-
Navigating the Brain’s GPS
More than a decade ago, researchers discovered that London taxi drivers, who have to navigate one of the most byzantine street grids in the world, have atypical brain characteristics. Specifically, the posterior hippocampi—a brain region associated with spatial memory—are larger compared to other people, scientists found. A new study offers some explanation for this phenomenon. The findings pinpoint the precise brain regions used in navigation, and in doing so change how scientists believed we use our brain to find our way around. Previously, researchers had disagreed over whether the brain calculates a route or calculates the straight-line to a destination.
-
Becoming an Expert Takes More Than Practice
Researchers find that the amount of practice accumulated over time does not seem to play a huge role in accounting for individual differences in skill or performance.
-
¿Qué hace que quieras comer el plato otra vez? (What makes you crave that dish again?)
BBC: Con frecuencia los recuerdos de la comida suelen ser muy vívidos. Especialmente cuando experimentamos sabores que son increíblemente malos o excepcionalmente buenos.Pero, ¿qué hace que queramos repetir? Es ese último bocado lo que hace que no nos separemos del plato hasta que no quede ni una miga o que incluso repitamos. Este es el resultado de un estudio publicado en la revistaPsychological Science y que aclara cómo funciona la memoria relacionada con la comida y la forma en que guía nuestras decisiones sobre la frecuencia con la que queremos volverla a ingerir. Read the whole story: BBC
-
Craving Stem From Memories of Last Bite: Study
CTV News: According to recent research, that last bite of food is pure taste sensation that will instill a lasting memory of the food in question and determine when you'll crave it again. The study published in the journal Psychological Science sheds new light on how food memories are created and their role in determining eating habits. "Research has told us a lot about factors that influence what foods people want to consume, but less is known about factors that influence when they want to consume a particular food again," explains researcher and lead author Emily Garbinsky of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Read the whole story: CTV News
-
Cognitive Bias May Underlie Both Physical and Financial Health Behaviors
Poor physical health and poor financial health may be driven by the same underlying psychological factors, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Researcher Lamar Pierce, associate professor of strategy at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, and doctoral candidate Timothy Gubler found that an employee’s decision to contribute to a 401(k) retirement plan predicted whether he or she would act to correct poor physical health indicators that were revealed during an employer-sponsored health examination.
-
It Might Be ‘Pre-Crastination’ That’s Hurting Your Productivity
Inc.: It would seem counter intuitive that the habit of attacking projects and to-do lists without a moment's hesitation is anything but ulta-productive. Yet some researchers think that sometimes doing the opposite of procrastinating--or pre-crastinating--could cost you time and energy, too. Psychologists from Pennsylvania State University recently conducted a series of experiments, which subtly gave participants the option of physically exerting themselves for either a long amount of time, or a shorter amount of time. Read the whole story here: Inc.
