Neurological Correlates

Schizophrenia progressively worsens.  According to a new paper, in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, the more cognitive impairment, the less white matter volume.  All patients had about the same amount of gray matter (which was less than controls).  The “near normal” patients had the highest white matter volumes; the most affected had the lowest white matter volumes. 
White [...]

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Yet another review of a book I haven’t read. From excerpts and other reviews, it looks great  - mostly because it’s written in a way that takes ordinary observations about human behavior and does the 360º.
This book, “Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique,” examines what makes humans different [...]

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High functioning sociopaths are in positions of power and authority because they have boundless ambition and bounded morality - and, if they look the part, they ape the white guys in power. Like affirmative action - let the white guy in, give him a chance, he’s not risky.

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The recovering alcoholics in my life sometimes act like they’re from Jupiter. (Everyone seems to be a recovering something these days. . . ) Their default position is negative attributional bias -they constantly are attacking based on presumed negative intention of others. They then confabulate to back fill facts to match their [...]

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Fragile X premutation, schizophrenia, biopolar and major psychosis are all related to mistakes in DNA processing complicated by failure of DNA repair mechanisms to correct it.

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So, what possesses anyone to show their genitals to a stranger in public? Research on exhibitionism discussed.

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What’s the latest research on narcissism? Three studies  discussed:
1. Narcissists are motivated to achieve a desired outcome (probably further personal glory) but not that motivated to avoid a negative outcome.
2. Depressive symptoms induce paranoid symptoms in narcissistic personalities (but not narcissistic symptoms in paranoid personalities).
3. On-line gamers are reported to be high on the [...]

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Everyone knows someone whose “default” emotion is anger. They are like a one-trick pony, they are sad, so they express anger. They are scared, so they act angry. They are frustrated, so they are angry. When in children, it is painful to watch. When in adults, it is scary.

World’s Most Dysfunctional Inspirational Poster [...]

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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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“. . .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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All of these traits deal with avoiding change or fear of the unknown. Or keeping things the way they are, and avoiding new things which could lead to conflict. Is all of this designed to avoid having to use the anterior cingulate — the liberal, left-wing portion of the brain? Is that part underdeveloped in conservatives? Authoritarians? Nazis?

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