Author Archives: Chris

Foxp2

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Chris

An interesting article published in Nature about FoxP2 (Forkhead box protein 2) gene, which has been shown to be critical for learning speech. Discovered first in a British family with inherited speech problems, foxp2 has been shown to have two … Continue reading →

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Nocebo effect

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Chris

The Guardian has this article about the winner of the Wellcome science writing prize, which is about the Nocebo effect. This is a sort of reverse brain hacking, or brain hacking to make yourself worse off. If placebo are harmless … Continue reading →

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How to spot a liar/how to lie, part I

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Chris

There is a lot of fascinating research on how to spot a liar–and such research has amped up in the last ten years with the increase in security consciousness. I’ve done a fair amount of reading of the literature and … Continue reading →

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Stories versus models

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Chris

I’ve been thinking a lot about this old Paul Krugman post, in which he discusses how hard it is for many, even serious economists, to grapple rationally with the current world financial situation. He ascribes it as a need to … Continue reading →

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Revolution images

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Chris

Wow, great photo by Mauricio Lima in the New York times. Great composition. It reminds me of David’s “Liberty” painting from the French revolution. Although unfortunately there is no bare-breasted Marianne.

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The Power of Abstraction

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Chris

I got into a discussion with someone recently about whether spending tens of thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) for a college education was really worth it. He felt that it was not, and that it was a “moral hazard” to … Continue reading →

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Overcoming math (and other) anxiety

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Chris

Researchers recently looked at brain activity in those who have math anxiety and those who don’t. What they found was that among those who have math anxiety, through focus and concentration they could perform just as well on test as … Continue reading →

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More evidence exercise rewires the brain

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Chris

In this item from NYTimes Well blog, they discuss research showing that vigorous exercise can diminish the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in ways that drugs can’t. Yet more evidence that exercise is powerful medicine for many systems in the body, … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Hacking, Diet and Exercise, Neuroscience and Psychology, Play, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Sleep, “energy” and mood

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Chris

A new study using twitter to evaluate mood over the course of the day reveals that people’s mood rises in the morning, lowers in the afternoon, then rises again in the evening. Hmmm. Where have I seen that curve before? … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Hacking, Neuroscience and Psychology, Sleep, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ubiquitous video and the passing of the kick-ass era

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Chris

Looking at the videos of the Occupy Wall Street protest and in particular of the “pepper spray incident” I’m actually pretty hopeful. I think that it is now becoming clear to police departments and officers that there is very little … Continue reading →

Posted in Current History, Publishing and Journalism | Leave a comment