People don’t remember you as well when you’re not happy, so put on a happy face (video and lyrics, too)
Friday, March 21st, 2008I lurve experiments where oxytocin is squirted up people’s noses. Oxytocin-up-the-nose affects your ability to recognize people you’ve seen before — and, according to two new reports, this effect is most pronounced if you see them displaying the same emotion that you first saw them displaying. Happy memories are the strongest. So, don’t be [...]
A Psychopath Unplugged
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008This post is about the neural correlates of those who seek power for power’s sake — without any emotional component — but first, a Dateline NBC example:
A 12 year old girl accused her stepfather of sexually abusing her. Because the stepfather felt he was wrongly accused, he built a bunker in the backwoods, and [...]
Drink Green Beer, Not Green Wine
Monday, March 17th, 2008 On St. Patrick’s day, pour yourself a green beer, not a green wine: wine and spirits cause more hippocampal volume loss than does beer (in chronic alcoholics, anyway).
There are probably other good reasons for not drinking green wine, although some clever marketing group will probably market a sauvignon vert . . . [...]
The 30% of Medicare spent on last-year-of-life care: let’s not forget we’re humans.
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008This post is about health care costs — but let me digress into how end-of-life decision- making came onto my radar. A few years ago, as the Terri (Schindler) Schiavo tragedy played out during prime time, I went to see Bodyworlds, at a museum near the medical school downtown. While leaning over the light table, [...]