The Frontal Cortex – Jung and Dreams:
at view has largely given way to a new perspective, in which our dreams are seen as an essential part of learning and memory. Consider this 2001 study led Matthew Wilson, a professor at MIT. Wilson began his experiment by training rats to run through mazes. While a rat was running through one of these labyrinths, Wilson measured clusters of neurons in the hippocampus with multiple electrodes surgically implanted in its brain. As he'd hypothesized, Wilson found that each maze…
2 minutes
Psychology Today – Mixed Signals – Why Your Intelligence and Attractiveness Elude You:
ere are a lot of reasons to think you'd be the best judge of you. After all, you've known you longer than anyone else (except, perhaps, your parents). You've spent more time with you than anyone else. You see yourself in all kinds of situations, from solitary reflective moments in your home to dazzling parties surrounded by friends and strangers. But you're also very biased; you have a vested interest in seeing yourself as decent and competent, and not evil…
2 minutes
NYTimes.com – Inmates’ Last Words before execution:
st week, reports of executions — one postponed in Ohio, one carried out in Texas — punctuated the news more frequently than usual. These reports prompted me to reflect on an archive of executed prisoners’ last words I found on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site while researching parole terms. The archive’s earliest entry dates from Dec. 7, 1982; the most recent was added after Stephen Moody was executed on Wednesday by lethal injection for murder. What follows…
1 min read
Blue Chip, White Cotton: What Underwear Says About the Economy:
in over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert
1 min read
Majority of US Workers Live Paycheck-to-Paycheck
re than six in 10 (61%) of US workers live paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet, according to a new study sponsored by CareerBuilder.com. Among workers earning $100K a year or more, the percentage drops to 30%. Despite the lower numbers for those with higher incomes, the percentage of workers who say they usually or always live paycheck-to-paycheck has risen both among the general population and more affluent workers. The overall percentage has risen from 49% in 2008. For workers earning…
1 min read
Why the Rich Are so Cold:
series of studies published in Psychological Science found that money can influence responses to both emotional and physical pain. Specifically, the researchers found that handling physical money makes a person less sensitive to physical pain and reduces the distress of being excluded in social situations. via blogs.wsj.com Join over 320,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts: New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More…
1 min read
What’s to stop me from making counterfeit casino chips?
begin with, the manufacture of genuine casino chips (known in the trade as "checks") is more complicated than one might think – as you suspect, they're not just discs of colored plastic. They are created, machined, and finished using very specialized equipment, and generally feature several antifraud measures ranging from serial numbers to embedded microchips, as well as each individual casino’s own logo and related branding. Casino chip production is handled by the security printing industry, which also makes…
1 min read
No eyebrows = you’re less recognizable
cording to a study by Javid Sadr and his colleagues at MIT, eyebrows are a crucial part of facial identification. The behavioral neuroscientists discovered that faces without eyebrows are like land without landmarks. The study: Volunteers were asked to identify fifty famous faces, including that of former U.S. president Richard Nixon and actor Winona Ryder. The photos were digitally altered and shown either without eyebrows or without eyes. When celebrities lacked eyes, subjects could recognize them nearly 60 percent of…
1 min read
