Encephalon is the always-stimulating blog carnival of neuroscience/brain related blogging. For those of you interested in exploring recent Encephalon round up’s, Sharp Brains has the on-going list of the hosting sites dating from February 2008.
Finally, we are truly honored that we will be hosting a forthcoming edition of Encephalon on June 8th, so look for more on that as we get closer to summer.
Similar to the earlier post on video resources online, I have compiled here a list of podcasts for your perusal. I have split them into neuroscience and anthropology categories. And please, if you have some worthy additions to make, please comment below!
These blogs are similar in spirit to neuroanthropology: interdisciplinary, mixing experience into the mix, with good writing, ideas and links. They just focus on other pragmatics. Enjoy.
I have collected different video resources together under one heading and added them to the Web Resources page. I have only included specialized sites, not YouTube or Google Video or the like.
Please, if you know of other good video resources, leave a comment! I’ll keep adding them to the list.
Of course video of Patricia Churchland is also available on YouTube. Below I’ve included Part One from a three-part series. As she discusses research on brain science, belief and morality, she has a great set-up slide entitled “Brain Based Values” which announces “Evolution sets the brain’s style of drives and emotions” AND “Experience in a culture shapes the style into specific habits and preferences using the reward system.”
As regular readers will know, those are two great statements, BUT the proof is in the pudding, the devil in the details: good use of evolutionary theory, sophisticated understanding of subjective experience, effective use of the culture concept, an embodied approach to habits, and a more open and distributed view of the “reward system” than is normal in neuroscience. Does Churchland accomplish these things? I’ll let you decide.
But I will say that it is a perilous leap from “is” to “ought”…
The RAND Corporation has just published a new study on the psychological and physical traumas of serving in Iraq and of veterans returning home. It’s entitled Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. Here’s the link to the press release, the summary statement, and the research highlights. You can also check out a round up on Iraq and trauma in my latest Wednesday collection.
The news release carries the title “One In Five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression.” RAND estimates that these returning veterans will have direct and indirect costs of 6.2 billion dollars in the first two years after returning from deployment, to speak nothing of the distress and disruption felt by the servicemen and women and their families and friends. “If PTSD and depression go untreated or are under treated, there is a cascading set of consequences,” [study leader] Lisa Jaycox said. “Drug use, suicide, marital problems and unemployment are some of the consequences. There will be a bigger societal impact if these service members go untreated. The consequences are not good for the individuals or society in general.”
“We need to remove the institutional cultural barriers that discourage soldiers from seeking care,” Terri Tanielian said. “Just because someone is getting mental health care does not mean that they are not able to do their job. Seeking mental health treatment should be seen as a sign of strength and interest in getting better, not a weakness. People need to get help as early as possible, not only once their symptoms become severe and disabling.”
One of their major conclusions: “Improving access to high-quality care can be cost-effective and improve recovery rates.” The emphasis is on high-quality, something that reaches out to veterans and their families, and that is supported by evidence and not simply a feel-good budget moment.
Neuroanthropology 