You might have heard that Avatar is responsible for a whole new kind of movie technology and that thousands of theaters had to be built or upgraded just to show these movies. What exactly are these technological miracles and if they’re so great, why do …

Frontline recently aired a documentary called Digital Nation which took a look at all the different ways we use media.  And at recent research in the field.  One of the scientists they interviewed is Dr Gary Small at UCLA.  He looked at people’s brains …

Dr. Andrew Wakefiled’s research on 12 children that served as the only major link between autism and the MMT vaccine has now been officially retracted by the Lancet, the British journal that published it originally. It seems Dr. Wakefiled may have play …

contributing author: Gacia Tachejian Have you ever asked yourself where it is that kids learn about drug use? Parents have long been known to protect their young ones from “bad” influences from outside, but a recent study at Yale shows that a major sou …

A new study came out from Kaiser that talks about the astonishing amount of time that children spend with media today. Media is defined as tv, music, video games, print, computer and movies. Today’s kids 8-18 spend 7 1/2 hours using media, almost as lo …

It has been common practice in the study of genes and behavior to identify certain genes as “risk genes.” You may hear people say, “I have the depression gene” or “addiction gene” or even as broad as a “bad gene.” However, the understandings about spec …

Okay, so this recent study from Northwestern isn’t saying you can learn anything you want by simply playing it while you’re asleep. Still, it seems to give hope that some learning enhancement can occur while we’re napping.

Originally posted on allaboutaddiction.com: About a year ago, while sitting in a lecture on learning and memory, the idea that certain drugs can affect the emotional responses to memory long after the memory itself has been formed came up. As someone i …

I was struck by the recent article by Louis Menand in this issue’s Harvard Magazine. Essentially, for many academic fields the length of time to obtain a Ph.D. and the potential prospects for finding a tenure-track academic job is enough to make one wh …

An ever growing number of studies feature brain mapping to illustrate structural differences in the brain based on grouping those with and without a given disorder. Techniques such as structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in researchers u …

From allaboutaddiction: A recent paper put out by an initiative called Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) talks about some of the cost savings benefits that go along with alcohol and drug abuse treatment. The numbers refer to current treatment …

From allaboutaddiction.com: Teens raised in affluent homes display the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse according to a recent article in Monitor on Psychology, the APA’s monthly magazine. One of our recent posts dealt with some …

A recent issue of the New Yorker featured a wide-ranging and engagingly written review of the current controversy over the ethics of neuroenhancement. Neuroenhancement refers to the growing trend of off-label use of psychiatric drugs by men and women o …

Self-control or behavioral disinhibition has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It may be a mediating factor responsible for the lowered academic performance found among many …

Human and animal studies have found that brains go through substantialsynaptic pruning during childhood, removing approximately half of all synapses until puberty. While the pruning of synapses is a natural process, some researchers have theorized that …

A recent report published by SAMHSA addresses the issue of self-disclosure regarding mental illness. Research has already shown that the more familiar people are with others who have different form of mental illness, the more their attitudes regarding …

Some ethnic minority groups have higher rates of schizophrenia than the general population. My first thought was that the differences were genetic. Current research has found a strong genetic component to schizophrenia, and given that different ethnic …

From all-about-addiction: Okay, maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, but I’m pretty excited about one study in particular that I heard about while in DC (for a Society For Neuroscience conference). I’ve already written about a study by the …

From: all-about-addiction.com Like most living creatures, humans have internal biological clocks known as circadian rhythms. These internal cycles synchronize our bodies with the Earth’s 24-hour day/night cycle and prepare us for predictable daily even …

Dacher Keltner over at UC Berkeley recently wrote this interesting piece on teasing for the New York Times magazine. Citing examples of recent attempts to curb teasing in schools and in the workplace, Keltner argues that society is going too far in its …

As one of the bloggers who tends to be a bit more skeptical of work in social cognitive neuroscience, I’m posting this article w/out really investigating it closely.  I do this for three reasons.  1) As I said, I’m biased toward believing its true anyw …