Clipmarks | pokkets's 'brain' clips

7 Thinking Errors You Probably Make

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:14:13 GMT

clipped by: gingembre
clipper's remarks: Common thinking errors explained, each backed by a scientific study. Food for thought!

Clip Source: www.lifehack.org

The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes

The entire domain of the scientific method has largely been an effort to overcome the natural inclination towards bias in reasoning

common thinking errors:

1) Confirmation Bias

tendency to seek information to prove, rather than disprove our theories

2) Hindsight Bias

see past results as appearing more probable than they did initially

3) Clustering Illusion

see patterns where none actually exist

4) Recency Effect

give more weight to recent data

5) Anchoring Bias

a well-known problem with negotiations

6) Overconfidence Effect

people tend to grossly overestimate their abilities

7) Fundamental Attribution Error

Mistaking personality and character traits for differences caused by situations

Tags: psychology, human nature, bias, thinking, reasoning, critical thinking

The Internet Is a Brain

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:59:46 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: There is a lot we can learn from the brain and it can tell us where the Internet is headed next.

There’s nothing magical in the brain (at least that we’ve found thus far), and yet it delivers all our mental capabilities, and emotional ones as well – that’s a very intriguing thought. After all, just as there is no particular reason for this lump inside our heads to appreciate fine wines and music, cry, laugh, reason, love, daydream, and aspire to greater things, there is no reason why silicon or some other fundamental substance (maybe even carbon some day), could not be coaxed into creating something similar.

Clip Source: discussionleader.hbsp.com

The Internet is a brain. There, I said it. It has taken me far too long to publicly utter those words. And not because I don't believe them, but for fear that people will think I am crazy.

So, yes it may sound off-the-wall at first blush, but it's an insight that has helped me develop companies that are collectively worth over a billion dollars. It's an insight that will lead to the development of future businesses worth far more than that. More importantly, it is going to change the world as we know it, revolutionizing the way we think about thought and the way we think about ourselves.

Let’s get concrete about what I mean here. The brain is one of the most complex networks in the world, with more neurons than there are stars in the galaxy. Its hardware is a complex network of neurons; its software a complex network of memories. And so too is the Internet a network.

Its hardware is a complex network of computers; its software a complex network of websites

Tags: net, brain

Nurture affects physiology

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:49:02 GMT

clipped by: tumblon
clipper's remarks: A study at the University of Minnesota is finding that nurture in early childhood really does matter to the physical structure of the brain.

Clip Source: www.startribune.com

"What [Zelazo] is starting to show is that exposure to certain kinds of education and certain kinds of nurturing environments actually produce physically measurable changes in the brain," said Michael Feuer, executive director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies of Science.

Tags: brain, children, education

The boy with the incredible brain-Savant autism

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:09:59 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: Clip 2 What is particularly unusual about Daniel is That he can explain what is happening in his Brain
It is a Florid Example of Synesthesia

Clip Source: au.youtube.com

[Video]

The boy with the incredible brain-Savant autism

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:06:15 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: Clip 1

Clip Source: au.youtube.com

[Video]

Study helps unlock how the brain sees

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:27:33 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They hope to use the findings, to Recreate the capacity to see in Robots, and Artificial Intelligence

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Julie Steenhuysen

Scientists who tricked monkeys by swapping images of sailboats for teacups have figured out how the brain learns to recognise objects, a finding that could lead to robots that see.

"One of the central questions of how the brain recognises objects and faces is that you never essentially see the same image twice," says James DiCarlo, an associate professor of neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He says humans have no trouble recognising a dog, regardless of whether it is running, lying down, wagging its tail or begging for food.

"The pattern of light in your eyes is never the same when you view your wife or your dog, yet you can still recognise that as the person or creature that you love," says DiCarlo, whose research appears in the journal Science.

Scientists believe people do it by gathering a host of different snapshots of the same object over a short period of time.

nearby images in time tend to be images of the same object,

Why you should go with your gut feeling

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:39:17 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: To uncover this ability, Pessiglione and colleague Chris Frith, of University College London, tested 20 volunteers with a simple game based on winning and losing small amounts of money.

On a computer screen, the volunteers watched an animated abstract pattern which for a couple of tenths of a second included one of three symbols part way through. Unbeknownst to the subjects, the symbols indicated whether they would lose or gain £1 or break even if they accepted the gamble.

Surprisingly, subjects got better at predicting whether they would win or not, eventually plateauing at slightly above chance, strong evidence that volunteers do not consciously notice the symbols but are affected by them nonetheless.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Next time you’re at a blackjack table trying to decide whether to hold or hit, just trust your gut. New research shows that our brains pick up on subliminal signals – a dealer’s tell, for instance – when making risky decisions.

“When you think that you are referring to your intuition, actually you just learn an association between subliminal signals in your context and the outcome of your actions,” says Mathias Pessiglione, a neuroscientist at the Centre for Neuroimaging Research in Paris, France, who led the study.

Doctors and gamblers may be used to trusting their instincts in make-or-break situations, but scientists have had a tough time proving that the brain can learn subconsciously.

Under a functional-MRI brain scanner, the researchers found that the subjects appeared to be basing their subconscious choices on activity in an area of their brains involved in conscious risk-taking – the striatum.

Tags: brain, intuition, sub conscious learning

Numder 'sense' boosts maths skills

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:04:39 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Humans have an inborn, intuitive grasp of numbers that varies from one person to the next and is closely linked to advanced math skills, according to a study.

Research suggests humans have an innate ability to roughly estimate quantities in the blink of eye

The ability to roughly estimate quantities in the blink of eye - without any training - has also been found in monkeys, rats and four-month-old infants, and probably has deep evolutionary roots

The results of the study appear in the latest issue of Nature.

"It is difficult to overstate the importance of the 'number sense' for all kinds of animals," says lead researcher Assistant Professor Justin Halberda, a cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins University.

Previous research has shown that an innate sense of numbers is entirely controlled by a non-verbal region of the brain called the intraparietal sulcus.

But to do exact arithmetic and precise calculations, humans require language, which is governed by another part of the brain.

Top 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:11:12 GMT

clipped by: Rwinter

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

new research has suggested that moderate beer intake can actually improve cardiovascular function.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Studies show that bursts of anger here and there are good for the health

stay angry for long periods

health issues, like blood pressure, sleep disorders and lung damage

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

unrelated studies claim coffee is a major source of antioxidants in our diet and can help lower your risk of diabetes.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

In heavy drinkers, small doses of LSD have been thought to help bypass the rock-bottom stage of alcoholism and prevent relapses.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

sun's rays is necessary to survive, but can also kill you in gross, cancerous quantities.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

munch on bacteria and dead tissue, stimulating healing and helping to prevent infection.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Marijuana

prevent the clumping of brain proteins, one major cause of the disease.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Red Wine

a reduction in gum disease and Alzheimer's

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Chocolate

may even increase blood flow to the brain

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

take pleasure in the news

sex is an easy way to reduce stress, lower cholesterol and improve circulation throughout the body.

Tags: health, sex, chocolate, alzheimer's, wine, marijuana, maggots, healing, sun, lsd, coffee, antoxidants, anger, beer, cardiovascular, good, bad, heart

Dark Chocolate reduces CFS study suggests

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 01:58:22 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: It sounds good to me. Any good reason to eat chocolate suits me just fine.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A daily dose of dark chocolate may help reduce the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, say UK researchers.

researchers from Hull York Medical School said the results were surprising but dark chocolate may be having an effect on the brain chemical serotonin.

Study leader Professor Steve Atkin, an expert in endocrinology, said the idea for the study came after a patient reported feeling much better after swapping her normal milk chocolate for dark chocolate with a high cocoa solid content.

Those taking dark chocolate reported significantly less fatigue and reported feeling more fatigue when they stopped eating it

"Dark chocolate is high in polyphenols, which have been associated with health benefits such as a reduction in blood pressure.

Also high polyphenols appear to improve levels of serotonin in the brain, which has been linked with chronic fatigue syndrome and that may be a mechanism."

"If you derive benefit, then it's a no-harm, no-risk situation

Tags: dark chocolate, cfs, serotonin, study

Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:16:59 GMT

clipped by: Perkalicious11

Clip Source: www.sharpbrains.com

let's review some good lifestyle options we can follow to maintain, and improve, our vibrant brains.

Learn what is the "It" in "Use It or Lose It"

Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake?

Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.

Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset

Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges

Aim high. Once you graduate from college, keep learning

Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment

Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them

Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are "social animals", and need social interaction. Which, by the way, is why 'Baby Einstein' has been shown not to be the panacea for children development.

Laugh. Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor

Tags: prepare, technique, tip, brain, organization, improvement, highly effective, habits

Robot controlled by own biological brain

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:06:18 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They used rat neurones. Maybe we'll discover what rats have been thinking, or how the nature of thinking varies from species to species, if and what significant 'character' differences there are. We may even find rats have the potential to be much smarter than we thought they were.
The neurons act in response to stimuli. Maybe the best way to describe them is 'curious'
It can be fairly certain there will be no official testing with human neurones, but there will be testing. I also wonder if the instinct for self preservation goes that deep - Sounds like the kind of thing that would interest the military.

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

A robot that controls itself with its own biological brain of cultured neurones, has been designed by UK researchers.

The neurone-powered robot, called Gordon, was unveiled

at the University of Reading

"The purpose is to figure out how memories are actually stored in a biological brain," says Professor Kevin Warwick, head of cybernetics

Gordon has a brain composed of 50,000 to 100,000 active neurones.

Once removed from rat foetuses and disentangled from each other in an enzyme bath, the specialised nerve cells are laid out in a nutrient-rich medium across an eight-by-eight centimetre array of 60 electrodes.

This "multi-electrode array" (MEA) serves as the interface between living tissue and machine

the brain sending electrical impulses to drive the wheels of the robots, and receiving impulses delivered by sensors reacting to the environment

Because the brain is living tissue, it must be housed in a special temperature-controlled unit and communicates with its "body" via a Bluetooth radio link.

Stress and brain plasticity

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:13:55 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Stress contributes to performance, if one knows how to move with it.
another path for drugs that will enhance our capabilities...

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Stress Hormone Found To Regulate Brain Neurotransmission

one of the stress hormones regulates brain neurotransmission on the short and long term and enables neuronal connections to adapt.

When we are subjected to a stress, our adrenal glands secrete hormones that affect our entire body. One of these hormones, cortisol

The researchers have shown that in one part of the brain, the hippocampus, corticosterone (the equivalent of human cortisol in laboratory rats) modifies the intensity of transmissions made by excitatory synapses

this hormone increases the mobility of receptors found on the surface of neurons, thus allowing synaptic connections to adapt more effectively to the demands of brain activity.

In addition, briefly exposing neurons to corticosterone increases synaptic plasticity

in the case of prolonged stress (corticosterone stimulation over several hours), synaptic plasticity is reduced.

these newly discovered mechanisms opens up numerous possibilities for future research

Tags: neuroscience, brain plasticity

Scanning the brain in real time

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:29:35 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: Learning to control your own mind. There have been three ways to affect the brain.(for argument's sake) the psychiatrist's couch, the knife, and with medication. Now with the improved MRI technology we can look inside our brain in real time, and affect the way we think.
The video wont clip but video lasts for 3min56sec and can be seen following the top link, or is 13.6MB download from the link in the clip (The 'desktop' link works, itunes seems only to be a download from the site)

Clip Source: www.ted.com

Neuroscientist and inventor Christopher deCharms demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity -- thoughts, emotions, pain -- while it is happening. In other words, you can actually see how you feel.

Christopher deCharms is working on a way to use fMRI scans to show brain activity -- in real time. Full bio and more links »

Download this talk

Video to desktop (Zipped MP4)
Video to iTunes (MP4)

Boredom a sickness or a creative tool?

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:07:57 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: "In experiments in the 1970s, psychiatrists showed that participants completing word-association tasks quickly tired of the job once obvious answers were given; granted more time, they began trying much more creative solutions"

"In a recent paper in The Cambridge Journal of Education, Teresa Belton and Esther Priyadharshini of East Anglia University in England reviewed decades of research and theory on boredom, and concluded that it’s time that boredom “be recognized as a legitimate human emotion that can be central to learning and creativity.”

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

You’re Checked Out, but Your Brain Is Tuned In

Scientists know plenty about boredom, too, though more as a result of poring through thickets of meaningless data than from studying the mental state itself. Much of the research on the topic has focused on the bad company it tends to keep, from depression and overeating to smoking and drug use.

Yet boredom is more than a mere flagging of interest or a precursor to mischief. Some experts say that people tune things out for good reasons, and that over time boredom becomes a tool for sorting information — an increasingly sensitive spam filter.

it is far from a passive neural shrug. Using brain-imaging technology, neuroscientists have found that the brain is highly active when disengaged, consuming only about 5 percent less energy in its resting “default state” than when involved in routine tasks

as if the boredom “had the power to exert pressure on individuals to stretch their inventive capacity,”

Tags: neuroscience