More Brain Fun

Post by **axordil** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:57 pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10mind.html?em

We dream, eyes open,
Sonambulating as we
See the waking world

Post by **axordil** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:13 pm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/science/24angier.html

Empathy demands
A flood of oxytocin
Before you connect

Post by **Maria** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:25 pm

Now that's really interesting. Since oxytocin is responsible for empathy and lactation, and I had too much of both (had milk in my breasts for 10 years after weaning the last one) I wonder if anyone would be interested in finding out my oxytocin levels? They are probably abonormally high.

I'm going to post that article on an empath board I'm a member of and see what the folks there think of it.

Post by **axordil** » Wed May 05, 2010 1:51 pm

The opening paragraph of this NYT essay is pretty funny. The rest is merely intriguing.

The Moral Life of Babies

Obviously one wants to see the numbers and details, but at first glance it seems like a good study, especially in that in raises more questions than it answers.

Post by **Padme** » Wed May 05, 2010 4:25 pm

That was an interesting read. I wonder if the old wives tale about babies and dogs being the best judge of character is somewhat true. I've notice if my dogs don't at some point warm up to someone (after 5 to 15 minutes) I tend to get a bit freaked out. I've observed that babies tend to not like mean people too, the example I can think of is th horrid ex co-worker of mine who was a bully mean person to everyone, babies would not go to her no matter what. She also didn't like kids, continually said that her son was a mistake and that she never wanted to be a mother (yes she told her son this too). She couldn't get a baby within 4 feet of her with out them crying, newborn on up to 3 or so.

Post by **yovargas** » Wed May 05, 2010 4:41 pm

Loved it.

Post by **Lalaith** » Wed May 05, 2010 5:25 pm

Interesting.

Will those babies grow up with an aversion to green triangles, I wonder?

Post by **axordil** » Wed May 05, 2010 6:39 pm

Or naughty puppets.

Post by **Lalaith** » Wed May 05, 2010 6:58 pm

Well, the puppet aversion is a natural, God-given instinct felt by all sane and rational people. Puppets are just plain evil.

Post by **axordil** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:56 pm

I love this kind of neuro/psycholinguistic stuff.

Post by **Lidless** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:05 pm

...oxytocin is responsible for empathy and lactation...

I will take this as Indisputable Scientific Proof that my man boobs or 'moobs' to use the current vernacular (aah - there was a word with a different meaning back in the day - sort of - some adverbs, verbs and nouns are in common) are as a result of my body producing this chemical.

Nothing to do with my lifestyle. I just liked to healthily nurture n00bs, OK?

Post by **Dave_LF** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:22 pm

axordil wrote:I love this kind of neuro/psycholinguistic stuff.

I think we should take a cue from Matses and come up with a new language for scientists and philosophers that incorporates epistemology. Think how much time could be saved, and how many errors prevented!

Post by **Inanna** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 7:23 pm

that's a great article, Ax.

I've often thought that learning a computer language - not an application one - but the kind we grew up with - teaches us to be logical in thought, and helps us break things down into small sets of instructions.

Post by **Dave_LF** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 7:42 pm

That the problem with all these new-fangled languages that do all the work for you.

But talking to computers all the time certainly does affect the way you think. For example, my wife and I act out scenes like the one in this joke all the time:

A woman ask her programmer husband, "Honey, could you stop at the grocery store on your way home and buy a loaf of bread? And if they have eggs, get a dozen". A little while later, the man comes home with twelve loaves of bread. "Why did you buy so much bread?!" asks the woman. "They had eggs".

Post by **Maria** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:00 pm

Lots of things we thought we knew about what the brain does are thrown into question by this case:
Boy Without a Cerebellum Baffles Doctors

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:04 pm

That is extremely odd.

Post by **Túrin Turambar** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:17 pm

Dave_LF wrote:A woman ask her programmer husband, "Honey, could you stop at the grocery store on your way home and buy a loaf of bread? And if they have eggs, get a dozen". A little while later, the man comes home with twelve loaves of bread. "Why did you buy so much bread?!" asks the woman. "They had eggs".

I know I'm six months' late, but I love it!

I probably missed it the first time because I was somewhere between Boulder and Calgary.

Post by **axordil** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:28 pm

Maria wrote:Lots of things we thought we knew about what the brain does are thrown into question by this case:
Boy Without a Cerebellum Baffles Doctors

Well, very young brains are very plastic. But while the kid is doing surprisingly well, he's not exactly untouched by the absence of a couple of chunks of brain.

Post by **Maria** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:25 pm

I guess, lacking the appropriate hardware, his software worked around the problem. It's bound to be glitchy, but better than nothing.