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Mind Perception - Dr Kurt Gray interview

How do others see us and how do we see them? The science of mind perception is the domain of Professor Kurt Gray of the University of Maryland’s Mind Perception and Morality Lab.

His work ranges from how people see those in a persistent vegetative state as worse than dead, to how people are more sympathetic to someone who’s a victim than a villain. Dr Gray examined how we see naked people differently. We don’t objectify them as popular culture suggests.

And most recently he’s found that a little kindness makes a big difference to people. See our full story here.

Dr Kurt Gray spoke to Bob Hughes in an exclusive interview about his research.

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Worth Noting

  • Boosting your brain power. Is it ethical?
    Boosting your brain power. Is it ethical?

    The idea of a simple, cheap and widely available device that could boost brain function sounds too good to be true.Yet promising results in the lab with emerging ‘brain stimulation’ techniques, though still very preliminary, have prompted Oxford The idea of a simple, cheap and widely available device that could boost brain function sounds too good to be true.Yet promising results in the lab with emerging ‘brain stimulation’ techniques, though still very preliminary, have prompted Oxford neuroscientists to team up with leading ethicists at the University to consider the issues the new technology could raise. Recent research in Oxford and elsewhere has shown that one type of brain stimulation in particular, called transcranial direct current stimulation or TDCS, can be used to improve language and maths abilities, memory, problem solving, attention, even movement.

  • Overtime linked to depression
    Overtime linked to depression

    The odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day, according to a report is published in the online journal PLoS ONE. The authors, led by Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London, followed about 2000 middle aged British civil servants and found a robust association between overtime work and depression. This correlation was not affected when the analysis was adjusted for various possible confounders, including socio-demographics, lifestyle, and work-related factors.

  • The power of metaphor in creativity
    The power of metaphor in creativity

    Want to think outside the box? Try actually thinking outside of a box. In a study to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, researchers had students think up solutions to problems while acting out various metaphors about creative thinking and found that the instructions actually worked. The authors of the new paper were inspired by metaphors about creativity found in boardrooms to movie studios to scientific laboratories around the world and previous linkages established between mind and body.

  • Left or right wing? It's in the perception
    Left or right wing? It’s in the perception

    Conservatives paint self-indulgent liberals as insufferably absent on urgent national issues, while liberals say fear-mongering conservatives are fixated on exaggerated dangers to the country. A new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests there are biological truths to such broad brushstrokes. In a series of experiments, researchers closely monitored physiological reactions and eye movements of study participants when shown combinations of both pleasant and unpleasant images. Conservatives reacted more strongly to, fixated more quickly on, and looked longer at the unpleasant images; liberals had stronger reactions to and looked longer at the pleasant images compared with conservatives.

  • Women and some men are dumbed down by group think
    Women and some men are dumbed down by group think

    Small-group dynamics — such as jury deliberations, collective bargaining sessions, and cocktail parties — can alter the expression of IQ in some susceptible people, says a new US study. “You may joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain dead, but our findings suggest that they may make you act brain dead as well,” said Read Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

More Useful News
Is a parasite changing your brain chemistry?

Is a parasite changing your brain chemistry?

A research group from the University of Leeds has shown that infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK’s population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain. Their findings are the first to demonstrate that a parasite found in the brain of mammals can affect dopamine levels. Dr Glenn McConkey believes that the findings could ultimately shed new light on treating human neurological disorders that are dopamine-related such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Parkinson’s disease. This research may explain how these parasites, remarkably, manipulate rodents’ behaviour for their own advantage. Infected mice and rats lose their innate fear of cats, increasing the chances of being caught and eaten, which enables the parasite to return to its main host to complete its life cycle.

We're built for partnership - birds brains show

We’re built for partnership – birds brains show

Our brains are built for cooperative activity, whether it be dancing on a television reality show, constructing a skyscraper or working in an office, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins behavioral neuroscientist Eric Fortune published in the journal Science. “What we learned is that when it comes to the brain and cooperation, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts,” said Fortune. “We found that the brain of each individual participant prefers the combined activity over his or her own part.”

Credit ratings - and what they say about you

Credit ratings – and what they say about you

Agreeable people have worse credit scores than others, a study says. But a bad credit history doesn’t mean you’ll steal on the job. With unemployment rates in the United States at double digits, losing a career opportunity has a potentially higher impact than nearly ever before, while the nationwide wave of foreclosures simultaneously makes it more likely for an individual to have a black mark on their record

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