Monthly Archives: September 2007

Neurological Correlates: Going on Anti-Depressants and Thinking “I’d rather be dead”

September 29, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Going on Anti-Depressants and Thinking “I’d rather be dead”

Cruickshank, George, “Suicide” “A young woman has jumped from a bridge; two onlookers are standing on the bridge in upper right corner; ship masts are visible in lower left beneath the arch of the bridge through which shines a full moon.” Regarding suicide – from the US CDC: • Among young adults ages 15...

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Neurological Correlates: Apathy

September 29, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Apathy

Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2007 Sep 25; Striatal dopamine transporter levels correlate with apathy in neurodegenerative diseases A SPECT study with partial volume effect correction. David R, Koulibaly M, Benoit M, Garcia R, Caci H, Darcourt J, Robert P. Centre Mémoire de Ressource et de Recherche, CHU Nice, France. OBJECTIVES: The...

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The meanest grandmother lives the longest

September 28, 2007
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The meanest grandmother lives the longest

I bet this explains why people get worse as they get older.Have you ever wondered why an older person is unduly hostile?Could be trinucleotide repeats. These tri-nucleotide repeat disorders really mess up your brain, probably by shutting down mitochondria (via excess iron, is one hypothesis). See the abstracts below. Pre-Huntington’s, has elevated hostility as...

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Neurological Correlates: Neuroeconomics of men doing housework – “The Odd Couple”

September 27, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Neuroeconomics of men doing housework –  “The Odd Couple”

“He’s Happier, She’s Less So“, NYT 9/27/07 (David Leonhardt) In a previous post about sloth I wondered about the recent report that women still do more housework than men – and mused that it could be that women and men are equally as lazy once you subtract any maternal bonding influence. In other words,...

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Pride requires an audience, but Joy you can do alone

September 26, 2007
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Pride requires an audience, but Joy you can do alone

Our results support the idea that pride is a self-conscious emotion, requiring the ability to detect the intention of others. At the same time, judgment of pride might require less self-reflection compared with those of negative self-conscious emotions such as guilt or embarrassment.

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Neurological Correlates: Neuromarketing — don’t try to guilt trip the disagreeable

September 26, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Neuromarketing — don’t try to guilt trip the disagreeable

". . .Overall, prosocial motivation is linked to (a) Agreeableness as a dimension of personality, (b) proximal prosocial cognition and motives, and (c) helping behavior across a range of situations and victims. In persons low in prosocial motivation, when costs of helping are high, efforts to induce empathy situationally can undermine prosocial behavior. ....

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Neurological Correlates: Neuroeconomics – Who is likely to sue you?

September 26, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Neuroeconomics – Who is likely to sue you?

Or, how do you pick customers unlikely to sue you? At least with doctors, there is now a paper: What patient attributes are associated with thoughts of suing a physician? Fishbain, et al., Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2007 May;88(5):589-96 (full abstract after the jump).

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Neurological Correlates: Neuromarketing, playing to the dopamine crowd

September 25, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Neuromarketing, playing to the dopamine crowd

Screenshots of (top) on-line gaming, and (bottom) on-line stock trading J Gambl Stud. 2007 Mar 30; Dopamine Genes and Pathological Gambling in Discordant Sib-Pairs. Sabbatini da Silva Lobo D, Vallada HP, Knight J, Martins SS, Tavares H, Gentil V, Kennedy JL. Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM-23)—Psychopharmacology, Department and Institute of...

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Neurological Correlates: Of Sloths and Men and Vasopressin

September 24, 2007
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Neurological Correlates: Of Sloths and Men and Vasopressin

The Seven Deadly Sins-a-rama continues with sloth, but first, I'm going to sit on the couch and watch TV. The person of the other gender who lives in my household in Europe will do my housework and take care of my kids. That's because I have a short-form arginine vasopressin 1A receptor promoter, so...

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More Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony

September 23, 2007
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More Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony

Sardinia! Sardinia, Satellite Photo (Wikipedia, Sardinia entry) Sardinia, a beautiful gem of an island off the coast of Italy, known for gorgeous beaches, glamorous holidays, $2M birthday parties, and lately known for studying the genetics of its inhabitants. The population is considered an isolated one, like Icelandic populations, and therefore presumably more genetically homogeneous...

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