Dr. Matt Lieberman and former Psych in Action blogger Dr. Emily Falk are getting a lot of attention for their paper in Psychological Science that found that the specific brain regions that were activated while viewing health related advertisements predicted the ad’s success in the population at large — even though the viewers were not aware …
I wrote a post a few months ago about some common misconceptions about functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and one of my main points was that the term ’lights up”, which is often used when describing the areas of the brain that respond to a task, is misleading. Here is what I said on the subject: …
Recent research by Ralph Adolphs, a neuroscientist at Cal Tech, suggests that the amygdala, an almond-shaped brain structure buried deep within the temporal lobes, is important for maintaining a sense of personal space. When walking up to a stranger, most people prefer to keep their distance– while the precise distance depends on the individual, we …
Have you ever wanted to be able to read minds? As children, we are especially smitten with the idea of having special ‘powers’ like these, although we quickly learn that such magical abilities are far from reality. Yet given the new imaging and electrophysiological methods that have allowed researchers to discover even more about the …
In a tight election, attention immediately turns to swing voters. Poll analysts swarm them with a barrage of questions to predict which candidate may garner more of their crucial votes. In anticipation of the 2008 election, analysts went one step further and looked not only at swing voters’ survey responses but also their neural responses.
Twin and adoption studies have consistently demonstrated significant genetic contribution to psychiatric disorders ranging from roughly 30% for major depression to approximately 80% in bipolar disorder. While modern research is far from explaining the precise mechanisms through which genetic variations account for psychiatric disorders, it is clear that biological factors are critical in the development …
by Andrew Sanders and Kate Humphreys Making decisions can be a difficult task. How do we choose to get from point A to point B? Does our decision change whether we are running late for an important engagement? Does stress facilitate our decision making, and if so, does it matter whether we are trying to …
One of the many reasons I like studying the brain is that its function is so directly tied to all the actions I do every day. As I go through the world it’s easy to forget that my brain is working hard coordinating my muscles and senses, so I like little demonstrative exercises using ones …
To Review: why do we have multiple interpretations of physical world? As pointed out in Genna’s blog, 3D objects in the real world are represented in 2D format on our retina. Our visual system, then, has to take this 2D signal and build back out of the 3D object that caused it. This is a …
It’s that time of year again, where malls and websites (and hopefully some local businesses, too!) are overrun with holiday shoppers hoping to score the perfect gift to give a loved one. But why are we so obsessed with finding that perfect present? Recent research by Tristen Inagaki, a fourth year graduate student in the …
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