The Neurocritic shares two epic, provocative posts.

Is CBT Worthless? “A meta-analysis of published studies on cognitive behavioral therapy concluded that this method of psychotherapy is not helpful for those with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and any improvements seen in major depression are rather small. Articles to rebut this claim are currently in preparation.”

• Video: if CBT is worthless for treating schizophrenia, ACT does have worth. Mary Ann Test details the history of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model. (00:29:18).

Myth of the Depression Gene. “Another meta-analysis found that a variant of the serotonin transporter gene is not linked to an increased risk of depression after all, either alone or in combination with stressful life events. However, no one really thinks that depression is caused by a single gene, so this finding doesn’t negate the possibility of a genetic contribution to major depression.”

• Video: in Catalyst: Nature Nurture a reporter is tested for a potential depression gene (00:10:35).

Mo Costandi of Neurophilosophy sends two posts. Enhanced attention and self-monitoring are among the Brain Mechanisms of Hypnotic Paralysis.

• Video: The far less serious Hypnosis Party Tricks #1 by Wendi Friesen (00:05:31).

Mo also writes about a neuroimaging study on correlates of thinking about past and future, in Mental time travel.

• Video: Memory Map is a vintage art video exploring time and memory perception (00:03:00).

The group blog Brain Blogger had two submissions. First, a well-researched blog post about preventing depression in youth at risk of developing it: Prevention of Adolescent Depression by Jennifer Gibson, PharmD.

• Video: More Than Sad: Teen Depression, a good educational video produced by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (00:26:00).

The Brain Blogger post Marijuana Withdrawal Syndrome sampled comments from users left at Dirk Hanson’s blog Addiction Inbox.

• Video: Going through marijuana withdrawal: Day 5. In which a vlogger describes his symptoms (00:02:23).

The forward-looking Brain Stimulant blog tells us that researchers plan to model the drosophila brain, and outlines some challenges in Virtual Fly Brain Computer Model.

• Video: Low-res animation of the Blue Brain Project, simulating 10,000 neurons in a rat’s neocortical column (00:00:40).

Kylie Sturgess of PodBlack answers a reader question with etymology and history in Ask PodBlack - ‘What Does Supernatural Mean?’. She’s set up a new Twitter account so you can ask a question too.

• Video: a clip from a mockumentary on the supernatural, Look Around You: Ghosts! (00:09:03).

Art Kilner of AK’s Rambling Thoughts explains his submissions: “These continue my discussion in Nerve Cells and Glial Cells: Redefining the Foundation of Intelligence, which was already featured in Scientia Pro Publica. While somewhat technical, IMO they discuss very important points and will be welcome to anybody interested in the brain’s function(s).”

Monoamine neuroreceptors in Drugs, Receptors, and the Brain. ”Less technical than my usual, but it makes an important point.”

• Video: Glutamatergic Agents for Schizophrenia: Looking Beyond Dopamine, a lecture on newer directions in psychopharmacology research (00:58:20).

Glial membranes and more, in Beyond the Synapse.

• Video extra: The NIH brings us Neuron-glia interactions : their mechanisms and their roles in development and disease, a lecture by Gabriel Corfas (00:50:03).

The Analog Axon. Self-explanatory.

• Video: Claws of Axon is not self-explanatory (00:10:09).

Sharp Brains champions Public Libraries as Community-Based Health Clubs for the Brain in a nice article. An update features more resources, including the newly published book Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness.

• Video: New Strategies for Cognitive Vitality and Brain Health, a lecture at UCLA’s Psychiatry Grand Rounds by Gary W. Small, M.D. (00:57:14).

Faith Martin, writing for Highlight HEALTH: “A recent study shows that group programmes and self-directed programmes have remarkably different effects with respect to outcome.” Tackling Heart Disease Together or Alone: The Behavioural Science of Self-Management.

• Video: Learn coping skills in Health Matters: Stress and Pain Management with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (00:28:00), and in another video with Steve Hickman, Managing the Role of Stress in Our Lives. Struggling With What It Is (00:58:00).

In Providentia, Romeo Vitelli shares “a strange story about a brain pioneer [Emmanuel Swedenborg] who may have become his own case study.” The Visionary.

• Video: a 1716 Swedenborg hovercraft design (00:00:14).

The August edition will be hosted by Neuronarrative, then Encephalon returns to a biweekly schedule in the fall. Follow Encephalon via email or RSS feed (thanks Highlight HEALTH). Now on Twitter too: @encephalon_ Please send submissions to encephalon.host@gmail.com.

[Image by totalAldo.]

Psychology in Human-Computer Interactions

David Kieras on human-computer interaction and usability, in a course lecture at CHI2008.

Frans de Waal, PopTech 2004

Applying lessons from monkey behaviours to human psychology, peace-making, reciprocity and relationships. A fun talk with great images. Pop!Tech has been releasing classic talks from their archives: see what’s old that’s new again, and read about the event, happening next Oct. 2009 in Maine.

[Image by RIPizzo]

Cognitive Control in Young Children and Ways to Improve It

Adele Diamond of UBC speaking in California about cognitive control in young children. This public lecture was presented for a general audience after a more technical talk for professionals, Prefrontal Cortex and Developmental Neuropsychology: Genetic and Environmental Influences (01:24:05). Both are available at the link below. There’s also a PDF abstract.

Nobelist Daniel Kahneman on Behavioral Economics

The Georgetown 2009 graduation ceremony included this short lecture by psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman on irrationality and how to promote rational decisions when “coherence is unachievable.” The FORA.tv enhanced player presentation includes an indexed transcript, more info and a bio. Here’s another, longer, 2003 lecture on decision analysis and another on “Deal or No Deal” decisions given at Princeton University in 2008.

Conference on Alternative Strategies for Alcoholism Treatment

Alcoholism treatment strategies and ethical challenges, with video archives in three parts. Part one features David Musto on temperance history, and starting at 00:40:15 Charles O’Brien details modern pharmacological treatments. Part two has Kathleen Carroll in an animated talk about trials of behavioural therapies and combined approaches, then at 00:57:35 Arthur Caplan speaks about ethical issues around why drug treatment for alcoholism feels threatening to some and their sense of autonomy. Part three is a fascinating panel discussion on legal and ethical issues in specific case reports (includes problems with the grossly inadequate Canadian mental health system and war-on-drugs US Customs bullies: Canadians who seek treatment in the US will get banned for life). Accompanying pdfs here. Unfortunately the slides are mostly not visible, but it’s still a cool event worth watching.

Web Therapy - Gossip Girl, part 1-3

Comedy about dubious web psychotherapist Fiona Wallice, who offers three minute sessions online using her theory that 50 minutes is too long and all the real work happens in three minutes. Features Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame, and other well-known actors playing her clients. Season two has just been uploaded to YouTube, beginning with “Gossip Girl” (in three parts) about a woman who comes to therapy for help because she thinks she’s too pretty, but ultimately reveals a shocking secret about Wallice’s husband. I recommend all the webisodes: they’re brief, slick, and very funny.

The New Brain Science of Cognitive Enhancement: Future Reality or Fool’s Gold?

At the 2008 Staglin Music Festival for Mental Health, opening for the Pointer Sisters, Trevor Robbins (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Cambridge University) talks about using cognitive enhancement drugs including atomoxetine, modafanil, Ritalin, d-cycloserine, and ampakines to treat diminished cognitive function in psychiatric disorders. The slides are mostly too blurry to read, unfortunately, but the audio is fine. The solar-powered, organic-farmed Staglin Family Vineyard in Napa Valley organizes fabulous lecture/concert fundraisers for mental health research. Their next event on September 12, 2009 features Helen Mayberg, Pat Benatar with Neil Giraldo, and chef Staffan Terje. Hope to see you there!

The Baroness, Consciousness, and the Twitterverse: A Conversation with Susan Greenfield

Greenfield recommends pub debates or rants on street corners instead of using social media. Quote: “How sad that a species that previously wrote novels and expressed themselves in thousand word letters, are now having to encapsulate important or interesting ideas in 150 [sic] characters, and that’s the first issue. And if you are used to doing that, are you going to start living your life in windows of 150 characters? And I do find that rather sad. Secondly, there’s many ways in which you can have debates and discussions. You can go to the pub, you can go out to the street, you know, you can go to universities, you can come to the Royal Institution in London. There’s many, many places and ways in which you can discuss ideas… to say that this is the only vehicle for debate and discussion for people who are ordinary human beings who aren’t in positions of power, who don’t have the platforms politicians have, I find that a bit disingenuous.” Then we’re told how one becomes a Baroness in the House of Lords. Greenfield admits she’s never used Twitter, but characterizes users as threatened and angry with a “shaky sense of identity” similar to small children demanding attention, and “perhaps they’re going nowhere.” Ironically, she is keen on the Royal Institution of Great Britain producing webcasts for the “globalization, not just democratization of science.” While their talks look interesting, the Royal Institution demands your street address and other personal data to register to watch, so I won’t. Ah, culture clashes.

[Image by Aaron Webb]

McLean Honors Lee and Bob Woodruff

Lee Woodruff, author and contributing editor at Good Morning America, speaks about her experience with depression and anxiety after her husband Bob Woodruff acquired a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Iraq. The couple received a McLean Award for “…exceptional courage facing psychological challenges after a traumatic brain injury, for their efforts to further public understanding of brain illness, and for fighting to reduce the stigma of mental illness.”