The new weekly round up at Neuroanthropology is up, again an amazing collection of interesting science posts, have a look and take your own pick or read those I especially liked: 9/11 & Collective Memory at The Prism Collective memory is clearly a social product, but individual memory also flows from social context.In this post September 11, 2001 and the recent posts after eight years are discussed This post is overtly about the continuing politics that surround 9/11, and less about remembering or reflecting on the event. Still, I would argue that it is in fact about collective memory and how the event .....read more »

The new Scientia Pro Publica at Southern Fried Science or science for the masses is up. The best round up with the best science, nature and medical writing published in the blogosphere. Posts focus on communicating science to the public. I especially liked: No more alpha male If you have heard of a concept of "alpha-male" it is because of ideas from an old book of L. David Mech, about social structure of wolf societies. "Alpha" implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating .....read more »

On this weekly excellent round up I especially liked: Placebo Has Strength in Numbers on Mind Hacks. The term 'placebo effect' is used to refer to two things in the medical literature. The first is a statistical concept and it refers to the improvement in patients given an inactive treatment in a drug trial in comparison to those given the actual drug. The second is a psychological concept and it refers to improvement due to expectancy and belief. The brain, caught between science and ideology on Research EU about differences between women and men's brain. experiments clearly show that self-esteem and the internalisation .....read more »

Welcome to the forty-seventh edition of Brain Blogging. In this round, we discuss whether science is in need of another cognitive revolution, how to reinforce our cognition, how reduced hippocampal neurogenesis correlates with depression, and other topics. Remember, we review the latest blogs related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective I especially liked: Hypnosis Explained (Debunking The Myths) at The Emotion Machine. I hope to take a short few minutes of your time to debunk some of these myths surrounding hypnosis and hopefully leave you with a clearer understanding of what .....read more »

Monty Python - ministry of silly walksdoor Van_Lock Encephalon 74, the best of the best in brain and mind blogging on Neuronarrative in Monthy Python Theme. We’re rabid Monty Python fans here at Neuronarrative, so this edition is crafted in the tradition of that estimable show without equal. And here we go… Enjoy these excellent posts.Related posts: Encephalon #58 Decision making on Highlight Health Encephalon Edition 83 Encephalon #66 ..read more »

This weeks round up on Neuroanthropology has a lot of posts about gaming besides mind and brain, and anthropology. I liked the post Once Upon A Time Narrative in Video Games. Jesper Juul is a video game researcher at the Singapore-MIT Game Lab in Massachusetts, USA. He has been studying video games for the past 10 years, dedicating a large chunk of his early work to video games and narratives. Although his theories fit into the ludology school of thought, Juul also argues that video games can be both narratives and a set of rules at the same time. Another interesting .....read more »

Lombroso believed that 40% of criminals were ‘born criminals’ who could be distinguished by physical features including relatively long arms, prehensile feet with mobile big toes, low and narrow forehead, large ears, thick skull, large jaw, etc. The main objection to his hypotheses were his campaign on the basis of his theory for a preventive criminology: ‘society need not wait for the act itself, for physical and social stigmata define the potential criminal. He can be identified, watched and whisked away at the first manifestation of his irrevocable nature’. As than as well as now the findings in the field .....read more »

The ninth edition of Scientia Pro Publica is up at Pleiotropy. Scientia Pro Publica is a blog carnival devoted to celebrating the best science, nature, and medical writing in the blogosphere. Submissions may discuss any science-related topic, as long as they are written for a general audience (the Pro Publica part of the title), were published within the past two months, and do not promote the many forms of pseudoscience. The posts of this edition fall neatly into three categories: biology, brains, and a hodgepodge of everything else. I especially liked: The harmonious ape on Why Evolution Is True. A discussion of a .....read more »

This weekly round up on Neuroanthropology is about synesthesia and drug categories, alongside the top selections and the anthro and neuro placeholders. This round up has a nice collection of important posts on different subjects. This time I liked the posts on synestheia. One post on Eagleman Lab is about synesthesia with an interesting video about this strange phenomenon. The one on top of this post. They are looking for the gene of synesthesia. For this they also developed a standardized battery for synesthesia at synesthete.org. This battery of questionnaires and online software is free and open to the public, and .....read more »

Psychopathic killers are the basis for some must-watch TV, but what really makes them tick? Neuroscientist Jim Fallon talks about brain scans and genetic analysis that may uncover the rotten wiring in the nature (and nurture) of murderers. In a too-strange-for-fiction twist, he shares a fascinating family history that makes his work chillingly personal. An excellent description and example of gene environment interaction. Related posts: How we read each other’s mind Exploring Illness from a Medical Humanities point of view Concussions or mind your matter ..read more »