A Psychopath Unplugged

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

This 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 [...]

The Bob Dylan Committee Could Have Been A Delusion Caused By Improper Brain Connectivity

Saturday, March 1st, 2008

Exhibit A: A committee of badly disguised Bob Dylan imposters?
As a child, with “Maggies’ Farm” on the record player, I asked an elder sibling why Bob Dylan looked so different on each of his (vinyl) album jackets. She calmly lied through her teeth, and explained that Bob Dylan was a committee, not a [...]

(corrected) Neuro-movie review: Wordplay and brain hemispheres

Monday, February 25th, 2008

In honor of the Oscars®, here is a neuro-movie review about a movie that came out in 2006 — Wordplay (here’s the link to the official site, and the link to the Rotten Tomatoes site). (Yes, it was out in 2006, so I’m a year late. ) This post will ultimately be about hemispheric [...]

Anger management: Dopamine Receptor Allele and Nuclear Receptor Genes Are Associated with Anger and Aggression

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

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 [...]

Neuromarketing: Neural Correlates of Conspicuous Consumption in Groups Vulnerable to Social Injustice

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

There are lots of studies as to why people purchase luxury goods, but these are mostly directed at individuals in isolation. What about group behavior?

Manhattan, Harlem, Lenox Ave.
Ray Fisman, an economist, has an interesting article in Slate about why African-Americans (and other ethnic minorities) in the US spend disproportionately on status-seeking items. As quoted in [...]

Moderate fetal alcohol x genetics = trouble

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

Kraemer et al., “Moderate Level Fetal Alcohol Exposure and Serotonin Transporter Gene Promoter Polymorphism Affect Neonatal Temperament and Limbic-Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Regulation in Monkeys,” Biol Psychiatry63: 317-324 (2008).

This is another nature x nurture study. We know that in people, if you are mistreated in childhood, and you have a particular gene which causes your [...]

From NYT City Room: Would-Be Jumper Sues Empire State Building

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008

 
From the NY Times:
 

N.Y./Region
City Room: Would-Be Jumper Sues Empire State Building
By Anemona Hartocollis
Published: January 15, 2008
The professional parachute jumper who tried to leap off the city’s tallest building in 2006 released a video that shows him struggling with security guards and police officers on the observation deck.

Sphere: Related Content

White matter month: Rehab dating

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

Chanraud S, Martelli C, Delain F, Kostogianni N, Douaud G, Aubin HJ, Reynaud M, Martinot JL., Brain morphometry and cognitive performance in detoxified alcohol-dependents with preserved psychosocial functioning, Neuropsychopharmacology. 2007 Feb;32(2):429-38. Epub 2006 Oct 18 PMID: 17047671
Continuing “White Matter Month” — should you date someone you met at Rehab? Or should they [...]

Neuroeconomics and neuromarketing: Trust me, I’m your brain

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

Little American Brown Weasel
The Top Two Inches has an interesting blog post about dating, called, “Dating — Don’t Do It“. Interesting read, and it got me thinking about trust.
Trust is first built in one part of the brain, and then your brain comes to a fork in the road: the “unconditional” trust brain area [...]

Brain scan shows when people think you’re lying

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

Jury consultants, start your engines
Let’s say your client — the one with the violent past, long rap sheet, and general air of no credibilitiy whatsoever — is on trial for murder.
He tells his story: “The other dude did it!”
You believe him.
Will anyone else believe him? How should he present his story to the jury? [...]

Weight Loss Meds Updates: New Phen-fens and leptin

Monday, November 19th, 2007

Happy pre-Thanksgiving!
On that note, I thought I’d catch up on weight loss abstracts.
1. New Phen-fens without the side effects look good, and they may also be useful in treating diabetes. They may have an “anxiety” type side effect initially.
2. Leptin plus a satiety protein (Amylin’s pramlintide) makes 200+ pound people lose about 25 pounds [...]

Neuroeconomics: Companies self-select incompetent and possibly psychopathic CEOs

Sunday, October 14th, 2007

More on Mr. Icahn’s theory of how incompetent people get to be CEO .
1. Hierarchies select for Machiavellians — those who are callous and unemotional toward co-workers can succeed more rapidly than those who are empathetic toward coworkers. You get rewarded for confiscating credit and off loading blame — whereas there is no reward for [...]

Neurological Correlates: Machiavellianism

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

Here’s a report that in Parkinson’s Disease patients, as the frontal lobe becomes impaired, personality veers toward “Machiavellianism” — or self-centered-ness coupled with lack of concern for others.
Nicollo Machiavelli
 

 
Cognit Neuropsychiatry. 2007 Jul;12(4):285-300.Links

“Machiavellianism” and frontal dysfunction: evidence from Parkinson’s disease.
McNamara P, Durso R, Harris E.
Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, and VA [...]