40 posts · 21,247 views
Jordan Gaines is a science writer and neuroscience doctoral candidate at Penn State. She is the author of "Gaines, on Brains"—blogging about the brain, without the jargon. Visit JordanGaines.com for more info.
Gaines, on Brains
40 posts
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- April 27, 2013
- 02:40 AM
- 86 views
How stores trick our senses to make us buy more (Part 4 of 5: Smell)
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Not only is the ability to smell one of humans' most primitive senses, but it is also closely tied to memory and emotion. How do stores take advantage of our sense of smell to tempt us to buy more than we bargained for?... Read more »
Rabin MD, & Cain WS. (1984) Odor recognition: familiarity, identifiability, and encoding consistency. Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 10(2), 316-25. PMID: 6242742
- April 17, 2013
- 10:50 PM
- 84 views
How stores trick our senses to make us buy more (Part 3 of 5: Touch)
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Sure, a company can do its job to create an attractive, pleasurable product for us consumers. But—you guessed it—the store does its own part in tricking us, ensuring that the phrase "you touch it, you buy it" often holds true.... Read more »
James R. Wolf, Hal R. Arkes, & Waleed A. Muhanna. (2008) The power of touch: An examination of the effect of duration of physical contact on the valuation of objects. Judgment and Decision Making, 3(6), 476-482. info:/
- April 10, 2013
- 11:00 PM
- 119 views
Why do we sigh?
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Why do I sigh? Does it help regulate my breathing when I'm stressed? Is it a subconscious action I do to express to those around me that I'm anxious or upset? Perhaps a mental reset button, so to speak?... Read more »
Teigen KH. (2008) Is a sigh "just a sigh"? Sighs as emotional signals and responses to a difficult task. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 49(1), 49-57. PMID: 18190402
Vlemincx E, Van Diest I, Lehrer PM, Aubert AE, & Van den Bergh O. (2010) Respiratory variability preceding and following sighs: a resetter hypothesis. Biological psychology, 84(1), 82-7. PMID: 19744538
- February 17, 2013
- 12:31 AM
- 286 views
Fainting at the sight of blood
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Do you get woozy when you see blood? It seems like an oddly dramatic physiological response for just seeing a little red liquid, right? As it turns out, fainting at the sight of blood may be a primitive reflex buried deep in our brain.... Read more »
Zervou EK, Ziciadis K, Karabini F, Xanthi E, Chrisostomou E, & Tzolou A. (2005) Vasovagal reactions in blood donors during or immediately after blood donation. Transfusion medicine (Oxford, England), 15(5), 389-94. PMID: 16202053
- January 28, 2013
- 08:30 PM
- 175 views
Smell and memory: old feelings in a new place
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Why do smells bring back deep, emotional memories even when we're in unfamiliar places?... Read more »
Rabin, M., & Cain, W. (1984) Odor recognition: Familiarity, identifiability, and encoding consistency. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 10(2), 316-325. DOI: 10.1037/0278-7393.10.2.316
- January 3, 2013
- 11:16 PM
- 220 views
How stores trick our senses to make us buy more (Part 2 of 5: Sight)
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
In this second installment, we'll explore how stores betray our sense of sight, tricking us to buy stuff we really don't want or need.... Read more »
Berns GS, McClure SM, Pagnoni G, & Montague PR. (2001) Predictability modulates human brain response to reward. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 21(8), 2793-8. PMID: 11306631
- December 8, 2012
- 10:24 PM
- 254 views
How stores trick our senses to make us buy more (Part 1 of 5: Taste)
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Our brains are endlessly fascinatingly organs—but sometimes they betray us. The following is the first post in a five-part series on how stores trick our senses into shelling out more money than we may intend.... Read more »
McClure SM, Li J, Tomlin D, Cypert KS, Montague LM, & Montague PR. (2004) Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. Neuron, 44(2), 379-87. PMID: 15473974
- November 19, 2012
- 11:33 PM
- 258 views
Why you should give thanks this Thursday—and always
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Expressing gratitude is more than just a nice idea—it's beneficial to your health and happiness.... Read more »
Emmons RA, & McCullough ME. (2003) Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of personality and social psychology, 84(2), 377-89. PMID: 12585811
Gordon AM, Impett EA, Kogan A, Oveis C, & Keltner D. (2012) To have and to hold: gratitude promotes relationship maintenance in intimate bonds. Journal of personality and social psychology, 103(2), 257-74. PMID: 22642482
- October 30, 2012
- 09:22 PM
- 370 views
Why are clowns scary?
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Is coulrophobia (fear of clowns) real? And, for that matter, what is fear?... Read more »
Adolphs, R. (1997) Fear and the human amygdala. Neurocase, 3(4), 267-274. DOI: 10.1093/neucas/3.4.267
- October 19, 2012
- 10:05 AM
- 371 views
Kids' willpower influenced by others' reliability
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
A study published earlier this month in Cognition suggests that willpower is not the only factor in play when it comes to kids foregoing that extra piece of candy.... Read more »
Kidd C, Palmeri H, & Aslin RN. (2012) Rational snacking: Young children's decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability. Cognition. PMID: 23063236
Shoda, Y., Mischel, W., & Peake, P. (1990) Predicting adolescent cognitive and self-regulatory competencies from preschool delay of gratification: Identifying diagnostic conditions. Developmental Psychology, 26(6), 978-986. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.26.6.978
- October 9, 2012
- 11:00 PM
- 407 views
Facebook-stalking your ex; or, how NOT to move on
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
I'm going to tell you something that you probably already know: you should stop Facebook-stalking your ex. And I'm armed with the psychology of why it's bad!... Read more »
Marshall TC. (2012) Facebook Surveillance of Former Romantic Partners: Associations with PostBreakup Recovery and Personal Growth. Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking. PMID: 22946958
- September 16, 2012
- 11:23 PM
- 458 views
Sight without seeing: Bálint's syndrome
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
A.S. couldn't find doors or cabinets in her house. She had difficulty naming familiar household objects, and she was unable to read a book or the numbers on her phone. As the article continues, we learn how A.S. and another patient, J.D., adjust to their lives before and after their diagnoses of Bálint's syndrome.... Read more »
Jason Cuomo, MA, Murray Flaster, MD, & José Biller, MD. (2012) Right Brain: A descriptive account of two patients' experience with and adaptations to Bálint syndrome. Neurology, 79(11). DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182698d28
- August 28, 2012
- 05:59 PM
- 562 views
Catnip fever: why your cat acts high
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Forget the mouse toy—Mittens wants the catnip inside. So what is catnip, and why is it causing your sweet kitty to behave so dichotomously?... Read more »
Arthur O. Tucker and Sharon S. Tucker. (1988) Catnip and the catnip response. Economic Botany, 42(2), 214-231. DOI: 10.1007/BF02858923
- August 1, 2012
- 11:09 PM
- 498 views
Paralyze your face, fight depression
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
The distinctive paralyzed face-look associated with Botox may actually be a good thing for individuals with depression who are resistant to other forms of treatment.... Read more »
Wollmer MA, de Boer C, Kalak N, Beck J, Götz T, Schmidt T, Hodzic M, Bayer U, Kollmann T, Kollewe K.... (2012) Facing depression with botulinum toxin: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of psychiatric research, 46(5), 574-81. PMID: 22364892
- July 23, 2012
- 06:11 PM
- 543 views
Superhero science: tapping into our super-strength with adrenaline
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
In 1982, Angela Cavallo lifted a 3,500-pound car from the ground. If you were placed in a similar situation, you could, too!... Read more »
Hoh JF, Rossmanith GH, Kwan LJ, & Hamilton AM. (1988) Adrenaline increases the rate of cycling of crossbridges in rat cardiac muscle as measured by pseudo-random binary noise-modulated perturbation analysis. Circulation research, 62(3), 452-61. PMID: 3342474
- June 30, 2012
- 05:26 PM
- 505 views
Turning trauma into story: the benefits of journaling
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Writing, as many would probably agree, is therapeutic, and studies in the past two decades have explored the health consequences of secrets, expressive language, and the before-and-after physical and psychological symptoms associated with trauma—an area of research referred to as "writing therapy."... Read more »
Cohn MA, Mehl MR, & Pennebaker JW. (2004) Linguistic markers of psychological change surrounding September 11, 2001. Psychological science, 15(10), 687-93. PMID: 15447640
- June 15, 2012
- 04:04 PM
- 684 views
Ecstasy: "safe"?
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Call me a prude, but I'm not so thrilled about the announcement made yesterday by British Columbia's top health official that ecstasy is "safe."... Read more »
Hatzidimitriou G, McCann UD, & Ricaurte GA. (1999) Altered serotonin innervation patterns in the forebrain of monkeys treated with ( /-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine seven years previously: factors influencing abnormal recovery. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 19(12), 5096-107. PMID: 10366642
- June 7, 2012
- 11:30 PM
- 571 views
Narcolepsy: more than just falling asleep on the job
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
America is a sleepy country—but narcolepsy takes it to a whole new level. Imagine feelings of exhaustion at all times, accompanied by inappropriate sleep attacks. Sure, falling asleep on the job is embarrassing and unprofessional, but also imagine the danger of a narcoleptic attack while driving. What is narcolepsy, and what causes this mysterious disorder?... Read more »
Arias-Carrión O, Murillo-Rodriguez E, Xu M, Blanco-Centurion C, Drucker-Colín R, & Shiromani PJ. (2004) Transplantation of hypocretin neurons into the pontine reticular formation: preliminary results. Sleep, 27(8), 1465-70. PMID: 15683135
- May 29, 2012
- 11:02 PM
- 631 views
Psychics, mediums, clairvoyants, and...neuroscience?
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Is there any scientific evidence behind mediums and psychics, or are they just another type of illusionist?... Read more »
Lynn, S., & Rhue, J. (1986) The fantasy-prone person: Hypnosis, imagination, and creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(2), 404-408. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.51.2.404
- May 7, 2012
- 09:33 PM
- 728 views
Multiple sclerosis: multiple perspectives
by Jordan Gaines in Gaines, on Brains
Montel Williams and 400,000 other Americans face it everyday. Richard Pryor was confined to a wheelchair in the last few years of his life because of it. Symptoms range from weakness to bladder problems to difficulty talking. Indeed, multiple sclerosis, or MS, is one of the most well-known yet mysterious neurological conditions we know about.... Read more »
Ruckh JM, Zhao JW, Shadrach JL, van Wijngaarden P, Rao TN, Wagers AJ, & Franklin RJ. (2012) Rejuvenation of regeneration in the aging central nervous system. Cell stem cell, 10(1), 96-103. PMID: 22226359
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