Spiraling difficulty of reliably interpreting scans of people’s brains

This new study suggests that some people’s personalities make it more difficult to get accurate MRI (and fMRI) pictures of their heads: “Individual Differences in Impulsivity Predict Head Motion during Magnetic Resonance Imaging,” Kong X-z, Zhen Z, Li X, Lu H-h, Wang R, et al., (2014) PLoS ONE, 9(8): e104989. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104989. The authors are at Beijing […]

Assessing the Perceived Personalities of Rocks

Of these three rocks, which would you say is the most ‘confident’ ? How about the most ‘sincere’ or ‘intelligent’? Just such questions were asked in a recent study by Dr. Mark Avis (Massey University, New Zealand), Dr. Sarah Forbes (University of Birmingham, UK) and Dr. Shelagh Ferguson (University of Otago, New Zealand). Their study […]

Personality Traits and Coffee, Tea, Cola Drinks, Smoking

A Brazilian team tried to find the connection, if any, between personality traits and the consumption of coffee, tea, and cola drinks, and smoking. Then they published a report: “Distinct Personality Traits Associated with Intake of Coffee, Tea, and Cola Drinks and Smoking,” Diogo R. Lara, Eduardo Antoniolli, Julia Frozi, Ricardo Schneider, Gustavo L. Ottoni, […]

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