This is your brain on physics (or vice versa)

Recently I was asked to write for Physics World on what physical scientists can bring to the study of the brain.

As it turns out, they are good for lots of things! Examples include developing innovative imaging technologies and new theories for understanding brain function. My own laboratory's research does both. Read the piece here.

New trends in neuroscience research - on Big Think

Here's a recent interview on Big Think. They divided the interview into clips - see here for all of them.

Glutamate is in the house

Here's one from the...Glut-Tang Clan?


That's right, a rap about synaptic transmission. Accurate in pretty much every detail. Lots in there - glutamate, acetylcholine, addiction, dopamine...amazing. It appears to be a project for a class at Stanford University, Human Biology 4A. It's the brainchild of Tom McFadden, who also did one on development.

A shout out to his professor, Russ Fernald, who sent it to me - and makes a cameo appearance! "The mind arises from the brain" - word.

Are women moodier than men?

I just did an interview with Jean Chatzky on Oprah Radio. Jean gives financial advice but we talked about many more topics from Welcome To Your Brain: whether we really use 10 percent of our brains (no), ways to improve your willpower, and much more.

Jean was particularly interested in the popular belief that women are moodier than men. As Sandra and I have written, this is a myth. Psychologists have given men and women beepers and then asked them to write down their mood whenever the beeper went off. They found that men's and women's moods were just as variable. No difference!

However, both men and women tend to remember women's mood swings better. So if people are asked to remember how moody they or their partners were in the previous week, more mood swings are reported for women than men. It's apparently a matter of perception and recollection - both men and women remember the women's moods.

It is true that mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, are about twice as common in women than in men. No one is really sure why, though it could be a matter of stress. But that's for another post...

A course for behavioral scientists

I've just returned from a meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, where I was a guest speaker. Fun audience, lots of students, great questions.

One of my hosts, Karl Bailey, uses Welcome To Your Brain in an introductory brain course for students of behavioral science. He also uses a second book, Phantoms In The Brain, by V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee. This is a great pairing: we write about everyday life, whereas Phantoms focuses on the clinical side of neuroscience - and is an excellent book.

Thanks, Prof. Bailey!

On the air in the Netherlands!

Tonight I'll be on FunX, a syndicated radio station in the Netherlands. The hosts are Farid and Sticks, who investigate things ranging from the paranormal to what life is like for the elderly. We talked about lots of things, including...nasal love sprays. Tune in, sometime between 8pm and 11pm tonight. Update: here's a link to the program (and a translation). Hardcore!

The Dutch edition of our book, Het geheim van je brein, has just come out in its fourth printing. The Dutch love their brains!

Increase your IQ by 4 points!

For the next month, Sandra and I will be guest-posting over at Olivia Judson's blog, The Wild Side. Olivia's off working on her latest book, leaving the blogging in various hands - including ours.

This week we write about intelligence, and how it can be affected by environmental factors. One such factor is experience. We focus on working memory, which when exercised can improve fluid, problem-solving intelligence. Now that's news you can use...