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How brain buys time for tough choices
Zee News: Some people who receive deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease are impulsive, leading them to make quick and often, bad, decisions. Now, a new study has explained why and shown how under normal circumstances key parts of the brain collaborate to devote time to reflect on tough choices. Michael Frank, professor of cognitive, linguistic, and psychological sciences at Brown University, studied the impulsive behavior of Parkinson’s patients when he was at the University of Arizona several years ago. Read the full story: Zee News
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Los babuinos son capaces de establecer analogías
RTVE: Un equipo de expertos afirma haber hallado que los monos babuinos son capaces de establecer analogías a pesar de no disponer de un lenguaje, de forma que pueden relacionar dos contextos diferentes pero simbólicamente parecidos, según ha informado el Centro Nacional de Investigación Científica francés (CNRS). Esta nueva teoría desmiente la hipótesis según la cual "solo los seres humanos o los grandes primates -a los que se haya enseñado previamente un lenguaje- son capaces de razonar de ese modo".
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Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology
The theme of the 2011 Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology will be "Psychological Science & Well-Being: Building Bridges for Tomorrow." Date: November 15th - 18th, 2011 Location: Nassau, Bahamas For more information visit: http://www.caribbeanpsychology.org/
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Study calls parental care key factor in child’s health
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A new study has found that children raised in poverty were less likely to develop certain chronic diseases in adulthood if they had loving, attentive mothers from a young age. Disadvantaged children grow up with stresses that can hurt their physical development and make them vulnerable to infection and disease for the rest of their lives. In adulthood, this often leads to metabolic syndrome -- high blood pressure, impaired regulation of blood sugar and fats, fat around the waist -- that are precursors to diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.
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Mehrsprachigkeit verschafft geistigen Vorsprung
Die Welt: Johan Vandewalle sammelt Sprachen. Er weiß nicht genau, wie viele er nun schon gelernt hat. Im Jahr 1987 gewann er einen Wettbewerb, der ihn zum polyglottesten Menschen Flanders kürte. Schon damals sprach er 31 Sprachen, darunter so exotische wie Aserbaidschanisch, Tadschikisch und Swahili. Außerdem noch neun tote Sprachen. Seine Begeisterung für Vokabeln und Grammatik begann bereits im Kindesalter, als Vandewalle in die Schule kam. Dort lernte der im Jahr 1960 in Brügge geborene Belgier neben seiner Muttersprache Flämisch bald Französisch. Im Gymnasium kamen Deutsch und Englisch, später Griechisch und Latein hinzu. Read the whole story: Die Welt
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Distrutti dopo il divorzio? La separazione non c’entra
la Repubblica: Diceva Marlene Dietrich che "quando l'amore è finito, gli alimenti colmano il vuoto". Di separazioni la femme fatale ne sapeva qualcosa, ma un conto è lasciare Ernest Hemingway per Jean Gabin e un altro è separarsi da comuni mortali, magari con figli piccoli e un mutuo da pagare. Il divorzio è sempre un momento difficile da affrontare sia sul piano pratico che psicologico, ma non tutti lo vivono allo stesso modo. C'è chi supera il trauma dopo qualche mese, chi si lascia tutto alle spalle all'istante, chi impazzisce di rabbia e chi va in depressione e non riesce più a rifarsi una vita. Lo psicologo David A. Sbarra dell'università dell'Arizona, con i colleghi Hillary L.