Neuroscience
This evening's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS incuded a segment entitled Using Your Brain: "A report on what is really going on inside our heads when we make economic decisions. Researchers are beginning to understand how the pre-frontal cortex and our "lizard brain" is driving our decisions in the stock market."
The segment included an interview with neuropsychologist Jordan Grafman.
By the way, "lizard brain" refers to the evoluntarily older parts of the brain, such as the limbic system. The contrast, as it relates to economics and decision-making, is the classic dichotomy of rational vs. impulsive, deliberate vs. emotional, with the "lizard brain" representing the impulsive and emotional and the prefrontal cortex representing the rational and deliberate aspects of decision making.
A transcript of the segment (along with a link to an audio stream) can be found on the show's website.
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Neuroscience
So-called "Lizard Brains" and the Stock Market
This evening's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS incuded a segment entitled Using Your Brain: "A report on what is really going on inside our heads when we make economic decisions. Researchers are beginning to understand how the pre-frontal cortex and our "lizard brain" is driving our decisions in the stock market."
The segment included an interview with neuropsychologist Jordan Grafman.
By the way, "lizard brain" refers to the evoluntarily older parts of the brain, such as the limbic system. The contrast, as it relates to economics and decision-making, is the classic dichotomy of rational vs. impulsive, deliberate vs. emotional, with the "lizard brain" representing the impulsive and emotional and the prefrontal cortex representing the rational and deliberate aspects of decision making.
A transcript of the segment (along with a link to an audio stream) can be found on the show's website.
- How Thinking In A Foreign Language Makes You More Rational In Some Ways But Not Others
Back in 2012, US researchers showed that when people used their second, non-native language, they were less prone to a mental bias known as loss aversion. This bias means we're averse to the same outcome when it's framed in a way that highlights...
- Would You Kill One Person To Save The Lives Of Others?
Are morals based on facts and knowledge, or are they grounded in emotions? In other words, if you programmed a computer with the right information, would it make the same moral judgements as a person? 'No', is the answer suggested by new research...
- Silly (and Sexist) Brain Analogies
Do you spend your days thinking about what the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, and limbic system do? Have you ever stayed awake at night wondering where wisdom comes from? Well, now you'll know...
- Sarcasm And The Brain: Look At The Right Prefrontal Cortex
From The APA Monitor:It's no joke: Study identifies brain circuitry involved in our grasp of sarcasm The APA Monitor May 2005 Print version: page 13 A study in May's Neuropsychology (Vol. 19, No. 2) finds the right prefrontal cortex--a brain...
- 30 Years Of The Newshour
Last Thursday, Oct. 20, Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil talked about 30 years of the NewsHour. It was a touching conversation between two friends; they talked about changes the News Hour had been through in the past 30 years. Interesting look into a good...