Link Feast
Our pick of the best psychology and neuroscience links from the past week or so.
21 February 2015
My Own Life
Oliver Sacks in the NYT on learning he has terminal cancer.
The Placebo Problem
BBC Radio 4 documentary on the nocebo effect – the malign counterpart to the placebo.
Don’t Fear Our Changing Language
Some people decry change and fear it will bring about the demise of English as we know it. But change is totally harmless, argues Raffaella Zanuttini in Pacific Standard, and offers us a window on the complex system that underlies our knowledge of language.
Your Brain on Celebrity Gossip
Over at Brain Watch, I looked at a new study that scanned the brains of people listening to celebrity stories.
Conflicting Goals Can Make You a Better Decision Maker
Some conflicts actually improve your ability to choose, says Art Markman at Psychology Today.
Problems Too Disgusting to Solve
Recycled water could solve global shortages, but there’s one big problem – the human disgust reaction. Maria Konnikova at the New Yorker talks to the psychologists looking for solutions.
Bethlem Hospital Museum Shows How Art Can Help Mental Health
Video report from the BBC provides a glimpse of some of the amazing art produced by current and former patients at the psychiatric institution.
50 Years of Neuroscience
Steven Rose in the Lancet looks back on the birth of a discipline.
The Coming Boom in Brain Medicines
There is renewed hope and excitement that biological approaches to mental and neurological illness will soon bear fruit, says Matthew Herper in Forbes.
Worried Well
“Since ancient times philosophy has tried to cure us of anxiety,” writes Charlie Kurth in Aeon. “But worry is an important part of being a moral person.”
