Big Think and Psychology Resources

For some time now, I have been receiving regular emails from a web site called "Big Think."  While the site contains content ranging from economics, technology, style, culture, history, and more, it also contains neuroscience, psychology, and identity.

Like TED, the site contains videos from experts, but they are more individual and up-close.  These videos typically occur within longer blogs related to a variety of topics, the best of which relate to psychology and neuroscience.  I will link to some favorites below.  Because the videos are short, they can be wonderful additions to what we do in the class, to have another person (read: expert) explain an idea that we'd like to get across to our students.  Additionally, the content creates a wonderful little professional development opportunity for we teachers.

Science and Technology Link Page
Brain Bugs: Hallucinations, Forgotten Faces, and Other Cognitive Quirks (with V.S. Ramachandran)
How ADHD Affects the Brain
This is Your Brain During Orgasm
Your Storytelling Brain (with Michael Gazzaniga)



There are so many other stories and content that are fascinating, I recommend taking some time to explore.  It is well worth it.


posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Infant Brains and Teenage Brains--Two New Articles

This weekend has been a boon for neuroscience articles.  Below are a couple of articles that we could use in our classes related to development and the human brain.

1)  National Geographic--The Teenage Brain

Printable version of the article
The article begins by asking rhetorical questions about our teens and their decision making process.  The article also deals with a cross-cultural/historical mention of adolescence and its tempering effect on behavior.  The article includes an excellent overview of brain development, including myelination.  Very nice article--but what else would one expect from National Geographic.


2)  The second article comes from NPR--the article describes a book and interview with the authors of Welcome to Your Child's Brain with an article entitled "How to Help Your Child's Brain Grow Up Strong."


The NPR article also discusses brain development, but highlights what infants are capable of which is considerably more than previously thought.  Help a child develop self-control is a highlight of both the book and article. It's another good read.  Also, in the left column of the article are links to other brain books and authors.


posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a short entry about David Eagleman appearing on the Colbert Report.  After having delayed the purchase of his book, I did finally buy it.  And was it ever worth it.  His writing style is so engaging I could first imagine reading portions of it to my classes.  He mentioned so many demonstration-style activities that I started marking the book up to be able to use or remind myself of these great ideas.

The content of the book examines the premise that reality is not what the conscious mind tells us it is.  He explains how "processes under the hood" are going on in our various biology-based systems and that our "conscious choices" may not exactly be that, but rather due to some underlying mechanism that we are unaware of.

No matter if you like the neuroscience books, you will like this book.  I encourage you check it out--or at least share it with one of your students and get a more detailed book review.


posted by Chuck Schallhorn

New Society for Neuroscience Website--

The Society for Neuroscience has created a wonderful resource that could potentially be utilized by those of us who can get our kids to the internet or for use during snow days or other cancellations.  It could also be used in a webquest.  Wonderful name as well:  "NERVE: Virtual Encycloportal."  I do believe they have engaged in creating a new word, a neologism. 

After the welcome page, the user is directed to this page where there are links to various themes including addiction, anatomy of the brain, and much more as you can see from the graphic on the left.

Each theme has numerous links to other resources that provide an incredible wealth of information and graphical representation of each topic.  One could literally spend days examining all the sites.

In fact, I will be starting my background research for my neuroscience, mental health, and sensation and perception units from this page.  There are just so many incredible resources. 

Do take the time to visit the site and search through the topics. 

Core Concepts in Neuroscience is a booklet that is downloadable for teachers and students to use.  Not only is there the booklet, but there is a short PowerPoint that you can download.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Neuroscientist David Eagleman on Colbert Report on 7/21/11

I was catching up on some television watching when I discovered this little nugget.  Dr. David Eagleman has written the book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain which examines the various processes that occur without the conscious mind being aware.  The reviews on Amazon are mixed, but for those of us who are not in the neuroscience field, it could be a good read.  In the interview, he comes across as a younger, cool, hip and bright neuroscientist.  He does not come off all like the stereotypical stodgy scientist image.  It's a short, fun interview.  Who knows, it may just make a student interested in the brain.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
David Eagleman
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Falling in and Out of Love

One of the daily emails I receive is called Delancey Place.com.   Each day, an excerpt from a book or magazine is highlighted--the topics vary widely.  This week, they are doing a series on love.  Every semester, my students ask me about falling in and out of love.  I know have my answer thanks to this find from  Delancey Place.  Here is the excerpt:

12/28/09 to 1/1/10: The Delanceyplace.com Week of Love!!!

In today's encore excerpt - the neural and chemical basis of love. Why doesn't passionate love last? - because we develop a chemical tolerance:

"Anthropologist Helen Fisher ... has devoted much of her career to studying the biochemical pathways of love in all its manifestations: lust, romance, attachment, the way they wax and wane ... [In her studies] when each subject looked at his or her loved one, the parts of the brain linked to reward and pleasure - the ventral tegmental area and the caudate nucleus - lit up. ... Love lights up the caudate nucleus because it is home to a dense spread of receptors for a neurotransmitter called dopamine ... which creates intense energy, exhilaration, focused attention ... [thus] love makes you bold, makes you bright, makes you run real risks, which you sometimes survive, and sometimes you don't. ...

"Researchers have long hypothesized that people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a serotonin 'imbalance.' Drugs like Prozac seem to alleviate OCD by increasing the amount of this neurotransmitter available at the juncture between neurons. [Researchers] compared the lover's serotonin levels with those from the OCD group and another group who were free from both passion and mental illness. Levels of serotonin in both the obsessives' blood and the lovers' blood were 40 percent lower than those in normal subjects. ... Translation: Love and mental illness may be difficult to tell apart. ...

"Why doesn't passionate love last? ... Biologically speaking, the reasons romantic love fades may be found in the way our brains respond to the surge and pulse of dopamine ... cocaine users describe the phenomenon of tolerance: the brain adapts to the excessive input of the drug ... From a physiological point of view, [couples move] from the dopamine-drenched state of romantic love to the relative quiet of the oxytocin-induced attachment. Oxytocin is a hormone that promotes a feeling of connection, bonding."

Lauren Slater, "Love: The Chemical Reaction," National Geographic, February 2006, pp. 35-45