A Neu- way to Write, and Beyond

New post on the UCSD Cognitive Science Blog repping NeuWrite SD and other venues for science communication at UCSD:

Students in cognitive science, neuroscience, and other disciplines at UCSD look for new ways of communicating science, including NeuWriteSD.org. 

As recent Pew Research polls indicate, views on key issues (like climate change and genetically-modified foods) often differ drastically between the public, in general, and scientists, in particular. Like the kids whose opinions changed after actually visiting a lab and speaking with scientists, it stands to reason that many people’s opinions of science (and scientists) might change given more experience communicating with scientists.

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Creativity and mood: the ups and downs of bipolar disorder

Reblogged from my post on NeuWriteSD.org:

They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
–Edgar Allen Poe [1]

If the emotions are sometimes so strong that one works without knowing one works, when sometimes the strokes come with a continuity and a coherence like words in a speech or a letter, then one must remember that it has not always been so, and that in time to come there will again be hard days, empty of inspiration.

So one must strike while the iron is hot, and put the forged bars on one side.

–Vincent Van Gogh

 “We of the craft are all crazy. Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched.” These are the words of the poet Lord Byron, whom Kay Redfield Jamison quotes in her book Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. In this book, Jamison explores the link between so-called creative “genius” and a predisposition toward mood disorders, such as depression and, in particular, bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive disorder).

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Peas or carrots: Evidence-based education programs targeting stress and attention

Reblogged from my post on NeuWriteSD.org:

I’m always keen to hear how scientists are able to reach out to their communities, whether it is by talking to young students about research opportunities, by tutoring or teaching, or by taking steps outside the lab to make direct links between research and the community. At this year’s meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS), one of the invited symposia, entitled “The Broader Applicability of Insights from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience”, focused on some of great links between developmental neuroscience and the community. One talk by John Gabrieli, professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT, addressed the relationships between socioeconomic status (SES), elementary schools, standardized tests, and cognitive measures like IQ and processing speed [moral of the story: the elementary school you attend affects your standardized test scores, but not your IQ]. Here, I’ll focus on a talk by professor Helen Neville focused on how to train attention and reduce at-home stressors for kids coming from lower-SES backgrounds in order to buffer attentional skills from a young age. The moral of this story? Do all you can to create a stress-free, positive home environment, and give kids plenty of structured time to focus on tasks that require selective attention and suppression of distractions.

Read more on NeuWriteSD.org.