In a headline-grabbing recent study, the NHTSA revealed that talking on a cell phone–even with a hands free headset–is effectively the same as driving with a .08 blood alcohol reading, or legal intoxication. Texting is even worse, but a poll released yesterday showed that a majority (52%) of the world’s drivers often have their thumbs [...]
Archive for August, 2009
The Neural Basis of Multitasking
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Cell Phones, fMRI, Inferior Frontal Junction, Multitasking, Neuron, Pattern Classification, Paul Dux, Prefrontal Cortex, Research blogging, Texting While Driving on August 25, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Health Care and our Psychological Shortcomings
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Cognitive Biases, Endowment Effect, Health Care, Psychology on August 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I thought this was a great article by James Surowiecki in today’s New Yorker (and see some good commentary by Matt Yglesias). Surowiecki argues that the troubling turns in the health-care debate become pretty easy to understand if you consider the way our minds work: But the public’s skittishness about overhauling the system also reflects [...]
What Shape Will the Neuro Revolution Take?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Evolution, Neruoeconomics, Neurolaw, Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, The Neuro Revolution, Zach Lynch on August 21, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I’ve been meaning to write about Zach Lynch’s new book The Neuro Revolution for some time now. I actually haven’t had a chance to read it yet, because I’m too busy falling behind on Infinite Summer. Lynch came and spoke at MIT last month though, so I feel like I have a reasonably good sense [...]
Brain Research on the Margins
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Alex Pine, Behavioral Economics, Dorsal Striatum, fMRI, Marginal Utility, Neuroeconomics, Raymond Dolan, The Journal of Neuroscience on August 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One of the most valuable insights of economics, and one of the oldest, is the idea that we value goods on a marginal basis. The core of the idea, which traces back to Adam Smith, is that our choices are not about x amount of any good but x more of that good. If you’re [...]
From the Annals of Not Seeing That One Coming
Posted in Uncategorized on August 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Sorry about the radio silence recently. I’ve had a lot of late scans and such that have made it hard to find time to sit down and write. In the meantime, here’s a quotation to chew over. My roommate is a consultant, and he brought home some abandoned books from the office the other day. [...]
