More interesting links to stories that have caught my eye:
Should prisoners with HIV be kept segregated from other prisoners? Alabama requires their HIV+ prisoners to wear a white armband and automatically excludes them from a range of vocational and other rehabilitation programs that might help them get out of the prison system. The ACLU blog describes the legal challenge to Alabama's segregation policies.
The Concussion blog presents the results of the first NFL Concussion Report with a breakdown on number of concussions, which teams are involved, and some of the other related statistics. Hopefully, this will be the first of many reports highlighting a neglected aspect of professional sports.
Do negative stereotypes about wearing glasses discourage children from getting help for their vision problems? The answer seems to be "yes" according to this post in BPS Research Digest. Describing a recent literature review of 28 relevant studies since 1980, the lack of spectacled positive role models is still influencing how children views adults and children who wear glasses.
It's a given that all brains need regular sleep to stay healthy, but does that apply to brain cells being grown in vitro? Neuroskeptic presents a dramatic new study that appears to show just that. Not only is this an intriguing finding in itself but may well redefine what we know about sleep.
Can right- or left-handedness occur in organisms without hands? It can according to Neatorama which shows evidence of handedness even in the lowly cichlid fish. Handedness apparently influences foraging behaviour and even asymmetry in fish anatomy.
Fans of Sandeep Gautam and his work at the Mouse Trap and Psychology Today will be glad to see that he is now doing a column at the Creativity Post. His latest post, The Muses and the Furies looks at the often perplexing question of creativity and what distinguishes it from madness. Click here to read more.
Although childhood neglect can have a longterm effect on a child's mental and physical development, does it actually stunt the brain? Wired Science describes recent research showing brain abnormalities linked to neglect in early childhood and suggests the role that this can have on the behavioural and emotional problems neglected children often display.
Can special training help front-line health care staff recognize victims of human trafficking? BBC News has the story of an ambitious new training program in Scotland designed to teach doctors and nurses to spot potential signs that patients may be caught in sexual slavery.
Are there health risks for people working near high-powered MRI scanners? Sharp Brains presents the results of one research study showing transient neurocognitive problems in MRI workers which suggests the needs for better safety measures.
California's Salton Sea has been alternately called a national wonder, a paradise, a national embarassment, and may well be shaping up to be the ecological equivalent of the Chernobyl disaster. Wired Science reports on how the water wars have turned the Salton Sea into a battleground and how poor management policies may eventually devastate Southern California.
Is neuromarketing the hot trend of the future? Or is it just bollocks? Neurocritic weighs in on the issue (spoiler alert: he's not a fan).
How can non-verbal cues help us decide if people are trustworthy? And would those cues work for robots as well? Science Daily describes some remarkable research featuring a robot named Nexi that reproduces various nonverbal cues shaping our opinions about trustworthiness. Would you buy a used car from this robot?
Dr. Thomas Szasz has been called a gadfly, a visionary, a social critic, and a humanist and, to some, a menace. His death at the age of 92 marks the true end of an era. Psychiatric Times features this obituary for a man who has transformed modern psychiatry.
That's all for this week.
Thanks for the mention! However, Neuroskeptic and I are actually two separate people.
Posted by: Neurocritic.blogspot.com | September 18, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Ouch! Sorry about that. Fixed.
Posted by: Romeo Vitelli | September 18, 2012 at 12:41 PM