Monthly Archive for November, 2010
Faith or Fiction?
Arguably, one of the greatest scenes in all of movie history is the parting of the Red Sea by Moses played by Charlton Heston in the blockbuster epic The Ten Commandments. (The awe inspired by the portrayal of the miracle during the Israelites’s exodus from Egypt is matched only by the awe that movie special effects have come a long way since 1956.) Cheesy? Yes. Biblically accurate? Basically. Scientifically feasible? Possibly, say a team of scientists.
Narcissism in High-Functioning Individuals – Big Ego or Severe Disorder?
Love seeketh only Self to please, To bind another to its delight, Joys in another’s loss of ease, And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.-- William Blake from "The Clod and the Pebble"Though Blake showed an intuition of the evils of pathological narcissism in the quoted verses, there are certain personality disorders that are easier to spot for the non-professional, because they dramatically hinder the normal functioning of individuals in society.
Daytime Napping Improves Memory
Napping sounds like just the thing for babies and elderly, but even healthy adults can rely on a daytime snooze to improve their mood, alertness, and memory. Napping has been shown to enhance memory performance and counteract the effects of fatigue. Firefighters, doctors, astronauts, pilots and other professions that handle complicated procedures for long hours are often advised to take a nap during rest time. While many studies support the notion that napping strengthens existing memory, a recent study suggests that napping also reorganizes memory and links information together to form memory networks for easy retrieval at a later time.
The Psychology of Poker
Imagine you are sitting at a poker table with a stranger whose play strategy -- how he bets and bluffs -- is unknown to you. You are dealt a two-card hand. Your opponent raises. Will you call or will you fold? How do you decide? Conventional wisdom says you look at your hand, gauge the chances of winning based on your cards, and look for clues of bluffing in your opponent’s face and body language. However, recent research published in PLoS One shows that your first impression of the opponent’s trustworthiness influences your decision and that you fold more frequently when the opponent looks trustworthy than when the opponent keeps a neutral expression or a poker face.
Popular Posts
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- The Science of Stuttering
- Intelligence - Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Is Grief a Mental Illness?
- The Brain's Buying Power
- The Cost of a Good Night's Sleep
- Risk Factors for Recurrence of Depression
- Salvia Divinorum - DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
- The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
Future Posts
Latest Posts
- Thinking Fast Equals Risky Business
- A Gateway to Weight Loss?
- Intelligence – Do You Need it to be Successful?
- A Trip for Terminal Patients
- Memory Ain’t What It Used to Be – And That’s Good for Psychotherapy
- The Science of Stuttering
- Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
- Beer – The Smarter Drink
- Macroeconomics and Suicide
- From Nymphomania to Hypersexuality
Comments
- : this is a wonderful; klbgsna n
- Dr. Linda Vu: I consider the plasticity in r
- karir: Hello there, just became aware
- akas: The rate of fashionable experi
- Ryan: Great post! I agree with the p
- : I have used heroin for 20 year
- Lino Baine: I am not aware that people wit
- Lulu Jones: Hmm....this is interesting. I
- Robert A. Yourell, MA: Hi Stephanie...OR they tried a
- Stephnie: Based on the facts in the arti
- Sammy: I was a test subject for one o
- Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA: Thank you for your insightful
