Links for 25th November 2009
Fresh from the clogged tubes of teh intarwubs… fMRI Evidence Used in Murder Sentencing "Although evidence of anatomical abnormalities in the brain has been introduced previously in the sentencing phase of murder cases, and PET scans have been used to show abnormalities in brain metabolism consistent with mental illness, the Dugan case may be a first for fMRI. "I don't know of any other cases where fMRI was used in that context," says Hank Greely, a professor at Stanford Law School and co-director of the MacArthur Foundation Law and Neuroscience Project. Gre

Links for 24th November 2009
Fresh from the clogged tubes of teh intarwubs… Police routinely arresting people to get DNA, inquiry claims "The highly critical report from the government's advisory body on the development of human genetics is published as the number of innocent people on the database is disclosed to be far higher than previously thought ‑ nearing 1 million. The commission says the policy of routinely adding the DNA profiles of all those arrested has led to a highly disproportionate impact on different ethnic groups and the stigmatisation of young black men, with the danger

Links for 23rd November 2009
Fresh from the clogged tubes of teh intarwubs… How our brains learned to read "So what did the reading module originally evolve for? Dehaene lets the answer to this question remain a mystery until the end, while he takes the reader on a fascinating tour of the neuroscience of reading. It is a rich and comprehensive book by a clear writer and a fine scientist. Eventually we get the solution, admittedly speculative, to the puzzle. The area that reading co-opted originally evolved for the visual acuity needed to tr

Links for 22nd November 2009
Fresh from the clogged tubes of teh intarwubs… Addicted To Being Good? The Psychopathology of Heroism "People whom we consider to be heroes (or X-altruists, as I am referring to them here), while among some of the most admired individuals, they possess many of the same traits as the sociopath. However, there is a fundamental difference in the motivation behind their actions that distinguish them from their nasty cohorts. Incidentally, that one difference is vitally important in determining if someone turns out to be the comic book hero or more like his archenemy. X-altruists are

Links for 21st November 2009
Fresh from the clogged tubes of teh intarwubs… Shifting blame is socially contagious "Fast says that when public blaming becomes common practice — especially by leaders — its effects on an organization can be insidious and withering: Individuals who are fearful of being blamed for something become less willing to take risks, are less innovative or creative, and are less likely to learn from their mistakes. "Blame creates a culture of fear," Fast said, "and this leads to a host of negative consequences for individuals and for groups." A m