Brains On Purpose™

"Why Scientific Studies Are So Often Wrong: The Streetlight Effect"

Excerpt:

A bolt of excitement ran through the field of cardiology in the early 1980s when anti-arrhythmia drugs burst onto the scene. Researchers knew that heart-attack victims with steady heartbeats had the best odds of survival, so a medication that could tamp down irregularities seemed like a no-brainer. The drugs became the standard of care for heart-attack patients and were soon smoothing out heartbeats in intensive care wards across the United States.

But in the early 1990s, cardiologists realized that the drugs were also doing something else: killing about 56,000 heart-attack patients a year. ...

The fundamental error here is summed up in an old joke scientists love to tell. Late at night, a police officer finds a drunk man crawling around on his hands and knees under a streetlight. The drunk man tells the officer he’s

"Neurotalk: improving the communication of neuroscience research"

Abstract:

There is increasing pressure for neuroscientists to communicate their research and the societal implications of their findings to the public. Communicating science is challenging, and the transformation of communication by digital and interactive media increases the complexity of the challenge. To facilitate dialogue with the public in this new media landscape, we suggest three courses of action for the neuroscience community: a cultural shift that explicitly recognizes and rewards public outreach, the identification and development of neuroscience communication experts, and ongoing empirical research on the public communication of neuroscience.

Excerpt:

A cli­mate of trust, reciprocity and transparency is essential for any science that depends on the public for funding and for public participa­tion in research. Creating and maintaining such a climate poses several challenges for neuroscience. A record of misrepresenta­tive or sweeping claims, for example, can jeopardize trust and raise false expecta­tions. Neuroscience may be particularly vulnerable to exaggerated claims, such as ‘God spots in the brain’, because its findings can challenge widely held assumptions about sensitive social and behavioural phenomena.

There is also great potential for mis­understanding arising from the inherent complexity of neuroscience. As

Interested in music and conflict resolution? Symposium in May and call for presentations

The announcement:

9th and 10th May 2011, University of Exeter, SocArts UK
Call for contributions
In the past decade there has been a growing interest in music and social conflict both inside and outside academia. Interdisciplinary research from music sociologists, ethnomusicologists, music psychologists and musicologists has focused on music’s dual use, both as a resource for conflict transformation and as a medium that can be used to incite conflict and channel violence. This research has also dovetailed with practical initiatives by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local communities, academics and individuals attempting to utilise music to avoid or transform conflicts. Together these activities are slowly improving our understanding of the interesting, and at times pivotal, functions of music related activities in conflict and post-conflict scenarios. However, it is clear that there is still a great deal of

Free presentations on negotiation and conflict resolution at UCLA School of Law

From the brochure of the 2011 Negotiation & Conflict Resolution Colloquium [pdf]:

UCLA School of Law’s Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program promotes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and managing the competition for scarce resources in legal, business and interpersonal contexts. The program’s broad mission includes the study of private and public transactions and disputes in domestic and international arenas.

It brings together a community of scholars, students and practioners from a variety of fields across UCLA and throughout Southern California with overlapping scholarly, teaching and practice interests. Please join us for our exciting events in the winter and spring of 2011.

COLLOQUIUM SCHEDULE

Must-read blog post on the neuroscience of habits, and what happens when you lose some

"We commonly live with a self reduced to its bare minimum; most of our faculties lie dormant, relying on habit; and habit knows how to manage without them."*
-Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time

(The above quote was e-mailed to Jeff Schwartz and me years ago by Annie Gottlieb; in seminars, I often include it when we discuss the role of habits in the resolution of conflict.)

I admire the writing of author Annie Gottlieb. She is the co-wrote with Jeffrey Schwartz the book Dear Patrick: Life is Tough - Here's Some Good Advice (a book with a message that is probably more needed today than when it was written). I e-met her through Jeff, and have been grateful for that introduction. To get a taste of her talent and compelling honesty about her life, read her blog Ambiance.

Her post of yesterday was particularly moving, and it gives a clear and concise overview of how habits operate in the brain. The grief that she is describing in that post results from the very recent death of her husband Jacques. I urge you to read the whole post, and then think about your habits, both those that serve you and those that rule you. Think too about how those people you love the most are "built into you."

From Annie's post Clumsy:

Getting around my apartment and neighborhood, through my errands and my day ... are all new.  I have no habits that aren’t bent around taking care of Jacques, and those habits are now

Mediation: "A new TV comedy mines the topic, but leading experts reveal the growing significance of resolving conflicts outside of the courtroom"

Are any of you planning to attend this event? If so, please write a blog post or live Tweet it. Let me know the blog link or Tweet hashtag. Thanks.

News release (Business Wire):

USA Network unveils a new comedy series [more about the series here] this week about a young woman attorney who gave up courtroom litigation in exchange for work as a mediator. Premiering Jan. 20, the critically acclaimed program, “Fairly Legal,” takes a fresh look at the expanding field of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

“With the cost of litigation mounting and demands on courtroom scheduling at an all-time high, many view ADR as an effective and cost-efficient solution to a variety of legal conflicts”
Just eight days after the debut of the new TV series, the University of La Verne College of Law will bring together some of the nation’s top minds in this evolving practice in a two-day symposium, Forecasting the Future: Cutting Edge Issues in ADR. Leading experts will present insights into the latest trends

Networker Symposium 2011 has much to offer mediators, lawyers, other conflict professionals

Although the full title of this upcoming conference is Psychotherapy Networker Symposium 2011, you don't need to be a therapist to find many of the workshops beneficial and helpful to your professional practice. For example, you may attend a day-long seminar given by Bonnie Badenoch about whom I have posted at Brains on Purpose here: The obligation of a mediator to practice good mind hygiene, and an interview of Bonnie Badenoch on being brain-wise.

The conference (March 23-27 in DC) offers many other valuable workshops from such accomplished people as

• Rick Hanson ( the fearful brain—his book is a favorite of many of my colleagues)
• Sherry Turkle (the impact of the digital revolution on personal and professional relationships)
• Dick Cavett (the art of interviewing)
• David Whyte (the fusion of verse, storytelling, and philosophical reflection)
• John Gottman (the science of trust)

The list of presenters is long and enticing; take a look.

Note: Here's a post about another conference coming up soon: For those of you interested in psychology and neuroscience, a stellar lineup of speakers at the APS conference.

 

4 steps to banish bad habits: Interview of Jeffrey Schwartz about his upcoming book YOU ARE NOT YOUR BRAIN

In this interview, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz discusses obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and his new book You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life. In the book, he and co-author Dr. Rebecca Gladding show readers how they can apply the 4 steps for OCD treatment to other conditions, habits, and symptoms, such as overeating, procrastination, and excessive drinking. Click for previous post about the book.

Topics of the interview, in addition to the 4 steps, include: overuse of drugs and the alternative of using one's capacity to direct attention for treating conditions, the empowerment of a person's will to change his or her brain, the role of mindful awareness, consultation with one's inner wise advocate, and Leonardo DiCaprio's development of OCD in the filming of The Aviator. The interview begins with a clip of Jeff's address to the United Nations about the challenges faced by non-materialists.

Jeff wrote his book Dear Patrick: Life is Tough - Here's Some Good Advice with Annie Gottlieb. Here is what she says on her blog about this interview of Jeff:

My fascinating friend Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz — very serious, ebullient and funny — may be doing some of the most important thinking and discovering on the planet.  You Are Not Your Brain is the title of his next book, coming out in June.  This long video is completely enthralling to me.  It’s about basic stuff like mood, addictions, and overeating, and how much choice and control we actually have.

Click to read the rest of Gottlieb's post. Click to watch the interview of Jeff. Click to pre-order You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life.

Note (added January 4, 2011): Click to read a news release about You Are Not Your Brain.