Author Archives: Elliot Berkman
New paper from SAN lab members Will and Lauren!
Will and Lauren are authors on a new paper in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience about vmPFC activation during personal relevance and self-similarity judgments. Congrats, Will and Lauren (and Jenn)! Moore, W. E., Merchant, J. S., Kahn, L. … Continue reading
Meditation, Gratitude, and Endogenous Opioids
Congrats to Lisa May for receiving a Varela Award from the Mind & Life Institute! This award complements her Dissertation Research Award from the Greater Good Science Center to support her work on the neurobiological mechanisms of pain relief. Lisa writes about … Continue reading
Brain systems for controlling food cravings
Nicole Giuliani writes: Many of us spend a great deal of time and effort managing our temptations to indulge in food we know isn’t good for us. One of the ways that we do this is by thinking differently about … Continue reading
How does “brain training” to build self-control work, and why doesn’t it generalize?
The recent proliferation of commercial “brain-training” services that promise to enhance intelligence and cognitive functioning is understandable: Who wouldn’t want more working memory, attention, and inhibitory control? However, the effectiveness of these services has been questioned, particularly with respect to … Continue reading
What is the value of self-control?
Elliot’s latest blog post at Psychology Today about the possible connection between identity and self-control.
How does motivation influence attention? It depends on the context
Rebecca Calcott writes: Motivation is a powerful driving force behind goal pursuit in our daily lives. Two opposing motivational states that underlie much of our behavior are approach, the impulse to move towards, and avoidance, the impulse to move away. … Continue reading
SAN Lab joins the Prevention Science Institute
We are pleased to announce the formation of the Prevention Science Institute (PSI). The translational aspects of our work will be connected with the Center for Translational Neuroscience which is part of the PSI. More details about the PSI can … Continue reading
Jordan and Lauren receive NSF fellowships!
Lab members Jordan Livingston and Lauren Kahn are named 2013 NSF Graduate Research Fellows. Congratulations, Jordan and Lauren! UPDATE [8/13/13]: Here is the Around-the-O story about them!
The mind-brain debate: NASCAR and neuroimaging
Elliot’s latest blog post at Psychology Today about racecars, neuroimaging, and the mind-brain debate.
fMRI cannot detect lies
Elliot weighs in (and, naturally, gets misquoted) about the prospects of using fMRI as a lie detector in this interview. The target paper in Frontiers says it all: fMRI cannot now, and perhaps never, be used as a valid lie … Continue reading →