Brain Blogging, Forty-Third Edition

Welcome to the forty-third edition of Brain Blogging. In this round, we discuss brain electrical rhythms, the efficacy of subliminal messages, the rising epidemic of “Internet Asperger’s Syndrome,” and few more topics.

Remember, we review the latest blogs related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective. If you were left out, just leave a comment with your relevant blog entry. You can check our archive for all previously published editions.

For future carnivals, please remember to submit your blog entries using the online submission form. We will do our best to review and include your entry! Enjoy your readings…

It’s All in the Mind…

Physiology physics woven fine writes Phase Alignment of Neocortical Gamma Oscillations by Hippocampal Theta Waves:

An empty brain is the devil’s workshop, goes the proverb. Actually, the brain is never empty. Even in our deepest slumber, the brain continues to weave waves of electrical rhythms that can be seen with the aid of electroencephalogram or EEG. When we place electrodes on the scalp or on the cortex (inside the skull), and amplify the faint signals via bioinstrumentation amplifier, we can lay our hands on these fluctuating rhythms.

Subliminal Message writes Do Subliminal Messages Work?:

In 1979, Time magazine reported that nearly 50 department stores in the U.S. and Canada were using subliminal messages to reduce shoplifting. One chain reported 37% less shop lifting as a result of these messages. That is a savings of about $600,000.

Greg Laden writes The natural basis for gender inequality:

Naturalism here is meant as what is sometimes called Sociological Naturalism or Naturalistic Philosophy. The idea is very simple: That which we observe in nature is the best guide to how things should be. We see that in mammals mothers nurse their young.

You Are Truly Loved writes The World We See Is A Dream In The Brain:

So we can see that the brain is constantly interacting with electrical stimulation which we interpret to be an external reality, whether at night when we dream or during the day when we’re “awake.” It’s a lot like watching a movie comprised of electrical stimulation.

Brain, Mind, and Education writes Practice in Learning in Practice:

Though, of course, neither Gladwell or Pinker claim that practice is the only variable, I think it’s worthwhile to note that it’s an incredibly important one. It’s particularly important to think about the role of practice and repitition in skill development because many recent movments in curriculum reform have reduced the role of rote memorization in the classroom, pointing toward the persistent availability of a huge amount of factoids through Internet-based resrouces.

Providentia writes Blind Tom (Part 1):

Since Tom was considered an idiot as well as blind (idiot being a legitimate medical term then) with nobody else to care for him, Charity had to bring him with her to the big house while she worked as a maid for the Bethune family.

The Wise Curve writes How I overcome my fear instantly:

The main reason we experience fear is to allow our body to get into red alert mode so that we can escape or overcome danger and have greater chance of survival. Our pupil enlarged, our muscle tensed, and our senses sharpened up, getting ready to respond to danger.

axel g writes True Spiritual Wisdom:

Just because you are or have been a monk, nun, abbot, high priest, imam, lama, rinpoche, sensei, roshi, guru, swami, yogi, sadhu, mystic or shaman – doesn’t mean that you’ve ever attained any true spiritual wisdom.

Everyone Needs Therapy writes Jason Calacanis and Internet Asperger’s Syndrome:

He’s saying, basically, that as Internet addicts we’re losing our empathy, a symptom of Asperger’s. Our empathy is going to cr__, as some of my favorite first degrees might say, resulting in epidemic Asperger’s. We’re becoming robots, no longer able to get outside our obsessions with email, Facebook, blogging, statistics, whatever.