are not as green, claim scientists from UMich
by vitul in Think, Ask and Resolve
Contrary to the popularly held belief, biofuels increase carbon emissions. ... Read more »
DeCicco, J., Liu, D., Heo, J., Krishnan, R., Kurthen, A., & Wang, L. (2016) Carbon balance effects of U.S. biofuel production and use. Climatic Change. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1764-4
- August 28, 2016
- 06:29 PM
- 99 views
Healing Prayer and the Brain: Not a Match Made in Heaven
by The Neurocritic in The Neurocritic
Activity of the medial prefrontal cortex after psycho-spiritual healing (Baldwin et al., 2016).Everything we do and feel and experience changes the brain. Psychotherapy, juggling, taxi driving, poverty, reading, drugs, art, music, anger, love. If it didn't we'd be dead. Why should prayer be any different? The trick is to accurately determine the structural or physiological changes that are unique to a specific activity. And when assessing the effectiveness of clinical interventions, how the chan........ Read more »
Baldwin, P., Velasquez, K., Koenig, H., Salas, R., & Boelens, P. (2016) Neural correlates of healing prayers, depression and traumatic memories: A preliminary study. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 123-129. DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2016.07.002
- August 28, 2016
- 02:29 PM
- 90 views
A visual nudge can disrupt recall of what things look like
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Interfering with your vision makes it harder to describe what you know about the appearance of even common objects, according to researchers. This connection between visual knowledge and visual perception challenges widely held theories that visual information about the world -- that alligators are green and have long tails, for example -- is stored abstractly, as a list of facts, divorced from the visual experience of seeing an alligator.... Read more »
Edmiston, P., & Lupyan, G. (2015) Visual interference disrupts visual and only visual knowledge. Journal of Vision, 15(12), 10. DOI: 10.1167/15.12.10
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