Brain ‘noise’ may hold the keys to psychiatric treatment efficacy
It remains a challenge in psychiatry to reliably judge whether a patient will respond to treatment. In a study researchers from Karolinska Institutet and the MPI for Human Development show that moment-to-moment fluctuations in brain activity can reliably predict whether patients with social anxiety disorder will be receptive to cognitive behavioral therapy.
"Each individual child around the world is given the opportunity to acquire new skills"
How can you explain the goal of the Jacobs Foundation to a child? Ulman Lindenberger, Director of the Center for Lifespan Development, talks about his work in the Jacobs Foundation Board of Trustees. His key priorities are: creating evidence-based ideas for improved learning, offering quality education, and transforming education systems. Read his interview with the Jacobs Foundation.
Experiment on swarm intelligence and decision-making
Do you tend to rely on your personal judgment, or do you rely on the opinions of others? The answer to this question can help with better understanding phenomena such as polarization. An experiment on this topic is part of the Humboldt Laboratory in Berlin. The results will be used in a project of the “Science of Intelligence” Cluster of Excellence and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Time slots can now be booked free of charge.
Strengthening science in a bid to secure the future
On September 26th not only the elections of the German parliament will take place, but as well of the Parliament of Berlin. With a position paper developed under the umbrella of Berlin Research 50, the non-university institution of Berlin emphasize what is important for science in Berlin. The position paper contains 10 demands that should be implemented by the future senate to strengthen Berlin as science metropolis.
Emotions in History
Ute Frevert’s groundbreaking publications represent a vital contribution to social and gender history. Early in her career, she mapped the history-making power of individual emotions and explored their historical roots. Her new book presents a carefully curated selection of key essays, unique case studies, and previously unpublished lectures from the last three decades that testifies to the power of emotions in history and the value of the history of emotions.
How can we get better at detecting microtargeted advertising?
Online platforms collect large amounts of information about us and our behavior. This information is used to tailor advertising to our needs, but also to our personal vulnerabilities. If this happens without our knowledge, online advertising can become manipulative. In a new article in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Center for Adaptive Rationality show how simple interventions can improve people’s ability to detect microtargeted advertising.
What makes a market transaction morally repugnant?
Many people find it morally impermissible to put kidneys, children, or doctorates on the free market. But what makes a market transaction morally repugnant in the eyes of the public? And which transactions trigger the strongest collective disapproval? Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Robert Koch Institute have addressed these questions. Their findings, published in Cognition, offer new entry points for policy interventions.
Searching for the origins of COVID-19
Clarifying the origin of the coronavirus is not only in the scientific interest but also in the geopolitical interest. But so far, there is a lack of reliable results. In an article in Nature Electronics, Manuel Cebrian, Leader of the Digital Mobilization Group at the Center for Humans and Machines, offers some technical considerations that could help get to the bottom of its origin. Investigating a twenty-first-century catastrophe, he says, requires a twenty-first-century technological response.
Taking the brain out for a walk
During the Corona pandemic, walks became a popular and regular pastime. Now a neuroscience study suggests: If you’re regularly out in the fresh air, you’re doing something good for both your brain and your well-being. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). The longitudinal study using magnetic resonance imaging of brains recently appeared in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry.
Polarization and mobilization on social media affect infection figures
Measures to contain the Corona pandemic are the subject of politically charged debate and tend to polarize segments of the population. But how exactly do politicization and social mobilization affect the incidence of infection? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have examined this question using the USA as an example. The findings were published in Applied Network Science.
How does the brain flexibly process complex information?
Human decision-making depends on the flexible processing of complex information, but how the brain may adapt processing to momentary task demands has remained unclear.
In a new study researchers have now outlined several crucial neural processes revealing that our brain networks may rapidly and flexibly shift from a rhythmic to a “noisy” state when the need to process more information increases.
Caution – toxic green!
Some plants produce toxins that can make us sick – or even kill us. Thus, a wariness of plants makes sense from an evolutionary point of view, especially for infants and toddlers. Annie Wertz is investigating which behaviors protect children from dangerous plants and how they learn from adults which plants are safe to eat. Read more about this in the current MaxPlanckResearch.
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September 19, 2021
Deutschlandfunk Kultur | Mächtige Gefühle – wie Politik unsere Emotionen nutzt
August 12, 2021
Deutschlandfunk Kultur | Giftiges Grün – Warum Babys nicht vorschnell zu Pflanzen greifen
August 8, 2021
WirtschaftsWoche | „Das kann schnell eine manipulative Note bekommen“
August 2, 2021
Los Angeles Times | Op-Ed: How AI's growing influence can make humans less moral
July 26, 2021