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MIND MATTERSLunch time discussion group for students, community members, and faculty interested in
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PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS
Final Meeting of the Semester (Spring 2008)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008---Cognition, Aging, Plasticity
The benefits of excercise on mental functioning
Kramer, A.F., Colcombe, S.J., McAuley, E., Scalf, P.E., & Erickson, K.I. (2005). Fitness, aging and neurocognitive function. Neurobiology of Aging, 26, S124-s127. (click here)
Hillman, C.H., Erickson, K.I., & Kramer, A.F. (2008). Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 9(1), 58-65. (click here)
Here is a link to the article mentioned by Prof. Gordon during his visit on Tuesday, May 13, 2008: (click here)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008---We are pleased to have Dr. Richard Gordon visiting the group this week.
Prof. Gordon has recently returned from the 161st Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Washington, DC.
He is able to meet with us and share some of the recent advances announced at the convention.(We will move this previously-scheduled discussion topic to another occassion: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, TMS)
Repetative Transcranial stimulation (rTMS) is a comparatively new treatment for severe, treatment-resistent depression.
Fitzgerald, P.B., & Daskalakis, Z.J. (2008). The use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and vagal nerve stimulation in the treatment of depression.
Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 21(1), 25-29. Click here for pdf.To see a what TMS equipment looks like, visit http://www.ant-neuro.com/products/visor/tms-eeg/
There are explanatory and demonstration videos on youtube, but most are not professional. The one reputable example I could find was in Dutch. (I believe it's Dutch.)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008---Depression and Antidepressants
Current use of antidepressants. Barber, C. (2008). The Medicated Americans. Scientific American Mind, 19(1), 44-51.(click here)
Neurobiology of depression. Nemeroff, C.B. (1998). The neurobiology of depression. Scientific American, 278(6), 42. (click here)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008---Language and Cognition
April 22nd article from the Science Section of the New York Times: "When language can hold the answer." Click here for active link.
The NYT also included a relevant list of suggested readings for futher interest. Click here.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008---Recap of Dreams and Dreaming (Sleep stages)
Open discussion and planning topics for upcoming meetings.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008---Open Discussion
(Institutional Review Board meeting)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008---Mathematical functions in Cognition
A recent New Yorker article reviews the research of Stanislas Dehaene. Cick here for reading.
Point of interest: Artist who works with statistics
Chris Jordan takes unfathomably large numbers representing quanties of materials consumed and
tries to make the amounts visually comprehensible.http://www.chrisjordan.com:80/current_set2.php?icl=7
Tuesday, April 1, 2008---Spring Break
Spring break. No meeting this week.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008---REM and "Echidna Dreams"
Recent discussion of sleep and dreaming requires an elaboration of REM sleep and the interesting case of the Echidna.
Click here for the reading. Click here for an additional short background article.
Click here for a scientific article specifically on Echida sleep patterns.Tuesday, March 18, 2008---Understanding Bonobo Chimpanzees in relation to human behavior
A New Yorker article from last year examines the academic and popular view of bonobo chimpanzees in an effort to correct popular misrepresentations. Click here for direct link to the online article.
Background for the discussion:
Bonobo Chimpanzees (Pan paniscus) are genetically more similar to humans than other chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan provides a basic summary of species differences: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Pan_paniscus.html.
At least one bonobo, raised in captivity, has demonstrated a remarkable degree of abilities for symbolic representation. (Kanzi. See the Great Ape Trust of Iowa: http://www.greatapetrust.org/bonobo/meet/kanzi.php).
Tuesday, March 11, 2008---Open Discussion
Luka will be at an IRB meeting, other MindMatters faculty may be available.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008---The Unconscious Mind
Bargh, J. A. and Morsella, E. (2008) The Unconscious Mind. Perspectives on Psychological Science 3:1, 73 –79. Click here for pdf.
Please notice that this article begins with a reference to E.J. Langer (1978). This is the same Langer who authored our recent reading on Mindfulness.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008---By the President of Bard College---Freud & Wittgenstein
Botstein, L. (2007). Freud and Wittgenstein: Language and human nature. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 24(4), 603-622.
This is a longer reading, so I wanted us to have time to read it. Click here for pdf.
Art and the Brain: Events in NYC (submitted by Maya H.): http://brainwavenyc.org/
Tuesday, February 12, 2008---Skinner and Freud
Overskeid, G. (2007). Looking for Skinner and finding Freud. American Psychologist, 62(6), 590-595. Click here for pdf.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008---MINDFULNESS
Langer, E.J., & Moldoveanu, M. (2000). Mindfulness research and the future. Journal of Social Issues, 56(1), 1-9.
Click HERE for pdf.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Resuming a discussion of Locked-In Syndrome
Deciding topics of interest for the coming semester
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Locked-In Syndrome--"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
How much of our definition of consciousness is dependent upon behavior?
Brief description of the disorder and recent methods of treating it (Click here.)Brief medical article with a more technical description (Click here.)
Movie review of recently-released film based on the book. (Click here.)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
" Seven different ways that memory can mess with your head and your life, and ways to identify them. "
Schacter, D.L. (1999). The seven sins of memory. American Psychologist, 54(3), 182-203. (source article, eventually expanded to a book.)
(Click here for an abbreviated, romanticized version from Schacter writing for Psychology Today.)(Click here for a very short, factual summary from the American Psychological Association.)
Tuesday, December 4, 2007--Implicit Memory
"What aspects of memory can account for feelings of familiarity?"
Special Psychology Colloquium: Thursday, November 29, 2007--Responses to traumatic experiences
4:30-5:30 pm, Preston 110 (Preston Theater)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007---continuing the discussion of Cognitive Enhancements--PDF of full article is linked below
Cognitive Enhancement
Bostrom, N. and Sandberg, A. (2006). Cognitive Enhancement: Methods, Ethics, Regulatory Challenges. (manuscript to be published in the journal "Science and Engineering Ethics") PDF
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Cognitive Enhancement
This web page summarizes a more extensive article (33 pages) that is available in pdf form on this same website.
The full article is: Bostrom, N. and Sandberg, A. (2006). Cognitive Enhancement: Methods, Ethics, Regulatory Challenges. (manuscript to be published in the journal "Science and Engineering Ethics")
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
FMRI and Cognitive Functioning
Silent Minds: Brain activations of the comatose (The New Yorker, Oct 15, 2007)
Tuesday, Nov 6, 2007
Brain Imaging
Brain Images Make Cognitive Research More Believable
Seduced by the Flickering Light of the Brain
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Perceptual Illusions
The Trippiest Optical Illusions on the Net
The Principles of Visual Illusions
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Open Discussion
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Synaesthesia
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Open Discussion
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Amusia
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Open Discussion
Tuesday September 18, 2007
Open Discussion