Laura’s Psychology Blog

With the Association for Psychological Science Convention happening later this month, no trip is complete without an invitation to the Adler Planetarium. Like many, you may not get married there... but it is worth the experience.

Here is what I am reading today:

• do looks matter in trust?

“Our decisions to trust people with our money are based more on how they look then how they behave, according to new research from the University of Warwick.”

• who sleepwalks?

“What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That’s according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults — or upward of 8.4 million — are prone to sleepwalking. The work also showed an association between nocturnal wanderings and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety.”

• positive feedback in the young brain

“When an animal is born, its early experiences help map out the still-forming connections in its brain. As neurons in sensory areas of the brain fire in response to sights, smells, and sounds, synapses begin to form, laying the neuronal groundwork for activity later in life. Not all parts of the brain receive input directly from the external world, however, and researchers have wondered how these regions build their wiring early in development.”

• More on second hand smoke

“For nonsmokers, exposure to low levels of secondhand smoke for just 30 minutes can cause significant damage to the lining of their blood vessels, the results of a new study indicate. “

• schizophrenia and genes

“An Indiana University-led research team, along with a group of national and international collaborators, has identified and prioritized a comprehensive group of genes most associated with schizophrenia that together can generate a score indicating whether an individual is at higher or lower risk of developing the disease.”

• omega-3 oils at the cellular level

“For the first time, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have peered inside a living mouse cell and mapped the processes that power the celebrated health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. More profoundly, they say their findings suggest it may be possible to manipulate these processes to short-circuit inflammation before it begins, or at least help to resolve inflammation before it becomes detrimental.”

• what you eat, affects what you think

“A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology publishes the findings in its May 15 edition.

“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. “Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”"

• APS in Chicago this year!

Here’s what we have going at APS this year in the biggest convention ever!

I hope all the mothers had a wonderful day yesterday! My daughters 3 all gave me something beautiful"

Here is what I am reading today:

• controlling neurotransmission

“Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that the single protein — alpha 2 delta — exerts a spigot-like function, controlling the volume of neurotransmitters and other chemicals that flow between the synapses of brain neurons. The study, published online in Nature, shows how brain cells talk to each other through these signals, relaying thoughts, feelings and action, and this powerful molecule plays a crucial role in regulating effective communication.”

• neurobiology of free will?

“Free will—or rather the question of whether it exists—has been the topic of heated debate among philosophers for millennia. For many neuroscientists too, the idea of freedom poses a dilemma: if what we do is caused by brain processes—which follow the laws of nature—our behaviour is determined by those laws and is not free.”

• supporting people who have depression with social media

“Online communities enable people to talk, share experiences and recognize that they are not alone, says Dr Tim Anstiss”

• Eastern Island heads have BODIES (pictures)!

“Excavations of the bodies have been going on for many years, you can find out more from the Easter Island Statue Project.  It’s generally accepted that the statues were made sometime between 1250 and 1500 AD. There is controversy surrounding why the bodies are buried. Was it time and erosion, or were they buried on purpose?  Aliens?   The soil surrounding the bodies for so long has preserved interesting carvings (petroglyphs, or rock markings)..”

• restoring sight

“The development of retinal implants has been dogged by problems of unwieldiness since the first implantable stimulator for vision restoration was developed in 1968. Sticking a mess of electronics, with wires, cables and inductive coils, into the human visual system was always going to be a tricky business.

James Loudin and his colleagues at Stanford University in California have developed a solution that overcomes many of these problems by the use of special glasses that fire infrared signals into the eye and onto an implanted array of silicon photodiodes. The system simplifies what needs to be implanted and both transmits visual data and power directly to the implants, eliminating the need for any bulky external power source. Their work is published today in Nature Photonics¹.”

• cookie season is coming: Snow White Cookie Cutters!

“Our enchanted cookie cutters make it easy for little fairytale fans to bake these very same treats in their own kitchen. These spring-loaded tools create cookies in the shapes of four legendary storybook characters: Snow White, Grumpy, Dopey and the Wicked Queen.”

My colleague and daughter Karen (University of Louisville -- Assistant Professor of Strategic Communications) will be presenting on Social Media at the APS Convention in Chicago this month!

Here is what I am reading today:

• Harry Potter inspiration

“A self-writing diary in one of J K Rowling’s books on Harry Potter has inspired researchers to create a paper that spells out a person’s blood type. “

• alarm clocks make you fat??

“As if you needed another reason to despise your alarm clock. A new study suggests that, by disrupting your body’s normal rhythms, your buzzing, blaring friend could be making you overweight.

The study concerns a phenomenon called “social jetlag.” That’s the extent to which our natural sleep patterns are out of synch with our school or work schedules. Take the weekends: many of us wake up hours later than we do during the week, only to resume our early schedules come Monday morning. It’s enough to make your body feel like it’s spending the weekend in one time zone and the week in another.”

• use large fonts to elicit BIG emotions!

“WORDS IN ALL CAPS can be annoying, but since they look larger than their neighbors, they capture our attention. Words displayed in large fonts have a similar effect-and they also elicit stronger emotional responses, according to a new study. Researchers measured brain activity in 25 German adults while showing them 72 emotionally positive, negative, and neutral words. They included German words for gift, death, and chair….   “

• people love to brag? Neuroscience says YES!

“Talking about ourselves — whether in a personal conversation or through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter — triggers the same sensation of pleasure in the brain as food or money, researchers reported.”

• media distorts… bloggers rule?

““Superwoman has been rumbled,” declared a Daily Telegraph article in 2001 that chronicled how the human brain’s inability to “multitask” undercuts the prospects for a woman to juggle career and family with any measure of success. The brain as media icon has emerged repeatedly in recent years as new imaging techniques have proliferated—and, as a symbol, it  seems to confuse as much as enlighten.”

• Are you a Psychological Scientist??

“The Association for Psychological Science’s Annual Convention brings together psychological researchers and academics for an exciting program that covers the entire spectrum of innovative research in psychological science.

We’re pleased to offer you this Online Program with detailed information about every presentation and event at the APS Convention.”

LAURA’S Note: I hope to see you there!!

As I prepare for the APS Convention towards the close of this month, I am reminded of the farsighted wisdom of William James on instructing teaching and research in Psychology.

Psychology is a hub science(TM)

Here is what we are reading today:

• tweeting live brain surgery!

“Dr. Kim Dong of Houston’s Memorial Hermann hospital performed a brain tumor resection surgery on a young adult patient Wednesday morning. The operation was a routine one for him, but this time it came with a catch: His every move was live tweeted by hospital staff, with graphic photos and video posted to Twitter and other platforms along the way.”

• HOW we forget

“Despite the fact that forgetting is normal, exactly how we forget—the molecular, cellular, and brain circuit mechanisms underlying the process—is poorly understood.

Now, in a study that appears in the May 10, 2012 issue of the journal Neuron, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have pinpointed a mechanism that is essential for forming memories in the first place and, as it turns out, is equally essential for eliminating them after memories have formed.”

• academia is suppressing creativity — an OPINION

“…Unfortunately, in the academic world—where much of today’s scientific innovation takes place—researchers are encouraged to maintain the status quo and not “rock the boat.” This mentality is pervasive, affecting all aspects of scientific research from idea generation to funding to the training of the next generation of scientists.”

• planet of the apes is here! chimps are plotting

“”Santino,” a male chimpanzee at Furuvik Zoo in Sweden, is devising increasingly complex attacks against zoo visitors.

At first Santino was famous for throwing rocks and other projectiles at visitors who annoyed him. Now he has improved his technique, which requires spontaneous innovation for future deception. Researcher Mathias Osvath, lead author of a paper about Santino in PLoS ONE, explained what the clever chimp did:

“After a visitor group had left the compound area, Santino went inside the enclosure and brought a good-sized heap of hay that he placed near the visitor’s section, and immediately after that he put stones under it,” Osvath said.”

• reading a dog’s thoughts

“Fido’s expressive face, including those longing puppy-dog eyes, may lead owners to wonder what exactly is going on in that doggy’s head. Scientists decided to find out, using brain scans to explore the minds of our canine friends.

The researchers, who detailed their findings May 2 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, were interested in understanding the human-dog relationship from the four-legged perspective.”

• more genetic diversity today

“Since about 2,000 years ago (fewer than 100 generations), the human population has experienced an explosive growth after 8,000 years of moderate exponential growth.

This recent accelerated growth has created more genetic mutations and rare gene variants, which may play a role in boosting the risks of complex diseases in which genes play a role, say Cornell researchers in the May 11 issue of the journal Science.”

• visit brainfacts.org!

“The website offers a new way for people to learn more about how the brain works, how it drives thought and behavior, and its role in brain diseases and disorders. In this welcome message, Nicholas Spitzer, inaugural BrainFacts.org editor-in-chief, distinguished professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego, and co-director of the UCSD Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, talks about this new opportunity to reach people.”

• association for psychological science convention in chicago

Be part of the BIGGEST convention ever!

John Cacioppo and I working with Social Media at one of our last conferences!

Recently I was selected as one of the ‘Most Savvy Social Media Professors’ by an on-line college blog. Although I am very honored, I have to say that I know one young and up and coming professor that taught me all I know… my daughter Karen, who is now a recent Ph.D. and an assistant professor at the University of Louisville in Strategic Communications.

Check out my daughter’s blog and see if you don’t agree!

http://www.karenfreberg.com/blog

In the mean time, I think I’ll tweet this!