1. New Scientist magazine published The Ultimate Guide to Memory, featuring articles on memory skills across the animal kingdom; autobiographical memory; the role of memory in mental illness; links between memory and behaviours like running and eating; and how to master your memory. The articles are free to non-subscribers for 7 more days if you register with the website. (see also).
2. Nature published a special feature on links between stress and mental illness. The articles on urban stressors, recovery from trauma, and depression among students, are all open-access.
3. Colin Blakemore casts a wry, skeptical eye over the recent claims of a neurosurgeon about his experience of life after death.
4. The power of negative thinking. Whilst positive fantasies can leave us de-energised, thinking about the obstacles ahead helps turn short-term gains into long-term success.
5. The British-born psychologist Jean Philippe Rushton, known for his highly controversial views on race and intelligence, has died. This "marks the end of an era of academic racism" says Salon.
6. British psychiatrist David Healy told a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association that the profession is committing "professional suicide" by failing to deal with its close relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.
7. Want to think of yourself as confident or happy or patient? Then act how confident people act, says Oliver Burkeman for the Guardian.
8. "Psychopaths, we learn, are the ultimate optimists; they always think things will work in their favour" - the Observer with a review of The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton.
9. Op-ed in Trends in Cognitive Sciences calls for neuroscience students to receive training in public engagement and neuroethics (open-access). Write Sharon Morein-Zamir and Chartered Psychologist Barbara J. Sahakian: "With the continuing interest of neuroscientists in investigating complex issues such as the neural basis of personality traits, social attitudes, sexual and political preferences and religious experiences, their increased awareness and effective communication of the consequences of such research is essential."
10. For the neuroscientist in your life - a brain candle in a jar.
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Post compiled by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.
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