ELECTROCOMPULSIVE THERAPY   ⏱10:05

how electrocuting the face & brain reduces obsessive behaviour, how nose-pumping helps with sleep hygiene, & the monkeys who'll swap your iphone for food

episode #2, 29th January 2021 #brainstim #sleep #fly #monkey #vision   image source

  ⇦ listen here   ⏱10:05


  ⇨ transcript here


our main brain stories this episode...

ELECTROTHERAPY HELPS OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR

half an hour of weak electric brain stimulation for five days seems to decrease reports of obsessive and compulsive behaviours for three months, but is it too good to be true?   [read more...]

this story was in episode #2. original article: Grover et al., 2021 (Nature Medicine), reported in: The Daily Mail by Shivali Best on 18th January 2021 & Scientific American by Diana Kwon on 25th January 2021 image source #OCD #TACS #brainstim #brainhacking #reward

ratings: The Daily Mail: fudge - scientific story distorted   Scientific American: fact - scientific story reported well  


SLEEP CLEARS TOXIC THOUGHT FROM THE MIND (if you're a fly)

deep sleep can help to detoxify your brain, so long as it is accompanied by repeated back-and-forth movements of your nose every 3 seconds. and you need to be a fruit fly.   [read more...]

this story was in episode #2. original article: van Alphen et al., 2021 (Science Advances), reported in: The Daily Mail by Shivali Best on 21st January 2021 image source #fly #snout #sleep #toxins #proboscis

rating: The Daily Mail: fair - scientific story mostly intact  


MICHAEL LAND (1942-2020)

professor of neuroscience michael land passed away in december 2020 after a lifetime studying the vision of humans and many other animals   [read more...]

this story was in episode #2. reported in: The Guardian by Daniel Osorio on 19th January 2021 image source #vision #prawn #spider #sight #tea #scallop


MONKEY BUSINESS

long-tailed macaque monkeys in bali have learnt the value of tourists' possessions, systematically relieving them of the higher-value items to trade back for food. adults are better than juveniles   [read more...]

this story was in episode #2. original article: Leca et al., 2021 (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B: Biological Sciences), reported in: The Independent by Samuel Osborne on 26th January 2021 #macaque #thief #barter #bali #tourism

rating: The Independent: fact - scientific story reported well  


BRAIN OMELETTE

physicists in pennsylvania, usa have been banging some hens eggs around to see how the yolk moves inside. some say this is a bit like how the brain moves around inside the head. don't try to find out.   [read more...]

this story was in episode #2. original article: Lang et al., 2021 (Physics of Fluids), reported in: The Daily Mail by Shivali Best on 19th January 2021 & The Telegraph by Dominic Penna on 20th January 2021 #eggs #helmet #skull #yolk #concussion