CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-12 14:51:15 (1 comments, 10 reshares, 13 +1s)

Visualizing Meteorites

An animated time-lapse of all 1,045 meteorites that have been seen falling since 861 AD

Check it out: http://www.visualizing.org/full-screen/53518

A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from a body originating in outer space that survives the impact with the Earth's surface. The mass of a meteorite can range from few grams to several tonnes. When a body enters the atmosphere the body to heat up and emits light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting/falling star.

Most meteorite falls are recovered on the basis of eye-witness accounts of the fireball or the impact of the object on the ground. Meteorites fall with virtually equal probability everywhere on the Earth, eye-witnessed meteorites tend to be concentrated in areas with high human population densities such as Europe, Japan, and northern India.
... more »

2013-05-09 15:53:02 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

Hit a 95 mph baseball? Scientists pinpoint how we see it coming

How does San Francisco Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval swat a 95 mph fastball, or tennis icon Venus Williams see the oncoming ball, let alone return her sister Serena’s 120 mph serves? For the first time, vision scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have pinpointed how the brain tracks fast-moving objects.

The discovery advances our understanding of how humans predict the trajectory of moving objects when it can take one-tenth of a second for the brain to process what the eye sees.

Read more at:
http://www.psychology-world.com/2013/05/hit-95-mph-baseball-scientists-pinpoint.html

#ScienceEveryday  

2013-05-08 12:52:35 (2 comments, 12 reshares, 11 +1s)

Why is 'x' the symbol for an unknown? In this short and funny talk, Terry Moore gives the surprising answer. 

#ScienceEveryday  

2013-04-22 00:46:26 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Do No Harm: Why do some people want to cut off a perfectly healthylimb?

2013-03-26 12:29:37 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Font Based on Sigmund Freud’s Handwriting Coming Courtesy of Successful Kickstarter Campaign http://goo.gl/FheOd +Open Culture 

2013-03-22 13:30:37 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 10 +1s)

2013-03-17 15:28:29 (2 comments, 5 reshares, 14 +1s)

The Great Brain Experiment

Are you faster or more attentive than other people? Can you remember more or make better choices? Time to test your brain and find out!

Be part of a unique scientific experiment by playing games on your phone. Neuroscientists at University College London have 'gamified' their research, creating a quirky, fun app which turns neuroscience experiments into games. Each time you play you'll be contributing data to a huge scientific experiment, taking part in research that could previously only be conducted on small groups of volunteers in the lab. The Great Brain Experiment will look at memory, impulsivity, how we take risks, and how well the mind’s eye can see. It will allow the researchers to explore questions that are normally impossible to ask.

Dr Rick Adams, from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, says: “We wantedsom... more »

2013-03-17 13:42:09 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

2013-03-15 12:55:17 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

Aon2013: The Tree of Thoughts - Hemanth Mohan, VU University, Amsterdam

The picture contains an image of a sunset background with silhouette of the reconstructions of various human neurons. The neuronal images are the apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons of the human cortex reconstructed with biocytin staining. The picture symbolically represents an abstract idea of how planet Earth signifies a brain at the solar scale with the trees possessing a structural similarity to various neurons in our biological world. 

Art of Neuroscience 2013  ©

2013-03-15 12:55:02 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

AoN 2013: The Functional Connectome - Joachim Böttger and Daniel Margulies,  MPI Leipzig,  Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Functional connectivity is a measure of correlation in spontaneous brain activity between different brain areas. As the path is not known from the data itself, each connectivity point can be represented in six­dimensional space (the connection of two three­dimensional points), termed: connexel. Mean­shift clustering is conducted across all cortical areas in order to present an image of the full human functional connectome. Although crucial to recognize that lines can represent connection without signifying anatomical tracts, the result brings dramatic clarity to an otherwise entangled situation.

Art of Neuroscience 2013  ©

2013-03-15 12:54:47 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

AoN 2013: Local and global brain fiber orientations - Sjoerd Vos, University Medical Center Utrecht

View of a coronal brain slice. Diffusion MRI can characterize the orientation and magnitude of self­diffusion of water molecules in the brain in vivo. Diffusion is larger parallel to axons than perpendicular to them, and so the diffusion can be translated to the orientation of neural fibers within each imaging voxel, called fiber orientation distributions, or FODs. Fiber tractography connects these FODs to create virtual reconstructions of fiber pathways in the brain. Fusing these FODs and tracts visualizes the local and global tissue organization.

Art of Neuroscience 2013  ©

2013-03-15 12:53:15 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Honourable Mention AoN 2013: A Connected Mind – Jean­Remi King, INSERM-­CEA, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Paris

The present figure summarizes the results of a study in which we investigated the amount of information shared across brain regions amongst patients in vegetative state (VS), minimally conscious state (MCS) and conscious state (CS). The figure shows a top­view of the scalp in each group of patient, where the color of each line indicates the amount of information (WSMI) shared across the two regions linked by each curve. Disclaimer: This figure is part of a study that has been submitted to Current Biology.

Art of Neuroscience 2013  ©

2013-03-15 12:52:48 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

AoN 2013: The Beauty of Artifacts - Stefan Hoyng, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam

The beauty of artifacts Stefan Hoyng, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam This picture represents an "unsuccessful" immunohistochemical staining of a human peripheral nerve. It has been successfully stained for a nuclear protein marker (blue) and a marker for axons (red). The green staining however is the result of an unknown technical artifact. It represents the beauty of art; being present in the most unlikely places and at the most unwanted times but always offering a rewarding effect "Great art picks up where nature ends" ­ Marc Chagall

Art of Neuroscience 2013 ©

2013-03-15 12:52:26 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

AoN 2013: Synaptic wave propagation in Parallel Fiber ­ Purkinje Neuron connection - Mario Negrello, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam

The interaction between Purkinje cells and parallel fibers in the cerebellum are one of the most peculiar cell arrangements in the brain. This contribution illustrates this arrangement, with a Purkinje cell whose morphology has been traced from actual slices. Along the parallel fibers, travels a wave of synaptic activity, input originating from the rest of the brain and body. This mechanism has been hypothesized by Sir John Eccles and others to coordinate sequences of muscle activations, as required by gestures, postures, and any other kind of movement of vertebrates. The particular shape of the Purkinje cell impressed Santiago Ramon­y­Cajal who first traced its exuberant dendritic arborization, and inspired generations of neuroscientists.

Art ofNe... more »

2013-03-15 12:52:01 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Winner category images AoN 2013: Space and Memory - Annelene Dahl, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

The picture is an overlay of two horizontal slices of the hippocampal
formation and parahippocampal region. These regions are crucial for both spatial navigation and memory. The anterograde tracer biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected in the subiculum (the output region of the hippocampal formation), and shows projections from the subiculum to the parahippocampal region. Of particular interest are the distinct projections to parasubiculum (green, bottom right corner), and to the border between entorhinal and perirhinal cortex (blue, bottom left corner).

Art of Neuroscience 2013 ©

2013-03-15 12:51:29 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Winner Category Video's AoN 2013: The Intergalactic Brain - Sjoerd Vos, University Medical Center Utrecht.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging can provide information on the organization of neural tissue in vivo. Based on these images, fiber
tract pathways can be reconstructed that represent the axonal wiring of the brain. Anatomical knowledge lets us select specific fiber bundles connecting two brain regions.Visualization of all fiber tracts crossing such a fiber pathway can be informative to show the large scale connectivity, but obscures the pathway of interest. By reducing these crossing fiber tracts to local representations, it becomes possible to visualize the complex tissue architecture locally along a fiber tract in a compact and elegant manner.

Art of Neuroscience 2013 ©

2013-03-15 00:48:31 (7 comments, 22 reshares, 55 +1s)

50 Common Misconceptions In 6 Minutes

2013-03-11 13:07:46 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 8 +1s)

2013-03-11 13:04:57 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 11 +1s)

With a little duct tape, a touch screen tablet, and their new API, the Microsoft Research Cambridge team built an app for brain surgeons. Kinect Fusion supplies 3D modeling of anything, which could fuel some seriously neat medical innovations. At the 13th annual Microsoft TechFest, Ben Glocker demoed a prototype app that would allow neurosurgeons to look inside a patient's brain before they cut it open. Doctors could see the skeleton, brain, blood vessels, and the targeted tumor on a tablet--which can move around the patient's head--helping them to plot the best brain surgery path.

2013-03-10 13:12:28 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

2013-03-09 12:46:02 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 5 +1s)

2013-03-08 15:50:19 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

2013-03-03 14:17:29 (5 comments, 23 reshares, 30 +1s)

Neurocomic takes readers on an adventure in the brain

Artist Matteo Farinella and neuroscientist Hana Ros of University College London collaborated to create a graphic novel called Neurocomic about a hapless character who is sucked into a human brain where he encounters bizarre creatures and famous neuroscientists. The objective is to introduce the neurochemical workings of the brain to a wider audience, so entertainment, storytelling and clever metaphors are just as important to the enterprise as the science

Image Source : http://goo.gl/1xGZC
+The Guardian video on their collaboration : http://goo.gl/gI10G
Trailer by Richard Wyllie : http://goo.gl/Np1d4
To learn more visit http://www.neurocomic.org/

#ScienceSunday  

2013-03-02 22:08:28 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Some thoughts on subliminal priming and the reasons for skepticism

In this blog post, I discuss one reason why some cognitive psychologists have reacted with skepticism to claims of implicit effects of primes on behavior. Even before the recent fraud cases and public failures to replicate, those who study implicit perception had doubts about whether these effects truly occur outside of awareness. In this post, I discuss some of the earlier history of claims of subliminal behavior change and note how the current priming literature has not addressed the methodological concerns raised in that literature.

2013-03-01 13:23:03 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

2013-03-01 00:37:04 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

The globalisation of mental illness
By Ross White , The Psychologist

The burden (mortality and disability) caused by mental disorders across the globe is on the rise. Psychiatric services for treating mental health difficulties are well established in high-income countries such as the US and UK; and the World Health Organization has supported the setting up of similar services in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). But is the globalising of psychiatric systems of diagnosis and treatment the most appropriate line of action? This article critically reflects on biomedical explanations of mental health difficulties; highlights concerns about the dearth of research into mental health difficulties in LMIC; discusses the lack of emphasis that psychiatry places on cultural factors; and raises the possibility that globalising notions of psychiatric illness may cause more harm than good.

2013-02-28 01:22:12 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

Premature babies’ brains process speech before they’re fully formed
By +John Timmer , +Ars Technica 

The human brain has a remarkable capacity for interpreting speech, with large areas of the brain given over to tracking the sound and interpreting it as language. The neurons that manage this capacity are put in place during our embryonic development, and these are able to respond to sounds shortly after birth. But now, a new study looked at brain activity in premature infants, and it showed the networks that respond to syllables are already active well before most infants are normally born.

Read more: http://goo.gl/BQDPK

2013-02-03 18:06:33 (2 comments, 7 reshares, 21 +1s)

Brain Tricks - This Is How Your Brain Works
By Mitchell Moffit & +Gregory Brown  , +AsapSCIENCE 

2012-12-09 04:20:26 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 12 +1s)

Signing Science
By Douglas Quenqua, +The New York Times 

Scientific terms like “organism” and “photosynthesis” have no widely accepted equivalent in sign language, so deaf students and professionals have unexpected hurdles when talking about science.

Here http://goo.gl/9LY7C , Lydia Callis, a professional sign language interpreter, explains how new signs are being developed that may enhance scientific learning and communication.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/sign-language-researchers-broaden-science-lexicon.html

#ScienceSunday  

2012-07-03 12:08:34 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

"Is it okay if I totally trash your office?" It's a question Elyn Saks once asked her doctor, and it wasn't a joke. A legal scholar, in 2007 Saks came forward with her own story of schizophrenia, controlled by drugs and therapy but ever-present. In this powerful talk, she asks us to see people with mental illness clearly, honestly and compassionately.

2012-07-02 19:00:27 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

The Fetishization Of Offline

Digital information has long been portrayed as an elsewhere, a new and different cyberspace, a tendency

+nathan jurgenson  urges us to reassess the way we see our digital lives as somehow less real or authentic and to realize that what we do while connected is inseparable from what we do when disconnected.

2012-06-24 14:41:31 (4 comments, 16 reshares, 29 +1s)

Great presenters understand how people think, learn, and react. In this video +susan weinschenk  shares 5 Things from her book, "100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People".

2012-06-21 16:24:39 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

"He who so thinks will be wise, just, tranquil about his fate, and therefore happy. He will await death without either fear or desire, and will cherish life (hardly understanding how disgust can corrupt a heart in this place of many delights); he will be filled with reverence, gratitude, affection, and tenderness for nature, in proportion to his feeling of the benefits he has received from nature; he will be happy, in short, in feeling nature, and in being present at the enchanting spectacle of the universe, and we will surely never destroy nature either in himself or in others. More than that! Full of humanity, this man will love human character even in his enemies. Judge how he will treat others. He will pity the wicked without hating them; in his eyes. they will be but mis-made men. But in pardonìng the faults of the structure of mind and body, he will none the less admire the beauties and the... more »

2012-06-14 01:54:38 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 15 +1s)

What Is the Ratio of Glia to Neurons in the Brain?

2012-06-13 22:03:23 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 17 +1s)

There's a revolution going on in neuroscience, says science writer Kayt Sukel, and it's happening on two fronts. One way the science is changing: researchers are finally beginning to include both male and female subjects in their studies. Another is epigenetics, a new way of understanding the centuries-old nature versus nurture debate

2012-06-13 15:33:09 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

A social psychologist looks at why people lie and cheat and what it means for business

2012-06-10 14:23:44 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

2012-06-09 14:19:58 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

2012-06-08 21:57:48 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

What makes us laugh?
By Tom Stafford , +BBC News 

A simple question with a surprisingly complex answer – understanding laughter means understanding fundamental issues about human nature.

Read here: http://goo.gl/L1x1I

2012-06-08 13:49:09 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

2012-06-08 01:47:38 (1 comments, 7 reshares, 11 +1s)

What is empathy?

2012-06-07 20:59:53 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2012-06-05 13:44:07 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 8 +1s)

Psychology and Neuroscience Pages
Click on the following link to view the pages in this circle: http://goo.gl/MwpSt. 

If you have a science related degree, you are a science journalist, you are a K-12 science teacher, or you curate a science page, then add your profile/page to the database (http://goo.gl/yEg7M). Please note that you also have to circle +Science on Google+: A Public Database if you would like to be considered for shared circles.

View underlying database: http://goo.gl/Yz8KR
View most recent shared circles: http://goo.gl/nO7rB

#sciencesunday #science #publiccircles 
#sharedcircles 

2012-06-04 01:00:47 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

 Dr. Stuart Eisendrath, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Director of the UCSF Depression Center, explores alternatives to treating depression that include cognitive therapy and cognitive mindfulness-based therapy, a new technique that blends mindfulness 

2012-06-03 01:29:55 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 11 +1s)

2012-06-02 21:55:22 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 13 +1s)

Sir Andrew Huxley, who has died aged 94, was one of the great scientists and university administrators of our time – a Nobel laureate, a master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and an exceptionally perceptive and balanced president of the Royal Society.

2012-06-02 00:26:54 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Man’s capacity for kindness and compassion is overshadowed only by his ability to be as cruel and destructive.Can empathy resolve issues of aggression and subjugation, where wars, politics and economic sanctions have failed? Love Hate and Everything in Between looks into the world of neuroscience, psychology, education and technology to explore the extraordinary relevance of empathy in today’s increasingly interconnected world.

2012-06-01 01:36:30 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 11 +1s)

2012-05-31 01:48:47 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

2012-05-30 02:53:44 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

Music: It's in your head, changing your brain
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

Michael Jackson was on to something when he sang that "A-B-C" is "simple as 'Do Re Mi.'" Music helps kids remember basic facts such as the order of letters in the alphabet, partly because songs tap into fundamental systems in our brains that are sensitive to melody and beat.

Read here: http://goo.gl/ehZCT