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<\/p>\nQuick links from the past week in mind and brain news:<\/p>\n
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Herbert Spiegel, legendary pioneer of hypnosis research, has left the building. The New York Times<\/i> has an obituary<\/a>.<\/p>\n Corpus Callosum<\/i> covers a possible new non-addictive anti-anxiety drug<\/a>. We have a long history of new ‘non-addictive’ anti-anxiety drugs turning out to be addictive. Fingers crossed for this one.<\/p>\n Jenny McCarthy dismisses a recent scientific study on autism and demands<\/a> more anecdotal data, according to a report by Discovery News<\/i>.<\/p>\n The Smithsonian Magazine<\/i> has an article on ‘Phineas Gage<\/a>: Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient’.<\/p>\n There’s an excellent piece about the history<\/A> of child bipolar disorder, a culture-bound syndrome specific to American psychiatry if ever there was one, over at Neuroskeptic<\/i>.<\/p>\n Vox Project<\/i> is a BBC Radio 4 documentary on the neuroscience of speech and language<\/a>. Shortly to evaporate into the black hole that is the time-limited BBC archive, so catch it while you can.<\/p>\n There are some beautiful cut-away illustrations of MRI, PET and CT scanners here<\/a>.<\/p>\n BBC News<\/i> reports on the second biggest danger associated with taking cocaine<\/a>, after acting like a cock.<\/p>\n Viewing headless<\/a> bodies causes changes in how we perceive faces, according to an intriguing study covered by Neurophilosophy<\/i>.<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/i> reviews<\/a> the new movie documentary on the life of Nobel-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel.<\/p>\n The top ten most popular posts<\/a> on the excellent Addiction Inbox<\/i> blog are listed for your perusal.<\/p>\n The Splintered Mind<\/i> notes philosopher of mind Eric Schwitzgebel is doing a UK tour<\/a>. T-shirts presumably available at the venues.<\/p>\n Jewellery and make-up suggest neanderthals<\/a> were smart, according to archaeologists who have clearly never been down Watford High Street on a Saturday night. Wired UK<\/i> covers the story.<\/p>\n Scientific American<\/i> has an excellent article on online social networks<\/a> and mental health which is locked behind their newly imposed paywall. Science!<\/p>\n The effect of stereotypes<\/a> and how the unconsciously influence our behaviour is covered in a great piece on PsyBlog<\/i>.<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/i> covers new concerns<\/a> about human rights abuses in China’s drug rehab centres.<\/p>\n An awesome looking book on the history of prion brain disease kuru is reviewed<\/a> by The Neuro Times<\/i>.<\/p>\n American Scholar<\/i> magazine has a quirky A-Z narrative journey<\/a> through brain science that shouldn’t work, but does.<\/p>\n There’s a great piece on the history of giving beef flavoured Prozac to dogs<\/a> for ‘canine separation anxiety’ over at Frontier Psychiatrist<\/i>.<\/p>\n The LA Times<\/i> covers the debate<\/a> over cognitive behavioural therapy vs traditional psychological treatments that continues to rumble on. I assumed it was all dolphin therapy in LA.<\/p>\n The US Navy wants troops<\/a> wearing brain-scanners and doing cognitive assessments in the war zone, according to a report by Wired Danger Room<\/i>.<\/p>\n Neuroethics at the Core<\/i> has some excellent coverage of the state-of-play with the ‘next generation’ ampakine<\/a> cognitive enhancers.<\/p>\n Post-shit-hitting-the-fan morphine cuts combat PTSD rates in half, according to a new study<\/a> discovered and discussed<\/a> by Neuron Culture<\/i>.<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/i> reports that AI pioneer, Ray Solomonoff, has left the building and has an obituary<\/a>.<\/p>\n The uncanny valley<\/a> and the digital Beatles are discussed by the Sensory Superpowers<\/i> blog.<\/p>\n BBC News<\/i> reports on a new study finding that angiotensin receptor blocker drugs cut dementia<\/a> rates.<\/p>\n The latest Brain Science Podcast<\/i> is an interview<\/A> with pioneering emotion neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp.<\/p>\n Charlie Rose<\/i> has part three of his brain series where a cluster of high profile neuroscientists discuss action<\/a> and the brain.<\/p>\n In a rather timely post, The Frontal Cortex<\/i> covers a recent imaging study on the neuroscience of charitable<\/a> giving.<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/i> has an interesting account of how a judge has tried to reconfigure the court system for low-level drug offenders<\/a> to promote behavioural change.<\/p>\n A British law automatically sacking MPs who need more than six months out for mental health problems when no such rule exists for physical health problems is being challenged<\/a>, reports BBC News<\/i>.<\/p>\n The San Francisco Chronicle<\/i> reports on how Yahoo! is tooling up<\/A> with social scientists.<\/p>\n The dying art of Braille<\/a> reading and how the blind community is using technology is covered by an interesting piece in The New York Times<\/i>.<\/p>\n New Scientist<\/i> has an interesting piece on ‘Five emotions<\/a> you never knew you had’ that tackles various feelings recently classified by psychologists.<\/p>\n An elegant study that helps explain why light makes migraines<\/a> worse is covered by Science News<\/i>.<\/p>\n