Feast

Tuck into our round-up of the latest and best psych and neuro links:

" up to one-third of patients who consult with neurologists typically have symptoms that are not fully explained by neurological damage" Vaughan Bell with a fascinating overview of what we do and don't know about hysteria or "conversion disorder".

Newly posted TED talk - Susan Cain on the power of introverts.

Why do we sometimes get songs (earworms) stuck in our heads? Check here for our earlier coverage of earworm research.

After a replication failure in another lab, John Bargh defends his 1996 study that showed non-conscious exposure to the concept of ageing led participants to walk more slowly.

Sleep less and waste more time online: the temptations of cyberloafing - from our sister blog, The Occupational Digest.

James Flynn previews his forthcoming book "Are We Getting Smarter? Rising IQ and the Twenty-First Century.”

" ... the neural basis of metacognitive behaviour: what happens in the brain when we think about our thoughts and decisions or assess how well we know something?"

Why we have cumulative culture but chimps and monkeys don't. Ed Yong reports on a study that compared how groups of children, chimps and capuchins attempted to complete the same puzzle-based task (it's the first time researchers have compared the performance of three species on the same task).

Free sample chapter from new edition of BPS-approved social psych textbook.

Jonah Lehrer and Charles Fernyhough discuss what novelists can learn from neuroscience.

Why The Future of Neuroscience Will Be Emotionless - interesting blog post by Sam McNerney on the neuroscience of emotions.

Wiley-Blackwell have brought out a psychology app for iPhones and iPads - keep up to date with psychology blogs, new articles, special issues, conferences etc.

How Much of the Neuroimaging Literature Should We Discard?

"On average, autistic brains had many more neurons in some regions than normal brains. In the prefrontal cortex, autistic children had 67 percent more neurons than average." Carl Zimmer on the The Troublesome Bloom of Autism.

Autism Matters free podcast series.

Beautiful - a hand-painted phrenology bike helmet.

What is emotional intelligence and can you improve it?

Do dating algorithms for finding the perfect partner really work?

Welcome to Stanford University's Love Competition: The contestant who generates the greatest level of love-related brain activity wins.

With adolescence getting longer and middle age becoming elastic, is it time to redefine the stages of life?

Just what is "middle age"? - BBC magazine feature. BBC Radio 4's Start the Week explored this question and featured psychologist Claudia Hammond among the guests (her new book is called Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception).

What drives some fathers to kill their children and partners before committing suicide. BBC Radio 4's File on Four  investigated (now on iPlayer).

That's it, y'all have yourselves a lovely weekend!
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.