Neuroscience
The 40th edition of Encephalon1 is available for your viewing pleasure at Mind Hacks. Read about a homolog of Broca's area in the chimpanzee brain (see original article by Taglialatela et al., 2008)! And more!
In other news, the most anticipated merger in neuroblog history has launched! Of Two Minds combines the brains of Steve Higgins (Omni Brain) and Shelley Batts (Retrospectacle).2 In one of the inaugural posts, Shelley interviews Dr. Justin Schmidt, of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index.
Footnotes
1 Encephalon is the neuroscience and psychology blog carnival launched by Neurophilosophy and recently revived by Sharp Brains.
2 Guess it's time to update my ancient blogroll. Don't hold your breath, however. The legacy blogs shall live on...
3 Why does this question remind me of Chuck Palahniuk's Rant? Oh. It could be because the novel's protagonist enjoys being bitten by spiders.
Reference
Taglialatela JP, Russell JL, Schaeffer JA, Hopkins WD. (2008). Communicative Signaling Activates 'Broca's' Homolog in Chimpanzees. Curr Biol. Feb 26; [Epub ahead of print].
- The Bloggers Behind The Blogs: Jacy Young
This is part of an ongoing series of interviews with some of the world's leading psychology and neuroscience bloggers. Next up, Jacy Young of Advances in the History of Psychology. How did you become a psychology/neurosci blogger? Advances in the...
- Bloggers Behind The Blogs: Neuroskeptic
This is part of an ongoing series of interviews with some of the world's leading psychology and neuroscience bloggers. Next up, Neuroskeptic of the Neuroskeptic blog. How did you become a psychology/neurosci blogger? I'd long had an interest in...
- The Prize Winning Encephalon Of Urbana-champaign, Illinois
Better late than never, Of Two Minds hosts Encephalon.... the late prize winning February edition. Watch as Steve becomes obsessed with money, blows some lines of sugar, and throws like a girl, then turns to serotonin, brain doping, and dysfunctional...
- Brain Banks
From the CBC: Brain banks: Crucial for research, clamouring for donors Last Updated: Monday, September 22, 2008 | 7:56 AM ET By Gloria Troyer CBC News Read the full article [snip] Brain banks. The work they do is not widely publicized — most people...
- Bird Brains!
From tomorrow's New York Times: Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain Respect By SANDRA BLAKESLEE The New York Times Published: February 1, 2005 Birdbrain has long been a colloquial term of ridicule. The common notion is that birds' brains...
Neuroscience
Of Two Minds on Brains, Pains, and Psychiatry
The 40th edition of Encephalon1 is available for your viewing pleasure at Mind Hacks. Read about a homolog of Broca's area in the chimpanzee brain (see original article by Taglialatela et al., 2008)! And more!In other news, the most anticipated merger in neuroblog history has launched! Of Two Minds combines the brains of Steve Higgins (Omni Brain) and Shelley Batts (Retrospectacle).2 In one of the inaugural posts, Shelley interviews Dr. Justin Schmidt, of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index.Finally, at World of Psychology, guest blogger Of Two Minds by T.M. Luhrmann.Q. Was there a point that you regretted letting a particular insect sting you?3
A. I never directly "let myself be stung" by anything particularly painful. Those that are really painful are quite good at stinging one without help. The worst stinging I received was probably by some black wasps (Polybia simillima) in Costa Rica. It was the only time I have ever seen that species, was ill-equipped at the time to collect the large nest, did not realize how good they were at penetrating bees suits and other barriers, and I absolutely needed that nest. The result was lots of nasty burning stings and a few irate colleagues who were nearby. Incidentally, most of my nasty stinging events are similar - they were serendipitous discoveries of a wonderful species that I needed and had no choice: grasp the moment, or lose it.
Very roughly, Luhrmann argued that the field of psychiatry is still divided between those who see mental illness as a psychological problem amenable to psychosocial therapies; and those who see it as a problem of abnormal brain chemistry, best treated by pharmacotherapy...Of Two Minds, which was published in 2000, focused on psychodynamic psychotherapy (mainly Freudian psychoanalysis). Will subsequent books on the topic incorporate the growing field of "Neuropsychoanalysis" (aka Freudian neuroimaging)?
And this is truly a shame. The “Angel or Devil” dichotomy does nobody any favors, and certainly does not help patients with serious emotional disturbances.
Footnotes
1 Encephalon is the neuroscience and psychology blog carnival launched by Neurophilosophy and recently revived by Sharp Brains.
2 Guess it's time to update my ancient blogroll. Don't hold your breath, however. The legacy blogs shall live on...
3 Why does this question remind me of Chuck Palahniuk's Rant? Oh. It could be because the novel's protagonist enjoys being bitten by spiders.
Reference
Taglialatela JP, Russell JL, Schaeffer JA, Hopkins WD. (2008). Communicative Signaling Activates 'Broca's' Homolog in Chimpanzees. Curr Biol. Feb 26; [Epub ahead of print].
- The Bloggers Behind The Blogs: Jacy Young
This is part of an ongoing series of interviews with some of the world's leading psychology and neuroscience bloggers. Next up, Jacy Young of Advances in the History of Psychology. How did you become a psychology/neurosci blogger? Advances in the...
- Bloggers Behind The Blogs: Neuroskeptic
This is part of an ongoing series of interviews with some of the world's leading psychology and neuroscience bloggers. Next up, Neuroskeptic of the Neuroskeptic blog. How did you become a psychology/neurosci blogger? I'd long had an interest in...
- The Prize Winning Encephalon Of Urbana-champaign, Illinois
Better late than never, Of Two Minds hosts Encephalon.... the late prize winning February edition. Watch as Steve becomes obsessed with money, blows some lines of sugar, and throws like a girl, then turns to serotonin, brain doping, and dysfunctional...
- Brain Banks
From the CBC: Brain banks: Crucial for research, clamouring for donors Last Updated: Monday, September 22, 2008 | 7:56 AM ET By Gloria Troyer CBC News Read the full article [snip] Brain banks. The work they do is not widely publicized — most people...
- Bird Brains!
From tomorrow's New York Times: Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain Respect By SANDRA BLAKESLEE The New York Times Published: February 1, 2005 Birdbrain has long been a colloquial term of ridicule. The common notion is that birds' brains...