What You See Is Not Always What You Do

This is interesting.

ScienceDaily reported  findings of a Dutch researcher' Hemke van Doorn cooperation between two separate visual systems; namely the visual observation system and the other that takes care of the movement. Read more here

Make an Error and Remember Longer

People remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail.

Research by Nate Kornell, Matthew Hays and Robert Bjork at U.C.L.A. that recently appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition reveals at  have found this not too surprising finding.  We all know that if we have a made a mistake about something, more often than not we tend to remember the correct answer longer. This is because we attach an emotional value to the incident.

Another Reason to smile

Psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is comp­romised by cosmetic botox inject­ions are happier, on average, than people who can frown. psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is comp­romised by cosmetic botox inject­ions are happier, on average, than people who can frown.

“It would appear that the way we feel emotions isn’t just restricted to our brain—there are parts of our bodies that help and reinforce the feelings we’re having,” says Michael Lewis, a co-author of the study. “It’s like a feedback loop.” In a related study from March, scientists at the Technical University of Munich in Germany scanned botox recipients with fMRI machines while asking them to mimic angry faces. They found that the botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits involved in emotional processing and responses—in the amygdala, hypothal­amus and parts of the brain stem—as compared with con­trols who had not received treatment.

The concept works the opposite way, too—enhancing emotions rather than suppressing them. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain. Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure. Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups. Lewis, who was not involved in that study, says he plans to study the effect that botox injections have on pain perception. “It’s possible that people may feel less pain if they’re unable to express it,” he says.

Source: The Scientific American

Neurogenesis

Neurogenesis is a term that is used to refer to the birth of neurons in the brain. Neurons are the basic building blocks of the human brain. There are more than 100 billion of these cells in human brain. Each neuron has two or more protrusions called dendrites and axons. It receives inputs and produces outputs signals to enable us to live and interact with our surroundings. It was first established in the 1960s following work done by Dr Pasko Rakic of Yale University. Further research done over the years especially the last decade has shown that neurogenesis occurs throughout adult life.

The study of neurogenesis is important to find improved treatments for mental disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.Researches have found that neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus, an area that is associated with learning and memory, and the olfactory bulb, which is the area responsible for the sense of smell. Research shows that thousands of neurons are produced each day but most of these new cells die within weeks. In order for the neurons to survive it needs support from neighbouring glial cells, nutrients and also connection to other neurons.

Though there are many questions that unanswered about what actually triggers neurogenesis, scientists have experimental evidence that neurogenesis is enhanced by:

1) Physical exercise

2) Enriched environment

3) Specific types of learning

4) Certain drugs used as antidepressants

Current research is focused on learning about the new neurons’ contributions to the brain’s activities. Neurogenesis though is still an emerging field, thus far has provided insights about degenerative brain diseases.

Fallacy No3: Appeal To Authority

This is one of the most common fallacy of all time. It goes something like this:

1. Mr N is (claim to be) an authority on the subject S.

2. Mr N. makes a statement C about S.

3. Then C must be true.

Look out for this fallacy. We are more often than not fall for this.

Fallacy No2: Ad ignorantiam

Fallacy No2 :

Ad ignorantiam - basically states that a specific belief is true because we don't know that it isn't true.

This is a favourite fallacy of those who dabble in pseudoscience.

Fallacy No 1: Ad hominem

To be able to think clearly in a world where almost everything is layered with sensationalism and half truths is important. There 20 known fallacies and let us start with No1, the most used, Ad Hominem.

Ad Hominem, translated from Latin to English, means "against the man" or "against the person."And this how the argument will sound like:

Jane: The world is heading towards an environment disaster
John: Of course you will say that, you are member of Greenpeace.
Jane: What about the arguments I presented to support my case.
John: Like I said, you are Greenpeace activist and you have to say that. All you Greenpeace members ever do is cause panic and demonstrate. You people are good at nothing else.

Ad Hominem is a fallacy because the character, action and circumstances have no bearing to the truth or falsity of the claim being made.