Neuroscience
Interesting article in last month's Wall Street Journal about emotions & cognitive performance.
The free abstract sums it up:
"After years of studying situations such as choking under pressure or succumbing to 'stereotype threat' (in which you perform worse if you're reminded that your sex, race or age group tends to muff the test you're about to take), scientists are learning how emotion combines in the brain with memory, attention and other cognitive skills to make your spear miss the mammoth."
Begley cites a study reported at last month's American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting which found a surprising effect of emotion on memory & cognition:
Jeremy Gray of Yale University studies the interrelationship between emotion & cognition.
"In one study, Prof. Gray and colleagues had volunteers watch a comedy video. Then the volunteers tried to keep three words in mind ... Feeling amused improved verbal working memory; the volunteers got more answers right. But it made spatial memory -- tested with faces -- worse.
"Horror videos had an opposite effect. The mild anxiety they induced improved spatial memory but hurt verbal memory..."
Fascinating!!
Towards the end of the article Begley referes to two recent studies about the "stereotype threat", wherein women do worse on math tests when they are somehow made aware of their gender (either by filling in a box indicating their sex or explicitly being reminded that "girls are spatially challenged".
Studies Take Measure Of How Stereotyping Alters Performance (abstract only from the WSJ site)
Sharon Begley. Wall Street Journal: Feb 23, 2007. p. B.1 full-text at ProQuest, if you have it.
- Inside The Brains Of Men And Women Controlling Their Emotions
Women do seem to cry more readily than men, but is that because they are less able to control their emotions? According to Ute Habel and colleagues, research does suggest women are more 'emotional'. They cite the fact that women are more vulnerable...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Pediatric Epilepsy And Memory Assessment
Everyday verbal memory and pediatric epilepsy Epilepsy and Behavior. 2011 Jul; 21(3): 285-290. Chapieski L, Evankovich K, Hiscock M, Collins R Abstract This study addressed the reliability and validity of reports of everyday verbal memory with a sample...
- Olfaction, Memory, And Sleep
From today's New York Times: Scent Activates Memory During Sleep, Study Says By BENEDICT CAREY The New York Times Published: March 8, 2007 Scientists studying how sleep affects memory have found that the whiff of a familiar scent can help a slumbering...
- Older Brains Can Be Spiffy, Too!
Between the frisson of excitement at the upcoming testimony of Andy Fastow at the Enron trial and the anxious waiting over the BlackBerry patent dispute, today's Wall Street Journal devotes its Science Journal column by Sharon Begley to an ode to...
- Abstract Of The Day: Neuropsychology Of Mild Cognitive Impairment (mci)
Lopez OL, Becker JT, Jagust W, Fitzpatrick A, Carlson M, T DU, Breitner J, Lyketsos C, Jones B, Kawas C, & Kuller LH. Neuropsychological characteristics of mild cognitive impairment subgroups. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 2005 Aug...
Neuroscience
Emotion & Cognition
Interesting article in last month's Wall Street Journal about emotions & cognitive performance.
The free abstract sums it up:
"After years of studying situations such as choking under pressure or succumbing to 'stereotype threat' (in which you perform worse if you're reminded that your sex, race or age group tends to muff the test you're about to take), scientists are learning how emotion combines in the brain with memory, attention and other cognitive skills to make your spear miss the mammoth."
Begley cites a study reported at last month's American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting which found a surprising effect of emotion on memory & cognition:
Jeremy Gray of Yale University studies the interrelationship between emotion & cognition.
"In one study, Prof. Gray and colleagues had volunteers watch a comedy video. Then the volunteers tried to keep three words in mind ... Feeling amused improved verbal working memory; the volunteers got more answers right. But it made spatial memory -- tested with faces -- worse.
"Horror videos had an opposite effect. The mild anxiety they induced improved spatial memory but hurt verbal memory..."
Fascinating!!
Towards the end of the article Begley referes to two recent studies about the "stereotype threat", wherein women do worse on math tests when they are somehow made aware of their gender (either by filling in a box indicating their sex or explicitly being reminded that "girls are spatially challenged".
Studies Take Measure Of How Stereotyping Alters Performance (abstract only from the WSJ site)
Sharon Begley. Wall Street Journal: Feb 23, 2007. p. B.1 full-text at ProQuest, if you have it.
- Inside The Brains Of Men And Women Controlling Their Emotions
Women do seem to cry more readily than men, but is that because they are less able to control their emotions? According to Ute Habel and colleagues, research does suggest women are more 'emotional'. They cite the fact that women are more vulnerable...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Pediatric Epilepsy And Memory Assessment
Everyday verbal memory and pediatric epilepsy Epilepsy and Behavior. 2011 Jul; 21(3): 285-290. Chapieski L, Evankovich K, Hiscock M, Collins R Abstract This study addressed the reliability and validity of reports of everyday verbal memory with a sample...
- Olfaction, Memory, And Sleep
From today's New York Times: Scent Activates Memory During Sleep, Study Says By BENEDICT CAREY The New York Times Published: March 8, 2007 Scientists studying how sleep affects memory have found that the whiff of a familiar scent can help a slumbering...
- Older Brains Can Be Spiffy, Too!
Between the frisson of excitement at the upcoming testimony of Andy Fastow at the Enron trial and the anxious waiting over the BlackBerry patent dispute, today's Wall Street Journal devotes its Science Journal column by Sharon Begley to an ode to...
- Abstract Of The Day: Neuropsychology Of Mild Cognitive Impairment (mci)
Lopez OL, Becker JT, Jagust W, Fitzpatrick A, Carlson M, T DU, Breitner J, Lyketsos C, Jones B, Kawas C, & Kuller LH. Neuropsychological characteristics of mild cognitive impairment subgroups. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 2005 Aug...