Neuroscience
The recent Science article Neurobiological Substrates of Dread, Berns et al. (2006) has drawn a lot of interest. In the mainstream media many similar dry and simplified accounts are propogating, but the blogosphere has some great analysis. Three unique perspectives:
In the Psych Central blog, John Grohol talks about distraction easing dread and notes: "...while the researchers were surprised to find that the anticipation of pain was in the rear of the brain rather than the front, I’m not sure most researchers would share that surprise. Avoidance of pain has been shown for decades to be a very core behavior in mice and humans. Nobody likes pain."
Also, "[The study] really has no impact on people’s current or future treatments when undergoing painful procedures or such in medicine."
Neuromarketing blog does draw a practical conclusion: "Between mirror neurons 'simulating' an observed (or even heard) action by another, and pain centers being triggered by thinking about future pain, it’s clear that marketers may have the opportunity to create discomfort among their targets." He gives icky examples, and warns, "I’d advise advertisers to be aware of the reality of pain anticipation and to use painful imagery with caution."
Meanwhile, The Neurocritic nimbly guts the study: "...the authors commit the logical fallacy known as 'reverse inference' by inferring the participants' emotional state from the observed pattern of brain activity. They discount the role of the amygdala in 'dread' because both moderate and extreme dreaders showed elevated hemodynamic responses there during the unpleasant interval of waiting for the shocks."
"So anticipation of pain is 'attention,' not fear and anxiety. It's a little early to make that conclusion."
More good points in the blog comments, too. How about yours?
Tags: neuroblogs blogs cogsci neuromarketing
- The Microeconomics Of Anticipation
OR: The Kiss and the Shock and Patterns of Inferotemporal Preference. The Neurocritic is not an economist and is not fond of the field of neuroeconomics. Nonetheless, to understand the narrow definition of "dread" used by Berns et al. (2006) in their...
- The Dark Night Of The Soul? I'm Going To Disneyland!
Brain research has proven that the word "dread" should no longer mean "fear" or "extreme uneasiness." Time to update those anachronistic dictionary entries! Main Entry: 1 dread Function: verb Etymology: Middle English dreden, from Old English dr[AE]dan...
- The Concept Of Dread
I LIVED on dread; to those who know The stimulus there is In danger, other impetus Is numb and vital-less. As ’t were a spur upon the soul, A fear will urge it where To go without the spectre’s aid Were challenging despair. Emily DickinsonNo, The...
- The Values Of Distractions
From today's New York Times: Study Points to a Solution for Dread: Distraction By SANDRA BLAKESLEE Published: May 5, 2006 The New York Times For those who dread a colonoscopy or a root canal so much that they avoid it altogether, scientists have...
- The Dread Zone
I encountered this research about the neurobiology of dread twice recently — in the New York Times and on Science Friday (mp3). Science Friday interviewed Gregory Berns (professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory), who used fMRI to determine...
Neuroscience
Interpretations
The recent Science article Neurobiological Substrates of Dread, Berns et al. (2006) has drawn a lot of interest. In the mainstream media many similar dry and simplified accounts are propogating, but the blogosphere has some great analysis. Three unique perspectives:
In the Psych Central blog, John Grohol talks about distraction easing dread and notes: "...while the researchers were surprised to find that the anticipation of pain was in the rear of the brain rather than the front, I’m not sure most researchers would share that surprise. Avoidance of pain has been shown for decades to be a very core behavior in mice and humans. Nobody likes pain."
Also, "[The study] really has no impact on people’s current or future treatments when undergoing painful procedures or such in medicine."
Neuromarketing blog does draw a practical conclusion: "Between mirror neurons 'simulating' an observed (or even heard) action by another, and pain centers being triggered by thinking about future pain, it’s clear that marketers may have the opportunity to create discomfort among their targets." He gives icky examples, and warns, "I’d advise advertisers to be aware of the reality of pain anticipation and to use painful imagery with caution."
Meanwhile, The Neurocritic nimbly guts the study: "...the authors commit the logical fallacy known as 'reverse inference' by inferring the participants' emotional state from the observed pattern of brain activity. They discount the role of the amygdala in 'dread' because both moderate and extreme dreaders showed elevated hemodynamic responses there during the unpleasant interval of waiting for the shocks."
Taken together, the anatomical locations of dread responses suggest that the subjective experience of dread that ultimately drives an individual's behavior comes from the attention devoted to the expected physical response (SI, SII, the caudal ACC, and the posterior insula) and not simply a fear or anxiety response.
"So anticipation of pain is 'attention,' not fear and anxiety. It's a little early to make that conclusion."
More good points in the blog comments, too. How about yours?
Tags: neuroblogs blogs cogsci neuromarketing
- The Microeconomics Of Anticipation
OR: The Kiss and the Shock and Patterns of Inferotemporal Preference. The Neurocritic is not an economist and is not fond of the field of neuroeconomics. Nonetheless, to understand the narrow definition of "dread" used by Berns et al. (2006) in their...
- The Dark Night Of The Soul? I'm Going To Disneyland!
Brain research has proven that the word "dread" should no longer mean "fear" or "extreme uneasiness." Time to update those anachronistic dictionary entries! Main Entry: 1 dread Function: verb Etymology: Middle English dreden, from Old English dr[AE]dan...
- The Concept Of Dread
I LIVED on dread; to those who know The stimulus there is In danger, other impetus Is numb and vital-less. As ’t were a spur upon the soul, A fear will urge it where To go without the spectre’s aid Were challenging despair. Emily DickinsonNo, The...
- The Values Of Distractions
From today's New York Times: Study Points to a Solution for Dread: Distraction By SANDRA BLAKESLEE Published: May 5, 2006 The New York Times For those who dread a colonoscopy or a root canal so much that they avoid it altogether, scientists have...
- The Dread Zone
I encountered this research about the neurobiology of dread twice recently — in the New York Times and on Science Friday (mp3). Science Friday interviewed Gregory Berns (professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory), who used fMRI to determine...