Category Archives: Psychological and Cognitive Sciences

Journal Club: Tracing light’s effect on mood and learning in mice from the eye to deep within the brain

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Carolyn Beans

To the mammalian eye, light offers more than just sight. “Light is so important for many innate functions,” says neuroscientist Samer Hattar of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “We really don’t appreciate the importance of light in our … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Canines remember who cooperates, suggesting principles similar to those seen in human interaction

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Carolyn Beans

Human cooperation often comes down to one key understanding: You help me, I’ll help you. Social animals, including dogs, also help others, even nonrelatives. But many scientists assume that animal cooperation is a different breed. They see animals as less … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Tracking memories in fruit fly brains

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Carolyn Beans

Memories help animals make predictions. A honeybee may remember that the smell of orange blossoms means nectar is nearby. But sometimes memories require updating. “If you know that your fridge is a good source of food, and you go to … Continue reading →

Journal Club: How the principles of principals affect student values

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Stephen Ornes

Kids go to school to study math, science, literature, and other subjects. But at least since the time of Plato, philosophers and others have highlighted the importance of educational institutions in shaping the values of students, who will be tomorrow’s … Continue reading →

Categories: Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Tagged principals, schools, teaching, values | Leave a comment

Journal Club: How your body feels influences your confidence levels

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Charles Choi

Despite living in a world filled with uncertainty, people are generally not constantly paralyzed by doubt, but instead feel confident about their choices. Previous research often assumed that this feeling of confidence was based solely on the availability of high-caliber … Continue reading →

Categories: Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Tagged confidence, decision-making | Leave a comment

Journal Club: How much you think you understand depends on what you believe others understand

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Amber Dance

Knowing that experts understand something is enough to make lay persons think they, too, have better grasped a concept, according to a September 26 paper in the journal Psychological Science. Cognitive scientist Steven Sloman, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode … Continue reading →

Categories: Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Tagged community of knowledge | 1 Comment

Journal Club: Childhood adversities correlated with shortened telomeres, poorer health later in life

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Amber Dance

Stressful experiences during youth seem to leave a mark on a person’s genome decades later, in the form of withered chromosomal caps. As reported in PNAS, childhood stress correlates with increased odds to have shortened telomeres, the chromosome tips that … Continue reading →

Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Psychological and Cognitive Sciences | Tagged childhood, stress, telomeres | Leave a comment