nibbs-newsletter : Messages : 34-63 of 92

Messages: Show Message Summaries (Group by Topic)

Sort by Date

#63

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Mar 1, 2003 9:14 am
Subject: Issue 87 - 1st March, 2003

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 87 - 1st March, 2003 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

History (27 Feb) - Fifty years ago, on 28 February 1953, Francis Crick walked into the Eagle pub in Cambridge, UK, and announced something for which he would later share a Nobel Prize. [more] [video] [audio]

Neuroeconomics (27 Feb) - A new field, called neuroeconomics, is using the tools of neuroscience to find the underlying biological mechanisms that lead people to act, or not act, according to economic theory. [more]

Smell (27 Feb) - What's smell got to do with modern art? How does a fragrance set the scene for memory? Why are humans losing their sense of smell? Neuroscientist Upinder Bhalla believes that our smell system could prove an easier route to understanding the human brain than more conventional means. [more]

Sense of direction (19 Feb) - You know that old saw about women having a terrible sense of direction? Well, it's sometimes true, researchers say. It depends on what time of month it is. [more]

Crime - diet (23 Feb) - It may sound implausible, but a controversial theory is gathering momentum: that one explanation for crime may be found on our dinner plates. The premise is that the brain needs the right fuel to function properly - otherwise it will misbehave. [more] and [more]

Religion (1 Mar) - The human race does not necessarily get less religious as it grows richer and better educated. We are living through one of the great periods of scientific progress and the creation of wealth. At the same time, we are in the midst of a religious boom. [more]

Suicide bombers - shyness (19 Feb) - Dr Raj Persaud talks to Dr Andrew Silke Fellow of the University of Leicester Scarman Centre, about the psychology of the suicide bomber, and to Danny Hulme, a psychology student at Manchester University and Susie Scott, a postgraduate sociologist at Cardiff University who describe living with shyness and social phobia. [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychiatry (23 Feb) - Renegade psychiatrist Fuller Torrey has taken on fiery critics, federal researchers and Freud in a decades-long search for the causes of schizophrenia. [more]

History of biology (25 Feb) - Fifty years ago, on Saturday, Feb. 28, 1953, two young scientists walked into the Eagle, a dingy pub in Cambridge, England, and announced to the lunchtime crowd that they had discovered the secret of life. [more] and [more] This year, the genetic revolution that James D. Watson and Francis Crick ushered in with their discovery of the structure of DNA celebrates its 50th birthday. [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology (5 Feb) - Robert Jay Lifton is professor of psychiatry and psychology at the Graduate School University Center and director of The Center on Violence and Human Survival at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York. He has written books on many topics, including a Japanese cult that released poison gas in the Tokyo subways, Nazi doctors, Hiroshima survivors and Vietnam vets. He will discuss the emotional impact of the Columbia shuttle disaster, as well as the impact of an impending war in Iraq, and the looming nuclear crisis in North Korea. [more]

Psychiatry (21 Feb) - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association: Psychiatric News 21 February 2003; Vol. 38, No. 4. [more]

Schizophrenia (25 Feb) - Melbourne researchers have dramatically reduced hallucinations and delusions in men with severe schizophrenia by giving them oestrogen. A team led by Jayashri Kulkarni, director of the Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, gave 33 young men small doses of estradiol for two weeks. [more]

Voices on DNA (25 Feb) - Researchers and others tell how DNA's discovery, and the decades of genetic research that followed, affected their work and lives. [more] Deciphering DNA, first achieved 50 years ago this week, is a testament to the triumph of reason over superstition. [more]

Placebo effect - false hope syndrome - flashbulb memory (12 Feb) - Controlled trials have shown that a simple sugar pill, or placebo, can sometimes be just as effective in relieving symptoms as genuine medication - just as long as the patient believes the pill they're swallowing contains the drug in question. But the mystery remains - how exactly does the mind effect the cure? [more] [audio]

Ritual (11 Feb) - Do we perform the most beautiful and evocative ceremonies because of the activity in our brains based in our basal ganglia? This is the claim of some neuroscientists who claim that the desire to perform ritual is a primitive instinct that can be found throughout the natural world. [more] [audio]

Journalism - history of science (25 Feb) - If journalism is the first draft of history, as the saying goes, then it's often a terrible draft. A case in point happened in 1953, when Francis Crick, a graduate student at Cambridge University, and Dr. James D. Watson, a young biochemist, published a short paper in the journal Nature proposing that DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule seemingly responsible for heredity, had a double helix structure. [more]

Genetic engineering (25 Feb) - Since the double helix discovery 50 years ago, people have been haunted by fears of what scientists might do with their growing genetic knowledge. Some fears have been shared by the scientists themselves. Some have been a bit far-fetched. [more]

Evolution of language (25 Feb) - In an evolutionary competition symbolic "thieves" quickly out-survive and out-reproduce the honest sensorimotor "toilers," who must learn everything the hard way, from experience. [more]

DNA (25 Feb) - Dr. Rosalind Franklin's famous picture of the "B-form" of DNA, the shape the molecule takes when it stretches out in water, could be called biology's Rosetta stone. [more]

Genetics - endocrinology (24 Feb) - The traditionally "female" hormone progesterone makes male mice aggressive towards their offspring, shows a new gene knockout study. It overturns the textbook view that testosterone prompts males to threaten their pups. [more]

The new humanists (24 Feb) - "In the past few years, the playing field of American intellectual life has shifted, and the traditional intellectual has become increasingly marginalized. A 1950s education in Freud, Marx, and modernism is not a sufficient qualification for a thinking person today," writes John Brockman. [more]

Alien abduction (24 Feb) - Researchers at Harvard University have devised an experiment to determine if memories of an abduction by space aliens would provoke the same physiological reactions that occur when other people, such as combat veterans and those who survive deadly car accidents, recall their traumatic experiences. [more]

Obituary (24 Feb) - Robert K. Merton, one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century, whose coinage of terms like "self-fulfilling prophecy" and "role models" filtered from his academic pursuits into everyday language, died yesterday. He was 92 and lived in Manhattan. [more]

Gender (23 Feb) - How does a 16-year-old girl react when she is told one day that she is not a girl? That she is in fact a boy. That the last 16 years she spent in frocks, sitting with the girls at school and with a perfectly feminine name like Ratna, were all a lie. [more]

Repression (23 Feb) - Repression? Isn't that the thing that makes you sick, that splits you off, so demons come dancing back? Doesn't that cause holes in the stomach and chancres in the colon and a general impoverishment of spirit? Maybe not. [more]

Emotion (21 Feb) - The study of feelings, once the province of psychology, is now spreading to history, literature, and other fields. [more]

Development (19 Feb) - George Bush's close links with the drugs industry have been blamed for the failure of talks in Geneva aimed at securing access to cheap medicines for developing countries. [more]

Obituary (19 Feb) - Dr. Paul Meehl, a University of Minnesota psychologist whose writings on research methodology, mental illness and other topics influenced generations of researchers and psychotherapists, died on Friday at his home in Minneapolis. He was 83. [more]

Sexual behaviour (19 Feb) - The promiscuous sex life of lesbian Japanese monkeys is challenging one of the central tenets of Charles Darwin. He argued that females are coy, mate rarely and choose mates to ensure the best genetic inheritance for their offspring, while males are promiscuous and fight among themselves for female partners. [more]

Prehistory (11 Feb) - Stonehenge, one of England's best-known prehistoric landmarks, may have been built by nobleman hailing from modern day Switzerland or Germany, according to a new analysis of a nearby burial site. [more]

Genetics (12 Feb) - "Enthusiasts for genomics have corrupted scientific endeavour and undermined hopes of medical progress," writes David Horrobin. [more]

Fear, guilt, and aggression (11 Feb) - At the University of California at Irvine, experiments in rats indicate that the brain's hormonal reactions to fear can be inhibited, softening the formation of memories and the emotions they evoke. At New York University, researchers are mastering the means of short-circuiting the very wiring of primal fear. [more] The amygdala is a one-inch long part of the brain, deep down, an inch or two from either ear, and is the source and location of some of the most essential and primitive mental processes that we have. [more]

Biography (27 Feb) - Within months of his death in 1990, the reputation of Bruno Bettelheim - the revered survivor of the camps, head of the famous Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School for troubled children at the University of Chicago, formidable educator, and author of the acclaimed The Informed Heart, The Empty Fortress, Love Is Not Enough, The Children of the Dream, and The Uses of Enchantment - appeared to be in shreds. [more]

Genetic archaeology (12 Feb) - A remarkable living legacy of the Mongol empire has been discovered by geneticists in a survey of human populations from the Caucasus to China. They find that as many as 8 percent of the men dwelling in the confines of the former Mongol empire bear Y chromosomes that seem characteristic of the Mongol ruling house. [more]

Profile (10 Feb) - He believes fervently in the survival of the fittest and that we are pre-programmed by our genes. But Richard Dawkins also believes that life is much more interesting when we rebel against them. [more]

Genetics (8 Feb) - Charles Darwin's theory of human evolution was published long before knowledge of genes was available. But Richard Dawkins reveals that an obscure letter found in a library proves Darwin was already doing research into heredity which anticipated the breakthroughs of the next century. [more]

Primatology - conservation (6 Feb) - A catastrophic die-off of lowland gorillas and chimpanzees at the very heart of their range in central Africa has been reported by scientists. [more]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Suicide (1 Mar) - People suffering from major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to attempt suicide, and women with both disorders are more likely to have attempted suicide than men with both disorders. [more]

Genetics (1 Mar) - A father's genes may play a role in the timing of birth and in the risk of repeating a prolonged pregnancy, suggest researchers in this week's British Medical Journal, BBC News Online.

Suicide - media (1 Mar) - The media should be more aware of their potential influence on suicide, according to several letters in this week's British Medical Journal. [more]

Genomics (28 Feb) - Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a powerful new technique for deciphering biological information encoded in the human genome. Called "phylogenetic shadowing," this technique enables scientists to make meaningful comparisons between DNA sequences in the human genome and sequences in the genomes of apes, monkeys, and other non-human primates. With phylogenetic shadowing, scientists can now study biological traits that are unique to members of the primate family. [more]

Altruism - kin selection (27 Feb) - Work by researchers in Finland shows that worker ants do preferentially favour their own kin when caring for eggs and larvae. This also means the ants must have some way of recognise how related they are to an individual. New Scientist.

Genealogy (1 Mar) - Cultural traits are transmitted from one generation to the next in a process analogous to biological inheritance. Like biological traits, they are subject to mutation, genetic drift and extinction. One trait, a person's surname, is a close model for a non-recombining neutral allele. [more] Lavish but questionable promises have been made to those who want to trace their genetic ancestry. [more]

Social psychology (24 Feb) - Knowing many kinds of people in many social contexts improves one's chance of getting a good job, developing a range of cultural interests, feeling in control of one's life and feeling healthy. [more]

Psychiatry (22 Feb) - Should psychiatrists protect the public? A new risk reduction strategy, supporting criminal justice, could be effective. [more]

Human evolution (21 Feb) - A longstanding debate among scholars of human evolution centers on the number of hominid species that existed in the past. Whereas some paleoanthropologists favor a sleek family tree, others view the known fossil record of humans as indicative of a tangled bush. The latter view has gained popularity in recent years, but a new fossil from Tanzania suggests that a bit of pruning might be in order. Scientific American, BBC News Online.

Pain (20 Feb) - Inheriting a variation in a single gene can determine whether a person will be a wimp or a stoic when it comes to handling pain. [more] We all know people who can take pain or stress much better than we can, and others who cry out at the merest pinprick. We've heard stories of people who did heroic deeds despite horrible injuries, and stereotypes about women's supposedly sensitivity to pain that don't mesh with their ability to withstand childbirth's pain. [more]

Evolution (20 Feb) - Richard Abbott, a plant evolutionary biologist from St Andrews University, has discovered "evolution in action" after noticing a lone, strange-looking and uncatalogued plant in wasteland next to the York railway station car park. [more]

Human evolution (19 Feb) - A University of Melbourne-led study has finally got scientists to agree on the age of Mungo Man, Australia's oldest human remains, and the consensus is he is 22,000 years younger. Mungo Man's new age is 40,000 years. The research also boosted the age of Mungo Lady, the world's first recorded cremation, by 10,000 years putting her at the same age as Mungo Man. It is the first time scientists have reached a broad agreement on the ages of the Lake Mungo remains. Press Release, New York Times, BBC News Online.

Addiction (19 Feb) - Drug addicts may prefer some drugs over others, but their brains all have something in common. Whether it's uppers or downers, addictive drugs tweak the same addiction-related neurons, causing them to become more sensitive, say researchers at Stanford University Medical Center. [more]

Obsessions (18 Feb) - People with obsessions and compulsions experience considerable benefit from a combined treatment of drugs and behavioural therapy. Treatment with drugs alone is less effective. This is revealed in doctoral research by psychologist Nienke Tenney from Utrecht University. [more]

Mental disorders (18 Feb) - A study in this month's issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry argues that a common genetic root may link depression with 14 distinct psychiatric and physical disorders. [more]

Language development (17 Feb) - By listening to the talk around them, infants pick up sound patterns that help them understand the speech they hear, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But this research also shows that some patterns are easier to identify, suggesting that the development of human language may have been shaped by what infants could learn. [more]

PTSD (17 Feb) - The psychiatric disorder of greatest interest after disasters is PTSD. PTSD is very treatable, but only if those with symptoms seek help. In her studies, Carol North has learned that the people most vulnerable to PTSD and other psychiatric problems following a disaster are those with a history of psychiatric illness. [more]

Neuroimaging (17 Feb) - Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed computerized atlases and associated tools for visualizing and analyzing the brain. [more]

Sexual selection (16 Feb) - At the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, leading researchers and theorists in the evolution of sexual behavior will gather to present the growing evidence that Darwin's idea of sexual selection requires sweeping revisions. [more]

False memories (16 Feb) - During a recent study of memory recall and the use of suggestive interviewing, UC Irvine cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus successfully planted false memories in volunteers of several study groups -- memories that included such unlikely events as kissing frogs, shaking hands with Bugs Bunny at Disneyland, and witnessing a demonic possession. Her success at planting these memories challenge the argument that suggestive interviewing may reliably prompt real memories instead of planting false ones. [more]

Human evolution (15 Feb) - By 100,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had evolved on the continent of Africa. For 50,000 years, they were confined there, and they behaved just like H. neanderthalensis then inhabiting parts of Europe and H. erectus living in Asia. Then their behavior changed dramatically - and anthropologists aren't entirely certain what happened. EurekAlert, The Guardian, BBC News Online.

Language (15 Feb) - In songbirds capable of vocal learning, or imitating the sounds they hear, new findings reveal a highly specialized pattern in the genetic expression of certain brain receptors. These same receptors for the neurotransmitter, glutamate, are also found in mammals, neurobiologist Erich D. Jarvis noted during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). EurekAlert, The Guardian.

Artificial worlds (14 Feb) - What do flocks of birds, traffic jams, fads, drinking games, forest fires and residential segregation have in common? The answer could come from a new computational research method called agent-based modeling. [more]

Revenge (14 Feb) - Probably the single most common motive mentioned by tribal warriors when asked why they go to war, is revenge, according to a Penn State anthropologist. "The impulse for revenge is far from being uniquely human," says Dr. Stephen Beckerman, associate professor of anthropology. [more]

Diet (14 Feb) - Biological differences in our sense of taste have such an influence on our diets that they may help determine which diseases we might be susceptible to, according new research by Linda Bartoshuk of Yale University. And, new insights into how diet has adapted to the course of human evolution have emerged from McGill University researcher Timothy Johns' observations of how indigenous peoples use plants for food and medicine. [more]

War (14 Feb) - With America and its allies poised to attack Iraq and the U.S. and North Korea locked in a showdown over nuclear weapons, diplomats and politicians would do well to remember that humans may have nuclear technology but still only possess stone-age brains. This is often a lethal combination, says University of Maine anthropologist Paul Roscoe. [more]

Culture (14 Feb) - It has something to do with appreciating art. It's often cited when people discuss why Americans work long hours. Now some scientists claim that orang-utans have culture based on evidence of "socially transmitted behaviors." In other words, the meaning of culture may seem clear enough when used casually, at a cocktail party, but like a Seurat painting it becomes less distinct upon close examination. And a sure-fire way to provoke an academic bloodbath among a group of anthropologists is to make the definition of culture the focus of a conference. Melissa Brown, assistant professor of anthropological sciences, did just that a couple of weeks ago. [more]

Intelligence (13 Feb) - Human intelligence is like a mental juggling act in which the smartest performers use specific brain regions to resist distraction and keep attention focused on critical pieces of information, according to a new brain imaging study from Washington University in St. Louis. Some people seem to perform better than others in novel, mentally-demanding situations, but why?" asks Jeremy R. Gray, Ph.D., co-author of the study to be posted Feb. 18 in an advance online issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. "Presumably, people are using their brains differently, but how?� [more]

Schizophrenia (13 Feb) - In an about face, the British National Health Service recently adopted cognitive therapy as a valid and reimbursable treatment for schizophrenia, a disease of the mind that traditionally has been thought of as unresponsive to all but powerful drug therapies. [more]

Personality (13 Feb) - Researchers report an association between a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism of the estrogen receptor alpha gene and personality traits in women. [more]

Pheromones (13 Feb) - Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers are beginning to unravel how a mysterious sixth sense guides animal attraction. The scientists have made the first-ever recordings of patterns of brain activity in a mouse as it explores the sex and identity of a newly encountered animal. [more]

Intelligence (13 Feb) - General intelligence is a heritable trait that is a risk factor for both the onset of dementia and the rate of cognitive decline in community-dwelling older persons. Previous studies screening for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that influence general intelligence in healthy individuals have identified four loci, two of which are located within the genes insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R) and the Msx1 homeobox. Here, the authors report the finding of another QTL associated with general intelligence that is located within exon 2 of the cathepsin D (CTSD) gene. [more]

Kissing (13 Feb) - Two thirds of us instinctively tilt our heads to the right when we kiss, reveals a new study timed to coincide with Valentine's Day. The 2:1 ratio matches our preference for using the right foot, eye and ear. The bias probably has its origins in our tendency to turn our heads to the right in the womb and for up to six months after birth, says the study's author, Onur G�nt�rk�n. New Scientist, The Telegraph.

ADHD (12 Feb) - Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their parents may benefit from group classes that teach behavioral and social skills as a supplement to their medical treatment, a new study of 100 children suggests. [more]

Aggression (11 Feb) - A new study by researchers at San Diego State University and the University of Georgia reveals that people with narcissistic personalities who experience social rejection are more aggressive than those who are not so self-absorbed, a finding that may help explain why some teens resort to violence while others do not. [more]

Development (11 Feb) - Adults who amuse infants with sleight-of-hand foolery -- a rolling ball that disappears, then reappears, for example -- should enjoy a childhood learning moment while it lasts. As early as 4 months, and certainly by 6 months, a Cornell University psychologist reports, those wide-open baby eyes have "wired" an important lesson into the developing brain: Fleeting images of an object that seems to disappear while traveling along what adults call a trajectory actually represent the same object. [more]

PTSD (11 Feb) - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is easy to miss and difficult to live with. Despite being the fifth most common psychiatric disorder, it is correctly diagnosed less than 20% of the time. And, left untreated, its symptoms can last a lifetime. The good news is that effective treatments for PTSD do exist. Both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are effective, and therapy that combines the two shows particular promise. [more]

Artificial intelligence (10 Feb) - It's coming, but when? From Garry Kasparov to Michael Crichton, both fact and fiction are converging on a showdown between man and machine. But what does a leading artificial intelligence expert--the world's first computer science PhD--think about the future of machine intelligence? Will computers ever gain consciousness and take over the world? "Computer sentience is possible," said John Holland, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. "But for a number of reasons, I don't believe that we are anywhere near that stage right now." [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Darwinism - Roy Herbert reviews A Devil's Chaplain by Richard Dawkins. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Freedom - Mary Midgley reviews Freedom Evolves by Daniel C Dennett. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - history - Adrian Barnett reviews In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace. A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History by Michael Shermer. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human nature - Melvin Konner reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker [more] [by Steven Pinker] and Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom by Paul H. Rubin. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Animal cognition - Rob Loftis reviews Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart by Marc Bekoff. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Emotions - Chris Lindsay reviews Understanding Emotions: Mind and Morals edited by Peter Goldie. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Violence - Colin A. Holmes reviews Violence and Mental Disorder: A Critical Aid to the Assessment and Management of Risk by Stephen Blumenthal and Tony Lavender. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Introversion - April Chase reviews The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mental disorders - Peter Zachar reviews Descriptions and Prescriptions: Values, Mental Disorders, and the DSMs edited by John Z. Sadler. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Cities - Burhan Wazir reviews Dead Cities: A Natural History by Mike Davis. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Emotion - Colin McGinn reviews Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Antonio Damasio. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genomics - history - Mark Pagel reviews In the Beginning Was the Worm by Andrew Brown. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science - biography - Liesl Schillinger reviews The Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the Senses by Chandler Burr. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

History of science - Anthony Grafton reviews Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science-From the Babylonians by Dick Teresi. [more] [review] [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Love - development - Carol Tarvis reviews Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection by Deborah Blum. [more] [review] Though the name 'Harry Harlow' isn't well known to most people, the images produced by his research are: the pictures in many psychology texts of captive monkeys seeking comfort from either metal or terry-cloth covered 'artificial mothers.' In this hour, Ira talks with Deborah Blum, author of "Love at Goon Park,' a new book about Harlow, and with primatologist Frans de Waal. [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Religion - Ronald L. Numbers and Karen Steudel Numbers review Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society by David Sloan Wilson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Networks - Stephan Mertens reviews Linked: The New Science of Networks by Albert-L�szl� Barab�si. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human nature - H. Allen Orr reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review] A review by Maura Pilotti [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Freedom - Kenan Malik reviews Freedom Evolves by Daniel C. Dennett. [more] [review] A review by John Gray. [review] A review by Matt Ridley [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Respect - Anthony Daniels reviews Respect: The Formation of Character in an Age of Inequality by Richard Sennett. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genetics - Samantha Weinberg reviews In the Beginning Was the Worm by Andrew Brown [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#62

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Feb 8, 2003 4:52 pm
Subject: Issue 86 - 8th February, 2003

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 86 - 8th February, 2003 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Child abuse (7 Feb) - Most men who were sexually abused as boys do not go on to abuse children themselves, a study suggests. Researchers at the Institute of Child Health in London have found evidence to suggest that just one in eight continues the cycle of abuse. [more]

Psychiatry (7 Feb) - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association: Psychiatric Times 7 February 2003; Vol. 38, No. 3. [more]

"Baby talk" (5 Feb) - Women really are better at baby talk than men. When talking in the coochy-coo baby-speak that parents often use with their infants, mothers' utterances are less ambiguous than fathers'. And though it is practically impossible to know what babies make of it all, this suggests that infants may find their mothers easier to understand. New Scientist, BBC News Online.

Sleep (4 Feb) - Sleep is not just for resting, according to new research that suggests the brain uses this apparent down time to process information obtained during the day into more permanent memories. [more]

Making sense (4 Feb) - Seven schoolchildren are swept to their deaths on a skiing trip in Canada. Seven Africans are washed up dead on a beach in Spain. Seven astronauts are lost when the space shuttle breaks up over America. Only one story captures world attention. Why, asks Libby Brooks. [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Competence (1 Feb) - The tendency that people have to overrate their abilities fascinates Cornell University social psychologist David Dunning, PhD. "People overestimate themselves," he says, "but more than that, they really seem to believe it. I've been trying to figure out where that certainty of belief comes from." [more]

Human migration (3 Feb) - Early humans approximately 100,000 years ago traveled from Africa to Asia via a southern route that likely passed along the coasts of what are now Pakistan and India, according to researchers at Oxford University. [more]

Human genetics (4 Feb) - Scientists have launched a major international initiative to systematically uncover the function of each of our genes. [more]

Profile (3 Feb) - Nobody could accuse James Dewey Watson of being a bore. The man who co-discovered the DNA double helix is an effusive purveyor of outrageous views, politically incorrect comments and scurrilous gossip. [more]

Human Instinct - A BBC Four debate on 'Human Instinct" with Joan Bakewell, Professor Robert, Winston, Professor Robin Dunbar and Professor Marcus Pembrey. [more] [video]

Vavilov Institute (2 Feb) - One of the world's greatest genetic resources, which survived the Second World War siege of Leningrad in which many of its scientists died, is to be thrown out of its home and risk destruction in order to make room for the luxurious tastes of President Vladimir Putin and his administration. [more]

Genomics (31 Jan) - Ira Flatow talks with Craig Venter about his philosophy and vision for genomics. We'll also find out about his other scientific interests, including a push for alternative energy sources. [more] [audio]

Medicine (31 Jan) - A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association doesn't paint a pretty picture of biomedical research. "Financial relationships among industry, scientific investigators, and academic institutions are widespread," write the study authors. "Conflicts of interest arising from these ties can influence biomedical research in important ways." We'll talk with one of the authors of the paper about such conflicts of interest in the research world. [more] [audio]

Genetics (28 Jan) - Genes work just like computer software, says Richard Dawkins - which is why the luddites don't get it, but their children probably will. [more]

Creationism (1 Feb) - A religious group that believes God literally created the world has brought a legal action against a biology professor, claiming that he refuses to write letters of recommendation for students who do not believe in evolution. [more] A biology professor who insists that his students accept the tenets of human evolution has found himself the subject of Justice Department scrutiny. [more]

Grief (31 Jan) - The death of a child can shorten the life of their parents, particularly mothers, a study suggests. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Schizophrenia - Jack R. Anderson reviews Schizophrenia Revealed: From Neurons to Social Interactions by Michael Foster Green. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Failure (7 Feb) - When men make lame excuses for a poor test performance, women don't buy it, according to research just published by Edward Hirt, a social psychologist at Indiana University Bloomington. Hirt has spent the last 10 years conducting research on this aspect of social psychology that involves the term self-handicapping. The associate professor of psychology is the lead author of "I Know You Self-Handicapped Last Exam: Gender Differences in Reactions to Self-Handicapping" in the current issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [more]

EuroNews BBC News The Feed Room BBC News 24 BBC Newsnight BBC Question Time Today, Newshour, The World Today, BBC World Service, NPR Hourly News, Talk of the Nation, Science in Action, Discovery, One Planet, The Material World, Thinking Allowed, Heart and Soul, Case Notes, Health Matters, Everywoman United Nations US Congress UK Parliament.

Audio and Video

Autism (6 Feb) - Duke University Medical Center researchers have developed a new statistical genetic "fishing net" that they have cast into a sea of complex genetic data on autistic children to harvest an elusive autism gene. [more]

Neuroscience (6 Feb) - The mind works in mysterious ways, and one Rensselaer researcher and his colleagues have created a computer automation tool to help solve those mysteries, speed understanding of how the brain develops, delve more deeply into brain function at the cellular level, and make more reliable conclusions. [more]

Death (7 Feb) - Jamie Arndt has more than a few ideas about ways people think and behave. He seeks to understand why people work so hard to feel good about themselves. The answer, he believes, can be found in an overriding fear of death. [more]

Genocide (5 Feb) - New research by Brown University historian Omer Bartov calls into question actions of academics throughout the last century. At various times, scholars legitimized and supported acts of ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism, Bartov writes in the current International Social Science Journal. [more]

Addiction (5 Feb) - Young girls and women are more easily addicted to drugs and alcohol, have different reasons than boys for abusing substances and may need single-sex treatment programs to beat back their addictions, according to a study released Wednesday. [more]

Male fertility (5 Feb) - Further evidence that men's fertility declines with age is reported today (Thursday 6 February) in Human Reproduction - Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal. A study of 97 healthy non-smoking men aged from 22 to 80 has demonstrated that, as they age, men's semen quality declines. There was a continuous reduction in sperm motility (movement) and semen volume and the proportion of men with abnormal semen volume, sperm concentration and motility increased significantly across the age decades. [more]

Antidepressants - neuroimaging (5 Feb) - The experiences of millions of people have proved that antidepressants work, but only with the advent of sophisticated imaging technology have scientists begun to learn exactly how the medications affect brain structures and circuits to bring relief from depression. [more]

Human Genetics (4 Feb) - Research undertaken by Professor Einar �rnason at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik and published in the January 2003 issue of Annals of Human Genetics highlights the inaccuracy of claims that Icelanders are a 'genetically homogenous' population. EurekAlert.

Meditation (4 Feb) - In a small but highly provocative study, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has found, for the first time, that a short program in "mindfulness meditation" produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system. EurekAlert, New York Times.

Reproduction (3 Feb) - Sperm have a heat-seeking homing device, says Michael Eisenbach of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. The wily cells nuzzle into the warmer climes of a woman's genital tract to find and fertilise a ripe egg. Nature Science Update, Nature Medicine.

Peer review (2 Feb) - Despite its widespread use and costs, little hard evidence exists that peer review improves the quality of published biomedical research, concludes a systematic review from the international Cochrane Collaboration. [more]

Mental health (2 Feb) - College students frequently have more complex problems today than they did over a decade ago, including both the typical or expected college student problems -- difficulties in relationships and developmental issues -- as well as the more severe problems, such as depression, sexual assault and thoughts of suicide. That is the finding of a study involving 13,257 students seeking help at a large Midwestern university counseling center over a 13-year period. EurekAlert, American Psychological Association.

Genetics - development (31 Jan) - An international collaboration of scientists, led by Dr. Guillermo Oliver at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) has identified a single gene, called Six3, as a crucial factor in the normal development of the vertebrate forebrain -- the part of the brain that is responsible for smell, memory storage, intelligence, and vision, as well as the regulation of body temperature, breathing, and sleep. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Consciousness - Kenneth Einar Himma review Consciousness Recovered: Psychological Functions and Origins of Conscious Thought by George Mandler. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychopathology - Aleksandar Dimitrijevic reviews The Development of Psychopathology: Nature and Nurture by Bruce Pennington. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Genetics - Andrew Berry reviews Narrow Roads of Gene Lane: The Collected Papers of W. D. Hamilton Vol. II: The Evolution of Sex by W. D. Hamilton. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Syphilis - Anthony Day reviews Pox: Genius, Madness, and the Mysteries of Syphilis by Deborah Hayden. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Smell - Janet Maslin reviews The Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession and the Last Mystery of the Senses by Chandler Burr. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

History - Sanjay A Pai reviews Science: A History 1543-2001 by John Gribbin. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Order - Robert Matthews reviews Sync: The emerging science of spontaneous order by Steven Strogatz. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Neuroscience - William Kowinski reviews Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Antonio Damasio. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Extinction - Merle Rubin reviews Extinction: Evolution and the End of Man by Michael Boulter. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Development (13 Dec) - Barbara Smuts reviews Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection by Deborah Blum. [more] [review] Though the name 'Harry Harlow' isn't well known to most people, the images produced by his research are: the pictures in many psychology texts of captive monkeys seeking comfort from either metal or terry-cloth covered 'artificial mothers.' In this hour, Ira Flatow talks with Deborah Blum, author of "Love at Goon Park,' a new book about Harlow, and with primatologist Frans de Waal. [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Political philosophy - Sylvana Tomaselli reviews Aspects of Hobbes by Noel Malcolm. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biology - Martin Hunt reviews Acquiring Genomes: The Theory of the Origins of the Species by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#61

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Feb 1, 2003 7:00 pm
Subject: Issue 85 - 1st February, 2003

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 85 - 1st February, 2003 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Human evolution (31 Jan) - The fossil of an early human-like creature (hominid) from southern Africa is raising fresh questions about our origins. Remains from the Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg suggest our ancestors were less chimp-like than we thought. [more]

Lie detection (31 Jan) - A new technique which interprets facial gestures has been developed by scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University and could be the most accurate lie detector yet created. [more] [audio]

Consciousness (30 Jan) - Is the brain simply a computer, and is consciousness merely the feeling we get when we think? Or is consciousness a primary component of the universe, which the brain can latch on to, like a radio receiver? A definitive answer will always be elusive, but scientists are making intriguing forays into the subject, and if they are not explaining consciousness, they are certainly telling us a great deal about the nature of science. [more]

Communications (30 Jan) - Recalling how hard it was for people to understand what the Web was when he crafted it in 1989, Berners-Lee said he's having difficulty again explaining his new idea of the Semantic Web, for the same reason: "There's this mental leap involved." [more]

Addiction - fast food (29 Jan) - A steady diet of hamburgers, fries and foods high in fat and loaded with calories may not only pile on the pounds -- some scientists are questioning whether it could be addictive. [more]

Psychoanalysis (28 Jan) - In the last quarter century, psychoanalysis has been declared dead many times over. Psychoanalysts, once dominant in psychiatry, now stand on the sidelines of a field where drug treatments and brief forms of talk therapy are the rule. Thanks in large part to Woody Allen, Freud's talking cure has become shorthand for costly self-indulgence with no obvious benefit. And many psychiatrists barely hide their disdain for what they regard as an outmoded approach to treating mental disorders. [more]

Archaeology (27 Jan) - The image of our cavemen ancestors as wild hunters who enjoyed no better meal than flesh torn from their latest kill has been dented by new archaeological research. Chemical analysis of 6000-year-old pottery shards shows ancient Britons also had a taste for cow's milk and goat's cheese. New Scientist, BBC News Online.

Networks (25 Jan) - From Malcolm Gladwell's three-year-old best seller, "The Tipping Point," to just-published analyses like "The Influentials" and "Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers," the shelves at Barnes & Noble are laden with books alternately applauding and deploring the importance of things like hubs, connectors, mavens and influencer teens for creating fads, cementing brand loyalty and swelling profits. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Religion - Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi reviews In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion by Scott Atran. [more] [review] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Music - John Wilkins reviews Beethoven's Anvil: Music in mind and culture by William L. Benzon. [more] [review] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genetics - Constantinos G. Athanasopoulos reviews Genotype to Phenotype, 2nd edition edited by S. Malcolm and J. Goodship. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Longevity (31 Jan) - Life expectancy in elderly people is linked to the length of special structures in their DNA, according to a study published today in the British medical journal Lancet. The shorter these structures -- called telomeres -- the earlier a person died, the report found. Los Angeles Times, The Lancet.

Audio and Video

Primatology (30 Jan) - A Madagascan lemur has been revealed as the first animal known to self-medicate when pregnant. Female sifaka eat plants rich in poisonous tannins in the weeks before giving birth, researchers have discovered. [more]

Animal behavior (30 Jan) - Male mice can control how many young their mates produce, researchers have found. Females retaliate by taking charge of how much food the babies get. Nature Science Update, Nature.

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Autism - Susan Martin reviews A Parent's Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism by Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson, and James McPartland. [more] [review] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Politics - David Smith reviews Darwinian Politics. The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom by Paul H. Rubin. [more] [review] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Philosophy - genetics - Michael Bradie reviews Genes: A Philosophical Inquiry by Gordon Graham. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Evolutionary psychology - Oliver Curry reviews Alas, Poor Darwin: Arguments against evolutionary psychology edited by Hilary Rose and Steven Rose. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Politics - Jack Parsons reviews Darwinian Politics. The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom by Paul H. Rubin. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Primatology - Elena Madison reviews Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals by Frans de Waal. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Rape - Evolution, Gender, and Rape edited by Cheryl Brown Travis. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mysticism - Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality by John Horgan. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Jo Ann Rosenfeld reviews Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox. [more] [review] Science Friday speaks to Brenda Maddox. [more] [audio] [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Religion - David Smith reviews In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion by Scott Atran. [more] [review] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Men - Daniele M. Procida reviews Y: The Descent of Men by Steve Jones. [more] [review] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - James Brody reviews Psychology: An Evolutionary Approach by Steven Gaulin & Donald McBurney. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#60

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Jan 25, 2003 4:22 pm
Subject: Issue 84 - 25th January, 2003

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 84 - 25th January, 2003 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Autism (24 Jan) - According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism is now 10 times more common today than it was 10 years ago. Guest host Paul Raeburn and guests look at the science of autism. What's behind the rise in the autism rate? Are we just diagnosing the disease better? Plus, a look at the genetics of the disease, and at the claim that vaccines may be causing the disease. [more] [audio]

Development (23 Jan) - Children growing up in single-parent families are twice as likely as their counterparts to develop serious psychiatric illnesses and addictions later in life, according to an important new study. [more]

Human evolution (21 Jan) - By analyzing DNA from people in all regions of the world, geneticist Spencer Wells has concluded that all humans alive today are descended from a single man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago. [more]

Universal truths (23 Jan) - Paul Davies says that scientific discovery does not make the cosmos seem increasingly pointless. [more]

Human Nature Radio

The following Human Nature Review articles are now available as machine generated mp3 audio files using AT&T Natural Voices. You can listen to these online or download them to your computer or portable device for mobile listening.

Lipton, J. E. (2003). Review of The Tending Instinct: How Nurturing is Essential to Who We Are and How We Live by Shelley E. Taylor. Human Nature Review. 3: 44-46. [more] [audio]

Dowker, A. (2003). Review of How Babies Think: The Science of Childhood by Alison Gopnik, Andrew Meltzoff and Patricia Kuhl Human Nature Review. 3: 41-43. [more] [audio]

Hall, M. E. (2003). Review of The Rhythms of History: A Universal Theory of Civilizations by Stephen Blaha. Human Nature Review. 3: 38-40. [more] [audio]

Ata, A. W. (2003). Exodus of the Palestinian Christians [Letter to the Editor]. Human Nature Review. 3: 36-37. [more] [audio]

Nettle, D. (2003). Review of Economics as an evolutionary science: From utility to fitness by Arthur E. Gandolfi, Anna S. Gandolfi and David P. Barash. Human Nature Review. 3: 21-23. [more] [audio]

Harris, K. S. (2003). Review of When culture and biology collide: Why we are stressed, depressed, and self-obsessed by Euclid O. Smith. Human Nature Review. 3: 17-20. [more] [audio]

Barash, D. P. (2003). We're All Animals. Human Nature Review. 3: 15-16. [more] [audio]

Casebeer, W. D. (2003). Review of Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment edited by Randolph M. Nesse. Human Nature Review. 3: 12-14. [more] [audio]

Walsh, A. (2003). The Holy Trinity and the Legacy of the Italian School of Criminal Anthropology. Human Nature Review. 3: 1-11. [more] [audio]

Kohn, M. (2002). Unity is Health: An Evolutionary Left. Human Nature Review. 2:
424-430. [more] [audio]

Suicide (1 Feb) - Scientists have begun uncovering behavioral tip-offs and are also exploring clues to anatomical and chemical differences between the brains of suicides and of those who die of other causes. [more]

Mate choice - Women's taste in men could vary depending on whether they are taking the contraceptive pill, researchers claim. [more]

Innovation (1 Feb) - Nicholas Negroponte says expertise is overrated. To build a nation of innovators, we should focus on youth, diversity, and collaboration. [more]

Race (1 Feb) - There's hardly any difference in the DNA of human races. That doesn't mean, argues sociologist Troy Duster, that genomics research can ignore the concept. [more]

SETI (22 Jan) - "The search for extraterrestrial life grips the human imagination because it tells us about ourselves," says Paul Davies. [more]

Memory (22 Jan) - Scientists believe they may have found a way to improve our memory by as much as 10%. Researchers at Imperial College London have used a technique called neurofeedback to train people to remember more clearly. [more]

Neuroscience - Science is developing ways to boost intelligence, expand memory, and more. But will you be allowed to change your own mind? By Ronald Bailey. [more]

Human Nature Review - Listen to, annotate, highlight, and search Human Nature Review articles and other PDF files. [more] Download an electronic copy of The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more]

Evolution (20 Jan) - The ancient ancestor of all mammals that give birth to live young - including humans - probably had genetic similarities with the aardvark. [more]

Archaeology (21 Jan) - The oldest image of a star pattern, that of the famous constellation of Orion, has been recognised on an ivory tablet some 32,500 years old. The tiny sliver of mammoth tusk contains a carving of a man-like figure with arms and legs outstretched in the same pose as the stars of Orion. [more]

Biology (20 Jan) - In the metaphysics of the ancient Greeks, there were four elements: earth, water, fire and air. The year is divided into four seasons, the map is divided into four cardinal compass points and the moon's monthly movement is given four phases. More than that, says Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Geoffrey West, the number four plays a key role in how all life on earth takes shape. [more]

Neanderthals (20 Jan) - The first complete skeleton of a Neanderthal, the prehistoric people who became extinct about 30,000 years ago, graces an American Museum of Natural History exhibition in New York on the mysteries of human origins. It features fossils and artifacts up to a million years old dug up in caves at two sites in northern Spain. [more] and [more]

Human evolution (14 Jan) - Anthropologists are reconsidering traditional theories about the importance of male hunting, of meat and of the so-called nuclear family in human evolution. [more]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Risky behaviour (27 Jan) - For a teenager, sneaking a beer is one thing; shooting up heroin is quite another. Missing a parentally imposed curfew is almost expected; disappearing for days is heart-wrenching. There is risk, and then there is risk. Figuring out what differentiates experimenting teenagers from delinquents and lifelong reckless hearts is not easy; behaviors typically stem from complex social, environmental, and biological interactions. Even defining risky conduct can be difficult. [more]

Audio and Video

Gene duplication (27 Jan) - Picture an imperfect hall of mirrors, with gene sequences reflecting wildly: That's the human genome. The duplications that riddle the genome range greatly in size, clustered in some areas yet absent in others, residing in gene jungles as well as within vast expanses of seemingly genetic gibberish. And in their organization lie clues to genome origins. "We've known for some time that duplications are the primary force for genes and genomes to evolve over time," says Evan Eichler, director of the bioinformatics core facility at the Center for Computational Genomics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. [more]

Memory - human genetics (24 Jan) - People who inherit one version of a key gene score better on certain memory tests than people who inherit a slightly different version, researchers reported yesterday. Washington Post, EurekAlert, BBC News Online.

Attention (23 Jan) - With so many visual stimuli bombarding our eyes -- cars whizzing by, leaves fluttering -- how can we focus attention on a single spot -- a word on a page or a fleeting facial expression? How do we filter so purely that the competing stimuli never even register in our awareness? [more]

Anxiety - aggression (23 Jan) - Researchers report finding a gene that is essential for normal levels of anxiety and aggression. Calling it the Pet-1 gene, researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Department of Neurosciences say that when this gene is removed or "knocked out" in a mouse, aggression and anxiety in adults are greatly elevated compared to a control (also called wild type) mouse. [more] [more] [audio]

Animal cognition (22 Jan) - Psychologists have found evidence that monkeys have sophisticated abilities to acquire and apply knowledge using some of the same strategies as do humans. Specifically, the researchers have discovered that rhesus monkeys can learn the correct order of arbitrary sets of images and can apply that knowledge to answer new questions about that order. [more]

Compliance (22 Jan) - Mailed reminders to physicians and their patients who take antidepressant drugs can help patients stick with their medication routine, according to a new study. The reminders significantly increased the number of patients who took their medications routinely, compared with patients who did not receive the reminders. [more]

Language (22 Jan) - Language probably leapt, not crept, from squeaks to Shakespeare, two physicists have calculated. Human communication, they propose, underwent a 'phase transition', like solid ice melting to liquid water. Nature Science Update, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Homicide - media (22 Jan) - Newspapers are failing their readers in coverage of homicide cases, according to new research sponsored by the ESRC. Better balance is needed by covering a wider range of cases instead of the current narrow focus on exceptional and dramatic stories, says a study led by Professor Keith Soothill and Brian Francis of the University of Lancaster. [more]

Obesity (21 Jan) - Between 1977 and 1996, portion sizes for key food groups grew markedly in the United States, not only at fast-food restaurants but also in homes and at conventional restaurants, a new study shows. [more]

Bullying (21 Jan) - Peer-group influence on adolescents is well established, especially regarding drugs and alcohol. New research indicates it also extends to bullying behavior. [more]

Development (21 Jan) - "Children as young as 12 months are making decisions based on the emotional reactions of adults around them. It turns out they can also use emotional information they pick up from television. This means that adults might want to think twice before they speak in a harsh or surprising tone or let an infant see television programs meant for an older person," according to Donna Mumme. [more]

Sleep (12 Jan) - New studies have revealed that even the best-behaved and careful drivers may encounter a new danger on the road - themselves. According to the British journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers in Australia and New Zealand report that sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk. [more]

Smell (20 Jan) - Reveling in the fragrance of a beautiful flower and being miserable as you endure the stench of changing the kitty litter may seem like opposite emotional experiences. However, a study in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience says your brain's response to such strong pleasant and unpleasant emotions are actually quite similar. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Self - Lisa Bortolotti reviews Psychological Dimensions of the Self by Arnold H. Buss. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Science - James Sage reviews The Empirical Stance by Bas C. Van Fraassen. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mental health - Tony O'Brien reviews Out of the Shadows: Confronting America's Mental Illness Crisis by E. Fuller Torrey. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Borderline personality disorder - Christian Perring reviews Women and Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Stories by Janet Wirth-Cauchon. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genius - Costica Bradatan reviews Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds by Harold Bloom. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - J. E. Morris reviews Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Obesity - Fred Charatan reviews Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser. [more] [review] [chapter]

Buy this book from Amazon

Networks - David Cohen reviews Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age by Duncan J. Watts. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Nurturing - Judith Lipton reviews The Tending Instinct: How Nurturing is Essential to Who We Are and How We Live by Shelley E. Taylor. [more] [excerpt] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Development - Ann Dowker reviews How Babies Think: The Science of Childhood by Alison Gopnik, Andrew Meltzoff and Patricia Kuhl. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#59

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sun Jan 19, 2003 4:57 pm
Subject: Issue 83 - 19th January, 2003

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 83 - 19th January, 2003 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Ape culture (19 Jan) - Anyone who has watched much nature television knows that orangutans are by far the handsomest and smartest-looking of the great apes. [more]

Genetic testing (19 Jan) - Critics want to regulate an American test that may reveal how you will die - and so how to defuse your own genetic timebomb, reports Antony Barnett. [more]

Politics - "The Palestinian Christian is an endangered species. When the modern state of Israel was established there were about 400000 of us. Two years ago the number was down to 80000. Now it's down to 60000. At that rate, in a few years there will be none of us left," writes Abe W. Ata. [more]

Poverty (18 Jan) - The west is accused of "unjustifiable and objectionable" protectionism in its dealings with developing countries, in a report attacking the "shameful" level of global poverty. [more]

Primatology - conservation - Peter Elliot meets up with the team as they attempt to solve a mysterious murder and develop a strategy for the conservation of the western lowland gorilla in Gabon, West Africa. [more] [audio]

Psychiatry (17 Jan) All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric News 17 January 2003; Vol. 38, No. 2. [more]

Culture - primatology - It's a reassuring thought: What separates man from beast is culture. Except chimpanzees appear to have what anthropologists define as culture -- the ability to invent seemingly arbitrary new behaviors and pass them along to others. And this week, a team working in Southeast Asia reports in Science magazine that another ape -- the orangutan -- has culture, too. [more] [audio]

Science - Why are so many visionaries ignored? This is a question which confronts fundamental issues about how science and discovery operate. [more] [audio]

Mathematics (16 Jan) - What's the significance of 1.6180339887? It's the "golden ratio" and, arguably, it crops up in more places in art, music and so on than any number except pi. Claude Debussy used it explicitly in his music and Le Corbusier in his architecture. There are claims the number was used by Leonardo da Vinci in the painting of the Mona Lisa, by the Greeks in building the Parthenon and by ancient Egyptians in the construction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. [more]

Pharmacology - One field in which serendipity plays a very large part is medicine - many new drugs have been the result of accidental discoveries. [more] [audio]

Human evolution (14 Jan) - Tubers, scavenging, and women - this might have been the winning combination that spurred human evolution about 2 millions years ago, according to a provocative hypothesis by American anthropologists. [more]

Evolution (15 Jan) - That enduring metaphor for the randomness of evolution, a blind watchmaker that works to no pattern or design, is being challenged by two European chemists. They say that the watchmaker may have been blind, but was guided and constrained by the changing chemistry of the environment, with many inevitable results. [more]

Human genetics (14 Jan) - "Biologists who dress up hi-tech eugenics as a new art form are dangerously deluded," says Jeremy Rifkin. [more]

Flat screen televisions on offer at Amazon.com [more]

Hope and self-interest - Why don't people vote their own self-interest? Every few years the Republicans propose a tax cut, and every few years the Democrats pull out their income distribution charts to show that much of the benefits of the Republican plan go to the richest 1 percent of Americans or thereabouts. And yet every few years a Republican plan wends its way through the legislative process and, with some trims and amendments, passes. The Democrats couldn't even persuade people to oppose the repeal of the estate tax, which is explicitly for the mega-upper class. [more]

Body and mind (12 Jan) - A major mental illness like clinical depression will send biochemical shock waves through the body. But the intimate relationship of body to mind isn't limited to serious disease. Researchers have come to understand that what lies below the neck can also be harmed by less acute kinds of brain disturbances. [more] and [more]

Self-diagnosis (12 Jan) - "To be conscious in these days of Paxil, Prozac and Dr. Phil is to question one's own sanity on an almost weekly basis. Self-diagnosis is a tricky business, especially when it comes to the mind. Still, with all the memoirs of addiction and depression and the countless websites devoted to mental health, it's more tempting than ever to lie down on the couch and ask, "Am I normal?"," says Walter Kirn. [more]

Depression (13 Jan) - US researchers have found that some men with difficult-to-treat depression may have low testosterone levels. What's more, they also found that boosting these levels with the aid of testosterone gel may help treat the depression. [more]

Politics - "Two years ago a project set up by the men who now surround George W Bush said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor". Its published aims have, alarmingly, come true," writes John Pilger. [more]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

SIDS (18 Jan) - Researchers have made great progress against sudden infant death syndrome by identifying behaviors that increase the risk, such as smoking by caregivers and placing babies to sleep on the stomach. Now it seems a baby's genes also might play a role. [more]

Audio and Video

Violence - mental health - When a patient threatens violence to another person, the responsible mental health care professional faces a decision with potential clinical, ethical and legal consequences. The clinician must first decide whether there is a realistic risk of violence or whether the patient is expressing fantasies or just blowing off steam. [more]

Pregnancy - Despite the widespread, long-standing notion that pregnancy is a time of happiness and emotional well-being, accumulating evidence suggests that pregnancy does not protect women from mental illness. Like their nonpregnant counterparts, pregnant women experience new onset and recurrent mood, anxiety and psychotic disorders. [more]

Birth complications - sex differences (18th Jan) - Women are more likely to encounter complications during labour and delivery when they are having a boy, according to researchers in this week's British Medical Journal. [more]

Evolution (15 Jan) - The lowly stick insect has forced a rethink of one of the key rules of evolution - that complex anatomical features do not disappear and reappear over the course of time. New Scientist.

Sex reversal (15 Jan) - Northwestern University has received a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to identify the gene mutations that cause sex reversal, a condition in which individuals have the chromosomes of one sex but the physical attributes of the other, resulting in XY females or XX males. [more]

Depression (15 Jan) - A persistent, long-lasting headache or an endlessly painful back may indicate something more serious than a bad week at the office. A new study finds that people who have major depression are more than twice as likely to have chronic pain when compared to people who have no symptoms of depression. This study could change how depression is diagnosed and treated, say Stanford School of Medicine researchers. [more]

Genomics (15 Jan) - By simply feeding roundworms genetically-modified bacteria, UK scientists have conducted an extraordinary one-by-one analysis of the function of nearly 86 per cent of the worms 20,000 genes. US scientists have put the data to immediate use to search for genes that regulate fat storage. [more]

Cocaine (13 Jan) - Cocaine is traditionally thought to exert its effects on behavior by interacting with dopamine transporters. However, recent research, cofunded by NIDA, has shown that other mechanisms may also mediate the behavioral effects of the drug. The research team led by Dr. Rae Matsumoto from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has demonstrated that interfering with cocaine's access to sigma receptors can block the behavioral and toxic effects of the drug. [more]

Addiction (13 Jan) - Children who start to use alcohol, marijuana or other illicit drugs in their early teen years are more likely to experience psychiatric disorders, especially depression, in their late 20's. [more]

Psychopharmacology (13 Jan) - Smokers diagnosed with schizophrenia had higher smoking cessation rates when treated with bupropion than with a placebo, according to a study led by Dr. Tony George at Yale University. Bupropion is a medication used to help people quit smoking and to treat depression. [more]

Genetics (12 Jan) - Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research are gaining new insight into the molecular players involved in the process of vertebral column formation in the embryo. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Placebo effect - Marek Kohn reviews Placebo: The Belief Effect by Dylan Evans. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Obesity - Michael Pollan reviews Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser. [more] [review] [chapter] A review by Laura Miller. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

History - Mark Hall reviews The Rhythms of History: A Universal Theory of Civilizations by Stephen Blaha. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Social science - Jonathon Keats reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair reviews The Origin of Minds: Evolution, Uniqueness and the New Science of the Self by Peggy La Cerra & Roger Bingham. [more] [excerpt] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Obsessions - The Treatment of Obsessions by Stanley Rachman. [more] [chapter]

Buy this book from Amazon

Economics - Daniel Nettle reviews Economics as an evolutionary science: From utility to fitness by Arthur E. Gandolfi, Anna S. Gandolfi and David P. Barash. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Evolutionary medicine - Keith S. Harris reviews When culture and biology collide: Why we are stressed, depressed, and self-obsessed by Euclid O. Smith. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Fiction - David P. Barash reviews You're An Animal, Viskovitz! by Alessandro Boffa. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Commitment - William D. Casebeer reviews Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment edited by Randolph M. Nesse. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Criminology - history - Tony Walsh reviews Born to Crime: Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology by Mary Gibson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Society - history - Roger Kimball reviews The West and the Rest by Roger Scruton. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#58

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sun Jan 12, 2003 10:16 pm
Subject: Issue 82 - 12th January, 2003

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 82 - 12th January, 2003 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Psychology - APA's 2003 president Robert Sternberg brings his formidable energy and a lifetime of experience to bear on the task of unifying psychology. [more]

Discovery - Despite predictions that science will run out of things to discover, changes in direction never cease to occur. This series explores where science will lead us as we probe deeper into space, uncover more of the mystery of genetic coding and delve yet further into the atom. [more] The Universe [audio] The Brain [audio]

Memory - What processes kick into action when we're forming or recalling a memory - from the simplest of mundane incidents to one of huge emotional significance? [more] [audio]

Forensic psychology - Forensic psychologists speak out on the lessons learned from the Washington-area sniper case. [more]

Language (12 Jan) - Teenagers grunt and adults chat about trivia, but are our unique verbal skills really in danger of disappearing? Robin McKie thinks we are unlikely to be left speechless. [more]

"Couching Tiger" (11 Jan) - The followers of Freud are making a major comeback in the land of the hidden dragon. Mao dismissed psychiatry as 'a phony science' that is '90 per cent useless,' but his edict has been lifted. [more]

Narcissism (11 Jan) - It has got so psychologist Lawrence Josephs can tell right away which patients are likely to fire him. The narcissists may be the worst. These are the ones who are there in the first place only because their spouse would not quit hectoring them to show more interest in the marriage, and the people at work just didn't seem to give them the credit or attention they deserve. Often, they stay only long enough to decide that what they really need is to leave the marriage and quit the job. After that, they sack the shrink. [more]

Suicide (10 Jan) - China's first suicide intervention center opened a website in Beijing Friday, making it possible for people with mental health problems to register online as well as find medical information. [more]

"Mozart Effect" (10 Jan) - Can the Viennese master's music really produce prize marrows, make cows happier and boost a baby's IQ? Catherine Nelson weighs up the evidence. [more] [more] [audio]

Archaeology (10 Jan) - The moment is indelibly burned into Dato Zhvania's memory. It had been a day like any other - a day of back-breaking, painstakingly meticulous work. A day of throbbing, enervating heat. But as he sifted gingerly through the baked patch of ground before him, his fingers touched something different. The archaeological site at the medieval town of Dmanisi, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south-west of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, had already revealed some of its secrets. Perhaps, just perhaps, this was his turn. But what emerged as he brushed away the earth was to far exceed his expectations. He did not know it yet, but in his hands he held the almost perfectly preserved skull of the most ancient human being ever found in Europe - 1.8 million years old. [more]

Self and the brain (8 Jan) - "Who are you? The answer, of course, lies in your brain. But how your brain becomes and continues to be who you are is still poorly understood. Neuroscientists have been quite successful in figuring out how pieces of the brain puzzle work (perception, movement, learning, emotion) but have not made much progress in putting the pieces together to build the kind of global picture of brain function that would be necessary to understand how one's personal identity, one's self, is represented in neural tissue," writes Joseph LeDoux. [more]

Archaeology (8 Jan) - Hunting tools believed to be 9,000 years old have been uncovered during a road development in County Antrim. [more]

History (9 Jan) - In the early years of the 15th century, Chinese Admiral Zheng He and his commanders unfurled their sails and embarked in great teak junks, boats so enormous that each could "swallow 50 fishing ships." These flagships were the centerpiece of armadas manned by thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of sailors on scores of vessels. [more]

Happiness (6 Jan) - Scientists say they have solved one of the greatest mysteries plaguing mankind - just what is the secret of happiness? [more]

Human evolution (5 Jan) - What makes our species unique? A linguist and two animal researchers band together to crack open an old chestnut. [more]

Psychiatry - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association - Psychiatric News, 3 January 2003; Vol. 38, No. 1. [more]

Female impotence (3 Jan) - The pharmaceutical industry has "created" a disease out of female sexual problems, it has been suggested. An article in the British Medical Journal suggests drug manufacturers are defining the condition in order to have a new market for products. [more]

Science (3 Jan) - What were the top science stories of 2002? From cloning to neutrinos, our panel of science journalists will run down the science news of the year in review. We'll also challenge them to peek into their crystal balls and give us a look ahead at what they think might be big stories in the coming year. [more] [audio]

Smell (3 Jan) - The link between love, relationships and perfumes may have been uncovered by scientists investigating what sex does to a rodent's sense of smell. [more]

Placebo effect (2 Jan) - Dummy treatments used in clinical trials of cancer treatments can produce positive effects - but are unlikely to have a direct impact on tumours, research has found. [more]

Autism (1 Jan) - Autism is about 10 times as prevalent today as it was in the 1980's, according to the country's largest study ever on the problem. Some of the increase is the result of widened definitions of the disorder, researchers say, but the explanation for the rest of the increase is unknown. [more]

SAD (31 Dec) - Researchers say they have direct evidence that the mood changes many people experience when winter comes and the days grow shorter have a physiological basis in the brain. [more] There's a reason for winter depression, but it's not genetic, says Oliver James. [more]

Neanderthals (31 Dec) - These prehistoric people, who lived mostly in Europe and parts of central and southwestern Asia, vanished about 30,000 years ago. Since the first of their fossils were recognized in 1856, Neanderthals have been objects of mystery and endless conjecture. They are, in many respects, the dinosaurs of hominid studies. [more]

Music (28 Dec) - It takes no musical training to recognize a wrong note... but why is that so? New research shows that sensitivity to music is a natural function of the human brain. NPR's Richard Knox reports. [more] [audio]

Psychiatry - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association - Psychiatric News, 20 December 2002; Vol. 37, No. 24. [more]

Infidelity (28 Dec) - Rod Liddle reveals that extra-marital relations are more likely to be associated with fertility. [more]

Race (24 Dec) - Humankind falls into five continental groups - broadly equivalent to the common conception of races - when a computer is asked to sort DNA data from people from around the world into clusters. [more]

Genetics (22 Dec) - Gene science has the potential to transform the course of our lives, from 'designer babies' to slowing the ageing process. But how far advanced is it - and exactly where is it going? Mike Bygrave asked the scientists at its cutting edge to separate the hype from the reality. [more]

Therapy (21 Dec) - Argentina's national passions include soccer... the tango... and psychoanalysis. There's even a neighborhood in Buenos Aires known as Villa Freud. "Cafe Siggy" is among its attractions. [more] [audio]

Human genetics (18 Dec) - Two years after the human genome was mapped, scientists are drawing a stunning insight by comparing human genes with those of mice. Their conclusion? Researchers now agree human genes are definitely missing something; they're just not entirely sure what. Figuring it out could involve arguments about the very definition of the word 'gene.' [more]

Emotion (15 Dec) - While it is, of course, undeniable that emotions can be unruly and that they can and have had dreadful consequences, the good news is that many philosophers and psychologists have for some time been urging us not to infer from these facts any sweeping negative conclusions about the emotions. [more]

Animal rights (15 Dec) - In recent years, nonhuman animals have been at the centre of an intense philosophical debate. In particular, many authors have criticised traditional morality, maintaining that the way in which we treat members of other species is ethically indefensible. [more]

Race (13 Dec) - Tavis Smiley talks to Bernadette Park, a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, about a recent experiment on the role race plays when people make snap decisions about using deadly force. [more] [audio]

Sexual behaviour (15 Dec) - Men are attracted to younger women. But it may have nothing to do with our genes, argues Oliver James. [more]

Development (13 Dec) - Though the name 'Harry Harlow' isn't well known to most people, the images produced by his research are: the pictures in many psychology texts of captive monkeys seeking comfort from either metal or terry-cloth covered 'artificial mothers.' In this hour, Ira talks with Deborah Blum, author of "Love at Goon Park,' a new book about Harlow, and with primatologist Frans de Waal. [more] [audio]

Darwinian literary criticism - For many years, literary study has been divided among various arcane philosophies, from deconstruction to postcolonialism. The next hot theory comes not from France or Slovenia but from American laboratories -- by way of evolutionary theorists like E. O. Wilson and Steven Pinker. [more]

Designer babies (11 Dec) - As genetic technology increases our ability to manipulate human life, we are forced to ask ourselves whether that's a good thing. A new survey finds that Americans are deeply divided on a range of issues from cloning to designer babies. [more] [audio]

Schizophrenia (10 Dec) - A study in the journal Lancet shows magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may prove effective as an early detector of schizophrenia. MRIs are scans that show a living brain in fine detail. [more] [audio]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

History (13 Jan) - Birth of an Icon - Watson and Crick's DNA discovery: An epic for today's scientists. The Scientist, 1953 paper, Nature.

BBC News BBC News 24 BBC Newsnight Today, Newshour, The World Today, BBC World Service, NPR Hourly News, Talk of the Nation, Science in Action, Discovery, One Planet, The Material World, Thinking Allowed, Heart and Soul, Case Notes, Health Matters, Everywoman.

Audio and Video

Emotion (12 Jan) - Both sides of the brain play a role in processing emotional communication, with the right side stepping in when we focus not on the "what" of an emotional message but rather on how it feels. By studying blood flow velocity to each side of the brain, Belgian psychologists have opened a window onto the richness and complexity of human emotional communication. Their research appears in the January 2003 issue of Neuropsychology. [more]

Self-esteem (8 Jan) - Whether you fancy yourself a jet-setting sophisticate or a down-to-earth outdoorsy type, a fast-track corporate star or an all-around nice guy, new research indicates that you probably tune out information that challenges your self-image by tuning in to television. [more]

Language (9 Jan) - There is a "critical period" for learning a second language, according to a study by German and Italian scientists. The research, published in the journal Neuron, confirms the common assumption that childhood is the best time to learn language. [more]

Racism and medicine (11 Jan) - Racism may be important in the development of illness and countering it should be considered a public health issue, argues a senior psychiatrist in this week's British Medical Journal. [more]

Animal behavior (8 Jan) - Democracy wins hands down over despotism when it comes to making choices in an animal group, according to a new theoretical model of collective decisions. New Scientist, Nature.

Addiction (7 Jan) - Chronic cocaine use harms brain circuits that help produce the sense of pleasure, in part explaining why cocaine addicts have a higher rate of depression, a study suggests. New York Times, EurekAlert.

Ritalin (6 Jan) - There is no firm evidence that giving hyperactive children stimulant drugs like Ritalin increases the likelihood of drug abuse later in life, and the therapy may actually help prevent such abuse, researchers reported today. [more]

Human evolution (6 Jan) - Hunting skills may not after all have triggered the tremendous burst of human evolution at the beginning of the ice ages nearly two million years ago. Instead of man the hunter, the driving force behind this evolutionary surge may have been woman the gatherer, with both mother and grandmother playing a vital role. [more]

ADHD (6 Jan) - An analysis of all available studies that examine the possible impact of stimulant treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on future substance abuse supports the safety of stimulant treatment. [more]

Biological clock (6 Jan) - The biological clock - timekeeper for virtually every activity within living things, from sleep patterns to respiration - is a single protein, Purdue University researchers report. [more]

Neuroscience (4 Jan) - In people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is the hippocampus small because of the disease, or is PTSD present because the hippocampus is small? [more]

Face recognition (8 Jan) - A scientist working on face recognition at the University of Geneva has discovered that Caucasians take longer to involuntarily detect the faces of other Caucasians compared with the faces of people from other races, such as Asians. The source of such involuntary detection could well be a part of the part of the brain associated with the processing of emotion, the amygdala. [more]

Manic depression (3 Jan) - AstraZeneca has announced that it has submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for quetiapine (Seroquel) to be granted a licence for the treatment of acute mania associated with bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness). [more]

Orangutan culture (2 Jan) - An international collaboration of primatologists has gleaned evidence from decades of observations of orangutans that the apes show behaviors that are culturally based. Press release, New York Times, National Geographic, CNN, New Scientist, Scientific American, BBC News Online.

Language (1 Jan) - A chimp who has grown up among humans may have developed the ability to talk, claims a research team from the US. BBC News Online, The Telegraph, New Zealand Herald.

Human evolution (26 Dec) - A new analysis of human genetic history deals a blow to the theory that early people moved out of Africa and completely replaced local populations elsewhere in the world. The findings suggest there was at least limited interbreeding between our African ancestors and the residents of areas where they settled. [more]

Pocket PCs - offers at Amazon.com [more]

Evolutionary psychology (26 Dec) - For those interested in taking the very long view of why people do what they do, Florida Atlantic University plans to expand graduate offerings in evolutionary psychology -- the idea that natural selection has shaped not only human biology, but human behavior. [more]

Body shape (21 Dec) - The shapely body characteristics of centrefold models have given way to more androgynous ones, concludes a study in this week's Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal, The Age.

Robotics (16 Dec) - Forget the robot child in the movie "AI." Vanderbilt researchers Nilanjan Sarkar and Craig Smith have a less romantic but more practical idea in mind. "We are not trying to give a robot emotions. We are trying to make robots that are sensitive to our emotions," says Smith, associate professor of psychology and human development. [more]

Neuroscience (16 Dec) - Many cells in the average brain may be missing huge chunks of genome, scientists revealed at a San Francisco meeting yesterday. The puzzling omissions might decide our risk of disease. [more]

Camcorders - offers at Amazon.com [more]

Suicide (16 Dec) - New research suggests that Serotonergic dysfunction doesn't cause suicide. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Lying - Jonathan Aitken reviews The Liar's Tale by Jeremy Campbell. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Unconscious - David Rakoff reviews Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by Timothy D. Wilson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychiatry - Michael Fitzpatrick reviews Pure Madness: how fear drives the mental health system by Jeremy Laurance [more] and The Creation of Psychopharmacology by David Healy. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science - Matt Ridley chooses the best science books of 2002. [more] [audio]

Electric snow shovel - Tools on offer at Amazon.com [more]

Psychiatry - Mark Sullivan reviews Creating Mental Illness by Allan V. Horwitz. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Holocaust - G�tz Aly and Susanne Heim reveal the crucial role of academics and civil servants in their meticulous history of the men behind the Holocaust - Peter Preston reviews Architects of Annihilation by G�tz Aly and Susanne Heim. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Eugenics - Keeping America Sane: Psychiatry and Eugenics in the United States and Canada, 1880-1940 (Cornell Studies in the History of Psychiatry) by Ian Robert Dowbiggin. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Religion - David Livingstone Smith reviews Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought by Pascal Boyer. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Nature vs. nurture - Daniel Smith reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Depression - Diana Pederson reviews Understanding Depression: What We Know and What You Can Do About It by J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D. and Leslie Alan Horvitz. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Intelligence - Keith S. Harris reviews Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid by Robert J. Sternberg. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychiatry - Christian Perring reviews Psychological Concepts and Biological Psychiatry: A Philosophical Analysis by Peter Zachar. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Concepts - James R. Beebe reviews Furnishing the Mind: Concepts and Their Perceptual Basis by Jesse J. Prinz. [more] [reviews]

Buy this book from Amazon

Sociology - Christian Perring reviews Sociological Perspectives on the New Genetics edited by Peter Conrad and Jonathan Gabe. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Philosophy - Ian Hargreaves reviews Straw Dogs: Thoughts on humans and other animals by John Gray. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human evolution - Douglas Palmer reviews The Neanderthal's Necklace: In Search of the First Thinkers by Juan Luis Arsuaga, Andy Klatt (Translator), Juan Carlos Sastre (Illustrator). [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mental health - Nigel Lester reviews Pure Madness: How Fear Drives the Mental Health System by Jeremy Laurance. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human evolution - The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey by Spencer Wells. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Religion - Natalie Angier reviews Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society by David Sloan Wilson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychiatry - Jacob Sullum reviews Pharmacracy: Medicine and Politics in America by Thomas Szasz [more] and Creating Mental Illness by Allan V. Horwitz. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Neurogenetics - Kirk C. Wilhelmsen reviews Neurogenetics edited by Stefan M. Pulst. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biology - Paul E. Griffiths reviews Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development With Models, Metaphors, and Machines by Evelyn Fox Keller. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science - A discussion of Dick Teresi's Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science -- from the Babylonian to the Maya. [more] [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

"Positive Psychology" - Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived by Corey L. M. Keyes (Editor), Jonathan Haidt (Editor), and Martin E. P. Seligman. [more] [chapter]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#57

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Dec 14, 2002 7:39 pm
Subject: Issue 81 - 14th December, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 81 - 14th December, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Schizophrenia (13 Dec) - The long search for a gene that helps cause schizophrenia may at last be bearing fruit after many false starts and disappointments, scientists are reporting. An errant gene first implicated among schizophrenic patients in Iceland has now turned up in a survey of Scottish patients, too, giving a clear confirmation of the earlier result. [more]

'The age of manipulation' (12 Dec) - In the debate over possible war with Iraq, we ignore the inconvenient reality that we are already at war - with one another. And those who proffer remedies - diversity trainers, multicultural consultants, business etiquette advisers, personnel managers and the like - only make matters worse, by furthering the therapeutic ethos that raises individual self-gratification and self-expression above all other pursuits. [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Archaeology - politics (12 Dec) - Human bones, pieces of skin and bits of hair tucked away in museum display cases and vaults have become the subject of ferocious political battles. Many of these human remains were collected in the nineteenth century, when Western colonial expansion was at its height and there was a lust for scientific enquiry. Today, there are demands that these bones be returned to indigenous groups for reburial. [more]

Profile (10 Dec) - John Rawls, who died on November 24, raised modern political philosophy from the pit of Marxist and linguistic analysis and revived it as a serious subject for citizens of the real world. He believed that answering age-old practical questions about liberty and justice was the proper work of political philosophers. [more]

Spanking (9 Dec) - Steven E. Landsburg looks at the economics of spanking. [more]

Psychology of happiness (8 Dec) - The happiest people surround themselves with family and friends, don't care about keeping up with the Joneses next door, lose themselves in daily activities and, most important, forgive easily. [more]

Profile (11 Dec) - More than any other broadcaster in Britain, and possibly the world, David Attenborough has opened people's eyes to the beauty and complexity of the natural world. In 50 years with the BBC he has presented programmes from some of the remotest places on the planet. He has held some of the top jobs in the corporation but has always come back to his main love: making films about nature. Michael Bond learns his secret of getting the message across. [more]

Scientific publishing (11 Dec) - A cunning statistical study has exposed scientists as sloppy reporters. When they write up their work and cite other people's papers, most do not bother to read the original. [more]

Genetics (10 Dec) - The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in Bethesda, Maryland, recently added the dog to its high priority list of organisms to be sequenced once computer capacity becomes available. Canines join a growing group of high priority animals that includes the chimpanzee, chicken, and honeybee. [more]

Homicide (10 Dec) - The rate of infant homicides in the US has more than doubled over the last 30 years, according to a new report by Child Trends, a not-for-profit research organization in Washington, DC. [more]

Human nature (9 Dec) - 'That relentless sceptic Bertrand Russell once announced that "Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions which move with him like flies on a summer day." In a scientifically-driven period of history such as the one we�re in, even more perilous are convictions which purport to deliver certainty as well as comfort. While science is by definition and intent designed to be questioned both by its practitioners and its consumers, it�s clear that the value of its results may be sharply affected by the plausibility of its initial assumptions and how searchingly it evaluates information. The English economist Alfred Marshall observed that "the most reckless theorists are those who allow the facts to speak for themselves,"' says Lionel tiger. [more]

Genetics - human evolution - If humans and chimpanzees are really so similar genetically, why have they turned out to be so different �in the wild�? Is genetic similarity a mismeasure of the species? Is there something else, biologically, that accounts for our obvious differences? Or are chimpanzees and human beings genuinely the close cousins that the genetic counts suggest, making the differences we notice at the level of the organism little more than skin deep? [more]

Stress - Bruce McEwen is a pioneering expert on the ways in which the brain influences the body. He is the author of "The End of Stress As We Know It" (with Elizabeth Norton Lasley, published by Joseph Henry Press). The book examines the response of the body to stress, what happens when the body's stress response turns against us, and how to keep that from happening. Dr. McEwen is head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York City. [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Masculinity - John W. Miller reviews My Brother's Keeper: What The Social Sciences Do (And Don't) Tell Us About Masculinity by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Drugs - Simon Ings reviews The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs by Marcus Boon. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Murder - William Bernet reviews Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill? by Jonathan H. Pincus. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Politics - Dyanne Petersen reviews Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom by Paul Rubin. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Fear (13 Dec) - Researchers have discovered the first genetic component of a biochemical pathway in the brain that governs the indelible imprinting of fear-related experiences in memory. [more]

Audio and Video

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (13 Dec) - A year's worth of counseling and medication relieved some symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among a group children, but only children receiving additional biofeedback therapy managed to hold on to these healthy gains after going off the medication, according to a new study. [more]

Animal behavior (12 Dec) - Animals can be a pretty uncooperative lot. While species like lions and prairie dogs cooperate in some cases, scientists seldom know the costs and benefits of cooperative acts in the wild. In particular, scientists have long been interested in situations in which cooperating animals give up something now in order to develop a relationship that pays off in the long run. Experimental studies show, however, that animals don't usually cooperate in these cases; apparently, they are unwilling to pass up an immediate benefit in order to gain more in the long run. Now, experiments with blue jays at the University of Minnesota suggest that animals may be induced to cooperate when their opponent reciprocates by tit-for-tat behavior and rewards accumulate over a sequence of plays. [more]

Body clock (12 Dec) - A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) has demonstrated that the gene Opn4, which codes for the protein Melanopsin, is the elusive pigment gene that captures light and keeps your body tuned to a daily cycle--called a circadian rhythm. [more]

Human genetics (9 Dec) - For centuries, explorers and anthropologists have wondered why the people of the Andaman Islands were so fierce and isolated. New genetic research gives a glimpse at how the Andamanese are different from other people, at least biologically. The researchers, led by Erika Hagelberg of the University of Oslo, believe the island people are descendents of Paleolithic humans, who migrated eastward out of Africa during the last ice age. The genes also show that they are more closely related to Asians than to Africans, but that they have a unique genetic make-up. Wired News, Current Biology.

Cognition and culture (26 Nov) - A new study by a University of Arkansas psychologist proposes that beliefs about the afterlife may amount to more than a cultural construct. They may in fact have a biological basis - arising from the human brain's unique ability to comprehend the mental states of other people. In an article published in the November issue of The Journal of Cognition and Culture, assistant professor of psychology Jesse Bering outlines a study in which he demonstrated that even individuals who claim to believe that all consciousness ceases at death were inclined to say that certain psychological states persist. He calls this contradiction the Simulation Constraint Hypothesis of Death Representation. [more]

Music - neuroscience (12 Dec) - Researchers at Dartmouth are getting closer to understanding how some melodies have a tendency to stick in your head or why hearing a particular song can bring back a high school dance. They have found and mapped the area in your brain that processes and tracks music. It's a place that's also active during reasoning and memory retrieval. EurekAlert, The Guardian, New York Times.

Intelligence (12 Dec) - The board games chess and GO take practice, not intellect, brain scans of players suggest. Intelligence areas appear inactive when people puzzle over game strategy. [more]

Bulimia nervosa (11 Dec) - A team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have linked an area of chromosome 10p to families with a history of bulimia nervosa, providing strong evidence that genes play a determining role in who is susceptible to developing the eating disorder. [more]

Depression (10 Dec) - A well-tolerated drug that blocks nicotine receptors in the brain appears to relieve depression and mood instability in children and adolescents with Tourette's syndrome, a preliminary study by University of South Florida College of Medicine researchers has found. The multicenter, placebo-controlled study of the drug mecamylamine is published in the latest issue of the journal Depression and Anxiety. [more]

Sex differences (10 Dec) - Sure Santa Claus asks boys and girls what toys they want, but, why they want them is a better question. The answer may have to do with a biological pre-wiring that influences boys' and girls' preferences based on the early roles of males and females, says a Texas A&M University psychologist. [more]

Anorexia (10 Dec) - A defect of the immune system may be to blame for some cases of the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. BBC News Online, Nature Science Update.

Ecstasy and mental health (10 Dec) - Many studies have shown that the club drug Ecstasy can damage brain cells, but a large German study now shows that mental problems often predate Ecstasy use. Researchers suggest caution in interpreting the association. [more]

Memory - The biology of induced memory may involve protein synthesis in the amygdala and the hippocampus for reconsolidation after retrieval. [more]

Depression (10 Dec) - A new study shows that a team-care approach more than doubles the effectiveness of depression treatment for older adults in general medical settings. The findings appear in the Dec. 11 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. [more]

Juvenile mental health (10 Dec) - Among teens in juvenile detention, nearly two thirds of boys and nearly three quarters of girls have at least one psychiatric disorder, a federally funded study has found. [more]

Psychosis (10 Dec) - Brain scans could help to predict which people at high risk of psychosis will actually go on to develop the disorder, say scientists. BBC News Online, New York Times.

Depression (9 Dec) - A large body of evidence has emerged over several years for an association between depressive disorder and cardiovascular disease. Although many studies have shown that depression increases the risk for coronary artery disease and the mortality rates after myocardial infarction, there is recent support for the assumption that the relation between both disorders may be bi-directional. [more]

Racism (9 Dec) - People in two minds about their attitudes towards ethnic minority groups become more unfavourable when exposed to anti-racism advertising or arguments, according to new research sponsored by the ESRC. [more]

Domestic violence (8 Dec) - A new study suggests that the way abusive men try to manage stress in their relationships and other parts of their lives may be associated with their violent outbursts. [more]

Human genetics (8 Dec) - Scientists have been looking for genes that can explain behavioral disorders for 20 years without much success. According to L. Alison McInnes of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, that may be because they have been concentrating their efforts in the wrong places in the genome. [more]

Anxiety - Most people find caffeine stimulating - Americans alone consume about 350 million cups of coffee daily. But some people find that it makes them anxious instead. A recently completed study sheds new light on the likely reason for this difference. Individuals who have two linked genetic variations are far more likely to end up biting their nails following a jolt of caffeine than those who don't, reported Harriet de Wit of the University of Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Networks - Prabhakar Raghavan reviews Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks by Mark Buchanan. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Nature vs. nurture - John Dupr� reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Autobiography - Daniel J. Kevles reviews Making Genes, Making Waves: A Social Activist in Science by Jon Beckwith. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Angela N. H. Creager reviews Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox. [more] [review] Science Friday speaks to Brenda Maddox. [more] [audio] [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Anthony Daniels reviews Charles Darwin: The Power of Place by Janet Browne. [more] [review] A review by Keith Stewart Thomson. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Sexual behavior - Andrew Petto reviews The Science of Romance: Secrets of the Sexual Brain by Nigel Barber. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Thinking - Lisa Bortolotti reviews Adaptive Thinking: Rationality in the Real World by Gerd Gigerenzer. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Roy Sugarman reviews Psychology by Lewis Barker. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Handedness - Nigel Hunt reviews Right Hand, Left Hand: The Origins of Asymmetry in Brains, Bodies, Atoms and Cultures by Chris McManus. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Consciousness - Jay Tolson reviews Consciousness and the Novel by David Lodge. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Materialism - Lisa E. Reardon reviews The High Price of Materialism by Tim Kasser. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Environmentalism - philosophy - Denis Dutton reviews Skeptical Environmentalism: The Limits of Philosophy and Science by Robert Kirkman. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biotechnology - Larry Arnhart reviews Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology by Francis Fukuyama. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#56

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Dec 7, 2002 6:34 pm
Subject: Issue 80 - 7th December, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 80 - 7th December, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Social behaviour (6 Dec) - For some psychologists and anthropologists, human social instincts are key to Mac loyalty. Just as animal lovers anthropomorphize their pets, Macs users associate human characteristics with their machines. [more]

Sexual behavior (6 Dec) - A debate has begun among scientists about whether Pfizer Inc.'s impotence drug Viagra (sildenafil) can be linked to aggressive behavior and sexual violence. [more]

Dogs (5 Dec) - According to a number of recently released scientific studies, dogs are not merely emotional con artists: they are also intellectual con artists. They've learned not only to fake love; they've managed to convince us that they are a lot smarter than they really are. In both cases they play us for the saps we are. [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mental health (6 Dec) - People with schizophrenia in England and Wales should be involved in all decisions on their care and should be offered psychological as well as drug treatment. These are two of the recommendations in guidelines published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) this week. [more]

Psychiatry - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric News 6 December 2002; Vol. 37, No. 23. [more]

Disgust - Disgusting objects fascinate. So, too, does the emotion of disgust itself. It fascinated Charles Darwin, who wrote about its origins in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. It fascinates Valerie Curtis, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who travels the world with a lump of artificial feces in her suitcase. [more]

Equal rights (6 Dec) - Gay men, lesbians and bisexual people in the UK are to be offered the same rights as married couples, a government minister indicated today, although she said this will not amount to "gay marriages". [more]

Profile (5 Dec) - Alison Richard is an expert on the Madagascan lemur, a species where the females dominate the males - which could be handy in her new job. Will Woodward meets the first woman vice-chancellor of Cambridge in 1,200 years. [more]

Creationism (2 Dec) - Chris Mooney looks at how anti-evolutionists are mutating their message. [more]

Gossip - Once shunned and scorned as an evil act, "the devil's mouthpiece", the status of gossip has been elevated by psychologists, who now believe that it is a natural human, social, psychological activity, essential for our very survival. [more]

Neurotheology (3 Dec) - Neuroscientist Rhawn Joseph has spent years studying history, myth and biology in his quest to understand the universality of spiritual experience and its evolutionary function. In his studies of the brains of Tibetan monks and Franciscan nuns, radiologist Andrew Newberg seeks out the relationship between neural activity and mystical experience. Both men believe that the connection between the brain and spirituality suggests that there is a physiological basis for religion -- that human beings, in essence, are hard-wired for God. [more]

Consciousness - David Lodge and psychologist Kenan Malik discuss what the novel - and science -have to tell us about human consciousness. [more] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Archaeology (4 Dec) - Tests on skulls found in Mexico suggest they are almost 13,000 years old - and shed fresh light on how humans colonised the Americas. [more]

Bipolar disorder (4 Dec) - Can a change in diet improve our moods - or even help treat the symptoms of mental illness? Eliza Johnston, who suffers from bipolar disorder, is sure it can, reports Charlotte Cripps. [more]

Teenagers (2 Dec) - In two of the first studies of their kind, scientists have discovered that aggressive adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) may have different brain structure than other adolescents. [more]

Kleptomania (4 Dec) - Researchers at Stanford University are asking people with a propensity for stealing to come forward - but not with the intention of turning them in to the authorities. Rather, they are being invited to participate in a study to find out whether Lexapro, a drug that increases serotonin levels, could be used to treat kleptomania. [more]

Darwin (2 Dec) - A small wooden box, about to go on display at the National Maritime Museum for the first time, is probably all that remains of a tubby little ship - HMS Beagle - which changed our understanding of the world. [more]

Cognitive science (1 Dec) - A new study shows how learning--and possibly language--can influence color perception. [more]

Stress (1 Dec) - In a stressful situation, you may be better off with a pet at your side than with a friend or spouse, a new study suggests. [more]

Creationism (30 Nov) - A pro-evolution comic book world has been devised by Jay Hosler, a biology professor at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., as a way of combating the creeping influence of creationism. [more]

Longevity - Research has shown that a low-calorie lifestyle can extend the lives of species ranging from yeast to mammals, and now scientists have evidence that two genes may be the major orchestrators of this effect. [more]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Placebo effect (9 Dec) - The placebo effect baffles patients, confounds clinicians and frustrates drug developers. Until now, relatively little empirical evidence existed for the biological mechanisms that underlie the effect. But recently, researchers have begun approaching the challenge with methodological rigor. [more]

Audio and Video

Language - Newly published research indicates that word order is not driven solely by the demands of communicating information to another, but may reflect a more general property of human thought. [more]

Antidepressants (6 Dec) - Several studies over the past 15 years have compared the number of fatal poisonings due to antidepressant drugs in the United Kingdom with drug use statistics to derive a fatal toxicity index: deaths per million prescriptions. Greater than 10-fold differences in the index have been shown between tricyclic antidepressants and even larger differences between some tricyclics and newer antidepressants. [more]

Oldest American writing (6 Dec) - Archaeologists may have found the oldest example of writing from the Americas. The find gives clues to how the ancient civilizations of Central America developed, they say. Others dispute that the objects discovered bear writing. Nature Science Update, New Scientist.

Language (5 Dec) - New research shows that babies' brains are primed to learn language long before they utter or understand their first words. Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz of the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and her colleagues found that while 3-month-old babies are read to in their native language, they show brain activity in some of the regions of the adult brain that specialize in language. Much of that activity disappears when sentences are read to the babies backwards, the authors report in the December 6th issue of the journal Science. [more]

Autism (5 Dec) - UC Davis researchers are ready to launch the first-ever major epidemiological case-control study of up to 2,000 California children to examine genetic and environmental factors that may affect the development of autism, mental retardation and developmental delay in children. [more]

Mathematics (6 Dec) - Kurt G�del's Incompleteness Theorem, proved in 1931, showed that it was not possible to formulate a set of axioms that would allow you to prove all of the true facts of mathematics. G�del's result showed that the axiomatic method, while extremely powerful-it continues to play a central role in mathematics-has inherent limitations. As described in an Essay by Keith Devlin, the Incompleteness Theorem did not lead to any major changes within mathematics, but it changed forever the way mathematicians view the subject. [more]

Origin of life (4 Dec) - Life on Earth may have begun in rocks on the ocean floor. More than 4 billion years ago, tiny cavities in minerals may have served as the first cells, two biologists are proposing. [more]

Genetics (3 Dec) - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have bred a mouse to model human L1 retrotransposons, the so-called "jumping genes." Retrotransposons are small stretches of DNA that are copied from one location in the genome and inserted elsewhere, typically during the genesis of sperm and egg cells. EurekAlert, New Scientist, BBC News Online, The Guardian, New York Times.

Psychopharmacology (1 Dec) - Man-made chemicals that are distant relatives of marijuana may eventually become new drugs to combat anxiety and depression, according to a UC Irvine College of Medicine study. The study is the first to show how anxiety is controlled by the body's anandamide system, a network of natural compounds known for their roles in governing pain, mood and other psychological functions. [more]

Psychiatry (1 Dec) - A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (Vol. 131, No. 4) suggests something that most clinicians probably already suspected: While the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) may be atheoretical, clinicians are anything but. [more]

Schizophrenia (28 Nov) - UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have identified 10 key factors to recovery from schizophrenia. The findings open opportunities to develop new treatment and rehabilitation programs and to reshape the negative expectations of many doctors, patients and their families. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Sexual behaviour - David P. Barash reviews Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

History - science - Stephen S. Hall reviews Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science -- From the Babylonians to the Maya by Dick Teresi. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Philosophy - Stuart Jeffries reviews Truth & Truthfulness: An Essay in Genealogy by Bernard Arthur Owen Williams. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Biography - Josie Glausiusz reviews Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox. [more] [review] Science Friday speaks to Brenda Maddox. [more] [audio] [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

History - Craig Canine reviews The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World by Jenny Uglow. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Thomas S�derqvist reviews In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace. A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History by Michael Shermer. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science - history - James E. McClellan reviews Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science -- from the Babylonians to the Maya by Dick Teresi. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genetics - Neil Levy reviews What Genes Can't Do by Lenny Moss. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mental health - Peter B. Raabe reviews Rethinking Mental Health and Disorder: Feminist Perspectives by Mary B. Ballou and Laura S. Brown. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Evolution - Darwin's Blind Spot by Frank Ryan. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human sciences - Kevin Shapiro reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review] [interview] [video] A review by Kenan Malik. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Wealth - Journalist Richard Conniff probes the age-old question, "Are the rich different from you and me?" He discovers that they are indeed a completely different animal in The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide. [more] [excerpt] [interview] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Globalization - Andres Martinez reviews One World: The Ethics of Globalization by Peter Singer. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#55

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Nov 30, 2002 4:42 am
Subject: Issue 79 - 30th November, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 79 - 30th November, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Synaesthesia - As many as one in 2000 people has an extraordinary condition in which the five senses intermingle. This major two part series reveals how synaesthesia is changing our understanding of the world of neuroscience. [more] [audio] [audio]

Archaeology - Aubrey Manning visits the Meadowcroft Rock Shelter near Pittsburgh to examine evidence that there were humans in North America 14,000 years ago, earlier than anyone thought possible. But how did they get there? Over the ice from the North-West or even across the Atlantic Ocean from the East? [more] [audio]

Imagination - Immanuel Kant said, "Imagination is a blind but indispensable function of the soul without which we should have no knowledge whatever but of which we are scarcely even conscious". Imagination has been the companion of artists, scientists, leaders and visionaries but what exactly is it? When did human beings first develop an imagination and why? How does it relate to creativity and what evolutionary function does creativity have? And is it possible to know whether our brains' capacity for imagination is still evolving? [more] [audio]

Aging (27 Nov) - New research suggests that changes in less than 1% of our genes are responsible for the ageing process. [more]

Samaritans (27 Nov) - Counselling charity The Samaritans is launching an e-mail service on Wednesday to help people suffering from emotional distress. The organisation, which runs a free 24-hour phone helpline, is trying to reach out to the younger internet generation. [more]

History - media (27 Nov) - A dramatization of the race to discover the structure of DNA has won a Europe-wide award for the best television drama on a scientific subject. Life Story won the Midas prize for the best drama based on real science made between 1950 and 1999. Broadcast by the BBC in 1986, it stars Jeff Goldblum as biologist James Watson. Its American title is The Race for the Double Helix. [more]

Obituary (26 Nov) - John Rawls, the James Bryant Conant University Professor Emeritus, whose 1971 book, "A Theory of Justice" argued persuasively for a society based on equality and individual rights, died Sunday (Nov. 24) at the age of 81. [more]

Human evolution (26 Nov) - Do humans owe their existence to an ancient relative of a virus like HIV? John McDonald, head of the University's Genetics Department, and King Jordan, of the National Institutes of Health, recently published a finding that suggests this could be possible. [more]

Schizophrenia (26 Nov) - An Australian scientific research team said on Tuesday it had identified 153 genes affected by schizophrenia in a step toward discovering the causes of the illness. [more]

Eating (26 Nov) - Given the opportunity, it seems that people just about everywhere will eat and eat, and then eat some more. Most know there is a price to pay - all those extra calories have to go somewhere - and yet they cannot resist that second piece of pumpkin pie. [more]

Freud (26 Nov) - Freud may make us feel defensive or conflicted (both are terms he coined), but we can't escape his influence, even when the couch we're on is the one facing our television. [more]

Primatology (26 Nov) - A secret population of orang-utans has been discovered in the forests of the island of Borneo. Conservationists believe about 2,000 rare apes are living out of sight in a remote lowland region of East Kalimantan. [more]

Memory (25 Nov) - Using technology that provides a glimpse at thousands of genes at once, scientists have identified more than 100 genes believed to be involved with memory. What's more, brain injections of a growth factor--identified as important in the gene analysis--increased the learning ability of rats. [more]

Archaeology (20 Nov) - The Bering Land Bridge that the first Americans crossed into the New World from Siberia had been there for thousands of years before those first immigrants arrived, most likely around 12,000 years ago. Did hyenas prevent human migration? [more]

Grandmothering - Researchers are now saying that grandmothers have played a powerful role in human evolution. But for anyone who's ever had a grandmother, you probably already knew that. Join Neal Conan for a discussion of grandmothers past, present and how to be one. [more] [audio]

Genetics (24 Nov) - Researchers have developed a technique to speed evolution by inserting human cancer-causing genes into animals and plants. [more]

Animal rights (24 Nov) - Controversial plans to build a �24 million research centre where scientists will experiment on the brains of primates are set to ignite a ferocious battle between researchers and animal rights activists this week. [more]

"Leisure sickness" (24 Nov) - People who get ill at the weekend or while on holiday may be suffering from a 'new' medical condition. Researchers in the Netherlands say a significant proportion of the population is suffering from so-called leisure sickness. [more]

Sexual behaviour (22 Nov) - The person you are most likely to end up in bed with is the person most likely to end up in your stomach, Steve Scher said on Wednesday night. Scher, a psychology professor at Eastern Illinois University, discussed the relationship between cannibalism and sex. [more]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Mental health (30 Nov) - Users can be involved as employees, trainers, or researchers in mental health services without detrimental effect. Involving users with severe mental disorders in the delivery and evaluation of services is feasible. British Medical Journal.

Audio and Video

Evolutionary psychology (30 Nov) - "From biology we learn that not every species-typical trait is necessarily advantageous, and from neuroscience we learn that not every psychological ability or tendency necessarily needs to have its own specialized brain circuitry. But even if the concept of adaptation is hard to apply, psychologists would do well to start looking at human behavior in the light of evolution," writes Frans de Waal. [more]

Pareto distribution (29 Nov) - Most ancient Egyptians were on the poverty line while a handful of priest-kings held fabulous wealth. Children earned their keep from a very early age and two out of every three people in an average family had to work. Nature Science Update, Physical Review E.

Homosexuality (27 Nov) - A recent nationwide (US) survey shows that a larger proportion of men say they are having sex with other men than in the 1980s, although whether that trend stems from an increase in same-sex activity or an increased willingness to report it remains unclear. [more]

Evolution (28 Nov) - Researchers studying yeast reproductive habits have for the first time observed a rapid method for the creation of new species, shedding light on the way organisms evolve and suggesting possible ways to improve yeast biotechnology and fermentation processes used in beer and wine-making. [more]

Vision (25 Nov) - Baby's first look at the world is likely a dizzying array of shapes and motion that are meaningless to a newborn, but researchers at the University of Rochester have now shown that babies use relationships between objects to build an understanding of the world. By noting how often objects appear together, infants can efficiently take in more knowledge than if they were to simply see the same shapes individually, says the paper published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [more]

Anxiety (25 Nov) - A new finding of a link between an anxiety disorder and peptic ulcer disease lends support to the view that this gastrointestinal disease and anxiety disorder may share a common link. [more]

Physiology (25 Nov) - Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered a cellular basis for what many have long suspected: Men, as well as women, have a reproductive clock that ticks down with age. [more]

Chronic fatigue (25 Nov) - Subtle alterations of a hormonal stress response system called the HPA axis may play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a study in the November/December issue of Psychosomatic Medicine. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Fragile X - Michael A. Schmidt reviews Fragile X Syndrome: Diagnosis, Treatment and Research edited by Randi Jenssen Hagerman and Paul J. Hagerman. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Sexual behaviour - Stephanie Merritt reviews Lords of Creation: The Demented World of Men in Power by Margaret Cook. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Jensenism - Max Hocutt reviews Intelligence, Race, and Genetics: Conversations with Arthur R. Jensen by Frank Miele. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Sue McHale reviews Liars Lovers and Heroes: What the New Brain Science Reveals About How We Become Who We Are by Steven R. Quartz and Terrence J. Sejnowski. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Psychopharmacology - Donald F. Klein reviews The Creation of Psychopharmacology by David Healy. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human evolution - Maggie McDonald reviews The Speciation of Modern Homo Sapiens edited by T. J. Crow. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Evolution - Tangled Trees: Phylogeny, cospeciation and coevolution edited by Roderick Page. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Language - Todd Nelson reviews Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success By Allan Metcalf. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Hedonism - Richard Weikart reviews Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists by Benjamin Wiker. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genetics - medicine - Christian Perring reviews Your Genetic Destiny: Know Your Genes, Secure Your Health, Save Your Life by Aubrey Milunsky. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - human nature - Louis Menand reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Moral psychology - Mark D. Rego reviews Agency and Responsibility: A Common-Sense Moral Psychology by Jeanette Kennett. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#54

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:29 pm
Subject: Issue 78 - 23rd November, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 78 - 23rd November, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Craig Venter (23 Nov) - The scientific achievements of Craig Venter - known as Darth Venter to his detractors - have often been obscured by his abrasive personality and his aggressive promotion of his commercial interests. [more]

Cybertherapy (23 Nov) - Patients can now get advice on alcoholism, gambling and food disorders over the internet. Chartered psychologists Sue Wright and Nadine Field, from Buckinghamshire, have set up PsychologyOnline Ltd, a web-based service designed to give patients consultations, assessment and therapy through the internet. [more]

Development (22 Nov) - Boy fetuses are more likely to extend their stay in the womb beyond their due date than girls, a new report suggests. But the reasons for the difference are unclear, the team of US and Swedish researchers concludes. [more]

Social phobia (20 Nov) - New brain-imaging research suggests that a heightened brain response to hostile facial expressions may be at work in people with social phobia. [more]

Human evolution (20 Nov) - Neanderthals and early humans knew how to make spears but they didn't know how to throw them. Instead, they had a limited hunting strategy, and used their spears merely to stab animals they had already trapped or ambushed. [more]

Race - White-black dating, marriage, and adoption are on the rise in the US. This development, however, is being met with resistance-more vocally by blacks than by whites. [more]

Human evolution (20 Nov) - Low fertility and frequent pregnancy complications may be the price that we have paid for evolving a large brain. [more]

Psychotherapy (20 Nov) - The number of Americans who received psychotherapy increased slightly from 1987 to 1997, according to a large national study, and rose significantly for two groups: older adults and the unemployed. [more]

Neuroscience (19 Nov) - The amygdala is most definitely not required for social interactions among humans and non-human primates, claims a leading neuroscientist. On the contrary, argues David Amaral of the University of California in Davis, damaging the amygdala has the same effect as a few too many drinks at a cocktail party - it makes monkeys socially uninhibited. [more]

Suicide (19 Nov) - Whether a calculated ultimate protest or a depression-blinded act, suicide is what it is, a desperately arrived at dead end. For the person tormented by the obsession, it may mean numerous attempts, psychiatric wards and mood-altering drugs. For the victim's loved ones, it is a source of confusion and questions of lingering grief, guilt, shame and anger. [more]

Darwin (18 Nov) - Is Charles Darwin the Greatest Briton? [more] [video]

Body image (19 Nov) - A recent visit to the Brooklyn Museum of Art's stunning exhibit "Exposed: The Victorian Nude" left this viewer with the distinct impression that current representations of the "ideal" female figure bear little resemblance to what nature intended our bodies to look like. [more]

Naturalists (19 Nov) - There may be fewer songbirds and swamps, fewer forests and meadows. But naturalists are everywhere, at parks small and large, at nature centers, leading bird walks and teaching children about the habits of squirrels and frogs. [more]

Nature and nurture (18 Nov) - The largest investigation into how 'nature' and 'nurture' intervene to trigger common diseases began this week, and will exploit the unique genetic and environmental diversity of the European twin population. [more]

Terrorist's brains (18 Nov) - The brains of Germany's most notorious far-left urban guerrillas were taken away to be examined by scientists, secretly preserved in formaldehyde for a quarter of a century - and have now mostly vanished without trace. [more]

Psychology of success - Enticing clues indicate that telltale bits of psychology may spur people to start businesses and even help determine who succeeds and who fails. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Psychotherapy - Eduardo Keegan reviews Comprehensive Guide to Interpersonal Psychotherapy by Myrna M. Weissman, John C. Markowitz, and Gerald L. Klerman. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science - Saty Satya-Murti reviews From Certainty to Uncertainty: The Story of Science and Ideas in the Twentieth Century by F. David Peat. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Homosexuality - William C. Summers reviews Departing From Deviance: A History of Homosexual Rights and Emancipatory Science in America by Henry L. Minton. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Medicine - ethics - Hannah S. Decker reviews Medicine and Medical Ethics in Nazi Germany: Origins, Practices, Legacies edited by Francis R. Nicosia and Jonathan Huener. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PMDD - Ignoring Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder is a health hazard that can be physically and emotionally devastating to millions of women, says Diana Dell. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Eye contact (20 Nov) - Noting that the eyes have long been described as mirrors of the soul, a Queen's computer scientist is studying the effect of eye gaze on conversation and the implications for new-age technologies, ranging from video conferencing to speech recognition systems. [more]

Audio and Video

Schizophrenia (21 Nov) - Scientists have discovered that infants possessing a cell protein called Rhesus (Rh) factor that their mothers lack are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia in young adulthood. Reported in the December issue of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Human Genetics, the study suggests that the gene that codes for Rh factor is to blame for the higher risk. [more]

Neuroscience (21 Nov) - When the human brain is presented with conflicting information about an object from different senses, it finds a remarkably efficient way to sort out the discrepancies, according to new research conducted at the University of California, Berkeley. [more]

Cannabis and mental health (21 Nov) - Frequent cannabis use increases the risk of developing depression and schizophrenia in later life, according to three studies in this week's British Medical Journal. In the first study of 1,600 students from 44 secondary schools in Australia, frequent cannabis use predicted later depression and anxiety, particularly in teenage girls. EurekAlert, BBC News Online, Reuters, British Medical Journal, Editorial.

Human evolution (21 Nov) - About 15,000 years of friendship between man and dog have helped man's best friend to develop unique ways of understanding humans: abilities that still are somewhat mysterious to scientists and dog lovers, several studies released this week found. CNN, EurekAlert, New York Times, Nature Science Update, BBC News Online, New Scientist, The Guardian.

Deliberate self harm (21 Nov) - Researchers surveyed over 6,000 pupils aged 15 and 16 years from 41 schools in England. The questionnaire was anonymous and sought information about lifestyle, deliberate self harm, suicidal thoughts, and self esteem. Reported acts of self harm were assessed according to specific criteria. [more]

Interferon - depression (20 Nov) - Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center researchers and their colleagues have found that many people develop major depression while taking interferon, the most effective drug against the life-threatening liver disease hepatitis C. [more]

Sex differences (19 Nov) - New discoveries on the interplay between genes and biological sex were the topic of discussions at the Third Annual Conference on Sex and Gene Expression (SAGE III), hosted by the Society for Women's Health Research. [more]

Physiology (18 Nov) - The chemical in turkey that may cause people to nod off after Thanksgiving dinner also plays a role in maintaining good mood and memory, especially among people with a family history of depression, says new research published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. [more]

Genetics (18 Nov) - Scientists have identified the first "master" molecule in the cell nucleus that controls the action of hundreds of different genes at once through its action on enzymes. The broad-acting molecule affects enzymes that restructure chromosomes, exposing genes to proteins that can then trigger key gene processes, including the start of protein production and copying and repairing of genes. [more]

Longevity (18 Nov) - The naked mole-rat may help scientists to understand longevity. Although it is just the size of a gerbil, it lives over six times as long: it can survive 26 years or more. Nature Science Update, Journal of Zoology.

Alcohol - development (18 Nov) - A new animal study hints that even a little alcohol during pregnancy may affect a baby's brain. A group of adult rats flunked a navigation test. Their mothers had consumed quantities of alcohol while pregnant that were analogous to one drink a day for a human during the first six months. Nature Science Update, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Deception - Wendy M. Grossman reviews The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin D. Mitnick. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Louise Barrett reviews Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection by Deborah Blum. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Fiction - Ron Charles reviews The Cave by Jos� Saramago Translated by Margaret Costa. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychopathology - Barry Boggs reviews Measuring Psychopathology by Anne Farmer, Peter McGuffin and Julie Williams. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Parenting - Roy Sugarman reviews Handbook of Parenting, 2^nd Edition, Volumes 1-5 edited by Marc H. Bornstein. [review]

Biography - Marek Kohn reviews Charles Darwin: The Power of Place by Janet Browne. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Intuition - Markus Kemmelmeier reviews Intuition: Its Powers and Perils by David G. Myers. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Memory - Nigel Hunt reviews Voices of Collective Remembering by James Wertsch. [more] [review] [chapter]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human evolution - Chris Lavers reviews The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey by Spencer Wells. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Behavior - Helge Malmgren reviews Adaptive Dynamics: The Theoretical Analysis of Behavior by J. E. R. Staddon. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Schizophrenia - Lisa Bortolotti reviews Living With Schizophrenia by Stuart Emmons, Craig Geiser, Kalman J. Kaplan and Martin Harrow. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Behavioral neuroscience - Bill Seeley reviews Neurons and Networks: An Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience by John E. Dowling. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Christian Perring reviews Sigmund Freud: Pioneer of the Mind by Catherine Reef. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Music - Steven Poole and John Dugdale review Beethoven's Anvil: Music In Mind And Culture by William L. Benzon. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Chemistry - Tim Radford reviews Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World by Nick Lane [more], Hydrogen: The Essential Element by John S Rigden [more], and The Ingredients: A Guided Tour of the Elements by Philip Ball. [more] [review]

Consciousness - Galen Strawson reviews Consciousness and the Novel by David Lodge. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Adolescence - Iain McClure reviews Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence by Luke Jackson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Evolutionary psychology - Kate Douglas reviews Human Instinct: How Our Primeval Impulses Shape Our Modern Lives by Robert Winston. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biology - John Bonner reviews Darwin In the Genome: Molecular Strategies in Biological Evolution by Lynn Helena Caporale. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#53

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Mon Nov 18, 2002 2:24 am
Subject: Issue 77 - 17th November, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 77 - 17th November, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Humor - neuroscience (16 Nov) - Neuroscientists-normally a reserved group-were laughing at William M. Kelley's presentation. He wasn't upset, however. The researcher had just shown the scientists a clip from the sitcom Seinfeld to illustrate how his group investigates the brain's response to humor. [more]

Audio and Video

Psychiatry (15 Nov) - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric News Vol. 37, No. 22. [more]

Schizophrenia (13 Nov) - Canadian researchers announced yesterday that they have discovered a gene for schizophrenia that is distributed across ethnic lines, making the tangled genetics of the disease much less confusing. [more]

Cults (12 Nov) - Panelists at a convention session on hatred asked APA to form a task force to investigate mind control among destructive cults. [more]

Madness (12 Nov) - Just about any ordinary person can slip into madness, believes APA President Philip G. Zimbardo, PhD. In fact, all it may take to trigger the process is a special kind of blow to one's self-image to push someone over the edge of sanity. [more]

Psychology - Steven Pinker discusses his theory on why our beliefs about human nature often seem to conflict with modern science. [more] and [more]

Rage (12 Nov) - The popular notion is that rage is an undesirable but completely controllable emotion. As with drug abuse, the theory goes, one can just say no to it; take an anger management course and get a grip. [more]

Genetic archaeology (12 Nov) - Through the wizardry of modern genetics, it is possible to reconstruct the travels of the earliest humans as they moved out from their ancestral home in northeast Africa and spread around the globe. [more]

Social rejection (12 Nov) - School shootings like the one at Columbine High School in 1999 motivated educators, social workers, sociologists and psychologists to investigate the forces that had driven the shooters to violence. One such investigator was Case Western Reserve psychologist Roy Baumeister, PhD, who suspected that social rejection played an important role, perhaps by triggering negative emotions that were then expressed as aggression. [more]

Evolutionary psychology - The mind is a system of modules shaped by natural selection according to philosopher Peter Carruthers. [more]

Creationism (8 Nov) - The Ohio Board of Education recently revised its science standards to include criticisms of evolutionary theory in biology classes in the state's public schools. Although the Scopes trial took place over 75 years ago, the debate over teaching evolution in our schools is not losing any steam. [more] [audio]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Suicide (16 Nov) - The risk of suicide for people with a history of attempted suicide or deliberate self harm (parasuicide) persists without decline for two decades, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal. [more]

Medicine - psychosis (16 Nov) - Doctors have trouble talking to patients about psychotic symptoms, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal. [more]

Sexual behavior (15 Nov) - The nature of preteen friendships can play a key role in determining whether or not a child will engage in sexual activity early in adolescence, a new study suggests. [more]

Depression (14 Nov) - Numerous studies have documented abnormalities in brain electrical activity in patients diagnosed with depression. A study in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examines teen-age girls with a history of depression, rather than active depression, to see if they exhibit a subtle abnormality in brain function. [more]

Social psychology (13 Nov) - For older adults, it really is better to give than to receive, a University of Michigan study suggests. The study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, finds that older people who are helpful to others reduce their risk of dying by nearly 60 percent compared to peers who provide neither practical help nor emotional support to relatives, neighbors or friends. [more]

Autism (12 Nov) - Secretin, touted as a possible cure for autism just three years ago, is not a magic bullet that relieves the symptoms of the developmental disorder, report researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. [more]

Development (12 Nov) - Levels of testosterone during pregnancy appear to influence the gender-role behavior of preschool girls, according to a new study. [more]

Schizophrenia (12 Nov) - Scientists have discovered the first "risk gene" for schizophrenia found in the general population. An uncommon variation of a gene called Nogo, when inherited from both parents, increases the risk of developing schizophrenia, says a study to be published in Molecular Brain Research Nov. 15. Previous findings about other risk genes for the disease were restricted to specific ethnic groups. [more]

Development (12 Nov) - Programs that promote family literacy, reduce parental stress, improve parenting and provide affordable, high-quality child care could go a long way toward improving young children's development, suggests recent research. [more]

Brain evolution (12 Nov) - The isocortex is a distinctive feature of mammalian brains, which has no clear counterpart in the cerebral hemispheres of other amniotes. This paper speculates on the evolutionary processes giving rise to the isocortex. [more]

Development (10 Nov) - Although individuals vary widely, on average, pre-term infants are markedly slower at processing information -- including understanding what they see -- than full-term infants. New research shows this deficit in processing speed is already present in the first year of life and the gap in performance does not narrow with age. [more]

Cognitive science (7 Nov) - Newell (1980, 1990) proposed that cognitive theories be developed trying to satisfy multiple criteria to avoid theoretical myopia. He provided two overlapping lists of 13 criteria that the human cognitive architecture would have to satisfy to be functional. We have distilled these into 12: flexible behavior, real-time performance, adaptive behavior, vast knowledge base, dynamic behavior, knowledge integration, natural language, learning, development, evolution, and brain realization. [more]

Language - development (7 Nov) - A Brown University study of 24 six-month-olds found infants recognized nouns and verbs when spoken in connection with their names. It is the youngest age at which the ability for word recognition has been documented. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

History - Alan Brinkley reviews The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past by John Lewis Gaddis. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Self - Etienne Benson reviews Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are by Joseph Ledoux. [more] [review] [interview] [audio]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Joy Press reviews Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection by Deborah Blum. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Violence - development - Michelle Amaya reviews Children Who See Too Much: Lessons From the Child Witness to Violence Project by Betsy McAlister Groves. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Development - Steven P. Miller reviews The Newborn Brain: Neuroscience and Clinical Applications edited by Hugo Lagercrantz, Mark Hanson, Philippe Evrard, and Charles Rodeck. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Sociology - Michael Kammen reviews Star-Spangled Manners: In Which Miss Manners Defends American Etiquette (For a Change) by Judith Martin. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Robin McKie reviews Charles Darwin: The Power of Place by Janet Browne. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Mystical experiences - Gary Kamiya reviews Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey Into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism by Daniel Pinchbeck. [more] [first chapter] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#52

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Nov 9, 2002 3:00 am
Subject: Issue 76 - 9th November, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 76 - 9th November, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Human nature (7 Nov) - Human nature is a vexing issue: some argue that we are born as blank slates and our natures are defined by upbringing, experience, culture and the ideas of our time. Others believe that human nature is innate and pre-destined, regardless of time and place. [more] [audio]

Audio and Video

Crime (7 Nov) - Spotting crime before it happens may sound like the stuff of sci-fi novels, but researchers at Kingston University are trying to do just that. [more]

Autism (7 Nov) - There is no link between the measles, mumps and rubella jab and autism, according to the latest research. The Danish study, which looked at over 530,000 children, reinforces previous findings that there is no link between the jab and the condition. [more]

Birth order (6 Nov) - Great creative thinkers like Darwin and Gandhi have one thing in common - they had at least one elder brother or sister. Martin Luther-King, Florence Nightingale and Thomas Jefferson too were not the first born in their families. [more]

Schizophrenia (6 Nov) - Psychiatrists are calling for caution in the move towards licensing cannabis-based medicines. It follows research into a possible link between cannabis use and schizophrenia. [more]

Addiction (6 Nov) - Clues developed by studying the genetic makeup of fruit flies, genetically-engineered mice and rats could lead to medical treatments for alcohol and drug addictions, researchers reported Monday. [more] and [more]

Psychology (5 Nov) - "Kahnemanandtversky." Everybody said it that way. As if the Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky were a single person, and their work, which challenged long-held views of how people formed judgments and made choices, was the product of a single mind. [more]

Creationism (5 Nov ) - The world's largest general scientific organization--the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)--today urged policymakers to oppose teaching "Intelligent Design Theory" within science classrooms, but rather, to keep it separate, in the same way that creationism and other religious teachings are currently handled. [more]

Grandmothers (5 Nov) - For anthropologists and ethnographers of yore, grandmothers were crones, an impediment to "real" research. The renowned ethnographer Charles William Merton Hart, who in the 1920's studied the Tiwi hunter-gatherers of Australia, described the elder females there as "a terrible nuisance" and "physically quite revolting" and in whose company he was distressed to find himself on occasion, yet whose activities did not merit recording or analyzing with anything like the attention he paid the men, the young women, even the children. But for a growing number of evolutionary biologists and cultural anthropologists, grandmothers represent a key to understanding human prehistory, and the particulars of why we are as we are - slow to grow up and start breeding but remarkably fruitful once we get there, empathetic and generous as animals go, and family-focused to a degree hardly seen elsewhere in the primate order. [more]

Human genetics (5 Nov) - Women may be less prone to "geekiness" because of their genes. Research suggests they are genetically programmed to be adept in social situations. [more]

Sexual behavior (4 Nov) - People who say they are satisfied with the sexual aspect of their relationship are also likely to say they are content with the relationship itself, and may feel relatively more love and commitment toward their partner, according to results from a study of unmarried college students. [more]

Environmentalism - Environmentalism is often likened to religion. To its followers it has its indisputable truths, its holy books and its saints and prophets. In this series of 3 programmes Julian Pettifer looks at three very different gurus of the Green movement and assesses their influence both on activists and on society as a whole. [more] Audio: E. F. Schumacher, Petra Kelly, Edward Abbey.

Gulf war syndrome (4 Nov) - A plan by the Department of Veterans Affairs to sharply increase funding for research into Gulf War illnesses marks a turning point in how the government perceives the problem, the leader of a veterans group says. [more]

Autism (4 Nov) - Pictures can help children with autism to learn how to speak and communicate effectively. An educational programme called the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), which was developed in the United States 12 years ago, has helped to transform the lives of thousands of children. [more]

Mental health (1 Nov) - America's system for treating and rehabilitating people with mental illness is in financial and bureaucratic disarray and is plagued by complexities that make it nearly impossible for many patients to receive needed care, according to a report issued Friday by a presidential mental health commission. [more]

Atheism (3 Nov) - Many world conflicts have origins that are "only a hiccup" when one considers the evolution of humans over millions of years, a Waterloo conference on religion and peace was told Saturday. Christopher diCarlo, a lecturer at Wilfrid Laurier and Guelph universities, represented atheism during an afternoon of views on how various religions can hope to achieve world peace. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Love - Roy Sugarman reviews The Birth of Pleasure: A New Map of Love by Carol Gilligan. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Religion - cognitive science - Jo Nash reviews Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Religious Experience edited by Jensine Andersen and Robert K. C. Forman. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Anorexia (7 Nov) - Perfectionism puts adolescent girls with unhealthy eating habits at risk for becoming anorexic and the body imperfections that go along with it as they grow older, a new University of Florida study finds. [more]

Networks (6 Nov) - How do 30,000 genes in our DNA work together to form a large part of who we are? How do one hundred billion neurons operate in our brain? The huge number of factors involved makes such complex networks hard to crack. Now, a study published in the October 25 issue of Science uncovers a strategy for finding the organizing principles of virtually any network - from neural networks to ecological food webs or the Internet. [more]

Consciousness (5 Nov) - How do we learn? At the same time, when learning is conscious, does the brain engage in learning based on experience? Many scientists have believed that the two processes are independent of each other. Now, new research findings published in the current edition of the Journal of Neurophysiology, suggest otherwise. [more]

Memory (5 Nov) - Watching a gory tooth extraction helps people remember unrelated facts, brain researchers have shown. Excitement, they suggest, aids memory formation - students or the elderly could capitalize on this to improve their recall. [more]

IQ (5 Nov) - Many people underscore on IQ tests because the benchmark memory test is inaccurate, a US researcher told the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Orlando, Florida yesterday. Another announced that women's brain size could affect IQ. [more]

Schizophrenia (5 Nov) - Schizophrenics' brain cells may form deviant connections during life, neuroscientists have revealed. The finding adds to clues that the disease, which affects roughly 1 in every 100 people, changes brain structure fundamentally. Nature Science Update, New Scientist.

Sexual behavior (4 Nov) - Research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has demonstrated structural brain differences associated with naturally occurring variations in sexual partner preferences. These are the first findings to demonstrate such a correlation in research animals, in this case sheep. The researchers' results confirm and expand upon human studies that compared morphological brain differences between heterosexual men, homosexual men and women. Scientists at Oregon State University and the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho, collaborated with OHSU on the research. The investigators' results are being presented on Nov. 4 during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Orlando, Fla. Domestic rams were used as an animal model for this research because they display distinct, natural variations in sexual attraction, making them valuable in studying the biological basis for sexual partner preference. Previous studies documented that approximately 6 percent to 8 percent of domestic rams court and mate with other rams exclusively. EurekAlert, Reuters, BBC News Online, New Scientist.

Depression (4 Nov) - Based on data from a genetic analysis of dimensions of temperament and mild depression in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins, researchers in Japan have found that depression is affected by additive genetic effects that affect dimensions of temperament; those act together with environmental experiences unique to the individual. The authors found presence of mild depression was not related directly to genetic influences. [more]

Memory (4 Nov) - The marginal division (MrD) is a newly identified pan-shaped structure consisting of spindle-shaped neurons in the mammalian brains. The authors verified that the MrD contributes to learning and memory function of the brain in animals and human beings. It proved to be a key linking area among the memory-related structures in the brain. Therefore, the exposure of the structure and function of the MrD is significant for further investigating the mechanism of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. [more]

Aggression - genetics (4 Nov) - Vasopressin, acting through its 1a receptor subtype, is known to affect aggressive behaviors. The vasopressin 1b receptor (V1bR) is also expressed in the brain, but has received much less attention due to a lack of specific drugs. Here we report that mice without the V1bR exhibit markedly reduced aggression and modestly impaired social recognition. [more]

Development (4 Nov) - Adults often believe infants are off in their own world, but a new study indicates they are more tuned into the wider world and what the people around them are doing than previously thought. [more]

Neuroscience (4 Nov) - New research from investigators in the Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen's University and the Centre for Brain and Mind at The University of Western Ontario has provided the first neuro-imaging evidence that the brain's frontal lobes play a critical role in planning and choosing actions. [more]

Neuroimaging (5 Nov) - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated that a miniature positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, known as microPET, and the chemical markers used in traditional PET scanning are sensitive enough to pick up subtle differences in neurochemistry between known genetic variants of mice. [more]

Stress - immunology (3 Nov) - Chronic stress not only makes people more vulnerable to catching illnesses but can also impair their immune system's ability to respond to its own anti-inflammatory signals that are triggered by certain hormones, say researchers, possibly altering the course of an inflammatory disease. This finding is reported on in the November issue of Health Psychology. [more]

Bilingualism (4 Nov) - A Dartmouth research team has determined that bilingual children exposed to two languages early in life are not language delayed, nor are they language confused, which fuels the scientific and political debate over when to introduce children to a second language. [more]

Obesity (4 Nov) - A new analysis of a major study of childhood nutrition shows that early sexually-maturing girls are more likely than other girls to be obese, while in boys early developers are less likely to be obese than other males. The analysis, by University of Illinois at Chicago nutritional epidemiologist Dr. Youfa Wang, appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics. [more]

Body image (1 Nov) - American college students are much more likely to worry about the way they look and to spend time obsessing over their bodies than their German counterparts, according to a new study. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Evolutionary psychology - Mariam Thalos reviews Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology: Ideas, Issues and Applications edited by Charles Crawford and Dennis L. Krebs. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Evolutionary psychology - Maryanne Fisher reviews A Mind of Her Own: The Evolutionary Psychology of Women by Anne Campbell. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Religion - Richard Eldridge reviews Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited by Charles Taylor. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Psychopharmacology - Rachel Cooper reviews The Creation of Psychopharmacology by David Healy. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Secularization - The idea of secularization is fundamental to contemporary debates over the sociology of religion. As sociologist Steve Bruce puts the issue succinctly, "The basic proposition is that modernization creates problems for religion"; or to quote the social anthropologist Anthony Wallace, "The evolutionary future of religion is extinction." - God is Dead by Steve Bruce. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Steven Johnson reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Conspiracy culture - Paul McLeary reviews Conspiracy Nation: The Politics of Paranoia in Postwar America edited by Peter Knight. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Drug companies - Steven D. Findlay reviews Over Dose: The Case Against the Drug Companies by Jay S. Cohen. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science and politics - Eric G. Campbell reviews Science, Money, and Politics: Political Triumph and Ethical Erosion by Daniel S. Greenberg. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Health policy - Daniel M. Fox reviews Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy by Carol S. Weissert and William G. Weissert. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Politics - William Spriggs reviews Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom by Paul Rubin. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human evolution - Sandra Blakeslee reviews Liars, Lovers, and Heroes: What the New Brain Science Reveals About How We Become Who We Are by Steven R. Quartz and Terrence Sejnowski. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Sexual behavior - Nicholas Wade reviews Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Consciousness - For centuries, science and philosophy have grappled with the mystery of our inner life. But, in Consciousness and the Novel argues David Lodge, it is literature that has provided the most accurate record of human consciousness. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#51

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Nov 2, 2002 2:43 pm
Subject: Issue 75 - 2nd November, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 75 - 2nd November, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Genetics - ethics (1 Nov) - A favourite pair of alternatives among those who write about genetics is "dream or nightmare?". It is a phrase that has appeared in the titles of at least three recent books, and refers, of course, to the prospects that people see in genetic engineering. Are these prospects to be welcomed or feared? [more]

Psychiatry (1 Nov) - All of the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association: Psychiatric News 1 November 2002; Vol. 37, No. 21. [more]

Blank slate (2 Oct) - Caspar Hewett's reflections on the blank slate. [more]

Development (31 Oct) - Researchers at Harvard University have timed babies' ability to retain long-term memories to the period during which certain regions of the brain develop and mature. [more]

Infidelity (30 Oct) - Women with steady partners may still be tempted to sleep around - but mainly on certain days of the month, say researchers. [more]

Human genetics (30 Oct) - A worldwide coalition of scientists launched a broad effort yesterday to understand human genetic variation, vowing to create a new type of gene map that may propel medical research forward by explaining such common ailments as heart attacks, diabetes and obesity. [more]

Flow (29 Oct) - To experience the mental state of flow is to create ecstasy over actions, according to Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, of Claremont Graduate University. [more]

Schizophrenia (28 Oct) - Jerusalem genomics company IDgene Pharmaceuticals has found a genetic link responsible for as many as a fifth of all schizophrenia cases, it was announced on Monday. [more]

Race (28 Oct) - According to George Armelagos, professor of biological anthropology at Emory University, the concept of race is one of the great myths of man and can be thought of as nothing more than a social construct with harmful repercussions attached to it. [more]

Information (29 Oct) - Every physical system registers information, and just by evolving in time, by doing its thing, it changes that information, transforms that information, or, if you like, processes that information. Since Seth Lloyd has been building quantum computers he has come around to thinking about the world in terms of how it processes information. [more] [video]

Paleopathology (29 Oct) - The general health of Native Americans had apparently been deteriorating for centuries before 1492. [more]

Genomic imprinting (29 Oct) - David Haig discusses genomic imprinting, a new phenomenon in molecular biology which is a situation in which a DNA sequence can have conditional behavior depending on whether it is maternally inherited�coming from an egg�or paternally inherited�coming through a sperm. [more] [by David Haig] [video]

Forgetfulness (28 Oct) - Neuroimaging techniques are beginning to shed new light on an old issue. Why is it that some of us age gracefully, in full use of our cognitive functions, while others experience painful loss of memory as they get older? [more]

Depression (22 Oct) - Why do more men commit suicide than women but according to statistics, fewer men suffer from depression? Some psychologists think it's because men's depression isn't diagnosed correctly. In this hour of Talk of the Nation, join Neal Conan for part three of our series on men's health, men and depression. [more] [audio]

Sexual headaches (28 Oct) - Scientists have found that men are more likely than women to be telling the truth if they say: "Not tonight darling, I've got a headache". A team of German researchers has begun to investigate the phenomenon of sexual headaches - a condition known as Orgasmic Cephalgia. BBC News Online.

Virginity and stress (28 Oct) - The earlier a woman has sex, the less stressed she is as an adult, scientists have discovered. When they questioned women about their sexual history and tested them for levels of a stress hormone, they found that the lowest levels were among those who had sex the earliest. A similar but smaller effect was found for men. [more]

Neuroscience (24 Oct) - In this week's Leading Edge Geoff Watts talks to moral philosopher turned neuropsychologist Joshua Greene at Princeton University about his research using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to watch the brain activity of people making different kinds of moral judgements. In one experiment, Greene and his team gave a series of moral dilemmas for subjects placed in the MRI scanner to ponder. There were two categories of moral problem that they were particularly interested in comparing which the team have labelled impersonal and personal respectively. [more] [audio]

"Cognitive divide" (28 Oct) - Developing safe, specific, powerful memory-improving drugs raises many ethical issues about the implications of cognitive enhancement. [more - free registration required]

Sexual behavior (27 Oct) - Britain in 2002 is saturated in sex. From Pot Noodle ads to your local Ann Summers, sex is everywhere, all the time, in every variation. Tim Adams surveys a society in thrall to the flesh. [more] More than half of Britons have had a one night stand, according to a survey of sexual attitudes and behaviour. And 60% of those questioned for a poll believe prostitution should be legalised. [more]

Serial killers (27 Oct) - A rapid and bizarre change in religious beliefs, especially the delusion of being God, is not rare among serial killers and others who commit violent crimes, according to mental health experts who study extreme criminal behavior. [more]

Lie detection (23 Oct) - Tavis Smiley interviews Drew Richardson of the Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories about a new report by the National Academy of Sciences which questions the effectiveness of polygraph tests. Richardson says that polygraphs should not be used to screen federal employees. [more] [audio] Hastings School of Law Professor David Faigman says the lie detector is so unreliable that it's never caught a spy. [more]

Mental health law (27 Oct) - The proposed Mental Health Bill, and a few spiteful neighbours, could put us all in the asylum. [more] The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has privately told ministers and senior Labour MPs that he has grave concerns about proposed mental health laws described as "draconian" by campaigners. [more]

Eugenics (26 Oct) - James D. Watson, the grand duke of DNA, described one of his greatest fears yesterday to a packed auditorium: that society will be too scared to use genetics to make people as perfect as they can be. [more]

Violence (17 Oct) - NPR's Patricia Neighmond reports on what scientists are trying to learn about the neurochemistry of violent behavior. Brain scans of murderers suggest they have different brain patterns than normal people do, but studies have been somewhat inconclusive. Neighmond looks at what neuroscience is trying to tell us about violence. [more] [audio]

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Diet (1 Nov) - Grandfathers who overeat might ruin their grandchildren's health, say Swedish researchers. The study suggests that diet, which does not change genes, can nevertheless influence future generations. Nature Science Update, European Journal of Human Genetics, New Scientist.

Audio and Video

Neuroimaging - schizophrenia (1 Nov) - Brain images from hundreds of people with schizophrenia at 10 research sites nationwide will be shared in a first-of-its-kind research project funded with $10.9 million from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a branch of the National Institutes of Health. [more]

Autism - neuroscience (1 Nov) - Secretin may have a role in modulating certain social behavior in humans. [more]

Addiction (1 Nov) - Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have evidence in animals that the young, adolescent brain may be more sensitive to addictive drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines than either the adult or newborn. The work may help someday lead to a better understanding of how the adolescent human brain adapts to such drugs, and provide clues into changes in the brain that occur during drug addiction. [more] and [more]

Addiction (1 Nov) - Smokers with a specific genetic variant may be more vulnerable to cigarette cravings and relapse when trying to quit smoking, a study by researchers from the Tobacco Use Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine indicates. [more]

Depression (31 Oct) - A new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, has identified an apparent 'depression trait marker' in the brain that may explain why recovered patients remain vulnerable to another depressive episode. [more]

Neuroscience (31 Oct) - Professional musicians use a part of the brain previously known only for its role in language, reveals a new study. The finding, to be published next month, adds to a growing body of evidence that music and language skills go hand in hand. [more]

Depression (31 Oct) - Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have made significant progress in identifying the first susceptibility gene for clinical depression, the second leading cause of disability worldwide, possibly providing an important step toward changing the way doctors diagnose and treat major depression that affects nearly 10 percent of the population. [more]

Neuroscience (31 Oct) - Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and the University of California, San Francisco have shown that feeding behavior in worms is controlled by neurons that detect adverse or stressful conditions. EurekAlert, Nature Science Update, Nature, Nature.

Fundamentalism (30 Oct) - 'The Origins and Nature of Fundamentalism in Society' by Niccolo Caldararo. The current debate on the nature of fundamentalism is outlined in this paper. Ethnohistorical materials are used to define the origins of this concept and to describe the function and structure of such movements in past societies. The relationship of identity, religion and global economy and hegemony are discussed as formative elements of fundamentalist movements. Some prospects for the future are presented. [more]

Intelligent life (30 Oct) - Ever since Copernicus put the Sun, rather than Earth, at the centre of the Universe, scientists and philosophers have suspected that there's nothing special about our cosmic time and place. But two physicists now suggest otherwise. Nature Science Update, Preprint.

Neuroscience (29 Oct) - Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed computerized atlases and associated tools for visualizing and analyzing two major components of the brain, the cerebral cortex and the cerebellar cortex. [more]

Senescence (29 Oct) - New research supports the mutation theory of senescence which states that aging occurs because genes withdeleterious effects and a late age of onset are unopposed bynatural selection. [more]

Genetics - evolution (29 Oct) - Researchers in Switzerland report experimental evolution of learning ability in Drosophilamelanogaster in fifteen generations. [more]

PTSD (29 Oct) - In monozygotic twins discordant for trauma exposure smaller hippocampi have been found to constitute a risk factor for the development of stress-related psychopathology. [more]

Slavery (28 Oct) - In a study that could create waves in the already controversial slavery reparations debate, Dartmouth economist Bruce Sacerdote has found that the economic disparities slavery created between free blacks and those who were slaves largely dissipated within two generations after emancipation. [more]

Prozac (28 Oct) - The drug Prozac protects a female's learning abilities after a stressful or traumatic event, according to a new research study conducted at Rutgers. [more]

"Neuroethics" (28 Oct) - No area of science is commanding more ethical attention these days than genetics. No other area of science with potential application to plants, animals, and people can match the speed with which new knowledge is being created in genetics. But lurking over in the disciplinary corner--somewhat out of sight of the ethicists' gaze--are the neurosciences. Advances in radiology, psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, bioengineering, and psychology are furthering our understanding of animal and human brains almost as quickly as genomics is fueling genetics. [more - free registration required]

Gulf war syndrome (26 Oct) - Regular exercise and a form of group talk therapy can alleviate some symptoms commonly associated with Gulf War veterans' illnesses, according to newly released results of a study involving veterans who report such symptoms. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Genetics - ethics - Neil Levy review Genes: A Philosophical Inquiry by Gordon Graham. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Search Now:

Consciousness - Bill Wringe reviews Between Ourselves: Second-person Issues in the Study of Consciousness edited by Evan Thompson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Tabula rasa - Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Human nature - Kenan Malik reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker [more] and Straw Dogs by John Gray. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Sexuality - Dinitia Smith reviews How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States by Joanne Meyerowitz. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Trauma - Derek Summerfield reviews Trauma: Culture, Meaning and Philosophy by Patrick Bracken. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Child psychiatry - Charles Essex reviews Pathological Child Psychiatry and the Medicalization of Childhood by Sami Timimi. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

History - Paul S. Seaver reviews The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World by Jenny Uglow. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Jim Holt reviews Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox. [more] [review] Science Friday speaks to Brenda Maddox. [more] [audio] [more]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - "In the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture, an M.I.T. professor says our genes
don't get enough respect" - Michael D. Lemonick reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#50

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Oct 26, 2002 3:37 pm
Subject: Issue 74 - 26th October, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 74 - 26th October, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Cannibalism (25 Oct) - Possible evidence for cannibalism and witchcraft recently was found during excavation work at a site for Eton College's rowing course at Dorney Lake in Berkshire, England. [more]

Palaeoanthropology (25 Oct) - Richard Leakey is a man famed for his previous work in paleoanthropology. Indeed, the Leakey family name is synonymous with fossil finds that revolutionized the understanding of human evolution. His later focus on wildlife conservation, including his famous fight to save elephants from slaughter in his native Kenya, is equally heralded. Now Leakey is bringing his global stature - his star power - to SUNY Stony Brook, whose faculty he joined this week. [more]

Food additives (25 Oct) - Additives in popular snacks can cause hyperactivity and tantrums in young children, a study suggests. [more]

OCD (25 Oct) - Implanting electrodes into the brains of two patients has rid them of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, researchers in France report. [more]

Longevity (24 Oct) - A US team has doubled the lifespan of the nematode worm with no apparent physiological side affects. The key to what appears to be uncompromised longevity is to silence a gene involved in ageing at just the right point in a worm's life cycle. [more]

Human genetics (24 Oct) - The Nuffield Council on Bioethics undermined its report on genes and behaviour with some sensationalist press work. [more]

Parenting (24 Oct) - Psychologist Oliver James thinks that parents need a step-by-step guide to loving their kids. [more]

Altruism (24 Oct) - We take risks to attract the opposite sex. But pure altruism, unaffected by selfish instincts, can still exist, says Robert Winston. [more]

Facial expression (22 Oct) - If you meet someone who looks angry or happy, it is often hard to remain expressionless yourself - and now scientists believe they know why. Researchers in Sweden believe your unconscious mind exerts direct control of your facial muscles. However much you struggle to keep a blank face, your brain may be letting you down. [more]

Animal cognition (23 Oct) - California sea lions may have the best memory of all non-human creatures. A female called Rio that learned a trick involving letters and numbers could still perform it 10 years later - even though she hadn't performed the trick in the intervening period. [more]

Smell (22 Oct) - We are obsessed with our odour. We slavishly scrub off all that makes us distinct as members of a species, and then spray ourselves liberally with a homogenous fug of the latest mass-marketed musk. Jeremy Smith wonders why. [more]

Cosmology (22 Oct) - Despite what recent observations suggest, Professor Andrei Linde from Stanford University and his wife Professor Renata Kallosh say the universe will stop expanding and collapse in the relatively near future. [more]

Gay adoption (20 Oct) - "For more than 100 years science has been warning us to be careful about the aphorism that blood is thicker than water. Blood ties do not automatically bind; our natural instincts are not inevitably benign; the relationships between our genes and our behaviour is very complex. Beware any claim about what is 'natural'," writes Will Hutton. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Psychiatry - Michael Brodsky reviews The Difficult-to-Treat Psychiatric Patient edited by Mantosh J. Dewan and Ronald W. Pies. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Carl T. Hall reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Will - Isabel Gois reviews The Illusion of Conscious Will by Daniel M. Wegner. [more] [by Daniel Wegner] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Paleontology (25 Oct) - The shapes and internal structures of individual cells within some of the earliest multicellular animals have been revealed for the first time using technology normally associated with hospitals. [more]

Audio and Video

Paleontology (25 Oct) - The quality and completeness of the fossil record and its credibility as a source of information about the history of life have been debated since before Charles Darwin's time. Now, as part of the Paleobiology Database project, a systematic examination is being conducted with some good news so far. [more]

Depression (24 Oct) - Developmental psychologist Jessica van Mulligen from the University of Nijmegen has compiled a questionnaire to detect depressions in children aged six to eight years. The questionnaire is more attuned to the typical symptoms of young depressive children than a much used American questionnaire. [more]

Schizophrenia (23 Oct) - Schizophrenia may not be one single disease but rather an array of disorders whose psychiatric and cognitive symptoms vary according to which part of the brain is affected and to what degree. That's the conclusion of a study published in the October issue of Neuropsychology, in which a seven-neuroscientist team linked schizophrenic subtypes with different memory problems and different brain anatomies. The scientists say this is a "first step in our efforts to uncover the specific biological mechanisms of the disorder," which they hope will lead to better diagnosis and treatment of people with schizophrenia. [more]

ADHD - genetics (22 Oct) - UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have localized a region on chromosome 16 that is likely to contain a risk gene for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the most prevalent childhood-onset psychiatric disorder. [more]

Psychology (22 Oct) - Talking with friends helps keep the mind sharp, a University of Michigan study suggests. EurekAlert, BBC News Online.

Neuroscience (23 Oct) - Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered that neurons take in receptors and other molecules from their surface membranes through discrete "doorways" -- specialized domains on the surface of nerve cells that regulate such entry. The discovery of such entry points drastically revises a long-held theory that surface molecules such as receptors are enveloped right where they rest in the fatty membrane, to be drawn into the cell's interior. [more]

Distributed computing (21 Oct) - For the first time, a distributed computing experiment has produced significant results that have been published in a scientific journal. Writing in the advanced online edition of Nature magazine, Stanford University scientists Christopher D. Snow and Vijay S. Pande describe how they - with the help of 30,000 personal computers - successfully simulated part of the complex folding process that a typical protein molecule undergoes to achieve its unique, three-dimensional shape. [more]

Neuroscience (21 Oct) - Researchers have developed a new way to use a decade-old imaging method to directly compare the brains of monkeys with those of humans. Their report appeared in the journal Science. [more]

Pedophilia - neurology (21 Oct) - The sudden and uncontrollable paedophilia exhibited by a 40-year-old man was caused by an egg-sized brain tumour, his doctors have told a scientific conference. And once the tumour had been removed, his sex-obsession disappeared. BBC News Online, New Scientist.

Penis size (18 Oct) - On the heels of a previous report that debunked the notion that a man's shoe size could be used to estimate the length of his penis, a new study now claims that those with inquiring minds need merely take a gander at a man's forefinger. According to Greek scientists, the length of a man's index finger can accurately predict the length of his penis. The findings are published in the September issue of the journal Urology. [more] and [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Pediatrics - Believers call Dr. Harvey Karp a miracle-worker who can trigger almost opium-like serenity in a crying baby within seconds. Detractors say the pediatrician uses nothing more than an old bag of tricks that have no basis in scientific fact. Like him or not, Karp's new book and video, "The Happiest Baby on the Block," have become the talk of pediatric circles. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION

Wealth - Burkhard Bilger reviews The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide by Richard Conniff. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Animal rights - Natalie Angier reviews Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the call to Mercy by Matthew Scully. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Designer babies - Stuart Derbyshire reviews Debating Matters. Designer Babies: Where Should We Draw the Line? by Ed Ellie Lee. [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Robert Sapolsky reviews Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection by Deborah Blum. [more] [by Deborah Blum] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Culture - Adrian Barnett reviews Animal Attractions: Nature on display in American zoos by Elizabeth Hanson [more] and Savages and Beasts: The birth of the modern zoo Nigel Rothfels. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Physics - Graham Farmelo reviews Explaining the Universe by John Charap. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science and war - Jonathan Beard reviews Science Goes to War by Ernest Volkman. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Synesthesia - Liam Dempsey reviews Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses, Second Edition by Richard E. Cytowic. [more] [by Richard Cytowic] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Neuroscience - James Hitt reviews The Dynamic Neuron by John R. Smythies. [more] [by John Smythies] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)

#49

From: "Ian Pitchford" <ian.pitchford@...>
Date: Sat Oct 19, 2002 3:48 am
Subject: Issue 73 - 19th October, 2002

ipitchford

Offline

Send Email

\| Human Nature Review \| What's New \| Search \| Archive \| Guestbook \| Feedback \| Contact Us \|

News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
The weekly edition of The Human Nature Daily Review
Volume 2: Issue 73 - 19th October, 2002 - http://human-nature.com/nibbs/

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter send a blank email here.
To subscribe send a blank email here.

NEWS & VIEWS

Psychiatry (18 Oct) - All the latest news from the American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric News 18 October 2002; Vol. 37, No. 20. [more]

Mental health (18 Oct) - Teenage boys in Japan's cities are turning into modern hermits - never leaving their rooms. Pressure from schools and an inability to talk to their families are suggested causes. Phil Rees visits the country to see what the "hikikomori" condition is all about. [more]

Happiness (17 Oct) - Martin Seligman and Steven Pinker debate happiness. [more] Steven Pinker examines why the nature/nurture debate won't go away. [more]

Depression (15 Oct) - Canadians' use of antidepressants has soared by more than 300 per cent over the past two decades, says a study by researchers. [more]

Neuroscience (17 Oct) - A biotech company has developed a way to keep slices of living brain tissue alive for weeks, allowing researchers to study the effect of chemicals on entire neural networks, not just individual cells. [more]

Religion (15 Oct) - "With crystalline precision, Bruce Lincoln tackles and redefines the subject of religion, applying it to a broad range of topics, from the immediate impact of September 11, to the stances taken by President Bush and Osama bin Laden afterward, to the broader role of religion in political conflicts across history," writes Bruce Lawrence. [more] [excerpt]

Buy this book from Amazon

Male fertility (15 Oct) - The chances of a man having children dip past his 35th birthday, researchers have found. The researchers, from the University of Washington in Seattle, found that damage to the genetic material containing sperm cells increases with age. Unlike most other cells in the body, sperm cells are unable to repair this damage. [more]

Free will (15 Oct) - The issue of free will has perplexed theologians and philosophers for centuries - now neuroscience enters the age-old debate. [more]

Violence (15 Oct) - South African society seems to have become desensitised to violent crime. Ongoing hijackings, murders and robberies have made most people resigned to a fate of living dangerously. But recent cases of infant and child abuse sparked outrage. Carte Blanche brings you a special report on this social epidemic. [more]

Neuroscience (15 Oct) - An intricate society populated by billions of demanding neurons exists inside every brain. Each of those neurons has a complicated life with desires that must be met in order to stave off stupidity, according to research presented at the American Neurological Association's (ANA) annual meeting. [more]

ECT (13 Oct) - Hundreds of mentally ill people are being given electric shock treatment without their consent, the Government has admitted. [more] Max Fink, the psychiatrist known in America as the Grandfather of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), has that 'I-told-you-so' air of a prophet when he speaks using electric shocks to heal minds. [more]

Psychopharmacology (13 Oct) - Children could soon be given the controversial anti-depressant drug Seroxat - despite evidence linking it to suicidal thoughts and mental problems in young teenagers. [more]

Human cloning (12 Oct) - The first application to clone human embryos in Britain could be lodged within six months. Professor Ian Wilmut plans to seek permission to use the technique which created Dolly the sheep on early human embryos. [more]

Darwinian medicine (12 Oct) - People become ill because their bodies are unable to cope with the pressures of modern Western life, according to Randolph Nesse. [more] [by Randolph Nesse]

Palaeoanthropology (12 Oct) - A recent finding in the dating of Chinese hominid fossils has challenged the prevailing "out-of-Africa" theory regarding the origin of modern man. [more]

Male fertility (11 Oct) - Low birth weight may affect testicle size--and perhaps fertility--later in life, results of a preliminary study from Italy suggest. [more]

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Psychiatry - Arthur Kleinman reviews The Unbalanced Mind by Julian Leff [more], Creating Mental Illness by Allan V. Horwitz [more], Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill by Robert Whitaker [more], and Out of Its Mind: Psychiatry in Crisis. A Call for Reform by J. Allan Hobson and Jonathan A. Leonard. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy this book from Amazon

History - Robert Buderi reviews Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science that Changed the Course of World War II by Jennet Conant. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Cognitive science - Lisa Bortolotti reviews The Cognitive Basis of Science edited by Peter Carruthers, Stephen Stich and Michael Siegal. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Science - Robert Osserman reviews It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science edited by Graham Farmelo. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Colin McGinn reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [review]

Humor - Anthony Daniels reviews The Mirth of Nations by Christie Davies. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Biography - Philip Morrison reviews Racing for the Bomb: General Leslie R. Groves, The Manhattan Project's Indispensable Man by Robert S. Norris. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Psychology - Robert J. Richards reviews The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker. [more] [by Steven Pinker] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

PAPERS & COMMENTARY

Language- neurolinguistics (18 Oct) - "Two styles of explaining the science of mind and behavior have been competing for as long as anyone cares to remember: empiricist, centering on habit formation, statistical learning, imitation and association; and rationalist, focusing on the projection of internally represented rules. Despite relentless effort, the former has delivered rather meager results, whereas the latter, with its pivotal concept of an internally represented grammar, has produced the solid "conceptual cognitive revolution," writes Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini. [more]

Audio and Video

Autism (17 Oct) - The unprecedented increase in autism in California is real and cannot be explained away by artificial factors, such as misclassification and criteria changes, according to the results of a large statewide epidemiological study. [more]

Schizophrenia (17 Oct) - Researchers at the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have discovered a communication link between proteins in the brain that could lead to improved treatments for psychiatric disorders and stroke. The study, published in the Oct. 18 issue of the journal Cell, examined the interaction between two proteins known as dopamine D1 and NMDA receptors. [more]

Sexual behavior (16 Oct) - Teen-age girls are three times more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior if they live in a family afflicted by physical violence - whether they are victims of abuse or witness it between parents, according to a new study by Brown sociologists. [more]

Seasonal affective disorder (17 Oct) - Seasonal patterns of illness have been recognized since ancient times, but the concept of seasonality in psychiatric disorders has only gained prominence in the past two decades. This article reviews the diagnosis, treatment and pathophysiology of winter seasonal affective disorder. [more]

Development (17 October) - Scientists believe they have found a cause of adolescent angst. Nerve activity in the teenaged brain is so intense that they find it hard to process basic information, researchers say, rendering the teenagers emotionally and socially inept. New Scientist, Brain and Cognition.

Depression (16 Oct) - Elderly people who suffer from depression can take the edge off faster by using a drug called mirtazapine, which appears to work more quickly compared to rival drugs. [more]

Cognitive science - Researchers have begun to explore animals' capacities for uncertainty monitoring and metacognition. This exploration could extend the study of animal self-awareness and establish the relationship of self-awareness to other-awareness. It could sharpen descriptions of metacognition in the human literature and suggest the earliest roots of metacognition in human development. [more]

Alcoholism (16 Oct) - Genetic factors play a key role in the development of alcoholism. A family history of alcoholism does not, however, guarantee that individual offspring will develop the disease. In an effort to discover identifying "markers" of those at risk for alcoholism, researchers in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research evaluate the influence of a family history of alcoholism on the response of saccadic eye movements to alcohol. [more]

PTSD (15 Oct) - A study of 40 men who saw combat in Vietnam and their twins who did not suggests the size of the brain region involved in storing memory can predict vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder. New York Times, Nature Neuroscience.

Human biology (15 Oct) - People with red hair are more susceptible to pain, according to doctors. Research carried out in the United States suggests that redheads need 20% more anaesthesia than people with other hair colour. BBC News Online, Nando Times.

Menopause (15 Oct) - Women who experience poverty as a child or as an adult are more likely to start the menopause early, a study suggests. Researchers in the United States have found that women who suffer economic hardship are 80% more likely to have early symptoms than those who have had no money worries. BBC News Online, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Fear (15 Oct) - In a discovery with implications for treatment of anxiety disorders, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute investigators have identified a distinct molecular process in the brain involved in overcoming fear. The findings will be published in the Oct. 15 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience. EurekAlert, BBC News Online.

Neuroscience (13 Oct) - Neuropsychologists have mapped different aspects of attention to different parts of the brain's frontal lobes. In particular, problems in screening out irrelevant information seem to be based in the frontal lobes' right side. This research joins mounting scientific evidence that attention is a complex, multi-faceted brain-based process. EurekAlert, Neuropsychology.

REVIEWS & DISCUSSION (cont.)

Antisocial behavior - Lloyd A. Wells reviews Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents: A Developmental Analysis and the Oregon Model for Intervention by John B. Reid, Gerald R. Patterson and James J. Snyder. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Self identity - Kamuran Godelek reviews Cultural Psychology of the Self: Place, Morality, and Art in Human Worlds by Ciar�n Benson. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Genetics - human evolution - Keith S. Harris reviews What It Means to Be 98 Percent Chimpanzee: Apes, People, and Their Genes by Jonathan Marks. [more] [by Jonathan Marks] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Judgment - Max Hocutt reviews Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment edited by Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin and Daniel Kahneman. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Women's rights - Etelka Lehoczky reviews Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths And Claiming the Future edited by Sunita Mehta [more], The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran Xue [more], and The Vatican's Women: Female Influence at the Holy See by Paul Hofmann. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy this book from Amazon

Science and religion - Michael Ruse reviews Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science - from the Babylonians To the Mayans By Dick Teresi [more], Charles Darwin: The Power of Place by Janet Browne [more], and In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science Of Alfred Russel Wallace. A Biographical Study On the Psychology of History by Michael Shermer. [more] [review]

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy this book from Amazon
</

Yahoo! Groups Tips

Did you know...

Messages

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail
	Sign In New User? Sign Up
		Tech - Groups - Help

Yahoo! Groups Tips

Did you know...

Best of Y! Groups

Messages